Colombia Club

[erporsche 0]

K-3 Process

Embassy accepts DS2001 or OF169. I have both in PDF.

This is brief summary of steps:

Sent Cover letter, DS 2001, DS230 Part 1 after taking guess of application arrival in Bogota from NVC.

Wife recieved Packet 3 two days later. Saved a couple of days by guessing. She faxed and sent via courier.

Wife recieved Packet 4 within one week with interview appointment letter. Seems to take one week in Bogota for packet 3 and 4 to arrive by snail mail after embassy sends out. IMPORTANT - As soon as you get Packet 4, call for doctors apoointment (Dr Gonzalez is preferred and she is busy). Wife recieved March 27th appointment and she called on March 8th

She went to Red Cross to get vaccinations

She is going to lab this week.

She has requested migratory certificate from DAS (takes 3 days in Bogota)

She is going to bank tommorrow to pay visa fee with DS156.

Waiting for interview set for April 4th (problem is Embassy is closed on April 5 and 6th due to Easter Holiday) Hoping to get VISA same day (crossing fingers) otherwise I may need to wait till Monday at 4:00 pm.

Making flight arrangments to go to interview.

[glenn21 0]

MY PAPERWORK ARRIVED IN BOGOTA TODAY. IN JUST TWO DAYS!!!!! I'M PUMPED!!!

[parkpapa 0]

K-3 Process

Embassy accepts DS2001 or OF169. I have both in PDF.

This is brief summary of steps:

Sent Cover letter, DS 2001, DS230 Part 1 after taking guess of application arrival in Bogota from NVC.

Wife recieved Packet 3 two days later. Saved a couple of days by guessing. She faxed and sent via courier.

Wife recieved Packet 4 within one week with interview appointment letter. Seems to take one week in Bogota for packet 3 and 4 to arrive by snail mail after embassy sends out. IMPORTANT - As soon as you get Packet 4, call for doctors apoointment (Dr Gonzalez is preferred and she is busy). Wife recieved March 27th appointment and she called on March 8th

She went to Red Cross to get vaccinations

She is going to lab this week.

She has requested migratory certificate from DAS (takes 3 days in Bogota)

She is going to bank tommorrow to pay visa fee with DS156.

Waiting for interview set for April 4th (problem is Embassy is closed on April 5 and 6th due to Easter Holiday) Hoping to get VISA same day (crossing fingers) otherwise I may need to wait till Monday at 4:00 pm.

Making flight arrangments to go to interview.

Best of luck to you!!! I'm hoping to hear similar news soon. If you have those forms in pdf, could I get you to email them to me? Let me know and I'll give you my address. In any case - good for both of you!

[erporsche 0]

K-3 Process

Embassy accepts DS2001 or OF169. I have both in PDF.

This is brief summary of steps:

Sent Cover letter, DS 2001, DS230 Part 1 after taking guess of application arrival in Bogota from NVC.

Wife recieved Packet 3 two days later. Saved a couple of days by guessing. She faxed and sent via courier.

Wife recieved Packet 4 within one week with interview appointment letter. Seems to take one week in Bogota for packet 3 and 4 to arrive by snail mail after embassy sends out. IMPORTANT - As soon as you get Packet 4, call for doctors apoointment (Dr Gonzalez is preferred and she is busy). Wife recieved March 27th appointment and she called on March 8th

She went to Red Cross to get vaccinations

She is going to lab this week.

She has requested migratory certificate from DAS (takes 3 days in Bogota)

She is going to bank tommorrow to pay visa fee with DS156.

Waiting for interview set for April 4th (problem is Embassy is closed on April 5 and 6th due to Easter Holiday) Hoping to get VISA same day (crossing fingers) otherwise I may need to wait till Monday at 4:00 pm.

Making flight arrangments to go to interview.

Best of luck to you!!! I'm hoping to hear similar news soon. If you have those forms in pdf, could I get you to email them to me? Let me know and I'll give you my address. In any case - good for both of you!

K3 Process

I will scan packet 3 and 4 in PDF that my wife recieved in early March 2007 to give those a heads up on what is expected similair to others that have helped me.

PM me after after this Thursday or Friday and I can send you info.

Best of luck to everyone!

[olafgypsy 0]

Hello everyone! Great news! My I-129F was approved today!! So now my fiance and I are gearing up for the next stage in the process, which brings me to my question:

I am a ph.d. student on fellowship. About 1/3 of my annual income is paid in salary, and the other 2/3 are paid as a stipend. For this tax year, I was unaware that I was required to report my stipend (In fact, I just found out yesterday that the stipend IS in fact considered taxable income), and so I did not report it on my tax return. Thus, the return transcript does not fully reflect my income. I have adequate documentation of the rest of my income, including a letter of employment stating my full income and records of my stipend deposits for the past year. But will the fact that it doesn't all show up on my tax transcript be a problem at the embassy ? (I know it's a problem for the IRS, of course).

