AntandD's Bad Luck and Good Luck Story (Part 1 of 2)...

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Boy, what a crazy week/weekend I've had recently!

Mentioned below is the story of what happened to us (Ant and D), with the bad, the good, and everything else in between mentioned. Lesson learned, "expect the unexpected", especially on Friday the 13^th and Valentine's Day!:

"AntandD's Bad Luck and Good Luck Story…(Part 1 of 2)..." (with US Immigration, Passport Canada, and Vehicles…):

Bad

-The VSC is approving cases I-751 cases in 10-12 months, which is a major delay, and I have an expired 2 yr green card (with a flimsy paper 1yr extension). As well, my Canadian passport already expired, but I didn't want to renew it.

Good

-.Since I couldn't get I-551 stamp for anticipated further delays with an expired passport, I had no other choice but to renew my Canadian passport, which means I don't have to worry about having an expired Canadian passport anymore (well, for the next 5 years or so, unless I wait for an American one after I get US citizenship). Oh how fun it would be, traveling with 2 valid passports later on!

Bad

-Had to find a guarantor and two references for Canadian passport, and had a hard time finding anyone. As well, I was on somewhat bad terms with some those people I had used before for my pervious passport.

Good

-Found a way to get on better terms with those individuals, and got the passport fees paid for me by the guarantor and found additional references too.

Bad

-(Friday the 13^th): Our vehicle broke down in Niagara Falls, New York, USA on my way to passport office in St.Catherine's, Ontario, Canada.

Good

-It broke within a few hundred feet from towing truck service.

Bad

-The broken vehicle was stuck in the middle of road and we worried that nobody would stop to help us.

Good

-Immediately someone stopped to help my husband push the car back off the road and into a closed off parking lot, nearby the tow truck service office.

Bad

-The tow truck drivers business seemed closed as nobody answered the locked door.

Good

-Went to bar next door, who knew how to contact them, but didn't need that as tow truck driver showed up thirty seconds later by chance after forgetting something in his office, while on errand to do something else.

Bad

-The vehicle needed major repair at repair shop, waited a long time there, so thought was going to miss getting my passport at the passport office as time was nearing 4pm by now.

Good

-The mechanic walks then through the door to tell us he got the car fixed, so we were happy as thought we'd maybe now make it to passport office in time.

Bad

-Ten minutes later, the guy who fixed car says wasn't happy with the repairs, saying it was a temporary fix and things could get worse, that we may break down again before got to our destination. The actual needed car repairs would have cost too much, because of older age of the car.

Good

-The repair shop also sold cars and other vehicles. On the spur-of-the-moment, we decided to buy a "new" (well, new to us) used car instead and got discount for the repairs on old vehicle. We're happy with the vehicle that we purchased that night.

Bad

-We couldn't get the paperwork needed for the insurance for our new vehicle purchase, as the office closed at 5pm, and it was now past that time. Worried we'd have no car to drive home now, and we'd be stranded in the repair shop as both mine and my husband's families were a far distance away and likely couldn't help us out of this jam.

Good

-Someone that the repair shop owner knew about, lent us their laptop, and we connected to the internet to find our insurance company online and with hours open week days until very late. We did call that phone number listed on their website, and eventually got the temporary insurance papers faxed over to the dealership, so that we could purchase the vehicle that night, as luckily each side had a fax machine to fax the paperwork over.

Bad

-Before driving off the parking lot with our new vehicle that night, we noticed the vehicle's manual was missing. Went in to ask if they knew where it was. They said, no, sorry.

Good

-One of the mechanics who was still there at the shop said he owned a similar vehicle as ours, so he went out to his vehicle and gave us his.

Bad

-The manual that he gave us smells like alcohol.

Good

-At least it didn't smell like the shop, which smelled like smoke those many hours we were waiting there.

Bad

-Worried in the repair shop about my pregnancy, as it smelled that smoke there and car and oil fumes. It was also too cold to be outside for the entire six hours while waiting for all of this fixing of the car and new car purchase transaction.

Good

-I felt the Baby kicking at me more often on and off since that day.

Bad

-The next day (Valentine's Day): We showed up last minute at our local library's Valentine's Day event, as we were running late from a having a pizza restaurant dinner to celebrate with earlier that night.

Good

-After being handed two of the last tickets after walking in the door just before the event was to close, my number was called and I won the door prize gift certificate for a large pizza at the local grocery store.

Well, that where the first part of this story ends for now. Thanks for reading this odd but true story, and I hope it entertained you here on VJ for awhile too….

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week here on VJ, as we attempt again next week (with our new vehicle this time) to go to the passport office in Canada for me to renew my passport and get my passport shortly after that. Hopefully too, we won't have too many problems along the way the second time around (especially more so that I'm crossing the border with all of my travel and immigration documents that are already expired)…

Ant (Bad Luck, Good Luck....)

