Hi all!

Well, I finally got an interview date! I received packet four via email on Thursday - I was very surprised to get it so soon! My interview is on March 25th at 11:00am (the day before the original expiry date of the petition!), and I'm all ready to go. I was very lucky to get a decently-priced plane ticket and a hotel room (Travelodge on Phillip Street) so close to the Easter long weekend!

I'll have a full day in Sydney to do some touristy things, and the next day is the interview day. I'm very nervous, excited, and... nervous. LOL. I can't wait for it to be over and done with...

It should be interesting to see how long I'll spend at the consulate. I followed the new instructions that the consulate sent to me by email. I had to send all of my documents (with the exception of the evidence and originals of the police certificate, my change of name and birth certificates.) to them instead of taking it all with me.

I wonder if they've changed the way they interview people, too?

Good stuff! I'll let you know how my interview goes.

Also, does anyone know if the fee of AUD$157.20 payable at Aust Post, needs to be made prior to the interview? If so, do I just make the payment out to the Consular since I don't have a bill or anything to give over the counter for them to scan?

Thanks.

$157.20? That's odd... Mine says $150.65... O_o;

Hey Everyone!!

So it's tax season...aaargh... I received my green card when I was in Oz March 07 and moves to the US June 07...do I need to pay taxes from when I had received my green card?? Have you guys who have recently moved have your tax appnts yet??

Thank you for any info

Katz,

If you'll be hanging around Sydney, I can at least recommend good eats (in my humble opinion hehe).

1) Go to Harry's Cafe. It's an outdoor stand with really good meat pies....yummm, they don't have meat pies like that over here on the East Coast.

2) I recommend Pancake on the Rocks. It should be pretty close walking distance from the Travelodge. You get a nice scenic walk through Circular Quay into the Rocks. That place is open 24 hours and it seems to be packed for most of it!




Hey hey Elle!

NJ has a different State tax rule than Maryland but our Fed should be the same. NOTE: There are probably other ways of doing this but I considered this to be the easiest.

Basically, this is what we did (after I did tons of reading on the IRS site regarding Alien tax rules as well as a few googled answers)

1) Write a letter stating that you and your spouse wish to be treated as US Residents for the ENTIRE tax year. You must file JOINTLY. Check Page 9 of this doc under Dual Status Alien:

Pub 519

2) If you do the above, then you need to state your Global income....so you state your income from Jan 2007 through March 2007 (Aussie income) as well as your April through Dec 2007 US income. Estimate as best you can your income from the Aussie time period.

3) File a form 2555 or 2555EZ (we used EZ because all we wished to exclude was her Aussie income). This form is used to deduct your Aussie income on the 1040 form.

So for example:

Your hubby makes $USD50k and you made $USD50k (and $USD20k was from Oz and $USD30k from the US).

Your total is $USD100k. However you file a 2555/EZ and deduct the $USD20k. Your total US taxable income is $USD80k.

On your 1040 form there is a space for putting in additional income (negative) so that the adjusted income is summed up correctly.

Line 7: Your Global income...100k in this case.

Line 21: Other income...you type in 2555/EZ form and then put in ($20,000). The parentheses denotes a negative value).

Line 22: The total income and it should sum up to $80k in this example.

NOTE: The 2555EZ form will prorate the maximum allowable income you can deduct. It's about 85,700 for an entire year. If you worked half a year the max would be about 43,000. It forces you to do the math but it's straightforward.

It's not as bad as it sounds. I think we should be ok hehe. There are so many options it gets confusing during the tax season. Good Luck Elle and hit me up with any other questions should you have any. I am by no means a Tax accountant but I spent enough time reading these tax docs the last 2 years that I am absorbing it like a sponge (I hope hehe).

Thank you for the recommendations! I will definitely check them out - especially the pancake place. My flight gets in at Sydney at 6:15am, and check-in time at Travelodge isn't until 2pm. I'll eat my morning away. LOL.

