Becouse consular department in Belgrade Embassy is still closed I had my interview in Zagreb Croatia in wednesday and I was APPROVED!!!

It was very quick, just couple of questions and fingerprints. They didn't ask for any evidence.
I got my visa next day.

Thank you VJ and goodluck everybody!

Congratulations!

yay!! Great news!!!

China and Communist countries are a different ball game. My fiancee had the paperwork for Packet 3 ready, so we have that sent in. Probably 2-4 weeks until interview date if all goes well.

Hey guys, can you tell me or post me a sample how the employer letter looks like? thank you in advance and congrats to everyone who received their visa.

I had my employer type something up like this:

To whom it may concern,

Julie has been employed at Bank since 4/13/98. She is employed full time. Her current poisition is X and her annual salary is X.

Sincerely,

x

Bank Human Resources

So anything along those lines will work.

Thank you Julezabelle and thank you CBR!

Best wishes for all July filers!

Update time!!

NVC received our petition this week and sent it to Montreal TODAY!!


I don't know the exact date they received it. It was really hard to understand the girl and I was too excited about it being on it's way to the consulate I didn't care!!

Going to update timeline & signature now, woohoo!!

Congrats CBR!!!! You can track your package to Montreal now! How exciting!
I got my visa approved today too!

Woohoo Babblesgirl!!! I'm so happy for you. How did the medical go? Obviously fine lol. Are you going to write up a review of your interview? Was it as easy as everyone says? I wanna hear all about it !

I have been tracking my package since I figured out how earlier today, and it's already at the airport. It's going to be fun to watch its progress now.

That's awesome CBR. You're gonna have that packet 3 pretty soon!

Congrats Babblesgirl.

so nice to read all the good news.

Congratulations yourself!! I see you sent packet 3 back yesterday, that's awesome .

Congratulations!

Congrats Babblesgirl. And thank you Julie

Thanks! Yeah, I can't tell you how happy I am that that step it out of the way! It arrived at the Montreal consulate yesterday morning and it just makes me feel so relieved. Scott got his medical booked too. I am really happy. Just very, very curious as to when the interview will be... I actually don't think it would be quite as bad if we knew, had more notice. If I knew for sure it was going to be in 4 months or whatever, at least I could plan for that. Ah well, that would make too much sense!

YAAYYYYYY!!!! I knew it would be soon!! Didn't I say?!?!? Yippee!! Things will hopefully move faster now



Gratzies!!! I knew you 'd be fine!!! *runs off to search for review...*

I wrote both medical and interview reviews. They were both fine. Medical was a bit dodgy for a while but nothing serious and the interview was just a lot of waiting around.

I'm really hoping montreal pulls off an speedy interview date for you.

Thanks everyone for your congrats!!

Congratulations!



9 more days!!

Congrats all around.
Charry completed the CFO Seminar that is a requirement of the Philippines before being allowed to leave.
I have also finally purchased her tickets to the US.
She arrives in San Francisco (SFO) on April 4th at 6:40pm PDT. This is her POE.
She arrives in Boston (BOS) on April 5th at 6:00am EDT.

Visa in hand. We fly today back to Las Vegas. We will be home by 7pm tonight. Finally!


cant wait for the AOS now.


Chris

Welcome home Chris and Gretchen!

hey you guys is it ok if i have been on my job for a short period of time like two months? and i make about $20,000. the reason is because i got in a car accident on october of last year and i was off work until january 25, 2008. I lost my old job because of the accident so i started a new one on January 24, 2008. And i have a doctors note and a police report from the accident as a proof so I guess my question is am I gonna need a co-sponsor because i've only been on my job for a short period of time even though I make enough to support My fiancee and I? please help and thank you in advance.

Isn't it?! I loved watching mine



YAAYY!!! I've updated and highlighted you on the spreadsheet



Oh Chris that is sooo great!!! I am so happy for you - and I know what you mean! AOS seems to be a breeze compared to this... of course I don't want to speak too soon

I haven't looked into AOS at all. It doesn't matter to me how easy or complicated the forms are; we won't be separated during it, so in that way I'm looking at it as being easy as pie.

Yes, pie.

No. It's a piece of cake.

*hushed tones*

and Jason brings the pie feud into another thread... there will be blood

CONGRATS!!! That's great news...how did it go?

Anyone looked into shipping into the US (from say, thailand)? Not a whole lot of stuff or anything but maybe like 1 nice sized crate?

With that asked....

Congrats..!!!!

I'm so happy for all of you. I suppose Lek and I could have sent the checklist and DS-230 Pt. I, the photocopy of her passport and the 2 photo's b/4 she actually got "Packet 3" from the Embassy since I was able to down load all of what she needed (and what was actually in Packet 3). By the time I started suggesting we do that... the thing arrives anyway.

