Yardies, at home and a farrin' (Part 3)

[BelwinMills 0]

Have a nice weekend everyone!!!

Mindy you too! Don't forget to Spring ahead. Sure wishing it will feel like spring soon.

[Ms Squitto 0]

Hello everyone - how's it going?

[shermike 1]

HI EVERYONE I JUS RECIEVED MY VISA TODAY . CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS MEANS "UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR" ANY HELP APPRECIATED. THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS IN MY PASSPORT.

An unexpired foreign passport with the new machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV), which includes the statement, “upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent resident status for 1 year,” is acceptable for establishing a non–U.S. citizen’s eligibility to be employed in the United States, according to an Employer Information Bulletin issued July 26, 2004, by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Business Liaison. Employers must now accept this new evidence of a newly hired worker’s lawful permanent residence status when the worker completes the I‑9 employment eligibility verification process.

As of June 28, 2004, each new MRIV issued by a U.S. embassy or consulate includes the new “temporary I‑551” language immediately below the photograph of the person to whom the visa is issued. When admitting a visa-bearer into the U.S. at a port of entry, a Dept. of Homeland Security officer “places an admission stamp on the upper portion of the MRIV, with part of the stamp overlapping the adjoining page (just above the bearer’s photograph),” according to the bulletin. For one year from the date of endorsement by the DHS officer, this stamped MRIV is valid as a document that, for purposes of completing the I‑9 employment eligibility verification form, establishes both the bearer’s identity and employment authorization (i.e., it is considered to be in the same class as the two other documents listed in item 4 of List A, which is on the reverse side of the I‑9 form).

[darlene 0]

HI EVERYONE I JUS RECIEVED MY VISA TODAY . CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS MEANS "UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR" ANY HELP APPRECIATED. THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS IN MY PASSPORT.

Congratulations! Safe travels to you.

[nyseness 0]

HI EVERYONE I JUS RECIEVED MY VISA TODAY . CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS MEANS "UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR" ANY HELP APPRECIATED. THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS IN MY PASSPORT.

Hi Lovelyjodie,

Congrats on getting your visa so fast!! I'm not completely sure but I think it's the conditions on your visa...which in your case is the CR1. I think it proof for showing residency for a year. Not sure, try talking to Susanwill I know she recently got her husband approved w/the CR1.

[BelwinMills 0]

It's so hard being here and not being able to "take control" of all those situations. I remember almost losing my mind when Roy was trying to pick up Packet #3 and drop off the DS-230 at the same time......and then "them" messing up his Birth Papers -- Oh my God...I was almost on a plane down there to try to get it all straightened out......

Sorry Jax -- let him cool off and he can try again.....

Thanks Mindy! He is trying again on Monday and bring a friend who also can try. The lady said if he came back on Monday he would not have to wait in line. I think since we will be on the same time by Monday I will call him at 4am to reminded him to bring paperwork. He is going to borrow money from someone until I get paid again. My parents helped us out this time but we don't want them to know what happened. Thank goodness I sold some stocks in the market today. I wish I could have control over this situation but I guess the last step our in his hands.

When I call the Embassy on Monday maybe they will give me a date in April. I checked plane prices there okay at 410. Thanks everyone for tips about where to stay at the embassy and how to rent a car. I won't ride a bus there did plenty of that teaching there. Not for me if we go Dwain will drive now that he has his drivers licenses. He said he knows I won't want to drive all the way there so we are flying. It will be his first flight and this mini flight can compare him for the flight to the USA. Flying is new and scary for him.

Hello everyone - how's it going?

Hi Mrs. Squitto!! How is everything going with you?

[BelwinMills 0]

I found really good flight fares on www.farecompare.com. Has anyone else used this site before? You can get 1st class cheap if you get it a couple days before you want to leave. Sometimes cheaper than economy.

