Filing buddies

[RosaMystica7 0]

I'm fairly familiar with Catholicism and understand sisterhoods and brotherhoods. I know that there are some breakaway groups and wondered where your and SC's community fit. Thanks for filling me in!

You're welcome! Sometimes breakaway groups aren't even obvious. I was looking at a group of sisters once and their website made them look like a wonderful community... then I found out they were basically a breakaway group and it shocked me. But the community we were with was/is definately not in that category.

Oh boy...SC's parents sound like real downers. Guess they need our prayers, too. Not born encouragers or flexible thinkers, are they?

It's not just his parents... it's his grandma, his brother, his sister, his brother-in-law... it's all but his cousins and some of his more distant relatives. One of his aunts is a translator and she translated his flight itineraries from French into English for free so we can send them in with the I-129F, that was really sweet.

Laurent doesn't have a formal degree either. Long story. He finished lycée but left home pretty early to play in punk and rock bands. Now he composes electronically-aided music. Certainly doesn't mean he's stupid or worthless, though. He's one of the smartest men I know and a brilliant conversationalist, to boot!

I don't think a lack of a college degree has to do with a lack of intelligence at all. I know what it was for SC... he got discouraged. He's a lefty with not very good handwriting and the colleges he went to required that everything be handwritten. He had a lot of problems with professors not being able to read things. When he had questions he couldn't find anyone to sit down with him and help him. His grades slowly fell more and more until he just gave up and dropped out.

I've told him that he can go to college for whatever he wants, when he wants, if he wants. He's said he wants to become a teacher and I'll support him in that, if that changes I'll support him in wherever he goes. We do agree that we want me to stay home with the kids after they're born, though, so as long as he can support our family by the time that rolls around, and is happy in what he's doing, that's what matters. I've also told him that I'll be more than willing to sit down with him and help him with assignments and whatnot, and if I can't help I'll help him find someone at his college that can help him. So he never has to worry about needing help and not being able to get it.

I think, along with the better school system and the English language, that's why he wants to go to college so badly over here. Over there he has no support and a lot of pressure.

You're right to support SC in the way that you are. The things you've said to him are right on target!

Thanks! It's just getting him to really take to heart and believe what I say that's the hard part.

LOL! So you and SC have problems with the patience thing, too! That's hilarious.

I'm 1/4 Sicilian - I think that alone answers how much patience I have! I'm trying to work on it, though.

I'm mostly doing better on that score in the last year or two. Another long story. I still have my moments, but I'm definitely the grounded one in the relationship. I have my own failings, though, believe me! And yes, it is a lifetime process. Truer words have rarely been spoken!

There will always be moments, that's what gives life its spice. Don't be too hard on yourself. If you try to bend something quickly it'll usually break, but if you bend something really slowly over a long period of time, you'll usually be able to mold it into what you want.

A PM is on its way to you later today...

Yay!

Yes. Air conditioning a definite must. When all this is over, we want to start looking for a house, but he isn't keen on going too far out as he works in Richmond. I grew up in the country and I dont make a very good city girl. Hopefully we will find an area that we can compromise on .

Welcome to all the other newcomers preparing to file! Its nice to not feel so alone in embarking on this process

There's gotta be middle ground somewhere - between the city and the country there's usually suburbs, maybe something like that wouldn't be too bad for you. Wait until the time comes, you never know what surprises could come up then!

And yeah I agree, I love this website, and it definately feels good to know we're not alone!

[Thingee 0]

QUOTE(Kirsten L @ Aug 5 2006, 02:11 PM)

LOL! So you and SC have problems with the patience thing, too! That's hilarious.

I'm 1/4 Sicilian - I think that alone answers how much patience I have! I'm trying to work on it, though.

I'm yet another who has nearly no patience! I remember clearly as a kid unwrapping the Christmas presents oh-so-carefully, then wrapping them back up so no one could tell! Honey on the other hand has patience to spare. He enjoys tormenting me for my lack of it immensely.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

1- What is an A#?