Katz, correct it's 150.65 payable at Australia Post. There is only one American Consulate Non-Immigrant Visa 'fee' so they'll know which one you're paying for. Be sure to remember the receipt! Also, bring along a pre-paid self addressed envelope so they can post the visa to you. They didn't indicate this anywhere on my mailed letter nor email notification of my interview hence I didn't bring one. So I'll have to go back tomorrow to pick it up

Yes folks I had my KI visa interview today and was approved! In less than an hour too

What to expect (from my experience)
The Tower itself houses numerous companies, medical practices, etc so lots of people streaming in and out. Just be sure to take the correct set of elevators and not straight to Level 59. You can query the security guards at the desk in the Lobby like I did but I was simply told to go to Level 10.

Take the elevator to Level 10 where the Consulate reception is located. They'll ask you for your appointment letter. You'll have to pass through a metal detector and your belongings scanned. Only then are you able to proceed to Level 59. You'll be shown in the elevator by the lovely security guards. Upon exiting onto Level 59, you'll have to go through another metal detector before pulling on the heavy door (yank it hard!) to the Consulate.

Great views of the Bridge and harbour from the window on the left. Be sure to take a Number before you are called up. For me there was only a short wait, say 15mins. I was called up to the counter (about 11 counters in total from what I saw, enclosed like a booth but open enough for you to hear conversations happening across the counter! *cringe*) and the lady simply took a look at my appointment letter, took my documentation and found my case and proceeded to review all my paperwork ensuring I had everything for about 15mins. Then I was asked to sit down and wait.

After about 10mins, I was called up. I was expecting a face to face interview in a room. But it was merely over the counter separated by a glass panel. First thing the Officer said to me was 'So you're getting married?'. 'Sure am' I replied sheepishly. He took a look at my documents, asked when I was going to travel, where my fiance lives, where I intend to live, have I visited before, he noted my place of employment and asked if I would seek employment with them...and then he asked if I was going to pick up my visa or not. No congrats but boy, was I pleased! Short & Sweet!~ Took about 10mins! I'd brought evidence of our relationship and was ready to launch into my spill but guess not!

Any further Qs, feel free to ask me. Was painless and quick. All the best to everyone else! As long as you have all your papers in order, you should be fine

Congrats on the approval CD! Glad to hear your processing went that quickly! We had a 2 or 3 hour wait in between the paper processing and the "interview" although ours was a CR-1. Glad you had such a painless experience!

Katz, you should be able to eat your morning away at Pancakes and then some. That place is awesome. Variety of good is excellent.

Pancake on the Rocks

I am getting really hungry just browsing through their menu again LOL.

The direction for the Rocks location should be there as well. Good luck and happy visit to Sydney!

Greetings from Missouri!

Hope everyone else is having better weather than we have had for the past 24 hours! It didn't stop raining all day yesterday. Yesterday was suppose to be the day I pick up my wedding dress from the bridal shop. Nope, that didn't happen. Couldn't risk something happening to it So hopefully it'll clear up so I can pick it up sometime this week!

Congrats on all the approvals and good luck to those all pending their interview dates, etc. It seems like such a long time ago that I did that...

Wedding plans are going good. We're 2 weeks out before the big day and the only thing left to finalise is the baker for the cake and the florist. We're meeting with the baker today to wrap that baby up. And yesterday, we got our marriage license! WooHoo!

Oh, and on Saturday, we moved into our own home! It's so cosy and perfect for the 2 of us. We both love it. Then Sunday I was thrown a bridal shower, which was so lovely. MInd you, it was attended by all of Zach's or his Mum's female friends so it was so overwhelming to get such a warm welcome and not to mention, being showered with gifts for the house! Americans are sooo nice.

Well, better get back to it. We're choosing music for our ceremony this morning plus 101 errands to run. And I'm looking forward to our visit to St. Louis on Sunday! I'll see a real big city (truth be told I'm missing the hustle and bustle of Adelaide and my skyscrapers! and horrendous traffic! Haha!)

Take care all and all the best with everybody's everyday adventures.

Patricia

Best of luck Patricia! That's really nice of your husband's family and friends. After all they are your family and friends too now.

Sounds like everything is coming along. Spring time weddings are great.

Gday

Long time no post on the aussie thread....I went through the K1 process last year, all the stress and the torture being away from my fiance was very worth it in the end so anyone going through that at the moment hang in there. I am in the US and in the process of AOS, this question is actually aimed at Kath, but anyone else i would love to hear from...Kath i see you got your greencard very quick, did you have many touches after it got sent to CSC?I have 2 job offers but i cant take them because i need the EAD or the permanant resident card!
Once again i love reading this thread, need more then outback steakhouse ads to keep me in touch with straya!

