Waow!! Less work for a better pay!!! I like that!
No, just kiding! I know how you feel! I am someone who hates doing nothing! It gets me completly crazy, and time is then so so slow.
I hope they will find work for you....

LOL yeah that is it exactly! On one hand it is really nice on the other it can make for some LONG days especially when I have waiting for this approval hanging over my head!!!!

When I was still waiting for my NOA2, I stopped checking the USCIS website (ok, still did once in a while) and made it a bit of a bet with myself to try and not check as much as possible.. eventually even saying to myself 'if I don't check, it might come.. they're monitoring me and if I don't check for a couple of days, they might give me my NOA2.. I know it is pretty much bs but still, it refrained me from checking every minute or so hehe


Thanks


I hope so but I still have a little bit of doubt because of some stupid mistakes in the past (I have been involved in some bad stuff, although these were not that big in my opinion, they might think different)


wow, that's some difference haha.. ok, I needed a vaccin but still, it would've been 195 for me without :/


Same here, unless I am at home.. doing nothing at work is pretty screwed, it feels like 'doing time' or something unfortunately that is happening at my company at the moment.. not the best feeling, it makes the days go by reeeeaaaalllyyy slow

Hello:) We faxed back packet 3 on July 3rd and Levi still hasn't receved the interview date..... I think once you do its only two or three weeks out from the time you receive it. Thats how it looks by others timelines.

Ok gonna try not to look again until end of the week at least haha....unless of course updated processing times get posted then I am looking haha! I am going nutso though people for real! Just emailed congressman again.....gave my phone number and email!

Well we have our date set for September 10. We've had a very eventful (not in a good way) week last week. After 6 years the ex showed up and threatened to cause all kinds of problems. But that situation has been resolved - something about abandoning your wife & child at birth and not providing any support, ever, tends to quash any argument the son of a b.... might have. That, plus the decree of sole custody, sent him packing back to the hole he crawled out of. Everyone's fine, just a little shaken.

Believe me, both of us are looking forward to Olga and her son getting the heck out of there.

We'll be dancing in the streets on that day!!!!!

Hi Blake! Omg I would blow a gasket! With all the other stuff you have to deal with.... Glad the loser was smart enough to know when to say when. Cograts on the Interview date Must be a big relief.

Levi received packet 4 today. The interview is August 27th at 1pm.

GOOD TIPS!!! it is already half of the week so will start exercising on Monday then. .. J/K.. have started walking with my aunt last week and have started cutting RICE intake too... also loading up on water. Maybe I will add the "music and dancing" also to shed more sweat noh? and maybe it's time to take out my carmen electra's aerobic striptease CDs.. it's been accumulating dust for a few months now




WOW! We have the same wedding date, that will be our 3rd year anniversary as couple too.
I do hope you get your interview date and your visa soonest so we could both celebrate on Oct. 3.




I do hope what happened in the past won't interfere with your visa process. if it is not really big things, just don't volunteer any information... like here in the Philippines some people volunter drug use from even 10 or 15 years ago (thinking it won't be a big deal since it was so long ago) and for some reason the embassy here is so strict with matters like these. Drug use here even if it has been 20-30years ago is a reason for permanent denial. it is crazy since there was a clause about drug use and it was i think just 5years maybe, yet the USEM here still denies people who have used drugs even decades ago and sadly the denial is irreversible. Each US embassy has different policies so you have to know what is allowed and not allowed in your consulate.

You will be fine and you will make it to Michelle in no time. Just don't let the ghost of the past get in the way of your happiness, have faith in the new Jeroen. may God be your guide always.




Exes like that are only there when they are NOT needed anymore but when they were needed, they are nowhere to be found. It was unfortunate that your Olga has had anything to do with the same bred of a...hole like my ex. But it is all in the past and as long as she stays firm, she can always kick his ###.

Hope things will move faster for Olga and her son and that they could be with you soonest. Congrats on getting interview date.

Hey guys-

I see a lot of you have interview dates now! Congrats!! It's so nerve-wracking but also really exciting.

We had our interview today, and we were APPROVED!! Yay! We have a flight booked for Sunday - that'll make 42 days that we spent apart, but it seemed like a hell of a lot longer than that!!

Anyhow, good luck all - I hope it goes as smoothly for all of you as it did for my husband. He did get asked almost ALL of the sample interview questions from this site, but the guy was pretty nice and barely even looked at the forms we spent hours agonising (and arguing) over.