[HAL 9000 96]

Hello everyone! Great news! My I-129F was approved today!! So now my fiance and I are gearing up for the next stage in the process, which brings me to my question:

I am a ph.d. student on fellowship. About 1/3 of my annual income is paid in salary, and the other 2/3 are paid as a stipend. For this tax year, I was unaware that I was required to report my stipend (In fact, I just found out yesterday that the stipend IS in fact considered taxable income), and so I did not report it on my tax return. Thus, the return transcript does not fully reflect my income. I have adequate documentation of the rest of my income, including a letter of employment stating my full income and records of my stipend deposits for the past year. But will the fact that it doesn't all show up on my tax transcript be a problem at the embassy ? (I know it's a problem for the IRS, of course).

Your school should have sent you a 1098-T with the amount paid to you as "Scholarships and Grants," or the part B of the 1098-T (this is actually your stipend). Trust me, I got one. I am not a tax pro, but you can limit your tax liability by claiming the actual tuition paid on your behalf (its considered a qualified expense... or the part A of the 1098-T). See Form 8863.

You may want to file an amended tax return for the previous years you obtained this stipend. I know, it totally sucks, but during your school's orientation you should have heard that student stipends are taxable depending on the funding source. Check your appointment papers- chances are if you study science your funding source is public (like PHS) and that means you gotta file. There are always those that sneak by and then there are cases of those that get audited. Your choice. But if you want to add your school stipend as income for your affidavit of support then you gotta be ready to ante up the tax difference.

Suerte and congrats on the petition. Things will speed up soon.

[olafgypsy 0]

Hello everyone! Great news! My I-129F was approved today!! So now my fiance and I are gearing up for the next stage in the process, which brings me to my question:

I am a ph.d. student on fellowship. About 1/3 of my annual income is paid in salary, and the other 2/3 are paid as a stipend. For this tax year, I was unaware that I was required to report my stipend (In fact, I just found out yesterday that the stipend IS in fact considered taxable income), and so I did not report it on my tax return. Thus, the return transcript does not fully reflect my income. I have adequate documentation of the rest of my income, including a letter of employment stating my full income and records of my stipend deposits for the past year. But will the fact that it doesn't all show up on my tax transcript be a problem at the embassy ? (I know it's a problem for the IRS, of course).

Your school should have sent you a 1098-T with the amount paid to you as "Scholarships and Grants," or the part B of the 1098-T (this is actually your stipend). Trust me, I got one. I am not a tax pro, but you can limit your tax liability by claiming the actual tuition paid on your behalf (its considered a qualified expense... or the part A of the 1098-T). See Form 8863.

You may want to file an amended tax return for the previous years you obtained this stipend. I know, it totally sucks, but during your school's orientation you should have heard that student stipends are taxable depending on the funding source. Check your appointment papers- chances are if you study science your funding source is public (like PHS) and that means you gotta file. There are always those that sneak by and then there are cases of those that get audited. Your choice. But if you want to add your school stipend as income for your affidavit of support then you gotta be ready to ante up the tax difference.

Suerte and congrats on the petition. Things will speed up soon.

Thanks for your response -- I was panicking because, being new to the whole tax process, I wasn't even aware I could file an amended tax return. But as my father would say, "nobody is ever going to prevent you from giving them money."

Surprisingly, my school's official line on stipends is as follows: "In addition, the University does not issue 1099 forms indicating the amount of stipend fellowship received by a student. Students are responsible for accurately reporting stipend amounts and for making estimated tax payments if appropriate."

This seems fishy to me, but I guess it's their prerogative. Wish I had read up on this, instead of just assuming, 'oh, if I need to report it they'll send me some sort of official document.' But hindsight's 20-20.

Thanks for your well-wishes. Unfortunately, my fiance's need for a German police certificate is going to slow things down a bit, but we're aiming for an interview in June.

Edited March 16, 2007 by olafgypsy

[HAL 9000 96]

I was originally in such a hurry...

Hopefully she has already requested that background check from the Embassy in Bogotá. You never know with Teutonic Efficiency these days!!! Maybe the nature of the request won't take too long to take care of.

Wow... seems your school is like mine- they pay you but then they don't take ownership when tax issues come around. Taking care of you from a payroll point of view would IMHO make a good recruiting position. Anyway, its something to consider when asking at recruiting weekends (for those of you looking at programs).

