Marta: Sorry you are having such issues getting through to DHS. It used to do the same thing to me. I used to get Melissa to call for me because she had some kind of magical powers. She could always get through when I couldn't. I think Benita had some tricks too. It just gets really frustrating hearing that same message over and over again. My heart would just start pounding. I really feel for you and hope you can get an answer soon.

Marta, PM me your phone number and we'll do a 3-way call to DHS. No guarantees that we'll get through, but we'll certainly try.

Thanks Melissa

Well, she hasn't sent me her number and it's almost time to go. Maybe we'll have to try tomorrow.

Hey I don't know if you got my message but I'll give you my # tomorrow.I have been on a peanut brittle binge and ran out to buy some more.
And I wonder how I put on 10 lbs!!!
Hey when a waiver is approved do you go for another interview or do they actually give you the visa?I was just wondering because even though the lady who interviewed us was stuck up she only looked over our papers and asked 1-2 questions then told us to file waiver.All this was done through a window .I thought they took you in an office or something.So I was wondering "Was this the interview"?

Marta: Yep, that was the interview. I thought the same thing. They really don't ask you that many questions. I was surprised. When you go back for your second interview, they only ask your husband if he was in Mexico the whole time and if he had any problems with the police. Then they tell you to wait for your visa. It's really not bad at all. It's funny how different people react to stress. You must have picked up 10 pounds of the 15 I lost. All my friends kept telling me to eat. I am down to 105. Javier's daddy asked him if I was sick. I will pick some of it back up now that Javier is home though. I know how much stress you are under. I had massive acid reflux and headaches by the time Javier came home. Then once I went to Mexico to get him they were gone. It was amazing, the stress just disappeared. I hope your journey ends soon.

Marta...at our interview they barely asked 3 questions too. The main one to my husband was, "how did you get into the US?". Well, obviuosly they knew since we had written EWI on our applications. They didn't even look at any of our proof of relationship. Miguel's second interview experience was exactly like what Charity posted. Much less stressful.

Charity...good to hear your acid reflux and headaches are gone. Hope it stays that way!

have a good day all.

Good morning everyone. It was a weird evening yesterday. Someone from my job got fired. It was a complete surprise. I hope everyone has a good day.

Hola chicas!

I had to go to a play that my son was in yesterday. It was E-I-E-I-Oops! here is a pic. He was Old McDonald!

Elvia: He is a handsome young man. He's looking very nice in his country clothes. It's funny, those clothes are pretty common around here. A lot of the older people around here wear that stuff. You wouldn't think the farmer look was in, but around here it never went out.

Elvia...awww what a cutie!

Hello Everyone,
I am sorry that I did not get out here and post yesterday. Stupid car problems, $230 to fix a harmonic balancer. It took them all day to get the part and only about 15 minutes to put it into the van. So I felt like I was in Mexico, I walked all over, getting stuff done while I was waiting, I went up to pay the car registration (it was due in January, but I forgot). Then to the bank for money and to ask about adding Alex to the bank account. I had to tell them that he does not need a SS# to be added, they had to look it up on the computer. I did not have him with me or we could have done that as well.

So here is the scoop. Unfortunately we did not know that the passport he had was fine to use, even though it expires July 12, 2006. So on Wednesday morning at 5:45 we set out to get him a new 5 yr passport. His parents did not get his birth certificate until he was about 6 years old. This is a problem when you try to use it for anything, they want additional stuff. Well we had his school papers with his photo and his Metricular Consular and his passport. But they need 2 things off their list of 3 items, 2 of which we could not provide, as his parents were married in a church but never had the cival ceremony so there is no marriage licence for them and he does not have an older brother to provide that birth certificate. So pretty much we were screwed. He told me that he would have made his parents get a marriage certificate if he knew and that he is going to call to make them do it anyway. Then he is going to have them get certified copies of every other paper they have and mail them to us for anything we may need in the future. Needless to say we did not get a new passport.
We went to the consulate and ask at the information window about the passport, they said it was fine. Then asked about the fee, if we needed to pay it again and she said yes. So off we went to Banamex to pay and it had gone up from $100 to $110. That is how we ended our Wednesday. Besides doing laundry of course.