I got the notice from NVC with our case number and notice that they would be forwarding the application to the Embassy within a week and 2 weeks later Lek told me that the package had come.

She received my shipment with my copy I129f and the I-134 and everything else on the 14th.
She is sending in the checklist tomorrow. She'll pick up her police certificate this Wednesday.

Her packet 3 from Bangkok Emabssy didn't include the Med Exam froms (I printed them all, including that instruction set of 18 pages, and included it in with what I sent her.

Is there any reason to wait until finding out the interview date b/4 going for the med exam? For any of you who've had the exam (in Bangkok) already did the doctor have the form and know what the process was?

I know what you mean - I have looked through it all once and it looks straightforward enough - you just have to collect evidence of a valid marriage - bills in joint names or bills to same address in each of your names to show you live at the same address, joint bank accounts - things that show your lives are entangled. And forms. Easy



I read it as a piece of cake at first so I wondered what you were on about!!! I was going to berate you for thinking that cake was pie but maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see

Okay, that means it's time for me to look into it then, perhaps. I was hoping we would marry and file for AOS as soon as he moved here b/c we want the EAD and AP as soon as we can get them. Which would mean we won't have anything in both our names yet. Hmm... I wonder if I could add his name now and fake it... lol. No I guess that wouldn't work since they'll know when he's activated the visa and all that.
*sigh*
*trudges over to AOS forums*

I read the guides on here - as I understood it you use the evidence for interview... but I may be wrong - let us know what you find out

Gratzies to babybluesusie who is flying home with her OH on 25th March They got approooooved!!!

I think you're right Jeraly, makes sense that the proof comes later for the interview. That would be an awful lot of scrambling to get names switched on accounts plus fill out all that paperwork, plus moving here, plus getting married. Too much!!

Babblesgirl: I really enjoyed your reviews and am so glad everything worked out so well for you!!
You're so organized I didn't think you'd have any problems anyway. Congratz!

Yes, after reading the guide and looking at the forms that need to be filled out, that is my impression, that you need that stuff for the interview stage. whew! It sure would be a lot of scrambling! So this is good. I hope we can get all the forms filled out early so that we can just get married and get the copy of our marriage certificate and not have to worry about too much else when we file. Two of our close friends just got engaged and we are both asked to be in the wedding, but it will be in Canada, early this fall, and we could be cutting our timing *really* close depending on when we get an interview. Just another thing to stress about! I'll probably get some flack for saying this, but I really wish they could do some sort of automatic AP for Canadians. I know it'll never happen, and would be unfair, and all that, but... one can have fantasies.

Haha - yeah I can understand though - it is so close in theory that especially if you live on the border it must be so frustrating to be so close yet so far!!!

Yep, exactly. I grew up in Michigan. My mom still lives less than an hour from the border. When I was a kid there were times we would take field trips in Canada. Depending on the airline you fly, you don't necessarily check in at the international counter, you're at domestic! All of these things contribute to our feelings about it, ya know?

Whereas I have an ocean to cross... I'm not sure what would be worse - being really far away and knowing it or benig really close and not being able to do anything about it!

Actually I prefer not having the ocean to cross. I feel for all of you who go months and months without seeing each other. Scott was here last weekend and he'll be here again this Friday! Being able to see each other more often is definitely worth the headache and annoyance we'll face waiting for AP. It just makes AP really really annoying!!

we got approved!!!!! i got back from albania last nite, what a wonderful trip it was...i met the whole family and got to see his country for the first time!!! oh, and the best part of course, adriano got his visa on friday!!!! he will be here on the 25th, i cannot wait!!! i will post more later, about the process and the questions and what not

congrats susie!!! that is so awesome!!

WOW...time is compressing! Lola's visa approved the 13th of March! Lucky 13! She was supposed to be able to pick up the visa the 15th but they are snowed under. Not important because she will be coming here the 19th of April. HOkey Smokes!! One month!!! I actually thought she would wait until May so I have to get on the stick! She has airline reservations and will quit her job the end of March. Our last conversation sounded different...I think we both realize that it is finally happening. I am not sure if we are relaxing or getting more nervous! Can't wait to see her again.
OH, anyone have any suggestions for things she should bring here? any special spices? or whatever?
thanks!

Congratulations to Sue and Adriano and James and Lola

thanks for all of the congratulations!!!

good luck to everyone who still has their interview coming!!!!!

im going to write my embassy review now, ill post it here when im done

The interview:

We arrived at the Tirana Consulate at about 8:30 am on the day of our interview (March 12th), roughly half an hour early for the 9 am appointment. The entrance to the consulate is quite strange, and is located in an alleyway. You will most likely have to ask one of the guards where to go for your interview, because it is a very obscure location. They had everyone (about 10 people or so) wait outside until 9 am, when they started calling people's names. They called the names one by one and the people proceeded through security (no cell phones, belts, cameras, etc). They would not let any US Citizens in at that time, they are only permitted between 2-4 pm Monday-Thursday. Adriano went inside while I waited (quite nervously!!), with his brother outside. There is a little caffe right outside the entrance to the consulate, where you can sit and wait for those who are interviewing inside.

