Today I just received a letter from the NVC stating that they have changed their processing for Havana NOW when you turn in your DS230 part 1 you also have to submit your DS230 part 2 but only sign part one. Then you also have to send the beneficiary's biographic data page, Original birth certificate, original marriage certificate and Cuba police certificate (antesedientes penales). I was so upset because I had already sent out my DS230 and when they sent me the instruction packet things had not changed yet. Because on the instruction packet it said that I only had to send in a copy of my husbands Passport. Now 3 weeks later I get a letter saying that things had changed and they are asking me to resubmit the DS230 and the copy of the passport plus more stuff. Its so not fare That's another 3 weeks that its going to delay my case or even more. Just my luck they decide to change wright when its my case

it's not fair? are you kidding me? this is coming from someone who got their NOA2 in 7 days while others have been waiting months and you are whinning? you have some nerve.
JK

USCIS lost our paper work. I would gladly trade positions with you.

S

For better or worse, Cubans occupy a unique, privileged position in the U.S. immigration scheme. All a Cuban has to do is show up in this country, no matter how they get here or whether they are married to a U.S. citizen, and they are entitled to automatically adjust status in a year and a day. Blame all of the Congresses and Presidents over the past 40 years. But don't blame Miriam for marrying a Cuban. Because he is Cuban, he was basically rubber-stamped through the I-130 process.

That said, what happened to Miriam is unfair. She didn't even go with the DS-230 shortcut -- instead, she waited for the cover letter sent to her by NVC and followed its instructions. As you well know, the DS-230 cover letter from NVC directs one to a site that you and I have both repeatedly linked in our posts. That site still indicates that Havana is a Standard Processing post, requiring only Part I and a copy of the passport bio page.

So what happened to Miriam truly sucks, as does NVC and the State Department for screwing up so royally. They are apparently doing the same thing with at least Jamaica, as can be seen from another post today, and who knows how many other countries. These people are total f-ups, as can be seen with the passport debacle that's been in the news. F-them.

But don't criticize Miriam for justly complaining about this. Very bad form, old sport.

who's blaiming her for marrying a cuban? complaining about how inept the gov't is is one thing, no one is criticizing that. the ability for the nvc to change the rules in the middle of the game without notifying anyone IS unfair. i should know since it happened to me. the nvc didn't notify me, they just decided to request more documentation for whatever reason. thank God that i found out in time, made the necessary changes and avoided any delays.
but to complain that it will add a few more weeks to their already extremely short CR1 timeline is beyond ridiculous and frankly insensitive to those that have been seperated from their loved ones for close to a year or more. in the end, even with this dealy, their process will be 3-4 times faster than other folkes. so instead of whining, she should be grateful for the preferential treatment they are getting.
JK

I guess they are making a lot of changes in the processes lately.

Miriam, I now that it hurts if you have to wait 3 weeks additionally. But you must be happy because your process is going so fast. For example we are waiting approx. 4 months and even our petitions are not approved. And I don't have an idea when USCIS will approve them. It is so disturbing. We are married from a year, have a baby and live divided by USCIS and our life is depending on USCIS. I can't describe my despair.

To JK in response to your dictator like comment:

I’m really sorry that others have to wait so long but I have just as much right as anyone to complain about my situation. If you don’t like it then don’t read it no ones forcing you and your way out of line for thinking that you can tell me that I cant express how up set I am about the fact that I wont be able to be with my husband as soon as I thought. You or anyone out there has no right to say that just because your case is worse I have to shut up and not say a word. Dam* it I’m upset and I want to express it. Were in America I will express myself when I want to how I want to and where I want to and if anyone has a problem with it then o well. Visajourney.com wasn’t put on the internet so that you write only what others want to hear its here so that everyone can share their VISA JOURNEY and this is my journey so I’m sharing IT!

I like you...

I like your attitude... that is unfair. At least if they are going to change the process, then they should notify you of it. They should at least process the petitions that they have and give warning to those who are in the process of the change. There are peoples lives on hold here because of paperwork. These people go home every day to their wives and husbands and they have their life.

As far as I am concerned, if you are processed faster or not, one day without the love of your life is still one day stolen from you that you can't get back. I do not think that you are any more lucky than any of us here because you still have to go through the same crap despite the timeframe and that guy up there can piss off!