Thursday was a vacation day, since we did not need to pickup the passport. By the way everyone else got their passport the same day. So if anyone else going to CDJ has to get a passport you do not need to plan on it taking 2 days, you get it the same day you apply, it just takes a while.

Friday -----Appointment Day------
5:40AM Arrived at the consulate, there were already about 50 people in the line.
8:30AM Finally we got in, they were not going to let me, but Alex told a fib (said he could not read or write and that I needed to be there with him).
8:50AM Sit in chairs outside of bldg C (it was so cold).
11:30AM They called his name to report to window #1 (windows 1-13 are in bldg C and 13-35 are in bldg She looked over his papers, asked what he was told to bring and then took his passport and the bank receipt. Told him to sit and wait to be called to window #9.
11:48AM Called to window #9 for digital fingerprinting, both index fingers. Told to go wait outside of building B.
2:00PM We went into bldg B to see if we could find a seat, rather than sit outside. We found that the inside was as packed as the outside.
3:00PM Called to window #16 , he asked Alex if he had been in Mexico the entire time, had he had any problems with the law and then said it was approved. Asked if I was the petitioner and I said yes. He then asked why we did not have the I-130 sent to CDJ. I said it was our lawyers fault, that I did not know we should have done that and our lawyer did not bother to tell us. He was furious, he said "you know that means that you will have to file the AOS and for work!" I explained that I knew and he said OK, sit down and we will call you when the Visa is ready to be picked up.
4:45PM We went up and asked how much longer, we were afraid it was going to be closing and we would not get it. They said they had a problem with the printer, that it would be a little longer.
5:15PM Called to window #31 to pickup, reviewed to make sure all the info was correct then we headed out the door.

We got our bags from the hotel, ate at El Torro Bronco on the Avenues de Americas and then got a taxi to the border. We had a very knowledgeable taxi driver who told us where to stand in line, but we asked one of the border agents and she had us move to another line. Probably the one Charity had to stand in. Our taxi driver came back and asked why we moved and we told him that we were told to. He had us ask again and we were told we were in the right line the first time. K-3 evidently enters in a different line than the other visas. Finally got through and back into the cab. He took us to MicoTel motel right by the airport and we crashed. Up at 3:30 for the 5:45 flight and back in Louisville at 7PM on Saturday night.

By the way, as far as I know there is no real "interview", no personal questions like what color is Benita's toothbrush, what did you have for dinner last night, etc....

I know it is pretty legnthy, but I did not want to forget anything.

Good Morning to all you ladies!
Charity---Please take back your 10 lbs.Because I feel like a blow fish about to explode any minute.
I usually get migranes but I"ve gotten used to them----it's the tension headaches that are killing me!!That along with the sleepless nights.I usually get around 3-4 hours sleep.If that, because by the time I eventually fall asleep"Joshua"wakes up.I can set my alarm by him!
He wakes at 2 a.m. then at 5:30-6:00 and I am up by 6:30.
Man all that candy made me sicker than a dog !
Edgar called me last night and we talked for about 1-2 hours.He sounded so tired I don"t blame him,I get tired of driving 22 miles to get groceries once a month!!
I can't imagine driving around in a taxi 16-18 hours a day.It's amazing how long they have to work to get in a day what we make in a couple of hours.
I drove to El Paso ( a 10 hour drive) for his 129 interview and I tell you my hiny was numb for a couple of days. GOD it's so good to hear his voice I wish I could smell him.He always smells so good!And his eyes are soo...so ...intense..I mean when he looks at me I feel like he can see deep inside my soul.UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!
Do I love this guy or what?
See you all throughout the day.I will be popping in .Have to do some things around the home.Sweeping ,mopping,laundry (the regular kind) But I'll be here keeping up with you guys.Trying to kill some time til 2:00 p.m.
Then I am gonna burn the phone lines.

Good Morning Everyone....

Happy to see you guys made it back Benita...How is everyone doing??He still does not have is SS card.He went to the office and they said it would be 7 more days before he received it.So he will get it soon.Did my taxes and paid all the utilities up to $0 balance.....which was such a big relief.Paid my car payment early this month,so we are good right now financially......Lupe will go back to work as soon as the card arrives...he has a position open for him but they just need the number.Melissa I hope you receive good news from the Advisory Opinion....I just know Javier will get to come home.Hang in there Marta you will be reunited soon with your husband....God bless everyone and have a great day...I will be in and out today...gotta catch up on some work...this is for all the Homeskillets...

