Woot CG! Good for you guys!

"CONGRATULATIONS CG"

Congratulations CG!! When will your wife be traveling to the US? I bet you cant wait to have her home!

Once again Congrats!

Diana

Congratulations, CG! I'm happy to hear the great news.

Hello
Man I so confused about these shots/
My girl lives in Quilla and she has looked into getting a price of them done there ..But as I read here people have different answrs on this subject.I see you pais 138,000 for the three needed thats seems very good to me.If you were in my shoes what would you do>
Thanks
Carl

Hello
Man I so confused about these shots/
My girl lives in Quilla and she has looked into getting a price of them done there ..But as I read here people have different answrs on this subject.I see you pais 138,000 for the three needed thats seems very good to me.If you were in my shoes what would you do>
Thanks
Carl

Carl,
We had no problem with having the shots done at the doctor's office but some have. Some of the problems have been inflated prices, unnecessary vaccines... But if Stefanie will need all of the vaccines, just call the doctors office that you have arrainged the appointment with and get a price. If it is still 130-140 mil that is a very good price. Be sure to get a name of the person that gives you the price so that there is no question when you arrive and the price doesn't suddenly change.

Good luck,

Hi Thanks,
We are just waiting to get interview date now,So good but i think I will have her chaeck the RED Cross in Quilla as well why we are waiting ..
Again thanks ..

I'm with Willie on this one Charles. There are so many things that will not allow her to study in Colombia that it's not even worth thinking about it. One, she will soon be a US resident and should not be out of the country for more than 12 months, in fact the POE officers will give her a hard time if she is out for more than 6. Two, she will have to get her license here in the States even if she has one from Colombia, in some cases she will need to take additional courses to do so. And three, she cannot do any of this without proper English. So the best thing would be for her to focus on that and then decide on what to do. Once she's ready she can make appointments at different colleges with counselors and see what they recommend.

Diana

Congratulations CG!!!!! I hope everything went well and that you can start your new life together in the US soon!

Diana

I agree! The problem is not to convince me.....it's to convince HER!

But you raise some very good specific points. I'll talk this over with her when she gets back from down south. Thanks for the support!!!
Charles

Yeah... good luck with that!

I hope you can convince her with your logic. Otherwise you'll have fancy handwaving to do...

Hey everybody,

Thanks for the congrats.

My wife will be traveling to the US in early September. We had scheduled her to come down on July 15. However, her grandmother is turning 100 at the end of August so I suggested that she stay a little longer so she could be there for the big day. My wife is very close to her grandmother as she has lived with my wife and her family since my wife was a little kid. She insisted that she would come up in July if I so desired, but I think that waiting is the right thing to do.

I must admit that coming home is not so bad coming home this time. Now that everything is approved and we have her ticket purchased, the separation is easier.

I am curious about what she will need at the POE. We were given nothing when they approved the visa. We went to Domesa and found out that they don't have the passport delivery service to my wife's city. The strange thing is that my wife was the branch manager for a large staffing company and she knows for a fact that there are both Domesa and Brinks services in her city since she used to hire their employees. In any case, we are having her passport delivered to my uncle's office in Bogota where it goes in the safe until my wife travels. Beyond the passport, will anything else be delivered? I'm going to dig around for some K-3 POE info on this site, but if anyone has some info, please let me know.

Thanks again to everyone for all your advice and support. We really could not have done it without you.

I will write up a full, detailed review of the whole embassy experience. There are several minor points that are important for upcoming K-3 interviews. It will probably be tonight, but if anyone has any urgent questions, please let me know. I am a stickler for details and took notes of the entire process in Bogota.

Peace,

CG

Charles,

I have to agree that having your wife study in Colombia is probably not a good idea for all the reasons mentioned.

Also, keep in mind that she will most likely have to sit for your state's nursing exam. If she studies nursing in Colombia, she will have a harder time passing this difficult test as she will have learned everything in a different language. Everything from diseases to body parts often have substantially different names in Spanish.

I realize that you are trying to minimize your expenses so you might look into an ADN (Assoc. Degree of Nursing) program. In some cases, these are offered by community colleges(sometimes in conjunction with a university). These degrees take less time and in some states are enough to become an RN. Also, tuition is usually substantially cheaper.

For example, Houston Community College offers an ADN program that is much cheaper than a standard university BDN(Bachelors) program. In Texas, an ADN graduate can sit for the RN exams and become licensed. An ADN graduate might later have some trouble getting a nurse management position, but she could always finish a BDN later or over time.

