March 2009 K1 Filer

[Rainschild 0]

Letting you guys know as I view it as good news here too....

A CSC file that arrived there on April 10th just got an NOA2....

I saw that too, it is great that they got it already! But I do believe it was a military expedite, I remember Nill posting about this at one point. Congratulations to them!!!

[Danu 19]

So I decided today I needed to get myself out of this funk I have been in. I'm feeling pretty good now! Instead of focusing on the visa for now which I can't control I went through some listings with Wes today as he mentioned one of the towns he would like to move. Checked out prices and whats available and it was an incredible feeling. We won't be able to move to a house for a couple years but we were talking about what we should be able to afford once I'm down there and working and the big wedding is over, decided we will try to get a place thats big enough that his sister can move in during her schooling so that she doesn't have to live with their mom in her cramped little place with their 2 brothers and their grandparents. The whole idea of finding a house for some reason put me in a whole different kind of mood. It was amazing to think of more long term goals and put the focus back on the fact that I will get to have him forever and this is just a small step in our lives.

I also found out his dad and his dad's partner have offered to help with the flowers and photos for the wedding so those will be 2 things I dont have to deal with. His cousin is also getting married this June and his fiancee has generously offered us the extra fabric and stuff she has left over, the books that she used and shes offered to show me the venues she was looking at. They are going to have theirs at a park, $700 for the whole day (8 hours). If the park is really pretty I'm thinking that would be a great place to do it, could have the ceremony and reception all on site, would just have to get the caterer and bar tender, but it would be cheeper than what I was looking at previously which means my budget wedding should work nicely and any money we save can goto the house!

I'm in such a positive happy mood at the moment I just though I would share, as I know everyone has been a bit down lately, myself included. Hope today found you all well!

[Rainschild 0]

So I decided today I needed to get myself out of this funk I have been in. I'm feeling pretty good now! Instead of focusing on the visa for now which I can't control I went through some listings with Wes today as he mentioned one of the towns he would like to move. Checked out prices and whats available and it was an incredible feeling. We won't be able to move to a house for a couple years but we were talking about what we should be able to afford once I'm down there and working and the big wedding is over, decided we will try to get a place thats big enough that his sister can move in during her schooling so that she doesn't have to live with their mom in her cramped little place with their 2 brothers and their grandparents. The whole idea of finding a house for some reason put me in a whole different kind of mood. It was amazing to think of more long term goals and put the focus back on the fact that I will get to have him forever and this is just a small step in our lives.

I also found out his dad and his dad's partner have offered to help with the flowers and photos for the wedding so those will be 2 things I dont have to deal with. His cousin is also getting married this June and his fiancee has generously offered us the extra fabric and stuff she has left over, the books that she used and shes offered to show me the venues she was looking at. They are going to have theirs at a park, $700 for the whole day (8 hours). If the park is really pretty I'm thinking that would be a great place to do it, could have the ceremony and reception all on site, would just have to get the caterer and bar tender, but it would be cheeper than what I was looking at previously which means my budget wedding should work nicely and any money we save can goto the house!

I'm in such a positive happy mood at the moment I just though I would share, as I know everyone has been a bit down lately, myself included. Hope today found you all well!

That sounds great Danu! It's a wonderful feeling to be able to concentrate on the things you CAN control, makes you feel a lot more useful. That's why I took a job which I enjoy a lot. This way I know I have something to do in the meanwhile. Good luck with the wedding preparations!

[Cutefemcop 0]

Thanks Mist!! I guess if they would at least look at it, then that would make me feel better. I guess I will just have to be patient!!

Kelly

Okay I am getting frustrated....it has almost been 3 months and my application has not even been touched!! When I call USCIS all they say is that I have to wait 6-months and if my application has not been reviewed by then, then they will expedite it, but in the same breath they say that the whole process will only take 6 months!! Now how in the world is that gonna happen....anyone else having issues with process taking longer than 6-months?

I know it's difficult, but try to stay patient (easier said than done, of course) 3 months is still fairly early for the USCIS to take action. After six months is when they will consider taking action to speed hte process up for you. Hopefully you will hear something within the next few months.

We sent our I-129F off in March, no touches or anything yet. It's frustrating to see the lack of any action being taken, but it's too soon to panic just yet. Use the time in the meantime to gather together any information in readiness for when your NOA2 arrives.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Cutefemcop

[FrostyMist 1]

So I decided today I needed to get myself out of this funk I have been in. I'm feeling pretty good now! Instead of focusing on the visa for now which I can't control I went through some listings with Wes today as he mentioned one of the towns he would like to move. Checked out prices and whats available and it was an incredible feeling. We won't be able to move to a house for a couple years but we were talking about what we should be able to afford once I'm down there and working and the big wedding is over, decided we will try to get a place thats big enough that his sister can move in during her schooling so that she doesn't have to live with their mom in her cramped little place with their 2 brothers and their grandparents. The whole idea of finding a house for some reason put me in a whole different kind of mood. It was amazing to think of more long term goals and put the focus back on the fact that I will get to have him forever and this is just a small step in our lives.

