Hi there!
Good afternoon to you to!!!
A April filer got approved in 55 days!( Check the Igor’s list) I was stunned!
You know how important it is to find THE dress?! But thinks are going just fine!
Ya… I’m glad that Laura will be the one wearing the wedding dress
Do you think that we will be with our love ones in September or October?

I'm very hopeful we will get the visa by October at the latest Alex. Come the 20th June, that will be one month. Time will soon fly in. Have you thought what will be your POE when you do fly over?

ALEX: I PMed you the link to my civil cer. dress, and my email... Feel free to send the pics, would love to see the dress . My mom just suggested I get my real wedding dress (for our big U.S. wedding) here too, but man our salons are just so unkept and tiny, plus they charge you for merely trying on the dress. I guess I'll try U.S. just for the experience of feeling special and important Lol.


William: I am also hoping for September/October. Kiev embassy is not that bad with appointments, plus am already gathering all my paperwork.

Wonder how is Jen's Bo doing with his A/C troubles...

I’m seeing a lot of approvals from Vermont in just one week! A k-3 filer got approved in 3 months!
K-1 =4 approval’s
K-3 = 3 approval’s
GO VERMONT GO!!! That is sooooooooooo overwhelming!
I don’t know but I’m having a wonderful feeling!

William;
Same here… the American embassy in Stockholm is not that busy.
"Have you thought what will be your POE when you do fly over?"
It’s not going to be charlotte that’s for sure, it was horrible! They asked me way I was coming back to America so soon and I told them the truth, told the officer that I had a boyfriend! And I had to spend the night in Jail!
Not just that, I had a round trip ticket to Stockholm (Sweden) and they only send me half home, When I got to Germany I realized that my other ticket to Sweden was missing, we called charlotte airport to ask about the missing ticket and they laid that I was the one that had lost the ticket! so I had to buy a new ticket to Stockholm!
It’s amazing the way the POE officers behave! Sometimes I get feeling that they think that they are GOD or something?!
It was a nightmare.

Ana;
Your dress is so elegant! Love it!
Will send you some pics of my dress late on…

OMG!!! Are you serious??? Never heard of such horrible treatment at POE!!!! That is simply un-human!!!! Yeah, def. shoot for another place to enter the country.

I can't agree more with the fact that officers at the POEs are abusing their power. Last autumn when Dave and I were coming back from vacation in Jamaica they questioned me about our relationship and rudely asked what I was going to do after my visa expirations (I still had good 3 months to go on my J1). Not only that, they questioned Dave as if he was some criminal!!! That was Orlando. I'm really thinking JFK for my entry, since I can get straight tickets there and they should be more accustomed to dealing with immigrants and K-1s.

Oh, and thanks for the dress compliments

Hey guys
I'm alive lol...and so is Bo I think his roomate did get the a/c fixed, but i'm not sure how long it will last...he's counting down the day until he can get into our new apartment (July 1st is the move-in day). I think it's going to be a huge shock to the system to be down there in July for me..it gets warm here, but not as humid as it is down there! A/C in the apartment will be my friend for sure. I'm just looking forward to being there in the winter and NOT having 6-10 feet of snow on the ground for 5 months...I'm so not a winter person, and considering I'm Canadian, you would think i'dve dealt with it by now lol

I was reading about POEs and I have been nervous too about getting stuck somewhere...so I've been paying a bit of extra money and driving to Halifax (nova Scotia - 4 hr drive and where I used to live) because they have US pre-clearance there I go through US customs in Canada, so, if for some reason they refuse me, I won't be stuck. It's a brand new part of the airport, it only opened 2 years ago. I think when I fly down on my visa, I will need to stop at immigration at the US airport, but customs will be taken care of.

When I flew down in May, the Custom's officer asked me a ton of questions, and when he asked me if I was coming back, and I said yes, he said "because you know if you don't come back to Canada, you will really screw things up for you and your visa" - DUH! I don't know why he would think I would jeopardize a visa-in-progress

I haven't even started looking at dresses yet..the nice stores for dresses are in the bigger cities, and with the price of gas lately, I haven't wanted to drive too far. I think I may look when I go down to NC in July. I'm getting something simple for the first wedding, and I'll wait a bit to pick out my dream dress for the ceremony back in Canada

I really really really hope they are quick with teh NOA2's for us...you guys seem to have fairly quick embassies, but it's looking like the wait time for Montreal is about 2-3 months I just keep hoping and wishing, and keeping my fingers crossed as often as I can!