As I said, this is information for Texas, but something similar is available in many other states. The best thing to do is to call the nurse licensing board for your state. They can help you with information including the availability of an ADN and the requirements for transferring a foreign nursing degree.

Good luck,
CG

Dusty,

She will need two documents from DAS. One is a "Certificado Judicial" which shows any prior criminal issues. The other is a sealed "Carta Migratoria" from DAS in Bogota which shows any exits or entries into Colombia.

I would recommend that you go to the interview if you can. The only denials we saw on our day where for wives who didn't come with their husbands or that did not have photo evidence. Some where approved without their husbands there, but a few that we talked to were told to come back with their husband.

BTW, the so called "Witch" was actually quite cordial and pleasant. In fact, everyone we dealt with at the embassy was nice and very helpful. No one treated us badly in the least.

Good luck,
CG

Carl,

My wife had her shots at the Red Cross in her city a week before the medical exam. It was actually a bit pricier than the doctor seems to be charging, but it was worth it to have them out of the way. Keep in mind that people often have adverse reactions to vaccinations. Injection site pain, nausea, slight fever, etc. are often experienced for a few days. You don't want he feeling like crap the day of your interview. It is a long, stressful day and you don't want it compounded by her feeling ill. My wife's arm was still hurting more than a week after she got her vaccinations. It is certainly something to consider.

Good luck,
CG

Congratulations once again CG!

Domesa should deliver her passport which will have the visa on it and a big brown envelop which should not be opened. This along with her cédula is all she will need the day she flies out here. Once she gets here, she needs to tell the Immigration officer that she is coming in with a K1 visa and they will process her. She gives her passport and the unopened brown envelope to the guy, he will take her fingerprints, picture and signature and she'll be all set.

Also, she needs to carry the brown envelope at all times since every person from ticketing, to DAS, to the gate flight attendants will be asking to see it.

Diana

[quote name='ColombianoGringo' date='Jun 23 2008, 11:23 AM' post='1955437']
Dusty,

She will need two documents from DAS. One is a "Certificado Judicial" which shows any prior criminal issues. The other is a sealed "Carta Migratoria" from DAS in Bogota which shows any exits or entries into Colombia.

I would recommend that you go to the interview if you can. The only denials we saw on our day where for wives who didn't come with their husbands or that did not have photo evidence. Some where approved without their husbands there, but a few that we talked to were told to come back with their husband.

BTW, the so called "Witch" was actually quite cordial and pleasant. In fact, everyone we dealt with at the embassy was nice and very helpful. No one treated us badly in the least.

Good luck,
CG



CG,

Thanks for the reply and Congratulations. I am not sure but I think my wife may have talked with your wife when she when to get her laboratory work completed. She mentioned she was talking with a woman who had her interview the next day. She was going to ask her about getting the vacinations and where she received them. They exchanged email addresses. I had told her she may not be able to get an email from the woman if she received her Visa she would be preparing to travel but she said she was not traveling until September because she was doing something with her Grandmother. She is still insistant that I don't come down for the Interview but i made a nice book of all our photos and the wedding in San Andres and the Wedding in Cucuta with her family.

I worry a little about the interview and would like to be there. I think our photos and the cards and letters from my family will show we have a good relationship and we are not that far apart in our ages so I will pray everything goes well. I will be looking for your post on the details of your Interview and the questions they asked. My wife wants me to quiz her with questions but I told her just be honest and be direct with your answers.

Thanks again,

Dennis

Dennis,

Too funny! I just talked to my wife and it looks like they did meet. I won't mention names on an open forum, but ask your wife if she and the other lady were laughing at an old guy holding a baby. When I asked my wife about it, she busted out laughing and said that she thought that she knew who it was. If it turns out that we are right about them meeting, please tell your wife that mine doesn't currently have email access at home so she might not return emails quickly. If she has any questions for my wife, just drop me a PM and I'll relay the message.

As far as being there for the interview, several women were approved without their husbands there, but a few weren't. You will probably be OK especially since you had the two weddings and have lots of pictures.

Peace,
CG

i mean yes ! con grat my amigo from su amigo laspence/dina

[quote name='ColombianoGringo' date='Jun 23 2008, 04:31 PM' post='1956287']
Dennis,

Too funny! I just talked to my wife and it looks like they did meet. I won't mention names on an open forum, but ask your wife if she and the other lady were laughing at an old guy holding a baby. When I asked my wife about it, she busted out laughing and said that she thought that she knew who it was. If it turns out that we are right about them meeting, please tell your wife that mine doesn't currently have email access at home so she might not return emails quickly. If she has any questions for my wife, just drop me a PM and I'll relay the message.

