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Posted
On 7/6/2020 at 8:33 PM, blueberry1999 said:

Hi! Looking for some advice:

 

I want to enter the United States July 31. F-1 student traveling from the Netherlands. My initial plan was to leave to Serbia on July 16 and take a direct flight out of Serbia to New York. However, with COVID cases rising again, I don’t know what would be the best option now.

 

I plan to spend my two weeks inside, but am worried about potential lockdowns or borders closing. Could anybody advice me on what my best options country-wise would be now? Turkey, Serbia, another country? As I have noted that cases in Turkey have also been rising! Thank you in advance, having read the comments on this thread has been very encouraging. 

I don’t think Turkey is bad right now, I am planning on doing my 14 days there

Posted

Hi everyone !

Im back home in LA! Yesterday I flew in to LAX after spending 15 days in Mexico. I have an O1 visa and had no issues whatsoever. I was asked the usual questions and it took about 3 minutes before he stamped my passport. Because I came from Mexico there was an additional baggage check but that was it. I’m so happy I’m finally back in my apartment. Good luck to everyone else! If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Posted
On 7/9/2020 at 2:10 AM, jsmith2020 said:

Has anyone from US rented a car in Serbia? If so, did they require an international driver's license?

I rented from Sixt (met agent to pick up car at Belgrade Courtyard Marriott).  I had an International Driving Permit ("IDP") because I read in a couple places they were required for U.S. citizens.  The Sixt agent asked for my U.S. driver's license, passport, and credit card.  I offered the IDP but he said he didn't need it.  Not sure if this would be the case in an actual Sixt office or with a different rental agency.  Might want to call in advance and/or get IDP just to be safe.  

 

Have fun driving in Belgrade.  I broke a rear reflector within 15 minutes of picking up the car. Haha. A taxi driver told me that was normal and compared driving in Belgrade to driving in Egypt (whatever that means).  It's a hectic city, though.  Outside of Belgrade, major highways were really nice.  Smaller highways/roads were mostly okay, although depending on your driving experience you may find them stressful compared to driving in the U.S.  They can be small and winding with no/little shoulder and no separation from oncoming traffic.  Some drivers can be aggressive with passing and such.

 

Outside of Belgrade, we traveled to the National Park Djerdap area and to Novi Sad. 

 

Djerdap had some nice scenery with mountains and views of the Danube and Djerdap Gorge.  We did a really nice, but fairly long hike up a mountain trail to Veliki Strbac.  There's also a really cool fortress on the Danube in this area at Golubac.

 

Novi Sad is a smaller city about 1.5 hours northwest of Belgrade.  We liked Novi Sad a lot and ended up staying there longer than we originally planned.  It's a lot less hectic than Belgrade and has a nice central pedestrian area with lots of pretty buildings where you can hang out.  Also has a fortress on the Danube that affords some nice views and a nice river path that we walked and ran along.

 

We also stopped by the fortress in Smederevo because it was on our driving route.  Kind of interesting, but not sure it was worth a stop unless you're really into fortresses.  We were interested in checking out National Park Tara (mountains bordering Croatia), but we didn't make it because of weather and time constraints.

 

All of this was before the recent resumption of lockdown and protests in Belgrade.  Not sure how any of that would affect travel; my fiancee just read that protests had blocked the road from Belgrade to Novi Sad.

 

Would recommend learning some Serbian pronunciation before you go.  A lot of people speak English, and they're generally friendly and very hospitable, but they might not understand your references to Serbian places/things if you can't pronounce them.  For instance, a 'c' is pronounced like 'ts'.  E.g., "Golubac" sounds something like Goh-loo-bahts.

 

Other recommendation is to try lots of the wine and food.  Serbian wine is fantastic and the food is delicious (albeit salty and meat heavy).  Also, we drank the tap water everywhere we stayed (hotels and AirBnBs).

 

 

Posted
16 minutes ago, Ririwoo37 said:

Hi there! Im traveling to Serbia today, is there someone out there who would like to hang out? I will be by myself. Hope to hear from u guys

Hello! Just curious, why did you pick Serbia ? (Instead of Croatia or Turkey for example)

Filed: Other Country: France
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Posted

Hi everyone 

 

I’m just New ( it’s my first post ) in the forum. I signed up because you seems have a lot information about 3rd country road. 
 

I’m right now In Paris airport and wait my flight to serbia. I will stay until July 29th and hope to have my flight to JFK to be with my boyfriend. 
 

I’m so nervous about this, I come on my own, and this morning I read an post on Facebook about a guy who was denied for the flight to JFK because the DHS had a suspicion about he stayed in Serbia for 14days. 
 

how could I avoid this and prove to the DHS I will stay for 16days please. 
 

thanks for all. 
lauriane 

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Taiwan
Timeline
Posted
1 minute ago, Lauriane said:

Hi everyone 

 

I’m just New ( it’s my first post ) in the forum. I signed up because you seems have a lot information about 3rd country road. 
 