Jon

hello from sunny hawaii! :-) I made it, although it seems like a miracle.

Want to hear abou the POE from hell?

Okay, so my flight with Jetstar starts like this.

Arrive in Melbourne airport at 11.30am with 130kg of baggage, 2 x boxes full of winter clothes, books, a few house things, stuff that is basically useless to me in Hawaii but never the less is my stuff!! Aside from that I have 2 very large (and heavy)suitcases including summer clothes and the things I need for day-to-day.

So I have to check in at Qantas and fly to Sydney first to connect with my ongoing flight. Lucky me, I picked the day after Grand Prix so the airport was mahem. On top of that the baggage handlers had taken industrial action and were on strike. So after checking in, I had to take my own bags down to this room where they would be collected by someone.

I board my flight, it's running almost an hour late but that's not too bad.

I arrive in Sydney and reach the room to board the bus that goes to the international terminal. It's full and there doesn't seem to be any busses taking passengers. I wait half an hour looking at my watch and my flight is due to leave in just over ONE hour and I still need to check in at the Jetstar counter before clearing customs.

The bus eventually loads people up and we get there. I run to the Jetstar counter and move quickly through customs. I get to my gate right in the nick of time..

Jetstar board all passengers and the plane sits on the tar-mack for 2.5 hours full of people while they finish loading the bags and sort out some 'technical difficulties'. We finally take off 2.5 hours late! At least we are in the air.

Lucky me, I got an entire row of seats to stretch out on, I don't think I have ever slept so much on a flight before. I arrive in Honolulu at 9am feeling wonderful and ready for my POE! :-)

I meet with the immigration officer at the special counter and everthing goes smoothly. She takes my finger prints and she asks me to sign a few documents. Then she asks me for my x-rays. They're in my checked baggage, just as the letter from the consulate instructed. It specifically said that x-rays would not be required but should be taken to the US for my "own personal records". I show her the letter, she shrugs and says "well we need to see them, so I'll get someone to escort you to where you can pick up your bags and open them". While I'm waiting for that someone to come along, I try to call my husband to let him know that's going on. An officer snaps at me and says "no phone calls".

okay..

So I am collected by a nice lady representing jetstar/qantas locally. She takes me to the bag pick up.. after a long wait I see my 2 boxes. But no suitcases. The belt stops as though there is nothing else coming and I ask an airport guy who confirms everything has been taken off my flight. I try not to panic.

I tell the lady who has escorted me to the bags what the situation is and we go to missing baggage. I fill out a claim form as I freak out knowing that my lost bags require my x-ray which is required for immigration.

After about 2 hours of messing around, I am taken back to immigration where I again explain that my x-rays are in my missing baggage. The lady was VERY kind and saw my eyes welling up with tears. "Don't get upset honey", she said. "I'm sure they'll show up". She stamps my passport and processes my papers and says I am free to go but I have to return with my x-rays once my bags have been found. She even gave me a "congratulations and welcome to America".

I walk through customs, baggless, with my two boxes of winter clothes and into the humidity.. hubby is waiting for me with a lei and my very excited 5 year old neice!!

For a long moment there, my missing bags didn't matter too much! My husband then took me shopping to buy the things I needed that were in my case.

We have managed to giggle about it - at least we are finally together!!!

So my POE was nothing I expected, but I guess that is life! I got a call this morning about collecting my bags from the airport, they came in on a flight this morning. So i'll go and pick them up and finish the immigration process!

Today is a new day!

HD so sorry to hear you had such a rotten time getting to the USA but I bet you're smiling now and very happy the journey is over.Enjoy finally being with your husband and enjoy that beautiful weather. I have never heard of anyone having to show their x-rays..........did they give you a reason as to why they needed them?

Goodluck with the interview Katz but you will be fine! Have a wonderful day in Sydney and enjoy the views from the top of the tower.

Went for biometrics last friday for removal of condtions......2 hour drive for ten minutes Oh well! Going by the vermont timelines it should be about 6 months before I hear anymore about it

Have a very Happy Easter everyone

Susan

Hey Patricia, Glad to hear all the wedding plans are going well and will keep my fingers crossed for you on the weather! Hopefully in 2 weeks time the sun will be shining for you

I miss Adelaide too..........might be a small city but it's a great place!!!!

