Well if my man would have been here then yes we would have done an August 8 wedding! hahaaha! So what number of marriage is this for you Blake? This is number 2 for me and LAST I agree!!!!

I told Gareth our new theme for our wedding will be "When Hell Freezes Over" since that seems to be when they are going to approve us and this whole process will be done heh heh heh!

They have all my info now in Cali I tracked it to make sure it got to CSC and it got signed for there at around 1030 am Cali time......now the wait for the status change....Gareth says he reckons I must watch paint dry to make sure it is drying properly with how much I track everything dealing with this process ha!!!

hi sunny bear,
i just want to make u smile today..i just got approved (NOA2) today and just to let you know i got a RFE a week and a half ago! so count today and in the next 1 and a half week, your NOA is in your email!!! good luck!!!

Well, if we'd sent off the petition in Sept '07 as I originally hoped we may have been able to make an August 8th wedding. Then again, money would've been really, really tight!

Wedding planning is interesting. It's going to be up to me to provide/pay for all food apparently, so I'm definitely going to have to stay until November/Dec and earn money.

I hope to have photos of my dress to show you soon! I've asked my dad to take some and upload them.

WE RECEIVED AN EMAIL TODAY WITH OUR INTERVIEW DATE!!! September 10! Valerie called me this afternoon and had me check my email. Sure enough, there it was.....

"We have received the fax you sent us and has updated your file for correct address. Your appointment letter for your interview on 10 September 2008 is being mailed to you. Please bring all your original documents along with their photocopy on the day of your appointment.


Thank you.


K Visa Unit

Vancouver, BC"

Such a relief!! It's a big weight off our shoulders, just wondering if we'd be able to get our interview date scheduled before the wedding. So October 3rd, here we come!!!

Congrats! Yeah - it's a real relief.

My brain's been switched off ever since I got the interview date...then I realised it's only 8 days away! Eep!

Aww thanks so much!!! CONGRATS On your NOA2 and I sure hope we are as lucky as we sure could use it at this point!!!






Oh yes I know what you mean about all the wedding stuff! I keep asking myself if I really want to spend the money on this but I keep saying "YES we deserve this after all this wait!" Luckily I just have a Credit card with 7500 available on it I am reserving for our reception haha.....although will suck to pay it off but hey what can ya do?!

Cannot wait to see pics of your dress!!!





AWWWW Awesome news!!!! Not much longer now and you two shall be together!!!! How exciting!

Hi everybody!!
I didn't go on internet since several days......there is so much going on!

Well, Cécile, happy birthday, even if I am a little late.
I am sure you had a great birthday with Bryan.
With the summer we had in france in July, I can understand the heat can be a big change!!!

Sunny, I hope what you send to CSC is going to be enough! I agree when you said that if we really want to, we can make up those "proofs" they're asking us!! I am really hoping you will get your NOA2 soon, so you guys can move on....

Hawkeye52, congratualtions on your interview date!!!!

and also good luck to Rachel!! it is going to come so so quickly!!!! believe me!
I cannot wait to see your dress as well!

Blake, I have to say you're such a brave and courageous man!!!
A flight from Chicago to Kiev must be quite long, and you will have to wait some more once you get there!!
I am just really impressed!! What love can make us do...

Well, about my news, I just arrived to Minneapolis yesterday!!!!!!
Leaving my family in France was harder than I thought to be honest.... I lived almost 9 months at my sister's (with my brother in law and my nephew), we were, and still are so close......I almost felt guilty to let them alone in France.
After my flight, I went through the POE, which went fine. The guys was friendly, and after five mns, I was done!
I also appreciate because there were such big lines for the visitors to go through immigration, and nobody in the "new immigrant" line. After our long waiting process, I enjoyed that moment!
When I passed the doors, my sweet baby was waiting for me with a huge bouquet of flowers!! We kissed, and I realised I was in front of all those persons waiting for the others passengers....I then saw everybody was smiling at us, so it was ok if they looked!!
We're staying right now at his mom's (we live 4h away from the airport), which is ok, they have such an amasing place (I always felt comfortable!), and I just enjoyed my time with my love.
This morning, I woke up at 6.30 am! and it seems it is also getting hot outside! I cannot wait to get back to our place, and see everybody back!! and unpacked my suitcases! and be all alone with my love!
You guys have all a nice day!