[keishino 0]

hello again...thanks for all the great vibes everyone, i really appreciate them! :-)

okay - so jodie laid out everything just the way it happened with us, too...the first window they took all the forms (i'll post a list of stuff we took, and stuff they kept from that pile - we had way more than they wanted, but i am glad we did)...then they fingerprinted him at the 2nd window and the 3rd was the interview...i will post a list of all the questions we were asked shortly...so we got through all that and then the lady said that although every single other thing was in order, our co-sponsor didn't fill out the right form...now, EVERYTHING i read before going down there was that a co-sponsor needed to fill out the i-134, and give all the back-up info/docs that i gave on my i-134 (i.e. their own bank statements, taxes, job letter, etc.)...(the reason we needed a co-sponsor is because i am self-employed and work on contracts that don't always pay me in totally taxable ways - like i get per diems that aren't taxed, and that makes up a lot of my income...anyway, if anyone else has an unconventional situation like that and has questions, don't hesitate to ask)...SO - sorry for being so windy! the interviewer lady tells me that our co-sponsor must fill out the i-864, NOT the i-134...(futuremrs, feel free to pm me about this as i saw you're using a co-sponsor as well)...so they gave us a blue paper and said we have to fill that one out and bring the original signed copy back, along with proof of the co-sponsor's u.s. citizenship (i.e. birth cert.)...i was furious when we left the embassy because i never heard anywhere that a co-sponsor had to do the i-864...my understanding was that that was ONLY for when they get here...am still trying to figure out if it says this anywhere - has anyone else seen this?! i AM relieved that this really is just a delay and not a denial of any sort...so it was disappointing, not devastating... :-) just a little hurdle...

again, i'm still a little spaced out and i promise to write a more proper explanation of what-all happened asap, just wanted to get this on here so people with upcoming interviews can know...

by the way, we filled out the ds156, 156k and 157 on the computer, i think better safe than sorry, so we had all of them typed instead of handwritten...we also took a copy of the ds230 part i and ii because it said to do that on his instructions...when we first got inside the building, they asked everyone to sign and date the 230 part 1 (#25 specifically), and we said he'd turned one in already so they didn't take the copy we had...

we took 6 full-frontal photos and they kept 4 of them...we did notice that the stuff they sent him contained 2 different sets of instructions for the photos...there is a part that says something about 3/4 view with the right ear showing...turns out that is on the old papers - the ones that list the $335 and all the other stuff that doesn't pertain any more...all they wanted was the front ones...

also, he has 2 sons, one in ja and one in the u.s. - we took birth certificates for both of them, the one in ja is coming here next year, so he's included in all our paperwork - but they didn't take either of the boy's certificates...i think its a good idea to take them anyway, just in case...

someone asked about how many copies of the police cert you need, when your SO gets it there are 2 copies stapled together...they will take one at the embassy and he will keep the other one...

trying to think of other things...will post as they come to me...

[BelwinMills 0]

hello again...thanks for all the great vibes everyone, i really appreciate them! :-)

okay - so jodie laid out everything just the way it happened with us, too...the first window they took all the forms (i'll post a list of stuff we took, and stuff they kept from that pile - we had way more than they wanted, but i am glad we did)...then they fingerprinted him at the 2nd window and the 3rd was the interview...i will post a list of all the questions we were asked shortly...so we got through all that and then the lady said that although every single other thing was in order, our co-sponsor didn't fill out the right form...now, EVERYTHING i read before going down there was that a co-sponsor needed to fill out the i-134, and give all the back-up info/docs that i gave on my i-134 (i.e. their own bank statements, taxes, job letter, etc.)...(the reason we needed a co-sponsor is because i am self-employed and work on contracts that don't always pay me in totally taxable ways - like i get per diems that aren't taxed, and that makes up a lot of my income...anyway, if anyone else has an unconventional situation like that and has questions, don't hesitate to ask)...SO - sorry for being so windy! the interviewer lady tells me that our co-sponsor must fill out the i-864, NOT the i-134...(futuremrs, feel free to pm me about this as i saw you're using a co-sponsor as well)...so they gave us a blue paper and said we have to fill that one out and bring the original signed copy back, along with proof of the co-sponsor's u.s. citizenship (i.e. birth cert.)...i was furious when we left the embassy because i never heard anywhere that a co-sponsor had to do the i-864...my understanding was that that was ONLY for when they get here...am still trying to figure out if it says this anywhere - has anyone else seen this?! i AM relieved that this really is just a delay and not a denial of any sort...so it was disappointing, not devastating... :-) just a little hurdle...

