Good luck Scott... and here's to a an early December interview. I'm kind of jealous we didn't get it a December interview because that would've been a great time to be in Colombia.

Diana

Congrats Scott..................Diana I am not one bit jealous. LOL>LOL. I would love to be in Colombia though, anytime, well except for the other day when they had the freak storm.
Scott, good luck to you. You are right there, the waiting is VERY close to being over. Don't get to confident in the US Embassy in Colombia. They can be great and they can be horrible. After talking to you the other day, I am convinced that you are well prepared and will not have a problem. Good luck to you!!!

FYI...I threw away 400 bones on an "ATTORNEY" and got absolutely ZILCH...fortunately for me it was only "400"

If you're a member on this website and reading a few posts as well as asking questions, a lawyer in my opinion is throwing hard earned cash right down the drain. With the expences involved with this process and with todays economy in my opinion a lawyer is not the way to go. They are just way way way too much money for not much work...which you will end up doing anyway!!!

Best of luck

Thanks Buck, Diana, Lucho, Byron, Charles.........The list goes on and on and on....

I think we are prepped pretty well so we will keep our fingers crossed and pray to God for a good outcome

Scott you are going to breeze right through the interview which you will get in EARLY DECEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Bro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations, Scott!! I am happy for you, and also for the rest of us. It brings me hope whenever I see this process is moving. Byron... you are next!!!

I second your opinion, Scott, on lawyers. Anyway, I already paid for them...
Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos ojala !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you are right and im close!!!!!!!!!

Scott,

Like we've always said here on VJ don't be afraid to be over prepared, it's much better than missing a document or a set of pictures at the time of interview. My husband and I had two big plastic bags on our interview day filled with stuff, I'm sure we looked like really cheap attorneys walking around but everything was pretty flawless.

Diana

Yup like Diana said, be overprepared. Do not over look anything, even it you feel that it's obvious and the CO wont ask for it. The CO's are like auditors, they ask for the dumbest things sometimes, but thats the way it is. Their way or no way.

Thanks Guys...

We have all of the necessary documents and lots of evidence...

small photo album of 60 pictures with a dvd disc of over 1000 pics and about 1 hour of video, boarding passes from 6 of the 7 trips to Colombia, calling card receipts and phone records for about the last 5 months (we speak on average 1-2 hours every day), hotel receipts for 6 of 7 trips, engagement ring receipt, western union money transfer receipts, lots of miscellaneous dinner and shopping receipts...

I'm also bringing an original certifcate of divorce just in case they ask for that.

I think all of our bases are covered but we will all know for sure the day after our interview. We will certainly do our very best and I hope to be celebrating sometime in December!!!

I REALLY CAN'T THANK EVERYONE ENOUGH FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT...VJers ARE THE BEST !!!

Scott...............you can leave the CD disc at home. It will not do you any good at the embassy. It would be best to print out some more foto's off it. The western union receipts................your call on this, but, my opinion is to leave those at home also. It is better to have your emails and IM chat sessions printed out.
Why not the CD? The embassy has no way to view them, even if they did they do not have the time. There will be several hundred people at the embassy the day you are there, up to or more then 50 to 100 people in the area that you will be in for your interview.
Why not western union receipts?.............Why were you sending her money? What did she do for money before you came along? I am not asking you these questions for an answear. Fraudulant visa apps are fairly common. Getting money from gringo's is a common play from Colombiana's. It is the way things are. Remember, the people who interview you have no emotional connection to you at all. They have only your evidence and a short time to talk to you to make a descion if your relationship is real. They have the power to deny, right or wrong. In the end if they can not prove fraud or that you or your novia have been involved in a direct violation of the visa application, they can not deny you. They can how ever prolong the process, make your life a living hell. It is not uncommon if they suspect a chica pullling the wool over the eyes of a stupid gringo to postone the process. Many of those who are postponed do not ever try again.
This is not a refelection of the reality of your love for each other, just the reality of the process. Be prepared, know each other, be able to answear any question that comes your way, have your doc's in order, be able to provide a chronical of your relationship with your evidence and you will be fine.
Up untill now, you have been in control of this process. When you enter the embassy, you are not in control any longer. The fate of the visa is in the hands of the person that interviews you.
Paola and I were asked for a doc that has never been required before, why? I believe because we were being tested. If our relationship was real, we would pursue the doc and schedule another appointmnent, if not, we would just dissapear. We got the doc, scheduled another appointment, we got the visa.
Good luck Scott and Yennifer..............No, luck has something to do with it, better yet, be prepared, know, and be aware of what could come your way at the interview, prepare for the worst, be confident, relaxed and you will put the odds waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in your favor.

Cool! You're almost there. Give DOS a call at 202-663-1225 for your interview date.

Thanks for the insight and advice Buck...I will prepare Yenifer with all of the advice given here and we can hopefully get through this with BIG happy faces...

