Colombia Club Part IV

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

Approved! Read our embassy review I just posted.

We are in Medellin now awaiting the visa.

Blessings to all!

Congratulations on your approval! Way to go!

[Mononoke28 135]

Approved! Read our embassy review I just posted.

We are in Medellin now awaiting the visa.

Blessings to all!

Congratulations!!!

Diana

[AndresGrillo 0]

Hola a todos, tengo una consulta por si alguien ha tenido una experiencia similar. Yo pedi a mi mama a quien le asignaron su entrevista el 21 de Marzo, su visa fue aprobada pero tuvo una demora de 2 meses a raiz del "sputum test". El resultado gracias a Dios salio negativo, el Dr la llamo el 1 de Junio a decirle que todo estaba bien que procediera a enviar por DHL el pasaporte a la embajada y que el enviaba los examenes directamente. El dia 4 de Junio llamaron a mi mama de la embajada a confirmar que habian recibido los examenes y que por favor enviara el pasaporte para terminar el proceso (mi mama envio el pasaporte el sabado 2 de Junio y fue entregado segun DHL el lunes 4 de Junio), al mi mama informar q ya lo habia enviado le dijeron q en el transcurso de 15 dias recibiria su visa. En estos momentos no hemos recibido ninguna informacion acerca del nro de guia ni en el email ni en la pagina de usvisa-info.com donde se registra el pasaporte y la oficina de DHL donde se quiere recibir la visa. Estoy algo preocupado porque ya han pasado 6 dias habiles y aun no recibimos nada. Alguien de que otra forma puedo conseguir el nro de guia? o si tal vez estoy mas preocupado de lo que deberia estar? Les quedo muy agradecido.

[Mononoke28 135]

Hola a todos, tengo una consulta por si alguien ha tenido una experiencia similar. Yo pedi a mi mama a quien le asignaron su entrevista el 21 de Marzo, su visa fue aprobada pero tuvo una demora de 2 meses a raiz del "sputum test". El resultado gracias a Dios salio negativo, el Dr la llamo el 1 de Junio a decirle que todo estaba bien que procediera a enviar por DHL el pasaporte a la embajada y que el enviaba los examenes directamente. El dia 4 de Junio llamaron a mi mama de la embajada a confirmar que habian recibido los examenes y que por favor enviara el pasaporte para terminar el proceso (mi mama envio el pasaporte el sabado 2 de Junio y fue entregado segun DHL el lunes 4 de Junio), al mi mama informar q ya lo habia enviado le dijeron q en el transcurso de 15 dias recibiria su visa. En estos momentos no hemos recibido ninguna informacion acerca del nro de guia ni en el email ni en la pagina de usvisa-info.com donde se registra el pasaporte y la oficina de DHL donde se quiere recibir la visa. Estoy algo preocupado porque ya han pasado 6 dias habiles y aun no recibimos nada. Alguien de que otra forma puedo conseguir el nro de guia? o si tal vez estoy mas preocupado de lo que deberia estar? Les quedo muy agradecido.

Una vez la embajada aprueba la visa la entrega se toma entre 6-10 dias habiles si es fuera de Bogota y entre 2-3 dias si es dentro de Bogota. De todas maneras le sugiero que trate de contactar a la embajada para ver si le dan la informacion del envio para que lo pueda rastrear y asi se siente mas seguro de cuanto mas se puede tardar.

Diana

[AndresGrillo 0]

Una vez la embajada aprueba la visa la entrega se toma entre 6-10 dias habiles si es fuera de Bogota y entre 2-3 dias si es dentro de Bogota. De todas maneras le sugiero que trate de contactar a la embajada para ver si le dan la informacion del envio para que lo pueda rastrear y asi se siente mas seguro de cuanto mas se puede tardar.

Diana

Gracias por tu respuesta, eso hice hoy, llame a la embajada y me dijeron que la visa fue aprobada en Junio 8 y que a partir de ahi se toma entre 10 y 15 dias. So, espero que a comienzos de la prox semana este llegando la visa. Muchas gracias.

[bigtexco 0]

Yes, she can go ahead and get her police certificate since it's valid for at least six months, the old one was good for 12 months, so she's good.

As for the passport photos, yes, she will need all those because she has to hand them over to the lab,the doctor doing the medical exam and the embassy. She can get them done in Colombia if she asks for photos for "visa americana" which are the same size as our passport photos. If she asks for regular passport photos they will give her the Colombian size ones which are incorrect. I personally like places like Foto Japón which are of very good quality.

Diana

My girlfriend told me her judicial certificate is good for 12 months. She got it in January and just worried because you wrote it is only good for six months. Is there an expiration date on these certificate since I have never personally seen one.

[CristianAmour 1]

Congrats to those who've received their new visas!!!!! Very happy for all of you!!!