Oh Pam what an awesome update! How awesome of Josh's family to be so welcoming to you always makes for an easier transition! Ooh and I teared up reading about the airport reunion SIGH......cannot wait for that day for ALL of us here that have been seperated from our loves!!!
CONGRATS again on making it to your man!!!

Oh Pam what an awesome update! How awesome of Josh's family to be so welcoming to you always makes for an easier transition! Ooh and I teared up reading about the airport reunion SIGH......cannot wait for that day for ALL of us here that have been seperated from our loves!!!
CONGRATS again on making it to your man!!!

Well, first, Friday we went shopping and he bought plants for the apartment (it is what I wanted him to buy for my birthday). Then Monday evening we went to an Indian restaurant (http://www.indiapalaceairport.com) which was absolutely fantastic. It was on the 11th floor of a building and we could see the airport by the window, and that was pretty amazing especially when the sky became dark. And while eating and looking at this airport, I was thinking "ahahah this time I am not leaving anymore"
And next Friday we are having a party for my birthday, my arrival in the USA and the housewarming of the apartment should be nice. So far 20 people are going to come, half of them that I don't know.



Yeah!!! Congratulations! Yes, the POE at Minneapolis is definitely good. You are probably going to be tired the next days and wake up very early and fall asleep in the middle of the day At least that is what happened to me!

Just wondering, for everyone here who is married already or who will be married before the end of the year, do you plan on getting the SSN before or after the marriage? No-one seems to agree about this issue on visa journey...

Cecile - that meal sounds amazing! Wow! I'm jealous - Indian has to be my favourite food (although it's hard to choose...I love food in general, really).

Pam - Glad to hear you arrived safely, and what a sweet story! I hope you manage to settle in well.

Re. SSN...I'm going to try for after marriage, as I'd prefer my SSN to be in my married name and it seems a little pointless to go through the hassle of getting everything in my maiden name and then have to change it.

Number 2 for me as well - and the last!

Keep an eye out on the approval, I've seen RFE's mostly get cleaned up in a week or two. What are you going to do with all these highly developed tracking skills once the approval comes through? Positive energy focused on you!

Same interview date as I have - but since I'll be in Kiev I'll be 8 hours ahead (important so we don't detract from each others good energy ) Fun times are coming quickly.

Membership has its priveledges - as the commercial goes.

WELCOME!!!!!! I'm so happy that everything went smoothly for you and there were no problems, other than some red eyes. Pam, keep us up to date on the wedding plans and the adaptation to the Minnesota lifestyle. Just don't start ending every sentence with "Yah?"

This is exactly what we think too, but from what some people said on VJ, some workers at the SSA don't seem to know their own rules, which is a little scary! I guess we'll have to make sure we have all the proof that it is legal to do it this way!

For me and Olga, it is SSN application the day after arrival - the office is only a mile or two away. I figured that there's enough going on that the more things I can get off my list the better my mental health. Name changes can be done later if the number doesn't come through for the wedding. With my schedule, anything that can be done, must be done without putting off. But that's just me

If you do it too fast, they will have to manually inquire about your status to DHS and it will take 6 weeks at least. On the guides here they say to do it at least 2 weeks after she arrives.

Yeah your right, I remember now....... damn, add it back to the list......

I hope you wont have much problem flying with them.. they recently had huge strikes going on and apparently their schedules still suffer from it.


Same here, I hoped for the 8th of the 8th of the 8th, especially because of the chinese meanings behind the number 8.. but unfortunately, it's not for us

Congrats on your arrival

And yeah, Minneapolis must be one of the best POE's around.. I entered the US there last time as well and they were really nice... when I enter the states next time, I will either go over Minneapolis, San Francisco or Seattle.. I have read good things about SF and I've been to the other two already so either one of them should be fine


I see double

haha jk

That's a good question and something I still wonder about as well.. I really hope to have my SSN as soon as possible so I can apply for a driver license (mostly for ID purposes but also because you can get discounts in many areas when they know you're a resident in HI hehe) and such.

lol, that's just like I am... I seriously got to change that, though.. The island mentality isn't exactly that way

Radical change indeed. Mahala yowlie

Crap, just found out they changed the board meeting from Prague to England, which has overturned my careful planning and coordination of Olga's ticket out of Kiev on the 25th..... back to the drawing board and the airline websites

Patience, patience, patience, and lots of room on my credit card.....

