Loke

Hi all,

Loke is feeling a little better today. This is the dumbest illness in the world though, its not like a cold I would get in Australia, I have had very little sneezing and nasal congestion, but this annoying persistent cough that would not go away. I have always developed a healthy cough to go with my stuffy head before, but this is the first time it has ever kept me awake all night. As a result I feel like ####### all through the day because I haven't had enough sleep but I have been trying not to fall asleep in the daytime in the hope of it helping me to sleep better at night...the end result has been that I am totally thrown off balance both day and night and I am just glad that it is starting to get better. Just as well too, I have reached the stage where my stomach muscles hurt every time I cough now...great exercise but not much fun.

Anyway, enough about me and my Colorado lurgy...I hope everyone is going okay and I will try to drop in and catch up properly soon when my head is clear enough to actually absorb information...at the moment I am reading and it is going in one eye and straight out the other....or something...

YAY CONGRATS!!!

I think a lot of people are pretty touchy these days. Is it the hot weather or something?

If you were all kids in my backyard, I'd turn the water hose on ya'all right now.

If I were a kid in your backyard I'd...er, well a lot of things about my situation would be different to what they currently are, but what I wanted to say was YAY for a good hosing. Oh I love summer...

And for what its worth, we mailed our AOS forms July 26, received in Chicago July 27, NOA when it comes.

Hi, I have a UK driving license and have been driving on it here in Georgia. I am a perm resident. I went to take my test for a GA license on the weekend. I passed the written and then went to book the practical - they told me that I would have to surrender my UK license in order to get the GA license. That I would also be given a learners permit until I got the GA license. They also said they would not return it to me despite the fact that I said I needed it to drive in the UK. I know they make drivers from other states do this but felt it quite ridiculous to have them take away a UK license. Has anyone had this problem? I now wish I had not presented my UK license to them. Please help!

My father lived and worked in England for several years and was required to surrender his Australian drivers licence in order to hold a UK licence. He made several return trips to Australia during this time and it would have been useful to have an Australian licence on these occasions. As ridiculous as it seems to you, its not just a US phenomenon...

Congrats to everyone who has seen movement in their journey over the last couple of weeks.

Kym - its wonderful to see you so happy, approval makes all the difference in the world I found...like a great weight is suddenly lifted and to you Valkyrie, congrats on yoru fiance getting through that final interview unscathed.

Kath - congrats on your job! I am trying to enjoy my enforced vacation but I am already looking forward to getting that EAD - I bet I will long for holidays again when I start working though lol

Jodee, hope your time together with yourh hubby goes slowly and blissfully for you. I'm sure you know already that every moment counts and I hope every single one of them is magical.

Good luck Niph, I am sure everything will go smoothly for you...I found shots were an easy thing to do too, and most of the time relatively painless.

Tony - keeping our fingers crossed for you that Bangkok looks favourably and that you finally get that visa in hand.

And for both the recent and impending weddings (first or second), my fondest wishes to you all, I hope your days have been/will be as perfect as ours was.

We are also hoping that we made it in time... We sent our package in on Thursday the 26th

Having read through all he responses in this thread i think the only thing I feel qualified to say is...

#######....#######....GIRLS!

YAY CONGRATS JESS!!!! OMG MOONIE YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE!!!!!

Kath - Thank you for making me feel better about the AOS package. It says it got to Chicago today so I am hoping that all will be well. Whew... that was a close one for us lol

Ok since we are all sharing.. This is Loke & I at our wedding. We got married at Airey's Inlet under the lighthouse off the Great Ocean Road.

edit: guess who posted on the wrong account....

I'm a Melbourne boy, not Sydney...but either way I wouldn't be much help with the car situation. I was going to put it on ebay or carsguide.com, and then when time started running out I thought about just taking it to a dealer and taking an on-the-spot offer...and in the end I...er, gave it away. It gave me a strangely good feeling but that probably doesn't help you.

I would say if you have the time a private sale will give the best results financially, but if you need tgo get rid of it in a hurry then a dealer or used car yard will get it off your hands quicker. And if you really run out of time you can just leave it in the street with the keys in...I'm sure someone will appreciate it LOL.

Congrats Sharyna! I knew you would make it okay

Thanks for emailing me that info Kym.....very helpful.....

I still have a few questions but first need to explain my circumstances.

