the 2008 immigrant affidavit of support poverty guideline would be $17,500 (125% of $14,000)for two person (http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_1327.html)

how about bryan's parent's or uncles, aunts, grandparents, maybe someone from his family would qualify as co-sponsor and would be willing to co-sponsor just to be on the safe side.... i hope you could really find somebody to co-sponsor or could present more proof of income or properties... insurance might do if he has one, bank statements, etc... hope everything will turn out ok.

rachel, your (alex's) new apartment is nice... and at least you will really be able to start on your own, which for me would be the biggest PLUS.

Ai.. is there any way for him possible to show that his current income is going over it?

I kinda had a similar problem before as my fiance only just started getting an income, she didn't work a full year last year so only had an income of 20k and we needed at least 20125 for 125% and 2 persons. I think if we did it with her assets alone, we would have been safe too (she owns 3 houses and has money in her bankaccounts) but just to be sure we added a cosponsor who makes well over 110k a year.

If Bryan does not know anyone who made enough, does he have any assets that can be counted in as well?

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the three year transcript thingie... someone who just started out working cannot have 3 years of tax transcripts, I'm pretty sure they know this too. If you can show his recent paystubs, they might be very well ok with it

I will tell him about all this as soon as he wakes up. I don't know who in his family would make enough. We'll see what he says.

I also found this: "I recently sent three years tax returns to support a sponsorship at the Bombay consulate - it seems that's what they want to see. Even if you didn't have any income - you should still send the three years tax returns, the consulate in India like some others, expect this from what I have read. Good Luck - The Three year tax returns are a sort of requirement - your current income is what qualifies you to meet the 'poverty level plus' test. "
And I found several people who said that. So that would mean the thing they take into account is the current income and not really the tax transcripts. I'm going to do more research on that though.
And I'm definitely going to ask him to do his best to find a co-sponsor (with an interview in 2 weeks, we're going to have to do that fast!) just to be safe...

No assets to take into consideration. At least nothing I know of.
Yes I really hope that they won't bother us too much with the tax transcripts. I am going to ask him to scan all his paystubs since the day he started working there! I can't think of anything else that could possibly show that his job is stable.

I shouldn't be too concerned - you have plenty of evidence of his current salary. I, too, have seen a few people approved whose fiancés have only been earning 125% of the poverty line for a year and who did not have co-sponsors.

I do have a co-sponsor mainly because Alex only had one tax subscript; that was the big problem for us.

*hugs* Cecile - I'm sure you'll be fine!

I also read that some people included a letter explaining why the past tax returns were lower. So we may do this.

Thank you all for your nice words

It is very frustrating actually. All this visa process has gone without any troubles for us. We got our NOA2 without RFE, in relatively normal processing times, being away from each others wasn't too hard (well, not harder than usual, we're getting used to it ), we gathered everything for the embassy on time, my interview date is just perfect, and now, two weeks before the interview, I realize that there is this problem (which may very well be not a problem at all). I am mad at myself for not having found about it earlier. And I feel powerless (not the best word, sorry) because Bryan is asleep and I can't share this with him right now, and I kind of feel that I am doing all this alone (which isn't true) because I am the one looking for the information and he just sends me what I tell him to send me. He would have never realized that his income on the previous tax returns are not enough because he only knows what I told him, he didn't look for additional information. I'm not saying it is his fault, that he's is not involved, because clearly, even though we decided that I would be the one looking for info on VJ, he IS involved (sometimes he tells me "maybe you should ask this on VJ"). But right now, it's frustrating. All alone in front of the computer, waiting to go home for lunch and check what they say on packet 3, and then waiting for him to get up.

Oh well, hopefully that won't be a problem for the embassy (I wonder if it will be one for the Adjustment of Status though?). Most of the people here seem to think that the current income is the only thing that matters.

I can't wait until he gets up!

Aww Rachel that is well cute! SO do you have to have bedroom in living room I am gathering? That is kind of a pain but I bet you will fix it up real cute and you can always use a Japanese type screen or something to make bedroom area more private! I think it looks really nice for your first place together!

Thanks sunny!