It's great that you've found something positive to think about. It is a great idea to think and plan for the things you CAN control, rather than worrying about the things that you can't. I've done that a bit with my fiance, and it's a great feeling. I remember we've looked at houses, furniture, and talked about our financial situation in the future. We've even talked about what we'll do for coming back to England to visit my family. I remember doing so would always put me in a very positive mood whenever we talked about the future past visa applications.

[emmaline_g 2]

That's great Are we invited? lol

Are *all* of you planning your weddings? I haven't planned a single thing on mine. It seems like I will never have one. What with waiting for the visa, and then because for my religion we have to take months of special classes and specifically get married within the walls of a church, it seems like I won't get a wedding for years! Well, maybe a City Hall wedding... at least my city's hall looks kind of nice inside... I don't know, it just doesn't feel like I'm a bride-to-be. It feels like I'm not important to be honest!

To stay upbeat though I am taking a 2 week vacation in August. I haven't spent 2 straight weeks with my fiance since 2006. Waiting waiting waiting...

[Danu 19]

Well we will be just doing the civic one when I first get down there but he wants me to have the wedding I want, so we will be doing that next year. I can't really plan too much as I'm not there, but it gives me ideas to look around at and gives me hope for it rather than brooding over the situation we are stuck in atm.

[emmaline_g 2]

^^^ same actually. I don't want a civil ceremony because in my opinion it is ugly and not nearly fantastic enough. But on the bright side, all of us who have to do the civil ceremony and a wedding much later technically get "2 ceremonies" lol

Also I love when girls do budget weddings. Maybe you can share some tips with us? It sounds like you've got it under control!

The fact that Igor's list is not moving is really putting me in a blahh mood. Admittedly I am not as obsessed with checking it as before, but the fact that it can't even guess when something will happen makes me think angry thoughts. I put my status on facebook as: "TOUCH ME, USCIS, TOUCH ME!!!!!" and of course none of my friends know what that means so they were a little weirded out.

Adding to my blahh mood, the Man. Utd. v. Barcelona game is on during the only hour of the day I can speak to my fiance. How can I compete with football? No way... (my fiance is a huuuuge fan, anyone else? lol) I guess I'll make the most of it and watch online... to educate myself about this topic... I am so American.

[Danu 19]

^^^ same actually. I don't want a civil ceremony because in my opinion it is ugly and not nearly fantastic enough. But on the bright side, all of us who have to do the civil ceremony and a wedding much later technically get "2 ceremonies" lol

Also I love when girls do budget weddings. Maybe you can share some tips with us? It sounds like you've got it under control!

The fact that Igor's list is not moving is really putting me in a blahh mood. Admittedly I am not as obsessed with checking it as before, but the fact that it can't even guess when something will happen makes me think angry thoughts. I put my status on facebook as: "TOUCH ME, USCIS, TOUCH ME!!!!!" and of course none of my friends know what that means so they were a little weirded out.

Adding to my blahh mood, the Man. Utd. v. Barcelona game is on during the only hour of the day I can speak to my fiance. How can I compete with football? No way... (my fiance is a huuuuge fan, anyone else? lol) I guess I'll make the most of it and watch online... to educate myself about this topic... I am so American.

Lol. When I tell people about having my second wedding they are like "wow already thinking about getting divorced?" I tell them I'm skipping that step and just marrying the same man twice

So far I'm trying to plan a wedding thats 10k or less. I am very lucky in that his grandma is giving us about a grand and my parents are doing about 2 for the wedding, so that means we will only have about 7 coming out of pocket atm. Ive looked at some cheep venues, there was a couple I was looking at that the venue for the whole day (reception and ceremony, outdoors for both) with food would only be around 4k. Im budgetting 1k MAX on my dress, including alterations. Decided I dont really need flowers around, so I'm just doing bouquettes and boutteniers. For centerpieces instead I have decided to go with a glass center piece...best way to describe it is this.