So YAY for all the progress made! Keep the faith, friends.

Cheers,
Cheryl

Nah it has nothing to do with drugs or anything in that area... I know I would be screwed then (you basically would be in any consulate since it is a big no in the states).

Nah, I was once somehow involved in a burglary..I didn't do a thing, though, I only had the stolen goods in my car afterwards to take them from point A to point B (even though I did not know at the beginning of that trip that the goods were stolen, I found out about this later when we were already driving). But the thing is, I have been to court for this so I had get me the court records as they will also see it in my police records, no sense not telling them about this I think.

One down side in this all is that the court records does not state my plea but only holds the original thing they were judging me on, namely breaking an entry with two or more people (the main purpetrators tried to put the whole blame on me). The judge gave me the benefit of the doubt at that time, I was the only one with a small probational fee (I would have to pay 500 guilders (it was before the Euro hehe), about 250 usd, if I would be caught doing bad stuff again), the others all had real punishments.

The above thing happened early 1998, and the court session took place early 2000, so I do think that if the time of being a good guy is also added, I shouldn't have to worry too much I think but in less than a month we wil know for sure



That sounds like great news, congratulations on the approval

Congratulations on your interview date!!!
It sucks you had to go through some last minutes troubles!! but I am happy it is all taking care of, and that ex will not bother you both anymore!!


Yeah!! Great news!! and congrats!!




In my case, I feel really lucky because I do love to go for a run. It is actually my way to relax, de-stress!!
At the same time, I cannot help my self eating lately, I am getting nervous, excited, and stressed with my interview date coming soon!




Congratulations Cheryl!!!
That's awesome news!!!!

Congratulations Cheryl!


I am sorry for all the stress you and Olga have gone through! *hugs*

Thank goodness he is out of the way now! Not long to go now - I am preemptively crossing my fingers

Booked my medical for the 13th August, day before my interview.

The girl was almost too efficient - she picked up the phone before it even rang once and I was taken completely off-guard! Then she raced through booking my appointment and when I tried to confirm the time she had already said bye and put the phone down. Ah well, it's either 10 past 10 or 10 to 10, so I'll just make sure I get there early.

Haha too funny about the lady being TOO proficient! We sure aren't used to that in this whole process are we? haha....Wow thought Rachel that is all going to come so quick for you! How exciting!!!

Hi folks...sorry for being away for a while but Mary was in town and we were just a little too busy to post. Hope everyone is doing well! I just dropped her off at the airport this morning

Of course, we did something stupid. Not sure if you saw my earlier post but as I suspected, packet 3 showed up in Canada while Mary was here. So trying to speed things up we had the friend of her that was checking her mail forward the packet here. Of course, due to Murphy's Law and customs and Canada Post and our incredibly bad luck (I'm not sure why we even keep trying to speed any of this process up!) the packet has not shown up here yet! Its about a week overdue as of today. Of course, Mary has gone back now so we've lost that whole week of time and now if it shows I will have to courier it back to her DOH!. My question is - do you think we should call the embassy and have them send us a new one, or do you think its would still be faster to just wait for this one and send it back again? Her friend xpressosted it to us on Jul 3rd. They said 5 business days its now been 8 days.

I know - most of you probably read that other post and said "OMG, I can't believe they did that" - so yes I know we were idiots for trying to be together sooner I guess. So what do the wise sages of VJ think?

Thanks...Carl

Is there any way to track it? If not I would request another packet then which ever shows up first you can use but you have both ends covered. Good luck

Yes there is tracking but its really terrible. This is what it says:

2008/07/15 00:15 International shipment has arrived in the destination country
2008/07/04 03:11 International shipment has arrived in the destination country
2008/07/03 01:47 International item has left Canada
2008/07/02 16:06 OAKVILLE, ON Item accepted at the Post Office

Notice the huge gap? My guess its that it was sitting on someones desk until they realized - oh crap this needs to be in California. So I don't know if its going to show or not. Of course, the other question is what do we tell the embassy - that we were stupid and please send us a new one? Do you think they would take pity on us? We'd even pay for a courier to have it sent. Or just play dumb and say we never got it? Course then they might say - what another few weeks and see if it shows

We had a package held up for quite awhile that kept showing it was in Canada from the states but didn't get it for weeks after that. Come to find out it had been held up in customs most of that time. Very frustrating. I'm not sure how you would want to word it when you called the consulate to request a new packet? Maybe its happened to someone else here? You may want to ask in the Canada forum they are always helpful:)

CONGRATS!!!!

