Colombia Club Part II

[Mononoke28 135]

Hi,

I have a few new questions. For the NVC submission, does the police certificate need to be translated into English?

As of early last year it did need the translations but their new DOS site says:

Translations

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.

Diana

[james&adry 3]

My fiancee told me something a little off from the normal proceedings I hear about concerning the CR1 Visa and Colombia specifically. She was talking to her sister and her sister had mentioned one of their cousins who is already in the USA said the CR1 visa to Colombia really takes 2 years. He claims that the Colombian process of marriage validity takes the biggest chunk of time because the USA needs to recognize the marriage. The route we are going he said will take a lot more time than I think. Now correct me if I am wrong but we are marrying April 30th and upon arriving back I can file for her CR1 in May asap. The only requirement I gather to marry is what Diana and everyone else has told me in prior posts (which we have accomplished all this to even arrange for a marriage date in April.) Then after we marry we can file for a CR1 which we would definately like to do when I arrive back to the states and get everything ready. It seems ludicrous to think that there is some other requirements that we are missing out on because I failed to see all that. Bottom line if we marry in Colombia we can move right away to file for a CR1 and should not be under a much longer wait time. At least this is what I am hoping for. Please feel free to comment if you have words of wisdom and put my worries to rest.

Our Wedding is in April 30th and we will be honeymooning in Cartagena May1 to May5th. Maybe we will see other peeps from VJ too . *wave*

James

[james&adry 3]

Also quick question is there another spanish Colombian CR1 or visa thread started? The first one is closed .

[Mononoke28 135]

My fiancee told me something a little off from the normal proceedings I hear about concerning the CR1 Visa and Colombia specifically. She was talking to her sister and her sister had mentioned one of their cousins who is already in the USA said the CR1 visa to Colombia really takes 2 years. He claims that the Colombian process of marriage validity takes the biggest chunk of time because the USA needs to recognize the marriage. The route we are going he said will take a lot more time than I think. Now correct me if I am wrong but we are marrying April 30th and upon arriving back I can file for her CR1 in May asap. The only requirement I gather to marry is what Diana and everyone else has told me in prior posts (which we have accomplished all this to even arrange for a marriage date in April.) Then after we marry we can file for a CR1 which we would definately like to do when I arrive back to the states and get everything ready. It seems ludicrous to think that there is some other requirements that we are missing out on because I failed to see all that. Bottom line if we marry in Colombia we can move right away to file for a CR1 and should not be under a much longer wait time. At least this is what I am hoping for. Please feel free to comment if you have words of wisdom and put my worries to rest.

Our Wedding is in April 30th and we will be honeymooning in Cartagena May1 to May5th. Maybe we will see other peeps from VJ too . *wave*

James

Her cousin is 100% wrong. The US does not need to recognize a marriage that took place in Colombia because it's already valid, that's why you need to submit a copy of the marriage certificate with the translation along with the I-130. We got married in January 17th, 2007, I filed for my husband on February 5th and everything was approved without an RFE.

The only Spanish thread is the Colombian K1 visa thread found in the Latin American section of VJ.

Diana

[jpcanon 0]

Howdy- just wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a place to stay for like 3-4 nights for the interview at the embassy in Bogota? I found these in older posts: http://www.bogotacolombialodging.com/ and http://www.welovebogota.com/

Just wondering if anyone has stayed in any of these or have any other places to recommend?

Thanks,

Joe

[CristianAmour 1]

Okay so we mailed all the papers with the I-130 on March 23 and haven't gotten any letters or a receipt or anything. Should we start getting worried yet?

[TonyS 0]

Howdy- just wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a place to stay for like 3-4 nights for the interview at the embassy in Bogota? I found these in older posts: http://www.bogotacolombialodging.com/ and http://www.welovebogota.com/

Just wondering if anyone has stayed in any of these or have any other places to recommend?

Thanks,

Joe

Sorry I can't recommend a place to stay. My wife's mother works for the government so we stayed at a one of their lodgings. I can however recommend a excellent taxi driver for your time there.

Tony

[Mononoke28 135]

Howdy- just wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a place to stay for like 3-4 nights for the interview at the embassy in Bogota? I found these in older posts: http://www.bogotacolombialodging.com/ and http://www.welovebogota.com/

Just wondering if anyone has stayed in any of these or have any other places to recommend?

Thanks,

Joe

Joe,

We stayed at the welovebogota place and really enjoyed it. It's an apartment in a very nice area and you can rent out the master bedroom, the guy rents it by rooms but the chances of other people renting a room at the same time as you are pretty slim to none, we paid I believe $230 for 10 days. It has a full kitchen, you have cable TV, a nice bathroom, clean sheets and towels every few days, etc. The only thing I didn't like and it may be because I'm from the US was how hard the matress was, my husband was ok with it but me, not so much. It wasn't a deal breaker though. Also, the place is a 5 minute walk from the embassy, there is a cafe internet across the stree as well as many restaurants like TGIF's and Crepes & Waffles and two shopping malls, Gran Estación which is great and Salitre.

Also, check out www.fernandosuites.com I haven't stayed there but I've heard they're pretty nice and very inexpensive.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Okay so we mailed all the papers with the I-130 on March 23 and haven't gotten any letters or a receipt or anything. Should we start getting worried yet?

It can take a month+ for them to even send you anything saying they received your package. What you need to do is see if your check was cashed, if it was, try to get a copy of it from your bank because it will most likely have your receipt number on it. Once you have this # go to the USCIS Case Status Service Online to keep track of it.

