ATTENTION JULY FILERS!

[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?

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!

Thanks for the info! I didn't actually get a copy of my I129-f noa1, but maybe i'll be fine without it? I just got a great airfare through US Airways... $457 round trip!

[*julez* 124]

I don't think you really need the NOA1. If you are concerned at all that you might be denied entry, bring some paystubs or a letter from your employer stating when you are expected to return to work, or maybe some rent/mortgage payment copies.

Great deal on the flights! Oh I wanna go too!!

[Jeraly 4]

That is such a bargain!!

[weedebz 0]

wow..thats cheap. Never cheap flying to Nebraska as it's not exactly a tourist destination so no low cost flights and very rarely a discount....last time i went it cost me £750 return.

[a-jeanne 2]

It pays to check the internet frequently - sometimes you can get some great deals. When we planned ahead, I got a round trip flight from Chicago to London for $1,300 and on the spur of the moment he got a ticket from London to Chicago round trip for $600 - go figure!

[rae_and_scott 1]

It pays to check the internet frequently - sometimes you can get some great deals. When we planned ahead, I got a round trip flight from Chicago to London for $1,300 and on the spur of the moment he got a ticket from London to Chicago round trip for $600 - go figure!

Agreed, last minute deals can be wonderful, and are often how I visit my SO. A lot of airlines put out a list every week on a certain day (Continental on Tuesdays, American also on Tuesday, others, usually mid-week.) American Airlines has a roundtrip for next weekend from New York to London for those of you there for $330 + tax. You can sign up on most sites to have their lists emailed to you or you can just check them every week. A roundtrip from Toronto (where my SO lives) to NY is often around $350 if you book in advance, and about $160 on Continental's last minute deal. They are definitely worth checking.

[Bill y Bella 0]

It pays to check the internet frequently - sometimes you can get some great deals. When we planned ahead, I got a round trip flight from Chicago to London for $1,300 and on the spur of the moment he got a ticket from London to Chicago round trip for $600 - go figure!

Agreed, last minute deals can be wonderful, and are often how I visit my SO. A lot of airlines put out a list every week on a certain day (Continental on Tuesdays, American also on Tuesday, others, usually mid-week.) American Airlines has a roundtrip for next weekend from New York to London for those of you there for $330 + tax. You can sign up on most sites to have their lists emailed to you or you can just check them every week. A roundtrip from Toronto (where my SO lives) to NY is often around $350 if you book in advance, and about $160 on Continental's last minute deal. They are definitely worth checking.

I check those lists all the time but never find deals on the flights I need.

$330 RT to London is fantastic, but is the length of stay limited? I think a lot of times the last minute bargain fares only let you stay in country a few days. That makes the airfare expensive if you look at it on a cost per day in country basis.

[rae_and_scott 1]

I check those lists all the time but never find deals on the flights I need.

$330 RT to London is fantastic, but is the length of stay limited? I think a lot of times the last minute bargain fares only let you stay in country a few days. That makes the airfare expensive if you look at it on a cost per day in country basis.

Yes, you're right. They're for weekends or long weekends. So they're worth it depending on how far away you're fiance is. For me, they allow me to have short, but frequent, visits. I know for a lot of you with really long flights, I see in your timelines how your visits are weeks and even months long, which I envy, but then you have to go months without seeing each other. There's always a trade-off, I guess. My SO is planning on spending a whole week and a half in NY next month and I'm ecstatic about it, since we usually only have 3-4 days together. So yeah, it all depends on your situation.

[totes 0]

It pays to check the internet frequently - sometimes you can get some great deals. When we planned ahead, I got a round trip flight from Chicago to London for $1,300 and on the spur of the moment he got a ticket from London to Chicago round trip for $600 - go figure!

I agree, frequently and do your homework. I got a round trip ticket from JFK to Accra, Ghana for $1300. May not sound cheap but it really is especially becuase the timing was during their "peak" season. But I really, really searched and shopped. It was worth it and there were not restrictions on how long I stayed. I saw flights as high as $6,000. Of course I had a couple of pretty long layover's but it was well worth the savings.

[michellemilitza 1]

It pays to check the internet frequently - sometimes you can get some great deals. When we planned ahead, I got a round trip flight from Chicago to London for $1,300 and on the spur of the moment he got a ticket from London to Chicago round trip for $600 - go figure!

