Colombia Club Part II

[Mononoke28 135]

Absolutely, first of all welcome to VJ and the Colombian Club.

The CR1 visa is actually the best visa you can get compared to all others mainly because the beneficiary becomes a permanent resident as soon as he/she enters the country, so Adjusting Status is not needed. Why do most people file for a K1 visa? Many different reasons, some do it because they don't want to deal with the marriage part before filing, others because they want to get married here and others because they simply don't know that there are better visa options out there.

I think if you understand the whole CR1 visa process it will get you started in the right way. You will first have to file an I-130 for your husband, you can find the guide on how to do it in the GUIDES at the top of the page. You will need to send a G-325A each for both of you, keep in mind that this form has 4 pages that look the same but that need to be signed individually, so 8 total. You will also need a copy of your marriage certificate (not the original) and a translation as well as evidence of your marriage. All I did was mail a couple of affidavits from my mom and sister with the I-130 and that was that. All other evidence we brought it to the interview.

Once your I-130 is approved, which can take anywhere from 3-9 months depending on which service center you have to mail it and how busy they are, they will forward it to the National Visa Center. Once it arrives at the NVC they will assign it a case number that starts with the letters BGT. At this point you can take LingChe's NVC Shortcuts which will show you how to pay for everything online and how to make the process move along faster at the NVC. The average time a case may stay at the NVC for processing can be anywhere from 3-6 months, but if you follow the shortcuts correctly it can take 1 month or less.

At the NVC you will need to send them the applicant's civil documents such as your husband's police certificate and birth certificate among others, you can find the list here.

After the NVC is done processing all your fees, all your forms and documents they will complete the case and make an appointment with the embassy. They will also mail you and your husband packet 4 which will contain not only information about the interview and the date but medical, lab, vaccination information as well.

I recommend that you read every single page of both Colombian threads as they are filled with very important information you will need along the way. If you get stuck on something or have a question that has not been asked, feel free to post it here and one of us will try to get back with you.

Diana

Edited March 13, 2009 by Mononoke28

[Mononoke28 135]

Also, here are samples of the two affidavits I sent along with the I-130 as well as the link for the other Colombian Club thread. Hope they help.

Diana

Affidavit_Example_1.doc

Affidavit_Example_2.doc

[CristianAmour 1]

Thank you SO MUCH, Mononoke. We'll be sure to read all the info you posted. Again, thanks!

[CristianAmour 1]

Oh, one question, though. Can I send fotocopies of the marriage certificate and the translation or should I send originals? Would it be a bad idea to send originals for all the affidavits and the marriage and birth certificates?

In other words, can I send nothing but fotocopies of all my documents with the exception of the forms required?

Thanks, you guys are great!

[jpcanon 0]

Just checking in: I am in the airport in Bogota now (Sunday morning) heading back to L.A. I went to see my honey in Pereira, and then we went to Cartagena for a few days- was very nice! We sent in request for embassy appt. (by Servientrega- not sure on spelling) on Friday, so they should receive on Monday 16th- will see when appt. is- maybe May?

Joe

[HAL 9000 96]

Just checking in: I am in the airport in Bogota now (Sunday morning) heading back to L.A. I went to see my honey in Pereira, and then we went to Cartagena for a few days- was very nice! We sent in request for embassy appt. (by Servientrega- not sure on spelling) on Friday, so they should receive on Monday 16th- will see when appt. is- maybe May?

Joe

Sounds like May, Joe. Maybe you'll get lucky and be on the minus side of the March cutoff for some cool reason to get an April interview.

Have a pleasant flight back home.

[Omar G. 4]

we have our interview for April 14th, we sent in our packet 3 documents March 9, they recieved it right away (by fax and servientrega) and issued us an interview date immediately, maybe if they receive it tomorrow (monday) you can get a late April interview or early May interview. good luck

[Mononoke28 135]

Oh, one question, though. Can I send fotocopies of the marriage certificate and the translation or should I send originals? Would it be a bad idea to send originals for all the affidavits and the marriage and birth certificates?

In other words, can I send nothing but fotocopies of all my documents with the exception of the forms required?

Thanks, you guys are great!

You can send copies of both, the marriage certificate and its translation. The best thing would be for you to send the original affidavits and keep the copies of these with you. Also, make sure you make copies of every single piece of paper you send the USCIS and the NVC just in case they come back to you saying they never received anything.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Just checking in: I am in the airport in Bogota now (Sunday morning) heading back to L.A. I went to see my honey in Pereira, and then we went to Cartagena for a few days- was very nice! We sent in request for embassy appt. (by Servientrega- not sure on spelling) on Friday, so they should receive on Monday 16th- will see when appt. is- maybe May?

Joe

Sounds like May, Joe. Maybe you'll get lucky and be on the minus side of the March cutoff for some cool reason to get an April interview.