Meanwhile, this is what Adriano told me was happening inside....

I don't have exact details, obviously, because I wasn't inside with him, but I will try to remember everything that he told me. He told me he went through security and then had to wait inside. They called him up and the officer laughed because she saw huge stack of papers that he had with him, and she saw all of the phone cards (probably about 200) that I had piled up in there as well. She knew immediately what they were and she laughed with him about them. I think this is when they had him do an eye scan, took his fingerprints and made him sign the paper that states everything he is saying is truthful. He also had to pay the $131 visa fee. They then told him to come back at 1 pm with a 5x5 cm passport photo. He came out of the consulate at about 9:45 am.

So we went to get the passport photo and did some other things as well. We returned at about 12:30 pm, and were the first ones there. Again, it was the same deal as that morning, we waited outside until 1 pm and they started to call the names again. Adriano went inside and this is when he had his actual visa interview. He said that the consular officer was a very nice American woman who spoke some Albanian. There was also an Albanian woman there with her in case the American needed some help with translation. She spoke to him in Albanian. I don't know the order of the questions, but this is a general idea of what the interview was like:
CO: Where did you meet Susie?
Adriano: Florence, Italy.
CO: Where, in the street?
A: No, in a bar.
CO: Was it a bar, a pub, a caffe, etc?
A: It was a pub.
CO: Do you remember the name of the pub?
A: Nova Bar.
CO: When did you meet?
A: 2006
CO: Does Susie speak Albanian?
A: Only a little.
CO: Do you speak English?
A: I only speak a little too.
CO: Well, then how do you communicate?
A: We speak to eachother in Italian.
CO: (now speaking in broken Italian) OK, then you don't mind if we speak in Italian, do you?
A: No, not at all.
CO: Did Susie study Italian in the United States?
A: Yes.
CO: And did she study in Italy as well?
A: Yes.
CO: What does she study?
A: Psychology.
CO: How many times has she come to visit you?
A: Three times in Italy, and she is here in Albania now.
CO: She's in Albania now?
A: Yes, she is waiting for me outside. I have her passport and plane tickets here if you want to see them.
CO: No, that's OK.
CO: Did you ever travel with Susie?
A: Yes, we took a trip to Naples.
CO: What did you visit when you were in Naples?
A: We went everywhere, to the city center, Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii.
CO: Do you have pictures from Naples?
A: Yes. (hands her a small photo album) The first picture is the best pizza in Naples.
CO: Wow! What a pizza! (calls over two other consular officers to look at the ridiculous pizza, it really is quite a pizza! lol) What do you call this pizza?
A: It's called 'Pizza Otto (8) Gusti', each piece has something different on top.
CO: OK. Where does Susie live?
A: Brooklyn, New York.
CO: Does she live alone or with family?
A: She lives with her mother and her brother.
CO: What plans do you have for your wedding? Do you want to have a party?
A: We want to get married right away and then plan a party, with family, for a few months later.
CO: Well, Adriano all of your documents seem to be in order, but you are missing certificates from the District Court and Attorney.

She then issued him a 221(g) for missing certificates from District Court and Attorney. The sheet of paper said to come back Monday-Thursday at 1 pm, once we obtain the documents, get the notarized and translated into English.

We went right away to the Gjkaten, which was just about to close at 3:30. We were able to get that certificate right away and we got the other one (from the Prokuriria) the next morning (they open at 8 am). We got them both translated and notarized, and then returned to the Consulate at 1 pm that day (the day after the original interview). This time we waited for all the names to be called, and then anyone who was back for the second time was allowed to go in. He went inside and came out less than 30 minutes later. He told me that he had spoken to the same woman that had given him his interview the day before. She took the documents and told him to come back the next day (Friday) at 11:30 am to pick up his passport, and she also told him 'buona fortuna!' (good luck).

Wow - lots of questions!! So cool that he is approved though!!!!! Gratzies! YOu must be so excited!!

yea, it was quite the lengthy interview, but he handled it like a champ!! thanks again

Thanks for the review Susie, I really enjoyed reading it.

glad you enjoyed it...i wanted to write a detailed account, because i know that when i read other people's reviews, i like when they tell the whole story...also, there arent many tales from the tirana consulate, so it was a bit of a mystery for me going in...hopefully this will help some future albanian interviewees

Very nice interview review, thank you Glad it went so well

Congrats!!!!