Colombia Club

[Bill y Bella 0]

About Panama, I am a little surprised to find out about the $500 USD. Is that because they are Colombian citizens? I ask this because I was in Panama (business trip) for three days back in June and I don't remember paying that much. I flew using CopaAirlines (I think they have a partnership with Continental) and unless the fee was included in the ticket, I didn't pay for it. Maybe rules changed. (overall price for the ticket was $700 USD round trip).

I think there might be some confusion on this. Does the Colombian citizen pay a $500 fee or only need to prove that they have $500 in their possession?

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

I'm pretty sure its just to prove you have the money so they dont think your broke and are there to stay and make money, basically to show you are on vacation.

[buck501 0]

I'm pretty sure its just to prove you have the money so they dont think your broke and are there to stay and make money, basically to show you are on vacation.

Bryon, you are correct. We, as US citizens are allowed to travel freely to almost everywher in the world with only a passport. Not so with other countries. The $500 is to insure that they have some means of support for the time they are there. They just have to show that they have it. It is not a fee.

[jediknight 0]

great news diana. lets hope there are no problems in actually getting the visa on monday.

JK

[Entonces... 0]

To those who are looking for a list of interview questions, I posted a ton of them a few months ago. I had hoped that it would become an interactive list and people would update it (by replying to the post with the latest version of the list) after their interviews but that idea never caught on. I was also hopeful that we could enter the spanish translations right next to the english version but I never got around to combining the two lists. Maybe this list would be easier to manage if I posted it off site.

Here are the links:

List of interview questions I compiled with help from Buck & Dre.

Translation of questions into Spanish by Diana.

Bill,

thank you for the post and references about the questions. It was a great help.

Rafael

[santamartachicago 0]

I am sure you all have seen this but just in case there are some new people out there in need of a consolidated info packet. This was very helpful to me and it has the Sept 2007 revised OF-169 included.

(Looks like Packet 3 for K1 & K2 - Bogota)

FYI...http://bogota.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/k1-k2instructionseng-_2_.pdf

(Looks like latest Packet 4 for K1 & K2 - Bogota)

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/wwwf...ntment_temp.pdf

I hope its helpful

Edited September 29, 2007 by santamartachicago

[lucho562 0]

I am sure you all have seen this but just in case there are some new people out there in need of a consolidated info packet. This was very helpful to me and it has the Sept 2007 revised OF-169 included.

(Looks like Packet 3 for K1 & K2 - Bogota)

FYI...http://bogota.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/k1-k2instructionseng-_2_.pdf

(Looks like latest Packet 4 for K1 & K2 - Bogota)

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/wwwf...ntment_temp.pdf

I hope its helpful

Quick note. That packet 4 link is not for K1 visas. The dead give a way is the $380 fee, k1 fee is $100.

This is the K1 packet 4 link

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwwfck1cita_temp.pdf

[buck501 0]

As usual......................Luchco is all over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[santamartachicago 0]

As usual......................Luchco is all over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry everyone...They both were on the official US Embassy Bogota web-site that is why I thought they would be accurate ( stupid me). Why would they have mis leading information on that site. They are a bunch of @!#&%$@#$%&. Why cant they just put in a simple form the information needed and stop with this crazy treasure hunt/subjective system. ARRRRRRGH!!!!

Again I apologize for the confusion.

Thanks Lucho...you are an awesome resource.

God Bless you

[lucho562 0]

Eric,

Dont apologize. The embassy's website is not clear at all. It was an honest mistake. They shouldnt have packet 3 for K1's then put packet 4 for a different type of visa in the same section. It's not your fault, the embassy makes plenty of mistakes. They are always changing links to the packets every month or so. I can barely keep up with all the changes they make.

[Mike and Adriana 0]

The embassy web site is far from perfect, but at least it is a lot better than it was when I went through the process a year ago. At least there are links to the packets....whereas before we had to pass them down from person to person. And it appears that more of the pages are better updated. Last year the web site, on many pages, was still referring to the wrong bank for payment of the DS-156 fee.

Mike

PS - regarding travel for your Colombiana/Colombiano outside of the U.S.....be prepared for some frustration until he or she gets the green card. I wanted to take my wife and step-daughter on a short cruise last May....until I found out we needed a $50 tourist visa to go to the Bahamas for one day. Same problem with going to Mexico. International travel becomes much easier once the green card is in hand.

Eric,

Dont apologize. The embassy's website is not clear at all. It was an honest mistake. They shouldnt have packet 3 for K1's then put packet 4 for a different type of visa in the same section. It's not your fault, the embassy makes plenty of mistakes. They are always changing links to the packets every month or so. I can barely keep up with all the changes they make.

Edited September 30, 2007 by Mike and Adriana

[parkpapa 0]

:help: I'm looking for a good list of common questions asked during the interview so that Yenifer and I can review and practice...practice...practice. Anyone know where I can find such a list?