Noo! D:

How frustrating! Don't they mind that people may have already bought plane tickets?

Obviously the folks in England haven't really got it all together on their planning. I've bought the first ticket there and back for the interview on the 10th. It's this next one that is going to be tricky because I have to coordinate (now) a trip to Bedford with a second leg to Kiev and then try and get Olga and her son on the same flight back to the US with me. Some of these airlines do NOT like to sell one way tickets, which makes this whole thing difficult and costly.

I'm just thankful that I hadn't bought these tickets yet. Something told me there might be a problem with the timing and Prague. As time goes on, however, things just get more expensive.

Congrats on the interview date I'm so happy for the both of you! It's such a feeling of relief when you finally get that date I'm so happy for everyone who has interview dates and also to those who have made it here! Steph I hope you hear back quickly on the RFE

Thanks everyone I sure hope we hear back ASAP as well!!! Fingers are crossed!!!

Blake what a PITA!!!! Best of luck to you sorting that all out!

I'm sure you'll hear back soon - CSC is usually pretty quick with replying to RFEs

My interview is a week today! Eep!

It's crazy to think that now both CSC and VSC are processing petitions from April. What a shame for all of the VSC filers who missed filing their petition in January/February!

Oooh Rachel I know you are getting excited and nervous! I am sure it will be cake! Yeah it IS a shame for ALL of us still waiting hahaha! ARGHHH. I am at least thankful that we got an RFE though!!! I look at Sarah aka estadia all the time and see still no even RFE for them and I feel so sad for them!!! I don't get what some of those adjuicators are doing over there!

I agree - how hard can it be to either say yes, or ask for further evidence if something really isn't that clear? How often did they have to look at your file I wonder before they finally figured that they'd need more evidence? It's all rather crazy!

Yay frankly I think we got assigned to a slacker and then someone else took over or they got in trouble so then as an afterthought they decided to send us an RFE to buy themselves a little bit more time since our congress man contacted them as well LOL....On their defense though I did send black and white copies of passport first time around and I am not sure I had the page of the entry back into US after leaving Uk and the pics we sent I didn't really have details written on them........so yeah they may have had legitimate reason but still I don't think that should have taken almost 200 days for them to decide they wanted more clarification! haha...

Just trying to be patient and get back to wedding planning.......heh heh....

My biggest nightmare is forgetting something on the checklist! Other than that right now I am not too concerned. London doesn't ask too many questions, I have nothing to hide, and I shouldn't need to revise (like you would for a job interview) because I know my own story pretty well!

However I just know that waiting in the room before being called to a window will be torture! There's something about waiting rooms that really gets to me.

You'll be fine, and I'm glad you know your own story. Very important, that part.

Well, my memory is pretty appalling at times. Fortunately because I had to write it down on the forms the exact dates and details have been ingrained into my mind, otherwise yeah, I'd be the kind of person to trip up completely by accident!

LOL me too Rachel which is why I am so glad Gareth is the one being interviewed since I would totally not know dates off hand!

Hi guys,

We received NOA2 2 months ago - yet packet 3 is nowhere in sight.

We called NVC so many times just to find out that they haven't even received anything from the CSC. It makes us really nervous..

Any advice on what to do? Any of you experiencing the same thing?

This seems to be happening more and more. I wonder what's going on now.

DOS may be able to tell you something but i'm not so sure. (202) 663-1225 Press 1, then Press 0 Others here that have been going through this may be able to advise you more.

UGHHH this really irks me! Sure hope it gets sorted ASAP!!! I just have a feeling this will be me and Gareths next optical oooofffff

I know I experienced something similar to this - we were approved (K1) on the 30th May and received the hardcopy of the NOA2 in early June stating that we would hear back within 2-4 weeks. After the 6th week had passed without hearing anything I called the NVC who did not have the file - I called again a few days later and they still did not have the file. I then called USCIS who were very inconsistent with their information - the first person was relatively helpful yet the second person was clueless and gave me less information than the first call.