As far as being there for the interview, several women were approved without their husbands there, but a few weren't. You will probably be OK especially since you had the two weddings and have lots of pictures.

Peace,
CG




CG,

Yes, that is my wife, I was talking to her on the telephone tonight and reading her your letter. She was laughing mucho when I read the part about the old man and the baby. I told her I will send her all the information that you post on the Interview. She said to say Congratulations and hopes all will go well now that your wife has the visa.

Dennis

Hi all,

I have been working on a new VJ wiki article about the K-3 interview process at the Bogota embassy and the related errands. Those with upcoming interviews may find some helpful information here.

It is not quite complete yet as I'll be adding more information over the next few days. If you have recently been through a K-3 interview at the Bogota embassy, please comment on the content of the wiki. Please suggest any changes or additions that you think might be helpful to those with upcoming interviews. You can post your comments in the related thread at http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=135325 and I'll add them to the wiki article.

The Bogota K-3 wiki article can be found at
http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Bogota_Colombia_K3


Thanks,
CG

hey CG , that some great informacion on wikkk i will use this informacion as a guideline to cover all bases before our interview july 8 , congrats again from laspence/dina

I finally got an interview on July 29th with my future wife. Does anyone know if I have to pay $131 for each person on the K-1 visa or only my fiance. She has two wonderful children and obviously I will pay to get them here but is it per visa with them as benificiaries or does each one need a visa. I know about the medical. Thanks.

Colombia Club,

I want to share my situation. My fiancee's phone hasn't been working since the 8th of this month, and I received my NOA2 and later my letter from NVC stating that my case will be processed in Bogota, and that my fiancee "will be receiving a packet with instructions on how to apply for the K-1."

My problem is that I do not know which forms and materials my fiancee will need to gather - nor does she have her passport yet. Everything is all messed up at the moment, because she has not answered her emails in over 2 weeks, and there is no phone service. I'd like to hold her hand through this, but honestly, I can't do everything from my end. This seems like an impossible situation at the moment, and trying to fax paperwork and coordinating things is next to impossible. Any advice???

Ken,

She definitely needs to check her e-mails even if she needs to go to a café internet, but there's nothing you can do to make her do that and like you said, you can't do everything for her.

The one thing you need to do is do some more reading of this forum where you will find all the info she will need to get including where and how to get her police certificate and migratory movement letter, medical, lab, etc.

Another place you need to check out is the US Embassy in Bogotá here: Appointment Package for Immigrant Visa Applicants

Diana

Question: We're awaiting package #3. Can anyone tell me what is included, and what I need to tell Onelis that she will need? Also, she has a 5 yr. old son. Is there a standard form for the father to sign so the little boy can leave Colombia? Is there a link to this info?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, my Spanish is pretty good, and I had to take the taxi from the airport in Barranquilla to her barrio a few times alone. No problems, I know exactly how to get there on the street (thanks to Google Earth). I am careful, however. But whenever I tell people that I'm from Los Angeles, they are puzzled - "Tu eres Brazileño o de los EEUU??" they always ask.

Ken,
Here's a cleaned up copy of what we used. You just need to enter the correct names and document numbers, and enter them as if the father was writing the letter. He will also need to have this notarized. Your wife will need to present this letter to DAS at the airport, and she will need an updated letter each time she goes back to Colombia and then returns to the States. There is no such thing as a blanket letter that is good from now on - she will need a different one each time.

Hope this helps!

Bogotá, Junio 23 de 2008

PERMISO PARA SALIR DEL PAIS

XXXXX XXX XXXXX, mayor de edad, identificado con la cedula de ciudadanía numero 11’111.111 expedida en Bogotá, por medio del presente documento, concedo permiso a mis menores hijo XXXX XXXX XXXX identificada con Registro Civil No. 111111 de Bogotá y el Pasaporte No. RN 11111111, para que puede salir del país de American Airlines y entrar a los EE.UU. por (ciudad y estado aquí), en compañía de su madre XXXX XXX XXXX, identificada con la cedula de ciudadanía No. 11’111.111 de Bogotá. Este viaje se espera el 25 de junio de 2008, y este permiso y la autorización son efectivos de la fecha del viaje.

Cordialmente,

____________________________
XXXXX XXX XXXXX
CC 11’111.111 de Bogotá

For those with spouses traveling back to Colombia, be sure to have them take adequate ID with them for the return journey. Lorena and the boys arrived in Ft. Lauderdale last night about 11:30 pm. They didn't get to leave the airport until almost 2:30 am!!! Why? Because her plane tickets were purchased in her married name but her passport still has her maiden name. From what she tells me, they brought the three of them into a special area and began questioning her. Why were the names different? Did she have other ID? Why wasn't she travelling on her green card? etc., etc.

