LAND DOWNUNDER

[Kath 0]

hi ya vylex

i tell ya i wished i had of thought of it early in the process...when i was trying to find something for one of you guys i found all our copies ...so much paper wasted so now i use that for unimportant printing for us lol im a recyler from way back...

speaking of recyling...to the ones that are hear ...do u find your partner doesnt do this....robbie just threw everything into the kitchen bin...now i have trained him to recyle and we take it to the bins...the only thing i dont like is it create a mess so i have shifted the bins for the cans and paper into the shower i dont use ....i really was in shock that they dont give recyling bins here at the apartment block...where in oz we had it with out garbage bins ...

arhh well one thing less to teach him to becoming aussie orientated hehehehe...

kath

[girlfrmoz 1]

HI Nycangel, Welcome to the Aussie forum! Good luck with getting an earlier interview date. Your only hassle might be that they have a certain quota of Visas they are allowed to give out per month as far as I know so that may stop you getting a better interview date. When you get to the interview make sure they take your SO's passport for the Visa. They have been stuffing that up lately and giving the passports back.

Hey Priscilla, I finally saw your wedding photos, ok it took me a while to find the gallery...I am a bit slow! They are beautiful! I loved your dress.

AND...thanks Everyone for your kindness, you're a bunch of sweeties , I just had a crappy day yesterday, but today was better except that I ate an 150g block of choccy in one sitting...grrrr . It's funny cause I am generally a positive person but this Visa process makes you flip out from time to time. One minute you are excited about being reunited and your new life together, the next minute you are overwhelmed and paranoid about the paper work and then there are those moments that you miss your loved one so much it hurts. Jake and I don't argue much so I am glad for that, but long distance arguments on the phone are the worst. I definitely think it has made us stronger as a couple and we tend to laugh at things rather than get into a tizz about it these days.

Hey Kath, Jake didn't understand about recycling either, he just throws everything in the trash. I have a lot of work ahead of me...he is addicted to pizza and thinks it covers the 5 food groups...NOT!

[Emerald 0]

Hello Everyone,

I thought i'd pop in here so that i can communicate with other Aussies.......My hubby is the USC and i am the aussie. We have been married 5yrs now and hubby has lived here for 5yrs. We were just about to file for the DCF at the Sydney Consulate when WHAM they changed the whole bloody thing.

Who else has been affected by this change? What visa process have you decided to go with now. I was adivsed the K-3 route, but i'm so totally confused as to where to send anything. I just got all the DCF stuff worked out .......

I'd love to communicate with others in SYD going through this change etc....... We were hoping to get to the US by August for our daughter to start school in the US... Now we have no idea when we will be going.

We just sold everything adn moved in with my parents (this was to be for 6months max). There is me, hubby 3 kids, mum dad my sister and BIL all lving together, so as you can see we wer pretty shocked with the change and are now wondering how long we'll be all living here.........i guess the good thing is we get to save more $$$ for the move.

So anyone else out there who is about to start the whole K-3 visa process, it would be great to hear from you.

THanks

Emerald

HI Nycangel, Welcome to the Aussie forum! Good luck with getting an earlier interview date. Your only hassle might be that they have a certain quota of Visas they are allowed to give out per month as far as I know so that may stop you getting a better interview date. When you get to the interview make sure they take your SO's passport for the Visa. They have been stuffing that up lately and giving the passports back.

Hey Priscilla, I finally saw your wedding photos, ok it took me a while to find the gallery...I am a bit slow! They are beautiful! I loved your dress.

AND...thanks Everyone for your kindness, you're a bunch of sweeties , I just had a crappy day yesterday, but today was better except that I ate an 150g block of choccy in one sitting...grrrr . It's funny cause I am generally a positive person but this Visa process makes you flip out from time to time. One minute you are excited about being reunited and your new life together, the next minute you are overwhelmed and paranoid about the paper work and then there are those moments that you miss your loved one so much it hurts. Jake and I don't argue much so I am glad for that, but long distance arguments on the phone are the worst. I definitely think it has made us stronger as a couple and we tend to laugh at things rather than get into a tizz about it these days.

Hey Kath, Jake didn't understand about recycling either, he just throws everything in the trash. I have a lot of work ahead of me...he is addicted to pizza and thinks it covers the 5 food groups...NOT!

[hampster 0]

Hi All..