So we filed to have our conditional status removed and showed up at the office in Pittsburgh, PA for biometrics on March 19th but so far we haven't heard anything from them... Now, on the website it says the current processing time for this is about 6 months with the California service center but we can't help but worry a little bit although we know that legally and costitutionakky we have the right to have our conditions removed and there should not be a problem at all since we submitted very strong evidence of our continuing marriage such as tax returns, health insurance, car insurance, life insurance policies provided through our employer, lease agreement fornour apt.. etc etc. Any thoughts?

Also, while I'm here I wanted to ask about my parents' situation....

Ok so my dad is a US citizen (naturalized) and his wife is from Colombia, south America. They both live there but she has a tourist visa and just left the US after visiting with us for a month.

Now they're thinking about moving here to be closer to us but they'd like to be here by the end of the year... Now my question is, should my dad file as a US Citizen living abroad or should he come here (since that's his plan anyway) and file the i130 from here or how long does he have to be in the US to be able to file as someone who resides here? Also since my mother in law is retired and won't be working and has a tourist visa, would it be acceptable if she's here while the process is ongoing and is there any way to have her interview here?

Or would they just be better off doing the whole process from Colombia? They can still come and visit since they both have legal entry/access to the US...

Another thing I'm wondering about is the fact that all of their properties and income are based in Colombia so how would that work in relation to the affidavit of support?

I know I know lots of questions >.< .... Sorry!!!!!

We're trying to figure out how to go about this. BTW they've been married for over 10 years and have many properties to their names, jointly.

Any help, as always, will be very much appreciated...

PS Diana we <3 u

Edited June 16, 2012 by CristianAmour

[CristianAmour 1]

Congrats to those who've received their new visas!!!!! Very happy for all of you!!!

So we filed to have our conditional status removed and showed up at the office in Pittsburgh, PA for biometrics on March 19th but so far we haven't heard anything from them... Now, on the website it says the current processing time for this is about 6 months with the California service center but we can't help but worry a little bit although we know that legally and costitutionakky we have the right to have our conditions removed and there should not be a problem at all since we submitted very strong evidence of our continuing marriage such as tax returns, health insurance, car insurance, life insurance policies provided through our employer, lease agreement fornour apt.. etc etc. Any thoughts?

Also, while I'm here I wanted to ask about my parents' situation....

Ok so my dad is a US citizen (naturalized) and his wife is from Colombia, south America. They both live there but she has a tourist visa and just left the US after visiting with us for a month.

Now they're thinking about moving here to be closer to us but they'd like to be here by the end of the year... Now my question is, should my dad file as a US Citizen living abroad or should he come here (since that's his plan anyway) and file the i130 from here or how long does he have to be in the US to be able to file as someone who resides here? Also since my mother in law is retired and won't be working and has a tourist visa, would it be acceptable if she's here while the process is ongoing and is there any way to have her interview here?

Or would they just be better off doing the whole process from Colombia? They can still come and visit since they both have legal entry/access to the US...

Another thing I'm wondering about is the fact that all of their properties and income are based in Colombia so how would that work in relation to the affidavit of support?

I know I know lots of questions >.< .... Sorry!!!!!

We're trying to figure out how to go about this. BTW they've been married for over 10 years and have many properties to their names, jointly.

Any help, as always, will be very much appreciated...

PS Diana we <3 u

Well I did more research and found they can either do an Adjustment of Status from here or file by mail for consulate processing and I think they might actually go with the latter...

About our case though, the NOA 1 for our I751 was on 02/08/12 and it's almost been 6 months since then and we still haven't heard from them... Biometrics was collected on 03/19/12 but I think the estimated processing time of 6 months starts from your first NOA.... Any ideas or suggestions, as always, will be appreciated! We've tracked the case on the USCIS website and it just says its in-process. :s

[Mononoke28 135]

Congrats to those who've received their new visas!!!!! Very happy for all of you!!!

So we filed to have our conditional status removed and showed up at the office in Pittsburgh, PA for biometrics on March 19th but so far we haven't heard anything from them... Now, on the website it says the current processing time for this is about 6 months with the California service center but we can't help but worry a little bit although we know that legally and costitutionakky we have the right to have our conditions removed and there should not be a problem at all since we submitted very strong evidence of our continuing marriage such as tax returns, health insurance, car insurance, life insurance policies provided through our employer, lease agreement fornour apt.. etc etc. Any thoughts?

Also, while I'm here I wanted to ask about my parents' situation....

Ok so my dad is a US citizen (naturalized) and his wife is from Colombia, south America. They both live there but she has a tourist visa and just left the US after visiting with us for a month.

Now they're thinking about moving here to be closer to us but they'd like to be here by the end of the year... Now my question is, should my dad file as a US Citizen living abroad or should he come here (since that's his plan anyway) and file the i130 from here or how long does he have to be in the US to be able to file as someone who resides here? Also since my mother in law is retired and won't be working and has a tourist visa, would it be acceptable if she's here while the process is ongoing and is there any way to have her interview here?