Hey Jodee hows it all going

I havent been on much but still check on everyone when i can
you must be pleased about heading back to the states at long last it would be good to catch up again if you get back here to cal c

angela

Welcome to the US HD! Hawaii of all places...niiiiice. I still have to visit there. Maybe as a second honeymoon with the wifey.

Sorry to hear about the X-ray mess! Wow, I've never heard of that requirement before but I did make sure Vy had it with us in our handcarry luggage (I said hell no to the guide's recommendations lol).

That must have been one of the best if not the best feelings ever to be greeted by your hubby and niece. Glad you had an overall safe journey though! Best wishes on your new journey as a couple together!

Hi everyone! Question about adjustment of status ---

was (now regretfully) looking ahead to what kinds of additional paperwork we'll have to do for adjustment of status after we're married... on the visa journey guide it did not mention this, but on the USCIS website they listed a form Supplement A to I-485, to be filed along with the I-485 form. This supplement has a fee of $1,000 in addition to the $1,000-something fee for the regular I-485. Is this correct?????

Thanks for all your help!

Nevermind - just saw that I don't have to file that Supplement!

Hi all-
My sweetie will be here in May, fingers crossed. He is just waiting for the police check to come back before he schedules his interview. My question is this: Are there any "little" things that you have missed that I can get to make him feel more at home once he's here? (or big things, too, any input is welcome) Thank you!

wow we got our noa for removal of conditions today and the check was cashed yesterday so now comes the waiting
angela

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all your well wishes!

Well my baggage eventually showed up and I took the x-rays to the immigration place at the aierport to complete my immigration. I was told they were going to be sent to public health. I thought it was so strange that they were asking for them, because the US consulate in Sydney had indicated they would not be required. But on the morning of my arrival, there was a family second in line who was also immigrating, and they were also sent down to baggage to collect their x-rays too. Maybe it's a Hawaii thing?!

Never the less I am so delighted to be with my hubby! And what a relief it is all over! My niece has been attached to my side from the moment I got off the plane (we are staying with by Hubby's family right now), it's just really nice to be back knowing I no longer have to leave!

Congrats on removing your conditions Susan. I was wondering, do you then receive a 10 year green card?! I know the form I have to file in 2 years however I'm not sure about the biometrics. Is this also to be done for removal of conditions for a CR1?

Have a great day all.. and thanks again for the nice words!

The I 751 I sent to Texas on the 10th March must have got there, the cheque/ck was cashed on the 14th. No return receipt yet though.

I am going to use the waiting time getting my head round the naturalization procedure, I am led to believe it may be a while before Texas gets through the backlog.

I will be watching for you Angela, and Densusan, I dont mind waiting this time, just as long as I get my flight back to Briz in May!

Cheers to all the Aussies who are taking this incredible journey, wherever you are living and whatever stage you are in.

All the best to those who are finally with their loved ones, that part cant be beat

does anyone know how long it takes them to give you your green card?

i had to give them more evidence - and that was 10 days ago..... i havent heard anything since, should i assume its being processed?

:-)
hope your all doing well!!

Well, guys... I'll be boarding my plane to Sydney in a couple of hours for my interview on Tuesday morning. Wish me luck!

*nervous*

Hi!

I don't know how big you are thinking, but it seems as though my husband would most enjoy an all region DVD player! Not all of his cricket and rugby league DVD's play in a U.S. DVD player. (which is probably good for me ) Also, vegemite...it's always good to know where you can buy some...I know there is a place in Maine to buy it, although that's pretty far away for anyone to get to!

I am speaking from my experience, but it seems that anything that can be found in Australia, you can get here as well...although the candy in Australia is much better!

A nice thing to get would be a phone-card so he is able to call family in Australia. I use Penny Talk but there are plenty of others out there.....hope this is of some help. Bet you can't wait for May!
Susan

HD, Thanks for the congrats. In answer to your question about the ten year greencard..........yes that is what they will send me and the journey will be over

Katz I hope the interview in Sydney went well and look forward to hearing how you went.

