NVC Filers - March 2012

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

First everyone needs to quit comparing the K-1s to CR-1s. Total different ball game. K-1 and K-3 (mostly defunct) are non-immigrant visas. Yes, they get an approval a little quicker, yes, they get through NVC in a few days, yes, they seem to get interviews faster. Once they get here, they have three to five months more wait for their green card. Their visas are substantially more than a CR-1. CR-1's POE, have their temporary green card in their passport, get a SSN in a few days and are ready to take on their new life.

K-1 and K-3ers still live in limbo, even after everything. If they don't have their ducks in a row and have all the evidence and the I-864, it's all for nothing. They can't get a job, they can't volunteer, they can't get a driver's license in most states.. it's sit around and wait, wait, wait. Just like all of us are doing now, the only perk, they get to spend it with their significant other. How much fun would that be after six months of sitting on the couch watching the world go by. There's a reason money and jobs were invented, so you can spend 8 hours a day away from each other!

The big, bad US government isn't out to get anyone. Yes, it's a good joke of mine, but I don't think anyone employed by Uncle Sam is monitoring what I do or when I do it. When you send in that I-130 it's a ####### shoot. You go to one of two service centers. California being notoriously slow, or Vermont being faster. You don't know where you'll end up! Once there, you don't know who's desk you're going to end up on.

Suzy Q. might not be as fast at hammering out petitions as Johnny B. Or Suzy Q. has a lot of petitions from high fraud countries that take extensive work, you might be at the bottom of the pile. Johnny B. might not be even reading anything and just rubber stamping stuff as it goes through. Everyone has heard the stories about getting to the Embassy/Consulate and being denied because of something USCIS should have caught. Or even being denied at POE because everyone dropped the ball. Hell, our petition was LOST! I have no doubt we would still be in California in a USCIS black hole if it wasn't for my congressman lighting a fire under their butts. The US Government is highly inefficient, but not out to ruin someone's life just for the kicks of it.

There's probably been dozens of people over the years on VJ making spread sheets and mining data, crunching numbers to figure the system out. No one's been able to crack the holy immigration code.

Maybe some Embassies/Consulates really do stick to the first two weeks of the month rule, maybe not. Maybe there's thousands of other people all around the US and the world going through the same thing, and they have to have an appointment too... It's not just us. You have the CR-1s and IR-1s and K-1s and K-3s and HB-1s and F-1s... the list goes on. There's been people waiting for decades, years!

Ya, it's no damn fun to sit here and watch people with NOA1/NOA2/NVC dates before ours zip through the system and be with their spouses and come and tell us how grand life is. It's all sunshine and cupcakes and sprinkles! Wish you were here! It made me mad, jealous and down right pissed off when I was watching people from September go to interviews while we sat in CSC. In a perfect world it would be first come, first serve, here's your visa, have a nice day. Unfortunately we're not living in a perfect world.

There's my .2 cents on the whole thing.. take it or leave it.

Very realistic! and you couldn't have described it any better

[Trav&Shell 83]

First everyone needs to quit comparing the K-1s to CR-1s. Total different ball game. K-1 and K-3 (mostly defunct) are non-immigrant visas. Yes, they get an approval a little quicker, yes, they get through NVC in a few days, yes, they seem to get interviews faster. Once they get here, they have three to five months more wait for their green card. Their visas are substantially more than a CR-1. CR-1's POE, have their temporary green card in their passport, get a SSN in a few days and are ready to take on their new life.

K-1 and K-3ers still live in limbo, even after everything. If they don't have their ducks in a row and have all the evidence and the I-864, it's all for nothing. They can't get a job, they can't volunteer, they can't get a driver's license in most states.. it's sit around and wait, wait, wait. Just like all of us are doing now, the only perk, they get to spend it with their significant other. How much fun would that be after six months of sitting on the couch watching the world go by. There's a reason money and jobs were invented, so you can spend 8 hours a day away from each other!

The big, bad US government isn't out to get anyone. Yes, it's a good joke of mine, but I don't think anyone employed by Uncle Sam is monitoring what I do or when I do it. When you send in that I-130 it's a ####### shoot. You go to one of two service centers. California being notoriously slow, or Vermont being faster. You don't know where you'll end up! Once there, you don't know who's desk you're going to end up on.

