Colombia Club

[Mononoke28 134]

Oh my gosh. It sounds to me like someone screwed up big time at the embassy and gave you the run around for nothing. On top of that without an apology. Bunch of morons.

Hopefully they will send him his visa this time so you can get it over with.

Diana

[Andres and Diana 0]

Seriously!

At this point I dont even care about an appology or even the extra money we have had to pay for any of this second interview stuff....

I just want him here! I want his visa to be sent to him without any hitches! So yeah....I'll celebrate with a big bottle of aguardiente when Domesa knocks on his door!

[Mononoke28 134]

Has anybody heard from Ken? I wonder how his trip to Barranquilla went...

Diana

[pladam 0]

We faxed our packet 3 forms on 07/03 and still have not received any confirmation of receipt at the email we listed on the DS-2100 (it says they'll reply within 5 days), and the Department of State still says no interview date has been set. Has anyone sent in their forms in the past few weeks and heard anything back? I'm getting worried because the cut off for August interviews is in two days.

[Juan Carlos 0]

It sounds like you are almost there, Diana! Congratulations!! I am sure you'll have that visa in your hand before you even suspect.

As for my case... last Friday I checked with the Juarez consulate, and they still have my file. My expectation is that they shouldn't take more than three weeks to send it back to the NVC. If they take more than that, I'll ask to speak with a supervisor again.

- Congressman: useless.

- Lawyer: useless

The one thing that helped me is that I called the Bogota consulate, as suggested by Diana. They explained, confirmed and re-confirmed that the consular officer has the power to extend the I-129F even if it has already expired. They asked me to send a letter explaining what happened and proof of our "interview" in Juarez together with our documenets in packet 3... once I send my packet three.

How I wish things moved a bit faster!! I know, by now I should've learned and I should be used to immigration timelines... I am not.

I'll let you know anything happens or if I learned anything new. I will give this whole thing a month. If nothing happens, we'll go for the IR1 in Bogota.

Juan Carlos.

[Ken y Leidys 20]

Has anybody heard from Ken? I wonder how his trip to Barranquilla went...

Diana

Hello! I am in Barranquilla at this very moment. Um, long story short...I visited with Onelis´family, said our ¨Goodbyes¨, and I met with Onelis and her sister Estefanie here at the hotel. Onelis told me the reason that she had not tried to email me over the past month was because; Her ear infection, her eye infection, and being too ¨Preoccupied.¨ She then explained to me that she was ¨Afraid to leave her city, her country, etc. for the United States.¨ She said that she loved me, but that this was too much for her at this time of her life. She then, asked if I would call her so that we could, ¨Go out.¨ but, I declined because she just didn´t seem to be very sincere. This was painful, but it was much worse not hearing from someone for the past month - not knowing if they were alive or dead, etc.¨ So, today I ended my VisaJourney with Onelis. I wrote my lawyer explaining that he would need to withdrawl my visa petition, and ¨Thank you for your assistance to my case.¨

On the positive side, I went out with a nice, young lady here in town last night. She is single, much more of a serious person, intelligent, and possibly someone that might fit into my future. We are going to take things slowly, but I would love the opportunity to return to Barraquilla. I love this city, and this country. The people are the greatest. Sincere, warm, hospitable, and family-loving - just what I want to be surrounded with as I enter my middle-age period of my life (I turn 40 on the 28th..YIKES!). So, I hope to return, just with a different username and Costeña (of course!)

VIVA COLOMBIA!! VIVA BARRANQUILLA!! VIVA VISAJOURNEY!!!

[parkpapa 0]

Ken,

Sorry to hear that this is how it's worked out, though it's probably not too surprising, given the amount of time that passed without her contacting you. And, I suspect like you already know, that this is for the best. If she is this unsure about you and about everything, it would only have been worse if she ended up coming here.

My friend, I strongly advise you to take things very slowly at this time. While Colombian women and culture are amazing, you need to keep in mind that the people there have the same basic strengths and weaknesses as people anywhere. Make sure you find the right PERSON and not concern yourself too much with where they're from.

Best wishes to you..... and to Onelis, for that matter. She missed out!

Charles

[Ken y Leidys 20]

Best wishes to you..... and to Onelis, for that matter. She missed out!

Charles

Charles,

I just can´t believe how difficult all of this had to have been. Like swimming upstream for several months. I am going to spend the rest of my visit here just seeing the city and enjoying myself. The weather is much more agreeable than inland Southern California this time of the year. My Spanish is as polished as it has ever been in my life. I have tons of friends in Northern Baja, Mexico and in Southern CA, so its not like this is my only chance at meeting someone nice. I just wanted a reason to come back time and time again.

Thanks for your kind thoughts and advice.

[Mononoke28 134]

It sounds like you are almost there, Diana! Congratulations!! I am sure you'll have that visa in your hand before you even suspect.

As for my case... last Friday I checked with the Juarez consulate, and they still have my file. My expectation is that they shouldn't take more than three weeks to send it back to the NVC. If they take more than that, I'll ask to speak with a supervisor again.

- Congressman: useless.

- Lawyer: useless

The one thing that helped me is that I called the Bogota consulate, as suggested by Diana. They explained, confirmed and re-confirmed that the consular officer has the power to extend the I-129F even if it has already expired. They asked me to send a letter explaining what happened and proof of our "interview" in Juarez together with our documenets in packet 3... once I send my packet three.

