Alex is waiting to hear if he is able to rent this apartment his mother's friend has available. But at San Jose prices it'll be a teeny tiny studio apartment. You can certainly come and camp on the floor, but be warned - it'll be more like a tent than anything.

I have an image host and a main site with wordpress set up (blog software); at the moment both are rather going to waste. I was thinking of a sort of communal blog. I love these forums but I think a website could offer a little more; for one, it'd be more permanent, and two, we could store and share as many pictures as we like. However, just an idea - I'm open to suggestions!

I am always up for BBQ.

Ooh just been scanning through but I do also go on a message board that is hosted by Yuku if anyone wants to check that area out too. I know we can make it private and set it up to our liking and such as well.

GOD don't I wish and pray! Not even a touch for us again now since the last one Wonder if SHES has gotten their approval????

not yet sunny..i decided not to check the uscis, since it was my fiance who checked it and got the touch for 2 consecutive days. ..im over with the cheking. il let my fiance tell me the good news. its better if it will be coming from him.

...Hello shes, sorry to hear that, i hope you get your noa2 real soon, im January filer too, we gor out noa2 last May 28, and until now we dont have new case number yet, still waiting.....its been a month since we got approved,
i hope you get your noa2 soon.....like you im excited to be with my baby.....

Ragswat and CourtAndGrey : CONGRATULATION!!!!!!!!!

lol...Dennis came through customs this morning (pre-cleared in Winnipeg), he's currently on a layover in Denver and was telling me about his conversation with the customs agent and it made me laugh, so I thought I'd share.

CA: "Final destination?"
Dennis: "Salt Lake City."
CA: "How long will you be staying?"
Dennis: "About a week and a half - returning on the 8th."
CA: "Purpose of your trip?"
Dennis: "Vacation with my Fiancee."
CA: "... and where is she...?"
Dennis: "Salt Lake City."
CA: "Planning on getting married?"
Dennis: "Not until the Visa comes through."
CA: "Good answer, (nods) good answer. Have a nice trip."

its ok..i know the waiting is hard cus we already want to be with our love ones. no other reasons... atleast the brighter side is..were getting there...day to day, the closer we get to the right time that God has destined for all of us to be with our love. the time just needs to pass by...we'll get there.

It made me laugh too!!!
There are some answers we would not expect from them!

Let's try that one again...stupid computer....



We sent our packet 3 back on the 20th, and got our interview letter today! All said and done, it is exactly a month since the embassy in London received our paperwork to our interview date. I really hope it goes that fast for you!!

We're not quite sure how we got an interview so fast! I know the timeline said the average wait time is something like 80 days from NOA2. Ours was 45 I think. It could be any of the following factors:

1. Mike Thompson, our congressional representative, sent a letter to the embassy asking for them to process it as soon as they could (both my father and I solicited his help weeks ago, though we have no particular ties with him).

2. My fiance had his medical yesterday (only a week after sending packet 3 back), and passed (as far as we know...unless he somehow contracted AIDS in the last month or something).

3. My fiance sent a letter with packet 3 requesting to have the interview in advance of my last day of summer school, July 24th, so we could plan our wedding for the one year anniversary of our first meeting - August 2nd (although he forgot and wrote August 3rd

4. My fiance works in IT and I'm a teacher - maybe the high need for both of our professions helped.

5. Our case was really straightforward. No prior marriages, crap-loads of evidence, and we sent everything back as quickly as humanly possible.

We really can't figure out what did it, but we're pretty freakin stoked that the end is in sight.

So congrats to everyone who just got their NOA2 and/or packet 3! It's been a while since I've posted, so there's a lot to celebrate for many of you. I sincerely wish and pray for you all to get the next piece of good news, whatever that may be, soon.

Take care all-
Cheryl

Oh MY!! i just got my NOA2 today by mail!!! the weird thing is that it doesnt show up online on the USCIS website??!!! Is there somthing wrong with it? Im just glad i have the hardcopy So whats next guys and how long more till i get those packets??!!

hey...congratulations!!! finally...CSC is working(?)

Yay!! I received my NOA2 on June 24 via email, and today received the hardcopy. The USCIS site showed the status change. So I guess sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt... but at least you got it! Now I hope the other January peeps will get theirs PLEASE before the end of June!

Congratulations!
Next, your case will be forwarded to NVC, which will forward it to the embassy of your country. You'd better go to the Philippines forum if you want to know how long it's going to take, and what you have to do next, since it depends on the embassy/consulate. They will know what you have to do

Alright, CSC, don't stop working this time!

Congratulations!!!!...YAY.......keep moving...

Congratulations!!

Congrats to the new NOA2's

Awwwww CONGRATS what a nice surprise in the mail box! Go CSC GO!!!

yeeppee!! congrats!!! didnt ur petitioner get an email notification?

