Help with filing in Australia

[kaffy 2]

:lol yes, it sure seems that way!

are you going to the interview with your wife?

[faith0922 0]

My interview's not till Tuesday, but we're leaving for Sydney tomorrow. It will be my first time to see Sydney, and we thought we needed a break anyway, so decided to take advantage of the trip. Not really nervous about my interview (unless there's something I missed, then I should be really nervous). More excited about the trip, really. (hehe, i know it sounds ridiculous, but you have to understand... Perth is soooo far away!!!)

Anyway...

Good luck on the petition, Davis!

Kaffy, have you received your visa?

Loz, how are you doing and have you heard from the Consulate?

[loz9 0]

Hi Girls (and Guy!)

Things are going ok. I'm all settled in to our apartment. I took my mom to the airport yesterday so I'm all alone now. I e-mailed the consulate again..no response yet. It's been a few days. I'm a bit nervous that it didn't go through though. You know how when you e-mail them you normally get an autoreply about the waiting time for a response? I didn't get one.. So I may try to send the same e-mail from a gmail account instead of hotmail. I know that when I used to try and e-mail myself things to print out at work (we were on Outlook) that sometimes e-mails from hotmail wouldn't come through. ???

I'm a bit bummed. It seems like everything has gone slower for us that what it has for everyone else. (I'm still happy for you guys though, obviously ) The Adam Walsh took longer and now waiting for packet 4 has taken longer. I'm just frustrated. I miss my husband. People shouldn't have to be separated from their loved ones. I just hate not knowing when we'll get to see each other again. Ok, my vent is over. I know it will happen eventually..I'm just impatient.

Other than moving, not a lot is going on. I start classes on Monday. I'm pretty excited about that. Oh, I also got a part time job. Only 15 hrs a week or so in retail. haha just when you think the days of working crappy jobs are over! Think again!!

Well, that's all for now. I think I'll go and try to e-mail the consulate again from g-mail.

Good luck with your interview, Faith. I hope it goes smoothly. Kaffy, have you gotten your visa yet? When do you fly out again?

And last, but not least, welcome Davis! How did the I-130 lodging go?

[Davis 0]

Good luck faith0922 for Tuesday, I hope loz9 your the consulate gets back to you soon.

Thursday went pretty well I had emailed the consulate to say I would be with my wife but I some how knew they would not

let me in and when I got there they found my name was not on the list so I spent about 2 hours waiting downstairs.

[Davis 0]

Good luck faith0922 for Tuesday, I hope loz9 your the consulate gets back to you soon.

Thursday went pretty well I had emailed the consulate to say I would be with my wife but I some how knew they would not let me in and when I got there they found my name was not on the list so I spent about 2 hours waiting downstairs.

This is Davis' wife. Since he couldn't come to the interview with me I was a little nervous, but it wasn't too bad. After going through the 2 security checks, I got my number and waited to be called. I have to admit, I thought that this interview was going to be like a police interview in the movies - sitting in a dark room across the table from someone drilling me for all the little details. It was NOTHING like that!! I went to the first window and the guy at the window was asking for all the paperwork. Luckily I had everything in order and so it was very simple to just hand it right across. He noticed that we had just got married (08/08/08) and just congratulated me. He asked where we planned to move. I had listed my parents address as where we were going to live and he just wanted to know who was at that address. I did have a little hiccup, when I gave him our G325A's he told me that I had to sign it in front of the interviewer. So he just put a little white tape over my signature and I signed it later. But I don't recall seeing that anywhere on the form...maybe I missed that. They taped over my husband's name too, so I don't know if he is going to have to sign them again when he goes for his interview. The guy did ask me if I had proof of our relationship. I had brought in pictures, bank statements, bills, etc. I think he couldn't be bothered with it all and he just said that if they needed to see anything then the interviewer would ask for it. I figured they would for sure want to see proof since we only just got married and are filing so quickly after. I then went and paid the fee - $408AUD and filled out a form with my email address. I got called back to the first window, gave him the receipt for payment and then he told me that they are going to run the Adam Walsh check and it should take 2 weeks. He also asked when I was planning to leave and I told him that we didn't have any plans yet because it all depended on how long this was going to take. He asked when would i LIKE to go then and I said December. He said that that shouldn't be a problem! So that's very exciting, I would love to have a Christmas in Missouri this year!! I then went to sit back down and wait for the next interview.