Or would they just be better off doing the whole process from Colombia? They can still come and visit since they both have legal entry/access to the US...

Another thing I'm wondering about is the fact that all of their properties and income are based in Colombia so how would that work in relation to the affidavit of support?

I know I know lots of questions >.< .... Sorry!!!!!

We're trying to figure out how to go about this. BTW they've been married for over 10 years and have many properties to their names, jointly.

Any help, as always, will be very much appreciated...

PS Diana we <3 u

I recently found out that DCF (Direct Consular Filing) is no longer available in Colombia which is a bummer because that would have been easier and faster for them if they could file while living in Colombia.

The only option for them would be for your father to file an I-130 for her IR1 visa which he can do while still living in Colombia. The issue would be trying to figure out how to prove that they have enough in assets to support her while living in the US. If that's not possible, then they would need a co-sponsor.

Another option would be for her to come to the US and file from here but I would not recommend it because the USCIS does not condone using a non-immigrant visa for the sole purpose of staying in the US to file for her adjustment of status, they actually consider that fraud and her adjustment may be denied.

In any case, filing a I-130 means she will have her interview in Bogotá so she can enter the US with her IR1 visa.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Well I did more research and found they can either do an Adjustment of Status from here or file by mail for consulate processing and I think they might actually go with the latter...

About our case though, the NOA 1 for our I751 was on 02/08/12 and it's almost been 6 months since then and we still haven't heard from them... Biometrics was collected on 03/19/12 but I think the estimated processing time of 6 months starts from your first NOA.... Any ideas or suggestions, as always, will be appreciated! We've tracked the case on the USCIS website and it just says its in-process. :s

It all depends on the service center you send it to and how many applications they received at the same time you applied. Try checking other people's timelines that are similar to yours so you can get an idea of how long it took for them. When my husband applied I believe his approval only took about three months, while others took one month. A few months later people were complaining that it took between 6-9 months, so it changes from time to time.

You can try to give the USCIS a call to see what they say, but I'm sure they'll say that it can take up to 12 months to be on the safe side.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

After paying the visa fee and scheduling appointment all online I received a confirmation email. My two question are, do I need to print this out and is this what the embassy is asking for or is there is another email that is suppose to come from the embassy which will be the appointment letter? Please reply. Thank you

It doesn't hurt to print it out for your records but the embassy should be sending your fiancée the interview package via email. If they don't you can find it in their website.

Since she now has her interview scheduled, she can go ahead and schedule the medical with any of the doctors listed on the Instructions Package.

Diana

[CristianAmour 1]

Thank you Diana yeah I called them and they basically said "no news is good news" and for us to wait.

My parents are filing the I130 for consular processing and the thing with their income is that my mom is retired on a pretty decent pension which will continue while shes here; my dad has a pension from the Social Security Administration and together they own multiple properties in Colombia that they rent and that income will continue as well, on top of that we're offering to act as join sponsors too just to make sure so hopefully they won't have a problem with the affidavit...

At least I am hoping since it says on the instructions that the beneficiary can help meet the requirements if they can prove that the income they report will continue from the same source.. Which, like I said, it's her pension so it will definitely continue...

Does this seem feasible? I might be missing something or something might've changed

Thanks soooo much for your always helpful advice Diana!! This site wouldn't be the same without you.

[Mononoke28 135]

Thank you Diana yeah I called them and they basically said "no news is good news" and for us to wait.

My parents are filing the I130 for consular processing and the thing with their income is that my mom is retired on a pretty decent pension which will continue while shes here; my dad has a pension from the Social Security Administration and together they own multiple properties in Colombia that they rent and that income will continue as well, on top of that we're offering to act as join sponsors too just to make sure so hopefully they won't have a problem with the affidavit...

At least I am hoping since it says on the instructions that the beneficiary can help meet the requirements if they can prove that the income they report will continue from the same source.. Which, like I said, it's her pension so it will definitely continue...

Does this seem feasible? I might be missing something or something might've changed

Thanks soooo much for your always helpful advice Diana!! This site wouldn't be the same without you.

Yes, that should be enough for the NVC to see that she won't become public charge here in the US. In fact, they may come here without any pensions or proof of owning property and will still be approved at the NVC as long as their co-sponsor(s) make(s) enough.

Diana

[Mikesway 0]

OK so NVC complete. I called NVC today and she said that she doesn't know when we will hear about our interview but she said they will probably schedule in mid-July for an August interview. Does anyone know if this is accurate, or was she just telling me scripted information? Do any of you have a better idea of when we will find out our interview date? Thanks!

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

That sounds about right and pretty accurate information to me Mike.