Yes - there is just one room. Alex drew a VERY rough plan:

http://images.flyingstove.com/galleries/mo...;/basicplan.GIF

But you get the idea. I THINK the bathroom is at the front of the apartment and the kitchen at the back. From what I can tell only the kitchen and bathroom have windows so another concern is how dark the main room gets, but as it is painted white and seems to have a bright light I guess it shall be okay. It's still an amazing price for the area so I can't complain!

We're considering getting a loft bed which would give us more space for a desk/sofa and bookshelves.

Alex says the main room is bigger than his bedroom and if we were living at his parents' we'd be paying only slightly less for just his bedroom.

It'll be a squeeze but I've lived in much worse places. I managed to stay for nearly an entire year in a 6' by 6' (about 1.8 x 1.8 m!) room that had a bed with a holey mattress and peeling wallpaper...

I just thought of something when I read the following...

Keep in mind that if, for example, you need to get to 20k and Bryan makes 15k, you only need somehow to be able to get an extra 5k somewhere... this might make it a bit easier in finding the cosponsor as you do not need to have a cosponsor who can cough up the whole thing

Also, I think people worry too much about the support thingies.. I think the interview as a whole, and all submitted papers, are equally important.



thats pretty roughly drawed yah hahaha

That must have been horrible!!!


I just looked at packet 3, and they say: "Evidence of support: your petitioning relative in the United States must complete Form I-134 on your behalf and provide supporting evidence proving that you and members of your family who immigrate to the US are not likely to become public charges in the United States. Form I-134 can be downloaded from www.uscis.gov"
So I guess we should be fine.

Ooh a Jan 18th filer just got approval and updated today! COME ON CSC puh-leaseeeeeee I am begging you to approve Gareth and I this WEEK!

I talked to Gareth today though and we decided worse case scenario if we do not hear anything by winter time I shall go there for a week or two in December since my daughters Dad will be here to care for her and I will have enough vacation time saved up as well. So that is a tiny glimmer of hope but gosh hope we do not have to go that route as I much rather would just have him arriving before then!!!!

Congratulations to you both! San Jose is like San Francisco in that they're both quite expensive. :/ You said that you have an 1 - 1½ hour walk to/from the store -- Do you know if San Jose has the MUNI transportation system that San Francisco has? If not, I'm sure there's some sort of public transportation you could utilize to make the trip a lot easier for you - Imagine trying to lug around milk and fruit and other heavy items for an hour. I think I'd just about die, anyway, haha.

I have my fingers crossed for you, sunnybear. I hope so much that this week will be yours.

San Jose has VTA buses, light rail, Caltrain, plenty of transportation. Personally I haven't had any issue driving around the city either.

I'm more of a fan of Santa Clara, myself, though. And it is indeed expensive.

Woo more Bay Area people!

Alex has a car so I won't be too worried about lugging around groceries - if I did need to shop for something and he was at work I'm sure it'd be small enough to pack into a backpack. There is some good public transportation in San Jose, just not around where we'd be living! I like walking, though, so honestly I'm not too worried (although you can bet I'll be staying out of the midday sun when it's spring/summer - I learned my lesson after nearly suffering from heatstroke the first day I was there!), and once I get my license I'll be able to share the car with Alex when needed.

It's a pity that the Bay Area in general is so expensive - I've walked/spent time in San Jose, San Francisco, Fremont and a couple of the other cities in the area and I think it's a great place to live; I'm really looking forward to moving there! Plus most of Alex's family is scattered around the Bay Area so wherever we will be we shan't be too far from relatives.

sunny - you shall definitely hear something by winter time! I declare it so!

Cecile - yes, it was horrible! Never again...

Good morning everyone

So apparently Bryan's parents will be co-sponsors if needed. I just sent them a long email explaining everything and telling them what documents they have to gather (Bryan called them, they said they were ok, and then he asked me to explain everything to them). I doubt we'll have everything on time for the interview, but worst case scenario, I will send them the co-sponsors documents as soon as I get them, so it will only delay things by a few weeks.
Today I have a feeling that we will be fine without a co-sponsor. But we'd better be prepared in case my feeling is wrong.


Where did Blake go?