Suzy Q. might not be as fast at hammering out petitions as Johnny B. Or Suzy Q. has a lot of petitions from high fraud countries that take extensive work, you might be at the bottom of the pile. Johnny B. might not be even reading anything and just rubber stamping stuff as it goes through. Everyone has heard the stories about getting to the Embassy/Consulate and being denied because of something USCIS should have caught. Or even being denied at POE because everyone dropped the ball. Hell, our petition was LOST! I have no doubt we would still be in California in a USCIS black hole if it wasn't for my congressman lighting a fire under their butts. The US Government is highly inefficient, but not out to ruin someone's life just for the kicks of it.

There's probably been dozens of people over the years on VJ making spread sheets and mining data, crunching numbers to figure the system out. No one's been able to crack the holy immigration code.

Maybe some Embassies/Consulates really do stick to the first two weeks of the month rule, maybe not. Maybe there's thousands of other people all around the US and the world going through the same thing, and they have to have an appointment too... It's not just us. You have the CR-1s and IR-1s and K-1s and K-3s and HB-1s and F-1s... the list goes on. There's been people waiting for decades, years!

Ya, it's no damn fun to sit here and watch people with NOA1/NOA2/NVC dates before ours zip through the system and be with their spouses and come and tell us how grand life is. It's all sunshine and cupcakes and sprinkles! Wish you were here! It made me mad, jealous and down right pissed off when I was watching people from September go to interviews while we sat in CSC. In a perfect world it would be first come, first serve, here's your visa, have a nice day. Unfortunately we're not living in a perfect world.

There's my .2 cents on the whole thing.. take it or leave it.

Total agree. Right down to the "take it or leave it." Well said!

[sheeshkabelle 153]

and after that.. we bring you back to our regulary scheduled program...

Hubby did good! The DS-3032 he emailed this morning was accepted, and I got the email that they received our AOS packet.

Happy weekend NVCers!!

[gad33 47]

Everything's gone wrong since Canada came along!

Although I know this, clicked on the link for a listen and the advert that came up made me laugh. "Calgary Immigration. Are you facing deportation? Call our expert lawyers at...."

[sheeshkabelle 153]

Although I know this, clicked on the link for a listen and the advert that came up made me laugh. "Calgary Immigration. Are you facing deportation? Call our expert lawyers at...."

BWWAAHAHAHAHA give me their number! Hubby wants out of there yesterday!

[meno-is-mine 37]

Hey meno-is-mine, what field are you studying in grad school? And MA or PhD? Just curious

Hehe, didn't realize the first time around this was a two parter: I'm doing PhD in materials science/engineering...

im in the exact same place as you meno - grad student and not getting a dime for my educational loans, but its worth it!!!

Yea, I agree. It sucks that we can't get the credits, but its a small price to pay now for convenience. I'll take it!!! Just amend after we get an SSN...

BTW, called NVC again today and still no case number Monday I'll try again...

[Trav&Shell 83]

No invoice yet, but know what? I'm good. It'll come. In the meantime, I have things I can do to keep occupied...heh heh heh...

[Saylin 1,605]

No invoice yet, but know what? I'm good. It'll come. In the meantime, I have things I can do to keep occupied...heh heh heh...

Like my t-shirt?

[nica 5]

First everyone needs to quit comparing the K-1s to CR-1s. Total different ball game. K-1 and K-3 (mostly defunct) are non-immigrant visas. Yes, they get an approval a little quicker, yes, they get through NVC in a few days, yes, they seem to get interviews faster. Once they get here, they have three to five months more wait for their green card. Their visas are substantially more than a CR-1. CR-1's POE, have their temporary green card in their passport, get a SSN in a few days and are ready to take on their new life.

