What can I do if they dont?

Thank you!
Yes, I hope I will be able to fly at the beginning of August


It shouldn't take too long. Do you have a way to contact them?

gaye, i know what you mean about family. Russell's family, who are all so wonderful, yet scattered a bit, own a couple of amazing properties right on the ocean in NZ and we even have a home to stay in there but he is coming here because of my family. We all still live within a couple of miles of each other and see each other regularly! I actually own the home my mother grew up in on the street named after my family, where many of them still live! We've been through a lot and as much as I love NZ, I can't imagine being away from them right now. Besides, i'm a HUGE sports fan and Boston is title town!!!

Have a safe trip to see your family. I'm sure it will be tough for you all but we live in a world where we are connected to each other no matter where we are so happy thoughts along the way! Thank you for the well wishes as well. Trying to be patient here!

Yes, Amanda, we want photos! Awwww your mom sounds so cute! Congratulations sweetie.

Sal, they better send your visa soon or I may just have to take a trip to London!

Happy Monday January!

Hope everyone is doing well today!!!

My trip to visit my two sisters were shortened.. after 11hours of travel--BY BUS-- i received a text message from my kids school directress saying my son fell from a guava tree before the class started and they need to bring him to ER coz he might have broken bones.. and true enough he had fractured his lower arm and the ortho had to put a cast on his arms.

I received the message just as soon as my mother and I got off the bus so I just saw my sisters and then said goodbye right away then, head back to our place-- which meant i had anothe 11 hours of sitting in a bus.. it felt like I travelled 24hours straight, my butt ached from sitting. But all's well, my son was discharged from hospital yesterday and the doctor said he will remove the cast in 3weeks time.

Well, it was another huge expense (with more than half of the bill taken by the orthopedic doctor) but I am still thanking God coz at least it was only minor fracture and it was on the arm, not on the head. It could have been a lot worst.

I'm glad that it was minor...praying for a quick mend!!!

[quote name='dbears' date=

Wow... I am so glad it is minor. How long will it take to heal?
Too bad you couldn't spend more time with your sister though... Next time tell you boy that when you're away, he's not allowed to climb on trees

doctor said he will remove the cast in 3weeks so I hope it will be completely mended by then or before we go to the states...

I told my son he is not tarzan... and he is not superman either so he should always be careful in climbing and jumping from trees or big trucks... my father did not help when he narrated how i got my collar bone completely broken when i was little (too much climbing trees)

as a mother, I am sometimes torn between being so protective and allowing my kids to enjoy their childhood to the fullest... climbing trees is one of those things that gives more joy to being a child... when i was a kid, no matter how many times i have fallen from the tree, i would still go up and climb again and again... so, i guess, no matter how much i want to prevent my own kids from climbing and falling, i will just have to take what happened as accident... i won't stop him from climbing another tree as long as it won't be a very very tall one.

I do want to protect my kids from getting hurt in anyway but of course they will never learn if I shelter them too much. GOSH, every mother out there could relate to how hard it is to strike the right balance between healthy protectiveness, being overly protective (which stunts kids emotional growth), and not being protective enough (which could endanger the kids life).

Such is the angst and joy of MOTHERHOOD.

Oh no! I am glad your son only had a relatively minor injury but what a shame for you. Also, I am not a mother, but I can understand how hard it must be to strike that right balance. You sound like a wonderful mother, though!

I once did spend 23 hours on a bus and I detested it - so cramped and uncomfortable, and unable to rest at all!

as ricky said, boys will be boys.

thanks for the compliment rach.

Hope everybody is having a great day today.

I am so out of my mind with WORRY !! My financee has sent in the Packet 3 information to the Embassy at the End of APRIL and he brought it in himself last week.....I called the dept of State telephone number and they say they dont see ANYTHING in their system saying he turned in ANY thing

What should we do now ????????//

Please help

Was it sent with any kind of tracking? You may be able to find out where it is from that. Did you make a copy of the packet before mailing it in?? I would send in a copy and put in a note saying that the original was lost in the mail. Or contact the Consulate directly - maybe it's in the depths of the mail room still..

Gaye, just reading this about your son! Poor thing. I'm glad he's ok and on the mend. I hope your tushy is too! You are so right about motherhood! My son was just two when he broke his femur (largest bone in the body / thigh) and he had to go into a full body cast for 8 weeks! Now he's a real boy's boy...(hehehe it was purple and had a hole cut out for his tushy and diaper) but he simply tripped over a basketball and turned it wrong. So, it can happen even if they're not climbing trees. I'm with you tho... let them climb!... but never stop saying 'be careful'. Nothing is easy.

pattilou, I can't understand if you're saying he sent it in last week ...or in April. If it was April i'd send another packet to them with the note as Liam and Sam suggested. If you sent it just last week perhaps it's just not in the system yet? Best to see if you can get a response from the other London folks. Hope it all turns out.