Benita: Alex's visa looks almost the same as Javier's except for the extra paper about the K-3. So glad things went so well for you, but sorry to hear about your car. That stinks.

Marta: I really don't want those pounds back. I like my new look. You will lose it all when Edgar gets home, all that laundry will work it off. You sound just like me about Javier. I absolutely love the way he smells. It's not his aftershave, cologne, or anything. It's just his smell. It is wonderful. Hopefully you won't be waiting much longer to smell him again.

Chaga,congratulations !!!!!!I am so happy for you.
So your 130 had not been sent to cdj?Is it still at nvc or what?I was going to pay $450.00 to my lawyaer to have it sent to cdj but I was afraid it wouldn't get there in time before our waiver results.So you just got the CR /IR1 or what.I don.t have any clue.My mind is so crammed with so many other things.The K-3 is for fiance visa right?Anyway I decided to just keep with the 129 then do the rest here.Didn't you pay the $100.00 when you had your first interview?Or do they charge you again?I need to know how much mooooollaaaaa we will probably need when we go back.
Once again congrats.And Best Wishes for a happy future.

Marta,
We interviewed for the I-129 and got the K-3 visa. This was because our lawyer did not tell us or recommend that the I-130 be processed in the NVC and sent to CDJ.
Yes we had to pay the fee again, only this time it had gone up to $110.
Is there anyway for you to find out how long it would take to be processed and arrive in CDJ? If it could get there before your interview then he would come in and already have the Perminent residency and have permission to work.

Benita

I called nvc to ask how long it would take for it to get to cdj ,they said it depends when $ is sent in along with other docs.Since we hit the 4 month mark on our waiver I was afraid to try to get it sent in because if it didn't get there in time I would have to pay for it all over again.I was just wondering if it would be a big issue, not sending it in.
I wonder how long it will take to adjust once he is home.?

YAY Benita!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for the very detailed account!! You must feel so relieved to have everyone back home together! Emily must be ecstatic. How soon can you begin the AOS? Do you have to wait a certain period of days or can you start ASAP? I hope it won’t take to long to do that…oh and chew out your lawyer for not advising you correctly.

Take care and glad you made it through without any problems.

I want to go shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I am broke.

I would like to help you out with some cash.But my ZILLIONS are tied up in immigration!

Thanks girl! He is my one and only cutie pie!
After we got back home he couldn't sleep.... so I think he got "OJO" and I will have to do the curandera stuff so he can rest this evening.....

Benita... I love the detailed post! now I know what to expect.

Marta... Still thinking of ya girl will you guys call DHS today?

Melissa... How are you holding up?

Everyone else... Have an awesome day

Yea! Benita Glad things went well!

I am not sure how long it will take or if there is a wait to AOS, but I plan to begin immediately. Scheduled an appointment with the lawyer for Feb 21st.
By the way our lawyer played dumb about the I-130, saying that if it was sent then they may get confused. I told him that they give you the option when you arrive as to which you want to interview for, that our interviewing agent was pissed that it was not sent to CDJ and that he needs to call CDJ to find out so that the rest of his clients don't have to go throught the same thing.
I plan on having the paperwork filled out so that when we get to the lawyers office I have everything done and can double check his paperwork, since the first time he messed up the I-130 and we had to appeal.

PS ELVIA, Your little man is so cute, I bet he was a wonderful Old McDonald.

QUESTION.....................

What would you do?

Here's the situation...by next Saturday (Feb. 18) I will hopefully be fully moved out of the house where I'm living. Now I could be nice and pay the guy the whole month's rent ($250 which I do not really have available) or I could choose to prorate it and only pay for the portion of the month I'm actually living there (would work out to be $160). I am leaning towards the second option for several reasons:

1. Because I'll only be actually living there until the 18th so I don't want to pay for time I'm not using.
2. Because him and his girlfriend (and his family) have treated me wrong, invaded my privacy, and altogether made my life hell as of late.
3. Because I don't have enough money to actually pay him the $250. It will be close with the $160.

Of course there is a third option: to take my sweet time moving out, make it last until the end of February and go ahead and pay for the full month. This option sounds appealing in the sense that I won't be rushed to clear out and get everything cleaned up. Plus it would give me some more time to come up with the money.