again, i'm still a little spaced out and i promise to write a more proper explanation of what-all happened asap, just wanted to get this on here so people with upcoming interviews can know...

by the way, we filled out the ds156, 156k and 157 on the computer, i think better safe than sorry, so we had all of them typed instead of handwritten...we also took a copy of the ds230 part i and ii because it said to do that on his instructions...when we first got inside the building, they asked everyone to sign and date the 230 part 1 (#25 specifically), and we said he'd turned one in already so they didn't take the copy we had...

we took 6 full-frontal photos and they kept 4 of them...we did notice that the stuff they sent him contained 2 different sets of instructions for the photos...there is a part that says something about 3/4 view with the right ear showing...turns out that is on the old papers - the ones that list the $335 and all the other stuff that doesn't pertain any more...all they wanted was the front ones...

also, he has 2 sons, one in ja and one in the u.s. - we took birth certificates for both of them, the one in ja is coming here next year, so he's included in all our paperwork - but they didn't take either of the boy's certificates...i think its a good idea to take them anyway, just in case...

someone asked about how many copies of the police cert you need, when your SO gets it there are 2 copies stapled together...they will take one at the embassy and he will keep the other one...

trying to think of other things...will post as they come to me...

Keishino-

Thanks for sharing this information. Will they schedule your interview again soon? I can't believe they would need that all from a sponsor. I know Shauna (nannygirl) also had a sponsor help her out. Hang in there.

[BelwinMills 0]

When hubby gets here I am planning to start buying chicken in bulk or at least larger packages.

Any suggestions on the best places to get deals on larger packs of chicken. Sams has Tyson for $2.48/lb.

Walmart looked to have large packs for cheaper. Anyone have any experience with Walmart chicken? quality? etc.

When your SO got here did you guys eat a lot of chicken?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

Jax

[keishino 0]

When hubby gets here I am planning to start buying chicken in bulk or at least larger packages.

Any suggestions on the best places to get deals on larger packs of chicken. Sams has Tyson for $2.48/lb.

Walmart looked to have large packs for cheaper. Anyone have any experience with Walmart chicken? quality? etc.

When your SO got here did you guys eat a lot of chicken?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

Jax

hey jax...where are you in chicago? i just moved from there recently, i lived in rogers park and the fruit market on howard had good, inexpensive chicken...i went in there for everything jamaican plus any kind of meat...they have goat sometimes and oxtail and all kinds of stuff that is really reasonable...

[Sonshyne 2]

I think I'm gonna have to re-do the DS156 forms. I've done them already and got the barcode generated. Do you think the info will be entered twice in the system? I think I need to change the way I entered the address.

[LovinJA 0]

hello again...thanks for all the great vibes everyone, i really appreciate them! :-)

okay - so jodie laid out everything just the way it happened with us, too...the first window they took all the forms (i'll post a list of stuff we took, and stuff they kept from that pile - we had way more than they wanted, but i am glad we did)...then they fingerprinted him at the 2nd window and the 3rd was the interview...i will post a list of all the questions we were asked shortly...so we got through all that and then the lady said that although every single other thing was in order, our co-sponsor didn't fill out the right form...now, EVERYTHING i read before going down there was that a co-sponsor needed to fill out the i-134, and give all the back-up info/docs that i gave on my i-134 (i.e. their own bank statements, taxes, job letter, etc.)...(the reason we needed a co-sponsor is because i am self-employed and work on contracts that don't always pay me in totally taxable ways - like i get per diems that aren't taxed, and that makes up a lot of my income...anyway, if anyone else has an unconventional situation like that and has questions, don't hesitate to ask)...SO - sorry for being so windy! the interviewer lady tells me that our co-sponsor must fill out the i-864, NOT the i-134...(futuremrs, feel free to pm me about this as i saw you're using a co-sponsor as well)...so they gave us a blue paper and said we have to fill that one out and bring the original signed copy back, along with proof of the co-sponsor's u.s. citizenship (i.e. birth cert.)...i was furious when we left the embassy because i never heard anywhere that a co-sponsor had to do the i-864...my understanding was that that was ONLY for when they get here...am still trying to figure out if it says this anywhere - has anyone else seen this?! i AM relieved that this really is just a delay and not a denial of any sort...so it was disappointing, not devastating... :-) just a little hurdle...

