August 2008 fillers

[Badgerella 5]

Mara, good luck! All that is really beyond all kinds of impossible and insane.

I graduated from college on July 3rd, so that's all sorted now. The job, I finally managed to sort, too, so as of July 1st, I'm officially unemployed, as well.

We finally have tickets, for August 8th. Mom got a 10 year visa, so she'll be flying with me, while others still don't know what they'll do. It's a fuckton of money, for everyone to get there (and back, of course).

I'm slowly exploding from trying to figure out what all I need to do before I leave, let alone the part where I need to figure out what to pack and how to organize the things right. It seems the total weight of baggage per person has gone down to just 20kg, so that's freaking me out, too.

Here's something we're a bit confused about.. When I get there, we'll be able to apply for a SSN for me. Then, after the wedding, we're able to send in the AOS thing. But.. what, exactly, is Advanced Parole? The .gov website says it's supposed to be for emergency situations. Here on the forum, we've gathered information that you need to apply for AP, too, if you'd like to be able to leave the country before your AOS comes through and you hold your green card. Now.. how does it, in fact, work? We don't plan to travel anywhere outside of the US immediately (and of course I hope there won't be any emergency situations either). What do we do, then? If AP is just for emergency situations, for real, then we won't be doing it. But if you can apply for it and then just get a permit to leave the US and come back in before the green card is issued, then perhaps we'd do it. (Then again, it seems these days people don't wait 6-12 months for the green card to be sent to them, so.... We don't know!). We'd like to be able to take a trip to Croatia in, maybe, March 2010. at the earliest. What would be our route to take, with all these things, once I am there?

[Thayani 0]

hello everyone.. havn't visited this site for awhile since there was no need to update anything..

I am still waiting for my police certificate to reach LONDON.. now its 5 months!!! My fiance sent out the checklist on june 26th.. he found out that the embassy recieved it on the 30th. We are still waiting for our interview date!! How long does it take them to reply?? And does the embassy give the interview date a month from the date u send it or a month from when u receive the letter stating ur interview date??? this whole process keeps lingering on and on...ahgffffffffffffffff....

we called the embassy like 1.5 months ago to ask if they want the documents with the checklist becoz when i read visa journey it only said ppl were sending in jus the checklist...so someone from embassy said they need all the documents..so we were waiting for the police certificate..it took so long so we decided call the embassy up and ask..is it possible to send the checklist and the forms first. They had said send in all the documents or the process might take longer. So we wait again..and call a week after to have some lady tell us no they dont want any documents sent, they jus want the checklist and forms!!!!!!!!!!!! i get soooooooo upset....do those ppl know what they are talking about?? so now we sent the stuff and havn't heard from them yet!!! .... i want him to be here by first week of august..i dont know if that'll happen anymore . ..

Let me know guys if you guys have any input on these things...

thanks

[HYENA 4]

i have some "troubles" with my SSN too, well we went there 19 June and they said 10 dayys but nothing came here, so we went there again and looks like i have given my names and the address of Chris so most likely they didnt find me on this address when they saw the mailbox, so now i wait again...we do need the SSN for marriage license....

i have some problems understanding the people here too, but mostly those who are not americans and have really bad accent....not that i dont have but i understand better people who speak pure english...so far so good for me i'm enjoying my life here and everything is alright...we are arranging our wedding now

OHHH some English is all screwed up! Brisby=Brisbane, wanker, yanker or whatever all that is....bussie=business, anything with an ie is supposed to be whatever the root word is. That's a horror I've been witnessing lately. Maybe we'll go eat lunchie and the housie and have some bits of foodie with our winey!

Different dialects do make it difficult but I notice Austrians and countries where English is a second language don't seem to mutilate it-the only hope for preservation of the language are those speaking it as a second language (so we need people like you)!

it's the slang that throws me off terribly and it's frustrating because your brain tells you they're speaking English but you're hearing some other language by the supposed masters of English. It's happening here, too. I believe India has kept the market on proper English. UK seems to have tossed it out for slang. Similar to American English in the south. Go down yonder a piece round bout the hodag selling grub.

I suppose it's like many Americans saying "my bad" whatever the F that means!

