LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

[TerriandEric 4]

Thanks Dowhatever -- He is doing much better today. He is sitting up in bed being the cheeky little so & so we all know him to be LOL More surgery towards the end of next week so he is in Westmead for a couple of weeks yet...long days for me.

Jamie I had to do the whole kid thing for this process. I rang the Family Law Court to find out what my options were because my ex husband has never furnished us with an address, he changes jobs faster then Child Support can catch him, and is in general a pain in the butt. I was advised that I had to make a concerted effort to find him -- think Electrol Roll, Family, Friends, last known employer etc. Once those avenues are exhausted you can apply to the courts for permission to take the children overseas for immigration purposes. IF you already have sole custody granted through the courts, you do not need the fathers permission. I managed to find my ex husband & got him to sign a Stat Dec stating he gives permission for me to take my children to reside in the USA permanently. If you get the stat dec make sure they also send you with that stat dec a copy of their photographic ID. You will need all of this for Interview stage....if you have to find him I would start now to save any headaches later.

Best of Luck to all those flying out over the next few days...enjoy every second you have left here.

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

Thanks again Terri xx Sorry you had to repost lol.

[Giggles 1]

So many of us flying out around the same time! I fly on Wednesday, haven't even started packing yet haha. Have my last day at work tomorrow, going shopping with Mum for her Mother of the Bride outfit, then packing all day Saturday! Have way too much ####### that has accumulated since I moved back home that I must sort through. One month til the wedding!!

Have fun packing tomorrow Astrid. I still have to do a few things to do to sell my car before I leave. Argh! Selling a car is such a hassle. I'm kind of sad about getting rid of it....it was my first car.

I don't take stock much in the picture aspect of it all, as both interviews we had they were ignored, LOL! Not to say you shouldn't just in case, but I was all panicking trying to get family pictures done in time and then to have them not even want to look, it was frustrating! It seems, if you have all your paperwork in order and no red flags jumping out, it's a pretty painless and straight forward process and they just wanna process you and move on. In some ways, that was a great thing, but in others, it was a tough cookie to swallow when you put so much time and effort into gathering all the evidences and stuff!

I wish I could help you on the kid part, but that wasn't a situation we had to deal with since the only kids we have are mine. It seems like such a pain, but it honestly sounds like something you might wanna check in with a lawyer for, just to cover your tush. Good luck with it all!

Thanks for the congrats! It was a long awaited day and worth every minute of it!

The CO at my interview went through all the photos in my file that my fiance submitted with the I-129. They didn't ask to see any of my additional evidence though.

SIMON, ASTRID, GIGGLES - Happy travels!!! You're all in the same week. I will miss everyone's font (but you still have AOS).

TERRI - i hope your son is better if you read this ...

AS FOR ME ... WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED. NOA2 ... YEA BABY!!! Was approved on 20/01/2010. ... 125 days ... but we're all getting them now, my September CR1 buddies so we'll at least get to do NVC together.

Yay!! That's great news It won't be long til it's your turn!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

SIMON, ASTRID, GIGGLES - Happy travels!!! You're all in the same week. I will miss everyone's font (but you still have AOS).

TERRI - i hope your son is better if you read this ...

AS FOR ME ... WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED. NOA2 ... YEA BABY!!! Was approved on 20/01/2010. ... 125 days ... but we're all getting them now, my September CR1 buddies so we'll at least get to do NVC together.

Ditto to all of this and CONGRATS!! Finally!!

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

I'm getting so excited! I spent about 3 hours last night, studying the step by step guides for the K1 and OMG it all really is just sinking in now, I feel so confident lol and it doesn't really seem that hard, well not as hard as I thought it would be now that I understand it all.

Some of the documents we need, he's already getting those, as we need them for our babies citizenship etc also and I will get onto the Courts on Monday and see what I can do about getting permission to take my son over for immigration purposes.

Did I mention that my partner and I decided that we are going to go over to the US in May/June? I think we might go for a month . We are going to fly to Seattle to meet him, then the 4 of us will fly to Atlanta to meet his family (yikes!) and then we are taking a roadtrip to Pigeon Forge at Tennessee and spending a weeks holiday there!

I will be keeping ALL receipts and will be very camera happy! haha

Question - When I'm over there, after our holiday in Tennessee and ATL, we are going to sit down and put the K1 petition together (well it will mainly be me because I'm the brains in this operation, with all your great help of course lol). Can he actually file it while I'm there or does he have to wait until I'm back in Australia to file?

[Deb+Steve 13]

Jaime - he can submit while you're there but you'll have to be home for the interview.

Ditto to all of this and CONGRATS!! Finally!!

Thanks, Vanessa!! I know, right? Now I can stop stressing and at least start some measure of planning.

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

Thanks Don'twhateverme We'll do that then, then I will feel at ease knowing it's all done in the right order and put together properly lol. I'll be home in plenty of time for the interview, we'll probably file the K1 just before I come home.

[Bacon 0]

I got my NOA2!!!! Woohoo!!!

Now I just need to kick my man's butt into gear on the police and medical stuff.

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

I got my NOA2!!!! Woohoo!!!

Now I just need to kick my man's butt into gear on the police and medical stuff.

Congratulations Bacon!! I can feel your excitement, must be such a good feeling . You go kick that butt LOL

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

Ok I've done lots of hours of reading. Now tell me, I know NOA is Notice of Assessment (I think?), so NOA1 and NOA2 are just notifications right?