Got called up for the interview, signed my G325A again, and then he pretty much just told me that everything seemed to be in order and they were performing the Adam Walsh check and that should take about a week (LOL since I got 2 different answers, i figure it should be between 1-2 weeks!). Then they will email the next step to me and we go from there. Then I went back down to collect my bag and husband. From the time we walked in to the first security check to the time I was finished we were there for about 1 1/2 hours. Not too bad I thought!

Everything went pretty smoothly. They didn't ask to see any proof of relationship, but boy did I have enough to show them! They didn't want a 3kg Express Post satchel - I got one but didn't fill it out just in case. I'll keep it in case they want it later, but they are $10 so I wasnt going to address it if they didn't want to use it! Then we went and had a hot chocolate at the Lindt cafe Faith, I suggest you go there for a hot chocolate, they are divine! Its not far from the Consulate!

[kaffy 2]

Hi all!

Yes, my visa finally arrived on Wednesday and I left Australia on Friday morning. I scored a free upgrade to business class on my flight which was pretty awesome. I'm currently enjoying a few days with my family in Asia and will fly out to the US tomorrow night. I can't wait to see my husband.. we've been separated for 2 weeks and it's horrible. I miss him so much everyday.. he moved into our apartment the same day I got my visa and is setting everything up in time for my arrival

Good luck Faith for your interview on Tuesday !!

Hope you hear back from the Consulate soon Loz !!

And good luck with your visa journey Davis! Sounds like your I-130 appointment went well

[Hedda&Liam 0]

Hello everyone! My name is Hedda and I just wanted to post and say what a great thread this is. I'm a USC living in Melbourne with my Aussie husband of nearly 4 years. We've just begun the DCF process - filed our I-130 at the consulate last Wednesday. I was terribly nervous about all of this since I've lived in Australia so long (4 years), but reading all of your posts has given me more peace of mind! I am so happy for all of you; and glad that the process seems to be working fairly quickly for everyone. Hopefully, it will for us as well as we're hoping to be in Tennessee by December.

Peace and luck to everyone!

[kaffy 2]

Good luck with your DCF Hedda!

I'm "home". POE was slow but uneventful. Husband did an awesome job with our apartment, I'm so proud of him Am going down to the social security office to apply for my SSN (faster than waiting for it to arrive in the mail which is supposed to take 4-6 weeks) and will start job hunting after I get settled in a bit more.

Hope your interview goes well today (tomorrow?) Faith!!

[faith0922 0]

Hey guys, we just woke up from a late night flight from Sydney.

The first part of my visa journey is finally over!!!

Here's a recollection of what happened on my visa interview day:

My appointment was at 8am. We arrived at reception 10 minutes early. There were a couple of people ahead of us on the queue, but in no time it was our turn. Showed my appointment letter to the security officer, but since the letter only had "my name" on it he almost didn't let my husband to go in with me. After explaining that he needed to provide evidence of his domicile, he made a quick call "upstairs" to check if my husband (USC) can be allowed to go up with me, we were allowed to proceed. ( It's amazing how fast those elevators are, we were up to level 59 in a flash!)

After going through a second security check, we went in the consulate, took a number, waited for less than 5 minutes and was called to a window. The CO took my documents (passport, 1 passport picture, Australian Police clearance, 3kg prepaid satchel, and hubby's proof of domicile), and after spending a couple of minutes checking that my files are in order, asked me to pay the visa fee and wait to be called back at the same window. The cashier window was still closed, so we had to wait for about 10 minutes, then paid the visa fee ($460.00). Hmmm... wonder why kaffy was lucky to get by with a $20 discount?

Anyway, after paying, we went back to the first window, she took my receipt, and asked what my status in Australia was. I told her that I'm a dependent on my husband's 457 visa. My Australian visa was in my old passport, which I wasn't sure whether I left it in the hotel room or in my purse at security. She (consular officer) said they would need to see my old passport as proof my status in Australia, and I told her I will give it to them as soon as possible. But seeing that everything else was alright, she asked us to take a seat and wait to be called again. I was then called to another window where my fingerprints were taken, then asked to take a seat and wait to be called once again.