Cool of your fiance's parents

And I agree, it is best to be prepared for everything ^^

Hmm.. last thursday I've sent the checklist back to the consulate with tracking stuffies so I can track it online to see when they sign for it... it got bounced on friday because of the fourth of July, nobody working there then, and it should have been tried again the day after (or after the weekend anyways) but it's wednesday now and still nothing... called the postal services but they couldn't help me much either as they don't know more than what I see on my screen online, if I want to know more, I have to file a request (for which they now send the papers) but this might take 4-5 weeks until they find out what happened to the checklist :S

I tried calling the consulate this morning but with little luck.. after trying continuesly for 30 minutes I gave up and left my name, number and other information while explaining the situation in their voicemail, asking for them to call me back which I hope they do quickly... I kinda hope it arrived after all or if theres something else I can send to them (as it is just the checklist, they got everything else from me already).

Blergh.. everything was going nicely and now this happens

KWEL! I'm sure you will be ok as long as bryan has enough proof of "current sustained income"... his parent co-sponsoring will at least give additional cushion to your application.



hope you would hear something from the postal office soon or better yet, from consulate there. everything will soon get back on track, just keep the faith.

Come on CSC I am not seeing even close to enough action happening haha.......sigh

It has only been a week, I think you should wait a little longer before to start stressing about it. Maybe the tracking system of the postal services doesn't work as good as they say, or maybe the person who take care of the mail at the embassy took a week off. I am sure you will hear from them very soon


I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Nah, the Dutch postal service works pretty well with those things. It is normal to have next day delivery, only rarely you have another day in between (it's a small country hehe). The person at the customer service said it as well, if the site says it isn't delivered, then it is most likely not delivered.. it would be weird if it was delivered and not being scanned she said also... I send it out with special tracking options, it is more expensive than regular stuff but at least you know for sure if it is delivered or not.

And lol, I doubt they don't have a different person working at the consulate who can't take the mail in. Nah, something is obviously wrong.. the customer service person of the postal company has send me a form which I have to fill in so they can start an investigation, I will do that as soon as I have it.

In the meantime I hope the consulate will call me back so I can maybe send a new letter, statement or something in which I declare that I have everything ready. They already have the other forms so luckly it is not like I need to fill all those forms bakc in again.. it's just my signature on the checklist


I hope you hear something before the end of the week

Thanks guys it is excruciating let me tell you!!!!

lol.. cécile, you are right.. I am a stresser lol xD

I just got home and found packet 4 in the mail with my appointment for the interview (have to call for medical tomorrow morning)... lol, even the customer service said they couldnt have had it but still they seem to have got the mail with my checklist

Again all that stressing for nothing... when am I going to learn :S

Poor sunny, I bet!


HOPEFULLY he's just busy with work again and/or organising things for Olga's arrival.

That was good of his parents! And I bet that even if the documents were required it wouldn't delay it even that long...sometimes embassies will accept faxes of documents, too.

I believe I've mentioned my accident-prone sister here before; the one who is always losing things/having things stolen/getting into scrapes that are never entirely her fault. Anyway, latest story (I can't ring up my parents without hearing of yet another escapade) is that the other night my mother received a phonecall. My sister had been to a concert in Belgium and was able to get a lift back to Tunbridge Wells but had no money to get back to my parents' (100 miles away); could my mother drive out and meet her? The reason she had no money? She'd snapped her credit card. How had she snapped it? By sitting on it.


Hurrah!

Now I just hope that my Packet 4 arrives!

Haha!! Congratulations on your interview date


Maybe when you go back to your parents' home, they will ask you to watch her 24/7, and go to concerts with her, just to see if less accidents happen
I hope you'll get your packet 4 soon, it shouldn't take too long now.

Good morning all Hope everyone is having a good day..... Steph hope you hear something new soon on your case

I knew of some people who called CSC even before the 6months period and for some it did help.. if you are interested here is he link to TboneTX' shaking your NOA2 loose, you might want to consider using it: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry1594003

hope to see you getting that approval soonest.

Thanks so much Dbears I believe that is how I got through to them around the 10th of June....we then received an email stating this which I am not sure if I ever posted the email on this thread but this is the email we got....