K-1 and K-3ers still live in limbo, even after everything. If they don't have their ducks in a row and have all the evidence and the I-864, it's all for nothing. They can't get a job, they can't volunteer, they can't get a driver's license in most states.. it's sit around and wait, wait, wait. Just like all of us are doing now, the only perk, they get to spend it with their significant other. How much fun would that be after six months of sitting on the couch watching the world go by. There's a reason money and jobs were invented, so you can spend 8 hours a day away from each other!

The big, bad US government isn't out to get anyone. Yes, it's a good joke of mine, but I don't think anyone employed by Uncle Sam is monitoring what I do or when I do it. When you send in that I-130 it's a ####### shoot. You go to one of two service centers. California being notoriously slow, or Vermont being faster. You don't know where you'll end up! Once there, you don't know who's desk you're going to end up on.

Suzy Q. might not be as fast at hammering out petitions as Johnny B. Or Suzy Q. has a lot of petitions from high fraud countries that take extensive work, you might be at the bottom of the pile. Johnny B. might not be even reading anything and just rubber stamping stuff as it goes through. Everyone has heard the stories about getting to the Embassy/Consulate and being denied because of something USCIS should have caught. Or even being denied at POE because everyone dropped the ball. Hell, our petition was LOST! I have no doubt we would still be in California in a USCIS black hole if it wasn't for my congressman lighting a fire under their butts. The US Government is highly inefficient, but not out to ruin someone's life just for the kicks of it.

There's probably been dozens of people over the years on VJ making spread sheets and mining data, crunching numbers to figure the system out. No one's been able to crack the holy immigration code.

Maybe some Embassies/Consulates really do stick to the first two weeks of the month rule, maybe not. Maybe there's thousands of other people all around the US and the world going through the same thing, and they have to have an appointment too... It's not just us. You have the CR-1s and IR-1s and K-1s and K-3s and HB-1s and F-1s... the list goes on. There's been people waiting for decades, years!

Ya, it's no damn fun to sit here and watch people with NOA1/NOA2/NVC dates before ours zip through the system and be with their spouses and come and tell us how grand life is. It's all sunshine and cupcakes and sprinkles! Wish you were here! It made me mad, jealous and down right pissed off when I was watching people from September go to interviews while we sat in CSC. In a perfect world it would be first come, first serve, here's your visa, have a nice day. Unfortunately we're not living in a perfect world.

There's my .2 cents on the whole thing.. take it or leave it.

I agree... though I also think that 60% of the comments on this forum are to ask serious questions about the process, and at least 40% are complaining/sympathizing/supporting, and I think the latter is pretty important. It's amusing to me that as I've gone through this process, I get two reactions from people I've told about the process:

1) Total shock, disbelief, and almost ingratiating pity at how long it's taking me to get to be with my husband.

2) People telling me I should feel lucky, because they've heard much worse immigration stories.

Both of these reactions are reasonable, I think, but it's telling that there's rarely a moderate response somewhere inbetween the two, because I think all of us go through phases of feeling one or the other... the latter when we hear a scrap of good news about our case, and the former when we're still waiting for the good news (or just got some bad news). And I think that if you're in phase #1, then hearing #2 is the worst thing someone can say to you. If you're in phase #2, hearing #1 is kind of irritating too. But we all experience both!

[Trav&Shell 83]

Like my t-shirt?

Yes, that's one thing I'm also trying to organize a one woman (read: me) spam NVC campaign. Not sure if it'll actually fly but it's fun to organize. They can ignore me, I can plot mischief.

Now time to listen to Bob Marley. "We be spammin'...I hope you like spammin' too..."

[dimples 9]

First everyone needs to quit comparing the K-1s to CR-1s. Total different ball game. K-1 and K-3 (mostly defunct) are non-immigrant visas. Yes, they get an approval a little quicker, yes, they get through NVC in a few days, yes, they seem to get interviews faster. Once they get here, they have three to five months more wait for their green card. Their visas are substantially more than a CR-1. CR-1's POE, have their temporary green card in their passport, get a SSN in a few days and are ready to take on their new life.

K-1 and K-3ers still live in limbo, even after everything. If they don't have their ducks in a row and have all the evidence and the I-864, it's all for nothing. They can't get a job, they can't volunteer, they can't get a driver's license in most states.. it's sit around and wait, wait, wait. Just like all of us are doing now, the only perk, they get to spend it with their significant other. How much fun would that be after six months of sitting on the couch watching the world go by. There's a reason money and jobs were invented, so you can spend 8 hours a day away from each other!

