Scandinavians Part 2

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 3:18 AM, Suss&Camm said:

We were lucky enough to get just that when he was over in Sweden on his last trip. We drove up to Stockholm and stayed at Villa Källhagen 5-10 min walking distance from the US embassy. It wasn't the cheapest option but it was still ok and well worth knowing for sure I wouldn't get stuck in traffic anywhere on the day of the interview. We were there in the summer and it's also walking distance to Skansen, Gröna Lund, and a bunch of museums and other stuff.. so we made it a real vacation trip 

That's what we want to do! Take the train and stay somewhere in walking distance and hang around a couple of days, so we aren't just there for the interview. Plus I know I wouldn't want to go by myself. And even if I can't go inside with him, knowing I'm there when he's done and comes back out would be great. So far, we still haven't received notice from NVC so not sure if it'll work out. I'm using carryover vacation time at work from last year, so that I can make my visit last longer than a week, and we have to use carryover time by mid-March.  So I am limited with how long I wait till I book a flight and go. And I'd rather go for as long as possible than not. We've still got our fingers crossed that we hear from NVC this month and things start rolling.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

19 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

That's what we want to do! Take the train and stay somewhere in walking distance and hang around a couple of days, so we aren't just there for the interview. Plus I know I wouldn't want to go by myself. And even if I can't go inside with him, knowing I'm there when he's done and comes back out would be great. So far, we still haven't received notice from NVC so not sure if it'll work out. I'm using carryover vacation time at work from last year, so that I can make my visit last longer than a week, and we have to use carryover time by mid-March.  So I am limited with how long I wait till I book a flight and go. And I'd rather go for as long as possible than not. We've still got our fingers crossed that we hear from NVC this month and things start rolling.

You can try calling the NVC for the case number. That's what we did.. I the used that number to track DHL when my package left the US. At that point we went ahead and booked the medical and interview, if I remember correctly.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

12 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

You can try calling the NVC for the case number. That's what we did.. I the used that number to track DHL when my package left the US. At that point we went ahead and booked the medical and interview, if I remember correctly.

Yes, I've heard that once we have the case number we can go ahead and starting planning stuff like that. I told my fiancé I'm giving them till the end of the month, then I'm making some noise. Our NOA2 was on December 1st, so it's been almost a month and a half. Seems the average number of days has been 45 lately.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

We finally got a response from NVC! I called last night and was told they received our info the day before (1/17) and would be sending it to the embassy in Stockholm now. He gave me our case number and an invoice number, and said the beneficiary will receive a packet from the embassy once they receive our info providing details for the interview.

 

My understanding is, now that we have the case number at least, Paul could go ahead and pursue his medical requirements, correct?

 

The even better news - it's becoming more and more possible that my trip will overlap with the interview and I may get to go with him to Stockholm after all

 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

Paul's interview is February 22! That was fast  I managed to swing it and am flying out February 19 so that I can go to Stockholm with him. I can't believe it!

 

Random question, I'm not sure if anyone here can answer - I hadn't had a chance to mail all the paperwork to him that he's going to take with him to the interview. I can still ship it over, but since I'm going over and will arrive before the interview, I'm thinking about just packing it and taking it with me (emailing him copies so we can reprint there together as a backup). Anybody ever taken their paperwork with them to the beneficiary's country? I can't think of any problem with it, but figured I'd ask around.

[Emmsan 51]

13 hours ago, Paul & Mallory said:

Paul's interview is February 22! That was fast  I managed to swing it and am flying out February 19 so that I can go to Stockholm with him. I can't believe it!

 

Random question, I'm not sure if anyone here can answer - I hadn't had a chance to mail all the paperwork to him that he's going to take with him to the interview. I can still ship it over, but since I'm going over and will arrive before the interview, I'm thinking about just packing it and taking it with me (emailing him copies so we can reprint there together as a backup). Anybody ever taken their paperwork with them to the beneficiary's country? I can't think of any problem with it, but figured I'd ask around.

You'll have no problem bringing your paperwork to Sweden... It's paper. Pack it in your carry on to make sure it doesn't get lost. 

[Unidentified 2,930]

14 hours ago, Paul & Mallory said:

Paul's interview is February 22! That was fast  I managed to swing it and am flying out February 19 so that I can go to Stockholm with him. I can't believe it!

 

Random question, I'm not sure if anyone here can answer - I hadn't had a chance to mail all the paperwork to him that he's going to take with him to the interview. I can still ship it over, but since I'm going over and will arrive before the interview, I'm thinking about just packing it and taking it with me (emailing him copies so we can reprint there together as a backup). Anybody ever taken their paperwork with them to the beneficiary's country? I can't think of any problem with it, but figured I'd ask around.

You'll be fine. Customs in Sweden is not like the US where they might care about papers. 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

2 hours ago, Unidentified said:

You'll be fine. Customs in Sweden is not like the US where they might care about papers. 

I figured as much lol Thank you!

 

2 hours ago, Emmsan said:

You'll have no problem bringing your paperwork to Sweden... It's paper. Pack it in your carry on to make sure it doesn't get lost. 

Thanks!

[nasa2016 10]

Hej Scandinavians!

 

Question for you: have you ever had problems with US authorities (the passport administration in my case) not accepting a Swedish birth certificate as proof of parental relationship?