[KathyB 0]

Congratulations olafgypsy on your approval! That's great news!

[Mike and Adriana 0]

I assume you've figured this out by now, but to amend your return, file the 1040-X. You can present a copy of that, along with your original return to the embassy....in lieu of the tax transcript. If you are not going to be at the interview, it might not hurt to include a brief explanation of why you filed the amended return (so they don't assume you only did it to meet the support guidelines).

Good luck.

PS - welcome to the world of higher education! I'm been teaching since my doctoral days in the early 1990s. Universities are very strange organizational animals.

Thanks for your response -- I was panicking because, being new to the whole tax process, I wasn't even aware I could file an amended tax return. But as my father would say, "nobody is ever going to prevent you from giving them money."

Surprisingly, my school's official line on stipends is as follows: "In addition, the University does not issue 1099 forms indicating the amount of stipend fellowship received by a student. Students are responsible for accurately reporting stipend amounts and for making estimated tax payments if appropriate."

This seems fishy to me, but I guess it's their prerogative. Wish I had read up on this, instead of just assuming, 'oh, if I need to report it they'll send me some sort of official document.' But hindsight's 20-20.

Thanks for your well-wishes. Unfortunately, my fiance's need for a German police certificate is going to slow things down a bit, but we're aiming for an interview in June.

[Mononoke28 135]

Congratulations on your NOA2. Vermont has been rocking and rolling on those K-1s!

[waitingforher30 0]

I have been in Bogota for the past few days visiting my Fiancee. Yesterday when she checked her mail she received Packet 4. Things are moving fast now. Our interview date is April 13, 2007. She has all her paperwork with the exception of the Carta de DAS which she will get next week. I read that she should go ahead and make her Doctor's appointment now. How long does it take to get into the lab? Will she have enough time to go to the lab before her Dr.'s appointment? Also about the three vacinations that she needs. Is it better to go to the red cross and get them or wait until the Dr.'s visit to receive them? She needs Td, MMR, and Varicela. She does not have her shot record from when she was young. Any advice for the rest of the process including the interview? Thanks....

[erporsche 0]

I have been in Bogota for the past few days visiting my Fiancee. Yesterday when she checked her mail she received Packet 4. Things are moving fast now. Our interview date is April 13, 2007. She has all her paperwork with the exception of the Carta de DAS which she will get next week. I read that she should go ahead and make her Doctor's appointment now. How long does it take to get into the lab? Will she have enough time to go to the lab before her Dr.'s appointment? Also about the three vacinations that she needs. Is it better to go to the red cross and get them or wait until the Dr.'s visit to receive them? She needs Td, MMR, and Varicela. She does not have her shot record from when she was young. Any advice for the rest of the process including the interview? Thanks....

My wifes interview is April 4. Go to the red cross and get the shots. After geting the 3 shots she was tired for almost two days from taking 3 shots at one time. Call and get the doctors appointment scheduled ASAP. Dr Gonzalez is very busy, but when you call they will ask when your interview date is and hopefully fit you in. If not, you will have to go to the other doctor. Get your labs done now as well.

My wife has everything completed except for the labs which she is going this week and her doctors appointment is a couple of days before the embassy appointment.

She paid her interview fee yesterday at the bank.

Everyone she called was very helpful and every person at each of the palces knew the drill. The bank reviewed the DS156 in detail and even caught some mistakes I made.

Good luck!

[Mike and Adriana 0]

erporsche answered most of your questions....but two points.

1) As soon as you know you medical exam date, get the blood test and x-ray a few days before. Results get sent directly to the doctor. No appointment needed for the blood test and x-ray.

2) In Colombia, vaccinations are done by the Red Cross, not by the doctor's themselves (at least that's what I've been told). So, definitely get them done at the Red Cross and bring plenty of cash...some of them are not cheap.

I have been in Bogota for the past few days visiting my Fiancee. Yesterday when she checked her mail she received Packet 4. Things are moving fast now. Our interview date is April 13, 2007. She has all her paperwork with the exception of the Carta de DAS which she will get next week. I read that she should go ahead and make her Doctor's appointment now. How long does it take to get into the lab? Will she have enough time to go to the lab before her Dr.'s appointment? Also about the three vacinations that she needs. Is it better to go to the red cross and get them or wait until the Dr.'s visit to receive them? She needs Td, MMR, and Varicela. She does not have her shot record from when she was young. Any advice for the rest of the process including the interview? Thanks....

[KathyB 0]

Francisco was able to get the lab in the morning before the medical exam. He will have lab at 7:30 am and exam at 9:30 (or something like that).

Kathy