LAND DOWNUNDER

[hawaiiandreams 0]

Airfare to the US

Folks, many of us would have faced the costliness of a one-way fare to the US vs. a return entering the US on the KI visa.

Rather than fly direct ie. SYD>SFO or LAX > Chicago, I was thinking of flying non-direct to try save some money ie. SYD>Honolulu on Jetstar>SFO or LAX on United> Chicago

BUT

Assume HNL would be my Point of Entry. Does it matter which is my POE flying in on a K1 visa? Should I best fly direct through SFO or LAX to avoid any trouble (this is tempting esp. since I will be lugging around my wedding dress!!)

Any tips on airfare, routes to save $$ to get me from A to B?

Thanks!~ We could all benefit!!

Hi Chicago_dreaming, congratulations on the approval of your visa! :-)

Just saw your posting and wanted to make a note to you that's a little off the subject.

Despite what the consulate has told you, if your POE is through Honolulu, make sure you carry your actual X-ray film in your carry on luggage. The instructions received from the SYDNEY consulate state you will not need to present the x-ray film at your POE, but in actual fact, you do need it. I can not comment on how the other states operate but I needed mine for entry into Honolulu and it created quite a probelm for me because I had checked the x-ray films into my checked baggage (as per the consulates instruction). I was escorted down to baggage to get them out of my bag for the immigration officer who was processing my paperwork but my bags has gone misssing. They showed up 2 days later but it created quite a bit of angst and frustration for me.

Anyway, I wouldn't want anyone else to experience this stressful situation if it can be helped so my own personal piece of advice is to place the x-ray films in your carry on luggage just to be safe! ;-)

Take care & good luck. HD.

[Liam and Sam 2]

Hi there- I am posting this in response to a personal message- I can't seem to figure out how to upload an attachment to a personal message, so I am uploading it here. For anyone else who may be interested, I am trying to attach a template of the letter I faxed to the Sydney Consulate to request the opening of a provisional file once I learned our case was approved and sent by NVC. We never received official notice that a provisional file was opened, but my fiance received his packet 3 within 2 days of our case leaving NVC, so I believe it did speed up the process. Hope this helps!

P.S. Does anyone know how to attach a file to a personal message? Thanks!

Thank you!! I went ahead and had my fiance fax it in yesterday. I'm not sure what kind of a time difference it will make (as far as I know my case should be there by now) but maybe they'll go ahead and issue packet 3 a bit quicker. Originally we were hoping to have the interview in May while I'm visiting but I'm not sure if we have enough time now. He went and requested the police check yesterday and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to be processed (but the Consulate's web site says that if they don't receive it in 3wks to call the police station and track it down ..)

I was reading some other posts and saw that the Consulate is requesting all documents be mailed in prior to the interview now. Is this really the case? I was hoping I could just bring the I-134 and supporting docs with me in May rather than snail mail them. Also, do they send the medical information in packet 3 or packet 4?? Just curious if he can do this next week instead of waiting on them.

[vylex 0]

Just wondering how long on average it has taken people to get their SSN?

Take care all and good luck with your jouneys!

HD.

Hi HD! Glad you're settling in!

It took Vy a little over 4 weeks to get her SSN. I suspect you'll be receiving yours any day now.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

[patriciaofoz 0]

Hi everyone! (old and new)

Been a while...been kinda busy the past few weeks. Got married (yay!) and now settling into married life. Then realised that we need to start cracking with our new set of paperwork. This may sound bad but we honestly have no idea where to even start to do our AOS. So far we haven't received our marriage license (wedding was only a week ago so understandable). But I did apply for my SSN today and was told that I should get the card next week (here's hoping).

Here's a couple of photos taken on our wedding day:

With my husband!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2003/239520...c1e2c77b0_m.jpg

With my bridesmaid, Kate, from OK. The person who introduced Zach to me back in 2003 at University:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2308/239518...19b86c35a_m.jpg

With the cutest baby in the world:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2077/239526...630201fa6_m.jpg

It was truly a lovely and glorious day. But now we have to get back to "Immigration Life" and turn in all our paperwork. Here's hoping I can travel out of the US by December!!!

