It didn't/doesn't really hurt, just looks bad (so I thought I would share it with you all )

My police check certificate came today - I'm not a criminal - wohoo!

I opened it...I hope that wasn't a bad thing to do...

i opened mine... and its addressed to you and concerns you so why shouldnt you open it? :-P

i'm just reading your timeline and it says Mailed packet 3 back to sydney

for K1 its so different as they wrote in the letter that i'm not to mail them anything of the requirements as i need those to present at the interview............

oh, by packet 3 I just meant the DS230 form...I must have been tired when I did that. But it does seem that the packets are different for K1 and K3. I didn't get a form to return with my document checklist, I was just asked to advise them in writing when I had collected everything. I have already told them I have done that, although I am still waiting on medical results and Rings' affidavit of support. I will have them both well before my interview is scheduled though. If the mail works the way it should...

ahhhhhhhh so should i tell them i have everything?
because my fiance has mailed me so i'm waiting on that to arrive....
and the medical stuff they will have by end of week............

i might add on my name change certificate just incase they dont like my birth certificate which has that info on it..........

Does it say to advise them when you are ready to schedule the interview? I think it never hurts to be too careful...then again I have come to love harrassing the USCIS... i still have not gotten my NOA2 and they keep telling me they have requested it to be mailed. *huffs*

yeah it does... there is aform to sign and send to them when i'm ready and have it all.....

I'm working on the principle that if I know I am going to have everything in time then that's as good as having everything already...it's not strictly true but by the time the letter gets to them and they schedule my interview and mail the appointment I will have everything so I hope I can cut a week or two off the waiting time.

sounds logical...
i'll wait a week and then mail them the form.....

Hey Sharyna,

I expected it to be a while before I got my interview but my interview date was pretty soon after I posted them the notice that i was ready for the interview! Remember when I stressing that i wouldn't get that tax thing back from DF in time Just something to consider. Anyway, check out my time line.

Hi Guinavere

i know the feeling about struggling with bureaucracy, I immigrated to Oz many years ago. Now after our journey to get me to the US we have to decide on the timing to do the reverse for De-jay.

I know how you feel about the grandbaby's, my 1st grandaughter was born just after Christmas, after 4 grandsons!

I am hoping to pick others brains about spouse visa's for Oz, but good luck with your reverse, its all difficult, this changing the country where you live

cheers Jayde

Qu

yeah i'm waiting until i have everything..... better safe then asking them for another interview date...

Hi there

I'm kind of a returning visa journey-ist. As you can see from my mis-shapen journey, USCIS lost/failed/took the money and ran with our last petition, but they seem to have finally taken their head out from between their buttcheeks and actually did something

It's only now that I'm starting to get nervous. Before, I was so pessimistic that nothing was going to happen like last time, and now that things ARE happening, I'm caught offguard. I dont want it to take forever, and yet, I dont want to go so fast I mess it up hehe.

I've been reading about the medical exam and am happy to hear it's not the psychological thriller I'm expecting it to be (I'm NOT a doctor person, random stranger poking me in weird places, NO SIR! hehe)

So hopefully I can try and be of some help I suck at writing down dates, so my timeline maybe a bit... difficult

i got a letter from the consulate - my mom just called me to tell me that but she didnt open it up to see what it said... so i have to wait till tonight - however - i didnt tell them i was ready yet but they have my medical so i dont know what they're going to say...............

has anyone had this?

Sorry, Not me Sharyna. I didn't hear anything else from them until after I sent them the form to tell them I was ready for my interview.

Maybe they've started sending letters to let you know they've received the doctors stuff, I know that I emailed them to ask them if they'd got it because I was paranoid that maybe it got lost in the mail and I'd turn up to the interview and they'd say "what doctors stuff?". The fact that nobody else on here on downunder had their doctor send it in to the consulate helped THAT anxiety as well. Anyway, it was correct afterall.

