The consistency of USCIS is great, I remember when I was filing, in Dec, everyone was saying how K-3's are now cancel and alot of people were having problems getting their K-3 approved, Now its the other way around, K-3's are getting aproved CR-1 are sitting collecting dust.

Hey there everybody! How are you all doing? I see we have a VJ baby coming in just a couple of days... Good luck with the big day, Vernon and we're waiting for pictures with little Nikole !

Things are a little better with me: 23 days after Approval of I129F and I130 I finally got the yellow envelope... this was a tough ride... I waited for 9 (!!!!!) days for an envelope to travel from Bucharest to Cluj (around 400 km) here in Romania ... believe me I hate Romanian post services! I think they put the envelope on the bach of a snail!!!
I was estimating 2 months from approval to interview and looks like I was pretty close not getting my hopes high for a closer date. Monday I'm calling the embassy to see how soon I can get an interview date and go for my medical ASAP. Papers are ready for the interview almost 100%. It's just the medical I'm a bit worried about and I hope it all goes well. Here in Romania we were not given ALL vaccination required by USA when we were little so I still have to see how it goes. Does the medical centre give you vaccinations you have not taken? For example I have no vaccination for mumps, varicella and hepatitis B. Mumps and varicella are one-shot vaccines bur hepatitis B is 3 shots (last one 5 YEARS from now). How does that go at the medical?

Any help would be more than welcome. Thank you and good luck with your cases getting approved!

Called the embassy today to try and get an interview appointment by sending packet 3 by fax but embassy lady wasn't helpful at all. She said no way, please send packet 3 and then you'll get the appointment bla bla bla So I put them on DHL ASAP (embassy reqired DS-230 Part 1+one visa photo+passport copy) and they should be at the embassy in 1-2 days.

About the medical... I got my vaccination records but I still need to get some more shots. For example recently the HPV (Human Papiloma Virus) vaccine against uterine cancer is mandatory for all women under 26 years old... so I'll have to take that one too. Medical in Romania is about 350 $ of which 200 $ is just the HPV vaccine. The strange thing to me is that they give you the first dose and then for the other 2 you have to continue them in the US... But what wouldn't we do for that long-wanted visa in our passports?! Just about anything... I'll be trying to go for the medical next week June 11-12 and see how it goes.. Pretty nervous right now. I'm really scared about it.

How are you guys doing? Any news? Vernon's baby is due today so let's keep fingers crossed for the little family!

yes today is the day!!! here's hoping for a safe delivery of that beautiful baby girl!! i cant wait to see pics

I finally got an email notice that they recieved the requested info for my RFE today, I called and put in a service request to find out why I hadnt heard anything about them recieving it and that I got the reciept saying they got it. The lady was very nice on the phone and I didnt expect to hear something so quickly especially since she said they had until july 3rd to respond. Now I hope I get aproved quickly.

Just thought I would share some information and photos with everyone!

Nikole Anne Vernon was born June 3, 2008 at 4:22 p.m.
She weighed 3.375 kg or 7.44 lbs and was 51 cm or 20 in long






xoxo

Yeah!CONGRATS!!! SHES BEAUTIFUL!!!



I got another touch today I hope its good news.

CONGRATS again Hilkka! she is so beautiful! im so happy you got to have your husband there with you for the birth! i bet he is a very proud daddy right now!

I got touches on both my cases today. This is the first touch on my I130 since they got paired. I hope its something good.

Congratulatons!!! Vernon Family

Nikole looks really healthy baby girl.

Jigs

Thank you so much to everyone for the wishes on Nikole's birth. It's simply amazing having her here!!



Congrats! I'm crossing fingers for you.

We found out today that our NVC case number and first set of forms were sent out on June 3 (the day Nikki was born).
Now we just have to get an IIN from NVC so we can pay things online =)
This seems to be a really good week so far!!

How are things for everyone else?

