QUOTE: If both beneficiary & petitioner are attending the interview, both should be prepared to answer All questions.
It is possible that you will be asked the same questions at different times and your answers compared, so be prepared!
It is suggested that both beneficiary and petitioner answer all questions and then compare answers and eliminate discrepancies.


Thank you. Paola and I have been going over these questions every night. It sems that if they decide to they can try to trip you up on the exact same response from both of you. I think that is if they think fraud is involved. I want to be prepared. I have made copies of every document that we are, or have submitted in case they say we do not have "such and such". We are prepared to answear any question that we can imagine they will ask. If we do not have the answear, I believe it is OK to say "I do not know". My hope is that it is all in vain. I hope that we will be approved without a problem. I have compiled our evidence package and re done it three times now. I have made it fairly small. I have put on every page............"More upon request".
My goal is to make it simple and clear and have backup stuff if needed. I also have some reservations about a friday interview. It will either be that they are tired and want to get the week over with or they will be burned out and nasty. I want to be prepared for the worst. After all, we are dealing with a human being that has been given the responsibility to define between fraud and the real thing. Basicly, I am an nervous wreck. LOL>LOL.

Nice job about the embassy questions!!

THANKS A BUNCH!!!

And thanks for the translations! I will enter them as soon as I can find some time. In the meantime, the questions in Spanish can be found here:

Interview Questions In Spanish

You're welcome. We're all here to help each other.

Who's next to have an interview??

Let's get them fully prepared. We have a good track record going. I think we are undefeated for the year.

Colombian Clubbers 15 - Embassy 0

I'm pretty sure Buck's next, which is on 08/17. GO GET 'EM BUCK!!!!

Sweet!

Less than 3 weeks to go for Buck. Maybe its me but I kind of miss going thru the whole process. It was an incredible experience flying to Bogota and taking care of business. It was quite thrilling. Now I must live this thrill thru Buck. lol

LOL, you're sick!

Hey i'm serious! It's like a rush. Kind of like climbing Mt. Everest...although I have never done that. It feels good to go to battle Wendy and I hand in hand and to come out victorious. Diana, you'll soon find out about the rush. Any news or guesses when your interview will be??

Bill, great job on the Interview Questions. I got nervous reading them all over again! Glad to hear your family arrived well, despite the long bus ride. I apologize for the "if you love her comment", I didn't realize she was traveling with the kids, I'm sure that would have been very expensive and I can fully understand how this process can be a financial strain on all the parties involved. The good news is she made it safe and sound.

I'm not sure who had questions about the DS-2001 form, but that is the form that replaced OS-169 and the one we used when returning PK3 to the embassy. It should be good to go for anyone in Colombia as well.

Buck, you're up. We wish you the very best. One thing I can say is that having the support of all of you and being able to aske questions ahead of time gives you a good sense of security before the interview. At least VJers don't go in blind to what the process can be like, even though it varies for each of us. I urge you to attend the interview if at all possible and to enjoy Bogota, its a beautiful city full of things to see and do.

LOL

Dre

Lucho....................Are you nuts??????????? I really hope your not drinking this time of day. Did the elevation in Bogota affect you in some strange way? Man, I can not concentrate on anything these days. It makes it hard to work. I get all my stuff in order for the interview, think about it and then change or rearrange it all. This has to stop.LOL>LOL.
I am still a little concerend having a Friday interview, could be bad, could be good. I am convinced you are in a post eurforic (sp), means you feel good) condition.
I have made copies of 3 years tax returns instead of the one year as suggested by my lawyer, better safe then sorry. We have copies of everything in case something gets mispalced.
Paola is going to Bogota on Tuesday to get Pkt 4. We have the medical exam scheduled, all docs are completed. Plane reservations made, hotel reservations made. We go over everything possible every night, question papers and all. We are READY!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote: I urge you to attend the interview if at all possible and to enjoy Bogota, its a beautiful city full of things to see and do.


Oh I am going alright. I made that decision right off the bat. I arrive on the 15th, her interview is on the 17th and we will leave Bogota on the 24th. I wanted to have time to correct something or if the visa printer has problems. We should have plenty of time to see Bogota. I need to do some research to find some places to go.

No!!! Not drinking. I cant explain the feeling....you'll see once you get approved and are over here. The experience will turn into something great instead of something stressfull.

Buck, quick advice. Verify that no holidays fall before or after your interview date. American and Colombian holidays. We messed up because of this, but eventually worked around it.

