Yallah Middle East 2.0

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

Welcome back JP! I hope you get an interview date soon! I can't understand what they are doing in Amman. It almost sounds like the I130 a year or so back where they were behind 3 years or more. Ridiculous. Even though I have a date at the end of August, I am still with all of you.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Hello all!Just wanted to say hello from jordan.Good to see my husband but th bad news is we got our interview date for january 25th 2007 But what can we say at least it is a date.This is a bad thing but we just keep hangin on.Guess i will be back here again in october.Hope all is well with everyone

Oh my God.... they can't schedule you before 2007 ??!!! Sorry to hear you'll have such a long wait but glad to hear you had a great visit with your husband. Hang in there... insha'allah after you get through this year, you will never have to be separated again.

-MK

[jordanianprincess 0]

Welcome back JP! I hope you get an interview date soon! I can't understand what they are doing in Amman. It almost sounds like the I130 a year or so back where they were behind 3 years or more. Ridiculous. Even though I have a date at the end of August, I am still with all of you.

I know thats why when you got that letter I was extremely frustrated, I don't think they improved their system one bit!

The good news is that my case has already been shipped to Amman on 4-7. I guess I don't get a packet from the VSC. I called them to verify and they said under a K-1 it goes directly to the embassy overseas. So now i need to send my AOS and binder that I made to him and wait..wait...wait.

[Meriem_DZ 37]

I wanted to tell you what has happened since I have returned. I went by the post office to pick up my mail. I sat in the parking lot and started looking through my mail. The first thing I opened was my bank statement. I had about 800 dollars missing from my account. I was freaking out so I went straight to the bank. We started looking at the statement and someone had used my debit card to buy 416 dollars of perfume from Perfumecastle.com. We also found a 100 dollar charge to Sams club.com. And there was 330 dollars in Insufficiant fund fees which I could not understand. Because even with the 516 dollars gone there should have been enough to cover the other checks and debits. Mind you this all happened while I was in Algeria. I signed an affidavit and they will start an investigation. When I got home I opened the rest of my mail and I had a letter from QVC saying that they could not get in touch with me to verify some information and that they were canceling my order. WHAT DAYUM ORDER!!!!! Anyway I called them this morning and some Chopf##k had tried to order a 900 dollar laptop computer. Anyway they used my number and QVC charged my account and the money was held from my account so the other things bounced. When QVC couldnt verify the info they cancelled the order and withdrew the charge. The good news is the bank is returning all the money to my account. The cancelled the debit card and are issuing me a new one. Then one of the other tellers came and told us about another customer with the same problem had come in the month before. An investigation was started and it turned out to be a server from applebees in Columbus, Ms. had stolen her number. Then guess what? I noticed on my statement I had used my debit card at the same Applebees in the middle of Feb. I am anxious to see if it is the same person. Anyway, lesson learned! Never let your debit card out of your sight.

I have posted more pictures of my trip in my photo gallery.

Meriem

[AngelK96 0]

omg meriem i hope she gets the book thrown at her!!!!!

Ok here's a questions for you homeowners. I am looking at houses to buy. What should i be aware of and what do i want to avoid? Of course i'm not going to buy a new house because i don't want to go into debt that much. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Right now we are looking at 3 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms. I need two bathrooms because seems like everytime i want to use the bathroom my husband or son goes in there before me and i just hate that!!!!!!

[jordanianprincess 0]

omg meriem i hope she gets the book thrown at her!!!!!

Ok here's a questions for you homeowners. I am looking at houses to buy. What should i be aware of and what do i want to avoid? Of course i'm not going to buy a new house because i don't want to go into debt that much. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Right now we are looking at 3 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms. I need two bathrooms because seems like everytime i want to use the bathroom my husband or son goes in there before me and i just hate that!!!!!!

This is a great website to check the prices of homes in the area you are looking for a home in:

http://www.zillow.com/

[honeyblonde 0]

Angel, I'm a licensed agent, but this area is oversaturated in agents so I don't sell - it isn't profitable. I'll probably let it expire this year because it isn't worth the cost to keep it just for my resume.

Your mortgage lender will require a home inspection before financing any house. Be sure that you choose this person if possible, not the realtor or the homeowner. Try to find out beforehand who some good ones are in your area so you have options when you have to get one out there. Sometimes they are overbooked.

In general what to look for:

Try to find an area that has more than one way in and out of it. We have a huge suburb here with one road that goes in and out. Talk about traffic! In the afternoon the highway to it becomes a parking lot for quite a while. I'd recommend going into and out of it during the times of day you will normally be traveling so you can see for yourself how bad traffic will be.

Of course I'm sure you know to check out the schools and the neighborhood. You can ask the realtor about crime rates and the schools and they should have that info for you.

If you have any questions about the house, ask them. It is against the law for the homeowner to lie to you. If they do, and you find out later that they did, you can sue.

Is the house near a train track or airport? These things don't seem noticable unless you're there when a plane flies over or a train goes by. We have a train about 10 feet outside our back fence and our windows literally rattle when trains go by. We're used to it by now, but it really freaks guests out the first time they hear a train. They usually make some comment about not knowing I had a train running through my house.

Look for cracks in the ceiling, walls and floors inside, driveway and sidewalk outside. Be sure to ask the home inspector about them if there are any large ones (over about 1/4").