However to be fair, the latter USCIS representative did suggest the petitioner (the US citizen) called rather than myself (UK citizen) so that's what my Fiance did last Friday and were told that the case had been sent to the wrong place. After much apologising on their behalf, we were then informed that it would be recalled and then sent on to the NVC in a week or 2 and that she would personally call us when she dispatches it.

Whether this happens or not remains to be seen but it is a huge positive step from being in limbo land a couple of weeks ago where nobody had a clue where our papers/case were. It's early August now and i'm kinda hoping to have my medical and interview done and dusted by early November which I think is pretty realistic but we'll see - I guess it depends how quick the turnaround is for the NVC to send to the consulate and for the consulate to then send the details on to me.

Anyway in a nutshell, the purpose of this post is to suggest that your case may also have been forwarded to the wrong department so get the petitioner to give USCIS a call!

Alex7892:
Thank you and thank goodness that you guys got the better USCIS rep! Hope that things will move smoothly after this incident.

Unfortunately for us, he called a few times and no one really knew what's going on - and they gave him the standard "wait til 90 days then you can send NVC a copy of your NOA2"

And guess what else we found out - they will actually wait 90 days from the date they receive those NOA2 copies before processing them...



Steph, thank you! I know what you mean - Cesar and I were thinking how "interesting" that this things are happening to us.
I'm certainly crossing my fingers for you too!

I really wish USCIS and NVC have a more cohesive and better system..



KimandRuss: thank you for the information. I will try to call them tomorrow morning.

Yeah, we had the '90 day' standard line too - I wasn't happy with that so I just called again. As you touched upon, it really is a lottery who picks the telephone up at USCIS - some are very helpful and others are very unhelpful.

Perhaps ask to speak to a manager of sorts and maybe you will get quicker answers or simply keep trying and eventually through law of average you will get put through to somebody who will actually go that little extra mile like we seem to have got.

I know how frustrating it must be for you but my advice is just to keep calling them on a very regular basis until you get through to somebody with a bit of common sense.

It is AUgust 8, 2008 here now, 4:30 PM as I am typing this... if we followed our original plan we would have been exchanging vows in a seaside wedding right at this very moment (http://www.pashweddings.com/weddingforums/...ead.php?t=10990). But then, we would be separated again for God's know how long after the wedding as we process K3 or CR1 visa.. 08-08-08 would have been possible for us even if we opted to go through K1 instead but it would have meant we would be financially hard up, and my kids would be resenting me for dragging them to the US too soon...

The kids have finally accepted that we will be migrating (they don't sulk when we talk about leaving their friends and leaving their comfort zone anymore) and they are getting excited for the move as days go by and financial wise, we have saved on the tickets prices for sept (it would have been double had we purchased it june to july) plus have also saved up a little more for the move and for the wedding so I guess our decision was indeed wise. Well, I guess October 12 is not a bad date to get married actually. (date was moved again for the umpteenth time from aug 8 to oct 3, then back to aug 8, then back to oct 3, and finally it will be oct 12)



Would love to see your dress Rachel. Mine is still with the seamstress, will be getting it on the 22nd.

It is interesting how in the western wedding tradition, the bride is expected to pay for the wedding.. here it is the opposite, the tradition is for the groom or groom's parents to shoulder everything.. but since more and more couple are becoming more practical, it is common now for the bride and groom to share in the wedding expenses.





We have not discuss the SSN part yet, will probably get SSN after marriage or after the AOS approval so we would not need to go back again and again.

Steph, i hope you will get good news soon.. and I hope everyone else visa journey is going smoothly... I am counting down the days till I could be with my big bear. 3weeks and 6 days left for us to see each other again.

Our case has resumed!!!! YAYYYYYY now let's hope for some action!!!!

Less than 4 weeks! This is going to happen very fast now! Congratulations


Yay!!! I hope this will go very fast for you now!

What the.....

What does that mean specifically Sunny - did you get another touch? If so that could be the big one........

Here's hoping it is.

Thank you! We'll definitely do so. We even requested a meeting at USCIS for Aug 18 so my fiance can come and talk to them in person!

YAY YAY! hope it'd be downhill from here!

Well our email notification said the case has resumed processing as of August 6th then there was a touch on the 7th and then another touch today!!! oooohhhhhhhhhhhhh please please PLEASE let 8/8/08 be our day for approval!!!!!