Colombia Club Part II

[Mononoke28 135]

I called the Department of State today and they told me that our interview is scheduled for January 19, 2011. I'm a little bummed out that it's not going to be a month sooner but the reality is that it gives me time to get a lot of things in order before Victoria gets here.

Does anyone know if the Lab appointment and the Medical appointment can be scheduled the same day? With the interview on a Wednesday, it kind of collapses the business days prior to the interview. We would like to keep Tuesday free but will use it for anything that comes up at the last minute.

Actually, that's exactly what most people do. What you can do is get the lab stuff taken care of early in the morning, they open at 7 a.m. so you can be there at 6:30 a.m., that way they'll have enough time to send the test results to the doctor that same day. Then schedule the doctor's appointment in the afternoon and that way you'll do both the same day.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Haven't you seen Berta's wedding pics? She's rich!

I haven't seen them! Am I missing something?

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I hope you have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

Diana

[bramirez04 2]

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I hope you have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

Diana

Hey Diana! Ken prob saw them on my facebook lol i will post them on here soon so everybody can see them and by the way disney was amazing, we got first timer pins and we also got JUST MARRIED pins.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!!!

[kennym 275]

I called the Department of State today and they told me that our interview is scheduled for January 19, 2011. I'm a little bummed out that it's not going to be a month sooner but the reality is that it gives me time to get a lot of things in order before Victoria gets here.

Does anyone know if the Lab appointment and the Medical appointment can be scheduled the same day? With the interview on a Wednesday, it kind of collapses the business days prior to the interview. We would like to keep Tuesday free but will use it for anything that comes up at the last minute.

I would suggest doing the Lab the day before teh Medical.. Keep in Mind, You must be at the Lab at 7:00 am...

If you have your lab done the day before, you can be more confident the results will be ready for the Medical..

Kenny

[bramirez04 2]

Ok i have an AOS questions. i want everything to be mailed to my PO box not my home address because we are moving in like 3 months or so. the only form that gives me an option to put my mailing address different than my place of residence address is I-864 the affidavt support. is that form going to reflect all my other forms or is there something i have to fill out for them to mail something out to a different address? thank you!

Edited November 24, 2010 by bramirez04

[Lincoln23 0]

I received the interview date by asking them via e-mail, the embassy and IV unit has always been very helpful for me and always answered back within 48 hours, reaching them via e-mail is a lot better than via phone.

I have been calling the DOS daily for about 3 weeks now, but after reading the above, I decided to email the IV unit this morning. I was stunned when they responded this afternoon, which is the only quick thing to happen in this process. LOL

Here is a quick timeline:

May 24: Mailed the initial K-1 Packet to VSC

May 28: NOA1 mailed.

Oct 13: Email notification of NOA2 approval.

Oct 19: NVC sent our file to Bogota via DHL

Oct 21: File received at the embassy at 12:25PM.

Oct 25: Fax packet 3 documents.

Oct 29: Email from embassy confirming receipt of Packet 3

Jan 18: Interview Date

From date of sending the initial packe to interview date, 239 days. Only thing I can think to say is "WOW". Besides having a child, I don't know of any other process that takes this long. So much for the "short cut method" and having your document in by the 15th to get an interview date the following month. But at least now we have time to do some planning instead of having to rush everything.

Robert, congrats on getting your interview date for January 19!

c.georges, thanks for the advise to email the embassy for an interview date!

David

[Robert de Bonda 3]

I have been calling the DOS daily for about 3 weeks now, but after reading the above, I decided to email the IV unit this morning. I was stunned when they responded this afternoon, which is the only quick thing to happen in this process. LOL

Here is a quick timeline:

May 24: Mailed the initial K-1 Packet to VSC

May 28: NOA1 mailed.

Oct 13: Email notification of NOA2 approval.

Oct 19: NVC sent our file to Bogota via DHL

Oct 21: File received at the embassy at 12:25PM.

Oct 25: Fax packet 3 documents.

Oct 29: Email from embassy confirming receipt of Packet 3

Jan 18: Interview Date

From date of sending the initial packe to interview date, 239 days. Only thing I can think to say is "WOW". Besides having a child, I don't know of any other process that takes this long. So much for the "short cut method" and having your document in by the 15th to get an interview date the following month. But at least now we have time to do some planning instead of having to rush everything.

Robert, congrats on getting your interview date for January 19!

c.georges, thanks for the advise to email the embassy for an interview date!

David

Congrats David. Don't forget to update your timeline. You will be done the day before me. How long will you be staying in Bogota? I'll probably be getting there the Friday before and might leave the following Saturday. I don't see the point in going back to work for only one day of the week.

Without a doubt, I can truly say that the folks here at Visa Journey in general and the folks on the Colombian threads in particular are extremely helpful. I'm glad that I followed a general recommendation that Diana had given on another website many moons ago.

Thanks to you all. Now comes the hard part.

Edited November 25, 2010 by Robert de Bonda

[Lincoln23 0]

Congrats David. Don't forget to update your timeline. You will be done the day before me. How long will you be staying in Bogota? I'll probably be getting there the Friday before and might leave the following Saturday. I don't see the point in going back to work for only one day of the week.

I fogot about updating my timeline, thanks for the reminder. I am planning on being in Bogota January 15th-22nd. I may go a couple of days earlier, depends on how things go over the next few weeks.

David

[Ken y Leidys 20]

Ok i have an AOS questions. i want everything to be mailed to my PO box not my home address because we are moving in like 3 months or so. the only form that gives me an option to put my mailing address different than my place of residence address is I-864 the affidavt support. is that form going to reflect all my other forms or is there something i have to fill out for them to mail something out to a different address? thank you!

Your cover letter should indicate your impending change of address. This will not be a big deal to the USCIS.

[ryna 132]

Congrats David. Don't forget to update your timeline. You will be done the day before me. How long will you be staying in Bogota? I'll probably be getting there the Friday before and might leave the following Saturday. I don't see the point in going back to work for only one day of the week.

Without a doubt, I can truly say that the folks here at Visa Journey in general and the folks on the Colombian threads in particular are extremely helpful. I'm glad that I followed a general recommendation that Diana had given on another website many moons ago.

Thanks to you all. Now comes the hard part.

Glad to see you guys finally got your interview dates. I guess they're really backed up in December (or we got very lucky in getting an interview so quickly after our P3.)

And, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

[Ken y Leidys 20]

As of Friday, there were 4,000 stranded passengers in Bogota's El Dorado Airport.

Anyone with an upcoming trip to Bogota should be aware of what is happening with the weather and how it is affecting Avianca.

http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/general/13145-rains-cause-chaos-at-bogota-airport.html

[kennym 275]

That's what I love about Bogota Airport...

I checked the history for both American and Copa on flightaware.com, both seem to be on-time for the past several days... It appears things are ok, for now... checked for both Medellin and Bogota.. Keeping my fingers crossed though that things go smoothly for my trip down to Medellin on Tuesday...

Kenny

[Ken y Leidys 20]

That's what I love about Bogota Airport...

I checked the history for both American and Copa on flightaware.com, both seem to be on-time for the past several days... It appears things are ok, for now... checked for both Medellin and Bogota.. Keeping my fingers crossed though that things go smoothly for my trip down to Medellin on Tuesday...

Kenny

Leidys said to be ready to have 70 000 COP on hand for Maritza's departure taxes.

[arizreynolds 1]

Leidys said to be ready to have 70 000 COP on hand for Maritza's departure taxes.

who charges the departure tax ,is that part of the ticket because with continental I paid part of that and wonder if I have to pay again ?