Well I was going to tell you that Im waiting for something to come of the touhes, but I decided to check my email again for the heck of it ( I had just looked like 5 mins. ago) and I had an email from cris, and I opened it and it said I-129 APPROVED!!!!! Im so shaky and I dont know what I do next! I called Said to tell him and he was asleep, I dont think he understands what I said. Thank you Allah!!!! Im so excited and scared! I hope everyone gets their approval soon. I need a smoke and more coffee!!! Happy Friday, if I drank anymore I would go have a beer!

wow congrats!!!! thats great news!!

hopefully they'll remember me soon too!

Congratulations Vernon for a beautiful baby girl! All the best to our VJ baby and the proud parents taking care of their precious Nikole!

Also congrats for the approval zawjatsaid! Good luck with the next steps!

As for me... interview is in 1 week on June 12, exactly on the date of our 6 months marriage anniversary and I am sooooo really scared
I'm going to the medical on June 11 and then the mighty interview... it feels worse than the inquisition but the thought of sharing my birthday cake and birthday wish with my husband is making it all worth... God help me with the medical and with the interview and if I'm not asking for too much please halp me get to Cleveland safely!

Has any CR-1's from CSC been approved or received NOA2 yet? Seems like K3's are getting put through faster now.

nope, none that i've seen yet, they've all been k-3s

i just got off the phone with my congressmen (well his rep) and am sending them an authorization form to them tonight, she said they will contact california for me and will get back to me within a week. hopefully they can tell me something i dont already know!






wow your going to your interview already! thats crazy how fast this has gone for you! thats great!!! you must be so nervous/excited! is he going to the interview with you??

Thank you, and I hope everyone gets approved soon!This whole process is crazy! What is my next step? Im not sure how to check for an nvc number, and how long I should wait to try and get one.

jedinite - we originally applied for the k-3 visa as well as the cr-1, however our k-3 visa basically disappeared and our cr-1 was approved. nvc said that they only have record of our i-130 application. so i guess the answer to your question is yes, csc has approved cr-1's just not as many as the k-3's.

Ralu&Doru - good luck with the interview and medical =) so far things have gone through smoothly...we can only hope that it keeps going that way!!

zawjatsaid - congratulations!! i can only imagine how excited you guys must be right now =) hopefully the rest goes as quickly as it did for Ralu&Doru.

Doru will not be able to come at the interview with me and probably that's why I'm a little scared... but I know he's waiting for me home with all his heart
Things have really went smoothly and fast I hope that doesn't change any time soon.. Wish me GOOD luck and I'll be back with news.

How do you go about contacting our congressman and what do you need to tell him/her to get an inquiry started on your case? And thank you for being so helpful. Hope you get approved soon.

Hi my case is also CR1, and we have almost thesame date of filing and receive noa1, until now im still waiting for noa2... does it really takes a long time?? makws me feel worried. Do you have any idea how long is the leadtime, i have checked it on the USCIS and it says that they received my case yet pending... Also what does " TOUCHED" means? sorry im just new here in this site.

Hope to hear from you.

Honeyleen

We contacted ours and although it got us a courteous reply--it stated just the same as if we had called. "the USCIS is now processing cases from Nov. 2007" so essentially said you just have to wait along with a big thank you for allowing my senator to be of assistance.?????????????????????

Does anyone know what constitutes as a "Severe Financial Loss" when requesting for expedited service? I had a job offer with my TN-1 and the company that I was going to work for was going to keep it open for me as long as they could so that I could take it once I got back but since the I-130s are taking so long I may end up losing a job down there, and I don't know if that would constitute as a severe financial loss or not. Sorry to post in this forum but I know at least one person that filed in Feb had requested for expedited processing

i think this link might help you about what touch is. good luck to us all

Well I got my hard copy of my NOA2 for my I-129 yesterday, but I also got one for the I-130 and my profile doesnt show that anything was done with it. Just say recieved and pending. I was not expecting that approval. Now if I can just get ahold of anyone at nvc to get that number I would be a happy camper.I hope everyone gets their approval soon.

