Hi There. I hope this is the right forum for this but I'm looking for some advice. My fiancee and I have our interview at the Jamaican Embassy in two weeks. I am nervous but I believe, God willing, he will be granted a visa. Please keep us in your prayers.

Questions:

I am finalizing the Affidavit of Support and I notice in the packet it says that Sponsors may ALSO elect to furnish a statement in the form of an affidavit sworn to a notary public. Isn't this an and/or thing? It seems the items that I would include in my own affidavit are already covered on the I-134. Thoughts?

He went to pay the $100 application fee at Paymaster. They gave him a receipt for payment and told him he had to return and give them his DS 156 and DS 157 forms. The embassy instructions say to bring them there. WHich is right?

The cover letter that outlines which forms to bring, says I we need Evidence of Support. IT mentions the I-134. THe last page of the packet (Counsar section) which talks about the medical exam says we need form I-864. After reading both, the I-134 seems to be the right document - but common sense dosen't exactly rule the day with these sort of things so I'm wondering if anyone knows how I should handle this.

We are scheduled to travel 8 days from the day of the interview. For those of you who have been through this process, is this giving ourselves enough time to make sure we receive the visa?

We are flying through Miami to North Carolina. I heard that some international airports will give you a temporary work visa. How does this work?

Most Important Question: What happens when he gets here. I have a really busy job and after the first few days I will have to get back to it. I am worried about him adjusting to the culture here. Meeting friends and family. Getting a work visa so he can start lookign for a job. Adjusting to the culture (he keeps asking me where "downtown" is and its soooo hard to explain that there are MANY "down town's". He is a really good man and he wants to be open to things - but his first response to new things is generally "noo saah!"

I'm curious about how your fiancee's made the adjustment and what advice you have for me and for us.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Tali,
Welcome to VJ.
Congrats on your upcoming interview!
I'm going to ask someone in the yardies thread pinned at the top of this forum to help you answer some of the questions that you've asked as some have recently received their visas from Kingston. Try PM'ing kimlbs and luvtravlin and Tenika; a few recent approvees.

As far as airports that give out temporary work permits(EAD's) only JFK issues them. And it's only good until his K-1 expires (90 days). If your POE is Miami, he will not receive one and you will have to wait until after you get married to file for you Employment Authorization Document(EAD); usually along with your AOS.

I think that 8 days after the visa has been approved is adequate to book your travel to the US. A couple of people had problems with the medical report getting to the embassy by the time of the interview and had to wait a few days once that arrived if they were approved. But I don't think any of them had to wait as long as eight days.

I think that all had concerns about our fiances adjusting once they got here. But most of us; like you, have to work and are concerned about leaving their fiances alone. From listening to others experiences I think home sickness and the inability and or freedom to get around like they used to was quite a problem. If you live in an area with good public transportation and things to do; he'll probably be ok. Do you have a WI community where you live? One of the things the girls have done to keep their men busy is enroll them in classes that they may need or want. Some purchased bicycles so that their fiance's have a little more mobility.
Almost everytime I talk to my fiance on the phone he asks "...is it true in America that...?" Some of the things that he has heard are so funny. Imagine when they see them for themselves. Your fiance will be fine.

Come and say hello in the yardies forum pinned at the top of the page is this section. You'll get a lot of support and some comic relief along the way.

Michele

Hey Tali - congrats on making it to the interview -- good luck, I'm sure you guys will be just fine. I'll try to answer some of your questions. Our interview was in October last year so if anyone has more updated information feel free to correct me:

1. For the Affidavit Of Support - you just need your information as long as you meet the financial requirements. If you don't, that's when you would want to get a sponsor.

2. The DS156 and the DS157 get turned in at the Embassy. As long as you have your receipt, don't worry about what Paymaster told you.

3. You don't need the I-864 yet, just the I-134... you have it right. You'll fill out the I-864 after he is here and you adjust status.

4. I would hope you have his visa within 8 days, a lot of people do, but it is hard to say. I know our visa got delayed, but others have no problems. Just in case, bring what you need so that you are prepared to change your tickets, that way it won't catch you off guard.

5. As far as I know, work visas are only being handed out in NY.

6. This is hard and everyone adjusts differently, but you guys will get through it. Come join us in the Yardie thread and you'll hear about our day to day happenings as our husbands adjust and you'll get lots of great ideas. You just have to take it one day at a time. Its hard work but well worth it! As far as him getting his work authorization and what to do next... you'll have to go through the AOS and EAD process. You'll do this after you get married. The first things you want to check out are getting his SSN and a marriage license.

Good luck at your interview Let us know if you have anymore questions.