In 1991 (16 years ago) at the ripe ol age of 19 years, I was arrested and charged for drink driving. In 2005 (only 2 years ago), I was in a situation where I had consumed a couple of drinks in a club in the company of very blotto friends as I was the driver for the night. I had timed my 2 drinks so that I could savely drive home under the legal limit around 2am, however, when I had returned from the ladies room, I couldn't find their drunk a**es anywhere. I found myself in a situation where I was uncomfortable being on my own in the club and then also tried to find them in 2 clubs nearby without any luck. Anyway, my point is.....I drove earlier than I had anticipated because I wasn't expecting to be in that position and was only 0.03 over the legal limit, resulting in the minimum one month suspension of my license and a small fine. Call me stupid if you will, but it was a choice I made in that situation. So then, I have 2 DUI charges.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone seen any documentation on whether there is a time frame in which offences were committed and being able to apply for the K-1? I mean, do you have to wait a certain number of years after a DUI before you can apply?

2. Regarding Form DS-156 (Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty or other similar legal action? Have you ever unlawfully distributed or sold a controlled substance(drug), or been a prostitute or procurer for prostitutes?)

Is this where you are supposed to acknowledge your drink driving offences and answer yes or is this question purely for criminal matters? Do I answer no to these and then still provide details of the court hearings??

3. Does anyone know if I will need a waiver???

Sorry about going over and over this, but I'm trying to get accurate information so I can be properly prepared. It is also comforting to know of other people going through the same.

Confused North Queenslander,

Peta

I will also paste this in the waiver forum.

Hi Peta,

I wouldn't regard myself as an authority by any stretch of the imagination, but for what it's worth these are my thoughts on your questions.

1. as far as I know there is no required time frame between crimes/charges and applying for the visa. My understanding is that the consular official who conducts the interview will determine whether or not to issue the visa but I am not aware of having to wait a certain time before applying.

2. given that the question is worded "offense or crime", I would think this is the appropriate place. If you are going to mention your DUIs I would gather whatever documents are available to present at your interview. My feeling is that they are probably looking out for more serious crimes than drink driving, but that's just a guess.

3. I honestly have no idea whether you will need a waiver, so I can't help with that one.

I was one of those who got jabbed multiple times and had a couple of vaccinations that weren't strictly necessary and while I agree that it is often worth going over the information in packet 3 in order to know what vaccinations are actually required for your age group, I would still repeat my experience over again the same way. Rings and I were trying to push our visa through as quickly as we could in order to be reunited and I would always have preferred to be over-vaccinated than under-vaccinated. My medical was booked for the monday 6 days after my packet 3 arrived and left little time to get vaccinations as required by the documentation. It did cost me a little more than if I had stuck to the required vaccinations but it also provided me with instant peace of mind when I did read through the requirements of packet 3 to know I had everything I needed (and more lol).

I don't get it because you knew what you needed and got more regardless...all that would happen is he would see records of unnecessary vaccinations and put them aside....the doctor is working off the same sheet as you would be. Worst case scenario is if you didn't have one done, you go back to your regular doc, have the needle then fax the letter from your doc over, no biggie.

Sugarbob - There actually was a slight sense of interrogation in my question process at the medical. I didn't find it particularly intimidating and I think as long as you are not trying to hide anything, there is no reason to worry, but the tone of the exam does depend on the personality/mood of each individual doctor. I have read differing accounts of the exam from people who saw different doctors, and I have read a review of a medical done by the doctor I saw that described him as 'robotic', and I can't honestly say it was a friendly atmosphere. I don't think he was trying to be unfriendly, just that it was a very business-like exam. All that being said, I know I worried more than I should have about the exam (I am a worrier) and it was very straightforward and didn't cause me any problems.

perhaps people are really nervous when they go and struggle to build rapport...dunno

a) I got all my vaccinations done well ahead of time. I wasn't working off a sheet because I had not received the vaccination information in packet 3 at the time I had them done. It was something I could do while I waited for our petition to be processed and helped me to alleviate that sense of helplessness that can occur while you are waiting for government departments to get around to processing the petitions. I got my vaccinations based on consultation with my doctor and also from a post of Hammy's that listed some required shots. As it turns out, the only really unnecessary shots I had were for pneumococcal and whooping cough. I also began a course of hepatitis vaccinations but I would defy anyone to tell me that's not a good idea, even if it is not necessary for the visa. The rest of my shots were spot on and as a result I have had no problems with my vaccination records. The doctor in melbourne actually filed my vaccination results as incomplete and requested a waiver on the basis that I would receive a third tetanus shot in September (as my vaccination history only noted two previous vaccinations), but the doctor here in the US said it wasn't necessary and also that she was very pleased with my approach to being thoroughly vaccinated and making her job easy. So, as I said above, I would still do it over again for the peace of mind it has afforded me later on.