Did it, thanks..............This is the only one I found in Colombia:

Battle of Boyaca Day - August 7th

They do seem to have a lot of holidays.

Wow! I go away for the weekend and all sorts of topics were covered! This board is turning out to be better than "lost"....you have to DVR a few days worth and then catch up.
Just to summarize what's happened over the past few days-

Buck gets invite to pick up appointment letter
Tony scares the public with tales of horror
Bill (y Bella) freaks out
Lucho hires waitress at mexican restaurant for legal counsel,
Dre makes it through immigration with hubby on arm
Bill finally gets 40 winks
Jediknight turns philosopher
Parkpapa shows his fatalist side...maybe not fatalist...apocolyptic? open for discussion. We could start a board on his comments regarding the certain death of colombian travelers.
Bill finds "Bogota adjucators guide to uncovering marriage based fraud" and posts questions."
Bogota changes the test
Lucho starts drinking
Buck calls him out on it

WELL! quite a weekend indeed!

A couple of stats to add some fuel to fire that all of you already (admirably) put out.

I love travelling around Colombia by bus, just like Diana, but yes it is dangerous. But not THAT dangerous. It's in the top 5 per capita (number 5 actually) of deaths in non-collision bus accidents (like falling off cliffs) but it's still only 1.2 deaths per million people. Lower than Iceland, barbados, and hungary...and about 1/10th the death rate of Ecuador.

Plane Travel in Colombia is actually pretty good relative to other countries. Colombia is 16th Per Capita, with 1.1 deaths per million people. The US is #1 in totals as you may expect, but it's also #11 Per Capita, more dangerous than colombia which you might not have expected.

What does this all mean? Well between the crashes and kidnappings (I have more on this in more detail than you could ever want) you might take the view that you shouldn't travel at all in Colombia and it's just plain dangerous. Well, here's a competing view....standing still is probably the most dangerous thing you can do. Colombia ranks #1 in deaths by earthquakes by hundreds of times other countries and (per capita as well at 18x more than the number 2). You may remember a few years ago the entire city of Armenia in the coffee district fell and hundreds died. Many places in Santander state have daily tremors. I have travelled many parts of colombia by car, plane and bus and on foot....and I have felt scared many times, some of it justified, some of it probably not. But when your lying on your back in your hotel room looking at the cracks in the plaster, you realize you have no greater control standing still than you do when you're moving.

I also got married and filed for AOS....However that wasnt me for legal council nor the drinking well (only on fridays)

Also,
Diana translates Lucho's wifes birth certificate for a million bucks.

I'm hoping the NVC completes our case either this week or next. Then they send it to Bogotá and that's when I'll know the date of the interview. I'm hoping for a mid-late September interview.

And no, this whole waiting aroung makes me too nervous to enjoy this whole thing. We'll see what I'll say after the interview. Stay tuned.

Diana

Well for the record, I really love to travel by bus....but I also love to being a jetsetter!

On one 14 hour bus ride through the Andes, From Quimbaya to Bucaramanga, I was trying to pay attention to the movie but kept looking out the window at the wheels that were dangerously close to the edge of the mountain road. "just watch the movie", silvia said as she saw me sweating and constantly shifting my eyes from window to driver. If we go off the cliff, you'll at least want to know how the movie ends. At that moment, I knew I found I found my wife

Lucho, glad you got the aos out before the deadline. I think it was worth it.

Only bus I ride is a chiva, vallenato group and all you can drink ron

Now we're talking!

GREAT!! Now I have to worry about earthquakes. Just when I thought I was getting a good handle on everything, this has to come up. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I rode the Chiva bus once. It was very dangerous, I was pretty sure I was going to die the next day. Me, not a big drinker and when I do it is beer. DO NOT give rum to a beer drinker!!
On the positive side, I was the only one on the bus that did not speak spanish. Evidently as the night went on I became very fluent in spanish. LOL>LOL.
Thanks for the humorous update

Oh man! That brought back memories. Last December my husband and I took a chiva ride all over Medellín and it was awesome. We were all drinking aguardiente and ron and singing the old "guasca" songs they were playing. Good times.

Two questions the CO asked me were what I did for a living (and the associated question of how I got so much time off from work to visit Colombia), and why I came to Colombia in the first place. I got the impression that he either was fishing to see if I had shopped for a wife or had shopped for something less legal. In any case, he accepted my answers.