I've moved into my friend's house. That's the first of three moves I'm having to make this year.

I figure that with each move, I can clear a little more stuff. I was doing really well - I condensed all of my books, DVDs and games to just eight 2.2 ft3 boxes. I've put three sacks of books (all decent quality, as I keep my books nicely and don't bend the corners or edges), so about 100 in all, in the charity book box. I put a huuuuge sack of clothes - I threw out absolutely everything I haven't worn in the past three months - in the charity clothing box and I've got another huge sack of ornaments, jewellery boxes and knick-knacks in the boot of my friend's car, again ready to be sent to a charity shop. It's all really lovely stuff, but it's stuff I really can't afford to take with me. I also threw out two sacks of rubbish and a sack of paper recycling.

However even with all that gone my remaining clothes, toiletries and kitchen ware (I have a few sets of really lovely glasses I'd like to keep) took up another eight small bags or so, so I have to work on getting that sized down, too. I'd ideally like to end up with no more than ten boxes and a suitcase. I reckon that'd cost around £300-400 to ship (about 22 cubic feet) which may be doable.

Ooh good on you Rachel clearing out your stuff! Gareth shipped I think close to 18 boxes of stuff along with a bed haha! Think it cost him just under 1000 pounds. He used ummm Atlantic something or other....

Ughh I got the worst cramps today and do not want to be at work! Gotta love it aye?

I am so checking USCIS constantly to see if they have put July's processing dates up yet....as soon as they do I am calling AGAIN.....at this point Gareth and I are just hoping and praying to be together for Thanksgiving this year!

Tomorrow I get to have it off my mind a bit as Gabby's Grandma is keeping her over night so I am headed out on the town with a girlfriend of mine since it is our towns 2nd annual Bike Time weekend. Can you say Beer tent galore? heh heh....Gareth is all worried i am gonna pick up a hairy biker LOL

Well hope all are doing well here!

Ok so I couldn't help it and called again LOL.....I got a different lady then I did last week but pretty much same answer "Your case is still in security checks ma'm" Then I said "Is there anyway of knowing when we will be done with that?" and she said "Just depends on how many cases they have to review"

Ok so why is it March people are already through though?!!?!?!?! ARGHHHHHHHHHHH so irritated.....Think it will hurt me if I call weekly now? LOL....

Oooofff we just cannot take all this waiting it is so hard....so wish he could come visit me since no way I could visit him until Christmas time but we are too scared to have him try and visit since well he didn't make it in the last time!!!

I can't even imagine how tough it is. Just know all of us here are sending you happy thoughts every day. Enjoy your time out with the girls... have a beer for me too!

Courtney said it all..... still hoping to hear good news from you, but at least , have a good time tomorrow!

Rachel, I have to say you are quite organized!!
The good thing about moving in and out is to see what you're still using. I am impressed with what you've done already.
Me, I haven't pack yet....even I keep telling myself I should start! Actually, that's not true, Josh already came back with one suitcase full of my stuff......but there is still so much more!!
I am lazy about packing, but I need to start going through my stuff, and see what I will keep, throw away or give to charity too.
My worst worry right now is more about selling my car! I really need to sell it, so I won't bother any of my familly to do that for me. Well, I hope someone will buy it, and buy it soon!
Anybody interested in buying a car?

Well those USCIS folks posted new processing times and it now states January 17th......our stuff was posted to them and they say on the site that we got NOA1 on Jan 18th I believe it is.......so wonder if this means I have to officially give them one more month?! ARGHHHH anyway I will call again next Thursday or Friday and see what is up.....

On happy news front we ordered my engagement ring finally!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I hope it is as gorgeous in person as it looks online! I am in love with it. Center stone is a diamond they have made blue and then white diamonds on the side set in white gold. I LOVE it! Gareth doesn't want me to wear it until he is here to put on my finger but I told him that is not fair as I am sick of people looking down at my empty finger when I say I am engaged LOL....what do you all think? haha He said I will prob wear it then take off day he gets here and stick inthe box LOL....said "Maybeeeee" hahah....
Ooooh and I will post a pic of it hang on....



Oooh I am sooo in love with it! Hahahah! Gareth said my band better only cost 50 cents now hahahahah

The first two moves, not so fun... The last move, fantastic. I'm happy things are moving forward according to plan.

Exciting times reading about what everyone is doing.