Congratulations Phil & Liv!


I'm glad you received a reply so soon!

My guess is both 1 and 3 are big factors - 5 isn't so much (my case is very straight-forward, too). But the London embassy does appear to give quicker interviews to those who ask/plan to fly out sooner. I did think about putting down an earlier date for when I plan to leave, but then thought that the question 'when do you plan to get married?' might come up in the interview, so I didn't.

Big Time Congratulations!!!!!!

Time to post a new list I think.....

And here it is....

Remaining 27.0%......... Approved 73.0%

Name……………. Filing Date
Remaining
1 Ayako & Nathan 01-01
2 Belen & Tim 01-02
3 Thanh & Cao 01-04
4 Ajay & Komal 01-07
5 Matt & Robin 01-08
6 Judee Anne & Reynaldo 01-09
7 Hazel & Ben 01-10
8 Sarah & Rudi 01-12
9 10 Hiba & Hadie 01-15
10 Valarie & Justin 01-15
11 Steph & Gareth 01-17
12 Myriam & Gary 01-17
13 Agatha & Robert 01-17
14 VRP & SK 01-18
15 Busch & Eric 01-22
16 a & o 01-24
17 yan & isa 01-24
18 WE & CE 01-25
19 Rymma & Vadim 01-25
20 Supida & Supida 01-25
21 Lena & Val 01-29
22 Ersila & Ilir 01-30
23 Susan & Chris 01-30
24 Mary & Carl 01-30
*Mailed in Dec.
Approved
1 Gerald & Vinera___________01-04----04-22
2 Bing & John______________01-12----05-02
3 Shirley & Steven___________01-07----05-02
4 J & Paulie________________01-04----05-02
5 Rosi & Chuck_____________01-04----05-02
6 Hesham & Tanya__________01-14----05-02
7 Pamela & Joshua___________01-11----05-05
8 Eliciana & Benjamin________01-11----05-05
9 Robe & Victoria___________01-09----05-06
10 Wayne & Nueng*_________01-01----05-06
11 Yuliya & Brian___________01-03----05-10
12 Rachel & Alex____________01-11----05-07
13 Relyn & Patrick*__________01-01----05-06
14 Plami & Krasi____________01-01----05-07
15 WW & MM______________01-12----05-07
16 Paola & Chris____________01-04----05-06
17 Zrinka & Eric____________01-05----05-07
18 Badr & Aimee*___________01-01----05-08
19 Stacy & Jonathan*________01-01----05-09
20 Erica & Scott_____________01-12----05-12
21 Cecile & Bryan___________01-02----05-13
22 Portia & Tony*___________01-01----05-14
23 Bryant & Aliona*_________01-01----05-14
24 Stephan & Alissa_________01-04----05-13
25 Raghu & Swathi*_________01-01----05-12
26 Shaun & Angie___________01-15----05-19
27 Ali & Natalie_____________01-09----05-15
28 Ten & DJ________________01-03----05-07
29 Russell & Dakotah________01-14----05-22
30 Laura & Scott____________01-23----05-27
31 Lili & Matt_______________01-05----05-27
32 Bruno & Carol____________01-12----05-27
33 Elena & Sergey___________01-15----05-28
34 Greivin & Courtney________01-24----05-28
35 M&J____________________01-16----05-27
36 Maria Ameliza & Eric_______01-09----05-29
37 Hilda & Chris_____________01-16----05-27
38 Oscar & Joselyn___________01-17----05-29
39 Benny & Cassi____________01-31----05-29
40 Chris & Therese___________01-23----05-29
41 PT & J___________________01-07----05-30
42 jen & jay_________________01-16----05-30
43 Lea & Ron________________01-25----05-30
44 gabbie & erv______________01-22----05-31
45 Mitchell & Joy_____________01-16----06-03
46 Lucie & Damon____________01-24----06-02
47 Levi & Heather_____________01-19----06-03
48 Olga & Blake______________01-25----06-03
49 Marina & Eugene___________01-17----06-04
50 Alet & Cesar_______________01-21----06-04
51 Jeroen & Michelle__________01-24----06-04
52 Thomas & Michelle_________01-29----06-04
53 jj & sh ___________________01-15----06-05
54 jennie & matthew___________01-25----06-10
55 Joanna & Dale_____________01-23----06-11
56 nr123 & nm123____________01-23----06-24
57 Abbas & Maya_____________01-14----06-23
58 Irina & Zubzare_____________01-10----06-18
59 Joseph & Tammy____________01-29----06-17
60 Richel & Michael____________01-31----06-12
61 Lean & Emil________________01-23----06-07
62 S & A______________________01-28----06-26
63 Paul & Joanna_______________01-25----06-26
64 Liberty & Phillip_____________01-15----06-25
65 Nick & Sarah________________01-23----06-25

None of us got email notification either. How weird was that?!?! o wells, maybe its delayed.....