Look for plants too close to the foundation. I had two large ligustrum bushes I had to move after I bought my house because they were growing underneath the foundation.

Look for spots on the ceilings indicating leaks in the plumbing upstairs, or the roof. These can be very costly to repair.

Flip all light switches, try out at least 1 outlet in each room. Turn on the water in all faucets, flush all toilets, try out the heater and air conditioner. Don't be shy to do these things. Better to know up front that something will need repaired than to find out after you buy. Also, watch for flickering when the heater or AC comes on. They shouldn't make the lights dim anywhere.

Ask about anything you see sticking up out of the ground in a yard. I sold a house that had an underground propane tank, but my buyer was able to find out before closing that it was there and would need to be dealt with (it could rust and collapse, leaving a hole for a child to fall into).

You should be able to find a list online somewhere. I used to have a huge list of websites but last time I reformatted my hard drive I forgot to save my Outlook Express address book where I had them.

Good luck and keep asking questions as you have them. I'll try to help you.

[dollface41601 0]

andrea....i have been told to stay on the prevacid for 6 more weeks since i have not had any more pain...i am in the process of trying to see a government doctor because i dont have insurance yet, but their appointments are soo backed up..the ER doctor told me i may need an endoscopy in the future but for right now to stay on a nice diet and relax a little....she told me if i had any more problems to come see her again at oak forest hospital.....their basically saying chronic gastritis vs. peptic ulcer....but as of right now their not sure.....we will see what happens soon i guess...all i know is i have been being so good abuot not drinking coffee, not smoking, and eating the blandest diet ever....so...what else can i do ya know?

Kelly

[AngelK96 0]

omg Liz thank you very much. I wouldn't have even thought about doing any of that. I would have just looked at the house and if it was nice i would have bought it..yikes!!!! I'll do as you suggested right now i'm looking at two homes.

Kelly keep a food diary for a while. That way you can see if it is a certain kind of food that is triggering your symptoms.

Angel

[kerewin21 2]

Meriem, that's terrible!!!! What a nightmare!! Thank goodness it didn't cause you a cash flow problem when you were in Algeria. I hope they get that horrible woman.

The same thing happened to me once, a waiter at a restaurant stole my credit card. I unfortunately was drunk and didn't notice that he never gave me my card back. The next morning my credit card company woke me up and told me my card had been stolen! They knew even before I did. Which is a little freaky, but I guess good. It's too bad they didn't figure it out sooner with your card.

Angel, good luck with looking at houses! I'm not going to be in a position to buy anything for at least another few years, but in a way that's good because it seems like a major hassle!

Night all, hopefully I'll be back tomorrow. This working thing has really been cutting into my VJ time....

[AngelK96 0]

Sharon when you are ready to buy that million dollar house please don't come back and brag

[LebaneseMama 1]

So was someone going to start a thread for a support group of when your SO does get here ? I would really love to be a part of it cuz I have a MILLION worries, fears, thoughts, hopes, dreams and any other emotion I can feel in my head right now.

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

Good idea on the thread "when our SO get's here" Come on Angel, Kelly and the rest of the gang whose husbands are here already.

JP, what's happening is that they aren't looking thru the files anymore, they are just setting interview dates as they received the files. This is there new thing and it's horrible! Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Ok, received this email today from the USCIS. This is what it says. Does this mean that my I130 has been approved? Can't wait to get the letter. Geez, why can't they just come out and tell it as it is?

Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status:

On April 13, 2006, the document we made based on the approval or registration of this case was mailed directly to the person to whom issued.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or advice from USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please contact the National Customer Service Center.

National Customer Service Center (800) 375-5283.

*The projected processing time frame can be found on the receipt notice that you received from the USCIS.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USC

Im taking this as an approval. Don't mean to sound stupid, but it does say approval, but I'm never sure enough on these things. Yipee Maybe it will be complete and in Jordan by the time Faisal has his interview.

Andrea

[jordanianprincess 0]

Good idea on the thread "when our SO get's here" Come on Angel, Kelly and the rest of the gang whose husbands are here already.

JP, what's happening is that they aren't looking thru the files anymore, they are just setting interview dates as they received the files. This is there new thing and it's horrible! Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Ok, received this email today from the USCIS. This is what it says. Does this mean that my I130 has been approved? Can't wait to get the letter. Geez, why can't they just come out and tell it as it is?

Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status:

On April 13, 2006, the document we made based on the approval or registration of this case was mailed directly to the person to whom issued.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or advice from USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please contact the National Customer Service Center.

National Customer Service Center (800) 375-5283.

*The projected processing time frame can be found on the receipt notice that you received from the USCIS.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USC

Im taking this as an approval. Don't mean to sound stupid, but it does say approval, but I'm never sure enough on these things. Yipee Maybe it will be complete and in Jordan by the time Faisal has his interview.

Andrea

Andrea - I promised myself I would accept whatever fate I get with the interview date, after all there is nothing I can do to change it anyway. If it's in 2007, that just means I will need to make at least one more trip to Jordan to see him. So frustrating.

But I am really confused, how did you file a I130 and an I129 at the same time? Can you please explain this to me because I'm really curious as to what the reasoning is behind this. I thought that once you got married you could not file a fiance visa anymore.?

[kerewin21 2]

Sharon when you are ready to buy that million dollar house please don't come back and brag

You forget, I'm going to be a family doctor, we don't make the big bucks