b ) perhaps people are nervous, but that had nothing to do with the impersonal nature of my exam, and as I said above other people have noted the 'robotic' nature of this particular doctor at their exams. Different people have different personalities - the doctor I saw here for my vaccination records for our AOS application was friendly and chatty and we got along really well. Doctor Okraglik in Melbourne was much more businesslike right from the outset and that's okay, it's just the way he is. I certainly didn't behave any differently in front of either doctor, yet the rapport was vastly different on each occasion.

Kath - you know it is and always has been the domain of the male to question the driving skills of the female no matter what her age, qualifications or experience. I plead guilty only to acting in accordance with the traditional intergender antagonsiation act of 2 million BC.

also remember you can get blood tests done by your local doctor to determine what you are ammune to and put on medicare..but make sure you have a letter from the doctor stating the results to take to the medical...i have read quite a few aussie posts where they didnt get a copy and have to either get it done again over here or ring oz to get a copy sent over...

and actually read the medical form that is sent with you in your packet 3 (or whatever), there is a page that will go over what vaccinations are required for your age group...I remember someone posting in this thread (and I think it was re-posted several times) a list of 'necessary' vaccinations which was not true, it all depends on your age, it is listed in your medical form, so read it....and funnily enough when I got in to have my doctors appointment, he was asking if the consulate was sending out a long list of required vaccinations for immigrants because of late he'd had a lot of people coming in who'd had many many vaccinations, a lot of whihc were unnecessary...so remember, don't turn your arm into a pincushion unnecessarily!

I was one of those who got jabbed multiple times and had a couple of vaccinations that weren't strictly necessary and while I agree that it is often worth going over the information in packet 3 in order to know what vaccinations are actually required for your age group, I would still repeat my experience over again the same way. Rings and I were trying to push our visa through as quickly as we could in order to be reunited and I would always have preferred to be over-vaccinated than under-vaccinated. My medical was booked for the monday 6 days after my packet 3 arrived and left little time to get vaccinations as required by the documentation. It did cost me a little more than if I had stuck to the required vaccinations but it also provided me with instant peace of mind when I did read through the requirements of packet 3 to know I had everything I needed (and more lol).

Sugarbob - There actually was a slight sense of interrogation in my question process at the medical. I didn't find it particularly intimidating and I think as long as you are not trying to hide anything, there is no reason to worry, but the tone of the exam does depend on the personality/mood of each individual doctor. I have read differing accounts of the exam from people who saw different doctors, and I have read a review of a medical done by the doctor I saw that described him as 'robotic', and I can't honestly say it was a friendly atmosphere. I don't think he was trying to be unfriendly, just that it was a very business-like exam. All that being said, I know I worried more than I should have about the exam (I am a worrier) and it was very straightforward and didn't cause me any problems.

***stupid question alert***

Let me say first up that I know I need to go to the DMV site and read up on this....just don't have time for the next several days because I am going to be gone and super busy. And I've been reading a lot of posts regarding driver's license, so thought I would throw this in...

When Darryl gets here he can not legally drive until after he has taken a written/driving test and passed? Is there a certain time frame before he can take these tests or is it just when he feels ready and prepared? If he were caught driving without an American driver's license, what do you think would happen? Or would it be beneficial for him to try and get an international driver's license before leaving Australia (or maybe that is not even an option)?

Thanks again....

Kym, this might help you out in determining what Darryl needs to do regarding his drivers licence when he gets to the States. There's a link on the page to the requirements for each individual state so you check out what your state wants from him....

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Foreign_Visitors_Driving.shtml

hi

Thanks for the reply, ur right i will have to start saving! another two quick questions

1. Is the police check australia wide? or do u have to get seperate ones for each place i have lived in? I have only lived in places in NSW since i was 16?

2. The medical? what is the aim of it? what was it like? the reason i ask is i have pre-exsisting illness...its nothing major but i am abit worried they will deny me because of it.