Diana

[jpcanon 0]

Howdy- just wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a place to stay for like 3-4 nights for the interview at the embassy in Bogota? I found these in older posts: http://www.bogotacolombialodging.com/ and http://www.welovebogota.com/

Just wondering if anyone has stayed in any of these or have any other places to recommend?

Thanks,

Joe

Joe,

We stayed at the welovebogota place and really enjoyed it. It's an apartment in a very nice area and you can rent out the master bedroom, the guy rents it by rooms but the chances of other people renting a room at the same time as you are pretty slim to none, we paid I believe $230 for 10 days. It has a full kitchen, you have cable TV, a nice bathroom, clean sheets and towels every few days, etc. The only thing I didn't like and it may be because I'm from the US was how hard the matress was, my husband was ok with it but me, not so much. It wasn't a deal breaker though. Also, the place is a 5 minute walk from the embassy, there is a cafe internet across the stree as well as many restaurants like TGIF's and Crepes & Waffles and two shopping malls, Gran Estación which is great and Salitre.

Also, check out www.fernandosuites.com I haven't stayed there but I've heard they're pretty nice and very inexpensive.

Diana

Good info Diana, thanks much! The big interview is a comin'...

Joe

[jpcanon 0]

Howdy- just wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a place to stay for like 3-4 nights for the interview at the embassy in Bogota? I found these in older posts: http://www.bogotacolombialodging.com/ and http://www.welovebogota.com/

Just wondering if anyone has stayed in any of these or have any other places to recommend?

Thanks,

Joe

Sorry I can't recommend a place to stay. My wife's mother works for the government so we stayed at a one of their lodgings. I can however recommend a excellent taxi driver for your time there.

Tony

Thanks Tony- I'm not sure if I will need a driver or not, but if you want to send me the info, that would be cool! I thought I would just end up "hailing" a cab each time i needed to get somewhere?

Thanks,

Joe

[james&adry 3]

So happy...! My marriage with Adriana is inching everyday closer and closer. Everyone on here has helped sooo much that words alone cannot suffice. But I just wanted to say thanks for the help. As much as everyone says it is a very big pain to get married in Colombia because of the great lengths at providing authentic documentation and it being time sensitive are definately correct. But the hurdles have all been jumped and now it is time to sit back and be merry. After this big step in our lives and one of the many challenges we will face I am more confident that the process of getting my wife her visa in the end will be easier because of all you guys. Now on to the good stuff .

We are going to marry in Barranquilla and honeymoon in Cartagena so I looked up the ol yahoo site and travels website to see if there is anything specific to check out while we are down there. Right now I am interested in the naval defense wall and some of the nightlife. I know some of you guys have visited so cmon and spill your beans on what we can do while we are there.

J

[Mononoke28 135]

James,

I have never been in that part of the country but in www.poorbuthappy.com you will find a lot of travelers who not only have been there plenty of times but who also live in the area. They should give you a ton of pointers.

Diana

[jpcanon 0]

James,

I have never been in that part of the country but in www.poorbuthappy.com you will find a lot of travelers who not only have been there plenty of times but who also live in the area. They should give you a ton of pointers.

Diana

That site is very interesting that Diana mentions above- I was referred to visa journey by someone on that forum (ColombianoGringo who has posted here in the past). In fact, if he still looks at this forum, I want to thank him again!!!!

Joe

[parkpapa 0]

My fiancee told me something a little off from the normal proceedings I hear about concerning the CR1 Visa and Colombia specifically. She was talking to her sister and her sister had mentioned one of their cousins who is already in the USA said the CR1 visa to Colombia really takes 2 years. He claims that the Colombian process of marriage validity takes the biggest chunk of time because the USA needs to recognize the marriage. The route we are going he said will take a lot more time than I think. Now correct me if I am wrong but we are marrying April 30th and upon arriving back I can file for her CR1 in May asap. The only requirement I gather to marry is what Diana and everyone else has told me in prior posts (which we have accomplished all this to even arrange for a marriage date in April.) Then after we marry we can file for a CR1 which we would definately like to do when I arrive back to the states and get everything ready. It seems ludicrous to think that there is some other requirements that we are missing out on because I failed to see all that. Bottom line if we marry in Colombia we can move right away to file for a CR1 and should not be under a much longer wait time. At least this is what I am hoping for. Please feel free to comment if you have words of wisdom and put my worries to rest.

Our Wedding is in April 30th and we will be honeymooning in Cartagena May1 to May5th. Maybe we will see other peeps from VJ too . *wave*

James

Her cousin is 100% wrong. The US does not need to recognize a marriage that took place in Colombia because it's already valid, that's why you need to submit a copy of the marriage certificate with the translation along with the I-130. We got married in January 17th, 2007, I filed for my husband on February 5th and everything was approved without an RFE.

The only Spanish thread is the Colombian K1 visa thread found in the Latin American section of VJ.

Diana

Ditto to what Diana said. A marriage that is legal in the country in question is legal in the United States. A marriage license from Colombia is what you need. You will also, at some point, need to provide 'proof' that the marriage is 'real' - in other words, photos of the two of you with family, friends, different places, over time, as well as letters and/or correspondence, phone bills showing calls to Colombia, etc., etc.

Please read up on the looooong list of information on VJ regarding this. The CR-1 route should only take a couple of months more than the K-3 route. We did the K-3 and my wife was here about nine months after we married.

Charles.