Have a pleasant flight back home.

I agree with good ol' Hal. The cutoff date for next month's interviews is actually today so you may get lucky and get one for April. The best thing is to plan for early May and if they give it to you for next month, then all the better.

Diana

[CristianAmour 1]

Mononoke, you rock. Thank you. You should be working for the USCIS, helping people. And they should pay you like $500 an hour, hehe! Thanks, again!

About the NVC process...

From what I've gathered we'll need a few more documents like police and military records (among others). Since we can't send my husband's original military and police records card, we'll be sending copies, right? I know they have to be translated but do they need to be notarized and apostilled like the birth and marriage certificates? I ask this because it now costs about $25 dollars per document, and with a $355 filling fee and all the other fees, including the $400 for the interview, we want to be very careful with what we spend.

Thanks again and we apologize if we're being too clueless and asking too many questions!

[Mononoke28 135]

You will need these documents when the approved petition gets to the NVC which can be anywhere from 3-9 months after filing. When the date comes for you to send his DS-230 along with all civil documents, you will have to send the originals, I sent my husband's certificado judicial (police certificate) inside a plastic zip loc. If you read the DOS web site carefully you will find the following:

Original Document Requirements

The applicant and each family member who will accompany the applicant to the United States will need to submit original documents or certified copies of the documents listed in this section from an appropriate authority (the issuing entity).

Also, according to their instructions you don't need anything translated. Also, apostilles are not needed.

Translation Requirements

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations.

The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states that the:

* Translation is accurate, and

* Translator is competent to translate.

Diana

Edited March 16, 2009 by Mononoke28

[Omar G. 4]

how can i reschedule our interview date for later in the week? this really sucks and never thought i would need to even think about rescheduleing but our interview date is tuesday April 14 and unfortunetly is the week of semana santa (holy week) and the medical offices will be closed the end of the week. i called today to schedule an appt. and they said for the 7th, therefore the 6th she (my fiance) would need to get her laboratory exam. we dont know anyone in bogota and really cannot afford a whole week (even more) in bogota....would we have to write a letter asking to reschedule our appt. for friday april 17? would they do this and what excuse would we need to give? does it need to be faxed with all details like when send the packet 3 documents? thanks everyone

[CristianAmour 1]

You will need these documents when the approved petition gets to the NVC which can be anywhere from 3-9 months after filing. When the date comes for you to send his DS-230 along with all civil documents, you will have to send the originals, I sent my husband's certificado judicial (police certificate) inside a plastic zip loc. If you read the DOS web site carefully you will find the following:

Original Document Requirements

The applicant and each family member who will accompany the applicant to the United States will need to submit original documents or certified copies of the documents listed in this section from an appropriate authority (the issuing entity).

Also, according to their instructions you don't need anything translated. Also, apostilles are not needed.

Translation Requirements

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations.

The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states that the:

* Translation is accurate, and

* Translator is competent to translate.

Diana

Wait so my husband's police certificate, birth certificate and military records don't have to be translated when we send them to the NVC? Did you just send the documents without translation or anything?

Just wanna make sure we don't mess up, 'cause it doesn't make very much sense for the documents to go in Spanish when the NVC is in the states...

Thanks again!

[CristianAmour 1]

Wait so my husband's police certificate, birth certificate and military records don't have to be translated when we send them to the NVC? Did you just send the documents without translation or anything?

Just wanna make sure we don't mess up, 'cause it doesn't make very much sense for the documents to go in Spanish when the NVC is in the states...

Thanks again!

Another question we have:

My husband's dad is also a U.S citizen and, when he was about 17, he tried applying for him (my husband) to become a U.S resident but they wanted them to take a DNA test that costed a lot, so they dropped the case (I-130 hadn't been approved or anything). They got all their documents back and everything.

So, on the form I-130 where it asks if my relative has ever been under immigration proceedings, should we say yes, or no? We don't know because the process never got past the initial submission of documents (which were all later returned to his dad), but the fee was paid.

I'm sorry we're such newbies. >.<

[HAL 9000 96]

Mononoke, you rock. Thank you. You should be working for the USCIS, helping people. And they should pay you like $500 an hour, hehe! Thanks, again!

About the NVC process...

From what I've gathered we'll need a few more documents like police and military records (among others). Since we can't send my husband's original military and police records card, we'll be sending copies, right? I know they have to be translated but do they need to be notarized and apostilled like the birth and marriage certificates? I ask this because it now costs about $25 dollars per document, and with a $355 filling fee and all the other fees, including the $400 for the interview, we want to be very careful with what we spend.

Thanks again and we apologize if we're being too clueless and asking too many questions!

I translated everything that was needed in English and had my then fiancee's cousin sign it for me. For AOS at least, I translated everything myself again, and signed it myself with no issues.