Mary, those grandkids of yours are just beautiful and your house looks fantastic, even under that huge amount of snow . What a lovely area you will be living in, I am sure you will be on your way back home very soon, (Hope the snow is still there for you to enjoy )

That is my son's house ... about 40 miles from where my house is. My house was built in 1852 !!! It's a very simple two story farm house style. It needs some repairs but at least its paid for... no morgage. We would never be able to live as cheaply in London as we can in Michigan.

mary

Yep Good Idea Misty ....But i won't chance it until i get through P.O.E

That Postal guy for SNS Called me this morning telling me hes on his way..That was bloody nice of him...as i did ask him to call when the Embassy had my Visa Ect...It came with my pic inside the pastport and looks like a passport itself i mean same as your passport bio info page...also a form saying about the visa ect...and that mistery Envelope your not to open.....

Now let me get that Kettle steamed up!

Yep your right no news again today! How frustrating!!! No Valentine gift yet today either. He got his in the mail but I have yet to get mine and he sent it last Tuesday. It takes alot longer coming to the states then going to England. ???

Does anyone know anything about bringing dogs to the states? John is taking his dog to the vet today to get his vaccinations up to date. The dog was originally from the states but when he moved there about 5 years ago he had it quarantined, but his mom kept him when he came back to states. Now the dog is his best friend and he won't leave him back in England this time. Will the dog be quarantined in the states? I sure hope not that would be horrible.....Any links to a website?

You just hang in there...I really think it will be any day now!

Any word on dogs???

I do know that his dog will need all his injections and more plus a Dogy- Passport plus when all that said and done they keep ya dog upto 6mths...There is a web site i seen with all that information....Maybe there will be information in your husbands dogs vets....or maybe they can give him a leaflet with info ..numbers ect...

Nigel

Well I found out information about his dog on the US Border and Protection website. He has to have his rabbie vaccination 30 days before actual entering the US unless he will have to be in quarantine for the remainder of the 30 days. So it is stricter coming from the US then actual going into the US. Poor doggy has to have a lump removed on his chest now too. Went to the vet today and he has a fatty lump that could get bigger. John is really upset about that too! If it wasn't for that dog I don't think he would have made it this past year......

Hopefully we hear some news this week....keep your fingers crossed and keep praying for us! I will keep praying for the rest of you!

Yep....I so Understand what hes going through being..when i went to the usa back some 4 yrs ago i had to give my 2 boxer dogs away....and when i think of them it still gives me shivers up my spine...
I would have taken them but at the time my then girlfriend lived in a appartment and there was a ban on dogs ect...
I hope he's got good news with his dog opperation to remove that lump..
strange huh ...how you can get so attached to a dog more than humans.....cas really a dog is a mans best friend.... nomatter what happens in life...

Nige..

hi,
yip, I got 2 dogs to take over with me. The rabies jab is all you need but you need to check with the state you are moving to to see what kind of rabies jab they require. I can't remember just now but I think there are only 2 options, active and inactive (or similar). The easiest way to find that out is to get the stateside pardner to ask at the vetinary over there.
My hassle is finding an airline that will take em cheaply, not to mention the crates. I lost my main contract job as I couldn't give a definite leaving date, and now I'm stuck in temporary contracts with 2 rents!
Ah well, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy valentines, y'all.

Nigel,

I have an update on my situation. I received Courtney's G-325a form and seperate hardship letter yesterday and so I quickly popped them in to an envelope (with mine) and rushed down to the post office and sent the letter special delivery........

so the London Embassy should receive them today. I sent a covering letter asking if they could send me a quick e-mail just to confirm that they have ALL the necessary documents to process the waiver now, however I don't know if they will bother to mail me!

So I guess now it's just a case of waiting til the end of the month and then sending an e-mail asking them if my case is "on the system"?