<3 Jen

Hope all of you are doing well. Just checking in to see the latest news. I think sometimes its better for me to just put things out of my mind rather than talk about them. So, anyway, just wanted to stop in and say hello to you all, and hopefully we'll all have this go faster than any of us think.

Have a great Tuesday,

Ryan

HI Im a may Filer and waiting is driving me insane. I cant wait for news. My fiance is leaving late August and I was soo wanting to go with him but looks like ill be heading after him. I cant wait to know so wedding plans can be made :-)
Good luck the rest of May Filers hopefully its a productive time over in the states at the moment :-)

Jen: Glad to hear that Bo's AC troubles are over . To be honest I can't wait to get back to Florida heat. That's the weirdo I am. When I left the States in December (after almost two years spent in Sunshine State), I honestly thought I would die from Ukrainian cold, and it must not even be close to what you get in Canada! Lol. My mom makes fun of me for constantly dragging my huge pink blanket around the house.


Ryan: Sometimes I wish I could put it out of my mind for a bit. Tried taking extra work, did not really help just got me really tired .

Melzy: Welcome! Just stay positive and remember even if he leaves in late August, you'll be joining him really soon. I mean if all goes well, we should be approved by September!

Well, I have a fun business trip today, which I've been putting off for almost a week now, so better get going. Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday. Let's see if this week will bring us some April approvals. They gotta make room for us

hi Ryan,

Im a May filer - my fiancee filed everything through the attorney in indianapolis and we waiting for progress from him- the Waiting period is killing us but im hoping all goes well, i new here and i thought i could elate to wht you are going through.

Jaqib

After going through the timelines on here and PM'ing everyone who hadn't been online for a while and got another approval out the system for March, YAY!! So here is the definitive list as of 5.00pm my time!! And VJ is estimating a processing date of NOA1s with a date of March 17th. That's just 3 weeks away from our date dancin5hr.gif

March - 90 filers, 62 with NOA2 (69%) and 28 waiting.

April - 62 filers, 2 with NOA2 (3%) and 60 waiting.

May - 44 filers and 44 waiting.

June - 12 filers and 12 waiting.

Godspeed us all!!

Cheers for the update GrahamandMegan. Lets hope the March and April filers get there NOA2 ASAP. Make us some room for the May ones lol.

I would happily make way for all your May filers believe me!!!!!

Yay that is great to see Graham Thank you for the update!

Hi to the new May filers on this thread too!! good to see us all sticking together!

I'm really really hoping that VSC will fly though the rest of March and April's because its not the wait for the NOA2 I'm worried about now...it's the wait for the interview date in Montreal...right now their average is 116 days thats 4 months. One of the longest waits at an embassy. So thats what's driving me nuts right now. If I put all the dates together, my interview would be awfully close to Christmas, and gawd knows how many weeks they have for Holidays at the Embassy I was hoping to get down there by the fall...I guess I might have to change my plans

Trying to keep my head up Hope everyone is doing well this week. It's cool and rainy here, and supposed to stay like this all week...suites my mood I guess LOL What's everyone else up to?

<3 Jen

How is everyone doing today?

Jaqib;
Good luck and welcome to Vj!

Ana;
I’m sorry I will send you the pictures! I’m just trying to keep my self away from the computer as much as I can!

Ryan;
Nice to see you back!

Melzy;
I understand that the waiting is driving you crazy! But try to keep your self busy! And be patient.
Good luck!

Graham;
Thank you for the numbers!
Good luck my friend!

Jenni
Hi, I’m so sorry to hear that! Maybe things will change and you will get your interview before Christmas! Good luck!

Alex No worries, take your time .

Jenni Am SO sorry!!! All I can say, let's hope that it will change really soon. We still have some time untill approvals start coming in for May, so maybe your embassy will speed up too!!! Are you starting to prepare for your trip to see Bo?

Jaqib Welcome and thanks for joining us .

Graham Many thanks for the update! How is your lovely mother-to-be doing?

She is doing good thanks Ana&D. She sent me the first noticeable belly picture with the bump showing!!!!! Next appointment at the doctor's is June 30th, so hopefully heartbeat time then?

How are you doing??

Thank you Graham for the update and thank you Jenni and Bo for sharing the average days for Montreal.. that is where ours will take place also. Its nice to have a vague timeline to expect. I am looking forward to the USCIS website updating processing dates this month too!

