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

[Trinilad 0]

Things may have changed from a 6 months ago, but we put NOT APPLICABLE instead of N/A. I think that is safer since they can be a bit ####### and act like they do not know what N/A means.

[Trinilad 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.

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

Safer to put NOT APPLICABLE rather than N/A. They can be ####### at times and ast like they do not know what N/A means.

[Trinilad 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.....

I remember those days. Sometimes that Jamaican mentality of "no problem man" gets to me. I used to e mail my fiance instructions that were so specific and to the point cause I am not one too forgiving with slip ups. i guess we Americans have a different mentlity as to how to deal with things seriously. They will learn, eventually.

[Ricardo 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.....

I remember those days. Sometimes that Jamaican mentality of "no problem man" gets to me. I used to e mail my fiance instructions that were so specific and to the point cause I am not one too forgiving with slip ups. i guess we Americans have a different mentlity as to how to deal with things seriously. They will learn, eventually.

Hello family,

Question: I have a notarized letter of intent for me but it is proving difficult to find a notary, which is really a lawyer ,in Kingston to notarize Ricardo's letter of intent. How important do you think it is for his to be notarized? or can we have them notarize it at the embassy? It really doesnt ask for one anywhere in the instructions? Any opinion and/or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[darlene 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.....

I remember those days. Sometimes that Jamaican mentality of "no problem man" gets to me. I used to e mail my fiance instructions that were so specific and to the point cause I am not one too forgiving with slip ups. i guess we Americans have a different mentlity as to how to deal with things seriously. They will learn, eventually.

Hello family,

Question: I have a notarized letter of intent for me but it is proving difficult to find a notary, which is really a lawyer ,in Kingston to notarize Ricardo's letter of intent. How important do you think it is for his to be notarized? or can we have them notarize it at the embassy? It really doesnt ask for one anywhere in the instructions? Any opinion and/or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I did not have ours notarized and in fact Bert was going through his papers and they did not even take it. Although things are so different in a matter of a few month someone else will comment on it. Are you going back for the interview?

[Trinilad 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.....

I remember those days. Sometimes that Jamaican mentality of "no problem man" gets to me. I used to e mail my fiance instructions that were so specific and to the point cause I am not one too forgiving with slip ups. i guess we Americans have a different mentlity as to how to deal with things seriously. They will learn, eventually.

Hello family,

Question: I have a notarized letter of intent for me but it is proving difficult to find a notary, which is really a lawyer ,in Kingston to notarize Ricardo's letter of intent. How important do you think it is for his to be notarized? or can we have them notarize it at the embassy? It really doesnt ask for one anywhere in the instructions? Any opinion and/or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I did not have ours notarized and in fact Bert was going through his papers and they did not even take it. Although things are so different in a matter of a few month someone else will comment on it. Are you going back for the interview?

Same here. They did not ask for it to be notarizedand they gave it back to us. In Jamaica Notaries are normally referred to Justice of the Peace. If you can find one of those , then they will notarize it for you. The embassy will give it back to you without even looking at it. But as darlene said, things have changed. So be safe than sorry.

[darlene 0]

Got an e-mail today that out case has been transferre to California.

Hi Stephen!

I am happy to see thing are moving right along for you and your wife.

[nannygirl82 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...

when i had my interview back in October....i got threw the whole interview...then at the end she told me i needed a co-sponser and said the co-sponser needed to fill out the 1-864....so i think they just changed that rule...because before a co-sponser only needed to fill out the i-134...also when we got the blue paper mike could go on any tuesday or thursday....so you need a whole new interview date??? wow they are really changing it around.....

[darlene 0]

I am so glad we got through this before all these changes.

[Ricardo 0]

I am so glad we got through this before all these changes.

Darlene,

I am glad for everyone who has gotten through too! Feel very lucky. It feels like they are really tightening the ropes now. Yes, I am going down AGAIN! I dont know how I am going to pay off these credit cards, but I had to re-do EVERYTHING in my package because of errors, new requirements and because the financial stuff was now more than 6 months old. I am going to try one more time and hope the the third time is the charm, if not I dont know what I will do. How is Susan doing? Is she home yet? Let me know what she is going to do for her next interview.

[darlene 0]

I think you are more than prepared this time and you are right the third time is a charm....

Yep she is home. She cannot go down. What time is the interview? I believe Morris has to go for 2:30.

I do feel bad for everyone trying this now. I just don't understand why they make it so difficult.