Sharyna, Hope you hear something soon. We had to go for an interview in Buffalo NY when I did the AOS and it was a couple of weeks I think before I received my card in the mail but it all seems such a longtime ago. Check my timeline it should be there.

Jayde I will post in here when I hear more on my removing conditions but I think it will be another 5 or 6 months before I hear anymore. When does your greencard expire? If it expires before you travel back to Brisbane then you need to take your expired card and the NOA1 with you to be able to re-enter the USA but you are probably already aware of that. Lucky you going back for a holiday...............have fun!

Hope everyone else is doing well,
SUSAN

I got my visa in the mail today! WHOO-HOO! I can't believe that it's done... I'll be flying out to the US on May 15th, then marriage on June 28th.

CONGRATS KATZ!!!!!

congrats!!!!!

Thanks guys! Ohhh... The relief! Haha.

Congratulations Katz, Awesome news about the visa!

been lurking around VJ for a while and didn't even know there was an aussie forum! stumbled upon it quite by accident.

hello everyone!

Hi Possum
welcome to the aussie thread good luck on your journey and feel free to ask any questions, everyone is so helpfull and friendly in here

angela

Hi~everybody..My name is Joey.. I am orginally from Korea settle down in Australia as Australian citizen..
I met my fiancé on Yahoo chatting and clicked right away..I have been with him for a seven years..I visited him couple of times and he visited me once..we were going to settle down in Australia but changed the plan due to interesting rising, etc..ANYHOW...we are going to file for K-1 visa soon..and here are the questions for ya...if can please please please reply!!

2. I came to Australia as a student 10 years ago do I still need a birth certificate form Korea, if so, should I certified it after translated?

3. When my fiancé file for all documents do they have to be certified??

4. I am currently working as childcare worker and have been working in this field about 5 years..I also, going to complete Bachelor of Teaching (Early childhood education) 3 years degree which allow to teach 0-5 yrs old in early childhood education..does anybody working in this fied in North Carolina? You guys reckon I can able to get a job as early childhood teacher without having a teacher’s license?

* I have settle down Australia for quite some time and it is scariest thing to move to overseas again..I am especially, frighten about getting a driving license. And possibility of racism since my fiancé lives sunburn where low percentage of Asian people lives…

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to the Aussie forum as well.. although, I'm the American. Just wanted to drop in and say hi and ask a few quick questions. We received our NOA2 recently and our case made it to NVC today - hopefully it'll be on it's way over the ocean within the next few days. In an effort to get things ready beforehand I was going to have Liam get the police record check done next week. I know that QLD sends the records straight to the Consulate but I saw someone mention they had to put the Consulate's address on the form. This is a dumb question but should he use their main address?

U.S. Consulate General
MLC Centre
Level 59
19-29 Martin Place
Sydney, NSW 2000

Just wanted to double check - knowing my luck there would be a "special" address or something and it'd get lost. Ha. Also, how long does it generally take them to submit the clearance to the Consulate?

We are crossing our fingers (and toes) that we can get an interview scheduled during my visit in May so we could fly down there together. Thus why we want to get the checklist back to them asap.

Also, he'll be scheduling his medicals with one of the doctors in Bris - any tips I should know about? Does he have to wait for packet 3 to call them up? I've already let him know to schedule vaccinations with his usual doctor and claim on MediCare (is printing results on letterhead good enough or do they need to use a special form?)

Thanks in advance for answering my many questions!!!

hiya all
sorry havent been in for like forever..ya seem to get busy around this place your either working sleeping or relaxing with hubs..

first off i would like to say hi to angela..good to see ya.. doesnt seem like yesterday i was posting you the sheets and sheets of stuff to fill in to get over here an now your doing removal of conditions...all is going well here no complaints..missing family quite a bit now...i have family coming over in august so that will be nice to see them..my sis inlaw and my niece so looking forward to that...

congrats to you katz ..wont be long before your over here with your loved one...

hi susan...how u doing..will have to give you a ring soon miss that aussie accent of yours...

hi joyjoey
welcome to the forum
get your birth certificate certified for sure..i would be inclined to get a copy of the orginal and the translated one too..just to cover your back...in doing my documents i was a stickler for over information for them and i didnt receive anything from them regarding more information..read the guidelines for K1 on vj to what needs to be certified ... i dont think we have anyone from north carolina here in this forum ..i have a friend in north carolina who is an aussie in raleigh....dont be too scared about the racism mate...you will have the support of your future hubby and im sure people will greet you with open arms over here...what were they like when you came here for visits?