Hi Chester...I have already been bothering DOS and I will continue bothering them on Monday...I think they are getting sick of hearing my voice "OH WELL"

Scott,
You can keep calling NVC to find out when your interview has been scheduled for. I would call now and once more in the evening. You should have a date by now. Good luck!

Lucho,
Things may have changed since you went through the process but once NVC has sent the case to the embassy they have no way to tell when the interview is scheduled...they gave me the number to the Dept. of State as did Chester a couple of posts ago...the number is 202-663-1225 then press 1 then 0 (to save from listening to 10 minutes of prompts)

Also some more info that may help some people in the future...the embassy told me that if my novia does not receive the interview letter in the mail (we all know that the Colombian mail system is not that reliable) the letter will also be sent to me and it is the same letter and can be used as well.

As I'm writing this I am on the phone with DOS and our interview is scheduled for December 12th !!!

You guys know even before Yenifer !!! I better call

SCOTT CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow thats news to me. Just a few months ago, you could just call NVC at the 603 area code number and they would tell you the date.

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a nice feeling to know the date of the interview, isn't it?
Congratulations Scott y Yenifer!

Are the OF-169 and DS-2001 still part of packet 3? On the embassy info it just says I-134, DS-230, and DS-156. Can anyone tell me if this is the new packet or am I missing something. I'm trying to get a jump on this so my wife can have her visa by January.

Thanks

Can anyone send me Packet 3 and 4? I am trying to have everything complete before the NVC forwards the case to the Embassy.

Congratulations Scott!!!!



Matt,

You can check this thread to find out what the link is for packet 3, it's been posted here several times. You will find in there form OF-169 as DS-2001 is not used. Also, packet 4 is the interview letter you receive from the embassy so I'm pretty sure there's no link for it.

Diana

'Matt y Fernanda',
Here is the link that you are looking for- http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwwsc...tructions.shtml

Also go back to page 111 of this thread to see this process with the shortcuts summed up and simplified by Diana and Lucho...this page is burned into my brain because it has been so helpful to us...we can thank Diana and Lucho for this as it is priceless info for this process.

OF-169 is on page 5 of packet 3 instructions and DS-2001 is no longer necessary. (link is on last post)

Once the time is appropriate, is it fine to send the DS-230 application in English (by fax + servientrega)? Is there a Spanish version available?

In the packet 3 sent by the embassy, what language would the DS-230 (and other forms) normally be in? All the links seem to show english forms.

English is ok but there is a spanish version available. The forms sent by the embassy would be in spanish.

Greetings !!!!


you can get package 3 and 4 by dowloading from the link below which is from the EMBASSY.....


http://bogota.usembassy.gov/appt-package.html this is package 4

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/k3-k...ructionseng.pdf? package 3


Good luck and God bless, I hope this helps you find what you need !!!!

Bueno Suerte

Brian and Yenys

Hi, I just noticed that you are a K3 petitioner.

Here is Packet 3 for K3
http://bogota.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/k3-k...ructionseng.pdf

I cant seem to find an actual link of Packet 4 for K3. I believe you really only need the appt. letter from that packet. Everything else you can find online, (all the necessary forms).

FYI: The new Wiki Section may help you guys get all your information and tips in one place. You can create a page for your info where everyone can make changes in real time .

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/

Once again I'm not receiving notifications of updates from here. :-(

Anyway, here is an interesting snippet from USCIS: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD


Q : If I filed before July 30 and there is a problem with the check I used to pay my application fees, will I have to pay the new higher fees when I reapply? NEW

If USCIS is notified that your check for an application fee has been returned due to insufficient funds, your case will be placed in suspense. You will be notified by mail and asked to submit a new payment along with a $30 administrative fee. If you do so within 14 days, USCIS will honor the original filing date and processing of your case will continue.


What I find personally interesting is that they would NOT accept my check because it was for too much money - so I MUST pay the new fees. If I had only sent them a check that bounced, I could have gotten by with the old fees. Is this a great country or what???? (In case you can't tell, I'm pissed!)

Oh well.

C'mon Charles... keep hounding your politicians... how the heck are you going to let them get away with this??

EXCUSE ME ME ENGLISH. I'D LIKE TO KNOW THE NEW PROCESS..WHEN I ARRIVE USA

I have sent another letter to my Senator, but that was before finding this latest tidbit. I will also write to the USCIS Ombudsman (if I can find the address back - someone posted the address on another thread).

Charles...I'm so sorry that you have to go through what seems like anther bunch of shi!!!!!...some of our government agencies seem to have their head up their a$$...namely USCIS. It really makes absolutely no sense what you've been through with them but I'm sure with your perseverance you will come out on top. You're on the right track with writing your Senator and then the Ombudsman.

"KEEP THE FAITH MY FRIEND"

If you did not find the ombudsman's address already, here it is: cisombudsman@dhs.gov

Thanks for the support guys. I just sent off an e-mail to the ombudsman and copied the Senator.