On 06/10/2008 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Caller indicated they are:
-- Applicant or Petitioner

Attorney Name:
-- Information not available

Case type:
-- I129F

Filing date:
-- 01/17/2008

Receipt #:
-- WAC-xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beneficiary (if you filed for someone else):
-- Information not available

Your USCIS Account Number (A-number):
-- 000000000

Type of service requested:
-- Non-Delivery of Other Notice


The status of this service request is:

The processing of this case has been delayed as USCIS is currently awaiting the results of required security checks. Though background checks for most applications or petitions are completed very quickly, a small percentage of cases have unresolved background check issues that temporarily delay adjudication of the application or petition. Although USCIS makes every effort to resolve such cases promptly, the agency cannot move forward until all outstanding issues have been resolved to our satisfaction. USCIS will make every effort to make a decision on this case as soon as the security checks are complete. If you do not receive a decision or other notice of action from us within 180 days, please contact us again through the National Customer Service Center at (800)375-5283. For further information regarding the security check process please refer to: http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/se...hecks_42506.pdf

If you have any further questions, please call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.

Please remember: By law, every person who is not a U.S. citizen and who is over the age of 14 must also notify the Department of Homeland Security within 10 days from when they move (persons in "A" or "G" nonimmigrant status are exempt from this requirement). If you have moved, please complete a Form AR-11 and mail it to the address shown on that form. If you do not have this form, you can download it from our website or you can call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 and we can order one for you. If you move, please call us with your new address information as soon as your move is complete. If you have already called us and given us this information, you do not need to call again.




U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services






Soooo yeah it says not to call again but WHATEVER! I am hoping and praying this was a generic response as it says to give them ANOTHER 180 days ummm NO!!!! So I will wait very impatiently until they post the new processing times and then start my calling, I plan to try and get through to the actual person handling our case at this moment as I want to make sure that it is not the fact Gareth tried to come to visit in December and got denied that is holding us back! The whole reason he got denied is they feel he was going to try and stay over his allotted visa time! So yeah we are a bit frustrated and just want a clear answer! Neither of us has even had a speeding ticket!!!

Just called the doctors office and the place where I have to get an xray and monday will be the day for my medical woohoo

Time is going to fly by for you now, Jeroen. You will be in the USA soon. I have noticed the weeks seem to disappear once all the final appointments are set.


Yesterday was my going-away party with my friends from Paris. It feels so strange to say goodbye to everyone. And the feelings were not the same for all of them: there are a few ones that I really felt like it was our last time together, and for other ones, even though we knew it was the last time, it didn't feel this way, it felt like we would be together again in 2 weeks. Really strange. They bought a nice card and wrote sweet goodbye words on it, I felt all emotional again, almost going to cry This morning I feel very tired! I'm glad I don't have anything to do at work anymore.

I hope so.. there's a downside tho, I can't quit my job before October (taking the notice in account) while I was initially hoping for September but oh well, 5 weeks extra on top of the whole mountain should be doable

Cool to hear you had your going-away party.. I doubt I get one as most of my friends already left the country haha.. I'll probably do a dinner or something with my family but that's cool too. I can imagine it all feels so final, like you will never see them again even though you might still see them once in a while (over the net or by visiting your birthcountry (I will try to visit my old country at least once a year)). I was a bit sad a bit earlier today, I was searching for addresses of ministers or judges to do our wedding and at once site I was reading the texts which will be said during the wedding and I was initially like 'wow, its getting close and so final'.. oh well, I can imagine we will all be home sick when we're there but as long as we can cope with it then we should be ok

October instead of September? wow that's kind of sad but still, you will be preparing to move out of the country, so time should fly by anyway. And after that, you will be spending your lifes together
I will probably have a dinner with all my relatives in the next weeks. Saying goodbye to my parents is what is going to make it a lot more real and final! I'm sure the next weeks will be full of strange emotions again...

Oh you guys you are almost to the US and to your loved ones!!!!!!!!!! Man oh man I know you have got to be so excited! But yes I am sure whirlwind of emotions as well. Good luck to you both and it will all be ok

Thank you for your sweet words
I keep hoping your approval will come very soon, that way ALL of us can be excited!

There's got to be such a whirlwind of emotions leaving and I hope you all get through it remembering all that's awaiting you. BTW... It's not 'goodbye'.. it's 'see you later'. The world is (obviously) not as big as we all once thought it was.

Jeroen.. good luck at your medical. Hope it goes smoothly. I'm sure Cecile is right, it's all going to fly now. Boy, I can't wait till then!

Sunny, still have my fingers crossed that they move you guys out of the check and onto approval soon!

