Colombia Club

[buck501 0]

Congrats Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now.............................enjoy Bogota, have a beer, stay away from the Augagente (sp) and RELAXXXXXXX. Say hello to Bob and Luz Aleyda for Paola and I.

[snoopy 0]

READ BACK ON THIS THREAD AND YOU WILL FIND LINKS TO SEE THE DOCS REQUIRED FOR PACKAGE 3 THAT WILL BE NEEDED FOR THE INTERVIEW.

BRIAN AND YENYS

Hi Brian and Yenys this goes to Scott and Yenifer too.

I'm very happy for you guys, you're finally together, especially in this time of the year when everything goes around God and family.

I know it's too soon for me to be asking this since our appointment won't be until January the 14, but since I paid a lawyer who "work" in our petition, and I was the one who ended up doing all the follow up, I decided I won't make the same mistake, I want to get ready and this time I want to work on the AOS by myself and hopefully with the VJ help, which by the way had been "the best friend" through all this process.

Also I can save an extra $1,500, which is what they want to charge me plus the $1.050 fee

Anyway, I was wondering if you started filling out the forms for the AOS, and all of us who are getting appointments these days, where we'll be meeting for the AOS support, since it won't be a Colombian issue anymore? I won't be able to do it without you guys.

[Mononoke28 135]

Congratulations Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're going to have a wonderful Christmas together!

Diana

[ColombianoGringo 0]

Congratulations Scott & Yennifer.

[MV-JR 0]

Congratulations Scott & Yennifer.

Congratulations!!! Now relax and enjoy Bogota, I recommend Expoartesanias...

An update, as expected I haven’t received packet 4 so I go to the doctor or do anything yet!! Anybody with a December 31 interview got it by now?

[Bill y Bella 0]

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Bella and I received an approval on our petition from VSC today.

It is probably too late to get a January appointment but maybe we will get lucky. If not, February is not that far away.

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

SCOTT CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM NEXT...IM GETTING NERVOUS!!!!! :wacko:

[Brian and Yenys 0]

"WE DID IT...WE'RE APPROVED !!!"

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is how it all went down:

· On Friday we arrived in Bogota and met the driver we hired to pick us up at the airport. The drive to the apartment was about 10 minutes and is located 15 minutes by car to Embassy.

· On Monday we took a cab to the Laboratorio Clinico which opens at 7:00am until 10:00am. They do not make appointments so I suggest that you get there early, we arrived at 6:50am and there was about 20 people before us. Unfortunately the petitioner must wait outside and at that time it will be cold so dress warm. Being 20th in line she was finished at about 8:20am. (150 mil pesos)

· From the lab we took a 15-20 minute cab ride to the bank. I had the DS-156 filled out but that ended up a total waste of time because the bank required the form to be completed in Spanish and they also wanted all blanks on the form to have N/A. We finished at the bank at about 9:30am. (220 mil pesos poorer)

· The next step for Monday was a 5:30pm appointment with Dr. Roa. The cab ride was a little longer than expected (30 minutes) so we arrived just on time. It didn’t matter much because they saw her at about 6:30pm and the she was finished at 6:50pm. We waited for the documents to be completed left the office at about 7:30pm with the documents in hand. The Dr. saw her for a total of about 5 minutes, a quick exam and a bunch of questions (it was very painless and very professional). The vaccines MMR and TD were the only ones Yenifer needed which came up to a total of 37 mil pesos. Varicela would have been another 95 mil pesos but was determined not necessary because she had chickenpox as a child. (this was amazing to me that they waived this vaccine…this has got to be a first!!!) The total for Dr. visit: 135 mil + 37 mil= (172 mil pesos)

· Wednesday “interview day” 5:30am we took a cab to the Embassy to arrive outside at 5:45am. We were let in to form lines at the entrance at 6:30am where there are 3 marked lines, K visas line up in line 3.

· We were allowed to enter thru security/x-ray at 6:45am (cell phones are ok to bring in as long as they are turned off…yeah right…we saw a bunch of people using them) and then to area 40 where there was a person to help you to organize all of your documents in order in a folder that they supply.

· The next step is to wait for your name to be called. Yenifer was the first one called at 7:30 am to window 31 and we were the only K1 that I could see. (the woman at the window was a witch) She asked for her passport, then asked several questions: Where does she live? What does she do? What is her phone number? What is my phone number? How long have you been together? How many visits have I had? Do I speak Spanish? Does she speak English? Does she speak English very well???????(what???) After the questions she asked for the organized documents, stamped everything and asked us to go sit and wait near windows 1, 2, and 3 until her name is called.

· At 7:45am we found seats and the wait began.

· Yenifer’s name was called at 8:50am but only for finger printing…false alarm…the torturous wait continues. It at least seemed like we were making progress!!!

