Congratulations to Mum and Dad, and welcome to Baby!!! I hope he continues to do well and grows up to play soccer and baseball!!! LOL

haha!

Go Cards!!!

Hello Guys! Happy to hear that some of you have heard really good news, and congrats to the new baby!!

Will be starting my london application soon, for both the I - 212 and the I - 601! Wish me luck...

Any one hear of dissaprovals? I am really frightened..and do not know what I would do if they rejected me!

Also, I heard that some of you have contacted congress man and senators, how did you guys do that? Were they personal friends?

My case isnt' that easy..but I believe we have very strong points...hopefully it will be enough!

Have a great weekend all..

Anyone can contact their local Congressman. The USC can go directly to the website for their State's Congressman and it usually has a link for Immigration Help or something similar. (Sometimes it says help with Federal Organization etc.)

If you are rejected, you can either have your USC spouse move to your country or pick a 3rd country to live in (like Canada). But think positive!

They publish a list of number of applicants vs. how many approvals each year. I'll try to find the link so you know what you are up against.

here's the link:
http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY06AnnualReportTableXX.pdf

that link wasn't very encouraging!! 886 Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude and only 220 were overcome...so we have about a 1 in 4 chance of getting through...the only thing that keeps me hopeful after that is that on the day of his interview, my husband was told by an Embassy worker that they "give visas to people with worse records all the time." Let's hope he wasn't just being kind...

I wouldn't be disheartened. You don't know what others were trying to overcome. There's a one in four chance at a minimum for your case, but like the case officer said it could be a LOT higher! I would only be worried if it said 0 overcome!

Keep your hopes up! It isn't over 'til it's over.

Finally got my decision from the Embassy last week and they denied my I-601 waiver request.

My wife and I were convinced we had a good case and really didn't see this coming. Considering an appeal but realize it would be a long shot ... just don't want to give up, you know.

Everyone still on the list, keep the faith!

Sorry to hear your bad news....we were there before. Keep your spirits up! Hopefullly this time for us it will be a approval though.

We have been waiting about 12 weeks this time around. This time we have a much better case even though last time we thought it was a strong case it really is this time!

Rinkle
So sorry to hear about that decision What a complete bummer! Hopefully you're feeling better and ready to launch an appeal
Did you use a lawyer?

Thanks Wanda. Have used a lawyer through the whole process and am currently waiting for an opinion on what our chances of a successful appeal are. From what I've heard Washington have only approved 2 appeals in the past 6 months so the chances don't look good.

i'm just sick for you, Rinkle...are you and your missus together or separated? that must be so hard....

on a cheerier note, i've spent loads of time in Toronto, and it's a great city...silver linings and all that

Rinkle
Hope you're hanging in there. Can only imagine what a huge strain it must be but you probably should launch an appeal. I know the stats are disheartening but someone's getting the appeals. Might as well see it to the end, right? A whole different set of documents may have a different judgement entirely.

Well we got a RFE this week! They wanted to know wether we had our son and if so his birth certificate and then also what his medical status is. We had found out during the pregnancy that our baby would have some difficulities so they want us to update that status. So we have 60 days to return this info. Of course now we have to get all his medical records and so forth. What a headache especially since Christmas is right around the corner and everywhere is closed for the holidays....we will try our best though!

Not sure if this is good news or not? In a way we think it is because our case is still sitting on PENDING but now we know they are at least working on it!

I'm from Ireland, we got denied our visa, We need a I601 waiver because I apparently misrepresented myself before...dont want to go into the details.
From what I'm reading the chances of an western European citizen getting approved are slightly greater because of their home country conditions etc...

How can we explain why my wife cannot move to Ireland with me. The country is not that economically bad, there is jobs, dont have anything to do with the war etc..

Manda,
Tricky one. I had to go for a waiver due to a misrep charge also and the Embassy in London denied my waiver a few days ago. Misrep charges are difficult to overcome and I'm trying to get some advice on what our appeal chances would be ... have a call to a specialist lawyer in Boston tomorrow.
If you have to go for the 601 waiver get yourself a good lawyer and pour your hearts out in your hardship statements. I don't think we could have done anything more.
Good luck,
Nick

We are finally on the under review list! But of course last week we got a RFE.....

ignorant question here: what's an RFE? is it a good thing? fingers crossed for you!!

forgot to ask: how is Baby? is he home yet?

RFE IS A REQUEST FOR EVIDENCE....

THEY REQUESTED A BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND FOR BABY'S CURRENT MEDICAL SITUATION. SO WE ARE CURRRENTLY WORKING ON THESE THINGS...GETTING RECORDS FROM THE HOSPITAL AND HAVE THE DOCTORS WRITE LETTERS! HOPEFULLY ALL THIS HELPS.

WE KNEW THAT BABY WAS GOING TO HAVE MEDICAL PROBS BUT NOT THE SURGERY HE ENDED UP HAVING AFTER BIRTH. HE HAD TO HAVE A SHUNT PUT IN HIS HEART. HE WON'T GET HIS BIG OPERATION UNTIL HE IS 12-18 MONTHS NOW. HE HAS A LARGE HOLE IN HIS HEART AND HE NEEDS TO HAVE A VALVE REPLACED. ALONG WITH HAVING DOWN SYNDROME. HE IS DOING EXCELLENT THOUGH AND EVERYTHING WE COULD OF ASKED FOR AND MORE.