So what do you think? I really need input on this!

Knowing the way he has been acting toward you recently, I think you should just move out. I wouldn't hang around there any longer than I had too. Plus if you can get the money together by the end of the month but move out before that, then you will have that extra money to use for something else instead of giving it to him. Plus, I know how you are and you just don't want to pack. Get your butt in gear and get out of there. Don't make me come up there and move you out myself.

hey I read on a thread of someone who converted their case # and got an idea of when they would get appt.It said that they go with the first #s and the last three #s ,the middle three #s is when you filed.
Foe example if someone filed say on Aug.15 2004 .- CDJ2005710112.
Date they filed was 2005= year 7+1=8(aug) 112 (Jan 12) =appt date
How weird is that?
But I wonder if its true?Because I did mine and it comes up with a decision or return appt.for Feb.29?Its not leap year so maybe March 1 ?
What do you'll think.?The middle 3 for my case # is exactly when I found out my 601 entered dhs system.

Move out Melissa......and only pay for the time you are there.

Charity-you know me far too well! Yes, I need help!!!!!!!!!! I may never get packed at this rate. By the way, Javier's going to call your Javier tonight. He has some wise advice to share.

Yes I know you too well. Good, I am glad he has some advice. I just hope Javier doesn't get mad at me for Javier calling him. He will have to say he did it on his own and not that we put him up to it. I won't mention it and will act surprised when he calls. I know Javier knows I mentioned to you that Jaime might be coming back so I can just say you mentioned it to your Javier. Oh what a tangled web we weave.



Marta: That doesn't work for our case number. It might for others but I can't get it to work out for ours. The last three digits of our case number was 084 so that doesn't translate into a date. Unless you do Aug 4th but that doesn't make any sense either.

clmjmm 084 ______ 8+4=12 isn't that the month your waiver was approved and you appt.for visa pickup?
Am I reading moe into this ?Wishful thinking?

Inquiring minds want to know..... what is going on with the Javier's?

P.S. Melissa just pay for what you used... and stick it to him on the rest Leave the lights on and the water running

Marta, I think you're reading too much into this one. Unfortunately. Would be nice if we could know when things are going to happen, but remember when you're assigned a case number they don't have any idea you're going to be filing a Waiver so I wouldn't begin to assume the case number has anything to do with the Waiver whatsoever. If anything, it has to do with when you're going to be assigned you're first appointment. Charity's appointment was in August, but it wasn't the 4th. Bottom line: don't read too much into the case number. Just try your best to be patient even though it's incredibly difficult.

Charity, "oh what a tangled web we weave"...but we've got to get our kicks somehow right? No sense in leaving well enough alone is there?

Benita….question – why are you still sticking with the lawyer? You are 3 trillion times smarter than he/she, why don’t you just file AOS yourself and not have to pay them fees? That way you’ll know you did it right.

They have messed up twice:
1. On your I-130 so you had to appeal
2. On getting your I-130 to CDJ (which would have been there in plenty of time to enter on an IR1)

I just don’t want them to mess up your case anymore.

You are right
I NEED "DR.PHIL"!!!!!

Marta, we all do.....

Marta…
That didn’t work for my case # either. There is a very mathematical way the case number was invented, using the Julian calendar and all, but I don’t think it has anything to do when you will have an appt. The case number has to do with the day they assigned a number at the NVC.

Elvia: Nothing really going on with the Javier's. Javier's brother is having some issues and I can't convince Javier of what he needs to do. Melissa just thought if he heard it from someone else it would mean more than coming from me. You know, us women, we don't know what we are talking about. Hearing it from another man might convince him.

Stephanie - I am not sure that I will keep him. I know I will have to pay him anyway, but then I wonder what other charges he may incure that I would not. So I will meet with him and if I already have everything ready to go we may just go on and file without him. I am not sure how I would remove him as the lawyer from getting any more of our coorspondance. I have no fear of doing it myself, so I will get started tonight. I have already printed off the stuff from USCIS.


Marta, Did not work for me either, as the last 4 numbers were 470.

Melissa, Get your butt in gear and move out ASAP. Don't spend the money staying somewhere that you are not being respected.

Forgot to tell you we stayed at Hotel Americano, it was clean, not very pretty, but it had good food in the restarurant.


