Steve flew in to Washington D.C. on July 14th, 2003 so that we could start the paperwork (me picking him up in D.C. then driving to Norfolk saves us a lot of money!). We filled out all the prerequisite forms and I had him sign them all. We went to the mall and had the worst pictures ever taken taken for our ADIT pictures (3/4 view is such an unflattering view!). By the time Steve flew out on July 25, 2003, we had most of the paperwork ready.
While pining for Steve who is now back in Grimsby, UK, I spent the time getting the rest of the package together. The most surprising thing was that to get a letter from the bank (in my case First Union/Wachovia), it cost $25 to get a simple letter which stated when I opened my account, my average balance, and my current balance. (The bank did not provide the total amount of deposits for the last year like the Affidavit of Support form requested, so I'm a bit nervous about that. I'll keep you posted.)
On August 14, 2003, after sweating about 82,000,000 bullets, I posted the I-129F fiance(e) application and sent it overnight mail. I made a copy of everything for Steve and for myself. I overnighted the package to the Vermont Service Center. Right now they are about a week behind processing the first Notice of Action (they are normally about a day behind only, and this only adds to my tension). I've heard that the Vermont Service Center moved buildings and that's the cause of the delay :( I can't wait to get some information so that I can track the progress of the application.
Our I-129F package consisted of:
Cover Letter page 1
Cover Letter page 2
I-129F Application page 1
I-129F Application page 2
I-129F Application page 1
G-325A for Kim
G-325A for Steve
Kim's Letter of Intent to Marry Steve
Steve's Letter of Intent to Marry Kim
and other supporting documents listed in the cover letter. (Special note: We only sent in one copy of the G-325A with one accompanying picture, they say you should send 4 copies. We also put N/A where we should have put none. If there was no prior wife/husband, put 'none', but luckily we were approved anyhow. Also, now we would not put an intended date in the Intent to Marry letters, just state that we'd marry within the 90 day time limit.)
On August 20, we received our NOA1 and on September 16, 2003, we received our NOA2 stating that our application was approved. Vermont had been going through some delays and weren't processing as quickly as they usually did, but we were still processed in a decent time, and to my dismay processed before some people who'd applied before us (not that I'm complaining, I think we just got lucky in some way).
Called the National Visa Center today (October 1, 2003) and they told me that we'd been approved and our file has been forwarded to the American Embassy - London!
End of October, 2003 - Steve received Package 3 and promptly (ok, not so promptly - took about 5 days, but that's quick for the King of Procrastination) returned it. I emailed the Embassy five days later and they said they hadn't received the package, could be because Royal Mail was striking. They didn't have it on day eight either, so Steve resent Package 3, luckily I'd mailed him a nice printed out copy which he'd sent back, he had to refill out the forms though and resend it. Again, five days later, I contacted the Embassy, and lo and behold, Royal Mail is still striking. So our Packet 3 (both of them) are sitting in the bowels of some mail center in London gathering dust while we continue to wait and wait and wait. I swear, it is one hurdle after another. We were hoping to spend Thanksgiving together, and now it looks like that won't be possible. Thanks a lot Royal Mail strikers. Resolve your differences, but don't affect our lives and others in England with your two week pouty fest.
November 17, 2003 - Kim recieves an email (after a month-long email trail) from the US Embassy stating that Steve's interview date is DECEMBER 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 18, 2003 - Steve receives the actual Packet Four confirming his interview date. Kim had planned to travel to London, but with not enough time to plan, and with Steve hopefully flying here mid-december (yes, he won't buy a ticket without having his visa in hand *MEN*), we decided to save the money.
December 3, 2003 - Steve has his successful interview in London. Here is a brief description of his experience:
I got lucky and was the very first for Xray and seeing the doctor. When I got there at 7:45 there was already 8 people waiting then about another 10 came behind. There were about 3 couples there, not many partners, one young looking lad had his mum with him, he only looked about 16. So I was the only person that was getting jabs done. I was first to get done with the doctor but a few beat me out because i had to wait for those. It cost 55 for the jabs i needed.
The security weren't in a good mood at the embassy, being dicks. I put my bag through the machine and he said you have two cans, what are they so i said they are just toiletries, then he said are you taking spray cans in, show me them, so i had to dig out my stuff. Then they didn't apologise for making me do it.
Checking documents took about a minute, sat for 15, easiest interview ever. He said everything was ok before he asked a question, then he asked a couple of questions for the sake of it... how we met, have i been over, do you have any children from your (Kim's) previous marriage; that was it.
Then I went away for a while, I think I was done at 10:30 with the interview, had to go back at 1230. Got back at 1220, security was still miserable but not so bad, and then waited till about 1:45 for my visa because they had computer problems.
I'm not sure if the interview even lasted a full minute, and the place was bad with the booths, it was like being in a bank. The workers were very good though, very quick and professional and nice, medical place was really good too, just dickheads on security. You cant really argue when theres a copper carrying a gun about 10 yards away though."
December 12, 2003 - Steve flies to Washington Dulles.
December 17, 2003 - We head to the courthouse to get our marriage licences and get married ($30 for license, $30 for ceremony). It was short and sweet, and merely a formality for us. We feel we've been married since we've met :) And now we really are! I'm getting a kick out of calling Steve "husband" and "hubby", though :)