As a state government employee, I know that government rules and regs often don't make sense. What I don't know is why they don't make sense. But images of a roomful of monkeys working away at typewriters keep coming to mind. Though this analogy falls apart - at least the monkeys would all be thinking about the same things: bananas and ....well.... sex probably. LOL

Maybe the analogy isn't that far off, after all.

Charles

Hello everyone.

I've read several post about vaccinations, but I can not seem to find out for sure whether my wife can get her vaccinations before she has an exam scheduled.

Can she get them now and have them done for her exam, and if so what are the current vaccination requirements?

Thank you.

Hello everyone in this Club.
l am faith11, lam from Colombia too.
l was recently approved, on november 8, finally after 232 from filing. The waiting was very long and stresfull but finally we can move foward with this process.
l have a question here that l know it has been posted and discussed several times.
If somebody can help me please l accept your advices.
Maybe there are some of you who went through the same thing and l just would like to know what is best for us to do because we don´t want any problems eventually.
Now that we are approved we want to take care of this and have things together.
When we started this process our lawyer filed the forms with my married name but l have my cedula and passport are with my maiden name. what should we do, have my cedula and passport changed into my married name? this means l have to get a new cedula and passport.
Please help, is there any body here who did the same thing?
Thanks.
Faith11.

Saludos Alma,

What name is on your visa?
From experience I can tell you that changing your Colombian cedula and Colombian passport will be much easier and FASTER if you do it at your local Colombian consulate in the US when you arrive.

She does not have the visa yet.

Hello, Matt y Fernanda!

I had the exact same question you are posting right now: can I get the vaccines ahead of time? I called directly the doctor's office in Bogota, and they clearly told me vaccines needed to be taken 10 days before the interview at most. Otherwise your spouse may have to get the shots again.

So, my advice would be for you to wait until you get your appointment date and then get the vaccines 10 days before the big day.

Juan Carlos.

Which doctor told you this? Are they all running this scam now?

Since when do vaccines expire after 10 days? Many vaccines require a series of shots that are impossible to receive within a 10 day period when administered properly.

Hi all, we are guessing that the embassy will be getting our case around next Thursday November 15, since the NVC sent in on the 9th, using the shortcut do you think we could get the interview on December ?

Do you have any idea what vaccinations are needed? I just want her to have everything completed as soon as possible.

[quote name='MV-JR' date='Nov 12 2007, 10:16 PM' post='1324767']
Hi all, we are guessing that the embassy will be getting our case around next Thursday November 15, since the NVC sent in on the 9th, using the shortcut do you think we could get the interview on December ?
[/quoteI

If you sent the Package 3 the next Thrusday Nov 15 you will be getting your interview appointment Between the 19 - 21 Dec, But Anyways God has the last word... and the one that He will choose for you for sure is the best one!!!

God Bless you!

Brian&Yenys

ATTENTION:

The reason for this is fraud in the vaccination records. The US EMbassy will only deal with there approved
Doctors in Bogota. may not be fair, but thats the reason. There is alot of fraud everywhere and the Bogota Embassy
is very strict and must follow there instructions to the letter....The want all results and vaccinations from there approved Doctors.
If you are still in doubt, Please call the Embassy and they will tell you what I have written here.

Hope this explains your question....

Good Luck and God Bless !!!

Brian and Yenys

My advice would be to fax packet 3 shortcut on Wednesday morning and call to confirm (consular section – visa) on Wednesday afternoon between 2:00-4:00 Phone: 011-57-1-(315-1566)

Worst case is they have not received your case yet and you may have to re-fax...Best case is they have received your case and will schedule your interview ASAP!!! Either way it won't hurt to fax.

Also another way to find out if your case was received is to call Dept. of State at 202-663-1225 press 1 then 0...they know immediately when the case is input into the embassy's system

Keep us posted

I agree with Juan Carlos...also I would suggest using their doctors for the vaccines to avoid any issues or unnessesary stress at this point in the process...it might cost a few pesos more than it would if you were to find your own doctor for the same, but at this point that should be the least of your concerns. It's almost over, low stress is priceless at this point!!!

Don't mean to chime in here, however I just wanted to say thank you! I have been a "silent reader" of this forum for a couple of weeks now, and the info. sharing is great! I am hoping our interview in Bogota will happen in January sometime, was hoping for December, yet thanks to delays in VSC, won't happen. I have just been touched (11/12/07) So hopefully my NOA2 is en-route!

I have been following closely all your shortcuts, and will definately become more active with this forum, once NOA2 is in hand. Thank you again for all the advise here!

Welcome Steve!

Matt,

Your wife can get them anywhere she wants to, be it at any Red Cross or any local doctor. BUT make sure that she doesn't get them until about a week before her medical. If they're older than that, those scammy doctors will have her take them again and have her pay extra for them. It's a scam that the doctors have going on but they're the only two doctors authorized to do medicals so you do what they say.

Diana