I don't have a clue what date you should put as the filing date eh? (it would be nice to think that they had started to process the fingerprint stuff with the FBI already, but I just can't help thinking that my application is stuck at the bottom of a very big pile! )

Fingers crossed for a speedy reply and approval Paul

I told Tom that you lived in Oban and he agrees it is very beautiful.. .very rugged. Why were you in Oban for your PhD work? Were you studying something related to that area? I would think the nearest universities would be in Glasgow.

mary

Hello! No word yet today! It feels like it is never going to happen. Haven't talked to my fiance yet today though. I am sure he would have called if he knew something. My phone has been acting up though. I hate cell phones! Is life ever going to get better! ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

No word here either. I wonder if I should email them. This is starting to really get me down. It's not like we have 50 years ahead of us to spend together. We are alot older than most of the people here... or at least I am.

What if we aren't even in the system? We mailed our application in a few days after the interview. We were not expecting to be allowed to submit a waiver so we didnt have one prepared. Then we had to hurry so fast to send it in that we now feel like we didn't write enough in our hardship letters. We have thought of so many more things since then... especially since I have spent this time now in London. So many things are becoming apparent. For one thing I don't think we can afford financially to live here but we didnt mention that. I cannot believe how much he pays for this tiny flat while I have that huge house back in Michigan all paid for. And what we spend on food here... yikes!

I am losing so much sleep over this. I hardly slept at all last night.

mary

Yes it is alot more expensive to live there. That is why I decided to stay here and keep my job. If we would have known it was going to be so long I would have moved over there. He wishes I would have now. We had our hardship all prepared when we were at the interview. My letter was about 4 pages and his was about 5 and then we had about 10 people write letters for us supporting our situations. Our lawyer wanted us to do that, he said it would help the case. I really don't know. For instatnce we had my doctor, my work, his work, his brother and sister in law ( they live in the states ) and my mother and my sister, to name a few. Each letter had to support me and why they should let John come back to the states....I hope all this works out. I keep praying!!! I don't think I really slept last night either......and then he hasn't called today....

The cost of living is another reason we decided to move him here instead of moving me to the UK, so I can relate.

I hope all of you hear something soon.

c


My letter was two pages and his was one page. We didn't submit any supporting evidence. I asked about that at the interview and they said it wasn't necessary. Now I see everyone else submits evidence

This would be easier to handle if he really had been guilty of what he was accused of... he would take responsibility for it and I would support him in that. It just feels so unfair that he is paying twice now for something he was never guilty of in the first place. And I have to pay for it as well.

... feeling sorry for myself today as Tom works his third day in a row of 16 hour shifts... with another one tomorrow. If only we could hear something this week so we could thoroughly enjoy the holiday he has taken next week. We need that. He is so much more patient than I am but it's getting him down too. He needs to know if he can give notice at work.

mary

Something "ALL" to Remember when getting stressed out .....London Embassy has a 98% Approvel rate...
Im Sure you all be Fine...#

Paul C...Thanks for the update....ill tell ya what lets leave your dates the same dude ok...After all you had a RFE and you did submitt on that day...so lets leave it the same....

Don't stress everybody....get some sleep go to the gym walk the dog get some fress air....Just KEEP BUSY!

It will all be worth it in the End....

Im still holding out on somebody getting Approved this wk...Friday seems to me that the Embassy calls....and i have heard they can/do call on a wk end.....lets hope and pray that something is going to happen here really soon huh....

Nigel

OK...Uk waiver Members this is my 1000 post....so ill use it up by saying Thankyou for your input/help/support in this Forum and keep up the good work...and good luck to everybody whos waiting on the Embassy...lets keep fingers crossed...

Nigel..

As requested http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligib...ities_1364.html.


Well I think we will be joining in with the waiting soon. Finally got the first packet from london and he's calling today to set up his medical.
Well I really do hope your are all getting your approvals and not still waiting by the time we actually get to file.

Best wishes to all
Baileyj

You're gonna keep us posted right Nigel?!

Hang in there jpkeswim..it's only Wednesday!

Thanks for the support MistyB....I didn't get my Valentine present either....he knew I was upset last night though. I am sure if he thought it really wasn't going to come he would have sent some flowers....oh well! It better be there tonight....I did get a candy gram from my niece though...



Let's pray it is by Friday....It will be 11 weeks on Friday!

[quote name='MistyB' date='Feb 15 2006, 06:41 PM' post='29713']
You're gonna keep us posted right Nigel?!

Oh Yep...sure....