After another few minutes, we were called to a third window where I was asked to sign Part II of my DS-230 form. The consular officer asked me when was I planning to fly out, and since we really don't have a definite date yet, I looked at my husband who then explained the situation that when and where we fly out/to will depend on which job he accepts. He also asked me what I do. After telling him my profession, he thought it shouldn't be a problem getting a job (which I do hope will be the case). He told us that other than needing to see my old passport, everything else seems to be in order, and if I bring back my old passport later in the day, MY VISA will be mailed to me within a couple of days and it will be valid for 6 months from the date of approval!

That was it! Those were the two interview questions.

We went back to Level 10. Luckily, my old passport was in my bag! We then went back up to Level 59, went thru the same security check, took another number and took a seat. Gladly we didn't have to wait for our number to

be called, one of the COs noticed us, and just asked for my passport. Then we were on our way!

If not for leaving my old passport behind, it would've only taken us under 45 minutes, but still it was a total of only a few minutes over an hour.

It's such a relief that the first part is over! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH!!! This forum and your support has really made this visa journey so much easier ...

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Glad to hear you're home kaffy! Good luck on the job hunt.

Loz, any news from the Consulate?

Good luck on your visa journey Davis! I forgot to look for Lindt cafe...although we did have our fill of sweets (probably more than enough) while we were in Sydney.

Welcome to the forum Hedda&Liam, hope you also have a smooth visa journey... Good luck!

[kaffy 2]

Congratulations on your approval Faith!!!!

[Hedda&Liam 0]

Congratulations, Faith, on your smooth interview and approval!

Thanks, Kaffy for the well wishes! Yesterday we received an email from the Sydney Embassy basically saying that we'd submitted our forms and giving us our case number. From here, I suppose we wait on the Packet 3. I hope they send it out quickly! 3 months seems like such a long time; I'm anxious to see my family!

Cheers!

[faith0922 0]

Thanks to all of you!!!

Hedda&Liam, our Packet 3 was sent 3 weeks after we filed I-130 in Perth. If I remember it right, Kaffy's took only 2 weeks? So there's a good chance you'll receive your Packet 3 within 2-3 weeks. Where did you file your I-130?

It may also be a good idea to email them and ask for updates after a week or two.

[kaffy 2]

If I remember it right, Kaffy's took only 2 weeks?

1 week but at my I-130 appointment they said it usually takes 2 weeks

[loz9 0]

Glad to hear you're home kaffy! Good luck on the job hunt.

Loz, any news from the Consulate?

Good luck on your visa journey Davis! I forgot to look for Lindt cafe...although we did have our fill of sweets (probably more than enough) while we were in Sydney.

Welcome to the forum Hedda&Liam, hope you also have a smooth visa journey... Good luck!

Hey Faith! Congrats on the visa! It must be such a big relief. So far we've heard nothing. I've e-mailed them from a hotmail account and a gmail account. i'm just not sure they're getting through b/c I haven't heard anything. I've never had this problem e-mailing them before - not getting an autoreply. I may try and e-mail from my school e-mail addy. I'm just so frustrated. People keep asking me when he's going to be coming over and I'm tired of explaining why I don't know. I just want to see my husband.

Kaffy, glad you got to the US alright. Good luck settling in!

Welcome Davis (did I say that already??) and Heidi&Liam! Hopefully this thread will help you guys through the visa process. I was so confused when I first started and this site has been such a help.

[Hedda&Liam 0]

Thanks to all of you!!!

Hedda&Liam, our Packet 3 was sent 3 weeks after we filed I-130 in Perth. If I remember it right, Kaffy's took only 2 weeks? So there's a good chance you'll receive your Packet 3 within 2-3 weeks. Where did you file your I-130?

It may also be a good idea to email them and ask for updates after a week or two.

We filed in Melbourne. I emailed them on Thursday afternoon - just because I was so anxious. I'm sure we'll hear something this week - even if it's just that they're still processing! Thanks for your advice, it's such a nerve-wracking process!

Hedda