Colombia Club Part II

[Ken y Leidys 20]

[Mononoke28 135]

For her visa she will need the TD, MMR and varicella vaccines. If she's under 26 years of age, she will need to get the HPV vaccines for her AOS. So it's a good idea to get this last vaccine in Colombia, have the approval of it by the doctor there than get it here and pay another doctor to approve it.

Diana

[Omar and Jennyfer 0]

Well the time is ticking and my wife is flying out of Bogota tomorrow morning. Just a quick question, does she need to get the DAS Tax stamp on her passport. As a tourist we pay around $30 for this stamp, and I not really sure if she needs to get it since she is a Colombian citizen.

Thank you for all your help.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Omar and Jennyfer

[Dillan 0]

Hi,

I'm confused about how and when the petitioner decides to take the CR-1/IR-1 route or the K-3 route. We were married in November 2008. I already received the NOA1.

What I understand so far is that if I send the CSC the I-129F, I'm electing the K-3 category. If I continue to wait and do nothing until they contact me, I'm in the CR-1 category.

Is that accurate? If that's not accurate, can someone please explain how it works.

How much longer does the CR-1 take in comparison to the K-3?

I have an unrelated question. My wife's cedula and passport contain her maiden name. The delay to receive an updated cedula and, afterward, an updated passport, will make the visa petition process seem like a 100 meter sprint. On the I-130, the beneficiary's name is her first name and my last name.

Will having the maiden name on her cedula and passport cause problems when she gets her visa?

Thanks in advance.

D

[Ken y Leidys 20]

For her visa she will need the TD, MMR and varicella vaccines. If she's under 26 years of age, she will need to get the HPV vaccines for her AOS. So it's a good idea to get this last vaccine in Colombia, have the approval of it by the doctor there than get it here and pay another doctor to approve it.

Diana

Diana,

Thank you for taking the time to alert us to this information. You Rock!

New American Embassy Opening in Cartegena de las indias in 2010

Leidys told me this morning that this embassy will be processing visas for Americans. The office unfortunately, does not open until 2010.

Cartagena tiene una Oficina de EU

El embajador de Estados Unidos en Colombia, William Brownfield, y la vicecanciller de Colombia, Clemencia Forero, inauguraron la Oficina de la Embajada Norteamericana en Cartagena, que partir de 2010 se convertirá en consulado y facilitará el trámite de visas para ingresar a ese país.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Ken y Onelis

[HAL 9000 96]

Hey its famous Ken over here in the Club. Interesting part with the opening of the Cartagena branch. Hopefully they will divert Costeño family-based apps there so that the rest of the country can get faster interview times.

Dillan: just have enough documentation (a letter is fine) explaining a name discrepancy. A last name change due to marriage is not a problem for the visa since its common practice in the states (still) for a woman to take a husband's last name. Not sure about the time differentials on the visa types though.

Omar- no... Colombians don't pay that tax since its technically included in the cost of airfare anyway- and El Dorado doesn't charge any additional airport taxes that I know of like Cartagena has a tendency of doing in between the 20 security checkpoints they submit you to.

[Mononoke28 135]

Well the time is ticking and my wife is flying out of Bogota tomorrow morning. Just a quick question, does she need to get the DAS Tax stamp on her passport. As a tourist we pay around $30 for this stamp, and I not really sure if she needs to get it since she is a Colombian citizen.

Thank you for all your help.

I know this is a bit late but it may help others. I think what you're asking about is the Impuesto de Salida (Exit Tax) when leaving Colombia and yes, she will need to pay it before checking in with the airline. As of last year it was $50k pesos but I'm sure it's more now.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Hi,

I'm confused about how and when the petitioner decides to take the CR-1/IR-1 route or the K-3 route. We were married in November 2008. I already received the NOA1.

What I understand so far is that if I send the CSC the I-129F, I'm electing the K-3 category. If I continue to wait and do nothing until they contact me, I'm in the CR-1 category.

Is that accurate? If that's not accurate, can someone please explain how it works.

How much longer does the CR-1 take in comparison to the K-3?

I have an unrelated question. My wife's cedula and passport contain her maiden name. The delay to receive an updated cedula and, afterward, an updated passport, will make the visa petition process seem like a 100 meter sprint. On the I-130, the beneficiary's name is her first name and my last name.

Will having the maiden name on her cedula and passport cause problems when she gets her visa?

Thanks in advance.

D

That's correct D. If you file both, the I-129F and the I-130 then it may become a K3 visa. If you only file the I-130, it will be processed for a CR-1 visa.

Now as for processing, the service centers are taking the same amount of time to approve either one and if you do your homework ahead of time and pay all your NVC fees online, the CR1 will be processed a lot faster than the K3. If you end up getting this type of visa you won't have to worry about AOS and the green card will arrive in the mail within weeks after entering the US. I highly recommend going this route.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Hey its famous Ken over here in the Club. Interesting part with the opening of the Cartagena branch. Hopefully they will divert Costeño family-based apps there so that the rest of the country can get faster interview times.

