Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date

[Omnivore 0]

My doctor is away and I need to visit him first, need to call off the appointment again! Good thing I don't leave till Feb 16!

Can I be rude and ask why you need to see your doctor first? Is it for immunisation history? If so surely your doctor has a substitute working while he's away?

Is it something that can wait until AFTER the main doctor?

Either way stay strong. It will all be okay. You'll be there just after valentines day

He just moved to a different surgery so I don't know any of the locums, plus he knows my history better. I'm also concerned about my tinnitus playing up so think I may mention that when I'm there (he's the only GP who knows about it).

I'm not a Valentines Day guy, that's why we want to get married just after, means we can not celebrate it but not appear like weirdos She'll actually be out here from Australia Day til the 16th.

[Giggles 1]

I'm patiently waiting to receive Packet 3 from the consulate. In the meantime I thought I prepare myself so I started filling out the forms for P3 this afternoon. Anyway, I just had a couple of questions for the people who have already done P3.

Firstly, is Part 2 of DS-230 (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration - Sworn Statement) required? It says Part 1 (Biographic Data) is to be sent back immediately but I can't see anywhere that Part 2 is required at all for P3.

And the other question I have is, how many passport size photos do I need? The consulate's website is a little confusing about this. On the menu where it says "Photographs" it says "All together each applicant will require 4 photographs". Do I glue 2 of these in the photo space on both copies of DS-156 and send the other 2 with P3? Then the medical instructions says I need to take 3 photos. So do I need 7 passport size photos in total? I'm confused!

[Bec&Ben 0]

Hi.. I'm Bec from Perth and going to be starting the K-1 journey in a few weeks. Have found this post to be really interesting & has given me something to look forward to. My beautiful fiance, Ben, is in North Carolina & we'll probably end up in Alabama.

I have a beautiful 5 year old son who'll be coming on this journey with me.. does anyone have experience with children & this process?

Congrats to those of you that are married!!

Edited November 22, 2009 by Bec&Ben

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I'm patiently waiting to receive Packet 3 from the consulate. In the meantime I thought I prepare myself so I started filling out the forms for P3 this afternoon. Anyway, I just had a couple of questions for the people who have already done P3.

Firstly, is Part 2 of DS-230 (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration - Sworn Statement) required? It says Part 1 (Biographic Data) is to be sent back immediately but I can't see anywhere that Part 2 is required at all for P3.

And the other question I have is, how many passport size photos do I need? The consulate's website is a little confusing about this. On the menu where it says "Photographs" it says "All together each applicant will require 4 photographs". Do I glue 2 of these in the photo space on both copies of DS-156 and send the other 2 with P3? Then the medical instructions says I need to take 3 photos. So do I need 7 passport size photos in total? I'm confused!

Part 2 is never needed for K1 applicants. it's only for people who are already married.

In regards to photos, I needed 2 for each of the DS156's. And I was told 3 for the doctor (1 for the xray, 1 for the bloodwork, 1 for the medical). Usually the pics come in 4's so it can't hurt for you to get 8, that way you have more pics for later... or you can do what i did and give my family a couple of them.. 'cause it's easier to get american sized pics in America

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Hi.. I'm Bec from Perth and going to be starting the K-1 journey in a few weeks. Have found this post to be really interesting & has given me something to look forward to. My beautiful fiance, Ben, is in North Carolina & we'll probably end up in Alabama.

I have a beautiful 5 year old son who'll be coming on this journey with me.. does anyone have experience with children & this process?

Congrats to those of you that are married!!

Congratulations on starting the process soon and welcome to VJ!

I personally have no experience with children and this process but I hope someone on here can help you out. I wish you and your son the best

[alex and astrid 38]

Oh shoot...I must have missed those picture instructions because only sent two passport pics with my P3...but I can bring the other two photos with me to the interview yeah?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Oh shoot...I must have missed those picture instructions because only sent two passport pics with my P3...but I can bring the other two photos with me to the interview yeah?

If they need more they'll ask for some with P4 (which you take to the interview). Not an issue at all, if you even need them at all. So you can probably wait till you get P4 which will tell you if you need them and it'll be at least a week till the interview (more like 2 or 3) so that's plenty of time to take them if you DO need them .

[Giggles 1]

Part 2 is never needed for K1 applicants. it's only for people who are already married.

In regards to photos, I needed 2 for each of the DS156's. And I was told 3 for the doctor (1 for the xray, 1 for the bloodwork, 1 for the medical). Usually the pics come in 4's so it can't hurt for you to get 8, that way you have more pics for later... or you can do what i did and give my family a couple of them.. 'cause it's easier to get american sized pics in America

Thanks for the info Vanessa I got 4 photos printed this morning while I was out because I need the 3 for my medical this week. I'll have to get another lot printed later for my P3.

I had a little trouble getting the correct size. Big W use to have the 2" x 2" American passport size photos (I remember seeing it when I did photos for a visa a couple of years ago) but they don't have that option anymore. I even went to Kmart and Kodak store to see if they did. I ended up just getting 4 2" x 3" pictures and I'll trim them to the right size.

One last question, did you glue the pictures to your DS-156 or do you leave it unattached for the consulate to do?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Part 2 is never needed for K1 applicants. it's only for people who are already married.