Scott,

We practiced and practiced with lots of the standard questions - there are lists in several locations - and that practice sure helped keep Lorena calm and confident. We were never asked any questions about our age difference, but the CO sure caught me by surprise when he asked me why I came to Colombia in the first place! It certainly hasn't been a tourist destination anytime until the last year or so. I shortened the story somewhat but I answered him honestly and he seemed satisfied.

I think one of the most important things you can do is to not just study the questions but also be sure that your answers (memories) match. For example, we weren't asked how many people were at our wedding, but Lorena sure remembered the number better than I did (I guessed 35 and she said it was 50!!).

Charles

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

:help: I'm looking for a good list of common questions asked during the interview so that Yenifer and I can review and practice...practice...practice. Anyone know where I can find such a list?

Scott,

We practiced and practiced with lots of the standard questions - there are lists in several locations - and that practice sure helped keep Lorena calm and confident. We were never asked any questions about our age difference, but the CO sure caught me by surprise when he asked me why I came to Colombia in the first place! It certainly hasn't been a tourist destination anytime until the last year or so. I shortened the story somewhat but I answered him honestly and he seemed satisfied.

I think one of the most important things you can do is to not just study the questions but also be sure that your answers (memories) match. For example, we weren't asked how many people were at our wedding, but Lorena sure remembered the number better than I did (I guessed 35 and she said it was 50!!).

Charles

Hi Charles,

Buck emailed me a list of questions that seems to cover everything that we will need and then some. Yenifer and I spent about 3 hours on the phone last night going through the questions asking and answering each other most of the questions on the list...It was actually fun because it was like trivia about our relationship and we reminised and reflected on our experiences together.

Charles and Colombia club...I would like to bring one thing up in this thread that I posted a while ago and it is stilll on my mind...maybe someone has some input on this subject. Yenifer thinks that there shouldn't be a problem...maybe my stress on this is for nothing...

Yenifer entered the U.S. about 16 years ago at the age of 9 with her family (aunt + uncle) and stayed in California for about 1 year and does not remember what type of visa this was. Her old passport lost a long time ago and she has since replaced it. Our question is...in packet 3 on form ds-156 asks if you have ever been issued a U.S. visa...when, where and what type...and she no longer has that info nor does she remember exactly. Is this going to be a huge problem or for that matter even a little problem?

[Mike and Adriana 0]

Don't stress out too much, but don't let it go either. I assume you plan on being totally honest on this and indicating on the DS-156 that, yes, she has had a visa. Given that, I would imagine you could do something to get a little more information. Where was the visa issued? Bogota, I assume. If she knows she was 9 when they visited the U.S., you at least have a time period. From there, she should contact her relatives and get more information....what was the purpose of the trip? Why did they stay 1 year? Why did she travel with her aunt and uncle and stay for a year (did the aunt and uncle raise her? Seems odd for a Colombian family to let a 9 year old girl leave the country for a year with relatives). Surely someone from the family remembers something.

Perhaps you read some of the posts from Olafgypsy. Her fiance got denied on his K-1 visa. I believe it is because he overstayed a visa in the U.S. (and Olafgypsy never knew anything about it until the interview). I'm not trying to alarm you, but you need to find out what happened...determining if she was here legally and, if so, whether she overstayed her visa. Given that she was 9, she was not in control of the situation....but I would still want to know everything I could about the situation....to be prepared in the interview if the subject is broached. Bottom line....be as honest and forthright as you can be....with as much accurate information as you can provide. Due diligence is a must.

Charles and Colombia club...I would like to bring one thing up in this thread that I posted a while ago and it is stilll on my mind...maybe someone has some input on this subject. Yenifer thinks that there shouldn't be a problem...maybe my stress on this is for nothing...

Yenifer entered the U.S. about 16 years ago at the age of 9 with her family (aunt + uncle) and stayed in California for about 1 year and does not remember what type of visa this was. Her old passport lost a long time ago and she has since replaced it. Our question is...in packet 3 on form ds-156 asks if you have ever been issued a U.S. visa...when, where and what type...and she no longer has that info nor does she remember exactly. Is this going to be a huge problem or for that matter even a little problem?

[Entonces... 0]

Congrats Corey on La Suegra getting the approval.

Hope we get that CO.

Hey guys just want to share that a VJer (Jamacia) that applied for a K-1 with CSC just got his NOA2 yesterday and he applied on June 1st. Reason i'm happy is that I applied on June 8. At least I see alittle ray of light.

Rafael

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no way CSC is processing June petitions. Kevin & Moira applied on May 2. Their NOA1 was delayed until June 1 but it does not matter because CSC does not process petitions in NOA1 date sequence. That is why VJ adjudication date projections are based on submittal dates instead of NOA1 dates.

Kevin & Moira waited 148 days from when they submitted which is very consistent with the processing time of everyone else who was approved at CSC recently.

Here are two posts with more information and statistics related to this. Post #1, Post #2

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

bill,

I wanted to ask you a question regarding your post about June filers getting approved. Roughly when do you see an approval for my case? My guesstimate would landing me roughly a last week of October first week of November. Would this be correct or would it be longer??

Rafael