Hi everyone. I just want to thank you. FInding this site and knowing there are poeple all going through the same waiting and watching process is comforting! Also when you got the NOA1 in the mail was it sent to address in the states or the fiance in the other country. We got the reciept number off the cheque but still havent recieved anything in the mail???
Ps thanks to everyone who is so welcoming :-)

Hey all

Ana: Thanks...I know it's still a faster process than some have to go through, and I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that things will speed up a bit.
I am getting ready for my trip - 32 days I'm trying to stash some money away so I can buy some things for the apartment when I'm down there Work has gotten a bit busier and I have friends coming home for visits soon, so hopefully the next month will pass quickly. Bo is going to Minnisoda next week for a week of training for his promotion position, so a little less contact for a couple days, but the training will pass his time quickly as well
How is your business trip going Ana?

Shiri: Where are you from? I wish I was able to be processed through Vancouver, but I'm on the East Coast, so Montreal it is...from what I've read on the forums here though, the people in Montreal are really great, so I don't think I'll be nervous at all going into my interview

So I was thinking, we should do a random question every so often, to pass the time..so my question to you all is: What things will you miss about your home country after getting to the US?
My list is as follows:
Tim Horton's Coffee
Canadian Beer
Poutine!
Canadian Music & Maritime music - ie: drinking music
fresh atlantic salmon
being close to water (i'm gonna be in the middle of NC - 3 hr drive to the coast and right now I live on a river , grew up next to the Atlantic)

I'm sure there are a bunch more things, but those are the things that pop out.

<3 Jen

I'm in the writing mood today eh?

Melzy: THE USC will get something in the mail to say that they received your petition (NOA1)..It will probably take a couple days from when the cheque is cashed, but as long as it was cashed and you have your case number, everything is good Give good ol' snail mail a couple days Good luck and keep us posted!

<3 Jen

HI Jen,

I love your idea!!
What things will you miss about Australia after getting to the US?
My list is as follows:
Vegemite (i will be taking with me though)
Farmers union Ice coffee
Our fantastic wines and wine regions
Chicken Parmy
Coopers Pale Ale
Heading to the pub for drinks
A summer BBQ with family and friends! :-)

I am from Colorado and my husband lives like 32 km south of Montreal.

Melzy - my Melannie misses cooking stuff. She's obsessed with the fact she can't finda copha????? and chocolate ripple biscuits.

Another approval yesterday guys, from March 31st so almost an Apriler!!!!! And the Processing Times changed also, so we moved down to 74 on Igor's list. Hopefully more March and April people will be getting approvals the rest of the week

March - 91 filers, 63 with NOA2 (69%)and 28 waiting.

GRAHAM: Thanks for yet another update!!! I also noticed that we moved up on Igor's list. This one was a huge jump: from 172 to 163 . Glad to hear that Megan is feeling good. What an exiting time for you guys! So sorry you are not able to hold her hand through those little things! Hopefully, it won't be much longer for you two.

As to me, doing just fine. Getting a little frustrated by the wait, buy, hey, who isn't .

Jenni: My business trip was fun. I was visiting my team from another region (like province in Canada) for a charity project I was monitoring in one part of Ukraine. They did a great job and it was fun to sit down and relax with them after two months of crazyness and travleing all over the place. Feel so accomplished. This project is like my last gift to my country before I move away .

Decorating your first appartment together! How exciting is that? If you need a place to look for cool things, be sure to visit IKEA (a lot of my friends are raving about it).

Melzy: I used to work with a girl from Australia and she brought us some vegemite - so tasty!

I will miss:
Ukrainian bread
Salty fish they make and I seem unable to find in the States
Sweet cottage cheese (all I could find was salty!!!)

A word of advice to everybody, once you make it to the U.S. be sure to check out World Market. It's an amazing store where they sell wines and beers and foods and decor items from around the globe. I used to go there so often to pick up German chocolate (my guilty pleasure).

Thank you for the reply, Jaqib. Welcome to this site. Lots of great people here to help you pass the time and keep you informed.

Speaking of keeping one informed: Jen, I had never checked into the average wait at the Montreal Embassy. Needless to say, I was not expecting that type of wait.

Maybe drop Chantal an IM sometime and fill her in on that? That's not a conversation I'm interested in having with her right now.

I've had her study-up on the feedback from past interviews at Montreal. I think you both will pass that with ease.

I'll be having me some poutine by the end of next week. I'll be there 10 days over the 4th on my vacation, so at least I've got that to look forward to.

Thanks to all of you who dropped me well wishes.

Bye for now my friends,

Ryan

Another approval today to add to the list from March......

91 filers, 64 with NOA2 (70%) and 27 waiting

Keep your spirits up everyone, its coming soon.......

Yes!!! And Graham and Megan, I love the dancing smiley you used!

Good afternoon May filers. Looks like not alot is going to happen for this month. Surely July will be a better month for the May filers. Be nice if a few us get the NOA2.