Edited July 13, 2009 by HYENA

[Bulgarican 0]

i have some "troubles" with my SSN too, well we went there 19 June and they said 10 dayys but nothing came here, so we went there again and looks like i have given my names and the address of Chris so most likely they didnt find me on this address when they saw the mailbox, so now i wait again...we do need the SSN for marriage license....

i have some problems understanding the people here too, but mostly those who are not americans and have really bad accent....not that i dont have but i understand better people who speak pure english...so far so good for me i'm enjoying my life here and everything is alright...we are arranging our wedding now

You don't require an SSN to marry in IL. At least not in DuPage County, IL, where I reside. Bloomington, IL comes under McClean County's jurisdiction, and according to the guidelines provided by the McClean County's Clerk: http://www.mcleancountyil.gov/CountyClerk/...ge_Brochure.pdf You only need your Social Security #s, IF APPLICABLE. And McClean County required you to make an appointment to get your marriage license, so just give them a call and inform them that one of you is a K-1 visa holder and they should waive the SS# requirement for you.

Thank you Marm, we still have a month so i'll get it till then just in case

So you'll live close to Bloomington?

Still waiting for the Visa?

Edited July 13, 2009 by Leo and Lioness

[Fred N Emilia 0]

Dang I havent been here in a while.

I got married last July 7th. On to more paperwork now, hehe!

[Hell0W0rld 10]

Dang I havent been here in a while.

I got married last July 7th. On to more paperwork now, hehe!

congrats

good luck on the next process

[MARM 7]

Thank you Marm, we still have a month so i'll get it till then just in case

So you'll live close to Bloomington?

Still waiting for the Visa?

Yes, still waiting for the visa.

[Chris & Mara 0]

I almost think your situation sucks more then mine Marm, being told you have it then just having to do more waiting....

[Ranchris 0]

hello everyone.. havn't visited this site for awhile since there was no need to update anything..

I am still waiting for my police certificate to reach LONDON.. now its 5 months!!! My fiance sent out the checklist on june 26th.. he found out that the embassy recieved it on the 30th. We are still waiting for our interview date!! How long does it take them to reply?? And does the embassy give the interview date a month from the date u send it or a month from when u receive the letter stating ur interview date??? this whole process keeps lingering on and on...ahgffffffffffffffff....

we called the embassy like 1.5 months ago to ask if they want the documents with the checklist becoz when i read visa journey it only said ppl were sending in jus the checklist...so someone from embassy said they need all the documents..so we were waiting for the police certificate..it took so long so we decided call the embassy up and ask..is it possible to send the checklist and the forms first. They had said send in all the documents or the process might take longer. So we wait again..and call a week after to have some lady tell us no they dont want any documents sent, they jus want the checklist and forms!!!!!!!!!!!! i get soooooooo upset....do those ppl know what they are talking about?? so now we sent the stuff and havn't heard from them yet!!! .... i want him to be here by first week of august..i dont know if that'll happen anymore . ..

Let me know guys if you guys have any input on these things...

thanks

Our experience has been that package 3 is a confirmation of checklist (items) you should have in your possession ready for your embassy interview ....this checklist needs to be returned to the interviewing embassy....then within a copuple of days we received package 4 which is simply the interview date...hope that helps...you may also want to keep calling and checking as your visa petition may have expired (only valid for 5 months from approval/NOA2). All the best.

[HappyDancer 7]

I missed all of you people! I am back!!! Marrid last une 27 - the best day of my life!!! Got my SSN in my married name. My daughter's been registered for grade school and she will be entering in 3rd grade. We are still saving money for the paperworks and medical that need taking care of. We are looking at $250- for the last vaccine shot that I need. $250/person for the I-693A. And about $1650+ for the filing of the AOS with shipping and handling. Lordy, it's not done yet. But the fight gets easier since hubby and I are together now.

How's everybody?

[Hell0W0rld 10]

I missed all of you people! I am back!!! Marrid last une 27 - the best day of my life!!! Got my SSN in my married name. My daughter's been registered for grade school and she will be entering in 3rd grade. We are still saving money for the paperworks and medical that need taking care of. We are looking at $250- for the last vaccine shot that I need. $250/person for the I-693A. And about $1650+ for the filing of the AOS with shipping and handling. Lordy, it's not done yet. But the fight gets easier since hubby and I are together now.

How's everybody?

no wedding pictures?

[shefellfromheaven 18]

Congratulation to Fred and Happy Dancer. Wish you all a happy marriage

[maliciant 7]

But.. what, exactly, is Advanced Parole? The .gov website says it's supposed to be for emergency situations.