YES HE IS HOME AND CAME HOME 10 DAYS AFTER HE WAS BORN. MY PARENTS ARE OVER JOYED TO SEE THEIR NEW LITTLE ANGEL. PARENTS ARE VISITING OVER THE HOLIDAYS.

glad to hear Baby is doing so well...i am a nurse, and used to work in the Paediatric ICU at the Brompton Chest Hospital in London; we used to see loads of kids come in for similar surgeries, and they did fantastically well---they seem to get over things so much more quickly than adults...try not to worry---i'm sure Baby will do well

so an RFE is not a good nor a bad thing, really...you learn something every day---in the case of applying for a visa, every 5 minutes!!! LOL

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!! Next year in America with Hershey's kisses and carols on the radio

Thanks for the well wishes! He has recovered excellent.....

Any word on anyone else in the forum!

they've updated the waivers page, and we're still 16 places away from 'Under Review'...i hope they work quickly!!!

Well our fingers are crossed for you too! We got the letter from the doctor and baby Aj's birth certificate. Had appointment yesterday with cardiologist and respiratory consultants waiting for those write ups and then sending to lawyer and off to the Embassy. Hopefully they will answer soon after that information is with them. Hopefully we will know something by March at the latest so then we can get things in order here.

Any idea on how to get socialized car for the baby in the states. I know there is a excellent program set in place in Illinois where we come from but still curious. Baby will need heart operation in about another 18 months and want to know we have some insurance in the states if we get approved! Any help would be appreciated!

Any luck for anyone? I saw they updated the list.....

Woohoo!!!! we're 'under review'!!! fingers crossed...what's happening with other folks? ours seemed to move up quite quickly...(not that i'm complaining, if you're reading this, USCIS)


anna

Well we are still Under Review but we just sent our RFE in to the lawyer and hopefully they will send it on by next week. We had to gather evidence from the doctors....

Any luck Anna? I saw they updated the list and quite a few 'Under Reviews' are now 'Completed'. We sent in our RFE finally! Yeah so maybe we will have a approval soon!

we got hit for an RFE last week, AND they actually called one of our witnesses to talk about her letter...the RFE has been sent in, but the list hasn't been updated since then, so i don't know anything---i'm on tenterhooks!!!!

any news for you, jpkeswim?

No news yet either! We sent the RFE in last Wednesday! Hope to hear something good soon though! I can't believe they actually called one of your witnesses. I would be over the moon if they called one of ours! Everyone wants in the the states because we just had the baby and all, especially with all his health issues.....

the wooman the embassy spoke with said he "sounded positive" <LOL> hope she's right!

how is Baby doing? is he thriving?

out of curiosity, when they do finally make a decision, how do they notify you and then what happens? i think Wanda had to go back to the Embassy; is that typical?

The last time we were actually notified by letter. We got a long three page denial letter.... it was sent to the lawyer and he emailed it to us. I am thinking that they would notify the same way if it was positive too.

Baby is doing great! Wouldn't know he has already had heart surgery! He is 10 weeks old. It would be better if I was around family though. It gets kind of lonely here.

Also Anna just out of curiosity...why were you guys originally denied the visa?

WE GOT IT!!!!


we got our approval letter in the post today!!! a very short letter that said our waiver was approved and contact the courier company to have Paul's passport collected; no other information...but who cares----we're through!!!

originally, we were denied our visa because Paul had a conviction from 10 years ago for cannabis possession...

i'm so glad to hear Baby is doing well, and i hope you get home quickly so you can have the support of family that you need

anna

That's fantastic news Annasherwood!! Haven't checked the forum for a while so great to do so and see another one through!!
Hang in there Jpkeswim, good news is coming I'm sure.

THANKS FOR THE GOOD THOUGHTS WANDA...STILL NO WORD BUT I AM SURE IT WILL BE HERE ANY DAY! IT IS JUST SO NERVE RACKING!!! CONGRATS ANNA....SO WHERE WILL YOU GUYS BE MOVING TO IN THE STATES?

KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS FOR A POSITIVE RESULT!

ANY NEWS FOR ANYONE ELSE? i SAW THEY UPDATED THE LIST TODAY AND 6 PEOPLE ARE COMPLETED SINCE LAST WEEK!

now that we've got it, i don't know what to do with myself!!! we're not leaving until first week of May because my brother-in-law is getting married and my hubby is best man (grrrr---i want to go NOW)...i'm trying to resist the impulse to pack and sit waiting on the bed---LOL so on Saturday, i went through the DVD collection and listed a bunch on e-bay...

we'll be moving to Rochester, NY, my hometown...i just can't wait to get there...our POE will be Cincinnati, i think...

positive thoughts going for everyone still waiting!!!

anna

[size="4"][/size]

WE ARE APPROVED AFTER 3 LONG YEARS! WOO HOO! ANY IDEA WHEN HUBBY CAN START WORKING ONCE WE ENTER US?

HOORAY!!!! oh congratulations!!! you must be so happy!!!

if you've applied for the same visa as us (CR-1), then when he enters the country he'll get a temporary green card stamp in his passport; as soon as he gets his social security number, he can start working...but i've heard that can be a bit of a nightmare...oh lord, it's never over, is it?? LOL

Congratulations Jp and Anna



It depends on which visa he holds. K visa holders need to apply for EAD (Clicky!), whereas CR-1 and IR-1 can work almost immediately as long as they can prove residency and possession of a SS#. My hubby has a CR-1 and as soon as he got his greencard and SS card (about 3 or 4 weeks after entering) he was able to get a job.

Doh! Anna replied faster than me LOL

woo hoo! Actually I called the Embassy at £1.20 a minute and they told me that he could work straight away. He already has a SSN since he lived there previously so they said we just had to go to our local office. His SS Card says inelgible to work on it! SO WOOHOO again! Well we will have to wait awhile though because the baby needs his passport and to report his birth abroad and the earliest appointment available is April 7th! That's fine cause we are trying to sell the house. I will have piece of mind if it was under offer or even sold before we left! My husband wants to be there yesterday though!!!! He originally only came over here for a week back in March of 05 for his moms funeral and now its been nearly 3 years!