hi poss
welcome to the thread..i know its a bit hard to find us..i usually send new aussie's a message telling them about the thread but i have slacked off..might have to talk to the admins here to see if we can get our thread to stand out more...what ya reckon guys and gals...

hiya liam and sam
welcome to the thread
before liam gets any vaccinations you can check what he needs on the australian consulate website for his age group..alot of us aussies go to our local doctors with our lists of vaccinations and ask the doc to do a blood test to see what we are ammuned to first this can be put on medicare...the results are to be on offical letterhead of the doctors office...tell him also to keep a record for himself also for future visits to the docs over here in america...
also take a look at the embassey information page on VJ .. its at the top of the page its packed with information about the medicals the doctors u can go see ....it also has the address of the consulate on there too..

i would like to say hi to all my mates on here...promise will be in here more often to help out..waves to all...
take care u lot
kath

I have my biometrics on the 16 april quicker than i thought

Jayde heres hoping you get yours soon

angela

Hello all, newbie here!

I am cross-posting this from the DCF forum, hope u dont mind



thanks in advance!

hi kath (and others)!
good idea about finding some way to make the aussie forum a little more apparent...i seriously only found it by accident cause it came up under a search topic that was totally unrelated! i'm so glad to have found it...i wonder if there are other aussie/US couples floating around that haven't found us yet....
glad to be here!

Although the cashed cheque had numbers on it I was unable to use them to track the application. I called USCIS and they put me through to an immigration officer who gave me the other file number and told me the application entered the system on the 17th March. I immediately added the number to my USCIS account to find a notice there saying it was transferred to VSC (Vermont). Finally on the Ninth of April the letter for biometrics appointment on the April 22.

No NOA with the extension

After a couple of tries I managed to snag an Miami infopass appointment for April 17, where I hope to get the stamp in my passport. Otherwise I am sunk because my greencard
 expires while we are in Australia.

Seems like a lot of the Texas 751's have been transferred and not too many of us have got the NOA to extend out greencard by a year.


Good luck to all the Aussies (and others on this journey)

Hi all,

It's been a while since I havce visited VJ. Just been settling into my first month in the US. It has been really relaxing not having to go to work each day but now I am starting to get ready to look for that extra something to keep me busy.

I'm anxious to start work and have been keeping an eye on the local job postings in Hawaii, only issue is that I am STILL waiting for my SSN, it's been almost 4 weeks!

The letter given to me on entry said I should wait for 3 weeks and call the office if it still hasnt arrived. I called them after 3 weeks bu they were not able to give me much info over the phone but recommended I wait for another week before going into thesocial security office in Honolulu. I am reaching week 4 and still nothing.

Just wondering how long on average it has taken people to get their SSN?

Take care all and good luck with your jouneys!

HD.

Hi Joey, I visited North Carolina last Jan/Feb as my now fiance (half Korean but born in the US) was living in Charlotte at the time. So I spent a few weeks there, visited Asheville (NC), Charleston/Hilton Head in South Carolina. Whilst yes there are few asians there (even downtown), I didn't face any animosity or racism or anything of the sort nor did my fiance. His Korean Mother also stayed with him for a few months and I didn't hear her face anything of the sort either. He was living in a gated community and his neighbours kept to themselves, but even going to the supermarket, eating out, watching a movie, going to a bar, etc things were fine. But discuss this w/ your partner as he'd be more insightful than I on this matter. Perhaps you can look into Aussie/Korean groups in the area. I'm sure they exist and would provide an excellent support network once you begin settling there.

But definitely do get your driver's license, you'll need it! So far to walk anywhere! So hopefully you'll overcome your fear

Airfare to the US

Folks, many of us would have faced the costliness of a one-way fare to the US vs. a return entering the US on the KI visa.

Rather than fly direct ie. SYD>SFO or LAX > Chicago, I was thinking of flying non-direct to try save some money ie. SYD>Honolulu on Jetstar>SFO or LAX on United> Chicago

BUT

Assume HNL would be my Point of Entry. Does it matter which is my POE flying in on a K1 visa? Should I best fly direct through SFO or LAX to avoid any trouble (this is tempting esp. since I will be lugging around my wedding dress!!)