Thank you very much...this forum is a life saver when i'm spending long days and night away from the love of my life.. but good news for me is i'm heading to the states on August the 1st...just have to get through US immigration that is!!

Cheers

Jonathan

1. The police check is National, so you don't have to worry about getting separate ones for each place you lived in, as long as all those places are within Australia. If you have lived overseas they start asking for separate reports but that doesn't look like it affects you.

2. There seems to be a few different reasons behind the medical. Blood tests in my case determined that I didn't have HIV or syphillis, although I have heard that a doctor can order other tests if he has concerns about them (ie drug tests etc). Chest X-Ray is a tuberculosis screen. You get poked and prodded to make sure you don't have unusual lumps anywhere and weighed and measured (I guess to see if you fit into normal 'weiight-for-height' parameters. I had my hearing and vision tested and my reactions (first time I ever got hit with one of those little hammers YAY). Also blood pressure was taken, and you are asked a series of questions that seem to mostly fall into 2 categories. One is behaviour (eg drug and alcohol use) and the other is personal and family medical history.

I've seen it written in a few places that pre-existing conditions are not an automatic cue to be denied, and especially if it is minor it is not necessarily a reason to worry. I would recommend you have a read of this thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=medical

Sharyna - good luck! Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Good luck Katz, I'm in agreement that you should just try to get whatever you can as soon as you can. The only thing you can't really do before you get your packet 3 from the Sydney Consulate is the medical, as you need to present documents from that packet to your examining doctor, but if you know tghe packet is coming you can book the medical before you receive the packet, as long as you are confident it will arrive before your appointment date.

Jodee, hope everything goes smoothly when you get back to the States for your naturalisation process.

Niph - you're asking permission to kick a politician's butt? I thought that was just a natural born right of every Aussie...

Hope everyone else is doing well and flying through whatever you need to be doing (as much as the term 'flying' can apply to a process that sometimes feels more like a stopping-all-stations ride from here to forever). When's your new driving test date Kath? Do I need to steer clear of the roads in Colorado anytime soon? I know its a long way from you, but I don't know how your driving is either lol

Yeah we have been...er, occupied. There's been lawns to mow, kids to clean up after, family to be taken to dinner with, grocery shopping...yeah right. We do have our priorities in order...and all the abovementioned items will be taken care of in September.

Congrats Sharyna and Kym! July sounds like the month for visajourney aussies to be taken care of. I'm sure you will both do great at your interviews and be looking at booking plane tickets before too long. We'll keep our fingers crossed for you as you go through what I found to be the most nerve-wracking part of the process...but my experience and what I have read of other people's experiences suggests there's really not a lot to worry about as long as you are organised when you get there.

*throws rice for all the newly married couples...and waits for the pigeons to explode...* is it just Moonie and Sugarbob and Mr and Mrs Tony? I feel like so much is going on in here I am convinced I have missed something important for someone every time I post in here lately...but I am so glad to see you guys glowing in your newlywed bliss and Rings and I wish you every happiness in your future together.

Tony - congrats on your interview success, fingers crossed for your waiver application, I am sure if they look at it they will see that the ban was not in the spirit of the law and will be lenient for you.

I am still getting over jetlag, sick of waking up at ungodly hours of the night (although for an atheist, all hours of the day are ungodly lol) and not being able to get back to sleep, and then being sleepy in the middle of the day, but I am sure it will all work itself out okay before too long. Everything else is peaches at the moment though, except for the ####### customer service I am getting from American Airlines in regard to finding out if they have my wallet or not. I am currently waiting on a call back from their customer service manager, I am sure she will be happy to hear that United is looking like a great option for any future flights I make. I mean, I don't expect them to work miracles and provide a wallet that I was dumb enough to lose in the first place, but I just want one person to tell me yes or no they have or don't have my wallet. Instead I get passed from one phone number to another and end up leaving voicemail messages for people who never call me back....grrrrr

Hi all,

just a quick one at the moment to say I AM HOME IN DENVER!