*hugs you*

Thank you

miriam, first of all, my comments were not dictator like. if they had been i would have said, shut your mouth, you don't have a right to vent.
but since i'm not a dictator, you have a right to complain just like i have a right to criticize you. i'll state it again so that you can understand...it's not fair that the nvc changes the rules in the middle of everything without notifying anyone.
however, life isn't fair and you won't get any simpathy from me for complaining that your process could take an additional few weeks when you really haven't waited as long as others have. you're upset and want to express it? good for you. i say, keep things in perspective, it could be worse, a lot worse. you could be like xuemei who has been waiting for 10 months without a NOA2 approval and without an explanation as to why there is a delay.
this process is not fair, deal with it. even with this delay your case will be finished a lot faster than most so your whining is falling on deaf ears, at least mine.
you are right about this...this forum was not created so that you can read what you want to "hear". this forum is great for gathering and sharing information but not everyone is going to agree with you or even sympathize with you. you may not believe this but i sincerely hope that you can get the additional documents like i did quickly and send it to the nvc so that you can keep the process moving. while it stinks that the rules have changed, you aren't going to get a "poor baby" from me for having to wait a few more days
JK

I agree with jediknight, you got married in january and you didn't even send the 130 until march. Your case will be done very soon. Your husband will be in the states in a few months. Be patient. Most Cr1/Ir1 cases take a year or more, it looks like yours will take only 5 months. Good luck and I'm not trying to sound like an a$$hole. I hope your momentum keeps up.

I feel sorry for you.

Sorry that the pain of your own separation from your loved one is causing you to lash out at someone else.

Sorry that you are so wrapped up in your own life that the thought of anyone else being happy seems to hurt you

Sorry that you not only can't give support to someone else who needs it, but that you feel the need to stick the boots in while someone else is already hurt.

My wife and I have found a wonderful community here at Visajourney and the people here have helped us more than we could have hoped before we joined here. Our questions have been answered, our fears have been alleviated and most of all, when we have needed and asked for support it has been given. Quite frankly this astonishes me.

I honestly hope the best for you in your journey, and I hope that whatever hurt you suffer along the way will be paid for in love, joy and wonderful moments in your future. I don't think there is a person here who doesn't have some understanding of what it's like to be separated, to be robbed of days we could have had in the arms of our loved one. I wish I could see everyone here happy and fulfilled by their journey, but I know that the process we all go through causes pain that seems unnecessary.

But please don't take it out on someone else because it seems they might be getting a better deal than you. That is life - some people get luckier than others, some people work harder than others and some people simply deal with their pain better than others.

If you're upset, I think there are better ways to take out your frustration than by lashing out at someone else who is upset too. It's not our place to trivialise the hurt of another, and I am sure you're better than that.

If it was you, we would all have to hear about how unfair it was for you. I think the person that needs to change perspective here is you buddy.

Maybe she did her paperwork better than you and you fucking sucked at yours... you ever think of that? Maybe she had more proof of the validity of her relationship whereas the governement is suspecious of you...

Maybe she had someone who was sitting at a deak and was in a good mood while you got the pissy one who woke up on the wrong side of the bed...

The reality here is that you don't know why she was approved faster than you and why should she be any less upset than anyone would be given her circumstances? Just because you have to wait does not make it her fault... Just because you have to wait does not entitle you to look at the other cases that are process and lay your thick judgement on them because of your own selfish jealous thoughts.

She still has to ache for her man like the rest of us people in here and your lack of compassion to see that just shows everyone here what a royal dumbass you are. You can sit there and look at everyone who may have had "better luck" and think "well what do they have to feel bad for, at least they aren't still waiting" or you can choose to support the people in here that are going through the same pain that you yourself should know and understand. If you don't understand that pain in one day or one year, then maybe people should be questioning why you are here.

When you are upset because somthing happens regard to your case, I would support you despite if you were in a better situation than me or not. You are only showing people that you are not willing to do that for another person. If this was your wife, then you would beat the crap out of an ####### for talking to her like you are talking to this fine lady here... if your wife was in tears because of missing any moment with you, you would see this different.

You have no right to judge people based on how the government has processed their case. You have no right to judge anyone for that matter. You are only making yourself look like an idiot and if this is how you think, then I feel sorry that your wife has to put up with you.




