Colombia Club

[indytu 0]

HELLO, I ANSWER IN SPANISH.. YA YO HIZE.. TUNOVIA DEBE IR A LA CURIA AQUI EN BARRANQUILLA QUE QUEDA EN LA CATEDRAL , Cra 45No.53-122 ahi tiene que llevar la partida de bautismo que le dieron en la iglesia la cual LE DEBIERON COLOCAR UNA NOTA QUE DICE

***********SIN NOTA MARGINAL DE MATRIMONIO HASTA LA FECHA**********.

Y LA CURIA LE DA LA AUTENTICACION. SI VA EN HORAS DE LA MAÑANA SE LA ENTREGAN ENSEGUIDA, SI VA EN HORAS DE LA TARDE SE LA ENTREGAN AL DIA SIGUIENTE.

BUENO ESPERO QUE TE HAYA ACLARADO LA DUDA.

MI NOMBRE ES INDIRA Y TAMBIEN ESTOY AQUI EN BARRNQUILLA , MI CITA ES EL 2 DE NOVIEMBRE

[parkpapa 0]

I am starting a new thread on "Your new life in america" forum. I will call it "Colombia". I have, and am not reading much other then the Colombia Club thread here. All embassy's are different. We have the best thread on this site.

I do not want to clutter this thread with everyday stuff after the entry visa is complete. We have a thread on the AOS forum. Lets start one on the After your here forum. The name of it is...............................Your new life in America".

Please, post there. I want Paola to be happy here, I need advice. I want to meet others that have brought Colombians to the US. I want to know the joys and sorrows. I want to possible meet others in person. Paola has a few friends in the US. In Chicago and Florida. I am willing and able to send her to the other places if need be. I live in a very small town, not only is she the only Colombian here, but there are no other connections with Colombia then TV. Aside from that she is one of a very few black people. We are thre exacact same as you..................deeply in love and wanting a good and happy life.

People seem to participate on the visa forum and then dissapear after a time, that is totally understanable. Lets keep up the communication. We can help each other the same. I am sure that I am not the only one that wants or needs communication with others.

I hope to see many folks on the "Your new Life in America" forum, Colombia Club. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a GREAT day!!!!!!!!!

I think that's a great idea, Buck. I will be glad to join you. In which heading will this new thread be? In the Foreign Embassy and Consulate General Discussion?

I hesitate to speak for Lorena (always a dangerous thing to do without permission....haha), but I understand your concerns for Paola and her life here. I have the same concerns for Lorena and the boys.

As for the discrimination issue alluded to in recent posts, I think the reality is that virtually all people have biases or prejudices of some sort or another, no matter what country they are from. For example, Lorena sometimes expresses some prejudice about "indios" or Indians in Ecuador, even though her mother's family is from Ecuador, and she is at least partly mestizo herself - meaning she has some Indian blood of her own. My guess is that 90% of the people in this hemisphere are "muts" of some sort or another and can't claim to be pure anything (though I know a couple of guys who are pure jerks, but that is a different matter). It seems illogical at best for people on this thread to be focusing on racial, cultural, or social prejudices when there are bigger fish (the federal govt. for example) to fry. ;-)

Charles

[Juan Carlos 0]

Good evening everyone! Sorry about this, but I have one more question about the now famous Baptism Certificate: My mother in law claims she already got the one for my wife. Everything looks ok (her name, the "notas marginales" saying we are married).... except for one little detail. She says an "Issue date" is nowhere to be found. Those of you who have already seen this certificate, do you know if it comes with an issue date? Is this something the embassy will be looking for?

Thanks!!

Juan Carlos.

[Mononoke28 134]

How old is it? How long ago did she get it? All I know is that my husband got his from the church he was baptized at a month before the interview and I can't tell if the lady checking the documentation checked the date. What I do know is that he also had a certified copy of his parents' marriage certificate from 1988 and they didn't have a problem witht that. She just looked at it, asked if it was his parents', said ok, and gave it back to him.

I'll ask my husband to check his to find out if it has any kind of date on it and let you know.

Diana

Edited October 12, 2007 by Mononoke28

[Mononoke28 134]

Ok, just spoke to my husband and he's saying his bastism certificate has a date and a seal of when and where it was issued. He also said that EVERY public (legal) document in Colombia has to have this information.

I suggest you tell your wife and or mother in-law that this document needs to have this information; if not, then it's best they go back to the church to get a new one. You don't want to have them find any issues at the embassy because of something like this.

Diana

[Juan Carlos 0]

Thanks a lot for your help, Diana! It seems something is wrong with the certificate my wife got. She just received it last week, so it is very very new. Anyway, I'll make sure she gets another one with stamp and date.