Well My Lovely Wifee Cheryl / NorthernGirl has flown back to,

Massachusetts on Tuesday Morning here 11.30am Adelaide Time

SHE WILL ARRIVE BACK IN MASSACHUSETTS ,

WEDNESDAY 21ST FEB AROUND 9.35AM.

We called N.V.C. ON 14th February and they said that......

They have finished with it there,

And will be sending it off to Sydney within 2 - 4 weeks :energetic:

So the finishing line isn't too far ahead

Any ideas on how long will I have to wait before,

I get something in the mail from Sydney Consulate ???

Well we had a ball when Cheryl was here 9th Feb - 20th Feb.

Did nearly 3200 kms - 1988 miles on our road trip.

Not bad for a 6 Day trip to see my sister in Mt Martha.

Drove through Mt Gambier to The Great Ocean Road,

Then up through to Sorrento Ferry to cross the Penninsula,

To visit my Sister in Mt Martha......

MORE TO COME

TO BE CONTINUED...

SAME BAT CHANNEL

SAME BAT TIME..

CHEERS

PAUL

[valkyrieshewee 0]

Welcome NYCAngel and Emerald! Glad to have you here and best of luck with your visas!

Kath, I know it was a bit odd for me to be able to recycle everything at first! We can only recycle paper and plastic in my state, but I picked up on the recycling quick. I really loved that about Oz and now find myself scolding my parents when they bin the newspaper!

Well, my packet was recieved at the NSC today and I'm hoping it will be sent off to the CSC before the weekend hits. I think it's terribly silly to have to send it there, only to be forwarded to another center, but it's governement so what can you do? I"m just grateful it got there in one piece!

Hampster, that's great you had such a nice time with your wife! That's fantastic that they've sent off the packet to Sydney. My fiance will be coming here at the end of March and I'm making him gather up everything humanly possible to show that he has ties to Oz so they'll let him in! Best of luck on getting a speedy interview date and a smooth visa acquisition!

[meauxna 15]

I was adivsed the K-3 route, but i'm so totally confused as to where to send anything.

E, how were you advised about the K-3?

Based on everything you have written in the past, I am curious how you decided that a non-immigrant visa was a good solution for you?

At any rate, I still encourage all USCs living abroad to hold off filing I-130 until some news comes from the Consulate about where overseas you can file.

[Emerald 0]

Meauxna,

I emailed the consulate in Sydney to check on the filing of I-130 at the Sydney office after reading the "End to DCF filing abroad post here" I Wanted to check it with them. The reply i got after giving them all our information was this

Mrs. ******

Please refer to the attachments.

The quickest process would be filing of the K3 visa.

For more information, please refer to the following website: http://uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm

Regards IV

So i just asssumed this was the way to go...............what other way is there for us if DCF dosn't come back......

I was adivsed the K-3 route, but i'm so totally confused as to where to send anything.

E, how were you advised about the K-3?

Based on everything you have written in the past, I am curious how you decided that a non-immigrant visa was a good solution for you?

At any rate, I still encourage all USCs living abroad to hold off filing I-130 until some news comes from the Consulate about where overseas you can file.

Edited February 21, 2007 by Emerald

[Poi_n_J 0]

Hey Priscilla, I finally saw your wedding photos, ok it took me a while to find the gallery...I am a bit slow! They are beautiful! I loved your dress.

Aww thanks Lyndel, it wasn't the most fancy$ one but I loved it! You can also just click on the photos link just under my name and pic here. It's weird the way it's linked to the gallery but oh well....!

Oh sorry she's gone back already Paul, sounds like you had a ball. I'm thinking of taking Joshua down the Great Ocean Road for easter and staying somewhere in Portland or Nelson depending on how far we can go. Do you know of anywhere nice but fairly cheap to stay?

Kath, I found Joshua doing the same and was shocked when he told me they don't really do recycling over there also. As I asked him how can a modern progressive country like America not be doing the easiest and most important step to preserving the planet..?!

Too late Meauxna, after hearing of someone else's success filing it in another string we've gone and sent it....*fingers crossed*..... I still don't see how the DCF is cancelled and why we need to do the K3 instead...? I'm under the understanding that we just send the I-130 to the States instead and they process it then inform Sydney and the process continues as per usual.....Joshua rang someone over there and they said we would still be interviewed in Sydney........

Hey Emerald; where bouts in Oz are ya?

