Colombia Club

[Bill y Bella 0]

There was some discussion a week or so ago about DAS requirements to allow children to leave the country. This summary of the requirements provided by DOS seems to cover all the bases:

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORS: In an effort to prevent international child abduction, Colombia has implemented additional exit procedures for Colombian or dual-national children under 18 who are departing the country without both parents or a legal guardian. Upon exiting the country, the person traveling with the child (or the child him/herself) must present a copy of the child’s birth certificate, along with written authorization from the absent parent(s) or legal guardian. The authorization must explicitly grant permission for the child to travel alone, with one parent, or with a third party. When a parent is deceased, a notarized copy of a death certificate is required in lieu of written authorization. When one parent has sole custody of the child, that parent may present a custody decree instead of the other parent’s written authorization. If the decree was issued by a Colombian court, it must grant the custodial parent a form of custody known as patria potestad.

If the documents to be presented were prepared in the United States, they must first be translated into Spanish and then authenticated by a Colombian consul at a Colombian consulate. Then, upon arrival in Colombia, the documents must be presented to the Ministry of External Affairs for certification of the consul’s signature. Alternatively, the documents can be notarized by a notary public in the United States and then authenticated by requesting an apostille from the competent authority in the state where the documents were prepared. For more information on apostilles and a state-by-state list of competent authorities, please see our information on Legalization of Foreign Public Documents.

If documents are prepared in Colombia, only notarization by a Colombian notary is required. For documents prepared in countries other than the United States or Colombia, please inquire with the Colombian embassy serving that country.

In cases where the absent parent refuses or is otherwise unable to provide consent, the other parent can request assistance from the Colombian child protection agency, Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF). In appropriate cases, ICBF will investigate and may issue a document that will allow the child to travel without both parents’ consent.

The link to the page where this information was found is here.

[NArocks 13]

We did the letter, the mom of my step children is here is the US , we went to the Colombian embassy in New York, however my husband had to get the document stamp in Bogota when he was there in order for the Kids to leave. We got the initial letter at the End of January and we placed the date they were to leave as we had already bought the tickets ( wishful thinking but it came through ). The document cost 19.00 here at the embassy in New York, when he gets back I will post it here. It was in Spanish though and had all his and the childrens mother cedula information. This is in case any children have stayed in Colombia while the Mother/father is here petitioning them.

Edited February 24, 2008 by narocks

[faith11 0]

Hello everyone in Colombia Club, l want to say Congratulations to Santamarta for your Approval, good luck forthe rest of your journey.

Congratulations to Camicar and osita for your interview dates.

l am scheduled too for march. Mine is on march 13, l know Agentes is on march 12.

who else is schedule in march in this club?

l want to say God´s grace is with all of us.

God bless you all.

[CamyCar 0]

Hello everyone in Colombia Club, l want to say Congratulations to Santamarta for your Approval, good luck forthe rest of your journey.

Congratulations to Camicar and osita for your interview dates.

l am scheduled too for march. Mine is on march 13, l know Agentes is on march 12.

who else is schedule in march in this club?

l want to say God´s grace is with all of us.

God bless you all.

Thank you Faith,

It is exciting for us now. Carina and I are going over documents and assessing costs and schedules. We want to be diligent and not forget anything. Good luck to you at your interview. We will be watching and praying for you. You have the responsibility to pave the way and create a smooth path for the rest of us that will be following you!! Keep us informed and best of luck to you. The end of the tunnel is near!!

Cameron and Carina

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

Well,...............Paola is at work, I am home alone. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I want her to have a job, and yet, I do not want her to be gone. jajajaja. I am very proud of her. If she gets fired tonight..................I will be happy. LOL>LOL>

CONGRATS PAOLA!!!!

Buck...I know how you feel about missing your love...Yenifer and I were invited to Disney by my sisters but I unfortunately have to work. She left today and will be gone until Friday ...

