Residency was questioned on phone--Appt this Tues

[Roxyroo 1]

Hi All,

I have lived and worked in Colombia for almost 4 years now. Work visas, apartment lease, the whole shebang. As far as I can tell, there are no other Colombia DCF people here at VJ. I do go home for about 4 weeks at a time to visit my family in July and at Christmas--as I am a teacher, we only ge those two times off per year.

I heard a rumor here that in Colombia you have to be in the country for 6 solid months and if you leave, any time before that is totally wiped out. I later found out this person wasn't working here on work visas, as I am, and I just discounted it. Before I went to visit my family this Christmas, I even called the embassy during the 2 hours they pick up the phones to be sure that I am considered a resident. The woman told me that it is my work visas that matter, travel does not, so yes I am considered a resident and can do DCF.

Then, when I went to make our I-130 appt (which we got really fast) last week, the woman said I need to bring proof of having been in Colombia the last 6 months or she wouldn't make the appt. I said, my work visas, right? and she said she could not comment on what to bring. I said, well I have been in Colombia for almost 4 years, but I did go home to visit my family at Christmas. She said then I had not been in Colombia for 6 months then. That struck me as so totally absurd I told her to just go ahead and make the appt and I would let the embassy sort it out.

So, in addition to my work visas and Colombian national IDs, I have assembled a mountain of evidence: apt lease, letter from my landlord, pay stubs from all my jobs, letters from jobs, IRS forms (in which I declared my foreign income), letter from my bank here, bank statements, etc etc etc.

I guess I am not looking for reassurance about Colombian DCF since there is no one doing that, but more that I can sort of make my case if it comes down to it. My first reaction was that this woman was just crazy, but now I am starting to freak out, as I do with all visa-related matters.

It would have really adverse effects for my husband and I if we are not able to begin DCF now. For one, I won't be here for 6 months until June 30 (since I got back from Christmas Dec 30). My work visa here expires May 17 and I would then have to leave Colombia June 17. The only way to extend it is to leave the country and return...thus rendering null the 6 months I am working on. Also, we have a dog who needs to be taken to the US before the dog travel embargo begins May 15.

En fin, it is a nightmare. Just kind of wondering if anyone has been here.

Thanks.

[Lia792 5]

Sorry, I don't know how they will respond...I hope your husband's appointment goes smoothly on Tuesday, they may not even ask if you have left the country. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Roxyroo 1]

Seems many people were interested in this post...though no one said anything but the above!! Anyway, thanks Lia, you were right. What they were most interested in were my Colombian work visas. They said they qualify me as a resident. The interviewer was incredibly nice and even made jokes. He said we were very organized and said, Well, we'll see you back here in a few weeks! So we are good to go. What a relief.

[Darnell 8,478]

Columbia - no idea -

for China though - it's by the type of residency permit and the duration of residency..

SMALL TRIPS outside of China always OK - never hurt the 'calendar' .

Good Luck ! Was reading yer timeline, and had to read it 3 times ...

IMO - the 'human you talked to' is wrong.

[Lia792 5]

I'm glad it worked out...

I was LOLing at your horrible POE story - Miami was a mess when I went through there en route to Cancun last year. When the crew finally showed up about an hour late, they were congratulating each other on winning a cooking contest. No joke.