LAND DOWNUNDER

[Elle 0]

Hey David -- goodluck! You guys sound like you're ready!

Question about the Marriage Certificate, I just have the one with the seal on it...is that enough? Do they need an original of that or can I just photocopy it?

Also, where do you guys look for cheap airfares from the States to Oz? Hubby is looking to fly out early Jan...

Thanks for any help!!

Two more weeks and I'll be DCF'ing in Sydney.

So far I've got everything I need except one thing, I even printed out the DS I & II for the wife so that she can hurry up and fill it out and immediately transfer that information on the originals that Sydney will be sending her later on. She's already got her police report including finger prints from SAPOL. We're definitely trying our best to make this as quick as possible. She's already done her name change and has the certificate to prove it. It took two weeks for the Chapel to send me copies for the marriage certificates since Sydney requires official copies. So far, no one has an exact time table on how long it will take if you weren't caught between the change when people already had all the forms sent to them ahead of time.

I'm just waiting for one of my Chiefs to complete my Statement of Military Service, since I fall under the 100% requirement for poverty level. Not like we really need it, since I own a home and she owns two properties in SA that she rents out. So we're definitely covered.

So far my trip goes like this...

Get to Sydney, file the I-130, then spend a few days looking around.

Then fly to Melbourne and take a trip down the Great Ocean Road with friends.

Then off to Adelaide, South Australia to visit her mom and relatives...

Then off to LAX and back to Florida again to play the waiting game!

I'll keep you guys updated.

OOps...nm I just read the DCF guideline and the one with the seal is what they require!

[densusan 0]

Hi Elle,

Your question about cheap airfares from the states..........try kayak.com.....they search lots of different sites and come up with some good prices. January isn't a cheap time to travel. Air New Zealand have some pretty good deals too but the flights seem to be a bit longer.

goodluck,

Susan

[CarolineM 0]

Air New Zealand ALWAYS has cheaper rates in my experience.

[ausqueen 0]

Hi Elle,

Your question about cheap airfares from the states..........try kayak.com.....they search lots of different sites and come up with some good prices. January isn't a cheap time to travel. Air New Zealand have some pretty good deals too but the flights seem to be a bit longer.

goodluck,

Susan

Another suggestion for a useful link: orbitz.com - I found my flight through them (Christmas visit, return ticket from Syd to SF). Air New Zealand ended up being the best... fastest and not the most expensive deal. I could get a China Airlines flight for about 200 bucks cheaper, but it would "cost" me almost 2 days... overnight in Taipei on the way to SF and about 16 hour wait coming back to Syd!!! Thanks but, no thanks!

Air NZ - direct!

Good luck, Elle. I hope you find a good deal, in spite of the high season!

vik

[CarolineM 0]

i swear by air new zealand - they're great.

[Lunamel 0]

Hi all

So I made it safe and sound to the US! Going through immigration at LAX was a breeze -- went through the citizens/greencard holders line as there wasn't much of a queue, and it only took about 5-10 minutes when I arrived at the desk. The officer did a bit of computer punching, took me to another desk to have my fingerprints taken for the greencard, and no secondary inspection. No welcome to America either though, but I got one of those later from my hubby! The only hassle was the 3.5 hour delay of my flight in LA, which on top of the 3 hours I"d left between flights, made for a rather long day!

David A., sounds like you're all prepared, I'm sure the DCF process will work out fine! Let us know how it goes and if you have any more questions. Just make sure all your paperwork is in the right order, and get there early, and you'll breeze through!

Elle, we've also got some cheap tickets in the past through Orbitz. Another site is sidestep.com, which sounds a bit like kayak.com. Also, if your hubby is going to be travelling around Australia at all, you might want to look into the Qantas aussie airpass, as you get some free internal flights added on for free.

[David A. 0]

David A., sounds like you're all prepared, I'm sure the DCF process will work out fine! Let us know how it goes and if you have any more questions. Just make sure all your paperwork is in the right order, and get there early, and you'll breeze through!

I'm going by the list for filing the visa that was found on the Sydney website, I've added the affidavit of support with the supporting documents. I made a table of contents so hopefully it looks well prepared. I might just use one of those folders with the whole punches on top.

What did you use to hold all your documents?

[Kath 0]

LUNAMELLLLLLLLLLL U MADE IT!!!!! FANTASTIC...was the same with me with no welcom to america from the officer ....

WELCOME TO AMERICA MATE MAY YOUR LIFE HERE BE FULL OF HAPPINESS AND LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER..

i would never recommend air china to anyone ..i did that once and there was too much rice and it made for a very uncomfortable flight and they couldnt understand me when i was ordering i had an asian/australian doing it for me ...an the airport aint that crash hot either...so no dont use that airline...the best one i have been on for comfort was qantas..united seemed too confined for me and i couldnt watch the movie cos everyone kept getting up and standing there infront of my view..

good luck David we all know it will go smoothly for you just be organised...

take care

kath

[Lunamel 0]

Thanks for the good wishes Kath -- I'm very excited to be back here. We're going out tonight to celebrate, now that I'm finally getting over my jetlag!

David, they won't accept the documents in a folder, so best not to do that -- they want them out of folders and handed through the counter window in the order requested. Where they've asked for an original plus a photocopy, you should place the photocopy immediately behind the original. We had all our documents in a big concertina folder, so we could easily pull out the ones we needed before going to the counter and then hand them all over at once.

[Elle 0]

Thanks for the airline tips guys! Last year his visit was supposed to be in Feb but due to training at work, we had to rush it and find him flights and hotels in jan, 3 weeks before his flight is when we booked everything! It worked out though as we managed to get an airfare with United $1300 inc tax! I'll look into the QANTAS airpass! Hopefully we can find something decent, either way though, he'll be here in Jan so we can do the DCF!

Chris, glad you made it safe & sound!!!! WELCOME TO AMERICA!!! Take it easy on your hubby lol

Its 8am here in Sydney, and I'm trying to get myself moving so I can go to the GP and Police Station...

[Elle 0]

Oh and we used www.wotif.com.au for the last minute accomodation!

Edited November 17, 2006 by Elle

[michellek1976 0]

Hi all,

I haven't been in the Aussie forum much as I spent a lifetime waiting for the I-129F approval!

I received my packet from Sydney and I'm currently collecting all our documentation.

I've got a question regarding 'applicant's own funds'. Is there a prescribed form to use for this?

My fiance is providing a I-134 also, but as I have to fly from Perth for the interview I want to have more than enough evidence on the day of interview.

Any pointers appreciated!

[Kath 0]

hi

congrats on receving the packet 3...

as the australian i didnt present any of my financial statements only my husbands and that was enough..

just make sure you have it all with you in order that they ask for and keep all other evidence like phone bills photo's and boarding passes for your flights ...

if your not sure of where and what to look for i have photo's of the embassey that i can send you if your interested..we ended up asking where it was because it is set away from the street...

good luck

kath

[Kath 0]

hi guys and gals

just thought i would post a link about one of our fellow aussies that caroline posted...

stewart was present when a co worker was shot dead right in front of him today monday morning..

just thought you would like to know

caroline i hope you dont mind me letting the other aussies know...

here is the posts

woman shot in pharmacy in florida

time to reflect..

kath

[Lunamel 0]

Thanks for letting us know Kath -- it is such a ghastly thing to happen. My thoughts are with you Caroline and Stewart.