I am glad that they will spend time together...my sisters LOVE her...

We have finished the paperwork for AOS and I was going to mail it tommorrow but I am not positive on how many passport photos we need to send.

I was originally thinking 2 which is how many we had made but now I am 2nd guessing that because we are applying for work authorization and advance parol along with AOS.

Can anyone answer this one?

Welcome Ken and Onelis...

[Bill y Bella 0]

Our interview is the 29th of this month and I am leaving for Bogota Tuesday morning. Will everyone please review the list that follows and let me know if I am missing something or if you have any suggestions? We are applying for visas for Bella and the 2 children. The kids are less than 16 years old. Bella has never been married or arrested.

• Passports for everyone with expirations of July 2017.
• Photographs. 4 of each. We will attach 2 to the DS-156's and take 2 loose photos to the embassy. We already used 2 for the medicals.
• Recent Baptism certificates for everyone. There is a potential problem here because Bella's is in her original name and everything else is in her "new" name. The church would not issue a certificate in the new name but the marginal notes do reference her new name.
• Recent birth certificates for everyone with the notary's colored stamps.
• Colombian police certificate for Bella. I think it is about 6 months old now. She has never been out of the country.
• DAS Migratorio for Bella. It is about a month old.
• Affidavit of support including:

• I-134 notarized. In addition to income (I used the figure from my 2007 tax return) I entered the asset figures for cash, personal property and Real Estate. The net value of those assets is above the annual poverty level income for a family of 4 times 5. For documentation of the Real Estate value I will have a Realtor's Comparative Market Analysis in my briefcase. I don't have anything that "proves" how much I owe on the mortgage.
• Employment verification letter (1 original & 1 copy). The letter states that I am on an unpaid leave of absence until the Spring of 2008. I have not drawn a salary from that company since May of 2007.
• Letter from Bank #1 with total deposits for the year and current balance. (2 originals)
• Letter from bank #2 with current balance, average balance and date opened. One letter is an original and the other is a copy although both look like copies. In the letter they say to see total deposits for the past 12 months one must look at the bank statements. I will have 2 copies of the statements with me in case they are needed.
• 6 paystubs. I have 2 sets. Both are photocopies because that is all I ever received with my checks.
• 2007 Federal tax return with W-2's. The adjusted gross income is well above the poverty level but a lot of it is from self employment.
  Do I need 2 copies? Does it need to be signed by the accountant? Does it need to be notarized?
• If needed I will have tax transcripts from 2004, 2005 & 2006 in my brief case.

• Evidence of the relationship including:

• 28 fotos printed in color 4 to a sheet on plain paper.
• Screen prints of Skype phone call history. Covers from 1/5/08 to present.
• Screen prints of Yahoo Chat history log. Shows dates of conversations and names of participants. Covers 7/06 to present.
• Partial transcripts of 11 different chat conversations. Covers from 7/06 to 2/08.
• Color copies of 10 cards the children made for me over several years.
• A photocopy of the lease in both our names for the apartment we have rented for almost a year in Bogota. Bella and the kids live there.
• A copy of an invoice in both of our names for a washing machine that we purchased for the apartment.
• Color photo copies of my boarding passes for 7 trips to Colombia in 2007. 3 of the trips are after we filed the I-129F.

• 1 DS-230 Part 1 for each one of them. Unsigned.
• 2 DS-156's in English for each one of them. Unsigned. I am assuming that the bank uses 1 of them although they might make us fill out a new one in Spanish.
• 1 DS-156K for Bella. Unsigned.
• Medical exams for the 3 of them.

I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks. It is amazing that after all this time I still have a few nagging doubts. If I missed something, I don't have much time to fix it so please let me know what you think as soon as possible. I am a little concerned about some of the affidavit of support documents being photocopies and Bella's baptism certificate.

Thanks for your help!

Edited February 25, 2008 by Bill y Bella

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

Bill...