Yes, it's not only when they climb trees. I had a friend in highschool who went to play basketball the day before the exams and he fell and broke his two wrists! He had to wait 4 more months to take the exams.

On another thread, pattilou said that they first sent packet3 back in April, and that last week her fiance brought another copy at the embassy. I would say that if he gave the packet to them directly, there shouldn't be a problem. They may have gotten it (obviously since your fiance gave it to them, from what you said) but it may take a while to update their system, and that's why the Department of State didn't see anything.

hey guys sorry i havent been around much! Paul is here now We have the marriage license and we are having the wedding on the second of july. I'm excited woooo. Hope everyone is well here, we will be starting the AOS soon, greeeeat hehee byesss

Congratulations you two!!



We just got our marriage license 2 days ago and our wedding is scheduled for July 25th!

congratulations to both of you.

Gaye, love your new pic!!!

So you mailed it, it got lost, and then he brought it in by hand?

We sent ours return receipt requested, and was told by the State Dept that THAT was the reason for our delay. Seems that if you send it regular mail, it gets sent in bulk straight up to someone's desk. If you use any sort of 'alternative delivery method', such as signature required or hand delivery, it then sits in the mail room to be checked in separately.

For us, it added a week or two to the process. Just keep calling the State Dept everyday to check. They don't mind.

Congrats, you two!!! I can't wait till Darren is here; we'll be doing the same stuff...

Have a great reunion!!!

Woohoo wont be long now Dawn, Im happy for you..

Thanks...It's a bit overwhelming the amount of cleaning I have to do before he gets here...cleaning out his side of the closet today...

July 2 is a great day to get married coz it's my birthday ....

I wish you a lifetime of marital bliss, pls do share some pics



WOW! Another July wedding. CONGRATS in advance, share pics pls




Thank you Kim, i don't know what pic it was though, been tinkering with sig, avatar and personal photo a lot the last days




Karen, I'm happy you didn't have to wait tooooo long to get your interview date.... soon you guys will get the visa and be together finally.




YAY!!! you only have a week left to prepare for Darren's arrival.. happy reunion you guys.

It seems almost all of us January filers are just moving along great, some are already married, some preparing for the ultimate reunion, some waiting for visa and some preparing for medical and interview. It gives me great feeling to hear stories of medical and interview passed, visa recieved, weddings and reunions. We have all gone through a lot and we all deserve our just rewards ... but I am a saddened by the fact that there are still January VSC filers who have not received NOA2.

Herolmounia and Keith&Lynda, I hope and pray that July will bring that long overdue NOA2 for you. Pls stay strong.

On a lighter note, it is morning of June 30 now. It is my Ricky's 46th birthday.. and it is officially one year since we got engaged .. I will be celebrating tomorrow though, July 1. I will be buying a cake with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICKY & GAY" (i just don't know if i should put from: myself )... july 2 will be my 31st birthday. Last year, he was here and we did have a joint birthday celebration on July 1 (the day in between our birthdays), i figured it will be best if we join our birthdays from now and in the years to come, it will mean only one cleaning afterwards .. it is just too bad we will be celebrating thousand miles away from each other this year... but at least this will be the last year and we are looking forward to many years of joint birthday celebrations.

Congratulations to everyone!

I agree that Gaye's picture is very cute! :-D

Well come Tuesday, we've all made it another month! That's officially 6 months since we are started our journey.......I wonder where we will all be in another 6 months!

thanks for the compliment nicole.

6months from now.. hmmm, some would have their temporary green card already, some would still be waiting.... some would be working and some would probably be expecting babies. YAY!!!

Dawn, you must be getting so excited. Very happy for you!

Gaye, all your pics are adorable. The put a smile on my face. Happy Birthday(s) to you and your love!

I hope the rest of you guys are either living your bliss or close to it!

You make me blush .

Thanks for the birthday greeting, it is early morning of july 1 here so I will be cooking a special birthday dinner for me and ricky (though he is not here).. my birthday won't be until tomorrow but then JULY 1 is OUR birthday--the day in between our birthday.

I am excited to be with Ricky soon but at the same time feeling really sad that I would be leaving my family, the friends i have known since grade school and the warm weather here, the beaches and the Filipino foods that i won't be able to find in the US. Yes there will be asian stores but they wont carry everything... yes the beach is just less than 2hours ride from ricky's home but it would be cold to go swimming, esp. in October... I am just starting to miss home even though I have not left yet. I am just glad that Ricky understands and as early as now, he has been preparing things to make me feel more at home when me and the kids get there.

congratulations to everyone

how are you Gaye? hope everything is fine for u
as u know we are still waiting any news hopefully they ll answer us in july the 9th. pray for us Gaye please!!
thank u very much for the support we really appreciate it

Hey Everyone!