All the best to everybody else. I'll be checking in more often now that the wedding is behind us.

P.S. How's everybody's spring progress going? I love how it's sooooo green here! Definitely a new sight after dry and brown Adelaide.

[vylex 0]

Beautiful pics PoOZ!

Glad to hear you're doing well!

Spring is definitely in the air over here in NJ. Vy finally got a chance to see the trees blossom again. It's quite a sight for her. She can't believe the leaves turn from white to green but I told her to wait a little longer. She has only been here the last two winters so this will be her first spring. I told her that if she loved the winter here (worst visual conditions) then wait until spring, summer, and fall!

I am hoping to drive down to DC maybe in the fall to see the Cherry Blossoms Festival.

[hawaiiandreams 0]

Thanks vylex! It sounds like you and your wife are really well settled now and she has adjusted to life in the US. That's great, it is quite a transition, even when you are finally with your loved one!

I ended up visiting the social security office yesterday morning and was told nothing had been registered with them in my name from immigration. So surprise, surprise, something slipped through the cracks AGAIN and my SSN was not generated though I had requested one in my sworn statement!

Not to worry, I waited in line yesterday morning for 2 hours and have now been informed a number will definitely be in my hands in the next 2 weeks. So let's see! I have my eye on a job that I would like to apply for but they require my SSN with my application. The position closes in 10 days so I am hoping it all comes through in time!! I guess I could always try and apply without the SSN if it doesn't arrive in time, but it's a government job so I am guessing they are fairly strict about those things??

Congrats Patricia on your wedding. You are such a knock out girl! ;-) I wish you and Zach all the happiness in this world! You deserve it. Oh, I was telling the relatives last night about how much you pay for that lovely house of yours and they were all in disbelief! Hawaii is expensive compared to the mainland but I can not complain coming from melbourne prices.

HAve a great day all. HD. x

Edited April 15, 2008 by hawaiiandreams

[k32007 0]

Hi,

A couple of quick questions. It seems that the K3 medical should not involve a review of the vaccinations (http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegrams/telegrams_1431.html). Is this accurate?

Also, about how long did it take to schedule an appointment with either of the Sydney doctors - Millar or Waks? Finally, how long did it take to get the results?

Thanks,

Brian

PS Accidentally posted this in the main forum, so sorry about the double post.

[herself 0]

Hi there- I am posting this in response to a personal message- I can't seem to figure out how to upload an attachment to a personal message, so I am uploading it here. For anyone else who may be interested, I am trying to attach a template of the letter I faxed to the Sydney Consulate to request the opening of a provisional file once I learned our case was approved and sent by NVC. We never received official notice that a provisional file was opened, but my fiance received his packet 3 within 2 days of our case leaving NVC, so I believe it did speed up the process. Hope this helps!

P.S. Does anyone know how to attach a file to a personal message? Thanks!

Thank you!! I went ahead and had my fiance fax it in yesterday. I'm not sure what kind of a time difference it will make (as far as I know my case should be there by now) but maybe they'll go ahead and issue packet 3 a bit quicker. Originally we were hoping to have the interview in May while I'm visiting but I'm not sure if we have enough time now. He went and requested the police check yesterday and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to be processed (but the Consulate's web site says that if they don't receive it in 3wks to call the police station and track it down ..)

I was reading some other posts and saw that the Consulate is requesting all documents be mailed in prior to the interview now. Is this really the case? I was hoping I could just bring the I-134 and supporting docs with me in May rather than snail mail them. Also, do they send the medical information in packet 3 or packet 4?? Just curious if he can do this next week instead of waiting on them.