I'm sure that the letter is nothing to worry about, maybe they took the doctors stuff as a sign that you're ready for the interview, it would make sense that they're trying to process people quickly because of the disruption to business that is coming up.

yeah its what i think...
with the APEC meeting coming up their trying to process everyone as quickly as possible....

i got my fiance's stuff today in the mail too!!
yay!!!!!

means now i'm just waiting on my name change certificate and we're good to go!!

hi nip

wow sounds like they really screwed up big time with you guys...thats the thing i dont like about this visa journey.. if they stuff up they dont have any quarms about telling you to reapply and pay again huh...

the medical aint too bad ... and the interview aint all that bad either..where in oz are you...there is heaps of info in here and also the embassey info is a good place to find out things too...good luck in the rest of the journey and dont hesitate to ask anything ya like ...

hi sharyna

hmmm i would of asked my mum to open it lol the suspense would of killed me lol...maybe its just confirmation that the medical was received and u can forward the readiness forms to sydney....
will wait and see what ya tell us to really find out what it could be all guesses here mate..

hi jayde
welcome to the thread...are you doing the fiance' visa...which state ya from..what i said above also is to you mate..dont hesitate to ask anything ya like even vent about USCIS ...we all know what its like lol..
good luck to you...

ohh by the way just an update on my learners written test..
i rang up where i want to take my test cos i had heaps of questions.
what i learned is this:
with me passing the written test i am able to drive on my australian licence for up 30 days..and go for my drivers licence within that time...
after i pass (IF) my driving test i go to the licence place where they give you the card...and change my last name by showing my marriage certificate..
and i can drive alone i dont need my husband with me to drive...

just thought i would lets ya's know what i found out .. this is in the state of Ohio...so check about the reciprocal scheme and see what they tell you...toledo licence place is so uninformative..lol glad i rang bowling green lol..

so there ya go ...at the moment the car is in the mechanics to see what the damm noise is when turning...

hi ya to you all and hope all is going well..
kath

oh yay on the license kath!!
i did ask her to open it but she was on the road and couldnt do it. i'm guessing they may of just mailed me to let me know they got the medical from Dr Waks.... either that or the pending APEC meeting is hurrying them up to get everything up to date and people thru? i'm hoping its the latter lol.....

HI ALL!!! Guess who is in the USA??? Cant believe I'm heeeere!! Im still pretty tiry - I had like 120kg worth of luggages and my carryon was heavy as as well as the other bag I had carried - so between the flight and the weight lifting sessions, I am pretty pooped! Anyone who has a LAX POE, I posted in Mo's thread for a rundown on it.

Thanks for everyones nice words about our lil Rockstar. I was thinking about him a lot in the plane. Means a lot so thank you.

My flight was Syd - LA then LAX - Chicago then finally Chi Town - Baltimore. The flight from Chicago got delayed, apparently United had some comp probs. So it was an hr late in departure and it was 35mins late in arrival. Eric thought I had changed my mind lol. I'm like awwws so cute. Cuz in the monitors at BWI they displayed on time then when it was due to land, it just disappeared off the board and someone else was like to him I think it landed, and he saw ppl come out and I wasnt there lol. Im like you're a goose. As if I would change my mind and chicken out of moving here.

I will probably sit tight and see if they send me the SSN and greencard in the mail. Otherwise, Eric has weekdays off on Aug and I will start to chase it up then. Do I need my name in the mailbox for the mailman to drop off the geencard? I thought I read that somewhere.

We are planning to go to Flordida at the end of July so I will probably be a lady of leasure until after that. Oh and we are moving to a townhouse, so lotsa furniture shopping and all the rest that comes w/a new home. Cant wait to nest!!!

To those still apart from their loved ones and stuck in this web of visa journey, hang in there! There were moments that we just were so fed up, from Vermont applications being blackholed to DCF then DCF being "cancelled" and so on...but just hang in there, cuz when you see your hun waiting for you at the airport, and you realize you no longer have to look at the time and think theres a limit on your days together and how long you can hug and kiss 'em...it is sooooo worth it!!