Beautiful ring sunny!!

very pretty sunny

Thanks guys! :-)

Rachel, I'm glad you finally have an interview date. That must relieve your mind greatly. And yeah, they're oddly efficient at the medical place...except for the X-ray technician that left my husband waiting for 40 minutes in the X-ray room! My sweet husband was too polite to go looking for him, and was SO afraid the whole time that he'd screw something up somehow. I have never talked through such minute details as we did through this process (like, literally, line by line through EVERY form, and why didn't I include THREE pay stubs instead of two, and blah blah blah).

And sunny, I love non-diamond rings (at least not as the main jewel) and yours is BEAUTIFUL!! Congrats. And keep the faith...those bastards at CSC will be done soon. I'm really appalled at how long it's taking you. It's criminal.

Our visa arrived this morning, so we're all set for him to fly out on Sunday, which is a great relief, especially to his mind, which is prone to excessive worry anyhow.

And of course, he paid $70 for the fastest courier option, and it wasn't even necessary. He could have saved $40 and still had it in plenty of time. Bastards.

Its a wonderful ring Sunny, I see that you choose your favorite blue

We received two seperate letters from the NVC stating that they have sent our file to the consulate in Vancouver. One is dated 7/11 and the other 7/14. Anyone else receive two letters? Probably nothing, as long as it has been sent!

Also, when I spoke with the NVC last week they stated that they sent it out on the 9th. It's been 9 days. Is there any way to find out if our file has been received by the consulate in Vancouver without being too much of a nuisance? We're just eager to get Packet 3 and get it back to them ASAP. With our wedding October 3, the sooner the better!!

Congratulations on getting your visa!!
I sorry to see your husband had to wait 40 mns!!!I cannot believe the person who took care of him didn't go see him earlier!!!I guess they don't know how stressing that all process is for us! but hey, now it is all from the past! and you have your visa!! Yeah!!
In France, the embassy ask you for a fast reply enveloppe to have our passeport back with our visa. It only cost me around 20€.
I am happy for you guys, to finally go home together.

Sunny, I LOVE your ring, it is gorgeous!!! I understand, you must be pretty impatient to finally wear it!!

Open this site: http://track.dhl-usa.com/TrackByRef.asp?nav=TrackByRef

then try putting this on the reference slot: EXP 09 JUL 2008A

then click track button... it will take you to the track result summary page... go to page 3, i saw one for Vancouver Canada and it says: shipment DELIVERED!!! most likely your papers are in that bulk.

CONGRATS.

Sunny, it's BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE IT!

Do hope you Gareth will be able to put it on your finger soon. I won't be able to wait either, if it was me.



CONGRATS! Happy reunion soonest.

Hello everybody! I am stuck at home today: I am waiting for a package that Bryan sent me, it contains everything for the co-sponsorship of his parents. It is supposed to arrive today and it will require signature, so I'm not going to leave home. Sadly they usually deliver the mail in the morning, not the afternoon. So I'm a little skeptical. I'll probably receive it tomorrow.
On a lighter note, I got my wedding dress back from the seamstress yesterday!!! I didn't take any pictures, so, sorry you won't see it now. It feels so good to finally have it with me! And I found a dress that will be perfect for the party/reception after our courthouse wedding, so, yeah, yesterday was a good day (also, beach the afternoon and dinner with my best friend the evening). next steps: sorting all my stuff and find out how to bring everything to the USA, and I need to find a veil too... I don't have any accessories for my dress...
Enough talking about me!

Sunny, this is a beautiful ring!!! Lovely!

Rachel, congrats on moving to your friends' house! For me, it has been hard to get rid of things. I am going to try to bring everything inside two suitcases, nothing more. What a challenge!

WaitForever, you should just call the embassy and tell them the truth: that your fiancee was visiting you at the time she received their package and that you had it forwarded to your place but that you haven't received it yet. You are probably not the first person who did this, in the same case scenario, I am sure we would have done the same thing.

Blake, (not sure I answered you when you wrote your post) that ex is a jerk! I'm glad everything is back to normal now.

Good to hear Peter has his visa, Cheryl!


*huuuuugs*! I'm doing fine! With you on the cramps, though - ugh!

Still keeping my fingers crossed for you and Miss Yoko.


That is a beaaaaautiful ring! I love the blue! (Hurrah for having a blue stone! Mine's sapphire, though). I wouldn't be able to wait to wear it, either!