Dillan: just have enough documentation (a letter is fine) explaining a name discrepancy. A last name change due to marriage is not a problem for the visa since its common practice in the states (still) for a woman to take a husband's last name. Not sure about the time differentials on the visa types though.

Omar- no... Colombians don't pay that tax since its technically included in the cost of airfare anyway- and El Dorado doesn't charge any additional airport taxes that I know of like Cartagena has a tendency of doing in between the 20 security checkpoints they submit you to.

Viejo Hal,

I thought the same thing about the exit tax but AA wouldn't let my husband leave El Dorado until we paid it. I thought it was included in the airfare and I still believe it was, but they said it only applied to US citizens. Bottom line is, they refused to check us in until we paid it.

Oh and I forgot Dillan also asked about his wife's last name. I say do as most of us Colombian women do and that is to keep our maiden names in Colombia since officially changing it there is a huge pain in the neck. I use my married name here in the US and my maiden name in Colombia. So when traveling with the Colombia passport all that is needed is a copy of the marriage certificate to show why it's different. That's all. Don't bother changing it in Colombia, it's not worth it.

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

Hey its famous Ken over here in the Club. Interesting part with the opening of the Cartagena branch. Hopefully they will divert Costeño family-based apps there so that the rest of the country can get faster interview times.

Dillan: just have enough documentation (a letter is fine) explaining a name discrepancy. A last name change due to marriage is not a problem for the visa since its common practice in the states (still) for a woman to take a husband's last name. Not sure about the time differentials on the visa types though.

Omar- no... Colombians don't pay that tax since its technically included in the cost of airfare anyway- and El Dorado doesn't charge any additional airport taxes that I know of like Cartagena has a tendency of doing in between the 20 security checkpoints they submit you to.

Viejo Hal,

I thought the same thing about the exit tax but AA wouldn't let my husband leave El Dorado until we paid it. I thought it was included in the airfare and I still believe it was, but they said it only applied to US citizens. Bottom line is, they refused to check us in until we paid it.

Oh and I forgot Dillan also asked about his wife's last name. I say do as most of us Colombian women do and that is to keep our maiden names in Colombia since officially changing it there is a huge pain in the neck. I use my married name here in the US and my maiden name in Colombia. So when traveling with the Colombia passport all that is needed is a copy of the marriage certificate to show why it's different. That's all. Don't bother changing it in Colombia, it's not worth it.

Diana

Yeah I checked back and it actually reverts to where the ticketing originates.

I paid for Mària's initial O/W flight with my miles on AA. It might be good if there was a ticketing + fees + taxes breakdown so that if AA got nasty at precheck-in, you could show them that... since I think that's one of the things they run through on the manifest list they have while asking you the precheck-in security Qs. Subsequent flights' ticketing originated in US-based addresses... so it didn't matter that she was traveling back home on a Colombian passport.

Also... if you have a Colombian consul anywhere close to you it may be better to change Registro/Cedullary/Passport info in the US. The turn around time will be exponentially less and the staff will be much more personal. Heck, we're even friends with one of the consular officials here in Chicago.

But all that will cease to matter soon (I hope). She will apply for Spanish citizenship soon since a new law went into effect for children and grandchildren of Spanish citizens that had to flee Spain during the dicatorship of General Franco. Her brother is currently processing his documents... so in about a month I feel she may be asking for her paperwork for Spain- without it affecting US Naturalization if and when she goes that route.

[Mononoke28 135]

This may be off topic but how many citizenships can a person have? I'm totally ignorant on the subject.

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

Not OT at all Diana!

It may be of importance to some of us here.

Some countries make very strict rules about this sort of thing... the US is technically NOT one of them although they tell naturalizing citizens to drop any foreign citizenship. How this is expected to be 'legit' is a bit odd since there is no centralized 'drop your citizenship' place where people do this unless they formally renounce in front of a consular officer.

I have heard that Colombians can have two... Colombia and the other country. But right off the back I know this to be untrue since a few of my wife's relatives have 3... (Colombia, Spain, 3rd country). And I have work colleagues that have more than 2/3 nationalities as well.

[Mononoke28 135]

Very interesting. Thanks!

Diana

[gigisan 0]

Not OT at all Diana!

It may be of importance to some of us here.

Some countries make very strict rules about this sort of thing... the US is technically NOT one of them although they tell naturalizing citizens to drop any foreign citizenship. How this is expected to be 'legit' is a bit odd since there is no centralized 'drop your citizenship' place where people do this unless they formally renounce in front of a consular officer.

I have heard that Colombians can have two... Colombia and the other country. But right off the back I know this to be untrue since a few of my wife's relatives have 3... (Colombia, Spain, 3rd country). And I have work colleagues that have more than 2/3 nationalities as well.

Colombia allows 2 nationalities, and does not required to renounce to any other, now, if we go to war with Venezuela, I wonder what will happen, You right, many colombians have multiple nationalities, including USA, an European, it is a matter of convenience for each individual, for retirement payments, for job hopping, etc.

[HAL 9000 96]

Pretty much, gigisan. With multiple nationalities it always is an issue of convenience anyhow.

Don't know and don't hope for war with anyone.