Dreams do come true so dont stop believing!

whooo hooo let me be the first in here to
WELCOME YOU TO AMERICA....

glad you arrived safely mate...isnt it a great feeling to hold ya hubby...

SSN not sure on the K3 whether you have to go into the office...but for the mail box.. definetly add your name and meet the postman so he knows your living with your husband now...even put your maiden name on it ...i dont know how much post got sent back because we didnt think about that...

happy you finally made it over here elle and may you enjoy your life over here...dont forget the fees going up on 30th july for your AOS mate..
take care and big smiles that your here in america ...
kath

YAY ELLE !!! OMG YAY YAY YAY - YOUR LIFE HAS FINALLY STARTED !!!


WHEW HEWWWWWWWWW!!! I am so glad for you! YAY live it up girl *HUGS*

hehe thanks

I'm up in Queensland, in a little town right between Mackay and Rockhampton if you happen to look. I'm actually hoping that they DON'T go all interview-happy on me due to having to organise flights and hotels. I think thats what has me anxious, having to organise all of that, and the possibility that there wont be flights, or there'd be some big shindig in town (lol Sydney as a town) that I wont get a room or... rawr. :\ Dont want to go through all this and fail because of 1 small insignificant thing...

I'm a little county girl, not into the big cities as is, I'm moving to ARKANSAS XD

Congrats Elle *jealous*

I'm looking forward to the day I only have to make a 1 way trip from LA to LR, and not a return

Welcome Niphredil to the Land Downunder!!!

hi nip
i have cousins in mackay and my aunt and uncle are in rocky...

dont worry on the hotels there are heaps in sydney...take a look at the embassey info i posted a website in there of the area where the consulate is and from memory i think it showed hotels too...they usually give you plenty of time to organise yourself and if you cant book hotels or flights u can always request another interview date...

we flew up to sydney from melbourne stayed in a pub about 5 min walk from the consulate...i got some pics of the consulate if you want them just give me a hoy...

hi ya rings
how you doing...what did you decided on which path to take...saw loke's arm damm what a bruise that was.. you wonder how the addicts can stand it huh...

take care
kath

Hi Kath!

I don't know what to do. They have been no help and I have called everyday and twice on most days. I e-mailed the Australian Embassy and haven't gotten a reply at all. Loke is going to call them today to see if he can get anywhere. I am going to keep bugging the crap out of them until I have an answer though...

Great news Elle! *grin*


I'm really happy for you girl. That'll be me in three weeks time so I haven't got a lot of time to be jealous of you being in MD.

Hows everyone going with tax time then?

Welcome Niphredil,

Wow, you've had a long journey, I hope things go more smoothly from now on!

Thanks Rings and cool beans! I don't feel like I'm way out in the boondocks now

I guess I just have the jitters now. Something is always worrying me x.X if it's not flights, then it's the medical, when it's not that, then it's wondering if I have everything, and if not that, good ol 'am I wasting time?'

So close, yet to far away...

Well there is tons of time to waste while you wait sadly

I know how it is. I miss my Loke. He is in Melbourne and I am in Colorado. He is coming home soon I hope.

Tell me about it. They need to get it right so people will stop dying o.o. It seems nearly everytime I go over for more then a month, something bad happens (wait, if I go permanently, that may not be good thing either o.O)

2000 - Childers backpacker fire
2001 - September 11th
2006 - Steve Irwin and Peter Brock o.o

And these things happened THE DAY I LEAVE. (well cept for Brocky o.o)...

and NOW my husband has Hodgkins Lymphoma, maybe the bad luck is getting in early this year :\

I'm sorry Niphredil

I know it sucks but try not to think about it that way. Plenty of good things happen in the world too, like the love between you and your hubby for example.