Everything went really well as far as POE and immigration and customs people were concerned, they were all nice and helpful. I lost my wallet though

I think I left it on the plane from LA to Denver, after being all paranoid and keeping it safe up until that point. Cancelling and requesting new visa and bank cards has been done, which I guess was the important thing but still highly inconvenient - and I am really annoyed at myself. We are still hoping it will turn up though, so fingers crossed. I hardly slept at all on the flight from Melbourne to LA but slept heavily on the flight from LA to Denver and was pretty out of it when I landed, so I am blaming lack of decent sleep and total brain fade for the incident. Lucky I didn't lose my passport though, that would have been worse.

Anyway, its 3:25 in the morning here and I was having trouble getting back to sleep, so I guess it's fair to say jetlag has kicked in. Total of 6 hours sleep over the past 3 days and i thought it would be easy to sleep a full night but it ain't working out that way.

YAY Congrats Jezz on landing and I hope everything is going smoothly for you, and congrats Moonie and Sugarbob on the wedding, it sounds kind of similar to the one Rings and I had, our beach was perfect and I wouldn't have done it anywhere else in the world.

Welcome back Kath, sorry to hear about your hip mate, but it sounds like you had a great adventure while you were away. Glad you survived the bears and the skunk - Who would have thought of the two encounters, the skunk would be the one to cause injuries?? Wish I had been there to see it lol.

Congrats on getting close to your interview Kym, it will all be good I am sure, and Sharyna I would keep plugging away, there has to be a closer interview time than October, especially if they are not closing the consulate as previously stated. The worst that can happen is that they still keep your original date scheduled, so I can't see any harm in asking again. Just mention that you heard the consulate is staying open and you are wondering if that means more interview opportunities have opened up sooner than October.

Rings and I didn't talk a lot by phone, but were in constant contact through email, often with webcam and microphones simply because it is so much cheaper than the phone. I printed a whole lot of chat logs and emails and took them with me, but the lady didn't want to see any of my evidence of genuine relationship. It was kind of frustrating in a way, I half wanted to say "Look at all this stuff I carted up here with me, don't you want to see our gorgeous photos and at least pretend to read the chat logs that I have so lovingly blacked out all the naughty stuff from?" but the reality is I was just glad to get the visa, and I know one person's experience isn't gospel, but I think if you take some chat logs and emails with you just to show the contact is regular, it will count for something (if they even ask to see the evidence you take at all).

Hi and hello and greetings to everyone else, hope you're all well and happy and coping with whatever the immigration monster is throwing at you this week.

I will check in with you all soon I promise. I am exhausted from working all day to try to be ready to leave on Sunday. Just wanted to let you all know that my thoughts are with you, particularly Sharyna and Kym - I know your time right now is difficult and the days ahead seem to drag on and last a week each. I know you will get there, and i also know that's not great consolation right at the moment. If I could speed your time up I would. Hang in there guys, you are closer to the end of the fight than the beginning and the result wil lbe worth the struggle.

I hope everyone is doing okay, and that you are all finding reasons to smile in your day.

haha I wish I was packing. Trying to get rid of stuff by selling, giving or throwing away. It's amazing how much ####### you can accumulate in your time on this earth.

Can't stay, must keep working...hope all are well or at least manging to put a positive spin on a difficult time. My thoughts are with you all.

I think what you're saying here is...

that the man shot in 1984 was a victim of his own choice...

i believe it's certainly safe to say he wasn't carrying, given the outcome of the event and the laws of the city and state at the time, as those laws made it nearly impossible to carry and follow the law due to the complexities of such. i was offering that as a possible reason why he didn't have such, and how said laws could have been a contributing factor in the death of a law abiding citizen at the hands of an armed druggie looking for his next score.

it's a given that the police can't protect the populace. so if the criminals have guns and have shown a willingness to use them, why shouldn't the law abiding citizens be able to arm themselves to prevent being a statistic? yet some state and city laws are downright idiotic as they prevent the law abiding citizens from protecting themselves.

while i don't agree that everyone should have a firearm, as shown by the vt event, and that obviously background checks should be made, why are we preventing the average citizens from protecting themselves?

But that the laws of the state at the time prevented him from being able to make the choice you believe he should have made.

Is my interpretation of your thoughts correct?

Can you please reconcile these two opposing positions for me?

All Time Dumbest Questions Asked By Tourists to Banff Park

24. Where can I get my husband really, REALLY, lost??

This actually strikes me as potentially a really smart question to ask. Glad I'm not married to her though...