Thanks Bailey for the link...

Bailey, you're moving right along! How exciting. It all goes sort of quickly right up until the interview and then slows down again! However, it took us 102 days to get through the Nebraska service center, so two months shouldn't be so hard, right? How come it is? Anyway, I hope you guys speed through!

Also, here's adding my good thoughts for approvals this week for Mary & Tom and Jpkeswim. I keep thinking I'll log on and hear something really good for you both. You're almost there, you know!
I hear what you're saying about second guessing your letters. I can't seem to stop doing that myself, did I say enough, did I give enough supporting documentation, what if it's not enough. Oh, well, nothing I can do about it now, so stop worrying, right?

Good luck everyone,
Tiff

OK...I wonder if anybody can help me out on this one....
Had a strange call to my mobile here in the uk...a women said crying her eyes out asking me do i know a Neil parker....i said No and how did you get my mobile number she said that she was on her pc and her boyfriend had my name and mobile number on her pc....i did
think well maybe it might be somebody who i had contact with on here vj or even I2US.net site...so i ask her have your boyfriend had been to the usa or have family there...she said yes he just got back last wk..so im miffed at this one...
i have already scaned my pc address book and any e/mails and nothing.....If there is a neal parker out there please contact ya misses as she is worried for ya....
Strange...
I wonder if wookie can help me out with a name on this site.....but i ask many times something off wookie and never ever get a reply...

Any comments..?

Nigel...........Well I wouldn't know how they would get your number on here unless you have given it out to some people on here. Maybe she was just off a number. I wouldn't worry unless you keep getting strange phone calls.



cmltdg....... Thanks for the wishes. Yeah we seem to be moving right along. So far i'm just sitting back and taking things as they come. We have told ourselves that he probably won't be here until around October of this year. I'm leaving 3 months for the waiver and he will need a couple of months to get things situated before he comes. I keep telling myself that we are not going to rush through this and we are going to be patient but it just drives you nuts knowing you are waiting on something. I worry about my letter. I think it's ok but there is always doubt in my mind. I'm trying to help him with his now and It seems to be more difficult for me than mine was. Trying to use mine with more details and just hitting on the topics on his. My doctor just wrote me a note on a prescription pad and I'm wondering if I should use that or go back and insist she write something more professional. Oh well in the end all any of us can do is our best. I'll keep my fingers and everything else I can get crossed for everyone waiting.
Besides you guys all need to get approved so we will have a clean shot when It's our turn. Just kidding just wishing all of you the best.

have a good evening
Baileyj

Hi Mary& Tom!

Yeah I did my PhD in a marine lab 5 miles north of Oban (Dunbeg), and so I guess you now know that I'm a marine biologist! I had to go to a fish market and sample sharks every month (as part of my research), but the fish market was five hours drive north. It had to be the most beautiful drive I have ever taken, up north of Oban, past Glencoe (stunning), up along side Loch Ness (wow, even more stunning), and then cut back north and up to Ullapool and in to the amazing scenery of Sutherland up to a small village called Lochinver. I was so lucky, I drove this journey and saw the most beautiful scenery through all seasons and weathers, it was some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen!

I was really surprised to hear that a consular officer told you that you DIDN'T need to submit evidence to support your hardship letters?!!

Don't get me wrong I certainly don't want to stress you out anymore, besides if they wanted it they would have asked for it as a RFE wouldn't they?? I just think it's so weird when we hear all these stories about officers saying one thing to one person and then something completely different to another.

Maybe it's like Misty and Nigel say, and they just want to keep us "completely in the dark" about these things, as we're not supposed to know.

Anyway Mary, take heart from what Nigel said, 98% is a pretty good approval rate eh?

I still think they'll pass most people and just do this to collect the revenue, but I'm a born synic

anyway Nigel, thanks for the confirmation, I'll keep you guys updated on any news......

and here's hoping Mary & Tom and jpkeswim get their big fat APPROVED'S really soon, we've all got our fingers crossed guys

To be honest I was quite surprised reading that as well...I would think all hardship letters need supporting evidence. It would be easy for everyone to write a one page letter stating we'd have the emotional and financial hardships. I think all of us had had that.

