Scandinavians

[missDKmrUSA 7]

Woooooooo..... Im so excited... Flying to US tomorrow... Cant wait to start new life with my baby

[melarnt 0]

When u get to the embassy make sure u stand in the correct line. There will most likely be two lines, the one u want is closest to the fence and will be short. The other one is for people applying for student visa etc. Sometimes there is only one line, and that is the long one, and that means u will be first in line of the other one.

This is a great tip and will be very helpful, thank you for thinking of us. i cant believe it is almost here!

Woooooooo..... Im so excited... Flying to US tomorrow... Cant wait to start new life with my baby

So excited for you! Congratulations to you both!

[melarnt 0]

Fiance just had his interview that took only 15 minutes total. We were expecting it to be a couple of hours. He received the 221g form because of the medical...but, they said once they receive that, the passport will be mailed out to him.

They didnt have him sign part 2 of the 230 form though. He asked about it and they said it wasnt needed for the k1. Is this correct? Will he sign it later during the AOS?

[Mr. Borkström 63]

Woooooooo..... Im so excited... Flying to US tomorrow... Cant wait to start new life with my baby

Congratulations! Where are you moving?

Fiance just had his interview that took only 15 minutes total. We were expecting it to be a couple of hours. He received the 221g form because of the medical...but, they said once they receive that, the passport will be mailed out to him.

Great news!

They didnt have him sign part 2 of the 230 form though. He asked about it and they said it wasnt needed for the k1. Is this correct? Will he sign it later during the AOS?

Hmm. Sounds weird to me. I don't know. I suppose the people at the embassy know what they're doing, or should know at least. Maybe someone else who's applied for, and received, a fiancé visa can answer this question?

[PhDSharp 0]

Hi everyone.

The fiancé and I just recently received our approval! Our case left the NVC on Wednesday, and it's headed to Stockholm!

I'm just a little bit anxious, though... We did NOT expect to get approved so quickly (thought I'm certainly not complaining!). However, since this was unexpected, the fiancé is traveling away from his home address for 5 weeks. Since he's not at home, we're a little worried about what that means for scheduling his interview.

Can someone help walk me through the process from here?

1. What comes in the packet from Stockholm?
2. What will we need to do right away? What needs to be sent back to the consulate? He can have his family pick up the packet from home and express ship it to him if it contains things that need to be sent back right away.
3. How do we get an interview date? Do we have to send anything back to the consulate before they'll give us an interview date? Do they give you options for interview dates or do you just go with whatever date they give you?
4. How long is the average wait time before you're able to have the interview? A month?
5. The fiancé will be back from his travels at the beginning of August, and we'd like to have his interview in the first half of August. Since it is the end of June right now, do you think that would be possible?

I'm sorry if these questions are answered elsewhere. I've tried to do my due diligence and search the Visa Journey site, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at navigating it yet. Thanks so much for all your help. I wish you all the best of luck with your own visas!

[melarnt 0]

Hi everyone.

The fiancé and I just recently received our approval! Our case left the NVC on Wednesday, and it's headed to Stockholm!

I'm just a little bit anxious, though... We did NOT expect to get approved so quickly (thought I'm certainly not complaining!). However, since this was unexpected, the fiancé is traveling away from his home address for 5 weeks. Since he's not at home, we're a little worried about what that means for scheduling his interview.

Can someone help walk me through the process from here?

• What comes in the packet from Stockholm?
• What will we need to do right away? What needs to be sent back to the consulate? He can have his family pick up the packet from home and express ship it to him if it contains things that need to be sent back right away.
• How do we get an interview date? Do we have to send anything back to the consulate before they'll give us an interview date? Do they give you options for interview dates or do you just go with whatever date they give you?
• How long is the average wait time before you're able to have the interview? A month?
• The fiancé will be back from his travels at the beginning of August, and we'd like to have his interview in the first half of August. Since it is the end of June right now, do you think that would be possible?

I'm sorry if these questions are answered elsewhere. I've tried to do my due diligence and search the Visa Journey site, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at navigating it yet. Thanks so much for all your help. I wish you all the best of luck with your own visas!

It is difficult finding info for this particular consulate.