again, i'm still a little spaced out and i promise to write a more proper explanation of what-all happened asap, just wanted to get this on here so people with upcoming interviews can know...

by the way, we filled out the ds156, 156k and 157 on the computer, i think better safe than sorry, so we had all of them typed instead of handwritten...we also took a copy of the ds230 part i and ii because it said to do that on his instructions...when we first got inside the building, they asked everyone to sign and date the 230 part 1 (#25 specifically), and we said he'd turned one in already so they didn't take the copy we had...

we took 6 full-frontal photos and they kept 4 of them...we did notice that the stuff they sent him contained 2 different sets of instructions for the photos...there is a part that says something about 3/4 view with the right ear showing...turns out that is on the old papers - the ones that list the $335 and all the other stuff that doesn't pertain any more...all they wanted was the front ones...

also, he has 2 sons, one in ja and one in the u.s. - we took birth certificates for both of them, the one in ja is coming here next year, so he's included in all our paperwork - but they didn't take either of the boy's certificates...i think its a good idea to take them anyway, just in case...

someone asked about how many copies of the police cert you need, when your SO gets it there are 2 copies stapled together...they will take one at the embassy and he will keep the other one...

trying to think of other things...will post as they come to me...

Thank you for sharing your experience. The instructions they provide are so confusing.... it's a shame they put us through this But, it is only a temporary setback.

I have a question about the way you filled out the forms online.... it may sound very #######, but I just want to cover all my bases.... For questions that were not applicable, did you put N/A, or Not Applicable? On the DS230 it clearly states to put N/A, but in the instructions I think they say put Not Applicable.... When filling out the 156 online, I think you have to put Not Applicable.... So, I am thinking for the 156 and 156K and 157, put Not Applicable. For the 230 Pt. I and Pt. II, put N/A.

Just want to get feedback of others that have already been through it.... am I being too paranoid???

[LovinJA 0]

I think I'm gonna have to re-do the DS156 forms. I've done them already and got the barcode generated. Do you think the info will be entered twice in the system? I think I need to change the way I entered the address.

I don't think anything is being entered in the system when we generate them online.... at least I hope not because I've done the 156 a few times already!

I think the barcode is for their use at the embassy. To scan the docuement for the contents without having to read each one. So, you should be fine.

[Sonshyne 2]

I think I'm gonna have to re-do the DS156 forms. I've done them already and got the barcode generated. Do you think the info will be entered twice in the system? I think I need to change the way I entered the address.

I don't think anything is being entered in the system when we generate them online.... at least I hope not because I've done the 156 a few times already!

I think the barcode is for their use at the embassy. To scan the docuement for the contents without having to read each one. So, you should be fine.

Thanks, I'll be re-printing mine tomorrow. I need to make a correction.

I have a question about the way you filled out the forms online.... it may sound very #######, but I just want to cover all my bases.... For questions that were not applicable, did you put N/A, or Not Applicable? On the DS230 it clearly states to put N/A, but in the instructions I think they say put Not Applicable.... When filling out the 156 online, I think you have to put Not Applicable.... So, I am thinking for the 156 and 156K and 157, put Not Applicable. For the 230 Pt. I and Pt. II, put N/A.

Just want to get feedback of others that have already been through it.... am I being too paranoid???

I thought about the samething. I put N/A in all the spaced that didn't apply to us. I guess I'm being paranoid too

Edited March 10, 2007 by Sonshyne