Keep your chins up, it's getting closer as the days passes.

May eh? Add me to the list. We sent in the forms May 5th (to Vermont) and got our receipt/number May 16th.
Good luck to all of us! Yay!

Good afternoon!
so happy to see that many approvals … How is everyone doing?
Any touches ?

Tarantula welcome and good luck !

William
I truly think that July is going to be a magical month!
How are things with you and Laura?
I totally agree with you, there is some members that can be so disrespectful to others! I’m So happy to have all of you here!

Good luck on the journey Tarantula.

Lara is doing really good Alex. She might be heading to work in Houston, Texas for a few weeks as it's busy there. She is planning one more visit to the UK before I move over, all depends on her schedule. Hows things with you? Hope your well.

2 more approvals from Vermont today!
Go Vermont !!!!

It wasn't me then lol.

William;
Your time is coming!
Houston Texas, that’s a city that I have to visit one day!
Things are just great, we are still waiting for my brother’s wife to get birth , planning my next trip to Portugal and Spain, And watching all the soccer games. Need to keep my self busy!

K1 = 7 approvals this week
K3= 1 approval

Is this good William?? 7 approvals in one week? I strongly believe that july is going to be magical!!!

Hard to say if it will be Alex. I'm sure a few May filers will have there NOA2, how many, It's hard to say.

When do you think that the first may approval will come?
1 approval a day is not much.
A have a question for you?! Can I do the medical exam before my Noa2 or do I have to wait?

Morning, guys Hope everyone is doing well and finding things to do to stay busy! Am really delighted to see all those approvals coming in for March... next thing we know they'll get through April and it will be our turn.

William: I was abou to give up hope for July, but who knows? How is Laura handling the process?

Alex: You certanly can try and get your medical done. You just have to figure out if they need your case number. If they don't - go for it, if they do, you'll have to wait for approval. I read couple times about ppl getting medical done ahead of time. Now, also consider if you wish to use the same medical for your AOS to see about the experation date.

So, any other under 26 years old ladies out there pissed off about recent addition to the vaccination list? I mean the Gardasil, aka the HPV vaccine? The cost of that one does not make me happy .

Hi Ana!
Should I call the American embassy?! For more info?

“Now, also consider if you wish to use the same medical for your AOS to see about the experation date.” Oh ! that was something new! Ok
How are you doing?
Did you see the game last night?

Me doing good Am not a football fan, so haven't seen a game since 5 yrs ago when my firends dragged me to the stadium to watch Dynamo(Kiev) vs. Arsenal (London!). Well, you must be happy the game is finally becoming popular in the US!

As to your medical, contact the clinic. They should be able to provide full info. As I gathered, medicals do vary from country to country.

Hi guys! Nice to see approvals for the March filers!

So Gardisil has been added to the list?! Thats horrible - 500.00$ for me here and I don't have health insurance to help cover the costs of my prescriptions
They have such great timing...my hours have been cut back severly and most likely will not improve in the coming months...wonder what tree will be nice and grow me all that extra money?

I hope everyone is well and I'm really hoping that July will be our month...either that, or I hope the waiting times for Montreal go down!

<3 Jen

After seen ppl asking so much about Gardasil, I did my own web-research, and yep, it's on the list. I found a specific for civil surgeons instruction website on how to fill in paperwork for AOS. And recent addition to the vaccination list is HPV. Now, if you do it in the US, supposevely it will cost you $120 per shot ($360 for full course). Looks like one shot should do it for AOS, though. Doesn't really makes sence, since one shot is pretty much useless. For me, I doubt they even do it here in Ukraine. I was going to get all my vaccinations done here, but now considering recent events in the country am really scared. We recently had a high school student die after he got certain vaccination, while many others got really sick...

Hello
Good morning!!
Where is everybody ??? It’s time to get up!

It's afternoon where I am Alex lol. Very quiet here, just checked the USCIS website, still no touches yet. Bugger I was hoping to see things moving. Oh well, have to be more patient.

I too am obsessed with looking for touches. Praying today will be the day. I know approval is unlikely but a 'touch' I think would reassure me.

Still CSC doesn't open for 3 hours and 47 mins

Hi William!
No touches here either ! Oh well…
Two (Vermont) K3 got approved this morning… This a good start for this week!
How are you THE GREAT WILLIAM WALLACE ? that movie was great btw, it was on TV yesterday here!

"Still CSC doesn't open for 5 hours and 47 mins"

I was counting wrong its only 3 and 40 now sorry

That’s hilarious!
Do you know when VSC open?