Sharkano

Woot, NOA2 tonight!!!!! My sweetie is gonna swoon, and I'm not there to catch her!

I would not even have bothered checking again tonight if Reneegh had not said he just got a notice, so I logged in mine and it was there too! Thanks to Renee for making our night!

Reneegh, I saw this post and then logged into mine and we were approved in last hour also! Grats!

Your initial filing can be a copy, but the Embassies can -- and I believe have -- asked to see a certified copy. That is a document stamped with the Court that is embossed (i.e., raised), or in color, which the court clerk is certifying to the world is a true and accurate copy of the original in the court's files. I highly suggest you have one at the interview. Most countries only have a nominal charge for such a copy.

Thanks all!

Having filed in June, I am now starting to watch my communications portals for news from the feds as to a NOA2. Thus, I was just curious if people here first saw their USCIS website status change before they ever got a NOA2 e-mail, or vice-versa (I am ignoring hard mail, as I know that comes well after the e-mail)? Thanks!

I used to go to the movies and wonder why the screen was blurry and cursed the projector, until I finally realized it was my eyesight. A whole bunch of healthy people getting negative X-ray results in mid-Summer? Sounds more like a faulty X-ray machine to me . . . .

You will get your NOA-1 pretty fast -- by a weird e-mail first, then in the mail. The NOA-2 is the time-sucker. I am doing California Service Center and filed mid-June, and I am expecting/hoping for a NOA-2 in late September/early October. I think 3-4 months is fairly normal for a NOA-2 if you have a straightforward petition and are not from countries that raise major issues. However, every petition is different --- some get approved way early, some much later. The best way to cut time down on the overall process is to get EVERYTHING ready now for the post NOA-2 world, so you can cut the embassy time to a bare minimum. Good luck!

Canada has a very nice link to get police certificates from around the globe that I thought I would share: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/

I note this page, which you may have already seen but thought I would forward anyway:

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivpolice.html

No, I'm still at early stage, just trying to figure out ahead of time how I can cut the brutally long days apart any way I can. Good luck to you!

I had fundamentally the same inquiry (will be going through London). Since the Embassy will not schedule their interview until the medical is finished, it seems you can cut many weeks off this long process IF you can schedule the medical once you get the number from NVC (even if the Embassy does not have the NVC papers yet) so as to have it done even before the Packet is sent to you from the Embassy, thus allowing you to instantly return the form saying you have everything ready, and thus schedule the interview. However, not sure if the doctors let you do this, or if when your medical stuff then gets transmitted to the Embassy their computers go into burnout mode dealing with medical exam results for someone as to whom they do not have the NVC materials yet. Any comments from the experts here would be appreciated. Thanks!

Ok, thanks all.

So some visa pages I read say you need some vaccinations for the K-1 visa, but then I read this from the London Embassy home page, and note what it says about K visa applicants:

"Immigrant Visa applicants, regardless of age, require a medical examination and certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of an immigrant visa. The medical examination consists of a chest X-ray and blood test, which includes testing for venereal disease. The blood test and X-ray are generally not required of persons under the age of 15 on the date of the appointment. On the day of the medical examination, the physician will be required to verify that the immigrant visa applicant has met the vaccination requirement, or that it is medically inappropriate for the applicant to receive them. Note: K visa applicants will not be required to meet the vaccination requirements at the time of the visa interview. They will, however, be required to meet the requirements at the time they apply for an adjustment of status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services."

Thus, my query to the experts here is do you need the vaccinations for a K-1 visa and entry in U.S. at a POE, or not? Thanks!

:

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on whether if the current immigration bill Congress is debating gets passed, there will be massive delays hitting USCIS as millions of people start to file for new status. I know the last time Congress changed the immigration law they dumped a ton of new work on Immigration and no money (typical). I am not knowledgeable enough to opine, but wondered if someone else might be? Gracias!

Thanks much, Belinda!

Hello all, and thanks in advance. Assume my fiancé and I marry here in the U.S. tomorrow on her k-1 Visa (I wish; just a hypothetical). About how long would it take to get her EAD/AP card so we can go to her home country and visit her family and still get her back into the U.S.?

Ok, many thanks all.

Once my Petition lands at a processing site, if I think I may need to explain something on it (a slight change in name spelling due to language change), something they may send an RFE out for, anyone know of a way to send in a supplement page to clarify that issue before we lose the time caused by an RFE? Thanks!

Ok, thanks, guys.

Boiler, thanks for the replies, and we are probably just talking at cross-purposes. The ESTA application asks if you have ever been denied a visa, and I have read this means you can't use ESTA (if you say "yes'). I figured I knew the answer when I started the thread, but just in case someone had found the miracle cure I thought I'd ask. Gracias.

Thanks for the response, But I don't think I am wrong. This is from the government's web page as to ESTA application:

Many people make the mistake of thinking that if they were denied a visa when they were a citizen of one country, then become a citizen of another country, they can travel to the U.S. under the visa waiver program using their new passport. That is wrong. The eligibility question about having been denied a visa does not ask whether or not the denial was made after you became a citizen of another country. It asks, "Have you ever been denied a visa?" - period. If you answer "No" then we determine that you have been denied a visa in the past, we consider that to be fraud, and you will be barred from entry for a number of years. It is better to admit the truth, and then apply for a visa, than go through the experience of being deported for fraud.

Ok, I am pretty sure I know the (bad) answer to this question, but for the sake of leaving no stone unturned I thought I would ask the guru's here to see if there is a way out:

THE FACTS:

1. Girlfriend (pre-me) was denied tourist visa 10 years ago on basis she might stay (no return trip ticket, etc.)

2. We become friends and I want to bring her here to meet the fam. She is Hungarian, and so normally would qualify for ESTA. But one of the requirements for the visa waiver program is that you have never been denied a visa.

3. Because she wanted to be truthful she instead applied for a tourist visa. Despite letters from her employer that she had to be back at the office in 8 days and tons of supporting papers, paid return trip etc (none of which were even looked at by the jerk at the Embassy, who spent two minutes with her and then kicked her out) she was again denied a tourist visa last month.

4. We have filed our K-1.

THE QUESTION:

Should we just give up on her coming here to visit before the K-1, or is there some ESTA magic I am unaware of?

Many thanks!

Thanks much!

I know the generic sheet on this site says that London allows the applicant to attend the K-1 interview, but I was curious if anyone has actually done it? I assume it would help? Thanks!