[Kath 0]

hi pris

i totally agree with ya on that score....how can they just not recyle it was beyond me...but i do see many putting there stuff into the bins on the mornings we do so at least its happening cos the bins are always full be it the shopping centre or citzens....i just wish they would do away with the garbage collection as it is now and go the way melbourne does it would be alot easier..

good for you valky its a start...it becomes second nature after awhile to do recyling..

up coming project lol enquire if the apartment office can put a recycling bin in the complex lol be too much trouble but i will give it a go....

i am also going to write to my congressman to make her aware of the immigration plight of many in here and that they want to put up the fees..apparently she is pretty good so will give it a go..

take care

kath

[meauxna 15]

hi alls,

There are two spouse processes, as you know. Actually, only one is called 'spouse' and since we all think faster is more better...

Well, the K-3 takes about 6-8 months, petition to visa.

The IV (Immigrant Visa aka CR-1/IR-1) takes about 8-10 months, petition to visa.

The IV is what you get from a DCF.

The K-3 is a pisspoor substitute designed to get you TO the US faster. Nothing else, just there. This was a good deal when the IV took more like 3 years. It is not such a good deal now.

I had the same confusion when I started reading and thought that if I did DCF, I would get him a K-3 visa. The K-3 just isn't as useful now as it was when it was invented.

From the top of my head, Emerald is living in Oz with her whole family. She needs to work as soon as she gets there. The whole family needs to go together. The school year needs to be taken into account.

In this case, I don't see the benefit in 'faster'. ( a K-3 must apply for a work permit and can not get a SS#, driving license, banking etc for a few months)

For P&J, did I just read that someone's got a new B visa? Again, since you've found another way to reunite, moving to the US as a 'partial' resident (my term) for the sake of a couple of months could be counter productive (much additional expense, much additional delay with the requirement to file AOS instead of get the IV).

I know there is a lot of jargon in there--I'm trying to say it quickly, but will expand if you have a question.

Emerald, I see why the Embassy sent you the K-3 info, but I think if you study it, you might see why I question it. The benefits of entering with an IV over a K-3 are many and varied. Before you enter the land of additional expense and confusion, you will be well served by reading up on the differences of these two different but parallel visas.

The part of "DCF" that is magic is the instant or near-instant adjudication of the I-130. If you file that in the US, the wait is 4-6 months for approval. That is the major thing that has been taken away. When you're a newlywed, I imagine that those 6-8 months would be better together than apart. When both halves of the couple are resident abroad, the 'faster is better' doesn't apply in the same way as if you were apart from each other & just trying to get together no matter what.

HTH

Further, after rereading P&J..

The F in DCF is what matters---as above, it refers to where the petition I-130 can be filed: 1) in the one-day line or 2) in the 6 month line. The benefit to being in the short line is clear.

After the petition is approved, the foreign spouse needs to apply for a visa, an Immigrant Visa. In the DCF cases from last year and before, remember how it was all done in one day/one appointment? Then it switched, and the USC filed the I-130 at the smaller Consulates thruout Oz, but the visa interviewee still had to go to Sydney? That was for the IV interview. The same thing happens for people who file I-130 in the US.. eventually it goes to Sydney do you can interview for the IV.

So, same thing now, except it takes much longer to get to Sydney. After approval at the USCIS Service Center, the I-130 now goes to the NVC and spends a couple of months of pre-processing there, and THEN it gets sent to Sydney.

But again, an I-130 alone will not generate a K-3 visa.. that takes an additional petition, and it is not required. Leave the I-130 alone and it will end up in Sydney. Start the K-3 path, and you may find that you MUST come to the US as a K-3 and file to Adjust Status in the US, extending the time when you are not a Permanent Resident.

Everyone seems to agree that it is better to be a PR than not.

This is probably the worst post I have ever written! Sorry if it's not as logical as it could be--let me know if I've totally mucked it up.

Edited February 22, 2007 by meauxna

[Poi_n_J 0]

So, same thing now, except it takes much longer to get to Sydney. After approval at the USCIS Service Center, the I-130 now goes to the NVC and spends a couple of months of pre-processing there, and THEN it gets sent to Sydney.

But again, an I-130 alone will not generate a K-3 visa.. that takes an additional petition, and it is not required. Leave the I-130 alone and it will end up in Sydney. Start the K-3 path, and you may find that you MUST come to the US as a K-3 and file to Adjust Status in the US, extending the time when you are not a Permanent Resident.

Everyone seems to agree that it is better to be a PR than not.

No, THANK YOU..!!! That was wonderfully cleared up.