It looks like you have everything that is important in order...the one thing that I would suggest that sounds a little weak is to put those photos that you have printed on paper made into real 4x6's and put them in a small album...I think it is a small detail but it will look better to the C/O. That is one thing that I have noticed with everyone's case that the C/O's focus a little attention on is the photos...more than 28 would be better and include other members of the family (make sure that you can name them!!!!)

Other than that you look just FINE!!!

We wish you the VERY BEST OF LUCK!!!!

I just got back from Walgreens and bought 4 more passport photos that Yenifer took yesterday. They didn't delete them from the camera thank God because I want to mail the AOS packet tomorrow and she is away visiting Mickey Mouse til Friday. I will just send 6 photos and not have to worry about it.

Edited February 25, 2008 by Scott n Yenifer

[Agentes 0]

I just got done doing my part of the paperwork today and I can not imagine having to add any kids into this mix. This is a lot of work just for one. My hat is off to all of you that are bringing kids too. My wife has a dog that we are brining and that is enough for me.

Anyway, I will throw out what I am doing. It is pretty much like everyone else, but it might spark an idea ... Today I spent 4 hours in Kinkos just making copies. I copied everything. We will be having about 130 pictures (4x6) and that number is cut down from a couple hundred. (I take pictures of everything. We probably have 1,000+ pictures in total.) Ours will be in a personal album too. The only thing I am cutting back on is the financial evidence. My wife has had my ATM card and using it weekly for the past 8 months, but after previous posts, we are not going to use any of that evidence. She has an AmEx Card sitting here in her name, but we will use that. I also have a few letters from family that have been addressed to "Mr. y Mrs. Agentes". In addition to boarding passes, I printed out my Frequent Flyer account details to back up my flights. I literally brought all the personal type gifts that she has given me to Kinkos, and I put them on the copy machine. If it said "Te Amo" or anything personal/romantic like that, it got copied. I have the last year of phone, email, and text messages ready to go, but I think we will just have a sampling of about 20-50 ready. I also have a stack of about 500 phone cards. They are the prepaid type, but they will also be at the ready. I have sent my wife flowers many times and that will also be included. I have her pictures on my desk at work and I am thinking of taking a picture of that too. I actually have a lot more stuff that keeps popping up as I write, but I think I will stop here. If something significant pops up, I will post it.

I am wondering if copies are ok? I made these copies for our records, but I would prefer the copies go to the embassy. We would have copies of my things that I have here, but originals of what she has there in Colombia. Does anyone know if copies would be a problem? How about copies of documents for the I-134?

I don't think I will stop having any doubts until after the interview. I will be cool, calm, and collective then I will read a horror story in the archives. After I see that, I find myself trying to prepare for anything and everything. Like everyone else, I will be so happy when this is over. I can not stress that enough!

God Bless and good luck to all of you!

P.S. On a humorous note, has anyone ever went to the interview wearing one of those shirts that have the other person's picture on it? I wonder how that would go over? jaja

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

I am wondering if copies are ok? I made these copies for our records, but I would prefer the copies go to the embassy. We would have copies of my things that I have here, but originals of what she has there in Colombia. Does anyone know if copies would be a problem? How about copies of documents for the I-134?

Copies of financial records are just fine...I would suggest calling IRS for transcipts if you have'nt already instead of the 1040's and w2's. It will save you a lot of paper since the transcipts are only 2 pages each and you will NEED them for AOS anyway. I called 2 weeks ago to have them sent to my house and they never arrived so they just faxed them to me while I was on the phone.

IRS phone # 1-800-829-1040...wait for a rep if you want them faxed.

Just remembered 1 more thing...don't forget to have the I-134 notarized.

Edited February 25, 2008 by Scott n Yenifer

[Agentes 0]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

Sorry, I should have mentioned it. I have the transcripts too, but I'm not filing 2007 until April, so I will be using the 2006 transcripts with the 2007 W2. I am not sure how my schedule is at interview time, so I am sending my paperwork down in about 48 hours rather than bring it myself. I am just so nervous about putting all the originals in the mail.