Where did you find the approval rating Nigel? Are you secretly working for the CIA or MI6?

Still no approval yet this week! Its not Friday yet though! John works midnights tonight so I am making him keep his phone on tomorrow morning. He hates doing that because everyone always calls between 10-2 when he is sleeping. Lets hope it is a good call tomorrow and not a telemarketer.

BTW I finally got my Valentine gift. A bottle of his favorite scent - Beautiful - and a Craig David CD with the song Unbelieveable on it. That is going to be our first dance at the wedding.....

Have a great day everyone talk to you later!

No word hear yet either. Night shift for tom is 9pm til 5am (although today he is doing 1pm til 5am). We have to leave the phone on as well...and knowing it could ring causes me to be unable to sleep soundly. I am getting so tired. The week before last I kept hoping every morning that it would ring. Last week I kept expecting it to. This week I am just tired and discouraged.

The mail has not arrived yet today but I don't really want mail. It's my understanding that the embassy calls if the waiver is approved. The department of homeland security writes with a denial.... or an RFE I suppose.

Does anyone know if they would leave a message on the answering machine if no one was home? Also, have all the phone calls been in the morning? Do they ever call in the afternoon? I have only seen people here mention early morning calls. I believe they only have the home phone number here. Tom can't leave his cell phone on at work at the hospital.

mary

My phone call came around 11am on my cell...hubby who is the swedish one didnt get a call at all!

Our waiver was approved on Jan. 25th (I saw on the brown envelope cover page) but we didnt get notified until Jan. 30th but that could possibly be because we live in Sweden..maybe they mailed the stuff first? Being that you guys went through London and the UK and are probably there (i.e. no mailing..) I would think you will get a phone call very soon!

Why dont you email them and see if you get a response..couldnt hurt, right?!

Do you remember what email address works for that and how I should do the subject line? Can I tell them our situation? Can I tell them the particular hardships we are having with the wait right now? For example the fact that we won't be able to take a trip to scotland next week (meaning i will most likely never meet his aging parents) if we are still tied here to the phone waiting... or the fact that if he cannot give notice at work soon he is going to drop from exhaustion with all the overtime they have been requiring lately... when he goes back to work after next weeks holiday he will have to do alot of double shifts. The hospital cannot be left without cover and there are guys out sick. He needs to just give notice and force them to hire someone. These are some of the reasons I cannot bear to wait any longer. This is starting to take too much out of us. We are too old for this stress!

Where are you that you got a call at 11am? Is that swedish time or are you in the usa?

mary

Mary&tom

The embassy address is london.uscis@dhs.gov. I asked if there was any new information in my case and stated when I filed and asked if there was any new news in our case. For the subject line I put Urgent with the case #. They responded the next morning.

Let's pray that we both get news tomorrow! It will be 11 weeks tomorrow since we filed! This is really stressing me out. I just wish I knew for sure if he was coming home! And for the wedding plans! AHHHHH!

jpkeswim

Mary it was swedish time..from the embassy in Stockholm. London didnt call me with the approval because we filed it through Sweden. So if you get a phone call it may come from the embassy in London. Depending on where you are in the US, you could be around 5 hours back but you probably already know that if Tom is in Scotland.

The address jpkeswim had was right. I never really put urgent in the subject field but I guess it cant hurt anything to do that. I'd just give the filing date and tell them you'd like to know what's going on.

You guys have got to be hearing something soon!

I am not in the USA right now... i have been waiting this out with Tom here in London ever since the interview in November (we had an agonizingly long separation before the interview). Originally I was supposed to go back to Michigan last week ( we thought we would know by then) but I extended my visit (see signature) because I cannot leave without knowing. Would I be going home to get ready for him to join me or would I be going home to attempt to sell nearly everything i own including the house I have lived in for over 30 years?.... going home to say goodbye possibly forever to my kids and grandkids...

If I sound depressed, I am. It has just come over me the past couple of weeks. I was really positive before and I was really enjoying myself here in London... doing things with Tom and also doing some exploring on my own. Now I just feel exhausted and have hardly left the flat this week while he has worked these long hours. Normally I get out and walk 5- 8 miles each day. This week I have barely made the mile walk into Brixton each day for various errands... like needing food. Today I went into town and bought a book.