Only, do you know why it will take so long to get to Sydney from the NVC? Will it really take about six months to get there? Why doesn't it go straight to Sydney? Anything we can do to hurry it along?

Soz if the questions have been asked before.

Now I'm thinking we should have filed the K1 while he was in the States but then we didn't know DCF was going to go bust. Yes, Joshua has a student visa so he can be here up to a year (?) but while it's nice to be together in the scheme of our plans we want him to finish his studies asap and ASU which is where he's transferred from won't let him substitute all his studies over here (i.e. they don't accept australian studies as equal to theres ...).

Anyhooo.......guess we shall go wherever this wind blows us.......

[meauxna 15]

Only, do you know why it will take so long to get to Sydney from the NVC? Will it really take about six months to get there? Why doesn't it go straight to Sydney? Anything we can do to hurry it along?

Soz if the questions have been asked before.

Bear in mind that I don't watch these dates all that closely--these are ROUGH guides, but you can check timielines here at VJ.

You can find the info on the NVC at travel.state.gov--it is a fairly new office that all petitions pass through on their way to the Consulate. Aussiewench has some excellent timesavers for the NVC in her signature, and there is another set of shortcuts called James' Shortcuts--read carefully before you mail any of them in.

Time at the NVC can be cut from 3-4 months down to about 2-2.5 I *think*. You'll find info in the NVC forum here.

I just want to make sure everyone knows that the K-3 is not required, and it may not be an attractive option. Sorry, you all have to go back to reading!

[Poi_n_J 0]

Bear in mind that I don't watch these dates all that closely--these are ROUGH guides, but you can check timielines here at VJ.

You can find the info on the NVC at travel.state.gov--it is a fairly new office that all petitions pass through on their way to the Consulate. Aussiewench has some excellent timesavers for the NVC in her signature, and there is another set of shortcuts called James' Shortcuts--read carefully before you mail any of them in.

Time at the NVC can be cut from 3-4 months down to about 2-2.5 I *think*. You'll find info in the NVC forum here.

I just want to make sure everyone knows that the K-3 is not required, and it may not be an attractive option. Sorry, you all have to go back to reading!

Thanks again Meauxna for your trouble, you are wonderful. Gotta go now have lots to read....

[vylex 0]

Only, do you know why it will take so long to get to Sydney from the NVC? Will it really take about six months to get there? Why doesn't it go straight to Sydney? Anything we can do to hurry it along?

Soz if the questions have been asked before.

Bear in mind that I don't watch these dates all that closely--these are ROUGH guides, but you can check timielines here at VJ.

You can find the info on the NVC at travel.state.gov--it is a fairly new office that all petitions pass through on their way to the Consulate. Aussiewench has some excellent timesavers for the NVC in her signature, and there is another set of shortcuts called James' Shortcuts--read carefully before you mail any of them in.

Time at the NVC can be cut from 3-4 months down to about 2-2.5 I *think*. You'll find info in the NVC forum here.

I just want to make sure everyone knows that the K-3 is not required, and it may not be an attractive option. Sorry, you all have to go back to reading!

Hi Mo',

I've been dying to ask this...

I can't be sure but I have been reading people's posts about filing for a K-3 too and then getting both of them approved at the same time. Now, I am starting to believe a myth that filing the K-3 "speeds" up the process. I don't really know because I can't put together statistics. I do agree that waiting for the I-130 to process is better. I guess my only concern is whether or not filing for a K-3 will actually speed up the processing of the I-130. However, I know about the growing belief that the USCIS might default the K-3 and assume the I-130 will not be pursued. I am caught in a trap of waiting for the I-130 to run it's course or try my luck at filing for a K-3 to theoretically speed up the process. I know that I would have to file (spend more money too) additional paperwork to tell the Immigration folks to go ahead and forward the I-130 to Sydney. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[CarolineM 0]

Poi: I'm not familiar with the places you mentioned on the great ocean road, but I do know that while I was there my brother in law was staying in Apollo Bay and it was SO cute and nice! I don't know about lodging, but we had a blast!

I loved the GOR!!!! I thought it was so beautiful!!

A few things:

1. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Melbourne Victory!!!! What a great grand final for Archie!!! Good times.

2. ALMOST TIME FOR THE CRICKET! Although I've heard our one day team is sucking it up good. My boy, Symonds, is injured and so is Brett LEe Sad but they say they are still sending SYmonds to the World Cup so that's good!