The big, bad US government isn't out to get anyone. Yes, it's a good joke of mine, but I don't think anyone employed by Uncle Sam is monitoring what I do or when I do it. When you send in that I-130 it's a ####### shoot. You go to one of two service centers. California being notoriously slow, or Vermont being faster. You don't know where you'll end up! Once there, you don't know who's desk you're going to end up on.

Suzy Q. might not be as fast at hammering out petitions as Johnny B. Or Suzy Q. has a lot of petitions from high fraud countries that take extensive work, you might be at the bottom of the pile. Johnny B. might not be even reading anything and just rubber stamping stuff as it goes through. Everyone has heard the stories about getting to the Embassy/Consulate and being denied because of something USCIS should have caught. Or even being denied at POE because everyone dropped the ball. Hell, our petition was LOST! I have no doubt we would still be in California in a USCIS black hole if it wasn't for my congressman lighting a fire under their butts. The US Government is highly inefficient, but not out to ruin someone's life just for the kicks of it.

There's probably been dozens of people over the years on VJ making spread sheets and mining data, crunching numbers to figure the system out. No one's been able to crack the holy immigration code.

Maybe some Embassies/Consulates really do stick to the first two weeks of the month rule, maybe not. Maybe there's thousands of other people all around the US and the world going through the same thing, and they have to have an appointment too... It's not just us. You have the CR-1s and IR-1s and K-1s and K-3s and HB-1s and F-1s... the list goes on. There's been people waiting for decades, years!

Ya, it's no damn fun to sit here and watch people with NOA1/NOA2/NVC dates before ours zip through the system and be with their spouses and come and tell us how grand life is. It's all sunshine and cupcakes and sprinkles! Wish you were here! It made me mad, jealous and down right pissed off when I was watching people from September go to interviews while we sat in CSC. In a perfect world it would be first come, first serve, here's your visa, have a nice day. Unfortunately we're not living in a perfect world.

There's my .2 cents on the whole thing.. take it or leave it.

Well said sista!!! To add to that.....the ease of getting through this process is preparation or the lack thereof. Mental and Financial preparation. My husband and I were fortunate enough that I was able to quit my job and travel back and forth to be with him every few months. I know that not many can afford this but knowing what to expect puts you in the right frame of mind. Visa journey has been a blessing in preparing us for what expect and guiding us through it!

Although I miss working terribly and can't wait to get back into the field. I have my moments when the anxiety of waiting gets to me, but thank goodness its almost over!!!!

[nica 5]

Well said sista!!! To add to that.....the ease of getting through this process is preparation or the lack thereof. Mental and Financial preparation. My husband and I were fortunate enough that I was able to quit my job and travel back and forth to be with him every few months. I know that not many can afford this but knowing what to expect puts you in the right frame of mind. Visa journey has been a blessing in preparing us for what expect and guiding us through it!

Although I miss working terribly and can't wait to get back into the field. I have my moments when the anxiety of waiting gets to me, but thank goodness its almost over!!!!

Yeah, I have to say, I don't think this process would be difficult for me at ALL if I could see my husband every few months! That certainly wasn't a lack of planning... unless you count falling in love with someone who lives really far away. Trans-Atlantic tickets are too expensive!

Congrats on having money.

Edited March 31, 2012 by nica

[Alaska2012 462]

You used a lawyer right? That's how you were able to pay your AOS and IV bills right away instead of having to wait for the DS-3032 to be processed.

In any case congratulations!

Yes I used a lawyer! The best money my husband ever spent

Thanks!!

[SlatkiSime 1]

Looks like lots of us got good news Friday! Congrats!!!

[Darnell 8,478]

The interview date is April 26.

Jiang

03/29/2012: interview date set

Hey - Congratulations Again ! Lots of stuff still to do, for your two ladies.

Good Luck with the rest of it, yer at the top of the mountain, the lakeside is visible through the fog.