Evidently, the officer(s) would leave for a while to do some "checking" and then come back and ask more questions. Needless to say, she was not very happy about her treatment. In the end they were allowed to reenter the country, but I had had a nagging hunch that there would be some sort of glich. Her comment to me was that NOBODY would tolerate being treated that way entering Colombia! (But I guess that depends what they were bringing with them.... haha)

If there's any lesson in this, I guess it is to buy tickets in whatever name is in the passport and on the visa. Bring the other stuff, too, but don't risk getting singled out for "special treatment".

Charles

I wish she would have gotten names... my uncle knows some of those folks at FLL.

If she had thought of it, I'm sure she would have. But, my guess is that she was tired enough and mad enough that she didn't care who it was - as far as she was concerned it was the United States government that was treating her badly. I'm just glad it ended well.

Thanks Diana. I will review everything, and I'm writing her a letter tonight. At this point, the balls in her court. So, I'm hoping that everything gets taken care of promptly. My lawyer here in So.Cal. isn't even aware that I received an NOA 2 yet. Talk about frustration.

I totally agree with you on this one Charles. I've seen people get harrassed at POE in Colombia and even get their stuff taken away only because the officer wanted to make a few bucks. Colombia is just as bad if not worse. Maybe they're a little lighter with foreigners but when it comes to other stuff... they're horrible. This is one of the things I'm glad I live in the US for sure.

Diana

Muchisimas Gracias, Amigo! Of course, this is a big help. I will make sure I keep this information in my file. Thanks again,

-Ken

Hey guys I want to ask more questions to you all but can not seem to get an answer. My questions are two fold. My fiance and I have an interview July 29 in Bogota. first is she has two children do we pay for all three for the visa or just for my fiance since the children are under 16. Second probably more importante the ds-156 that the packet 4 says do not sign is that the ds-156K or the ds-156 that are brought to the bank to get the visa paid??? Seems I can not get answers to any questions lately. THanks for everyones helpl

You're quite welcome, Ken. My wife and the boys just got back to the states and used the letter, signed by the father and notarized locally, without any trouble from DAS in Bogota. I would make sure that the letter is not more than a few weeks (no more than a month) old when she uses it at the airport. The "newer" the better.

Charles

Hello, my husband and I had our interview 16th June (CR1), and I'd like to share my experience with you and give you some advice....

Don't get there any earlier than 645am..- it does not make any difference… once you are inside, they will call you in random order – (one of the ladies there told me they call the elderly and families with children first)…. you are going to be there all morning (in our case…the consul finally interviewed us at 2pm)!!!

You don't have to bring the x-ray results to the embassy… you are going to be stuck with it all day!!! They already have the results from the exam when you turn in the envelope they provide you with.

Please, please!!! Wear warm clothes!!! Even though Bogotá is not that cold, after about 4-5 hours it'll get to you!

Anyway, we were asked to go to "punto 40" which is a little stand (not a window number) where they give you a green folder with a list of docs you need to put in the correct order, don't rush, they called us at 1130am to turn it in!!!!
Then, you wait some more at windows 1-5, they do the fingerprints and wait again… after watching couples after couples getting denied (don't know why) we were really nervous!!! we were called at 2pm at window 5 , the consul was a guy in his 30's…. said hello to my husband, asked him to sign the IV Application and ask him to talk to me… I grabbed the phone and said to him: "finally!!!!" He said: Did you wait a long time in the cold? I replied, I'm not talking about this morning… I'm talking about I'm finally going to have my husband living with me!! He chuckled and thanked me for being there… then he asked me to have a seat… He did no want to see a single piece of evidence and ask my husband how we had met and what he did for a living…. It turns out the guy was originally from Houston, so when my husband told him about the restaurant we went to in our first date he got all excited and started talking about it and about how much he missed Galveston and Keemah (Houston places), then he said, your visa has been approved, you can pay at "Domesa"!!!! And that was it!!! We left the embassy at 215pm after paying 52 thousand pesos at the Domesa counter and received the "package" with the passport with the inmigrant visa and envelope thursday 19th June in Cali at around 10am. - no problems-

For some reason these people have the power to make you nervous, thank God we were able to make it thru and I really hope you do the same! Good luck, I'm sorry I went "overboard" with this email…

MC

The more details the better. It makes me nervous that, "Couple after couple" were denied. That's scarry stuff. I can't think of a worse situation for these couples.