Once the consulate receives the documents from NVC, they will mail packet 3 to your fiance. It contains several documents that must be filled out and returned to them, then they will issue you an appointment date. I am sure you can email them and let them know your fiances availability. They do schedule about a month out.

They only communicate by email...no phone calls accepted. The forms are the i230 part 1, 156 (2 copies, original signature, 156k. They alsongive you a checklist and this must all be sent back to them along with the info portion of his passport. There may be another item, but I cant recall exactly.

Have you received your case number? And, are you familiar with the Visa Status Check? It will tell you when your case is ready for the interview stage. https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=WwjqOlbeRYzCYubaSQI+RA==

I hope this helps you. . Good luck!

[PhDSharp 0]

It is difficult finding info for this particular consulate.

Once the consulate receives the documents from NVC, they will mail packet 3 to your fiance. It contains several documents that must be filled out and returned to them, then they will issue you an appointment date. I am sure you can email them and let them know your fiances availability. They do schedule about a month out.

They only communicate by email...no phone calls accepted. The forms are the i230 part 1, 156 (2 copies, original signature, 156k. They alsongive you a checklist and this must all be sent back to them along with the info portion of his passport. There may be another item, but I cant recall exactly.

Have you received your case number? And, are you familiar with the Visa Status Check? It will tell you when your case is ready for the interview stage. https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=WwjqOlbeRYzCYubaSQI+RA==

I hope this helps you. . Good luck!

Thank you, melarnt! I've followed your little visa "adventure" over the past week, and it looks like things are coming together for you. So happy to see that. Hope you have your visa in-hand soon!

At this point, he can't cut his trip short and return home, but we can have his mom express mail Packet 3 to him, once it arrives. You said there are several documents that need to be filled out and returned. Are those things he can complete from anywhere? Or does the consulate ask for something that he can only get at home (i.e. government records, the police report, medical exam etc.)?

I guess what I'm really asking is this: If someone mails him Packet 3, can we keep moving forward with the process--even if he isn't at home right now?

Thanks again for your help!

[PhDSharp 0]

Have you received your case number? And, are you familiar with the Visa Status Check? It will tell you when your case is ready for the interview stage. https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=WwjqOlbeRYzCYubaSQI+RA==

One more question: When I called the NVC yesterday to check the status of our application, they gave me a case #. But when I used that case # with the Visa Status Check link you posted above, it doesn't work.

Will Stockholm give us a different case # we can use to check our status online?

Thank you!

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

One more question: When I called the NVC yesterday to check the status of our application, they gave me a case #. But when I used that case # with the Visa Status Check link you posted above, it doesn't work.

Will Stockholm give us a different case # we can use to check our status online?

Thank you!

You will be given a case number like STK2013************ and when the embassy is getting close to issuing a visa then it tends to be visible on the online thing. At least that was the case with ours, but we did DCF.

[LlamaInvasion 76]

I believe there is a Scandinavian society of some sort in Pittsburgh. I have the link to their website, but I haven't really looked it up yet. I may do that, though. It would be fun to meet other Scandinavians, maybe speak Swedish with someone, and "compare notes".

I think you're out of luck if you're hoping to speak Swedish with them. The Scandinavian society in Pittsburgh is about exclusively older, second/third/further-out generation Scandinavians. None of them speak the language anymore, and they aren't all that familiar with actual Scandinavian life anymore. I've found exactly two other Scandinavians in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas - you're one, and the other one just moved home with her family.

I'm terrified my son won't speak Norwegian, so I've been reading about bilingualism a lot. He watches things from the Norwegian iTunes store, we got a region free DVD player to play Norwegian DVDs, and if he ever decides to speak English to me when he gets older, I'm going to ignore him until he speaks Norwegian to me. XD (So far he doesn't speak yet.)

[Alaska2012 462]

I'm terrified my son won't speak Norwegian, so I've been reading about bilingualism a lot. He watches things from the Norwegian iTunes store, we got a region free DVD player to play Norwegian DVDs, and if he ever decides to speak English to me when he gets older, I'm going to ignore him until he speaks Norwegian to me. XD (So far he doesn't speak yet.)