I just thought I'd share this tid-bit of information....

We bought a car for Marco! While that seems to be cool......don't forget you aren't going to get a reasonable insurance rate on your foreign spouse. Since he just got a US driver's license, the rate is as bad as a 16 year old! I was completely shocked! I was expecting my insurance to go about 1.75x what I was paying now....and it went to 3 times it's amount.. NOT COOL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GAY TO YOU AND RICKY!!!!!

MAY YOU HAVE MAAAAAAANY BIRTHDAYS TO SPEND AND CELEBRATE TOGETHER!!!

CHEERS

Ate Gay!!!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Happy Birthday Happy Birthday to you!!!
How young are you?
hehehheeh I sing the line while typing!!!

God bless you!!!!!

Nicole, I didn't know that about the insurance either. Bummer!! And I have a teenager about to drive too! I think i'm going to buy everyone a bike!

Gaye ..big hugs to you my friend. I can't imagine leaving the world I live in now but I do know that if I had to... I would do it for my love. I hope you soon realize that this is just a new adventure for you and your kids... that will bring you many new things and new people to love. You'll probably be able to order anything you want/need online if you can't find it around you. We're quite spoiled here in case you haven't heard. hehe

Hope the rest of you January's are blissfully wrapped up in the arms of your love and enjoying your new lives together.... or close to it!

I've read others talking about how they had to call around in order to find an insurance provider who would consider the foreign fiance(e)'s previous driving experience. I don't know if it will help but I am going to have Liam get a copy of his driving record and bring it with him when he arrives. We can show proof of his history.

But I am scared to see how much my rates go up too!

Thank you very much Rina and Ninfa.




I do consider it as new adventure and time to know new people and also time to be with the love of my life. I will surely be making new friends and creating my own family... but of course, I would never forget the family that God has given me: my parents, my siblings, nephews and nieces... and i'd definitely miss the close friends i have had since gradeschool, the one who has seen me and been with me at the lowest points of my life... those whom i have shared silly crushes and cartoon favorites to real relationships heartaches and real life issues... those whom I have shared so much laughter and tears since childhood days.... well, at least my kids will be coming with me, if not, i don't know if i would really be able to leave.... but of course, i'm doing this because i love Ricky, and it was a choice i have made the day I have allowed him to enter my life and my heart.

aside from my little boy's minor accident and my being one year older, everything is ok with me here.

i'm with you in praying that you may receive some good news from USCIS soon.... really soon.

Stay strong always and do keep us posted.

Hope you had a nice birthday Gaye

Thank you Sally, I just spent it with my family with my 3 year old nephew insisting I should have a cake coz there is no birthday without a cake, thus he forced his mom and pop to buy me a cake and he didn't want us to start slicing the cake without singing happy birthday first

Aww thats sweet, it is Jays birthday on the 4th and if it wasnt for that medical rubbish I would have been there with him for it, but never mind many more birthdays to celebrate together.

Very true.. it was Ricky's birthday june 30 (he also proposed to me june 30 last year)... it was possible for us to be together on our birthdays since i already recieved my visa last month but due to financial constraint and my kids insistence to stay here longer, we were forced to postpone the trip till sept... but as you have said, there will be many more birthdays to celebrate together.

advance happy birthday to Jay!

happy birthday to you Gaye
hope nothing dangerous for ur little son's accident
of course i am here everyday to hear the good news

Happy Birthday, Gaye!!!

mounia: the accident was minor, just a little fractured bone on the arm and he is already on his way to healing now. I do hope you will get the NOA2 before the month ends.

OH DAWN MUST BE SO EXCITED!!

Darren is coming home tomorrow!!!!!

Are you freaking out and cleaning every inch of the apartment? That's what I did for about 3 days....

Hence me not online...

I work all day tomorrow (not that I will be paying much attention to it...) until 6:30 and his plane comes in at about 8. I'll pop in to let you know how his POE turned out (he's stopping at JFK first...)...

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!!!

HAPPY REUNION DAWN AND DARREN

Thanks so much, Gaye!!! After all this time, it seems a bit surreal...he'll be home tonight. I keep running it in my head over and over, but it hasn't sunk in...

Maybe it will tonight...

Congrats Dawn, wait till the washing increases you will know its real, ha ha.

Have fun.

Congratulations Dawn!!!!


I know exactly what you mean about it feeling surreal; It hasn't hit me that Damian's not leaving in 2 months. He always used to come and stay 3 months so once the 3 months past and he's not leaving maybe it will hit me or maybe us getting married will make me realize!