Man oh man wish our approval would pop up in my post box this week! With the 4th coming though I highly doubt much will be done this week

Well just wrote my state rep finally....we shall see what results from it if anything...figure cannot hurt to try! Here is what I wrote:


I am very concerned over the fact I applied for a fiance' visa for my English fiance' on January 18th 2008. We are coming close to the 6 month mark since applying to the California Service Center and were hoping to have our approval by now. We were set on a September wedding but now each day it is looking like a slimmer chance.
USCIS states on their website they process cases chronilogically. I know for a fact this is not the case since I participate in an online community where people that applied in February have already gotten approvals.
Most recently I was contacted after calling and explaining my concern and we were given an automated email response (so I think) stating they are still awaiting our background clearance check and it may take an ADDITIONAL 180 days!!!! My fiance' and I have already waited over a year to see one another and just cannot fathom this wait!
Neither one of us has a criminal background of any kind so we cannot seem to understand what would be taking so long to process. My previous spouse is active duty military so I was stationed in Utah, Okinawa, and England along with him but have remained a Michigan resident this entire time.
My fiance' has no criminal records and has lived only in England his entire life.
The only thing we think could maybe be holding us up is the fact my fiance' attempted to visit December 28th 2007. He came over on a 6 month visitor visa and got turned away in Detroit and flown back to London. They told him this would not cause him any future issues and that they just did not trust that we were not going to get married on the wrong type of visa.
If you could be of any help to our case it would be ever so appreciated! Our case number for the California Service Center is:
Wxxxxxxxx

Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Stephanie xxxxxxxx

I hope they will do something and answer to you soon

BIG BIG CONGRATS to you!!!




sunny, I hope your rep will really be able to help and I pray that you will receive your approval soonest.

Congrats! I am rooting for you January guys!

Can we (Peter & Cheryl) get added to the official list? We got NOA1 on 2 Jan and NOA2 on 30 May.

Sunnybear - that is pretty similar to what I wrote to my rep (Mike Thompson) and even though he claimed it might not help, he did "enquire" about my case...and since then, things seriously sped up!! I sincerely hope it helps you out. That sucks SO much to be still waiting. Five months seemed an eternity to us, and made it so we couldn't get legally married on our original wedding date. My prayers are with you.


Alex&Rachel - we also read that the petitioner can email the embassy and request a specific date. You could always try that. How were you planning to work it out with a wedding date in December? Were you waiting to use the visa until late September anyhow? You could always do a registry wedding right away and do the real one later...although I'm sure you've thought about that already.

Anyhow, it went pretty freaking quick from when we mailed in packet three. I mean, it looks like we might even beat the overall times for some people who filed at the VSC! Take that CSC!

Also, we DID get the NOA2 email confirmation. That day, we had found out his tourist visa expired a week later and were pretty depressed. Just after we booked his flight, I opened my email, and there it was. That was the best feeling in the world!

It is so nice to have this place where people understand what I'm talking about when I'm super excited about an interview date. Thanks to everyone who contributes here!

Praise God!!!! dated June 25 on the mail frm the USCIS that my fiance received - APPROVED!!!! and yeah, no email too! i think uscis are back doing the mysterious touches

the waiting from the USCIS is finally over! were continuously praying that the rest of the processing will just flow smoothly and wont take long...

hi NVC

sunny...i have a feeling that urs will come soon. kip the faith. our fingers are crossed for you

Congratulations! You've been waiting quite awhile - Glad to hear of such wonderful news.

Now, if only the CSC would get their butts in gear for everyone else who's been waiting for what seems like forever [Estadia and Sunny, and the rest of January], that would just be the icing on the cake.

Hey congratulations Shes!!
I knew thoses touches had to be something!! That great for you!!

Sunny, I am hoping that letter will move things forwards for you.
I am hoping we will hear good news from you soon!

Also congratulations on your interview date Peter&Cheryl!!
It is going to arrive so so quickly!

Me, I am getting pretty excited because I am picking up my wedding dress on next wednesday!! Yeah!
One more thing to bring through the plane, but oh well! I don't care, I love it !
Well, I hope that week is going to approve the last January filers!

yeah! uscis touches feels so good


oh i bet how exciting you are to pick up ur gown!!! as the bride, thats one of the million exciting factors in our journey! id love to see ur pick

...................That's a great news from ucsis, yeah we need them rockin.....now what nvc...i hope nvc rocks too....
Congrats and your in your way....let see what happening in nvc....

Congratulations!