How I wish things moved a bit faster!! I know, by now I should've learned and I should be used to immigration timelines... I am not.

I'll let you know anything happens or if I learned anything new. I will give this whole thing a month. If nothing happens, we'll go for the IR1 in Bogota.

Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos,

I'm glad to hear that the US Embassy in Bogotá said the I-129F can be extended especially because this whole fiasco was not your fault at all. And did I just read that you have a lawyer handling your case? Why didn't he/she say anything about the interview being scheduled in Juarez and not Bogotá?! That's insane!

One more reason to stay away from lawyers when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Good luck with everything and please keep us posted.

Diana

[Mononoke28 134]

Hello! I am in Barranquilla at this very moment. Um, long story short...I visited with Onelis´family, said our ¨Goodbyes¨, and I met with Onelis and her sister Estefanie here at the hotel. Onelis told me the reason that she had not tried to email me over the past month was because; Her ear infection, her eye infection, and being too ¨Preoccupied.¨ She then explained to me that she was ¨Afraid to leave her city, her country, etc. for the United States.¨ She said that she loved me, but that this was too much for her at this time of her life. She then, asked if I would call her so that we could, ¨Go out.¨ but, I declined because she just didn´t seem to be very sincere. This was painful, but it was much worse not hearing from someone for the past month - not knowing if they were alive or dead, etc.¨ So, today I ended my VisaJourney with Onelis. I wrote my lawyer explaining that he would need to withdrawl my visa petition, and ¨Thank you for your assistance to my case.¨

On the positive side, I went out with a nice, young lady here in town last night. She is single, much more of a serious person, intelligent, and possibly someone that might fit into my future. We are going to take things slowly, but I would love the opportunity to return to Barraquilla. I love this city, and this country. The people are the greatest. Sincere, warm, hospitable, and family-loving - just what I want to be surrounded with as I enter my middle-age period of my life (I turn 40 on the 28th..YIKES!). So, I hope to return, just with a different username and Costeña (of course!)

VIVA COLOMBIA!! VIVA BARRANQUILLA!! VIVA VISAJOURNEY!!!

Ken,

I'm glad to hear that things are well with Onelis but like Charles said, not surprised. It didn't make sense to me why she didn't make an effort to contact you in so long but count your blessings that it happened now, and not while she was here in the States, which could have made things much more complicated for sure.

Also, take your time and be cautious with every woman you meet down there. There are a lot of leeches waiting for someone to take them out of their current situations and will do anything to change their lives. I'm not saying all women are like that, but you have to be very picky and know who you are dealing with. Keep your eyes open and just enjoy your time off while you're down there.

Good luck!

Diana

[Andres and Diana 0]

OMG! So...last Friday Andres got a call that we were going to administrative processing again!

Andres totally lost it with the girl that called him...(he had just gotten off a 10 hour bus ride from Bogota to Tulua...he was a tad grumpy)

Andres didn't give many details regarding the call since he was soo Pissed. He was frustrated that one moment they said all systems go! The next minute the are once again saying "just kidding" wait for your visa.

The conversation escalated to the point where the lady transfered Andres to the Consul. After giving him the whole story about our original interview and the then second "interview" the consul said it was his mistake to have the rep call Andres and said that they would get his visa out soon.

I cant believe how disorganized they are at the embassy. If it hadn't of been for Andres being pissed off at the girl we would have probably been sent through another round of ridiculous security checks!

Now Im wondering if we would have fought for the visa in the beginning would we have been spared all of this waiting. If you guys remember...the first time we were sent to administrative processing they said it was a "glitch" in their system and an error by the Consul!

Grrr....

Diana

p.s. sorry...i just needed to vent.

Edited July 14, 2008 by Andres and Diana

[Mononoke28 134]

Girl!!!! I can't believe that #######, what the hell??? Good thing he went off on them because that would have meant more weeks of waiting and yet a third interview for nothing.

Like you said, it's not over until he has his visa in his hands.

Diana

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

They said it was a "glitch" in their system and an error by the Consul!

Grrr....

Diana

p.s. sorry...i just needed to vent.

DIANA...ARE YOU KIDDING?...YOU ARE BEING CALM ABOUT THIS #######!...I CAN'T BELIEVE THE HASSLE THEY'VE PUT YOU TWO THROUGH!!!!

I also hope that Andres got the gentleman's name and phone number that finally gave you guys hope of them sending him the visa so that he can hound him DAILY until it arrives. PLEASE say he did and he will stay in touch with him...

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

¨ So, today I ended my VisaJourney with Onelis. I wrote my lawyer explaining that he would need to withdrawl my visa petition, and ¨Thank you for your assistance to my case.¨

VIVA COLOMBIA!! VIVA BARRANQUILLA!! VIVA VISAJOURNEY!!!

You know Ken, Charles could't have put it any better. I would just like to reiterate his sentiments and tell you that I think you are genuinely a good person. With patience, you will find your love with the help of God. For now, use this learning experince and move forward.

P.S. Have fun in Barranquilla and do shot of aguardiente for us!!! (but of course be careful)

Chao for now

[parkpapa 0]

P.S. Have fun in Barranquilla and do shot of aguardiente for us!!! (but of course be careful)

Have a second shot for me (on a different day, of course....haha). That's the only stuff I ever got a buzz with where I didn't have a headache the next day.