I’m right now In Paris airport and wait my flight to serbia. I will stay until July 29th and hope to have my flight to JFK to be with my boyfriend. 
 

I’m so nervous about this, I come on my own, and this morning I read an post on Facebook about a guy who was denied for the flight to JFK because the DHS had a suspicion about he stayed in Serbia for 14days. 
 

how could I avoid this and prove to the DHS I will stay for 16days please. 
 

thanks for all. 
lauriane 

That is quite a price for you to pay for just a short visit to the US.

"The US immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and a significant amount of money.  It is quite a journey!"

- Some old child of the 50's & 60's on his laptop 

 

Senior Master Sergeant, US Air Force- Retired (after 20+ years)- Missile Systems Maintenance & Titan 2 ICBM Launch Crew Duty (200+ Alert tours)

Registered Nurse- Retired- I practiced in the areas of Labor & Delivery, Home Health, Adolescent Psych, & Adult Psych.

IT Professional- Retired- Web Site Design, Hardware Maintenance, Compound Pharmacy Software Trainer, On-site go live support, Database Manager, App Designer.

______________________________________

In summary, it took 13 months for approval of the CR-1.  It took 44 months for approval of the I-751.  It took 4 months for approval of the N-400.   It took 172 days from N-400 application to Oath Ceremony.   It took 6 weeks for Passport, then 7 additional weeks for return of wife's Naturalization Certificate.. 
 

Filed: Other Country: France
Timeline
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

That is quite a price for you to pay for just a short visit to the US.

I hope to have my flight July 29th and come back to Paris October 13th 😊 I will stay from tonight until July 29th in serbia 

Edited by Lauriane
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Taiwan
Timeline
Posted
Just now, Lauriane said:

I hope to have my flight July 29th and come back to Paris October 13th 😊

Good luck

"The US immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and a significant amount of money.  It is quite a journey!"

- Some old child of the 50's & 60's on his laptop 

 

Senior Master Sergeant, US Air Force- Retired (after 20+ years)- Missile Systems Maintenance & Titan 2 ICBM Launch Crew Duty (200+ Alert tours)

Registered Nurse- Retired- I practiced in the areas of Labor & Delivery, Home Health, Adolescent Psych, & Adult Psych.

IT Professional- Retired- Web Site Design, Hardware Maintenance, Compound Pharmacy Software Trainer, On-site go live support, Database Manager, App Designer.

______________________________________

In summary, it took 13 months for approval of the CR-1.  It took 44 months for approval of the I-751.  It took 4 months for approval of the N-400.   It took 172 days from N-400 application to Oath Ceremony.   It took 6 weeks for Passport, then 7 additional weeks for return of wife's Naturalization Certificate.. 
 

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: France
Timeline
Posted
5 minutes ago, Lauriane said:

Hi everyone 

 

I’m just New ( it’s my first post ) in the forum. I signed up because you seems have a lot information about 3rd country road. 
 

I’m right now In Paris airport and wait my flight to serbia. I will stay until July 29th and hope to have my flight to JFK to be with my boyfriend. 
 

I’m so nervous about this, I come on my own, and this morning I read an post on Facebook about a guy who was denied for the flight to JFK because the DHS had a suspicion about he stayed in Serbia for 14days. 
 

how could I avoid this and prove to the DHS I will stay for 16days please. 
 

thanks for all. 
lauriane 

Salut I am in CDG too right now, abt to boarding for Serbia!!! Where are u? MP me

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Taiwan
Timeline
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Lauriane said:

I hope to have my flight July 29th and come back to Paris October 13th 😊

Be prepared to show CBP in the US evidence of strong ties to your home country, else they could deny entry.

Edited by Lucky Cat

"The US immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and a significant amount of money.  It is quite a journey!"

- Some old child of the 50's & 60's on his laptop 

 

Senior Master Sergeant, US Air Force- Retired (after 20+ years)- Missile Systems Maintenance & Titan 2 ICBM Launch Crew Duty (200+ Alert tours)

Registered Nurse- Retired- I practiced in the areas of Labor & Delivery, Home Health, Adolescent Psych, & Adult Psych.

IT Professional- Retired- Web Site Design, Hardware Maintenance, Compound Pharmacy Software Trainer, On-site go live support, Database Manager, App Designer.

______________________________________

In summary, it took 13 months for approval of the CR-1.  It took 44 months for approval of the I-751.  It took 4 months for approval of the N-400.   It took 172 days from N-400 application to Oath Ceremony.   It took 6 weeks for Passport, then 7 additional weeks for return of wife's Naturalization Certificate.. 
 

 
Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Ask our VJ Immigration Lawyers.

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