The letter included in the packet does state that all forms/documentation should be mailed in, then they will schedule the interview. I would suggest sending the affadavit of support and supporting docs as soon as you can. Also, when he gets the packet, there is one form that needs to be returned immediately,DS-230I regardless of whether you have the police check and all that completely done or not. It allows them to start processing the case apparently. It seems that packet 3 has all the forms, and packet four is actually just the letter with your interview date. (which we are still waiting for ) Also, most of the forms can be downloaded from the consulate's website so he can start filling them out ahead of time too. We are still waiting to hear on his police check, he requested it about two and a half weeks ago, but I'm a little nervous cuz he has lived in several different areas so who knows how long it will take for them all to show up Fingers crossed... Good luck!

[Liam and Sam 2]

Hi there- I am posting this in response to a personal message- I can't seem to figure out how to upload an attachment to a personal message, so I am uploading it here. For anyone else who may be interested, I am trying to attach a template of the letter I faxed to the Sydney Consulate to request the opening of a provisional file once I learned our case was approved and sent by NVC. We never received official notice that a provisional file was opened, but my fiance received his packet 3 within 2 days of our case leaving NVC, so I believe it did speed up the process. Hope this helps!

P.S. Does anyone know how to attach a file to a personal message? Thanks!

Thank you!! I went ahead and had my fiance fax it in yesterday. I'm not sure what kind of a time difference it will make (as far as I know my case should be there by now) but maybe they'll go ahead and issue packet 3 a bit quicker. Originally we were hoping to have the interview in May while I'm visiting but I'm not sure if we have enough time now. He went and requested the police check yesterday and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to be processed (but the Consulate's web site says that if they don't receive it in 3wks to call the police station and track it down ..)

I was reading some other posts and saw that the Consulate is requesting all documents be mailed in prior to the interview now. Is this really the case? I was hoping I could just bring the I-134 and supporting docs with me in May rather than snail mail them. Also, do they send the medical information in packet 3 or packet 4?? Just curious if he can do this next week instead of waiting on them.

The letter included in the packet does state that all forms/documentation should be mailed in, then they will schedule the interview. I would suggest sending the affadavit of support and supporting docs as soon as you can. Also, when he gets the packet, there is one form that needs to be returned immediately,DS-230I regardless of whether you have the police check and all that completely done or not. It allows them to start processing the case apparently. It seems that packet 3 has all the forms, and packet four is actually just the letter with your interview date. (which we are still waiting for ) Also, most of the forms can be downloaded from the consulate's website so he can start filling them out ahead of time too. We are still waiting to hear on his police check, he requested it about two and a half weeks ago, but I'm a little nervous cuz he has lived in several different areas so who knows how long it will take for them all to show up Fingers crossed... Good luck!

I called the DoS yesterday and they said packet 3 had been mailed on Tuesday. I had Liam go ahead and mail in DS-230 yesterday - but we sent the whole thing (Part I & Part II). Will that be an issue?? He also went and got his police check done last week and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to complete! However, the Consulate's web site says if you haven't heard anything within 3 weeks to call the station. I really hope it doesn't take that long. For QLD it's sent directly to the Consulate so I wonder if they will let us know when it's received.

Thanks so much for the heads up! I really appreciate it. I was beginning to think we were the only Aussie beneficiary going through the K1.

For the Affadavit I only included: the I-134 (notarized), Employer Letter, Copies of paystubs (since January), 2007 W2's & 2007 1040. Is that going to be enough?

I also plan on including a cover letter with our packet 3 items asking to have our interview scheduled within a specific time frame. I'm not sure that it will even be considered but we were hoping to go down to Sydney together while I'm visiting. And it would also work out the best with his crazy work schedule (which is one week on and one week off). Crossing my fingers for the both of us!!

[Liam and Sam 2]

I read somewhere that interviews at the Consulate are generally conducted on Tuesdays. I could be crazy though - can someone verify this?? Just wondering since fiance's work schedule is a mess and would like to submit an interview request letter with our packet 3 documents. Thanks.