Buck, in general, as an American, you want stick to the northern parts of the city and visit the center of the city in the daytime unless with your Colombian SO. Avoid the southern part of the city, avoid taxis that are already occupied, and be as vigilent as you would be in any large US city. There are plenty of wonderful and interesting things to see in Bogota - and the people are a lot more courteous than what you'll find in this country on a daily basis.

LUCHO......eppppa papa!!!! I'm with you on that...and keep the Guaro pouring....

Parkpapa...do I have to review the reply to button again? WHY did you copy all of the questions in your answer...LOL.

OjosAzules....I fell out laughing with that DVR post...you're right, one day away from this group and they get married and knocked up...you missed Byron's baby news...he got his fiance pregnant...or was that last week?

You guys are the best....

Dre

Yo Byron, you're MIA.

Buck,

parkpapa is right, the people in Bogota are extremely polite and pleasant. I didn't appreciate quite how nice they were until I came back to the US and realized how surly we are by comparison. I worry a little that the Colombianas will have a difficult time adjusting to that.

I am certain you have already read everything there is to read about Bogota. But let me tell you some things that I read that turned out to be untrue.

• They do not steal the manhole covers every night and sell them back to the city because stolen ones cost the city less than new ones. I thought that was hilarious when I heard it and told all my friends. I called it welfare, Colombia style. But I've been there 4 times and still have not seen a missing manhole cover.
• You will not be kidnapped or taken for a tour of Bogota ATMs if you hail a taxi on the street. I think that was happening at one point, but they seem to have eliminated the problem. I also would not get into an occupied taxi but to tell the truth I never felt the need. There are lots of taxis on the streets and the prices are reasonable, regulated and posted in the vehicles. However, if the taxi stops to pick up additional riders, start yelling like hell. I have never seen them do that and would be very suspicious if a driver tried it.

While I am on the subject of taxis, you might want to prepare yourself because they drive like crazy people. Driving for blocks at a time in the lane for oncoming traffic, high speed left hand turns from the far right lane and general weaving in and out of traffic at very high speed tends to make it difficult to relax. And don't bother looking for the seat belts. There aren't any.

Every building in Bogota has two addresses, one new and one old. If you need to go somewhere, try to determine in advance if you have an old or new address. It can save a lot of wandering around in the taxi. By the way, there are no street signs on the corners. With only a few exceptions they do not exist. The addresses with the street name(s) are on the front of the buildings and that is what you go by.

If you take the buses in Bogota you are braver than I am. I could not begin to figure out that system but the locals seem to know what is going on and simply flag down the bus they want. Some of the buses on the street look to be privately owned and very old. The TransMilenio (is that spelled right?) on the other hand is a modern above ground subway that seemed fairly straightforward. But when we rode 1/2 an hour in one direction, changed trains and rode 1/2 hour back to the station where we started, stopped to take on more passengers and then continued on to our destination I thought that we had really goofed up. However to this day Bella insists that was the only way to reach our destination. I'm just a dumb tourist, so what do I know?

In Bogota I feel as safe or safer than I feel in a large city in the US. With that said, every residence has bars on the windows, some have razor wire along the tops of the garden walls and vigilantes patrol the streets. The druggists and all the products in a phamacy are behind bars, even in the nice neighborhoods. All the evidence points to rampant crime, but I have just not seen any of it.

I think I read that you rented an apartment from Colombia Services. We stayed in their 3 bedroom apartment on Calle 22F in Modelia on my first trip. The apartment was OK and the neighborhood good to fair. I was a little nervous on the street at night in that neighborhood, but it was also my first time in the city. My only real complaint was that the kitchen was not well equipped at all.

Well that is enough travel tips from the guy who probably knows less about Colombia than most of the other people here.

I'll be in Bogota 8/11 - 8/17. Maybe our paths will cross, but unfortunately not at the embassy. It will be quite a while before I get to go there.

Chao!

WASSUP!!!!!!!!!! LOL...Hope everybody's doing good!!!!!!!!!! I got so caught up with reading , calling IRS for tax transcripts, taking notes, thinking of baby names ....etc..so much stuff!!!!!!!!..that i forgot that this Colombia club is like New York...Never sleeps or takes a day off!!!!!!!!!!! Just want to send a big hello to everybody!!!! I'm trying to be as prepared as possible for what lies ahead for me!!!!!!!!!!! my e mail is bh2074@yahoo......dont hesitate to drop hellos or to tell me if they have the magic shortcut to cut this process!!!!LOL.....take care everybody!!!!!!!!!! and dre you seem so happy, im so happy for you girl...Lucho..Siga la rumba!!!!!!!!!!!! Drink a bottle of antioqueno for me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regarding $ecurity down there...