You are the same. All of us have our waiting time and all of us have our poain and all of us have to suck it up and deal with it and all of us have good and bad. You would want support if something upsetting happened to you. You would not want discrimination because the government choose to push you through faster than anyone else and quite frankly you people make me fucking sick.

In the interests of stopping this from spiralling any further I will throw myself in the line of fire and say that I would gladly trade places with each and everyone of you...with regards to timelines, of course.

-S

And you know what? I support you and I am sorry the government has sucked for you *Hugs*
and I hope it gets better and I hope that they suddenly find your case and everything falls into place and because they screwed up, I hope they process you sooner and push your case through.

i hope that your spirits rise and that things work out and I hope for you and that is why we are here... to hope and help each other.

I am surprised to hear such strong and ugly words by you Rings. I know that every day of waiting hurts but you don't have right to sue JK. He was waiting 5 months for petition to be approved. May be you can't imagine how he was feeling and you forgot how you were feeling before a week. It is so ugly. What you will say for my family. May be we don't have sufficient information about validity of our marriage too (we are married from a year and we have a child). The policy of USCIS is so discriminatory, cruel and inhuman. There is not difference among the feelings of people from different nationality. Really it is not fair someone to wait 5 months and other to wait 10 months without no reason. Please don't be rude. It hurts.

Thanks. My spirits are pretty good...I have the curse of eternal optimism.

To clarify, when someone writes "it is just my luck" and adds three cry icons they will open themselves up to correction when there are others who's luck has been worse. For further clarity, I don't know if my luck is worse (especially since I married the most amazing man and this situation has brought us even closer) but I did want to offer Miriam an example of how it could be worse...not negate her claim - just put it into perspective.

Thanks for the hugs, I will pass them on to my husband when he arrives next week.

- S

It is funny that we have to rely on luck in this process. May be at CSC and VSC employees make a lottery every day and in that way they choose which petitions to be approved.

Did you read this whole thread? I have not said one ugly word to anyone outside of a person who didn't care about another persons feelings. I have never bad mouthed any one in this forum nor have I forgotten about my pain or any other persons pain. Look at my last post before this. Does that seem unsupportive to anyones loss or situation? Am I throwing the immigration discrimination laws into her face as if it was some form of valid argument on my part? Clearly not...

Look, this thread was started because someone who is also ahead of me and was processed before me was sad because of a circumstance beyond her control. I am not here to break anyone's spirits down and I have done nothing of the sort.

You are complaining to me of the same thing that he has done. Your post is conflicting of the original reason for my anger and upset. You are seriously telling me that my defense to her feelings is wrong because someone else was processed slower than her... well tough.

"Maybe I can't imagine how he is feeling" is quite the opposite of the reason I am upset. I suggest that you read through this thread again. I did not in any way accuse him of having any less or any more than anyone else. I simply stated that he has no right to lay thick judgement and lack of compassion on someone simply because the governement choose to process her faster than him. This is not an attack on him my fair lady.

No one here made the laws ok. It does not matter why others are treated better or worse, what matters is that we are all stuck in the same place and feeling the same thing.

Some people like to go up and some people like to go down
Some people like to stay right in the middle
Nevertheless we are all stuck on the same elevator listening to the crappy music that no one knows how to turn off.

i was defending her because she is sad about her circumstance. I would do the same for you despite where you were in line and how the governement treated you.

this is not getting us anywhere. thank you all for your input, especially yours rings. i love that you need to use vulgarity to express a thought.

i stand by my criticism but don't want to hijack this thread and the important point of the original post which was to inform everyone going through cuba that the rules have changed. according to the original post, the nvc is requiring more documentation to be sent along with the DS230 such as birth, marriage cerificates and police reports.

this sudden change has been reported by others going through other embassies so it would be wise to call the nvc BEFORE sending the ds230 to double check. don't assume that all you need to send is a copy of the passport since the nvc changes the rules whenever they see fit without notifying anyone.
JK

I am blown away by you. You could have taken your thoughts of her situation and refrained from saying words that stung to intentionally hurt her. You could have stated what you said in this post in the beginning and held your tongue when it came to your opinion on how she has more "luck" than others, but you didn't. You are the reason that this thread strayed from it's original meaning in the very beginning and now you are making a futile attempt to recover the original meaning of this post without having to explain your position behind your statements in an effort to wave your hurtful words off. If anyone "hijacked" this thread from it's original purpose, then it was you.