Hi Tali-

It looks like Michelle and Julie gave you some good advice already. My fiancee and I just had our interview in Kingston on July 10. We were approved and my fiancee moved to California with me on July 19. He has been here 1 1/2 weeks.

So.......here are some answers:

1. Arrive extra early to Kingston embassy. Even with teh appointment letter, the line is huge. We had a 7:15 appointment and arrived at 5:30am.

2. Do not bring the DS 156 and 157 to the paymaster. Bring in to the embassy with all of your papers and the appointment letter.

3. You only need the I-134 for fiancee visa. You will need to fill it out and have it notorized at a notary public. You also need to bring your last 3 years W2 and tax returns along with paystubs and teh employer letter. They did ask me for all of these at our appointment.

4. They also asked my fiancee to spell my name without any help so just make sure your finacee can spell your full name without any trouble. (I know it sounds crazy but a lot of the guys have trouble reading and spelling and the nerves can make it worse........beleive me!!!!!!)

5. Traveling 8 das after should be fine. It just depends on when your fiancee had his medical exam. My fiancee had his medical in Kingston 2 weeks before our interview. Other people at the embassy who had medical exams just 1 weeks before the interview had some delays in getting the medical to teh embassy on time. This delayed their approval and visa.

6. We entered through Miami as well. The immigration staff at Miami was really nice and things went extremely smooth. However, we did ask about about getting the EAD stamp for employment and they told us NO!!!!! I think JFK is the only point of entry that actually issues this.

7. Well...the adjusting has been good for us. I went back to work already. However, my fiancee is an artist and a DJ and he has been busy painting and working. We already sold some paintings and he was able to get a DJ job at the local hotel/bar. He starts work tonight and they are paying him cash. The money thing is the biggest thing that I can see is a problem. They really want to feel like they are self-sufficient and not depending on us for EVERYTHING!!! They need to learn everything over again. My fiancee said he felt like a little child again with all the new things he must learn. By making his own money and being able to contribute, this helps a lot. Also, he is enrolling in some classes and this will help keep him busy until he can apply for his EAD. Try to keep him busy and find things for him to do during the day such as GED classes or computer classes........My fiancee misses his children but he said that he has not had time to get homesick yet. He tells me that I keep him way tooo busy.......He cooks dinner while I am at work and he has been cleaning and doing some laundy...However, he informed me today that I should not get used to that because he is ONLY doing it now to try and help me out since I am working all day and he is home..........

Well...feel free to aks if you ahve any additional questions. Good luck...chekc out the yardies thread.....we are a big family and we help each other out...I could not have done it without the help of these guys...

Good luck.........


So.......maybe your fiancee will

Thank you so much for your responses. I cannot tell you how much they mean to me. I don't have any family or friends that understand this - and I feel pretty alone in this process. I'm glad I decided to write. In fact = I was so excited when I read these this morning that I called my fiancee immediately.

I am using airline miles to pay for our travel and they don't have any tickets through JFK. But I will keep calling to see if they do. I'm even wondering if it would be worth it to purchase the ticksts - but this whole thing is pretty expensive so I'm not sure if I will.

I am off to church now but will write again later today. I still have questions and it just feels good to talk to others about this.

Thanks so much again.
Tali

It is up to you about rerouting through JFK, I know some of the guys loved being able to work right away. Michael really wanted to, but in the end I'm glad he wasn't able to - and so is he. There is really a lot to learn and adjust to once they get here and I felt that was job enough for him.

Like some others mentioned, getting your fiance enrolled in some classes does wonders. If you are close to anything - a bike gives him a little mobility so he is not completely stuck in the house. And depending on your state, he could possibly get his license within a few months after he gets here - then you get the fun task of teaching him to drive in the States That was VERY challenging!

I agree completely......paying extra money to travel to JFK for the EAD did not make much sense to us either. Trying to get out, find a job and start working a regular 8-5 job would be overwhelming to Duane at this point. Like Julie said, he has sooooooo much to learn and enrolling him some classes to keep him busy will help out a lot.

Yes, I can hardly wait to start teaching him how to drive in the States.......you might see us on the news...either we ran something over, argued sooo loud that you could hear us in New Jersey or mashed up the car beyond recognition!!! Yep, can't wait for that!!!!!

Sigh....

This would be a no brainer if I still lived in NY. There is tons to do in the city and lots of public transportation. He could even work "off the books" if he wanted to. But I live in North Carolina and there is not much to do (and what you can do, you can't get to without a car!).

I'm starting to think that buying tickets is the right thing. No I don't want to spend the money. And yes, I think he needs at least a month to get settled in. But I am really worried that if he dosen't have even the option to work, he will get depressed. I know he already feels bad about what I've paid to date. And he tells me all the time that the man has to take care of his family - and that I am his family now.