If you can really tru$t your significant other then use Sure Money (Dinero Seguro) from the USPS. Most tellers, understandibly, are only used to using it to wire money to Mexico, but that's ok, and remind them that Colombia is on the list of receiving countries. It costs 10 bucks and what I'd do in the past is wire my girl a set amount up to $700 before traveling there and just withdrawing cash from ATMs down there from her account without the ridiculous international foreign currency transaction fee plus foreign ATM fees from here in the USA. THAT's what I refer to as protecting my wallet while in Colombia!!!

Oh gosh folks... its 1:26 am... I can't sleep and Mària will be here in Chicago with me in less than 7 days now!

GOT to clean up!!!



Actually now I know what will get me to sleep... got some Azul in the fridge...

maybe a Canelazo for a night cap?

Thanks for the tips folks. I am pretty familar with safety practices. I have been all over SE Asia and in other 3rd world countrys. They are all about the same. It is good to know about where the not so good places to visit are.
Paola goes to the embassy today to get Pkt 4. She could not find warm clothes in Buenaventura, so she will be a tad bit cold. She is going to stop in Cali when she returns tonight, go shopping for nice clothes, (and warm ones) for the interview before returning to her city. Lord only knows what that will cost me. LOL>LOL. That women can shop!!!! Going to the mall with her is a dreadful experience. I will post after she gets Pkt 4.

Andrea, yep, I know how to reply without the quotes. Generally, I include the original quote because there can often be several posts after the one I'm trying to respond to. If someone else reads my post, then they don't have to hunt around trying to figure out what I'm responding to or talking about. Assuming, of course, my post makes sense even in context!!

Ditto on the comments from Bill about the taxies and bus system. The taxi rides in Bogota are the same as they are in Buenos Aires and in Mexico. Apparently you take a special driving test to be a taxi driver south of Texas. If you fail, you're hired!!!!!!!! Lorena tells me that you are much better off riding a regular bus (with a Colombian citizen as guide) than riding on the Transmillenio. She says that all the pickpockets and thugs ride the Transmillenio because they know that's where the money is.

I've never seen a Transmilenio station that didn't have Police posted there, but yes, watch out for pickpockets when it's crowded. Rolos are very proud of the transmilenio, and it is a pretty great system. you won't die on it. Taxi drivers in Bogota make New York taxi drivers look like Ms. daisy. (not even morgan freeman!) but they're courteous and pretty cheap.

WOW....I have not seen the Colombia Club this quiet??

OK Byron, you asked for it YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.......................WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got off the phone with Paola, she has Pkt 4 in her hand. Now we know for sure we can attend the interview on the 17th. That takes alot of anxiety away from me. Whew. I have not quite arrived to the "Lucho" state of mind yet, getting closer though, no, wait...................I forgot, Lucho is a heavy drinker and is dilusional. LOL>LOL.

LOL...This waiting process is going to make a heavy drinker really soon!!!!!

Quiet huh...well I will chime in for a second. No horror stories this time. We are all international travelers so we have develped ways to be smart when we travel in another country. Lucho, I'm down with the chiva bus too. I have to try it out when I'm in Barranquilla for the next carnival . Keep up the good work Byron. I can tell you will be ready when the time comes. Buck, I could recommend a taxi driver in Bogota if you like. He was referred to us by my wife's good friend and we used his services for a week. I also referred him to another "Colombia Club" member during their interview time. He is a good guy and doesn't drive like Juan Pablo Montoya.

Colombian cab drivers can be pretty scary. The most troubling thing for me is that they often hide or remove the seat belts from the back seats. It really pisses me off when the cabbie is wearing his seatbelt, while he has removed the ones in the back. That ought to be illegal.

Not too long ago, we caught a cab at the Unicentro stand. The guy drove us to the bus terminal for a trip to Fusa. It struck me as very odd that he obeyed all the traffic laws and generally drove conservatively. It wasn't until later that we found out why. It was only his second day driving a cab.

Peace,
CG

Buck - glad to hear Paola got pk4! That is one less stress for the two of you.