You are entitled to your own opinion and you are entitled to express your anger or hurt at any given time, but to come into this thread and smear someone who is hurting into the ground just because the government saw them differently is completely out of line.

Vulgar words are used as a means of expression toward a feeling where emotion cannot be adequately expressed through words that have less of a harsh tone and impact to another human. I felt every ounce of that expression so I used the appropriate words to describe how I felt. There isn't a word sharp enough to define how horrible your insensitive thoughts toward another person in pain made me feel and quite honestly, I don't regret what was said any more than you regret your actions of kicking another member while they were already down.

If this was your wife and she was upset because of a situation that you could not control and it meant that you had to spend even one more extra day without her because of something the government could have notified you of, then I would like to think that you would see this situation in a different light.

You are with your wife, you have made this journey. You are in a place that we all want to be in... just the same. If something bad were to happen to you and you had to be separated again, I would express sorrow to you for your loss. I would not sit here and tell you that you should feel lucky that you got some time with your wife before it happened. I would not sit here and tell you "Well hey, it could be worse!"

I am glad that you did not have to go through a loss of time because you caught the change in the system before it affected your case. I am relieved for you that you did not lose a day, an hour, a week or a month. I am thankful that you have been given the chance to be able to kiss her lips and touch her hair. I am glad that you can sit together on this day and wipe a tear from her eye and hold her and comfort her. I am so happy for your joy in that you can wake up with her in the morning and have dinner with her at night.

I am sorry you had to wait longer than others to get that. I am sorry that you had to go through the rape of the government system in order to have the honor that you have today. I am saddened that anyone is forced to "prove" their love and the validity of their relationship to some person sitting in an office who has no clue who these people are. I am sorry that you had to wait an hour, a day, a week, a month... I am sorry for your pain in your process.

What you said to her was needless and hurtful and mean and lacked understanding to the reason she is upset. She should be thankful of the speed of her process, but that does not mean she is not entitled to hurt for another day robbed of her either.

(Every day without you Loke, is a day closer to you and yet... it is still a day without you that I can never get back. I will remember our pain and I will never forget the importance of an hour with you. You are the other half of me.)

JK is a jerk. and in response to the VJer that said i didnt start the papers till march FYI I went to a lawyer on January 21st and payed her 400 dollers to start my papers she ended up screwing me over and didnt send my papers till march 9th but i didnt find out about this till i called imigration and asked them what day they recived my petition.

Trust me my journey with Alain hasn’t been smooth. 4 months to get my birth certificate certified so that I could marry him. We had our wedding in December but couldn’t get married till January because Cuba took 4 months to certify my birth certificate. but we had to have our wedding and couldnt wait for the papers because we had already rented the place, printed the invitations and 13 invites had already scheduled and paid their flight. Cuba took 3 months to certify my papers when they usually take a week. Finally a week before I was suppose to leave because my visa was going to expire the papers arrived and we got married the next day. If not I would of had to come back to the states a married unmarried woman. O and no one but my mother and a lawyer friend of mina who married us (well at least pretended to) knew about it I couldn’t tell my grandfather (who walked me down the aisle) about it because it would break his heart. and to top it of I didn’t even get the wedding I wanted because we came in through the Bahamas and all our luggage was left in there by Bahamasair that means that all 13 of my invites and my mother were with out clothes for 7 days we had to hand wash our underwear every night for 7 days because our stuff didn’t arrive till the day after the wedding which was the day before everyone was leaving. My guest that came from the states had to go to the wedding in jeans and t shirts not to mention that I had 2
suitcases full of decorations that I had spent almost 500 dollars on including my wedding jewelry, my husbands shoes our cake top, toasting glasses, party favors for my guest, guest book and to top it off not everything made it back our luggage was ripped and stuff were missing some of my guest had there shoes and clothes stolen. I had to spend our wedding night at his parents house with his brother and brothers friend sleeping on the floor of his room because the car that was taking us to the hotel broke down and we couldn’t find another one because it was 2am and its Cuba so we didn’t get to have sex till the day after our wedding HOWS THAT FOR LUCK! So me getting my petition approved in 7days is great but trust me I had to go through hell for it.

P.S. Cuba messed up my address and sent the papers to the wrong house on top of the fact that they took 4 months then. My mom recived the papers and had to send them to me DHL because I was in cuba at the time.