[Kath 0]

hi ya all

liam/sam

interviews are conducted on any day actually..mine was on a friday...When you send in your readiness form also enclose a letter from the U.S. citz stating i will be in Australia between such a date and state you would like an interview while you are visiting for moral support of your fiance...We did this and we got the date we requested..our downfall was that we had it on a Friday not thinking about the weekend and stayed the weekend plus monday in sydney..so we could pick up my visa from the consulate on monday..which took 5 days out of our packing and seeing family in Vic although i stayed with my daughter in sydney. So if you can arrange it for a day where you could go back the next morning go for it.. the consulate are very obliging and try and help out any way they can..

Spring is here finally in Toledo .. have had some lovely weather ..5 months of cold weather just aint nice especially to an aussie lol...so were out in the garden finally organising the vegie patch and planting seeds...and tonight robbie put the flyscreens back in reason..i had the storm door open for fresh air to flow throw..and he said wrong thing to be doing kath..lol..i said why..he said racoons, squirrels, moles, deer.. gawd and here i thought he was going to say intruders..lol....

great wedding pics patrica and hd...love them..good to hear all is going well with you two..

hi ya vylex...cant wait to see the blossoms here in toledo.. our trees are just starting to get leaves back on them..i so missed seeing leaves hate bare twigs lol

no other news here..

take care

kath

[whisper2me 0]

Hi Everyone,

Just touching base to let you know that we have finally tied the knot. The ceremony took place here in Aussieland and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Having said that, we were fortunate that a staff member at Births, Deaths and Marriages fast-tracked the registration of our wedding and so we had our certificate within 48 hours.

Now here is where the #### hits the fan.....

My hubby returned home to the states and sent off the IR1-CR1 petitions (mine & kids). I had gone over it with a fine tooth comb but had forgotten to remind him to make the cheque payable to: U.S Dept of Homeland Security and he instead made the cheque out to the address on our cover letter - U.S citizenship & immigration services. I was advised that they would indeed send the entire package back to him and we will have to start from scratch.

How long do you think this will set us back time-wise? Do they get incomplete petitions back out to you in decent time?

I was wondering whether we should just cancel the cheques now and just post off brand new petitions (we have a duplicate), rather than waiting for them to tell us the cheques are messed up.

What do you think guys?

Cheers

[patriciaofoz 0]

How long do you think this will set us back time-wise? Do they get incomplete petitions back out to you in decent time?

This happened to us too (same thing, we apparently wrote the cheque out wrong) and it took them about 4 weeks to return the package to us. But...it looked like even though at the time we thought that we had been delayed by a month, in actual fact I got my NOA2 on par with May filers.

Personally, I would probably wait til they return the forms to you (if they in fact do) and go from there. At the time my husband was in Australia with me so his parents took care of it for us and if it's just the cheque that's the issue making another one and sending it off the same day will be a breeze.

But hey, it's ultimately your call.

Good luck!

[herself 0]

Hi there- I am posting this in response to a personal message- I can't seem to figure out how to upload an attachment to a personal message, so I am uploading it here. For anyone else who may be interested, I am trying to attach a template of the letter I faxed to the Sydney Consulate to request the opening of a provisional file once I learned our case was approved and sent by NVC. We never received official notice that a provisional file was opened, but my fiance received his packet 3 within 2 days of our case leaving NVC, so I believe it did speed up the process. Hope this helps!

P.S. Does anyone know how to attach a file to a personal message? Thanks!

Thank you!! I went ahead and had my fiance fax it in yesterday. I'm not sure what kind of a time difference it will make (as far as I know my case should be there by now) but maybe they'll go ahead and issue packet 3 a bit quicker. Originally we were hoping to have the interview in May while I'm visiting but I'm not sure if we have enough time now. He went and requested the police check yesterday and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to be processed (but the Consulate's web site says that if they don't receive it in 3wks to call the police station and track it down ..)

I was reading some other posts and saw that the Consulate is requesting all documents be mailed in prior to the interview now. Is this really the case? I was hoping I could just bring the I-134 and supporting docs with me in May rather than snail mail them. Also, do they send the medical information in packet 3 or packet 4?? Just curious if he can do this next week instead of waiting on them.