I just wanted to chime in on the traveling tips...

I never carry cash in the US and found it pretty easy to pay with my debit card in Bogota. I used it many times. This seemed to me safer than carrying a bunch of cash.

By the way...here is Medellin's version of the Transmilenio:

Click to view attachment

LOL

Dre

As long as we are on the subject..............It is a good idea to call your bank and your credit card company to notify them you will be using card out of the country. It would be a bummer and ahassel to have to call back to the states to get your card reactivated.
I do not carry money, I carry a foto copy of my passport. I let Paola carry money, I figure that way I will not be the one to get knocked in the head or shot.

From my visits to Bogota ranging back to Feb. , I have always paid with my debit card and never had a problem...the one thing you should always get right is when they ask you how many installments do you want to pay, just say one....

I talked to Paola about the embassy tonight. She said while she was waiting outside many people came out that had interviews. She talked to many of them. She is sharp as a tack. She figured out the women that came out crying, were denied. The couples that came out, arms wrapped around each other laughing and kissing were approved. Every couple she saw was approved. Many single women were denied. Many of those were applying for a tourist visa. She tried to talk to many of them. End result...............I am feeling pretty good. There is an outside chance I will get a good nights sleep.
I really have been under pressure since the post about the VJ's being 17 and 0 for the year. I do not want to be the one to break the trend.

Dont worry i think your going to be fine!!!!!!!! Just be prepared and most important .... BE THERE FOR THE INTERVIEW!!!!!! From what i have seen it is very important...Im going to be there as long as God forbid there is some bad situation at work!!

Dont worry Buck. You'll be good to go by interview time. And if there is any doubt in your mind, any question, just go to an internet cafe in Bogota and your support group (us) will be there for you.

Look at the time and im still here reading!!!!! .....OK i have a couple concerns...1.With my fiance being pregnant, she wont be able to get the x rays or some of the vaccinations...will this be a problem????? 2. i want to have her start getting all the DAS certificates from now...is it too soon being that i dont even have the NOA2 yet??? 3. I have downloaded almost all the forms i need from here, my question is, i am going to send her copies of everything ( at least 2 of each ) are these copies good or do i need to have her wait for tghe ones the embassy sends ( of course God willing we get approved)?????? Well I am dead tired right now!!!! So i will check tomorrow for answers .. Thanks !!!!!!!!!!

Byron. If you have a copy of Pkt 4, I would start gathering all of the required items now. Depending on where your sweetie lives it can take a long time to get some of them. It took Paola over a month to get her Police record and over 2 months to get the Certificado de Migratorio. Once you applications leaves UCIS things can move very fast. If we would have waited we would not make the interview date. Good luck

Buck, she lives in Bogota but regardless im going to tell her to try to get the DAS things done this week...my only worry is that i saw somewhere that they have a validity period of 30 days...is this true??? and what about the question regarding the X Rays and the vaccinations??

Byron,

I will attempt to answer your questions.

1. Have her call the labratory in Bogota where she is suppose to get the xrays done. They will know for sure if it is ok for her to have her xrays done at this stage of her pregnancy. (i'm guessing no). Also relate to them if any of the required vaccines will be a problem.

2. No, it is not too soon to get all the documents ready. Have her get her passport first, certificado de policia, certificado migratorio, fe de baptismo, registro civil, passport style photos (get 6, not 4). Have the required documents certified or provide originals like packet 4 will instruct you. Get the vaccines done as well, if the lab/Dr says its OK. Make sure what is on her passport is exactly the same on ALL other documents (registro civil, fe de baptismo, etc). Such as, her date of birth, place of birth, all names must match etc. No discrepencies.

3. If the copies you downloaded are from the embassy website, you 'should' be good to go. Just have her verify that eveything is the same from online and what she receives from the embassy herself. I'm not sure if you will be sending the docs by courier or emailing them to her. Nevertheless, she can fill them out online.

Remember, the embassy has made some changes in the past month. Do not always rely on what we tell you and what is said on the embassy's site. We all have good intentions on giving you the best and most accurate advice, however the embassy often changes things around. The packet 3 and 4 that she receives will be what you have to go by.

Thanks Lucho, yeah im definately starting this stuff now!!!! Im a little confused when it comes to which are the forms from the embassy or better, which are the right ones for me to send to her....by the way , i am sending all the stuff to her DHL....i do have to have her call the lab and the x ray place..