NZ: cr1 petition

[sophielas 2]

Hello!

Posting to see if any other kiwis are out there who have just filed for CR1 visas?

Me (Kiwi) and Hub (USC) live in NZ - he's here on a temp visa.

We mailed our petition from NZ yesterday, expect it to get to USCIS early Jan, and REALLY HOPE to be in USA by October 2013.

Sing out if you are in a similar position!

[sophielas 2]

Hello!

Posting to see if any other kiwis are out there who have just filed for CR1 visas?

Me (Kiwi) and Hub (USC) live in NZ - he's here on a temp visa.

We mailed our petition from NZ yesterday, expect it to get to USCIS early Jan, and REALLY HOPE to be in USA by October 2013.

Sing out if you are in a similar position!

Ok, I guess not! Any KIWIS at all out there? Anyone? I'd love some NZ buddies stuck in this visa waiting game.

(no offense to all my Australian friends...)

[ecg19 7]

Hey hun,

I've been in the USA for a month now.

The Auckland embassy are wonderful to deal with and things go quickly - especially if you have everything prepared to go and get in touch with their immigrant visa section when you get close to the end and hassle them for an earlier appointment

Good luck! Nothing is certain, but you will easily be in the USA by October unless something crazy happens!

[sophielas 2]

Hey hun,

I've been in the USA for a month now.

The Auckland embassy are wonderful to deal with and things go quickly - especially if you have everything prepared to go and get in touch with their immigrant visa section when you get close to the end and hassle them for an earlier appointment

Good luck! Nothing is certain, but you will easily be in the USA by October unless something crazy happens!

Thank you for the encouragement! I hope the US is treating you well.

I am really glad to hear the Auckland embassy is good, I generally find embassies quite scary. I will get in touch with them once we get to the NVC stage I think.

Also, what is the deal with the police check in the process? I realise that that needs to be done by the embassy, but when do they do that? After they get the stuff from NVC?

Also also, medical? Do I have to wait to be advised by the embassy to do that? That has to be in Auck or Chch right?

I really hope you are right about October, trying to be as on top of the application as I an be!

Many thanks

[ecg19 7]

Thank you for the encouragement! I hope the US is treating you well.

I am really glad to hear the Auckland embassy is good, I generally find embassies quite scary. I will get in touch with them once we get to the NVC stage I think.

Also, what is the deal with the police check in the process? I realise that that needs to be done by the embassy, but when do they do that? After they get the stuff from NVC?

Also also, medical? Do I have to wait to be advised by the embassy to do that? That has to be in Auck or Chch right?

I really hope you are right about October, trying to be as on top of the application as I an be!

Many thanks

Yup - it's definitely scary and on the day of my interview I was terrified, but all in all it's not as bad as people make out and you have nothing to hide (and I hate to say it - it's pretty clear around some areas of this forum you will find that some people DO and that's why they're worried!). NZ is of course probably one of the lowest countries at risk for fraud so the process is the same for everyone else because it has to be, but everything is pretty chill.

I did my medical once I had a date, but I'm pretty sure you can do it as soon as you have your ACK number as that's all they need at the medical stage. I chose to fly up and do mine in Auckland because the Christchurch and Wellington doctors were male and they do a physical, but if you're not ridiculously shy about your body like me then it's pretty harmless (no smears or anything like that). You'll get the forms that you need filled out at the doctor with packet 3, with a list of the doctors.

You will get this form with packet 3 - http://travel.state.gov/pdf/pk3_supplements/ACK-PK3-ENGL-0001-1203.pdf You will fill that out and send it back to them. It's all done out of your sight once you've completed that form.

[sophielas 2]

Yup - it's definitely scary and on the day of my interview I was terrified, but all in all it's not as bad as people make out and you have nothing to hide (and I hate to say it - it's pretty clear around some areas of this forum you will find that some people DO and that's why they're worried!). NZ is of course probably one of the lowest countries at risk for fraud so the process is the same for everyone else because it has to be, but everything is pretty chill.

I did my medical once I had a date, but I'm pretty sure you can do it as soon as you have your ACK number as that's all they need at the medical stage. I chose to fly up and do mine in Auckland because the Christchurch and Wellington doctors were male and they do a physical, but if you're not ridiculously shy about your body like me then it's pretty harmless (no smears or anything like that). You'll get the forms that you need filled out at the doctor with packet 3, with a list of the doctors.

You will get this form with packet 3 - http://travel.state.gov/pdf/pk3_supplements/ACK-PK3-ENGL-0001-1203.pdf You will fill that out and send it back to them. It's all done out of your sight once you've completed that form.

Thank you, you've made me feel much better. There does not seem to be too many kiwis on this site, so it's really great to hear about your experience dealing with Auckland.

I am so grateful NZ is a low fraud country, even though I have nothing to hide, I still get worried that someone might think that I do (this is probably why I always freak out going through customs and immigration anywhere). The last time I went to the states it was on VWP (before any of this immigration stuff), but I had just quit my job in NZ and was entering for a long visit so got hauled off into a little interrogation room to make sure I was telling the truth.. They let me in and I get why that happened now, but I didn't at the time, I was so naive! So now I am just generally quite scared that someone somewhere will not like the look of me and that someone gets to have final decision on whether or not I can be with my husband. Gulp.

So! I will try and be as prepared as I can be, so there are no nasty surprises.

Thanks for the medical info, I didn't realise Wellington was an option, that's helpful to know. I have no shame, male doctors can do their worst. I am well experienced in being a medical piece of meat, so to speak. Thanks also for clarifying the police process, it's weird that NZ does that differently.

[Byrnsey 1]

Hi there fellow kiwi,

If you're still on this forum - I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.

My husband filed the petition I-130 for the CR-1 visa in April, and we received a NOA1 dated May 10.

We're waiting for the next NOA or for our case status to change on the USCIS website, or just anything to happen really. We're coming up to 3 months of waiting and I know that it could be quite a few more months.

Q1. How long was your initial wait?

Q2. Did you also file a I-129F in the slim hope you could attain a K3 visa faster?

cheers

[Byrnsey 1]

I should've added that my question was to Sophielas, as you have filed the same thing as me.

cheers