After receiving NOA1, is there anything you have to file or do you just then wait for NOA2, which I think comes with Packet 3 and then you do your medical and police report stuff, getting it all ready for the interview? I am probably way off base, but that is the impression I'm getting from everything I've been reading and peoples little signature thingies lol.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there anything you need to file or get done in between receiving NOA1 and NOA2?

I hope I've made sense lol.

Oh and what does *touched* mean??

[VanessaTony 3,567]

You're close

NOA1 is the payment receipt. It's the "thanks we received your paperwork and your money, stuff will start now" (the USC will get this)

NOA2 is the CONGRATS now we'll let you apply for the visa. (the USC will get this) The stuff you mailed was the PETITION to apply for the visa, once you get NOA2 your petition is approved which means they send you visa info

Packet 3 (P3) is after NOA2, it comes from the Sydney consulate and is typically emailed (if you gave email details). It tells you how to go about the police check (though a lot of people start that before getting P3, sometimes after NOA2), medical, gives your your case number (starts with SYD) etc. You will need to get all the documents together and mail that off to them. Once they receive P3 documents from you, they will email you P4

P4 is the interview date, and is the final checklist of stuff you need to BRING to the interview. It doesn't list evidence but it's assumed you will take proof of relationship

"Touched" is.. when you get NOA1 you get a number that you can enter on the USCIS website to "track" your case. You will see NOA2 on there before you get the notification, and occasionally the "updated" date will change (you'll see when you register there's a "last updated" date and when the date changes it means it's been touched. It could be just moving your file, or photocopying or whatever, but it means someone has "touched" your file. Honestly I didn't really pay much attention to that date except that when I noticed it changed, I clicked to find out why and that's when I found NOA2 one time. Mine was never "touched" that I remember.

I don't know if you can see signatures, but if you read through at least the first 3 pages of the "Australian Beneficiaries" one in my signature you should get through my process details and I link what I got sent for P3 so you know what's ahead.

Also, there isn't really anything to do between NOA1 and NOA2, but after about 2 months SOME people start looking at getting their police check done or at least call about it to see about timelines and waiting times (depending how urgent it all is, mine was urgent which is why I did mine early) and fees involved as well so you know how much money you need. Other than that you WILL need documents from your fiance so he should get that started after about 2 1/2 months to mail it to you. I'm not sure how close the dates on the documents should be to the P3 date but he could at least ask his banks what's involved.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[TerriandEric 4]

Ok I've done lots of hours of reading. Now tell me, I know NOA is Notice of Assessment (I think?), so NOA1 and NOA2 are just notifications right?

After receiving NOA1, is there anything you have to file or do you just then wait for NOA2, which I think comes with Packet 3 and then you do your medical and police report stuff, getting it all ready for the interview? I am probably way off base, but that is the impression I'm getting from everything I've been reading and peoples little signature thingies lol.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there anything you need to file or get done in between receiving NOA1 and NOA2?

I hope I've made sense lol.

Oh and what does *touched* mean??

You have been busy reading LOL..

NOA1 is the notice you receive basically telling you that they have received your petition.

NOA2 is the notice saying they have approved the petition and it is being sent off to the NVC to be forwarded to the relevant Consulate. Once there they do a few other checks & it gets forwarded to the Embassy...when they receive it you will receive Packet 3 which will give you all your instructions regarding medical etc. You can do your Police Report in advance -- but it needs to still be valid at time of interview. I have dont mine last week prior to my son getting ill.

Between NOA1 & NOA2 you prepare all the paperwork for interview, your man gets allt he papers ready for the affidavit of support and continue life as per normal.

We are jsut waiting -- watching for NOA2 lol

CONGRATS Bacon!!! :dance:

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

Thanks heaps Vanessa and Terri! Very informative . Yeah I've done stacks of reading!! LOL

I do hope you get your NOA2 soon Terri! It must be a horrible waiting game ... I know when the time comes for me, I'll be checking the progress everyday lol.

Vanessa I got to your Australian Beneficiaries page, thanks heaps for the tip I will have a read of it now and save it to my favourites also.

I read your POE review, how exciting for you! I didn't realise we'd be allowed to stand in the US Citizen line once the Visa was in hand, I just assumed we'd stand in the non US Citizen longggggggggggggggggg queues! lol

[TerriandEric 4]

Thanks heaps Vanessa and Terri! Very informative . Yeah I've done stacks of reading!! LOL

I do hope you get your NOA2 soon Terri! It must be a horrible waiting game ... I know when the time comes for me, I'll be checking the progress everyday lol.

Vanessa I got to your Australian Beneficiaries page, thanks heaps for the tip I will have a read of it now and save it to my favourites also.

I read your POE review, how exciting for you! I didn't realise we'd be allowed to stand in the US Citizen line once the Visa was in hand, I just assumed we'd stand in the non US Citizen longggggggggggggggggg queues! lol

The wait is lonnnnnnnnnngggggg but the end is worth every second of it. I check progress twice a day...####### I know but its a habit now LOL.

There was an NOA2 issued today for someone from November 20...I am crossing everything available that our turn comes around just as quickly as theirs did.

Anyway, my brain is fried from reading some transplant stuff for my son..so I am off to sleep before spending my day tomorrow frantically packing.

Chat later all xxx

[Deb+Steve 13]

I got my NOA2!!!! Woohoo!!!

Now I just need to kick my man's butt into gear on the police and medical stuff.

Congrats Bacon ....

We're just waiting for our case # from NVC so I can do my medicals. Brisbane's wait for an appt is not bad so not stressing about trying to get in.