Yes! And thank you, Blake. Here's hoping the next couple of months pass quickly!


Hurrah for finding a dress for the party! I'm so putting off shopping...

Two suitcases would be a miracle! I'm not too concerned about fitting all of my clothes in one suitcase - that is doable - but I already think I've made enough sacrifices regarding books and DVDs. I'm not planning to unpack at least 8 of the boxes at all - the contents I all want to keep, and I think the few hundred pounds of shipping is worth paying to save the hassle of selling/re-buying.

It IS good to get rid of things, though, and to see your possessions slowly condense down. Good luck! I'm going to be doing more sorting this weekend. After I thought I'd 'cleared' my room I still managed to pack another 5 bags yesterday. Mostly food/toiletries, but still!

Other than clothes, I am going to bring around 15 CDs, 8 books and 3 Dvds, I'd like to bring my two teapots and cups, and a few computer stuff. Oh yeah... my laptop too, my clock (2 year anniversary gift) and my wedding dress...

I finally received the co-sponsor documentation!!! yay!!! I'm all ready (though still stressed) for my interview!!

Yeah, it is good to be continuing forward. Olga has moved over to be with her sister and her husband just so that she feels completely safe. We're down to 54 days now until the interview in Kiev and I'm busy getting her son's room ready as well as my never ending list of other fixing/painting/replacing work. Soooooo much to do... but it is happy work because it is for US. This weekend I sleep.......

I still have gaskets lying about from various explosions

Thanks so much everyone for the ring comments! I am soooo stoked heehee! Cannot wait to see it and wear it and then of course have my man beside me wearing his ring as well!!!

So good to read everyones updates! Cecile awesome about the dresses! So exciting cannot wait to see you in them!

Rachel you have a blue stone too?! AWESOME! Have you posted a pic already if so I am drawing a blank ooofff haha! Would love to see it I love pretty much all blue gems and stones and such! I just like blueeeee! haha.

WOw Blake cannot wait until Olga is just there safe with YOU!!!

We got another touch already this morning..........sigh sigh sigh not getting hopes up for sure...........who am I kidding of course I am!!!!!

I believe I've posted the ring twice before - once here and once in Off Topic - but if no one objects I can certainly post it again.



It's titanium and chunky, which suits me and my style really well. Soo light and comfortable to wear - feels very natural on my finger. I hope yours does, too!

Blue and purple are my favourite colours, especially for jewellery!

i was checking the time processing time of CSC now they ae working on JAN. 17 . well hope they work for real. so we will able to have more NOA2 next week. good luck to all.

Thanks, bevs! I hope that means good news for our poor stragglers, too!

That's a beautiful ring Rachel - I love colored gems as well. Saphires and Ruby's are the best, but don't quote me on that because it'll be a while before I have that kind of money saved.

Sunny - was that a touch from a phone call you made or was that one done all on its own. I've read that you'll often get a system generated touch from a phone call that occurs when they check your file. But, and I think this is my own speculation, if it is a touch generated outside the phone call then that's a good sign that it comes from an actual human being.

Good morning The consulate gets it within 2 days by DHL so they would have it by now... It took about 2 weeks from NVC to Levi getting packet 3 so you should be getting it very soon Levi faxed it back July 3 and got his interview date on the 15th for August 27th. I would think October 3 would be very reasonable to plan for!

Some people don't know when to leave a party...

Sunny time to go

Ooh yes I remember that one now and i love it! I was looking at one really similar in fact!!! Gorgeous! We are looking at titanium for Gareth






Yeah hope that means they finally finish up ours!!!!!!



I honestly think it is just from my phone call yesterday It seems every time I have called it has generated 2 touches....so yeah I got a touch yesterday the day I called and then again today (prob as they put it back bottom of a pile!) I sure hope and pray as always though that it is them actually working on our case!!!

I'm really rooting for you two, and all joking aside, this has got to be very difficult. When your approval does come through, you should both recognize how much you've earned it and how special you two really are. Keep the faith, it'll happen!

Aww thanks Blake soo much! You guys have no idea how much you help me keep it together somedays! And believe me there is going to be major celebrating when we get approval and even more so once he is actually here in my arms!!!!

So sorry to see how long you are having to wait on your NOA2. It does not make sense, it doesn't take this long to do security/background checks. Hang in there, I know it is hard. Someone told me when I start this whole process to take it day by day and focus on the end result because the process can be so overwhelming. Good luck and Best Wishes!!