ATTENTION JULY FILERS!

[*julez* 124]

Why does CUba get priority? Is it some political reason??

I've posed that very question, but cannot seem to get a straight answer. One guy said cos it takes them so long to get an interview and then they still have trouble being allowed to leave. But if you look over the last 18 months of timelines anyone with a Cuban fiance had their fiance here in the US in 6 months or less.

[janaus 0]

I've posed that very question, but cannot seem to get a straight answer. One guy said cos it takes them so long to get an interview and then they still have trouble being allowed to leave. But if you look over the last 18 months of timelines anyone with a Cuban fiance had their fiance here in the US in 6 months or less.

Yeah, I saw that too for one timeline. Doesn't make sense.

I wonder if I get BG to change residence, will it help?? NAa, that will probably take another several months to get him there!!

[Bill y Bella 0]

Why does CUba get priority? Is it some political reason??

I've posed that very question, but cannot seem to get a straight answer. One guy said cos it takes them so long to get an interview and then they still have trouble being allowed to leave. But if you look over the last 18 months of timelines anyone with a Cuban fiance had their fiance here in the US in 6 months or less.

Given that US citizens are not supposed to be in Cuba to start with, I am thinking that a lot of times the beneficiary is already out of Cuba. How else would they meet?

It looks like for the past 3 years it takes about 5 months on average from NOA2 to interview for a cuban petition. There are plenty of other countries that take as long or longer and don't get preferential treatment. For instance China, Vietnam, Bahamas, Dominican Republic (239 days!), Egypt, Ghana and the list goes on. Canada is almost as long at 121 days.

By the way, they all interview in either Armenia or Switzerland. I'm not sure what that is all about. Those two embassies sure are not close to Cuba.

[totes 0]

Hey I went from January 7th 2006 till April 11th 2007 without seeing my fiance.

So ya'll can quit complaining about time without each other

This was obviously by choice. Why would you do this if you are both in love??

No, it wasn't.

I'm 21 and in college, and she's 20 and broke.

Neither of us could / can afford to just go see each other whenever we have the time.

If we could have, we would have, but we couldn't, so we didn't.

Please don't go making assumptions like that, it seemed rather rude.

Good god, people. I'm so sorry I caused so much hate in here...It was not my intention. We all have our opinions. I just assumed that people who were going through this process had a little money. I mean, if two people are broke and from different ends of the Earth, how can they expect to venture into marriage? Honestly. I'm not trying to offend. It really wasn't my intention. I just figured that everyone here was an adult with the financial freedom to have an international marriage. I think it's pretty risky to get married when you're flat broke. So, this is why I said not seeing each other was optional. I understand certain countries dont receive tourist visas, etc. I can't imagine trying to keep an ongoing relationship with someone, let alone get married to them, if we were flat busted and so far from each other.. Anyway!!...Just forget about this. everyone can calm down. i didnt know I would cause such anger. I was sleepy and my typing came off poorly. i'm sorry. There was no rude intention. Good luck to you.

By the way, I can't exactly afford to go anytime I wish either. But with 3 months of planning I make it happen. Why? because nothing on this planet will keep me from Sasha. She is my reason for living. And if I needed to pimp my own grandmother, or sell my kidney, I'd do it. Working 2 jobs has become a necessity for lots of Americans these days. I don't stop working. I'm dedicated. I do my best to make it happen. I'm sorry for expecting the same from everyone. Some people are in college, some have children, etc. Not everyone can focus all their attention on working to save for trips. I know this. But there's always a way....

No anger or offense taken here. You are very fortunate that your circumstances enable you to make the trip as often as you are able to, that's a blessing and I am very happy for those who are able to visit more often. I choose not to respond further to the other opinions posted on this topic as I attribute some of the comments made to ignorance.

We all find our own way and if it works, for the short term, for the two people involved, it's all good.

Edited September 12, 2007 by tony and tess

[bakofoil 27]

Are there any July filers still waiting on checks cashing? My application arrived on the 15th August (not sure what the delay there was since we express mailed it) but still awaiting news.

I've also searched through the forums and some August filers have had better luck than me.

[Bill y Bella 0]

Are there any July filers still waiting on checks cashing? My application arrived on the 15th August (not sure what the delay there was since we express mailed it) but still awaiting news.

I've also searched through the forums and some August filers have had better luck than me.

Please fill out your VJ timeline.

You mailed your package on 7/27 via express mail and it did not arrive until 8/15? Very strange. I hope the receiving clerk looked at the postmark.

9 petitions were mailed to CSC by VJ members between 8/10 & 8/15 inclusive. So those petitions arrived at roughly the same time as yours. Out of the 9 only 1 has a NOA1, so I think that the fact that your check has not been cashed yet is not cause for concern. It looks like CSC is still way behind on receiving.

I would be a little worried however about them realizing that your petition was postmarked prior to the price increase. In fact I have read some posts from people who had petitions sent back for the wrong fee when it was mailed on July 27 and received on the 30th. Obviously there are some contract employees that were confused about the postmark rule.