[jlvr 1]

Got an e-mail today that out case has been transferre to California.

Hi Stephen!

I am happy to see thing are moving right along for you and your wife.

Hi everyone. I have a question, now that I have the NOA2 (yay! ) is that the last time I'll deal with Vermont? When we do AOS does it go to someplace different?

Another question, if I have the three years of tax returns/transcripts and the letter from my employer AND my bank statements from the past 12 months, is it necessary to have the bank letter? My bank is charging for it and if I can avoid it I'd like to.

Okay, one more: can my fiance go to one police station (precint?office?) for his police certificate if he has lived in more than one place since 16? He is in Kingston right now and if he could just go to Kingston for it, it would be helpful.

[BelwinMills 0]

Got an e-mail today that out case has been transferre to California.

Hi Stephen!

I am happy to see thing are moving right along for you and your wife.

Hi everyone. I have a question, now that I have the NOA2 (yay! ) is that the last time I'll deal with Vermont? When we do AOS does it go to someplace different?

Another question, if I have the three years of tax returns/transcripts and the letter from my employer AND my bank statements from the past 12 months, is it necessary to have the bank letter? My bank is charging for it and if I can avoid it I'd like to.

Okay, one more: can my fiance go to one police station (precint?office?) for his police certificate if he has lived in more than one place since 16? He is in Kingston right now and if he could just go to Kingston for it, it would be helpful.

Police record is good for 6 months. He needs to do it in Kingston. He will have to go to the ministry of security on Oxford Road to pay for it $2000 for 3 day service. Then he will go downtown to Duke street to get fingering printing done.

Congrats on your NOA2

Got an e-mail today that out case has been transferre to California.

Hi Stephen!

I am happy to see thing are moving right along for you and your wife.

Congrats Darelne

[Trinilad 0]

Got an e-mail today that out case has been transferre to California.

Hi Stephen!

I am happy to see thing are moving right along for you and your wife.

Hi everyone. I have a question, now that I have the NOA2 (yay! ) is that the last time I'll deal with Vermont? When we do AOS does it go to someplace different?

Another question, if I have the three years of tax returns/transcripts and the letter from my employer AND my bank statements from the past 12 months, is it necessary to have the bank letter? My bank is charging for it and if I can avoid it I'd like to.

Okay, one more: can my fiance go to one police station (precint?office?) for his police certificate if he has lived in more than one place since 16? He is in Kingston right now and if he could just go to Kingston for it, it would be helpful.

The bank letter is one of those things that one cannot say for sure they would not ask for. They did not ask us for it 6 months ago, but I have 2 friends who were asked for it about 3 months ago. My rule of thumb with these things is that do not give them any reason to give you a hard time. The cost of returning to Jamaica for a 2nd time is way more than what your bank will charge for the letter. Besides, you cannot put a price tag on peace of mind. If they never take it, it will be one more piece of paper to put on that bon fire when you and your sweetheart are celebrating the granting of the visa.

[jlvr 1]

Got an e-mail today that out case has been transferre to California.

Hi Stephen!

I am happy to see thing are moving right along for you and your wife.

Hi everyone. I have a question, now that I have the NOA2 (yay! ) is that the last time I'll deal with Vermont? When we do AOS does it go to someplace different?

Another question, if I have the three years of tax returns/transcripts and the letter from my employer AND my bank statements from the past 12 months, is it necessary to have the bank letter? My bank is charging for it and if I can avoid it I'd like to.

Okay, one more: can my fiance go to one police station (precint?office?) for his police certificate if he has lived in more than one place since 16? He is in Kingston right now and if he could just go to Kingston for it, it would be helpful.

The bank letter is one of those things that one cannot say for sure they would not ask for. They did not ask us for it 6 months ago, but I have 2 friends who were asked for it about 3 months ago. My rule of thumb with these things is that do not give them any reason to give you a hard time. The cost of returning to Jamaica for a 2nd time is way more than what your bank will charge for the letter. Besides, you cannot put a price tag on peace of mind. If they never take it, it will be one more piece of paper to put on that bon fire when you and your sweetheart are celebrating the granting of the visa.

Thanks, Trinilad.

Do you know about whether I'll have to deal with VSC anymore? I ask because I may be moving and I'm wondering where future paperwork would go. You mentioned returning to JA for a second time. It was not my intention to be there for my fiance's interview. Is that a bad thing? I don't think that it's possible for me.

If our intention is to have my fiance's children follow him later, what documentation does he have to provide in terms of custody or approval?