AP is just a pair of papers that you give to the immigration officer on the way back into the country, it's kind of like a visa. If you can avoid using it, it's best, but you should apply for it. Most people don't wait a year for their greencard, but some people still do, if you happen to be one of those unlucky ones, you'll wish you had applied for it. The AP form asks reason for requesting travel, I think I wrote in case of emergency. You can't wait until there is an emergency to prepare for it, though I think you can get expedites on AP fairly easily if you have a real emergency. Just fill out the form, send it in, and hope you don't need to use it, and if you find you may have to, do your research here, some people have run into trouble with the actual use of AP.

[Thayani 0]

hello everyone.. havn't visited this site for awhile since there was no need to update anything..

I am still waiting for my police certificate to reach LONDON.. now its 5 months!!! My fiance sent out the checklist on june 26th.. he found out that the embassy recieved it on the 30th. We are still waiting for our interview date!! How long does it take them to reply?? And does the embassy give the interview date a month from the date u send it or a month from when u receive the letter stating ur interview date??? this whole process keeps lingering on and on...ahgffffffffffffffff....

we called the embassy like 1.5 months ago to ask if they want the documents with the checklist becoz when i read visa journey it only said ppl were sending in jus the checklist...so someone from embassy said they need all the documents..so we were waiting for the police certificate..it took so long so we decided call the embassy up and ask..is it possible to send the checklist and the forms first. They had said send in all the documents or the process might take longer. So we wait again..and call a week after to have some lady tell us no they dont want any documents sent, they jus want the checklist and forms!!!!!!!!!!!! i get soooooooo upset....do those ppl know what they are talking about?? so now we sent the stuff and havn't heard from them yet!!! .... i want him to be here by first week of august..i dont know if that'll happen anymore . ..

Let me know guys if you guys have any input on these things...

thanks

Our experience has been that package 3 is a confirmation of checklist (items) you should have in your possession ready for your embassy interview ....this checklist needs to be returned to the interviewing embassy....then within a copuple of days we received package 4 which is simply the interview date...hope that helps...you may also want to keep calling and checking as your visa petition may have expired (only valid for 5 months from approval/NOA2). All the best.

I thought the visa petition expires after a year???

[Gemmie 142]

I am still waiting for my police certificate to reach LONDON.. now its 5 months!!! My fiance sent out the checklist on june 26th.. he found out that the embassy recieved it on the 30th. We are still waiting for our interview date!! How long does it take them to reply?? And does the embassy give the interview date a month from the date u send it or a month from when u receive the letter stating ur interview date??? this whole process keeps lingering on and on...ahgffffffffffffffff....

we called the embassy like 1.5 months ago to ask if they want the documents with the checklist becoz when i read visa journey it only said ppl were sending in jus the checklist...so someone from embassy said they need all the documents..so we were waiting for the police certificate..it took so long so we decided call the embassy up and ask..is it possible to send the checklist and the forms first. They had said send in all the documents or the process might take longer. So we wait again..and call a week after to have some lady tell us no they dont want any documents sent, they jus want the checklist and forms!!!!!!!!!!!! i get soooooooo upset....do those ppl know what they are talking about?? so now we sent the stuff and havn't heard from them yet!!! sad.gif.... i want him to be here by first week of august..i dont know if that'll happen anymore sad.gif. ..

Stay calm, everything is fine.

You're not supposed to send documents with the checklist, so whoever told you that at the London Consulate told you wrong or misunderstood. You're only supposed to send the checklist which lets them know you're ready for an interview.

I should tell you now it takes a while for them to get back to you. It took about 5 weeks for me, I believe - as it takes a few weeks to put in the system and then a couple of weeks to send you the last notice/package with your interview date. So you're still within the waiting time, you should get your date shortly.

While you wait, re-gather documents! Did you send the originals? If so, you need to get yourself some more because they'll want to see originals and copies at the interview, work on getting all the documents needed. It tells you here in the Guides.

***

We applied for a marriage license yesterday and I froze when asked what my name will be after marriage. To be honest, I hadn't thought much about whether I would change my name. They said when I pick up the license on Thursday, I can let them know my decision.

I got my SSN yesterday (finally!) so I can start adding my name to accounts, getting a library card, apply for a drivers permit, etc. We're also making an appointment for my HPV vaccine in RI next week - then we're going to get a civil surgeon sign off on my stuff and get some of the paperwork ready for AOS. That way, we can focus on planning a ceremony.

I'm happy to see progress with people here.