Any tips on airfare, routes to save $$ to get me from A to B?

Thanks!~ We could all benefit!!

Hi there- I am posting this in response to a personal message- I can't seem to figure out how to upload an attachment to a personal message, so I am uploading it here. For anyone else who may be interested, I am trying to attach a template of the letter I faxed to the Sydney Consulate to request the opening of a provisional file once I learned our case was approved and sent by NVC. We never received official notice that a provisional file was opened, but my fiance received his packet 3 within 2 days of our case leaving NVC, so I believe it did speed up the process. Hope this helps!

P.S. Does anyone know how to attach a file to a personal message? Thanks!

Hi Chicago_dreaming, congratulations on the approval of your visa! :-)

Just saw your posting and wanted to make a note to you that's a little off the subject.

Despite what the consulate has told you, if your POE is through Honolulu, make sure you carry your actual X-ray film in your carry on luggage. The instructions received from the SYDNEY consulate state you will not need to present the x-ray film at your POE, but in actual fact, you do need it. I can not comment on how the other states operate but I needed mine for entry into Honolulu and it created quite a probelm for me because I had checked the x-ray films into my checked baggage (as per the consulates instruction). I was escorted down to baggage to get them out of my bag for the immigration officer who was processing my paperwork but my bags has gone misssing. They showed up 2 days later but it created quite a bit of angst and frustration for me.

Anyway, I wouldn't want anyone else to experience this stressful situation if it can be helped so my own personal piece of advice is to place the x-ray films in your carry on luggage just to be safe! ;-)

Take care & good luck. HD.

Thank you!! I went ahead and had my fiance fax it in yesterday. I'm not sure what kind of a time difference it will make (as far as I know my case should be there by now) but maybe they'll go ahead and issue packet 3 a bit quicker. Originally we were hoping to have the interview in May while I'm visiting but I'm not sure if we have enough time now. He went and requested the police check yesterday and the lady said it would take 4-6 weeks to be processed (but the Consulate's web site says that if they don't receive it in 3wks to call the police station and track it down ..)

I was reading some other posts and saw that the Consulate is requesting all documents be mailed in prior to the interview now. Is this really the case? I was hoping I could just bring the I-134 and supporting docs with me in May rather than snail mail them. Also, do they send the medical information in packet 3 or packet 4?? Just curious if he can do this next week instead of waiting on them.

Hi HD! Glad you're settling in!

It took Vy a little over 4 weeks to get her SSN. I suspect you'll be receiving yours any day now.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Hi everyone! (old and new)

Been a while...been kinda busy the past few weeks. Got married (yay!) and now settling into married life. Then realised that we need to start cracking with our new set of paperwork. This may sound bad but we honestly have no idea where to even start to do our AOS. So far we haven't received our marriage license (wedding was only a week ago so understandable). But I did apply for my SSN today and was told that I should get the card next week (here's hoping).

Here's a couple of photos taken on our wedding day:

With my husband!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2003/239520...c1e2c77b0_m.jpg

With my bridesmaid, Kate, from OK. The person who introduced Zach to me back in 2003 at University:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2308/239518...19b86c35a_m.jpg

With the cutest baby in the world:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2077/239526...630201fa6_m.jpg

It was truly a lovely and glorious day. But now we have to get back to "Immigration Life" and turn in all our paperwork. Here's hoping I can travel out of the US by December!!!

All the best to everybody else. I'll be checking in more often now that the wedding is behind us.

P.S. How's everybody's spring progress going? I love how it's sooooo green here! Definitely a new sight after dry and brown Adelaide.

Beautiful pics PoOZ!

Glad to hear you're doing well!

Spring is definitely in the air over here in NJ. Vy finally got a chance to see the trees blossom again. It's quite a sight for her. She can't believe the leaves turn from white to green but I told her to wait a little longer. She has only been here the last two winters so this will be her first spring. I told her that if she loved the winter here (worst visual conditions) then wait until spring, summer, and fall!

I am hoping to drive down to DC maybe in the fall to see the Cherry Blossoms Festival.