If anything, all those bad things just prove how tough and strong your relationship is in the face of adversity. All my love to you guys, I'm sure you'll be able to deal with this new set back in his health together. I know that it will be hard but hey, having someone who loves you and cares about you, and is willing to go though this Visa Journey to be with you is one of the greatest things a person can have, and you both have that!

thanks

Whilst I've only been talking actively for a couple of hours, I have been reading the forums for a while, and it is nice to have a site like this.

Back when we were first going through this, I had *zero* idea of what was going on, and I guess thats why we waited 7 months before phoning, because all I knew was 'that it'll take a while to come'.
NO idea about paying for anything or police reports or even an interview! Just figured they'd do all the running around, which is why it took so long, and one day they send you a card and a 'Welcome' letter

I complain and worry now simply because things ARE happening, and it's making me anxious. I just now have an avenue that'll listen My US friends all kinda go "blaghhuh?". Oh they miss me and want me there, but they're not going through the process. This is a great site with great people thanks

I've been advised that the "Applicant's Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed" is part of the Packet-3. My Aussie fiance is in the States right now, and will remain in the States until after her packet-3 arrives back at her home in Oz. We already have the entire packet-3 prepared .... except for this "Applicant's Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed".

Does anyone have a copy of this form?

Hey Duke,

If its true that you have EVERYTHING ready for the interview including police certificate and medical examination and everything done already...

I think that you should email the consulate in Sydney and give them your case number and the date your fiancee will return to Australia and ask them to assign you an interview date based on that. They're good with email and will reply quickly, I think you have a good chance of that working just fine. The statement of readiness thing is not a big deal in the process.

Good luck.

Hi Kath thanks for the welcome. I arrived in Florida on a K1 in April 2005, so I now dont have to deal with USCIS except to file an AR11 (change of address) until the lifting of conditions which wont be until March 2008.

I am a Queenslander (Gold Coast) so not a huge difference from 1 climate to the other. I have no problems driving here, I can head off down the freeway with no drama's and when we went back to Qld last month, I found it reasonably easy to switch back, so the only thing left is to go for the Florida license.

I can see you are a great help to the Aussies waiting for their paperwork, it's great to have a shoulder while the paperwork and the waiting apart seems so daunting, so well done!

chat soon, Jayde

YAY !!!! Our interview is set for Jusly 3, 2007

*^&%^$%#$#& WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEW HEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Congrats to Elle on your arrival and to Loke and Rings on your interview!! How wonderful!

WELCOME TO THE US ELLE!!!! Glad you made it safe and sound to your man Eric.

CONGRATS ON YOUR INTERVIEW DATE Rings and Loke! I'm sure that will go well!

Hi Niphredil! Try not to worry about all the bad things. I believe there is a balance in everything. All the hardship you have been going through will be balanced with the happiness you'll experience when you reunite with your loved one.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

I'm glad it's Friday and I can get back to doing more stuff for the wifey this weekend LOL.

Thanks for the congrats guys!! still Think I might be dancing for awhile lol. Its the best feeling not having to think about a time limit. I really hope you guys are reunited VERY VERY SOOON!

Speaking of Congrats...

CONGRATS RINGS & LOKE on your interview date!! You guys are now in the gravy station! Soon y'all be together!! How exciting!!

Jezz - 3 more weeks and you'll be a Baltimorean! yAy!

Kath - you ARE the very 1st one to say Welcome to America - cuz the customs officer didnt say it lol. I actually have a IR1 visa, so I dont have to do AOS, but thanks for the heads up about the fees.

Vylex - Is your wife on CR1 or IR1?

Thanks again and welcome to Niphredil and Jayde and all the new peeps joining this wonderful & supportive Oz/American community

Hi Elle,

My wife is applying for a CR-1 which reminds me....

Hammy or any other recent IR-1/CR-1 people if you are reading this...

What I-864 package did you receive from the NVC? I know there have been updates the last year or so and I would like to know the most recent requirements such as a single tax transcript/return, no requirement of tax release (or something like that), etc.

I am going to start filling out my form this weekend and would like to gather the requirements now.