I will get my wedding dress in two weeks, at my final appointment with the seamstress.
Actually Bryan and I talked about the courthouse wedding yesterday. At first he said that he wanted me to wear my dress (and I want to). But now he is saying that we should invite most of our friends and his parents after the wedding, to "celebrate". What bothers me is that if I keep my dress, they will all see it now and it won't be a surprise anymore when we have our ceremony next year, especially since the ceremony will be a small one, maybe ten-fifteen more people than the ones he intends to see after the courthouse. He said I could wear the dress and remove it after the courthouse, but I think it is kind of stupid to wear it only for 5 minutes... So the other solution would be to wear another dress (not the wedding kind) that day (which could be a good thing: that way I don't need to bring it on the plane with me in a month or so, I can ask my parents to bring it when they come for the wedding, though I think I'll want to bring it myself anyway). But I wanted to wear my wedding dress the day I become his wife!
I'm not sure what to do about that... :S

congrats shes!!

SHES CONGRATSSSSSSSSSSSS I knew yours had to be on its way! Hope the rest goes smooth! Come on CSC and NVC!!!!!!!!

hello guys

I know i know I don't come often ... but

I feel just highly depressed now.
You know I was pretty sure to got our approval in something like 120 days... It looks like it will be not before 3 or 4 weeks from now if all is ok.

It's hard, just so hard.
I'm crying so often ... I even don't understand how i still have tears.

Just wanted to say hello to you all and congrats to all new approvals.

Hugs and kisses (more of them for Sunny)

Yoko

Hello MissYoko

Miss Yoko, You are always welcome here, and no appologies are ever necessary. I know this is a difficult time for you, and the CSC is not cooperating. But as the saying goes, it's always darkest before the dawn. Your time will come soon, and you will be here with your Richard. Good things are on their way to you.



Congratulations!!!!

BIG BIG CONGRATS SHES!!!


Sunny, I hope you will get your NOA2 soon and also all the other remaining January filers and February filers. Miss Yoko and Sunny here's for you . Stay strong.

How exciting isn't it to get your wedding dress?!
About your situation, I totally understand you're torn!
I was talking yesterday with Josh about it! He was thinking to go to the courthouse right away, when I am back (in August hopefully), just the 2 of us, with witnesses, and then to do the ceremony on September with everybody. He had that idea so I could send my AOS papers right away (he knows I hate doing nothing!! )but I said no because I want to get married with him once, for real. The first time is so special, emotional, that I want to have my dress, and everybody on that unique day!and not going to the courthouse, wearing "regular clothes" pretty much!! but nobody takes that wrong, it is how I see MY wedding!
Is your dress, Cécile, a big huge one, or something simplier? If your dress is not too big, I would want to wear it on that day! even if the guests will see it before, it is still the day you will become his wife! but it is tricky, it depends on every women, we all have a very specific way of how we want our wedding to be!!
I don't know if I helped!! but for sure, it is a hard decision!!!

It is a simple big dress it has a long train, it isn't a huge dress, it is quite simple, but that's still a wedding dress with a long train, so... I'm going to continue thinking about it for a while. And one more thing: if I don't wear it until next year, it is going to be sooo hard to wait!! I want him to see it soon

Hi miss Yoko!!

It is good to hear from you!!!but I am sorry that you're having a hard time with the wait!
We all know it is hard, and you have the right to feel that way.
I hope there would be something I could do! Your turn is going to be here soon.....and then, it will go incredily fast!
Those couple of weeks, or 3 will be hard, but then before you realise it, you will be with Richard!
CSC is playing with our feelings for sure...
Stay strong Miss Yoko!
I have all my thoughts for you and sunny!!

And I wanted to do it like you: have only one wedding, but he managed to make me change my mind. Having the ceremony later means we can spend more time planning everything, and people who have to fly to come will have more time to book plane tickets. It is still going to be a small wedding though. But I want to make the courthouse wedding special. Not just 2 minutes signing the paper and then it's over. I just don't know how it's going to be yet

I bet!!!!! so am I !!!
but if there is a long train, I see your point!! not so easy to wear that for the courthouse!
maybe a cute little dress! one of my sister found a so cute dress for her wedding! (she wanted to be able to wear it after!)
It was so cute on her, and now she is wearing it at summer time!
That could be a solution, and then it is will be still a total surprise to everybody on your ceremony later with your "real" wedding dress!

To Shes and the other ones interested, I put a picture of my dress when I tried it on the very first time!!
I would love to see other pictures if anybody have already their dress too......what about you Cécile?

This is a lovely dress!! you look beautiful!
I didn't take any pictures of my dress, maybe I will when I get it next time. I won't post them online (just in case Bryan comes to read this, even though I doubt he will) but if I do take pics, I'll send them to you.