Picture if you will a perfectly round drinking glass that has sides that go straight up, like no waves or anything. Enlarge this so that you can fit a medium sized cream colour pillar candle, with either brown or red river rocks in the bottom. Perhaps some etching on the glass to toss some neat lighting effects. Going to make them myself, its about $20 per piece, and I'm only having about 50 people, so I can probably get away with just a few of these. Going to make my own invites with the packages you can get from the craft stores, like Michaels. I'm not above a cash bar, so I'm doing that. Figured I will provide enough wine to cover most of the people, and the rest who really want to get hammered can do so on their own tabs. I had everything priced out for DJ's, photographers etc and it was just slightly over the 10k, but now I've found out that his dad is going to take care of flowers and photos, so thats about $1500 we can save, which is amazing! I figure the more things I can do myself in regards to like...doing the setup the day before, making my own cards and stuff it will be cheeper. I bought this program called My Wedding Day at Best Buy that helps you plan, find caterers, you can put in the measurements of your hall or whatever as well to help you do seating layouts, it will help keep track of your RSVPs (you can great your guest list and print out labels with it, then check people off as they reply). Was only $40 and was well worth it. I also have a website from ourweddingday.com that helps you with budgetting too.

I have so many ideas and thoughts for cheep stuff that doesnt look cheep. I should become a wedding planner lol.

[Rainschild 0]

We're gonna have 2 weddings too. First one will be in Hawaii (that's where he's stationed now), we're going to get married by a minister on a beach (Kahana Bay Beach on Oahu) and then have a dinner party with a couple of friends and the family members who can make it. Second one will be in Romania, next year probably, and it's going to be huge and awesome. We're gonna have my family and his, all my friends and some of his who will fly to Bucharest. I didn't start planning that one because we still have time. I'm looking forward to our private little ceremony on the beach

[FrostyMist 1]

emmaline_g and Danu, thanks for those posts. You made me smile.

I was actually fearing that I was the only one planning for two weddings, and I've been a bit cautious about saying much because people seem to think it's weird.

I do wish I could have the big wedding be the actual ceremony, but it is really impossible to plan anything with visa timelines being so unpredictable, and once we get the visa in hand, I don't want to be sat here trying to plan a wedding long distance. I just want to be with my guy! Plus, USCIS only gives us six months in which the visa is valid once we get it, and then 3 months from when we enter the country in order to get married.

My mum's getting married in August, and has had about 12 months to plan for it. It's been chaotic, stressful and rushed. And she's had the benefit of being with her man most of the time!

But, that's not for me.

So, we are having a quick legal ceremony once I get over there, and then planning for a big one later on. Probably six months afterwards, or something.

What I like to plan with my guy is actually things like where we're going to live. And, quite often we discuss what pets we want to get. We're bringing over my cat, all being well, so we often talk about how much she'll love his place. We've also talked about christmas, birthdays and special occasions and how we'll decorate his place, what we'll do to celebrate etc.

Just talking and thinking about the future really. It's fun.

[Vegabond 0]

If USCIS being systematic.. then we should start seeing some movement for the March People starting next week... which will make a Month for US being admitted on the 17th :-)

These are only my calculations.

[FrostyMist 1]

Today I saw a post at another forum by a member who had their NOA2 and had sent their petition in March. Unfortunately, I don't know ANY details about their case at all-whether it was expedited etc-so there might have been other factors that caused it to be processed faster than ours.

I have this feeling that as soon as one March filer receives their NOA2, many others will follow close after. I hope I am right.

Edited May 28, 2009 by FrostyMist

[Danu 19]

I think the March one that was already approved was a military expedite. So far theres only been one approval, but they waited a long time to get their NOA1, the submitted at the beginning of Feb but didnt get notice until March, which could have something to do with it. I'm hoping we all start getting them soon, I think you are right Frost that once one of us gets it the others come through fairly quickly.

[FranziskaS 0]

about the wedding again....we will do exactly what all of you are doing. quick marriage in the US and bigger one next year in germany. german's are penny pinchers. My parents would call a 10k wedding outrageous. I told them that that kind of money is easily spent, but I think they think I am crazy. I tryed to figure things out as far as venues and so on. my fiancee hates to plan anything in life so he won't talk about the wedding on the phone. and anyways it is impossible to plan something that far ahead.

totally different topic. I have a lot of stuff here I'd like to bring to the US. there are two options. #1 is my parents are travelling with me an we each take to suitcases full of stuff. its mostly decorating stuff. but this might look weird at poe and we'd have to declare everything that stays in the US.

#2 ship my stuff. does anyone have any idea how much this would be. do they go by weight or volume or both? also have my beloved bike that I want to bring with me. even though it still semms forever until I will leave it will alll go really fast in the end and am afraid I won't be prepared enough.

vegabond, I hope you calculations are right