OMG tonight I'm leaving for my medical and interview and I'm so nervous .... medical is scheduled for tomorrow at 9.00 am and interview on thursday at 13.00. I have everything ready, the only thing I'm worried about is the Affidavit of Support but I hope it all goes well. Took my HPV vaccine yesterday - required here in Romania - cost me 200 $ and my arm hurts like hell today (so, all ladies under 26 brace yourselves....).

Since I probably am the first in the group to attend the interview I'll try and write ASAP how it all went. Please keep me in your prayers and I'll try to come home with the biggest smile on my face.

Im sure youll do great, and we will all pray for you. I cant wait to hear that you passed the interview and are on your way "home"GOOD LUCK!!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!! woohoo! I'm sure you'll do great! will definitly keep ya in my prayers, and make sure to fit some time in and let us all know how it goes!!!

Ralu&Doru - good luck, you're in my thoughts and prayers!!!

Congratulations. Hope all goes well for you both. Please share the experience with us when you're all done.

well i got a letter back from my congressman. it didnt tell me anything new, and he didnt do anything either. it was a waste of time. big surprise ...pfft

I'm starting to get really frustrated/depressed from all of this. i dont know how you guys stay so strong but im not staying strong at all, im growing weaker. and it just sucks horribly not being able to do ANYTHING to speed this process up! i hate not being able to control or help any part of this situation. i've considered throwing out a k-3 to maybe speed it along but its way to late in the game for that, and it would prolly just slow things down. im soooo happy for all of you that have gotten approvals and are at nvc or even at your interviews, but also i feel crazy jealous and disapointment that im not anywhere near that point myself. i wish i had more options. i thought about applying for an expidite (extreme financial hardship) but i know i would most likely get denied, and im afraid the denial would only end up resulting in it taking even longer for us to get approved. like a "nice try now you can wait longer" type of deal.

personally im considering going to venezuela and staying a couple months for the summer while larie is out of school. it would be great to be waiting actually with miguel, instead of waiting with him from another country. but i know that when i came back it would be like starting all over, and i would have no money saved and i wouldnt be able to do the paper work for the visa (by chance we get approved from uscis) for the nvc from venezuela.

this is seriously driving me to the brink. im a control freak.... and this is something i cant control.

sorry to throw all this out there, but im going insane, and none of my friends really understand what im going through at all. in fact when i talk to them and they try to give me advice it disgusts me because none of them know what this is like and i hate them pretending like they even slightly understand.




now to go chop off all my long pretty hair.... i can control my hair. so i need to go control some part of me.

i hear you and i understand your pain except I'm not cutting all my hair off lol

good for you.

Hey everybody! After 2 days in Bucharest with medical and interview I just got home with the visa in my passport and a booked flight to Cleveland on June 24!!!! Looks like I am gonna blow my candles and kiss my husband in Cleveland this year

Danyel I'm sorry things are moving so slowly with your case and I'm sure any of us would feel the same if we were in your shoes... no one can deny that and any advice like "hang in there, be strong etc" does not make you feel any better. I was one of the lucky ones who got approved fast, God only knows by what miracle. There still are people waiting from 2007 to be approved and I don't know how that's possible, but from what I've seen naggig them to approve your case will not do any good. Yet I haven't figured out what DOES help things go faster... What I did in my worst time was charge my batteries in my husband's optimism and live this time apart in such a way as not to seem like a lost period of time. We are still alive, in love even if hopeless some times. I don't know if it helps.. I hope it does at lest the tinniest bit