Edited February 15, 2009 by AntandD

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Wow - talk about a teeter-totter! I guess it could have been worse - the car could have died on the Canadian side of the border and you wouldn't have been able to purchase a new vehicle without worrying about importing it, plus no way to get insurance for the US. Good luck at getting your passport - I am sure they will get it to you quickly - and you never know you might have another bad news, good news to add:

bad: VSC is taking 12 months to process I-751s

good: got transferred to CSC and got approved next month

. . . looking forward to part 2 . . .

[antda 13]

Hi Kathryn41,

Thanks for reading my story, and replying to it. Nice to see you around on the I-751 boards too, even though you've been approved already. Aww...I guess you decided to stay. And yes, you and your felines always welcomed here as part of the "VJ I-751 Family" here...

I agree, it was a teeter-totter, indeed, and yes, it could have been a lot worse. Lol...while waiting at the repair shop, my husband and I joked around about what would have happened if the car did break down in Canada, or it broke down in the middle of one of the border crossing bridges. Hmmm..to tell you the truth, if the car did break down in Canada, we probably wouldn't have known what to do, as we didn't have Canadian currency with us, nor did we have AAA or CAA coverage on our vehicle. More likely than not, we probably would have had to find a Canadian telephone book and payphone (lol...ironically, I still had some Bell payphone cards leftover from years ago which I bring when I go over the border, just in case) and would have figured out how to get a tow truck and repair shop from there (and hoped that they accepted American dollars and/or American credit cards). Depending on how far away we were in Canada, we would have also called some of our relatives and friends in Canada or the USA, and arrange for some emergency accomidations with them. I guess we would have just left the broken vehicle in Canada (no sense in bringing that back to the USA), and took the greyhound bus home afterward, and then would have figured out how to borrow or buy a new vehicle from the USA....Lol...overactive imagination here...but thank goodness that didn't happen at all...

As for the Canadian passport, I hope I get it quickly too. From what I've heard, I think they are taking 1-2 weeks to process, which is a good thing. What I hesistate about though, is whether or not I have to take another trip to Canada to pick it up in-person when it's done, or can they mail it back to me here in the USA? Lol...I hope they can offer that option of mailing it back to me, as it would be easier and less bad luck driving-wise that way. If not, it will be another interesting bad luck/good luck story to share here on VJ....

Yes, from what I've read on the VJ I-751 boards, it looks like the VSC cases are being transferred to the CSC, with some of the June 2008 files already being transferred. I hope my August 2008 file gets transferred too (and hope that they don't lose it along the way), so that I can be approved more quickly (and not have to worry about throughout the rest of the pregnancy either). Heck, it's been almost 6 months so far of waiting for me, and I'm tired of waiting already, especially more so that I feel as though "the USCIS robbed me of my much needed $545 because of this stupid I-751 process", for a 10 card that I will only use for a few months before I apply for citizenship. What a waste, indeed!

Meanwhile, "I'll see what happens next", as with immigration matters, one never really knows what happens next. Until then, I have to do the "better safe than sorry" approach, and renew my Canadian passport, just in case I have to get that I-551 stamp if my case is further delayed.....

Sorry that it took you so long (about 1 year) to get your I-751 approved, Kathryn. Nevertheless, I'm sure you're happy that you have it now, and good luck with your upcomming citizenship applicaiton too. Oh how interesting it would be for you, to be a dual Canadian/American citizen!

No problem..I'll continue with Part 2 of this story soon...Stay tuned for the rest of this story next week....

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for Baby....)

Wow - talk about a teeter-totter! I guess it could have been worse - the car could have died on the Canadian side of the border and you wouldn't have been able to purchase a new vehicle without worrying about importing it, plus no way to get insurance for the US. Good luck at getting your passport - I am sure they will get it to you quickly - and you never know you might have another bad news, good news to add:

bad: VSC is taking 12 months to process I-751s

good: got transferred to CSC and got approved next month

. . . looking forward to part 2 . . .

Edited February 15, 2009 by AntandD

[queendlee 0]

what a story!

[antda 13]

Hi Queendlee,

Thanks for reading my story, and replying to it.

Lol...it's even funnier to have lived through this true tale, as mentioned on the first post....

I'll continue with Part 2 of this story soon...Stay tuned for the rest of this story next week....

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for Baby...)

what a story!

[Andersen 1]

Great story, see how everything just comes together, it's never all bad. Can't wait to read part 2. Good luck next week with your AMAZING PASSPORT QUEST

Edited February 16, 2009 by Andersen

[antda 13]

Hi Andersen,

Thanks for reading my story, and replying to it.

I agree, everything comes together and it's never all that bad on this "Amazing Passport Quest" (by the way, I like that name)....

I'll continue with Part 2 of this story soon...Stay tuned for the rest of this story today....

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for Baby...)

Great story, see how everything just comes together, it's never all bad. Can't wait to read part 2. Good luck next week with your AMAZING PASSPORT QUEST