Not sure if this will apply to you but check here for what happened with the NOA2 for my wife and I:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=76232

Our case status still showed as "pending" on the USCIS website long after we had been approved and our petition forwarded to the consulate in Sydney - in fact my wife only received the NOA2 in the mail the same day I had my interview....go figure

One more thing peoples....

I have just been back into the consulate at their request because they FORGOT TO TAKE MY FINGERPRINTS!

I saw a bunch of people getting their prints done but they were all going for work and tourist visas. I probably should have thought to ask but in the stress of the moment it didn't even occur to me...glad I stayed in Sydney to pick it up rather than flying back to Melbourne and waiting for the mail.

So the moral of the story is - when you go for your interview, take your own fingers. No, really.

And ask them to take your prints if they don't remember to do it.

It is a sad thing that a mother had to outlive her son. It is a sad thing that two men died for $60. It is mostly sad though that some people wanted him to suffer more than he did. I hope you are never in the situation where somebody else's wishes for your suffering to be more.

I am insanely jealous right now o.o Why can't that be me at Sydney? blagh I know my time will come soon enough, but... argh! /jealous /pine /jealous

Congratulations all the same

I remember that feeling, how hard it is to be happy for other people's success while you are still waiting and hoping to hear something on your own case. It was the same for us when we were seeing others who had filed around the same time as us getting approvals and interviews and we looked every day for a touch. Haha Rings even posted a thread on the main K3 board about being last in the slow line and we took to cursing Arthur the slow immigration officer (we have no idea who handled our case, it was just easier to make up a name and it gave us a bit of houmorous satisfaction to be able to yell at the fictional Arthur).

Thank you to everyone who is with us through this journey - we still have a way to go but we will get there, just like some of you have, and some of you are and some of you will.

Tony - I am sorry for your situation, it sounds like you have been treated really harshly and I hope you manage to get some resolution for your case. It's beyond my experience to know how to advise you but getting as much documentation as you can to support your case is always a good idea. I hope they don't keep you apart from your love for too long.

Kym - I sent my letter asking for an interview before I had everything in my hand and we got away with it but they did schedule my interview really quickly and I picked up my medical results only 6 days before my interview. I knew when I sent the letter that the documents I needed were not far from reaching me but I guess its a gamble you have to weigh up for yourself.

Sharyna - From what I can tell they are trying to rush things through before the APEC summit which will slow their services through late July and August and close the consulate completey between the last week of August and the first week of September. So you should get your interview soon, they have allocated extra interview appointments before they reduce their services.

Everyone else - congratulations or good luck or thanks for your support, whichever is applicable and WOHOOO! Now I just need to sit out 4th of July and go get my visa tomorrow afternoon.

Hi guys!!

congrats Loke and rings!!! yay!! finally you can both get on with LIFE!!!

Ok guys

have two questions for you...........

what is the min or max time frame the consulate takes to send you packet 4

and 2nd question

the two photos you have to provide them with....... can they be standard Australian size photos? (visa/passport)

or do they have to be the american size passport photos?

thx in advance for any replies!!

Sharyna, the two photos you need for the interview should be 50mmx50mm - American passport size. They go onto the 2 copies of that DS-156 form that you fill out online.

Okay...firstly hi everyone and sorry about the extended absence, but it has been the most hectic time this last few weeks. I know everyone said things would go quick once we were approved but I think we might have set some kind of record. From what we have been able to work out, the NVC received our approved petition on May 30, and from there it has taken 34 days to interview. The Consulate put me under pressure with my letter of appointment too, which arrived only 6 days before my interview date...lucky I found out via an email to Rings the Friday previous, or booking flights an accomodation would have been stressful.

So what happens in Sydney...

I land after a relatively painless flight (middle seat...I hate middle seats lol) and the backpackers hostel I am staying at offers free airport transfers if you stay 3 nights, which I am. So I call them to arrange the transfer and then have to call back and ask them to hold off when I find out Qantas lost my luggage. They put it on the wrong plane...

So after I get through baggage services I call the hostel back and arrange the bus to pick me up, and I get there knowing I have a single room...but damn I thought the rooms in my flat were small. This place is barely big enough to fit a single bed and a chair into. But it is on Pitt St. which I know crosses Martin Place, and simplicity of travel to the Consulate is important. And it suits my budget too. Finally my luggage gets delivered by Qantas at about 10pm, which is a relief. I have all the vital documents in my hand luggage, but some extra stuff I wanted to have with me (and my nice clothes haha) are in the checked luggage.

blah blah blah all nervous and can't sleep and stuff, finally settle in and have trouble waking up because I have not slept enough haha...and begin the trek up to Martin Place....is cutting to the chase.