In any case, there is nothing to do but sit and wait a few more days and see what happens.

I wish you good luck!

[bakofoil 27]

Are there any July filers still waiting on checks cashing? My application arrived on the 15th August (not sure what the delay there was since we express mailed it) but still awaiting news.

I've also searched through the forums and some August filers have had better luck than me.

Please fill out your VJ timeline.

You mailed your package on 7/27 via express mail and it did not arrive until 8/15? Very strange. I hope the receiving clerk looked at the postmark.

9 petitions were mailed to CSC by VJ members between 8/10 & 8/15 inclusive. So those petitions arrived at roughly the same time as yours. Out of the 9 only 1 has a NOA1, so I think that the fact that your check has not been cashed yet is not cause for concern. It looks like CSC is still way behind on receiving.

I would be a little worried however about them realizing that your petition was postmarked prior to the price increase. In fact I have read some posts from people who had petitions sent back for the wrong fee when it was mailed on July 27 and received on the 30th. Obviously there are some contract employees that were confused about the postmark rule.

In any case, there is nothing to do but sit and wait a few more days and see what happens.

I wish you good luck!

Thanks for your reply and the kind thoughts. I've just filled out my timeline (apologies).

I hope the petition won't be returned to us, that will set us back at least 2 months with the wait we've already had since submitting. Ah well.

[weedebz 0]

With regards to the Cuba thingy from what I understand is that once the cuban has US visa they still can't leave cuba until they have a carte blanc (basically opposit of a visa, it's permission to leave country) so they need to go through 2 lengthy processes. If cubans had to wait same as rest of us for visa then they are talking maybe 12 months plus of paper work and waiting.

[*julez* 124]

With regards to the Cuba thingy from what I understand is that once the cuban has US visa they still can't leave cuba until they have a carte blanc (basically opposit of a visa, it's permission to leave country) so they need to go through 2 lengthy processes. If cubans had to wait same as rest of us for visa then they are talking maybe 12 months plus of paper work and waiting.

Well, that's the story, BUT if you look at actual timelines you'll see that the Cuban fiances are actually here in the US within six months of the I129-f being sent to a service center. Right now, Canadians are looking at somewhere between 8 - 10 months for processing, since it takes 4 - 6 months for them to get interviews once they get an NOA2 after 4 months of waiting. If the worry is that it takes these people so long to be together, there are other places that have even longer wait times - like the Domenican Republic which has something like a 2 year wait list for an interview. At least have them be consistent and level the playing field for all countries that have really long waits.

[weedebz 0]

Remember these are government agencies we are dealing with....since when has any government agency in any country been consistant or fair? As I said in another thread..... this is just one of life's rotten tomatoes that it occasionally throws at us....just need to wipe off the yuck and get on with it.

[Bill y Bella 0]

With regards to the Cuba thingy from what I understand is that once the cuban has US visa they still can't leave cuba until they have a carte blanc (basically opposit of a visa, it's permission to leave country) so they need to go through 2 lengthy processes. If cubans had to wait same as rest of us for visa then they are talking maybe 12 months plus of paper work and waiting.

That leaves 2 big questions for me.

1. How did they meet in the first place if the beneficiary cannot leave Cuba and the US citizen cannot go to Cuba without breaking US laws?

2. How does the beneficiary attend the interview in Switzerland or Armenia without an exit visa?

I don't mean to pick on the Cubans. I am just curious about how all this works.

There must be someone here with experience in Cuba who can answer these questions.

[Jeraly 4]

With regards to the Cuba thingy from what I understand is that once the cuban has US visa they still can't leave cuba until they have a carte blanc (basically opposit of a visa, it's permission to leave country) so they need to go through 2 lengthy processes. If cubans had to wait same as rest of us for visa then they are talking maybe 12 months plus of paper work and waiting.

I never knew all that...

Does seem a bit mad that it is different for everyone but I guess everywhere does things differently and it would be so difficult to regulate so all countries had the same processing times - nice thought though but if they could speed up the slower countries then I could speed up the faster countries and we could all get approvals in a week or two - now *that* sounds like a plan!!!

[Courtney 1]

Not to change the topic from Cuba, but i have a quick question... I think I already know the answer but... I'm a petitioner for my English fiance to come to the US to be with me... Can I still travel to the UK while the visa is in (slow) progress? I'm pretty sure I must be able to, but I have a faint memory of some sort of problem with that... Anyone know?

[*julez* 124]

Not to change the topic from Cuba, but i have a quick question... I think I already know the answer but... I'm a petitioner for my English fiance to come to the US to be with me... Can I still travel to the UK while the visa is in (slow) progress? I'm pretty sure I must be able to, but I have a faint memory of some sort of problem with that... Anyone know?

No worries on the Cuba topic...it was really just an aside anyway.

Yes you can visit the UK without any problems due to the I129-f being in process. No problem, many have done it many times! have a great trip. I envy you - I'd love to get back to the UK this year!

[Jeraly 4]

Yeah you can - as long as you bring some documentation with you or something just for safety - my OH came to visit me with our NOA1 hard copy and Immigration were fine