(BTW, I started to check out some classes. I really like the idea of a GED program. A lot of classes offered through the universities start in August - and that's a bit soon. But I will try tomorrow and see what else they have out there.)

Oh yea, another question about the Visa process. They said they courier the visa to you after you get it. The Jamaican postal service is AWFUL (dramatic understatement). So can someone explain this process and how long it takes?

Thx

Thank goodness it's not delivered by the JA postal service! (I sent two articles of mail from Dec 2005 and Jan 2006 that has never arrived. ) The visa is delivered by a courier service called Airpak and from what I've heard it only takes around 2-3 days after the visa is issued to be delivered. Where does your fiance live?

He lives in Negril on the beach.

The mail really is horrible. He never even got the packet. The embassy said they sent it end of April but we didn't know so we waited. Finally had to go pick it up end of May! Then the interview letter didn't come. He had to pick it up there as well. Every time its money for a rental car and gas to go get whatever they sent that he didn't receive. AFTER his trip he went to the post office for something else and noticed a misc bin. He asked them to check in there and sure enough, they found the interview letter. He was so irritated because he and his family have been living in the area for over 20 years.

Hey Tali....looks like everyone has already given you some really good advice.

Regarding Airpak -- they are really reliable. I have not heard of anyone yet having any problems. When you go over there (after the interview) they will give you options as to where to pick up the Visa.

My thoughts on the temporary EAD -- it's not worth it. If you file for your AOS and EAD soon after you get married you should get the EAD in about 90 days. I am not sure how employeers would treat the temporary EAD considering it expires 90 days after he enters the country.

More questions? Ask away!!

Yep....Mindy is right.......Airpak is extremely reliable. They have different offices around Jamaica and after you walk over to Airpak, you pay $8.00 (US$$$) and they will ask you were you want to pick it up. Airpak will then call you when your packaet is ready for pick up. You will get the Visa and a BIG brown envelope. Do NOT open the brown envelope. You will carry his x-ray and the Big brown envelope on teh airplane with you. When you get to immigration in Miami, they will take the brown envelope from you.

Also.....check into some computer classes through your local library or other GED classes. This will help keep him busy until he gets his EAD.

BTW..you are going to the interview with him, right????

Hello Tali, and welcome

You've already gotten a lot of good advice...and I highly recommend you signing your fiance up for GED classes. Anything helps with boredom!

Yes, I am definitely going with him to the interview. Made plane arrangements for 9 days after the interview. That's GOTTA be enough time. I want to come back with him so that nothing goes wrong. He has never been on a plane before and I'm a bit nervous about him going by himself. Not that he couldn't handle it - but I think there is someting about having a U.S. Citizen right there to smooth the process.

Great news about Airpack. I called the embassy 3 times and no one has given me a clear answer. Thaks again for the advice.

Good luck with the interview...I'm thinking about hanging out with the yardies, lol since my husband is from the Caribbean that is "technically" Central America...Belize...his culture more resembles Jamaican, he is rasta at heart but cut his locks ages ago...

anyhow, looking to make some VJ carribean friends...I am definitely getting my honey a bike and we are going to find an apartment as close to the local community college as possible, while being close to my work....I just started a new job so i won't be taking off time when he arrives here, but luckily my family live close by (near where we will be living in Northern California/bay area) and will probably help him out (and his Dad lives in Los Angeles).

Now, it's just a matter of getting him here! of choosing between the K-3 and CR-1--i heard our K-3 has already reached belize....but had those same fears of "idle time" and my husband finding work where he feels he can contribute to our income--very important to him as it seems it is to most Caribbean men. It's hard because I have a B.A. from a UC and he will just be starting out getting his degree (at least he finished high school!--which is a big deal in belize)...

Hey Belize,
Yes, Do come on in to the yardie thread. My husband is from Guyana, which HE consider also "the caribbean" and since it was the closest I could come to actually making friends in any of the forums, it felt so much more like family than anywhere else. So I just sort of came in and made myself at home.
I ramble and I am not sure anyone reads ALL of what I say, but I consider them all "family".

Jill

Right on...yeah i was reading in one thread that the wife had thrown a party for her man and cooked mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, etc...and i was sooooo thinking about belizean food haha....so my best friend went out and bought me a crock pot so i can still do my full-time job and cook all the comfort foods at the same time! ha...my mother-in-law is a cook, so i figure food will be a big way to stay connected to family and belize in general...the only twist in belize is that there are many spanish and mayan people, so there are lots of tortillas [which i don't know if people eat or make in Jamaica]....so I can make some serious tortillas...
Luckily, if I do the cooking, he does the cleaning, even when we used to live out in the bush with no electricity or anything and he'd be scrubbing away into the evening...hehehe...

U R Loved anyway.

bumping up for Ebony.