2- In the image below, am I suppose to put my birth certificate number in the space provided just below where "Birth in the US" is checked? Or is that provided if the "Naturalization" box is checked?

If it's for a birth certificate, which number do I enter? Because I have three different numbers on my BC. A District Number, Registration Number and some numbers and letters below a bar code towards the top of my BC.

Many thanks! (More questions to come I'm sure!)

Your fiance won't have an A# yet, so that stays blank.

My birth certificate from Colorado had 'birth certificate number' written write on it, so I used that. But if yours has 3 numbers, and none are specifically labeled 'birth certificate number' I am not sure what to tell you! Sorry!

My fiance is from the Philippines as well, but currently living and working in United Arab Emirates. Her cousin is now in Virginia though. She got here from PI, so it can be done.

Best of luck to you and your mahal, hope this information helps!

[RosaMystica7 0]

Your fiance won't have an A# yet, so that stays blank.

I would suggest writing NONE rather than leaving it blank. I think anything blank could risk a RFE - how would they know that you don't have an A# and just forgot to include it? But if you say NONE, they know.

Wow, another Virginia person, cool!

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Your fiance won't have an A# yet, so that stays blank.

I would suggest writing NONE rather than leaving it blank. I think anything blank could risk a RFE - how would they know that you don't have an A# and just forgot to include it? But if you say NONE, they know.

Wow, another Virginia person, cool!

They know you don't have an A# yet because they give it to you!

[Kirsten L 0]

Yeah, I'm with Angilla, though. I put "None" or "N/A" (whichever was most appropriate) in most blanks that I didn't actually need to fill. I didn't want those white spaces coming back to haunt me!

[RosaMystica7 0]

Yeah, but they're also sending out IMBRA RFEs to people who used the updated I-129F forms. So when it comes to these applications, my opinion is idiot proof it as much as you can.

Anyway, in the instructions of the I-129F it says:

2. General Filing Instructions

C. Answer all questions fully and accurately. State that an item is not applicable with "N/A." If the answer is "none," write none.

So that means nothing should be left blank - NONE or N/A should fill the spots with no answers. And there IS a difference between the two. I don't remember what it is, though.

Edited August 5, 2006 by aselano

[Kirsten L 0]

Exactly, Angilla. Idiot-proof EVERYTHING where the federal government is concerned.

The guideline I used for determining whether to write "none" or "n/a" was:

If the question is asking me if I actually have something, and I don't, the answer is "none." (e.g. A#, husband, former husband, etc.)

If the question is asking me to provide details of the thing I don't have, the answer is "n/a." (e.g. addresses of spouses or former spouses, divorce dates, etc.)

[RosaMystica7 0]

Hmm, okay. So "if your fiance is currently in the US, complete the following" I'll put N/A because he's not in the US now, so that doesn't apply. "If your fiance's native alphabet uses other than Roman letters, write his or her name and adress abroad in the native alphabet" would be N/A because his alphabet uses Roman letters, so that doesn't apply. Right?

[Kirsten L 0]

Hmm, okay. So "if your fiance is currently in the US, complete the following" I'll put N/A because he's not in the US now, so that doesn't apply. "If your fiance's native alphabet uses other than Roman letters, write his or her name and adress abroad in the native alphabet" would be N/A because his alphabet uses Roman letters, so that doesn't apply. Right?

Actually, I didn't even mess with those two little subsections, particularly the one on "in another alphabet." Those two I actually did leave blank. You could technically write "n/a" in the blank that concerns entry into the U.S. and just leave the other sub-questions alone. However, on the name one, I figured that writing "none" in there would actually just create confusion. I wouldn't put anything under the name-in-another-language blank, if I were you. I think it would be courting disaster.

[RosaMystica7 0]

Hmm, okay. So "if your fiance is currently in the US, complete the following" I'll put N/A because he's not in the US now, so that doesn't apply. "If your fiance's native alphabet uses other than Roman letters, write his or her name and adress abroad in the native alphabet" would be N/A because his alphabet uses Roman letters, so that doesn't apply. Right?