Ouch, I can not believe how much notarizing is. I just called and they told me 10 dollars a page. I thought it was like 2-3 dollars. I am way behind the times. I was thinking at 2 dollars a page I would notarize anything and everything, but not now. I am going to get that notarized tonight if I can get out of work early, or else tomorrow.

Thanks again!

[Bill y Bella 0]

Ouch, I can not believe how much notarizing is. I just called and they told me 10 dollars a page. I thought it was like 2-3 dollars. I am way behind the times. I was thinking at 2 dollars a page I would notarize anything and everything, but not now. I am going to get that notarized tonight if I can get out of work early, or else tomorrow.

Thanks again!

You can usually get a few pages notarized at your bank for free. That is what I did. What are you having notarized? I only notarized the I-134. Did I miss something?

[waitman 0]

Hello all, and good luck!

What is the situation with vaccinations in Bogota now? A few months ago there were a lot of posts about some doctors requiring vaccinations to be "fresh" or requiring that they're done in their offices.

1. Do they still require repeat shots if the vaccinations are more than a few weeks old? My novia apparently has only varicella vaccination missing (and has a certificate to prove that) so does it mean that she'll need only one shot done?

2. Do they still insist on the vaccinations being done in the same office?

3. I understand that strictly speaking, K-visas don't require ANY shots-- AOS does. Is there a way to flat out refuse any vaccinations until my novia gets to the US?

Thank you all and best wishes!

Edited February 25, 2008 by waitman

[Mononoke28 135]

Ouch, I can not believe how much notarizing is. I just called and they told me 10 dollars a page. I thought it was like 2-3 dollars. I am way behind the times. I was thinking at 2 dollars a page I would notarize anything and everything, but not now. I am going to get that notarized tonight if I can get out of work early, or else tomorrow.

Thanks again!

You can usually get a few pages notarized at your bank for free. That is what I did. What are you having notarized? I only notarized the I-134. Did I miss something?

Yes, most banks, if not all, have a public notary working at the bank and they will notarize your paperwork for free. We use them all the time.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Hello all, and good luck!

What is the situation with vaccinations in Bogota now? A few months ago there were a lot of posts about some doctors requiring vaccinations to be "fresh" or requiring that they're done in their offices.

1. Do they still require repeat shots if the vaccinations are more than a few weeks old? My novia apparently has only varicella vaccination missing (and has a certificate to prove that) so does it mean that she'll need only one shot done?

2. Do they still insist on the vaccinations being done in the same office?

3. I understand that strictly speaking, K-visas don't require ANY shots-- AOS does. Is there a way to flat out refuse any vaccinations until my novia gets to the US?

Thank you all and best wishes!

Your fiancée needs to call the doctors to confirm the information because it might have changed. Until recently both doctors were not accepting vaccinations that were administered more than 8 days before the medical. The beneficiary then had the option of getting them somewhere else no more than 8 days before the medical or get them at the office the same day.

K visas DO need the vaccinations to enter the US or the doctor will not approve the medical exam. So she needs to get them before her interview.

Diana

[Agentes 0]

What are you having notarized? I only notarized the I-134. Did I miss something?

No, I don't think so. I am just being overly cautious. Anything that was of importance, I was just going to notarize. For example Pay Stubs, Insurance Policy etc... Now I am just going to do the I-134. I am totally nervous but I think I am going to send down my originals instead of the copies. (Dear God, make them get there safe.)

Has anyone used Fedex or DHL to Cartagena? If so, what was your experience?

I know Servientrega is popular and people have had good results. We have used Deprisa and got good results, but right now my only options are FedEx or DHL. I was going to go with FedEx, but I think DHL is more established in the area.

Thanks!

(I'm still trying to sort through the vaccinations myself.)