In regards to photos, I needed 2 for each of the DS156's. And I was told 3 for the doctor (1 for the xray, 1 for the bloodwork, 1 for the medical). Usually the pics come in 4's so it can't hurt for you to get 8, that way you have more pics for later... or you can do what i did and give my family a couple of them.. 'cause it's easier to get american sized pics in America

Thanks for the info Vanessa I got 4 photos printed this morning while I was out because I need the 3 for my medical this week. I'll have to get another lot printed later for my P3.

I had a little trouble getting the correct size. Big W use to have the 2" x 2" American passport size photos (I remember seeing it when I did photos for a visa a couple of years ago) but they don't have that option anymore. I even went to Kmart and Kodak store to see if they did. I ended up just getting 4 2" x 3" pictures and I'll trim them to the right size.

One last question, did you glue the pictures to your DS-156 or do you leave it unattached for the consulate to do?

Glued them ourselves.

[alex and astrid 38]

Interview date - December 15, at 8am!! Was hoping to get in on the 8th, but all the appointments for that day must have been taken. It's all good!

We both got the appointment letter in the email today, and I am not missing anything, just got to bring the passport, payment, evidence etc...Will bring extra passport pics just in case too! On my letter though, under additional comments was "FormDS194RefusalSupplemental 02/20/08". Does anyone know what it means, or does everyone have that on their letter?

[Deb+Steve 13]

Interview date - December 15, at 8am!! Was hoping to get in on the 8th, but all the appointments for that day must have been taken. It's all good!

We both got the appointment letter in the email today, and I am not missing anything, just got to bring the passport, payment, evidence etc...Will bring extra passport pics just in case too! On my letter though, under additional comments was "FormDS194RefusalSupplemental 02/20/08". Does anyone know what it means, or does everyone have that on their letter?

Yay - Congrats Astrid ...

[alex and astrid 38]

Interview date - December 15, at 8am!! Was hoping to get in on the 8th, but all the appointments for that day must have been taken. It's all good!

We both got the appointment letter in the email today, and I am not missing anything, just got to bring the passport, payment, evidence etc...Will bring extra passport pics just in case too! On my letter though, under additional comments was "FormDS194RefusalSupplemental 02/20/08". Does anyone know what it means, or does everyone have that on their letter?

Yay - Congrats Astrid ...

Thanks! Oh, to everyone waiting to pay their visa fee, I think you can just go ahead and pay it, and not wait for your P4 letter....the reason I say that is that the amount you pay to Aus Post is linked to the exchange rate, my letter says I have to pay $157 AUD, but it also says "subject to change". I just checked the exchange rate, it's more like 140-ish now. So when I go tot pay it, I guess I just tell them that I need to pay a US visa fee, and what it is worth in USD, and let them figure out the exchange.

Just looked at airfares, looks like its going to be about $160 to fly there and back....and for once, Virgin Blue is cheaper than JetMaggot! (sorry, I have a vendetta against Jetstar). Going to stay at the YHA Central Sydney or Railway square, for 41.50 a night. Cheap and central is good in my book! Wonder if I will happen across any other Vj'ers while I am there?

[zaskar 0]

Interview date - December 15, at 8am!! Was hoping to get in on the 8th, but all the appointments for that day must have been taken. It's all good!

We both got the appointment letter in the email today, and I am not missing anything, just got to bring the passport, payment, evidence etc...Will bring extra passport pics just in case too! On my letter though, under additional comments was "FormDS194RefusalSupplemental 02/20/08". Does anyone know what it means, or does everyone have that on their letter?

Yay - Congrats Astrid ...

Thanks! Oh, to everyone waiting to pay their visa fee, I think you can just go ahead and pay it, and not wait for your P4 letter....the reason I say that is that the amount you pay to Aus Post is linked to the exchange rate, my letter says I have to pay $157 AUD, but it also says "subject to change". I just checked the exchange rate, it's more like 140-ish now. So when I go tot pay it, I guess I just tell them that I need to pay a US visa fee, and what it is worth in USD, and let them figure out the exchange.

Just looked at airfares, looks like its going to be about $160 to fly there and back....and for once, Virgin Blue is cheaper than JetMaggot! (sorry, I have a vendetta against Jetstar). Going to stay at the YHA Central Sydney or Railway square, for 41.50 a night. Cheap and central is good in my book! Wonder if I will happen across any other Vj'ers while I am there?

I am going to pay my fee tomorrow and it says I need to pay $157.20 so we will see I guess

[Giggles 1]

Interview date - December 15, at 8am!! Was hoping to get in on the 8th, but all the appointments for that day must have been taken. It's all good!

We both got the appointment letter in the email today, and I am not missing anything, just got to bring the passport, payment, evidence etc...Will bring extra passport pics just in case too! On my letter though, under additional comments was "FormDS194RefusalSupplemental 02/20/08". Does anyone know what it means, or does everyone have that on their letter?

Yay for you! How exciting!! Hopefully my interview won't be far behind yours. I really want to get my visa before Christmas so I can leave early in the new year.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Interview date - December 15, at 8am!! Was hoping to get in on the 8th, but all the appointments for that day must have been taken. It's all good!

We both got the appointment letter in the email today, and I am not missing anything, just got to bring the passport, payment, evidence etc...Will bring extra passport pics just in case too! On my letter though, under additional comments was "FormDS194RefusalSupplemental 02/20/08". Does anyone know what it means, or does everyone have that on their letter?

Congrats! It was like a random page right? Mine had it too. Don't worry about it at all. I don't know if they even realise that's printed but I had the same thing and had no issues