Actually, I didn't even mess with those two little subsections, particularly the one on "in another alphabet." Those two I actually did leave blank. You could technically write "n/a" in the blank that concerns entry into the U.S. and just leave the other sub-questions alone. However, on the name one, I figured that writing "none" in there would actually just create confusion. I wouldn't put anything under the name-in-another-language blank, if I were you. I think it would be courting disaster.

Okay. I'm going to make a post about this.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Hmm, okay. So "if your fiance is currently in the US, complete the following" I'll put N/A because he's not in the US now, so that doesn't apply. "If your fiance's native alphabet uses other than Roman letters, write his or her name and adress abroad in the native alphabet" would be N/A because his alphabet uses Roman letters, so that doesn't apply. Right?

I was very careful to leave nothing blank on the I-129F form, answering N/A and None everywhere!

But the A# issue is from the G-325A form, and the language there said: "Be sure to put your name and alien registration number in this box"

Me, I am not an alien. Didn't know what to put for J so I looked it up. It is something which later on gets assigned to her.

I internally debated N/A or None and figured there was just as good a chance it would get rejected as an improper A# by some cranky beaurocrat as if left blank... They give it to the alien fiance, so stands to reason they would know she/he does not have one yet... Hope it doesn't mess me up!

[Kirsten L 0]

I was very careful to leave nothing blank on the I-129F form, answering N/A and None everywhere!

But the A# issue is from the G-325A form, and the language there said: "Be sure to put your name and alien registration number in this box"

Me, I am not an alien. Didn't know what to put for J so I looked it up. It is something which later on gets assigned to her.

I internally debated N/A or None and figured there was just as good a chance it would get rejected as an improper A# by some cranky beaurocrat as if left blank... They give it to the alien fiance, so stands to reason they would know she/he does not have one yet... Hope it doesn't mess me up!

Well, remember that the G-325A is a general form that is used as an attachment to many other forms. So not all the questions are going to actually pertain to a particular person filling it out. I agree that with some of these fields, it is just as well to leave them blank. I debated about a couple on the G-325A, as I did with a couple on the I-129F. In the end, I only filled in "None" or "N/A" where I was pretty sure it would cause less rather than more confusion. I probably should have put in a couple of more "nones" or "n/a's" than I did. But you know, I figured if they looked at the I-129F, for example, and saw that all of Question 12 was blank, it would be a dead giveaway that Laurent is not currently in the U.S. That seemed right to me. In fact, it didn't even occur to me to write anything there. Same with the question about whether or not I'm serving in the armed forces...It felt more correct to just leave that one entirely void. I don't know. I guess we'll all see how good our judgment and guesswork is. We can report on it when we find out.

Edited August 5, 2006 by Kirsten L

[JamalNTam 1]

I'm Tamzyn from England and my baby Jamal is the USC - He's been here in England (military) since October 2004! we've been together since Feb 2005 and I've been living with him since December 2005! He's heading to a new base in Arizona in November this year and we'll be sending everything off then to California!!! I'm kinda scared but I beleive they will have NO reason to turn us down - good luck everone!

[Mew 0]

Hmm, okay. So "if your fiance is currently in the US, complete the following" I'll put N/A because he's not in the US now, so that doesn't apply. "If your fiance's native alphabet uses other than Roman letters, write his or her name and adress abroad in the native alphabet" would be N/A because his alphabet uses Roman letters, so that doesn't apply. Right?

Actually, I didn't even mess with those two little subsections, particularly the one on "in another alphabet." Those two I actually did leave blank. You could technically write "n/a" in the blank that concerns entry into the U.S. and just leave the other sub-questions alone. However, on the name one, I figured that writing "none" in there would actually just create confusion. I wouldn't put anything under the name-in-another-language blank, if I were you. I think it would be courting disaster.

Okay. I'm going to make a post about this.

Those fields are for languages like, say... Russian or something. You can write N/A, since they use the Roman alphabet in France... aselano, you really need to relax...