Also, what DS-230 requirements were there? Is it still just Part I and the biographic page of the wifey's passport? I know some countries have become "Appointment" (new updated requirements depending on country) vs. "Standard" (the original requirements for all countries).


Thanks!
-Alex

RINGS AND LOKE....CONGRATS ON GETTING THE INTERVIEW DATE WHOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO

thats fantastic news for you guys...not long now and you will be in each others arms....and you thought the bugging wouldnt help heheheheheeeeeeee im so happy that finally you have some kind of date to go with...congrats again mate...

hi jayde
i must of read your post wrong i thought you were starting it lol...have you added yourself on the u.s. map where you are at..the link is in my signature...and thanks for the compliment...i enjoy being here helping where i can...noticed you have the same problem with your timeline that rings had.. might have to talk to ewok to see what he can do to update your timeline...

hi vylex
take a look at some of hammy's posts mate.. i remember him setting out what he had do for his CR1...also i found aussiewench's post about the shortcuts that might help also...

JAME'S SHORT CUTS

so good to read good news in here...and to see everyone is hanging in there for their journey's
take care
kath

I finally got over my shyness about confronting automated voices and called the NVC hotline Whee, my DS-230 is on it's way!

I've already d/led it from the site and have filled out a 'Tester' version. Whilst I haven't been to too many places since I was 16, it is nice to think about it beforehand, it's a few days less spent working on it.

Dave will hopefully get his AOS in sometime next week (which should be when the 230 arrives), then he can send an e-mail regarding his condition. Whilst I doubt it'll help with expedition at this stage of the game, it certaintly can't be a bad thing either. You'd have to be pretty hard-hearted to refuse someone a greencard because their husband is sick :\ Silly thing is, he'd probably be done with chemotherapy by the time I get there x.X

Grats on the interview date Rings I suppose even with an interview date its hard to just not go out and buy a ticket huh? As is, I'm already checking out 1 way flight costs from LA to LR... ahh it's about time they put in CHEAP one way flights, instead of the "Oh, we're trying to rip off business flyers by having 1 way flights at DOUBLE the return cost" x.X

Thanks Kath.

Yes, I've been reading up on the James version 2.0 shortcut. I think I have everything I need. I am just being anal and want to triple check with recently approved folks so I can confirm nothing has changed since. I am hoping that I can time everything so when I head to Oz, all the paperwork has been filed and I would only have to wait for that "Case Complete" notification.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! WHEWWWWW HEWWW - CALLING THEM AND BUGGING THE CRAP OUT OF THEM DOES HELP!!!!!

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On June 22, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

Congratulations Rings & Loke!

I'll be thinking about you guys on July 3rd! Happy interviewing!

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to have the visa in my hand after the interview?

Is booking a flight for the 7th of July after an interview on the 3rd over-ambitious?

Personally I don't think so lol... ok maybe there is a slight personal involvement in this lol

I was under the impression that you're told at the interview if you pass, and that the next day, you can pick it up at the desk, or have it mailed to you.
Course, what I think happens and what actually DOES happens, tends to be 2 completly different things

I thought I had read somewhere that they are now only mailing them out, but I have read so many different things that it's possible I read it wrongly or just imagined it. If they will let me pick it up the next day I will spend an extra day in Sydney and pick it up myself just for peace of mind. Then there's only the issue of being gung-ho and booking the flight before I actually get my visa haha.

hi ya loke and rings
congrats on the other pettition being approved and yeah u did it girl buggy them did help mate..

loke..after being approved on the day .. you have the option to pick it up the next day in the afternoon or giving them a post bag with your address on it to be mailed to you.. i would stay an extra day to pick it up ...that way you dont have to wait a week like others to get it in your hot little hands...take a look at some of the interview reviews loke might help ya ...

after typing all that i just read your post lol...why dont you send sydney an email seeing if the procedure has been changed ....lol sheesh that will teach me .. read before answering lol

kath