It is sooooo hard to keep up the language! My son still understands swedish and he watches a lot of Swedish kids shows on the Internet. I speak only swedish with him, but his swedish gets worse by the day. I don't know how to fix it, and i feel i should be able to do this since i am a teacher and all ;-) But I guess as long as he understands it everything isn't lost. I'm gonna teach him to read and write in swedish now that he got that nailed in English.

I've been wanting to buy a regional free DVD so we can watch his movies together, where did you buy it???

Now he watches his movies in a tiny portable DVD that we bought in Sweden before we moved but its too small to watch more than one...

[LlamaInvasion 76]

It is sooooo hard to keep up the language! My son still understands swedish and he watches a lot of Swedish kids shows on the Internet. I speak only swedish with him, but his swedish gets worse by the day. I don't know how to fix it, and i feel i should be able to do this since i am a teacher and all ;-) But I guess as long as he understands it everything isn't lost. I'm gonna teach him to read and write in swedish now that he got that nailed in English.

I've been wanting to buy a regional free DVD so we can watch his movies together, where did you buy it???

Now he watches his movies in a tiny portable DVD that we bought in Sweden before we moved but its too small to watch more than one...

I seriously read about refusing to acknowledge the child unless s/he speaks to you in your language.

I bought the region free DVD player off amazon; it came locked to region 1 but with a sheet with the software unlock code and instructions for how to unlock it.

Another option if you're slightly computer savvy and have a desktop computer is to buy a DVD drive online and install it. Then when prompted, switch it to region 2 (Europe) and he can watch things on the PC. I have two DVD drives in my tower just for this purpose.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Did you have to change the setting in Itunes to get to the different store? Or is it because you set up the account in Norway originally?

[Mr. Borkström 63]

My wife, her daughter and I spent the weekend in Detroit. We visited my dad's cousin and her family. It was a lot of fun.

It was also very nice to see my dad's uncle and his wife who were also there visiting. My grandma (farmor) had six siblings, and this uncle and one of her other brothers are the only ones who are left. My farmor and him were very close; my farmor was sibling # 6 and he was the baby brother of the family. My farmor died on December 23, 2011 (which is kind of weird since I moved to America on December 23, 2012). Of all her siblings, this uncle is the one I know by far the best (I don't know how many of the other siblings I have actually met), so it was very nice to see him again. Who knows if I will ever see him again. He's in his 80's. And since I live in America now... you know.

Sunday was our second anniversary. We didn't get to spend our first anniversary together, so it was nice to finally get to do that. Since we spent a great deal of our anniversary in the car, we went out to dinner last night instead. We went to a hibachi place in Settlers Ridge. It was the second time I've been to a hibachi restaurant, I like it. I appreciated the show the chef put on more the first time, but the food was excellent, although I was a little disappointed in the dessert. We had tempura bananas. Similar to deep fried bananas you get at Asian restaurants in Sweden, but not nearly as good. And we got whipped cream (probably Cool Whip) instead of ice cream. And they had drizzled chocolate syrup and sprinkles on everything. I like it better with vanilla ice cream and (sugar) syrup. Oh well.

Unfortunately I also found out yesterday that a friend of mine who I worked with at a school in Västerås died yesterday afternoon Swedish time. He had cancer. He was 24. Life is so cruel sometimes. I thought James Gandolfini was too young to go, and he was 51! 24? That's just unimaginable. And I know people always say that about people who die, but my friend really was a wonderful person. He will be greatly missed.

I think you're out of luck if you're hoping to speak Swedish with them. The Scandinavian society in Pittsburgh is about exclusively older, second/third/further-out generation Scandinavians. None of them speak the language anymore, and they aren't all that familiar with actual Scandinavian life anymore. I've found exactly two other Scandinavians in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas - you're one, and the other one just moved home with her family.

Hmm. That's a bit of a letdown. I may still have to check it out some time though.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Mr. Borkström

[Mr. Borkström 63]

Did you have to change the setting in Itunes to get to the different store? Or is it because you set up the account in Norway originally?

I changed my debit card information, the billing address and country on my iTunes/Apple account. I have the same account (login and password and such) as I did back in Sweden, but I had to update certain information to be able to use it here in America.

Or maybe I didn't have to but chose to. I'm afraid I don't remember which.