Ken,
Be aware the "permission" document from the father is only valid for 60 days!!!! This nearly caused us a major problem in the Bogota airport. For whatever the reason, we cleared, I believe 3 checkpoints till we got to the final one at the gate area. Here the DAS person informed us that the document was no longer valid, and made Sandy go too a room and contact the father via phone! Eventually Sandy and her daughter where granted permission to travel. So play it safe, and have him notorize it closer to your expected travel date.
Also remember that depending on the circumstances, you may need a new document from the father each time you travel to Colombia.

Ken,
If it helps any, keep in mind that you don't see many Colombia Club members getting denied. Not that we're all the special, but, thanks to the great help, guidance, and support from the folks here, most of us are very well prepared when the interview comes. You'll do fine, too.

This will be a bit tricky given the relationship between my fiancee and the father, but I will let her know this, so that she can prepare herself mentally.

As far as the interviews go, I am so happy to be part of this forum (and thread). My Immigration Lawyer isn't even aware that I received an NOA2, and I'm nearly 2 steps ahead of him with Packet 3 arriving in the mail soon.

Does anybody have any answers for Bruce? He's asked this question several times and I'm not very familiar with children and K2 visas.

Diana

The gentleman pmed me with the same question and I answered him as best I could, though his original question to me was a bit different. As I recall, the reason you don't sign the ds-156 is because it has to be signed at the bank, rather than ahead of time.

As for paying for the visas, the children are included under the wife's K-3 visa, so you're not applying for three separate visas. However, when it comes to paying fees for the various applications, documents, etc., you do pay separate fees for each one in most cases. The USCIS site has all the fee information associated with each individual form. The only other bit of advice is, if you call USCIS for help on fees and documents, don't assume that what the person is telling you is completely accurate. Why? Because I think some of those folks on the phone system are temps or not directly involved in any of the actual process. Your best bet is to go by what's printed on the USCIS website. Copy web pages and print them out. Then if things get strange down the line, you have written documentation as to why you did something a certain way.

Hope this helps.
Charles

Bigley,
You do not sign the DS-156K until they ask you to at the embassy...as far as the DS-156, that can be filled out completely, 2 copies for each person...1 for the bank and 1 for the embassy. If you are unsure about exactly how to fill out the DS-156 the people at the bank will help you with that...in fact if you take the time to fill them out and you make a mistake, they will have to be done all over again so my suggestion would be to wait you get to the bank to do it (it's very quick)

Not sure about paying for the children...maybe someone else has an answer on that one.

Current Status: Card production ordered.

Looks like we've ended another chapter of our journey!!!!

Thanks to all for all of your help and support. I would also like to say that if I had to do it all again...I wouldn't even hesitate

Thanks to all of you for your help. My lawyer (she has not been of much use to this point) has told me that we need to sign only the DS156K at the embassy. All other forms can be filled out in advance (DS156) so maybe she is finally right this time. My fiance has all the information we need for the interview so we should be fine there. I was initially assuming that only my fiance paid for the application fee ($131) as she is applying and the children were just benificiaries but seems I am getting conflicting information. I will look into the site a little more and hopefully will find out about the fees. I agree with others that this site has been a blessing to me and probably others. My lawyer has been next to useless and this site has provided us with the only real reliable information. And yes have not noticed many forum members being denied, lets hope we keep the streak going with our interview on July 29th. Wish us luck. Thanks again.

Bruce,

I'm thinking that since each person, your fiancée and two children will be getting a visa, you will have to pay the $131 for each one. Another thing you could do is have your fiancée call the bank in Colombia and they should be able to tell her.

In any case, I'll ask your question in the Colombia K1 thread and see if anybody has an answer.

Diana

Ok Bruce, here it is.

You have to pay $131 for each person regardless of age. So $131 for your fiancée, and $262 for the children. All of them will need to fill out form DS-156, one for each person (so total of 3 forms). You don't need the DS-156K for the children but they said to fill them out just in case they ask for it at the embassy.

Hope that helped.

Diana

Congrats!!!! Now you can enjoy your marriage w/o all the hassle of paperwork and interviews.

I lost contact w/Onelis 3 weeks ago. It's been driving me crazy, but thankfully Carl pointed me in the direction of a local businesswoman who can help out by visiting her home and discussing our case with Onelis.

Thread in "Off-Topic" - "Where did she go?"

Keeping my fingers crossed that this gets resolved quickly and we get back on-track w/our K-1 a.s.a.p.

-Ken