BY THE WAY, I looked up the time frame on the AOS and Employement authorization for Louisville and now I am really mad at the lawyer.
AOS= Processing ones sent in December 17, 2004
Employment authorization= Sept 23, 2005

How sucky is that???

Benita that is terrible. So that means Alex can't work until way up into the year. What are you going to do?

A lot of times those processing dates don't mean a whole lot. I would bet money that he gets the EAD in about a month and the green card within 8 months.

Benita…I know you aren’t afraid of doing it yourself…heck you are the one who was on top of your waiver and calling the senators, etc. What I hope he doesn’t do is charge you to for his office to fill out the forms. That is what our lawyer did for the I-130 and NVC stuff and if I would have known I would have just done it myself. I think whatever address you put on the AOS stuff is where they will mail it. I don’t know how they’d have your attys office info unless they have filed something for you regarding AOS. But I could be mistaken. Regardless it is worth it to talk to your atty about it…at least so they apologize for the I-130 stuff and see if they will offer you a deal to keep you as clients.

Good luck! Oh and I have also heard those processing dates don’t always reflect the truth either.

OK you guys.I called dhs again and guess what?


I got a real person!
Although I did not get anywhere.She told me they are processing May 2005!!!!!!!
How sick is that?
Well at least she didn't tell me we were denied. She also asked me when I filed and I told her I didn't remember.She said" Because we have 2 systems here.And I need to know whether you filed before October or after October."
??????????????????????????????????????????
TWO systems and they can't get their acts together?
What a load of crepes.
I wonder if they have the same lady answering phones.When and if I get through I seem to get the same one.

I sure hope those dates do not reflect the actual time to process.

Marta: I think if I was in your shoes with them telling me they are processing May 05, then I would have to try to get the I-130 sent to CDJ, it would make things a lot easier later on. Otherwise you may want to contact your senators or congressmen for a congressional inquiry into the actual time it will take. Maybe that will move your file up in the stack.


I think Dr. Phil would say -----You all just need to stop feeling sorry for yourselves, you are in the situation because you put yourself there. I would agree, we put ourselves here, but who know it would suck this much (not the relationship part, but the USCIS part).

Good Morning.
Hey have any of you guys ever had to send in more forms when you sent in the $450.00 for the 130 visa,to have it sent to cdj?My lawyer said that he charged $500.00 to fill out the forms and to send in the $$$$ so the 130 will be sent to cdj.
So all together he wants $450.00 for visa and fingerprints and $500.00 to fill out the forms.
What forms?
I'll probably call nvc and ask there too but I wanted to see if you all had to submit more forms.Hopefully I can get through to nvc and not have a robot answering the phone like cdj & dhs.

Marta: Sorry I did not do the I-130, but I know there are fees involved.
I can not believe he is going to charge you $500, get Melissa to help you I am sure she will give you a discounted rate instead of you paying a stupid lawyer.

Charity: Hopefully the website is wrong and it will not take that long, Alex will go crazy. I am going to leave Emily in daycare, but only for 2 days a week. That will give him a little break and will keep her in the loop at daycare. I guess we will continue to pinch our pennies.





I want to talk with eggbear, does anyone have her e-mail address that you can PM or e-mail to me???? She went through the I-129 with AOS and I want to see how that is working out for them.

Chagala-click on members on top of page the where it say members click"contains" then type in eggbear and it will take you to their profile there you can send an e-mail.
I am calling dhs now to see what other documents they want.

Benita,, For us, it took just over 2 months from when we submitted the AOS paperwork until we got the EAD in the mail. Another thing to note is that the EAD expires one year from date of issuance. I don't know yet what we have to to renew it. The AOS for our district office is taking a year and a half according to the processing dates, but by looking at the timelines on VJ, it looks like it's actually taking 8-10 month average from when AOS is sent in until the interview date. I don't count too much on the processing dates, but for my sanity, I don't plan on him getting his greencard before the year and a half. That way if he gets it sooner, we'll have that much more to celebrate.

Have you or your husband discussed him taking ESL classes during his wait? I don't know what level of English he already speaks, but in our area there are free ESL classes for levels 1-5 and levels 6&7 are what you have to pay for at the community college. It might be something to look into; it's a good way to keep busy and to help build life skilsl in the meanwhile.