Agreed, last minute deals can be wonderful, and are often how I visit my SO. A lot of airlines put out a list every week on a certain day (Continental on Tuesdays, American also on Tuesday, others, usually mid-week.) American Airlines has a roundtrip for next weekend from New York to London for those of you there for $330 + tax. You can sign up on most sites to have their lists emailed to you or you can just check them every week. A roundtrip from Toronto (where my SO lives) to NY is often around $350 if you book in advance, and about $160 on Continental's last minute deal. They are definitely worth checking.

I check those lists all the time but never find deals on the flights I need.

$330 RT to London is fantastic, but is the length of stay limited? I think a lot of times the last minute bargain fares only let you stay in country a few days. That makes the airfare expensive if you look at it on a cost per day in country basis.

Believe me I know the feeling, but Ricardo was able to get a flight from Panama to Miami for $536(RT incl taxes) during thanksgiving week, I thought it was super good b/c that's considered a "peak" time. Imagine I went to Panama in May for about the same price (off peak)! Unfortuantely though to go visit him in December it's ridiculously expense, the cheapest I could find was $787 (including taxes) but leaving from Orlando...it's 6 hrs to travel (beacuse I make 1 stop) but to go directly from MIA to PTY is $800-$1000!!! and it only takes 2 1/2 hrs by plane to fly from Miami to Panama....

Oh well I should've bought my ticket when it was $500 something......

[kaush 0]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

[chris4gretchen 1]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

If it reached them on July 30th, thats the day of the new fee increases. You missed the deadline. You sent it on a friday. they arent there to receive it on sat or sunday so monday the 30th is the earliest day. I feel bad for you having to start over, but you clearly missed the deadline. they had to officially receive it ( not just sign for the mail) before the 30th.

Im not sure how picky they are about the 2 year date but it is a requirement. I think you're going to have to visit again. the question is do you file and get a RFE for a current 2 year visit, but have visited while your petition is pending until the RFE or do you wait and visit again and then file again. You might get a denial though instead of an RFE. tough choice to make.

you are not the first person who sent in the wrong amount by being after the deadline. Seems alot of people thought it was after July 30th that it went up, not on july 30th. there is other posts on this very topic. Anyone who had their petition officially logged in on July 30th had to pay the new fees. just them receiving the weekend mail on that monday morning didnt count.

if you mailed it on friday (even overnight) for a saturday delivery, did you think they would get it on saturday and process your petition in? I dont think any government agency works on saturdays. they werent going off postmarks, but their received date.

heres another post just like yours...

returned petition received on July 30th

still its a major bummer. i do feel bad you are now in limbo and lost a month or more. I dont wish that on anyone.

Good luck in the future...

Chris

[Bill y Bella 0]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

There have been a lot of reports of this happening. Do a search of the forum and see what other people have concluded. Here's one post.

I think some of them wrote a letter telling the service center they made a mistake and sent the whole thing back with the original envelope enclosed so they could see the postmark. Others have gone directly to their congressman or senator for assistance.

I think you need to try to get them to accept it because if they don't you will not meet the two year rule.

Good luck.

[kaush 0]

You are probably right Chris!

I feel so stupid! Things just went wrong one after the other and when finally his paperwork got to me, I wanted to apply right away. I should have just sent in the new fees with it!

Should I even bother resubmitting? Call USCIS tomorrow and ask them? Just resubmit and see what happens? They did ask me to attach the notice they sent me along with the resubmission, there was a case number on the package and signatures and stamps on I-129F. Even a stamp behind my money order.

And in the meantime I am going to start making plans of travelling to see him just in case things go completely haywire!

[kaush 0]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

There have been a lot of reports of this happening. Do a search of the forum and see what other people have concluded. Here's one post.

I think some of them wrote a letter telling the service center they made a mistake and sent the whole thing back with the original envelope enclosed so they could see the postmark. Others have gone directly to their congressman or senator for assistance.

I think you need to try to get them to accept it because if they don't you will not meet the two year rule.

Good luck.

I do have a letter apologizing for the error and attached with a new check ready to go. I didn't even think about the two year rule until I called mom and she mentioned it. I do have the package stamped to be sent via priority mail tomorrow morning.