Hey Miriam,
one should know better than to call people names. I don't think JK tried to insult you. Even if he did, WWJD?
Yes your situation sucks, and I am sorry for you BUT that is not a good excuse...
Make peace, not war. Lighten up.
And good luck with the rest of your journey.


Rika

Miriam, I am sorry for your situation and what you have had to go through. That only goes to show that people are too quick to judge others based on what they THINK they know as opposed to what the real facts are.

None of these people know you and none of these people understand what you have had to go through in order to be with your love. I am sorry that they are insensitive enough and so overly self absorbed in their own losses to care about another person in this world. This only shows you how selfish that people really are. Most of these people come in here to get support or questions answered and whine and cry over their situation and they would get a different result than you have gotten simply because of your timeline. I am sorry that you are being descriminated against because the government saw it fit to process your petition any faster than anyone else. I am sorry that people feel that it is appropriate to insult you because they feel that you have had it better than they have.

It completely blows me away that these people cannot simply be happy for anyone else and yet when they wish to celebrate their victories, they are all too quick to seek out celebration from others. I am sorry for the reflection these people put those of us who are genuine in the world and those of us who do care about other people.

I am sorry that he can not even man up and apologize for his lack of respect toward another memner and his inability to show compassion. Please remember that despite all theses insentive people, there are some of us who do understand your heartache.




WWJD? Hmmm Odd thing to post coming from someone who obviously didn't read the thread well enough to know who was insulting who here. WWJD? Hmmm I think that Jesus would "Do unto others as if you would have them do unto you" or wait.. how about the "Love thy neighbors"... pffft i could go through and entire thread on the things Jesus would do and find hundreds of examples of how people should be treated.

She has been unrightfully mistreated here... I think he did insult her and I feel that she has every right to insult him back. READ IT BEFORE YOU POST...

It's not her fault that his 'little man' syndrom over rode his ability to take her feelings into consideration simply because he had to wait longer (boo hoo). It's not her fault that he felt inclined to kick her while she was down all for his own personal satisfaction of rubbing it in that her paperwork was treated differently than his... that was a personal attack because he is angry over a governement process... not because he thought about her personal feelings on the matter.

He didn't have to sit here and tell her that she didn't have anything to be upset over and to suck it up because it could always be worse... He is an insensitive prick and I will insult him because I don't give a hell about what Jesus would do. None of you people know her and this is a place of support for someone who is going through the same crap we are.

Visa Journey IS about the journey and this is her journey. If you are entitled to be upset then so is she and none of you have any right to personally attack her and if you do attack her, then she has every right to defend herself and tell that jerk to piss off.

Hmmm... so according to your logic, now it would be OK if JK came after you and start calling YOU names, because you called him names. I don't see him do that. He must be a good person then...
Miriam cares about WWJD. You may not, but this is not your fight either, so why then you are so emotionally involved? Unless you are friends with Miriam... then it is your fight. But then it is called ganging up on someone. Not nice.
Just let it rest, would you?
Please?



Rika

PS You right, I can't read the posts

Miriam,

Even though it's really painful to be away from our loved ones you are still way ahead of other people's journey. So waiting another 3 weeks for you to send in the extra paperwork is nothing compared to the people who have been waiting since July of last year to get their I-130s approved. The NVC plays dirty tricks on all of us but since you're going through Cuba, you're still WAY ahead of many of us.

Be patient and be very, very grateful that your visa will be granted in no time.

Diana

Diana,
Did you not read what I went through all last year. Ok so my petition was approved quick but that's the only quick thing that has happened everything else has been complicated as hell.

The rest of you,
I just want this whole journey to be over. I love my husband and if I had to do it again I would but this has been the hardest last two years of my life. And I'm sure that most people in here feel the same and I don't blame them I'm glad that my petition was approved quick I really am but I'm not glad that now its being delayed think how you would feel if you get all excited about things moving fast and then all of a sudden they stop you would be like ###### this sucks! So people stop being mean and give me a break I was just blowing of steam that day ! And I have the right to !

I don't think anybody is giving you a hard time. I always try to see the glass half full and in your case, it's so close to being full. Just give it time and you'll see that the NVC will close your case quickly and your husband will have his interview sooner than later. If we all give in to desperation, especially being so close to the finish line, we will drive ourselves crazy. A la Paris Hilton.