 

I'm trying to get a US passport for my son, see thread posted here: 

 

The most recent reply I got from the Western Passport Center said:

Quote

The birth certificate you submitted does not contain a file/registration date. A birth certificate that displays a file/registration date within one year of birth is sufficient for passport purposes. If the birth certificate contains a file/registration date one year after the date of the birth or does not contain a file/registration date, it is not sufficient for passport purposes. Therefore, we need early public records near the time of the birth to establish parental relationship.

Of course the "Extract of Population Registry" does not have a registration date, so they won't accept it. (The annoying thing is that I've actually gone through this process before, for my older son, and then I didn't have any problem at all with the process - so it seems kind of arbitrary).

 

Oh well, time to go find an accredited DNA sampler at AABB I guess, seems like it will be a couple of hundred dollars more for the passport :-(

 

/S

 

[nullaccount234 882]

Hi all! For those of you who went over on a K-1: How did you solve the insurance situation? I've been looking around for advice on VJ and I understand that I'm eligible for the marketplace coverage as soon as we've filed for AoS. I was actually a bit surprised but it says that very clearly on the healthcare.gov web page. But what about the time in between entry and AoS filing? Will my Swedish coverage (hemförsäkring) do, since I won't actually have any sort of immigration status at that point?

 

Because he is still on his parents' insurance, we have to look elsewhere for how to get me covered. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[SpidersWeb 16]

Hey Scandinavians,

 

I hope you don't mind that a Finn infiltrates this thread 

 

I received bad news on my EB-3 petition the other day. I waited 5 months for initial approval but I got a denial. It was very disappointing and frustrating because there was no reason for it. At the same time I was a bit amused by Trump's remarks about him wanting Norwegian immigrants. I guess us Finns are so different then 

 

Anyway, my immigration specialist explained at length what's going on with the USCIS. There has actually been a 45% (or 85,000) increase in RFEs during the first 8 months of the Trump administration. Attorneys have had to reply to RFEs sarcastically and by pointing out the absurdity.

 

In my case, the wording of my employment agreement has now been changed and the plan is to refile in 1.5-2 months with premium processing. Hopefully I'll only lose 2 months in time and I can still move to the US in 2018!

[Scandi 4,101]

4 hours ago, LizM said:

Hi all! For those of you who went over on a K-1: How did you solve the insurance situation? I've been looking around for advice on VJ and I understand that I'm eligible for the marketplace coverage as soon as we've filed for AoS. I was actually a bit surprised but it says that very clearly on the healthcare.gov web page. But what about the time in between entry and AoS filing? Will my Swedish coverage (hemförsäkring) do, since I won't actually have any sort of immigration status at that point?

 

Because he is still on his parents' insurance, we have to look elsewhere for how to get me covered. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My hemförsäkring only covered the first 45 days. But my sjuk- och olycksfallsförsäkring that I had with Länsförsäkringar was still valid for 12 months after I moved.

[Unidentified 2,930]

On 2/2/2018 at 12:40 AM, nasa2016 said:

Hej Scandinavians!

 

Question for you: have you ever had problems with US authorities (the passport administration in my case) not accepting a Swedish birth certificate as proof of parental relationship?

 

I'm trying to get a US passport for my son, see thread posted here: 

 

The most recent reply I got from the Western Passport Center said:

Of course the "Extract of Population Registry" does not have a registration date, so they won't accept it. (The annoying thing is that I've actually gone through this process before, for my older son, and then I didn't have any problem at all with the process - so it seems kind of arbitrary).

 

Oh well, time to go find an accredited DNA sampler at AABB I guess, seems like it will be a couple of hundred dollars more for the passport :-(

 

/S

 

There's a government website somewhere that has a list of birth certificates from different countries and explanation for how they work. Some have sent that in with their visa applications just to be on the safe side. It might help you convince them that you have the proper documents but I can't remember where I found it. If someone else reading this know what I am talking about, maybe you guys can help out too! Don't know if that would help but it would be worth a try. 

[Unidentified 2,930]

4 hours ago, LizM said:

Hi all! For those of you who went over on a K-1: How did you solve the insurance situation? I've been looking around for advice on VJ and I understand that I'm eligible for the marketplace coverage as soon as we've filed for AoS. I was actually a bit surprised but it says that very clearly on the healthcare.gov web page. But what about the time in between entry and AoS filing? Will my Swedish coverage (hemförsäkring) do, since I won't actually have any sort of immigration status at that point?

 

Because he is still on his parents' insurance, we have to look elsewhere for how to get me covered. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I got an insurance through this company during the time between my K1 entry and marriage: https://www.***removed***.com/ 

[nasa2016 10]

On 2/4/2018 at 7:10 AM, Unidentified said:

There's a government website somewhere that has a list of birth certificates from different countries and explanation for how they work. Some have sent that in with their visa applications just to be on the safe side. It might help you convince them that you have the proper documents but I can't remember where I found it. If someone else reading this know what I am talking about, maybe you guys can help out too! Don't know if that would help but it would be worth a try. 

Hi,

 

Thanks - the only list I know of is the department of state reciprocity table, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Sweden.html

and I already tried citing that. Definitely worth a try, but in my case it didn't help... But if anyone knows of a different list please share.

 

Regards,

 

/S