· Finally at 11:00 am her name was called again, this time to speak to the CO. He was about mid 40s, a little thin on top and she said he was very pleasant to speak to. He first greeted Yenifer and then asked her several questions: How did you meet? (online) How long have you been together? (9 months) Where does she (Yenifer) live? How old is he? Does either of us have kids? (no) Does he speak Spanish? (no) Do you speak English? (yes) What does he do? When was his first visit? Where does he stay when he comes to visit? Where will you live in the U.S.? Do you have pictures? (yes about 60 with us) He looked through all of the pictures and asked if that was me (I stood about 10 feet behind her). He gave me the thumbs up and said to her “ WELCOME YOUR VISA IS APPROVED”.

· We were then directed to the DOMESA booth which is inside the Embassy to pay for delivery. (32 mil pesos inside Bogota) They told us it could take 8 days but we are hoping it will be much less. We designated the office of the apartment place that we are staying to be the location of the delivery and specifically the secretary will sign for it since she is there during normal business hours and she was nice enough to do this for us so that we don’t have to hibernate in our apartment. If you designate someone, DOMESA needs full name, address, and national I.D. of that person.

Congratulations to Scott and Yenifer

[Brian and Yenys 0]

"WE DID IT...WE'RE APPROVED !!!"

Congratulations Scott y Yenifer! And also thanks for the thorough report.

So picking up the visa from the Domesa office is definitely not an option?

Read our previous post, Picking up at the Dmesa is what we did and got it in 3 days, SO YES, its not only a option, But was done by us !!!!

Good Luck !!

Brian and Yenys

[HAL 9000 96]

Great news Scott, Congratulations!

[parkpapa 0]

Great news, Scott!!! I was sure you guys would do well because you were so well prepared. Looking forward to your further success in AOS.

Charles

[Mononoke28 135]

So who's next? Is it the Dec. 31 people?

Diana

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

IM NEXT!!!!! IM A NERVOUS WRECK!!!! :wacko:

[SteveSandyHill 0]

We are not until the 18th of January, we are very well prepared, yet I find myself going to sleep at night wondering what I am forgetting???? Sandy and I are arriving in Bogota on Sunday the 13th, lab and medical on Monday the 14th (Dr Gonzalez). Sandy's 18 month old daughter is not required to have lab work, yet has to have a medical exam (of course additional fee). Dr Gonzalez informed Sandy she could have her vaccinations done at the Red Cross in Barranquilla prior to arriving in Bogota no problem.

In reading Scott's note after his interview (thank you again Scott!) He stated that the bank required the DS-156 in spanish? This is not what the Embassy told me on Wednesday when I called? My forms have all been completed in english including the N/A in all fields not applicable. I guess I will make an additional copy in Spanish, no problem.

I do not speak alot of spanish, and Sandy speaks little English, is this a potential problem in the interview? We have loads of photo's together, from my trips to Colombia, including the Baptism of her daughter Barranquilla, vacations together in Cartagena, Isles Rosario and Santa Marta. Many e-mails in spanish as I have translation software on my laptop. Phone records, money tranfer reciepts etc.

So in short, I am hoping that there is no major red flag here due to the language barrier that we are working rapidly on to improve!

[bundy_138 0]

We are not until the 18th of January, we are very well prepared, yet I find myself going to sleep at night wondering what I am forgetting???? Sandy and I are arriving in Bogota on Sunday the 13th, lab and medical on Monday the 14th (Dr Gonzalez). Sandy's 18 month old daughter is not required to have lab work, yet has to have a medical exam (of course additional fee). Dr Gonzalez informed Sandy she could have her vaccinations done at the Red Cross in Barranquilla prior to arriving in Bogota no problem.

In reading Scott's note after his interview (thank you again Scott!) He stated that the bank required the DS-156 in spanish? This is not what the Embassy told me on Wednesday when I called? My forms have all been completed in english including the N/A in all fields not applicable. I guess I will make an additional copy in Spanish, no problem.

I do not speak alot of spanish, and Sandy speaks little English, is this a potential problem in the interview? We have loads of photo's together, from my trips to Colombia, including the Baptism of her daughter Barranquilla, vacations together in Cartagena, Isles Rosario and Santa Marta. Many e-mails in spanish as I have translation software on my laptop. Phone records, money tranfer reciepts etc.

So in short, I am hoping that there is no major red flag here due to the language barrier that we are working rapidly on to improve!

I do not think the language will be a problem. My novia and I speak Spanglish. We speak to each other in a huge mash of the two languages, me focusing on Spanish, her English. We communicate very well together. I have met many people that speak NO SPanish and their spouse speaks NO English. They got their visa ok. I'd try not to worry about it.

Did you alrady set your appointment with Dr. Gonzalez? We have our interview date on Jan 16 and we were told they were not making medical appointments for January yet?! Was I given bad info? Since our interview is on Wednesday, we are trying to get the medical for Monday. However, we were told to wait untill after the holidays for making the appointment. I have not booked the flight yet since we do not know when the medical is! This whole process is a domino effect! Can't book the flight without the medical, can't book the hotel without booking the flight! I'm going INSANE!!!!

Oh yeah.............Congrats Scott

Bundy