Tom is Scottish but has lived in London for 20 years now. He works at a huge hospital near London Bridge. He took me up on the roof of that hospital a couple of weeks ago...I think its a bit higher than the London Eye (which we keep meaning to do but haven't yet). I took pictures from the roof... I need to sort out my pictures. I have taken more than 800 pictures here! Seriously.

mary

I took alot of pictures the three times I have been there as well. We went to London over the holidays and of course the EYE was closed for mainteanance. Just my luck- that was the one thing we wanted to do. We are hoping for a good friday. John keeps saying that he feels its going to happen this week and I don't want to dissappoint my honey! He has been in so much stress this year I just want it to end. And it all started because of his mother passing - I still feel bad for him. He was a mamma's boy! hehehe!

Paul I had told Tom the other night that you had done your PhD work in Oban and he guessed you were a marine biologist!

As for the supporting evidence.. there would not have been time... they said to get it in quickly. I think it was because our case is complicated and they wanted it in while the people there still remembered what happened that day. There was alot of consulting going on. We were there for aboutr 4 hours waiting to find out if we would be allowed to submit a waiver and they finally said we could. They said to just fill out what they gave us which was the 601 form, the biographic forms, and the instructions for our letters. Nowhere did it say a word about supporting documents. I did specifically ask and they said not necessary. Oh well... we will find out. They actually wanted us to stay and fill out the papers right then but we hadn't slept and when the tube broke down on the way there we walked for miles. We were exhausted and hungry and Tom had to go in and do a night shift that night.

mary

found this on the uscis website under New Immigration Policy and Procedural Memoranda. Thought it was interesting. Maybe not but it's here if you want to have a look.
http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/handbook/GMC_chart.pdf


Baileyj

I emailed them last night just before midnight London time and have already received a reply timestamped an hour ago 8:43 am London time. I am not happy. We can't keep our lives on hold forever. This is draining. Three nights in a row now I have managed to sleep only 3 hours.

This is the reply:

----------------------------------------
This office received your fiance's I-601 petition on December 9, 2005.

The estimated processing time for adjudicating the I-601 application at the
London Sub-office is currently is 12-15 weeks from the date we received it.
We
ask that you please refrain from contacting this office for status checks
while
your application is pending. Your cooperation will help us ensure that we
maintain our exceptional processing times.
If the waiver is approved, USCIS will send that approval notification to the
appropriate Embassy for issuance of the immigrant visa. If the waiver is
denied, you will be notified in writing of that decision and the procedures
for
filing an appeal.

USCIS - London
--------------------------------------------

That means we are only at week number 10... if it takes 15 weeks then I did not choose a late enough return date when I rescheduled my flight back to Michigan. And then IF we are approved, Tom would have to work all of April and then would still have to find time to get a shipping company in for his things and work out what to do with his pension and bank account etc. That would mean we won't be together in Michigan until late May

When we started this process last April we thought we would be living together in Michigan by last September. And we had actually wanted to file the K1 application last February but we didn't have any pictures of us together so we thought we had to wait. This is torture.

I am so scared we will be denied. It could take a year or more for me to sell my house in the current market. It would take me months to sort out a 30 year accumulation of belongings. My kids have stuff stored there. I am just so scared that when I go back we will be apart for so long.

I am upset that they didn't like me contacting them but how was I to know if they ever even got our application into the system?

mary

That email is BS! We received an email similar to that one but without the refrain from contacting part. You have a RIGHT to find out what is going on and they cannot tell you differently. This is your lives! I got upset and afraid they'd deny us because I emailed them like two times in one week on one occasion. That is just nuts. After that I got really pissed. How dare they tell me I cant get an answer?! I am really sorry you got such a rude response. I believe they have two different people doing the emails. One is nice of course and one is rude. I dont buy that 15 week crap! You said they asked you to submit the waiver and didnt need evidence. That would tell me your case was pretty straightforward, otherwise they would have said "please submit all this supporting evidence"..to prove your case.

If you dont get an answer this week, then perhaps next week is your lucky week. Dont give up Mary!