Now about my experience with the medical and interview:
MEDICAL
Went to one of the required clinics in Bucharest after making an appointment 4-5 days earlier. 4 signed photos on the back were required (not 3 as the instructions said... always be on the safe side) and the medical forms included in packet 3 with nothing written on them - the doctor does all the writing. After checking your ID and photos, the doctor asks about medical history, any health problems, vaccinations (if you miss one from your record they will give it to you), blood samples are taken for tests, blood pressure is measured, the doctor listens to your lungs, checks your abdominal area and asks you of any pain. After this you are sent for chest X-ray. This all took me 1 hour tops and 100$ (I had taken HPV vaccination a few days earlier - 200$). At 15.30 tests were ready so I picked up the brown sealed envelope to be taken to the embassy for the interview.
INTERVIEW
I was scheduled at 13.00 (like everybody else ) and we entered the consular section one by one after endless security checks with no luggage, cell-phones or other gadgets... First we were called at the counter, requested our passports and then digital fingerprints. After a while I was called back to the counter and requested the papers (Affidavits of support, DS-156 with photos, photo album, evidence of the relationship - I had everything very nicely put in a folder with transparent pouches, labeled so they could see what it was, since they take the evidence and look at it without you being there to explain what they're looking at). I sat in the room waiting to be called at the counter for the interview, and at 14.30 I was called and spoke to a consul (who spoke English AND Romanian, but I chose English). It all took 2 minutes and the questions were the ordinary ones:
When did you meet and how?
When did he visit?
When was the marriage?
Where does he work?
Where will you live?
I think what mattered is that I tried to look positive and even make the consul smile a little.
Afterwards she thanked me and asked me to take a seat and wait... and I waited and waited without knowing I got the visa or not. I was interviewed second in line and given the visa first. They just called me at the counter and gave me the passport and the evidence back, saying the visa is good for 2 years and please adjust status in this period.

AND THAT WAS IT!!!! No harrassing about anything! Now I'm even thinking I was toooo stressed out about everything but there's no way of staying calm when your entire life is at stake....but now the important thing is I am looking at my passport and the visa is on it and my husband is waiting for me on June 24 to arrive home after one and a half years of our relationship.
I wish you all good luck and an experience as positive as mine! I will continue to write in this forum to see how you all get your visa ans post a message as long as mine is right now
Kisses and thanks for all the advice!

AWSOME Congrats! Im so happy for you guys!!1

Application Type: I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On June 13, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.


OMG I CANT STOP SCREAMING

YEAH!!!! CONGRATS!!!
I just got my notice from NVC saying my I-129 was recieved and will be forwarding to casa within a week!!! I dont know how far out they are scheduling interviews.Im getting so nervouse!

YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY I'm so happy!!!!! Congratulations! So goooood!!! I knew praying would help!

Thank you!!! i was about to lose it and poof this finally appears thank god!!! thank you for your words you gave and your thoughts & prayers it was very much apreciated!

Danyel - Congratulations on getting your I-130 approved!! I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner...I've just been so distracted with Cody and Nikki. I'll have someone to go through the green card application with me =)

Ralu&Doru - Congratulations on getting your visa!! Hopefully the process is as simple and painless (minus the HPV shot hehe) for the rest of us. Hopefully you'll keep checking in and seeing how things are going with us as well as keeping us updated on your adventures.

Update - We got our IID number from the NVC so now we can pay all our fees online =) they also have said they sent our applications out so hopefully things will move a little bit quicker now.

Danyel - I forgot to ask you if you need some help getting things going with the NVC? I have found almost all the short cuts we should need and things seem to be moving a bit quicker for us. Shout if you need any help =)

Anyone else received Approval Notices this week for CR-1s? Seems like K-3s are getting approved much faster at the CSC.

Just an update, I finally got through to someone at the NVC and she told me my file left for CASA on June 11th! My letter was dated the 12th. Anyway now Im emailed CASA to see if its there and if there is an interview scheduled, nothing back yet.I also finally get to go back to work on Monday. I hope everyone is doing good in their journey.

Congrats! When you send in your other forms can you add a little sticky for them to do the CSC cases too

So today when I went to get the mail there was a big yellow envelop from the American Consulate General. Not expecting anything for a long time, of course I was a little nervous to open it. Upon doing so I found the packet 3 forms for my K-3 visa!!! The damn visa we had thought went missing, seeing as CSC couldn't tell us what happened to it. This means Miss Nikki and myself should be seeing Cody sooner than we planned! We're so excited I called Cody (who is stuck in Salt Lake City) and woke him up (not generally a good idea) but he was as excited as me. Anyone got tips for getting things ready or is it as simple as the form makes it out to be?

Congrats!!

Another VSC approval today. My I-130 and I-129F were approved early this morning at VSC.

-Fahad