Hmm remember how I contacted state rep last week or week before....(all my days seem to smoosh together lately) anyway still haven't heard anything back about that either?! Does anyone know if they even contact you back or does it depend on each rep I suppose? All I got was the automated response when I first sent email to him....

Do you have a phone number to contact them? you could ask why they haven't answered you yet.

I know, but at the same time it does give me some more time to get everything done and it gives me some more money to save, which I kinda need when looking to the things ahead.

It might be kinda hard to say goodbye indeed, like you said, it will be full of emotions indeed. Good luck with it tho

It is an exciting time indeed... I'm so sorry you still haven't got your NOA2.. Everyday when I pop into this forum, I still hope to hear the good news of you having your NOA2 as well. Keep in mind though, your exciting time will come for sure as well!


I agree, it is not a final goodbye at all (in our case we might even decide to go back to Europe in some years of time, Michelle kinda wants to do that later on..).

And thanks I think it will go smoothly. The people I talked to were really nice and I think it will be ok indeed

Sunny, CALL YOU REP!!!! They have an aide there that works just on immigration issues, and they always seem to have a contact at USCIS. I called mine a few months back and told her what I thought of the process She did tell me that she would help me in the future if I ran into any problems. If I were in your shoes I would be on the phone giving them an ear full. I never got any responses to my e-mails, but they were very helpful on the phone.

Good morning everyone
Today is my last day of work It is cold and grey here today... I hope that next week it will be hot and sunny as I want to go to the beach with my family, before I go back to the USA and am stuck in the middle of the country, away from all beaches and oceans and fish and seafood I am going to miss that!

Cold and grey over here as well unfortunately.. I hate it Whereabouts in France do you live if you don't mind me asking?

Must feel great to be on your last day of work

Oh wow, things are moving quickly now! Enjoy your last day of work, Cecile. I'd love for the next week to be hot and sunny, too! Very miserable here. Alex keeps telling me how hot it is in California and it's hard to believe.

I hope you have a wonderful time with your family! I grew up by the sea and I live far away from it now (well, as far away as you can get in the UK) and I've not found it too hard; I may not have the beaches close by but I do have some lovely countryside. I hope it's the same for you and that you grow to love the countryside wherever you are going to live and do not find you miss the ocean too much.

hmm... this made me think of what I will miss most of my country when I'm in Hawaii.. and I think, country wise, I will miss the rivers the most.. might sound stupid because I will be surrounded by an Ocean but yah, we got so many rivers over here and I grew up on a ship as well (my dad was a captain) and I am really going to miss that of this place... it is still one of my dreams to once own a small (river) yacht to sail on the rivers over here.. oh well, who knows, that might once become true ^^

Right now I live in Paris, and starting tomorrow, I will be back in Vendée, under Brittany. The grey area on this map:

I have lived far from the sea for a few years now, and it isn't hard either, I probably only went on the beach once or twice a year for the past 5 years. But if someday I feel like going to the sea, I know that it is easy to do, it's only 3 hours away by train. If I ever feel like going to the sea when I am in Missouri, it is going to be a lot farther and a lot harder!
The good thing about St. Louis is that it is still a big city, but all around it, it is the countryside. It's not like in Paris, where you have to go to parks if you want to see grass! This is going to be a lot better


You said that Michelle wanted you to go back to Europe together someday, so maybe that day you can have your yacht on the rivers. Or, maybe in Hawaii you could get a boat to sail on the ocean right around the island

Oooh thanks so much! I am going to call TODAY from work!!!!




OOoh so you are right on the coast! GORGEOUS I bet would love to see some pics! I found I have to live near water whether it be lake or Ocean or Sea I just need tobe by water!

I will take several pictures next week (if the weather is good enough), they will be my souvenirs from France. I'll post some pics if you want
By the way, I doubt I'll be online very often next week

Let us know what the rep said after you call them!!

edit: I found some pics on the Internet: http://www.vos-photos.eu/hrannou/galerie_33.htm (from what the woman says, they were taken in March... it's more beautiful in July/August (but with lots of tourists everywhere ))

That is a lovely-looking coastline; plenty of sand and with a couple of fairly sheltered beaches! I hope it's sunny for you next week.

Alex's mother is buying us a really lovely bedframe as a combined birthday/wedding present, and she's also purchasing a rather special deluxe mattress (we have to pay her back for that, although not until I get a job).