I knew I had to go up to the 10th floor and then go throguh the Consulate reception lobby. What I didn't know is that you have to get an elevator (they're towards the back of the MLC centre - follow the signs. I was tempted to go up the escalator but beyond that there's signs pointing you to the lifts) to the 8th floor first, then another to the 10th and then through the security check...pretty much like airport security. Show passport and letter of appointment, put your bags through an x-ray machine and don't set the metal detector off...saw a few guys in business suits walk into the interview area with their belts in their hands, I thought that was kind of funny. Then wait for the guard to take you to the elevator to the 59th floor. Then through another metal detector - they don't mess around - and finally through the door into the interview room.

Ticket machine is in front of you, slightly to the right. Tasteful wood panel (or substitute, I didn't really look closely), push the top button for immigrant visa ticket...K3 is technically a non immigrant visa but for the purposes of interview, all K visas are considered immigrant visas - they really know how to confuse people. Waited for what seemed like an hour, but was probably only 20-30 minutes for my number to come up. They processed a bunch of other visa types while I waited, there seems to be only 2 windows (1 and 2 - I got window 2) dedicated to immigrant visas and the rest are for work/tourist visas etc.

I handed all my documents to the lady, including a few she didn't want to see, and she sent me away to wait more while she checked over the paperwork more thoroughly. Then she called me back up (well, the flashing numbers did, she didn't actually say anything) and told me it all looked good, and as long as the immigration officer agreed with her then I would be approved. Told me to wait a little longer and then my number was called - this time by a real person and I was asked to go to window 7. This was the interview.

The lady there had all my paperwork in front of her and to be honest this is the bit I remember least lol. I was nervous. She asked when we married and where, and how we met and how long we had known each other. Asked how long Rings had stayed, when we first met in person and how long that was before we married. She laughed a little when I said we met 2 weeks before we married, and that settled me down a little, it seemed a reassuring laugh. She asked about both our jobs and about Rings' kids - how old, have I met them, do I get along well with them. Then it was all over. She told me I can go back Thursday to pick up my visa.

I lugged a huge amount of paperwork up the hill and up to the top of the building. Emails, chat logs, photos, letters and other documents to prove we actually do love each other. Nobody was interested in seeing any of it. I guess I should be relieved just to be approved but I can't help feeling a little disappointed that nobody wanted to see how good we look together, or how much we love each other. I might try to balance that out by handing photos out to random strangers while I wait for Thursday afternoon to come around.

oh by the way, for anyone wanting to stay and collect their visa in person, it's 3:30pm the following afternoon (unless your interview is July 3rd, in which case you wait an extra day while they eat turkey and...oh wait, that's Thanksgiving...while they dress up in ghost costumes and...no that's Halloween...while they do whatever it is for the Fourth of July...let off fireworks or something. So the 4th is out, and I am back at 3:30pm on the 5th, which ironically is actually the REAL Fourth of July, except I guess in Australia they celebrate a day ahead of their American compatriots.

WOHOOO!! I am so relieved to have got through all of this. I am a natural worrier so even though it has been nice to be able to take an active part in the process as opposed to the initial stages which involve more work from the US Citizen and I had to be patient and trust that Rings was doing it all right (and I know she had a hard time with the reversal - it is tough to not be in control of these things). But the natural extension of that is that even though I like being in control of my situation, I do stress about things...about the medical - I was so worried they would find something wrong, ro some little thing to stop me getting my visa (I do have to get one more tetanus shot when I get to America), and about the interview. But it really was a simple process. I don't think they are so worried about immigration fraud from Australia. Our country totally rocks so only crazy people would really want to leave to go to another one...actually I am surprised they didn't do psychological testing on me LOL.

I am kidding. America is a cool place too, I am sure. I really like what i have seen of it. But I do get the impression they are okay with accepting Australians more than some other nationalities. It certainly was nowhere near as stressful as some of the other stories I have read about people being denied for not being able to prove a legitimate relationship.

okay...I think I am done for this post...if anyone needs to know anything more I guess I am just about qualified to answer questions now. Unless its about police certificates from Uruguay...I have no idea about those...