The letter included in the packet does state that all forms/documentation should be mailed in, then they will schedule the interview. I would suggest sending the affadavit of support and supporting docs as soon as you can. Also, when he gets the packet, there is one form that needs to be returned immediately,DS-230I regardless of whether you have the police check and all that completely done or not. It allows them to start processing the case apparently. It seems that packet 3 has all the forms, and packet four is actually just the letter with your interview date. (which we are still waiting for ) Also, most of the forms can be downloaded from the consulate's website so he can start filling them out ahead of time too. We are still waiting to hear on his police check, he requested it about two and a half weeks ago, but I'm a little nervous cuz he has lived in several different areas so who knows how long it will take for them all to show up Fingers crossed... Good luck!

I called the DoS yesterday and they said packet 3 had been mailed on Tuesday. I had Liam go ahead and mail in DS-230 yesterday - but we sent the whole thing (Part I & Part II). Will that be an issue?? He also went and got his police check done last week and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to complete! However, the Consulate's web site says if you haven't heard anything within 3 weeks to call the station. I really hope it doesn't take that long. For QLD it's sent directly to the Consulate so I wonder if they will let us know when it's received.

Thanks so much for the heads up! I really appreciate it. I was beginning to think we were the only Aussie beneficiary going through the K1.

For the Affadavit I only included: the I-134 (notarized), Employer Letter, Copies of paystubs (since January), 2007 W2's & 2007 1040. Is that going to be enough?

I also plan on including a cover letter with our packet 3 items asking to have our interview scheduled within a specific time frame. I'm not sure that it will even be considered but we were hoping to go down to Sydney together while I'm visiting. And it would also work out the best with his crazy work schedule (which is one week on and one week off). Crossing my fingers for the both of us!!

Hi again!

Packet four arrived yesterday as an email and interview date set for May 6th !!! I'm so excited!! Still have not heard anything on the police check, so I'm thinking we should call and see where it's at... For your affadavit of support the one thing you did not mention having that was specifically asked for in our checklist for the interview was a letter from your (the US citizen) bank. It cost me $25 to get it, but it has to be on the bank's letterhead/stationary with an actual human's signature on it. It should have 1) Date account was opened 2) Total amount deposited for the last year 3) Current balance of the account 4) Signature of preparer with date prepared.

As for him sending everything at once, I think it will be fine. They request that everything be sent in ahead of time anyway. If there is anything else they want to see it will be in the checklist in Packet 4, asking him to bring it to the interview. My fiance's arrived via email, not sure if he will receive a paper copy or not. The other things they asked for included the visa fee receipt (obviously ) but it also said that this must be paid before the interview and can ONLY be done at an Australian Post, as well as a self addressed prepaid envelope to mail out the visa. I'm not sure he'll need that or not because I've heard that you can just go back and pick up the visa in person the next day or whenever it is ready. He will need to bring his passport too, and they stated that it must be good for at least 8 months beyond the interview date.

If you want to schedule the interview for when you are there it certainly can't hurt to ask!! Good Luck!!

[whisper2me 0]

How long do you think this will set us back time-wise? Do they get incomplete petitions back out to you in decent time?

This happened to us too (same thing, we apparently wrote the cheque out wrong) and it took them about 4 weeks to return the package to us. But...it looked like even though at the time we thought that we had been delayed by a month, in actual fact I got my NOA2 on par with May filers.

Personally, I would probably wait til they return the forms to you (if they in fact do) and go from there. At the time my husband was in Australia with me so his parents took care of it for us and if it's just the cheque that's the issue making another one and sending it off the same day will be a breeze.

But hey, it's ultimately your call.

Good luck!

Thanks - We will just wait it out and hope they return it. I'm just really disappointed as we had put so much time into planning, only to mess up something as simple as that. I'm trying to remain positive but this is a kick in the guts.