Good morning Mary,

I feel bad that you didn't receive a more informative answer from them. I don't think you should worry about making them mad about emailing. I doubt the person who answers the emails even checks on the statis of the waiver. I think it's just a standard email trying discourage people from reqesting infromation. I doubt the person who is reviewing your waiver even knows you emailed and it won't have any affect on the outcome. I'm sure you will receive news sooner than 15 weeks. They just say that to try to keep people from asking about it.

I know it's flustrating, but keep your chin up and try to keep positive (as much as you can) Just think of how exciting it will be when you get that call saying you have been approved.

Best Wishes,
Baileyj

Mary,

I echo bailey's words! It's easy to get down about this and feel that the worst is going tp happen, but take good heart from what people say here (especially Misty and Nigel) they've been through this sh#t and they feel like you will get a positive answer soon! chin up dear!

and now I know why I haven't got an answer from my mail! I was e-mailng the Londonconsular@state.gov address, I didn't even know about the other one!!!

oh well, I'll try again........ and probably get a rude answer telling me to stop hassling them!!!

Mary, I am so sorry to hear of what you are going through but please take heart from the people on here. As Paul says to you there are many who have done it and in less time than that. Keep your chin up Mary, bet it's hear before you know it

Hi Mary,

Coincidently I emailed them too in the early hours (1.30am) after feeling frustrated. I try and use this experience as a test of patience, but having missed out on a lot of personal and public dates and more impending (my step-daughters 7th birthday in 2 weeks is next ~ our anniversary in early April), it sure gets difficult. Especially as I haven't seen my family in 6 months.

Anyhow, this is the response I got at 8:38 this morning:



I guess it is now their standard response so don't feel upset about the tone of the reply. It reminds me of my driving test where the instructor has to show no emotion either way.

We too thought we would have all this sorted months ago and are in limbo on both sides of the atlantic. We had made plenty of provisional plans for the spring and it hurts that they seem to be passing by.

At least we know they are in the system. I was told 3 months max at the interview, so its bugging that they have extended their exceptional processing times since then. I think your case is similar to mine if I remember reading before the board went funny (I was arrested after someone passed me a cannabis joint 16 years ago that wasn't even lit).

So hears hoping you get a positive call soon.

Best regards
Rob

Mary, I'm sorry to hear about this. I think the e-mail is a bit rude; I mean, to take 2 minutes to reply to an e-mail is going to slow down their "exceptional" (ha!) processing time? Meh.

Stay strong and keep in touch. We're all pulling for you!

Well I'm not defending them by no means and the exceptional processing comments is a little hard to swallow when your the one waiting but I do know that other countries actually wait for 15 months and longer in some cases. I don't buy the comment making it sound like every time you email it slows the process down. Good grief if they don't want to answer the emails then how hard is it to just delete them. Sounds like someone doesn't like doing their job. Why would they even have an email service if they find it so difficult to reply.


Oh well,
Baileyj

Thats a standard reply....mistyB had the same sort of reply back and if i remember it was that long after she got Approved....so lets hope its the same pattern huh...

Mary, I just wanted to add my little bit of support too! It's so difficult to take the long view in all of this, but that's what's helping me get through, is that when all this waiting is over, we'll be together forever with no more separation. Don't lose hope. You know that you can do this.
I must admit, though, that I had the same initial reaction as Misty -- How dare they tell you not to inquire about something that affects every aspect of your life! And what is going on with this 12-15 week processing time!? I guess we'll have to move our wedding date back again. That sucks! Man, did I just say "take the long view"? What was I thinking?!
Anyway, as my mom says to me, "Keep your chins up!" Do you think she means I'm chubby?
Tiffany

Hello all! Mary my email was a little similar also. The only difference was that they told me even though they received my 601 on Dec 2 it didn't go into the system until Dec 13.......So as of today it has been 11 weeks since we filed and only 9.5 since they started working on it.....everytime John calls now I always think it is going to be that special phone call but it never is.......Oh by the way the Consular officer told us 6-12 weeks but now everyone is saying the current processing times are 12-15 weeks......

Mary we can do this keep thinking positive...and look at the bright side at least your with your fiance right now!