Now... a bit of bad news for everyone still waiting. Have you read this news?

http://www.visajourney.com/news/2007/09/28...eipting-delays/

The article refers to NOA1s, but I am pretty sure it is also affecting NOA2s

Any thoughts?

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

Hey gang,

I have a question that will need to be answered when our packet 4 is on its way...I know that there is a reliability issue with Colombian mail so does packet 4 usually make it to the states and will that be good enough in case packet 4 doesn't make it to Yenifer in Colombia? Does the invitation letter from the embassy come in each packet 4 so that if we receive at least 1 of them we will be all right?

[buck501 0]

Scott, Pkt 4 is not sent to the US. It will be sent to Yennifer in Colombia. The invitation letter for the interview will be in the packet. You can call NVC to find out the interview date, give them your new case number "BGT*******" and they will be able to tell you the date.

In our case we did not recieve Pkt 4. I sent Paola to Bogota and she picked it up in person. If I remember correctly it can only be picked up on Thursday afternoons.

[parkpapa 0]

Scott,

I received Packet 4 at about the same time Lorena finally received hers. It took close to two weeks. The embassy will only send the packets by regular mail, even in Colombia. If you guys don't receive it in a reasonable time (I was told by the embassy to wait until about two weeks before the interview date before I should panic), then call the embassy and arrange to pick the packet up. As I understood it, they would only accept the packet sent to the Colombian resident.

Charles

[HAL 9000 96]

Updates Colombia!! Updates!!

[Scott n Yenifer 0]

Dear Colombia Club,

Unfortunately I have no update other than I have been calling NVC daily and they have not recieved our approved petition yet... It's been almost 4 weeks so far and we are waiting anxiously...

The good news is that I will see my LOVE in 2 days..YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Hope everything is fine with everyone and hopefully we will have more to post soon.

[Jmarsh22 0]

Dear Colombia Club,

Unfortunately I have no update other than I have been calling NVC daily and they have not recieved our approved petition yet... It's been almost 4 weeks so far and we are waiting anxiously...

The good news is that I will see my LOVE in 2 days..YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Hope everything is fine with everyone and hopefully we will have more to post soon.

Scott,

I wouldn't worry too much, it took NVC about four or five weeks to recieve my approved petition too. I would just keep calling back until they tell you it has been recieved. Good news is that it will only take them a couple of days to send it out to Bogota. The Embassy was pretty good about getting packet 3 out to Lina also. Still waiting on our packet four and interview date though. Good luck man.

Jon

[santamartachicago 0]

Dear Colombia Club,

Unfortunately I have no update other than I have been calling NVC daily and they have not recieved our approved petition yet... It's been almost 4 weeks so far and we are waiting anxiously...

The good news is that I will see my LOVE in 2 days..YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Hope everything is fine with everyone and hopefully we will have more to post soon.

Scott,

I wouldn't worry too much, it took NVC about four or five weeks to recieve my approved petition too. I would just keep calling back until they tell you it has been recieved. Good news is that it will only take them a couple of days to send it out to Bogota. The Embassy was pretty good about getting packet 3 out to Lina also. Still waiting on our packet four and interview date though. Good luck man.

Jon

Hello Everyone,

I am leaving later today for Bogota to spend long weekend with my sweetie.

I just wanted to know does the Bogota birth certificate expire. (She has a copy that she got from Santa Marta) she was telling me that it can't be noterized it you got the document more than 6 months ago...Please tell me that is not so. The same question for the baptisimal certifcate. If it is not true can you tell me where we can go in Bogota to have notarized.

Thanks

God Bless

[Bill y Bella 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am leaving later today for Bogota to spend long weekend with my sweetie.

I just wanted to know does the Bogota birth certificate expire. (She has a copy that she got from Santa Marta) she was telling me that it can't be noterized it you got the document more than 6 months ago...Please tell me that is not so. The same question for the baptisimal certifcate. If it is not true can you tell me where we can go in Bogota to have notarized.

Thanks

God Bless

The birth certificate comes from the notary so it should already be "notarized". If you only have a photo copy, there is no way to have it notarized. She will need to go back to the notary that issued the birth certificate when she was born and get a new one. It seems to take a few days to get a new birth certificate.

I should point out that in Colombia an "original" birth certificate is a photo copy that has the notary's raised seal and / or stamp in color. They copy them out of the book and they look terrible, but that is the way it is.

I don't think that the baptism certificate can be notarized either. They are issued by the church and a photo copy will not do you any good. Make sure the baptism certificate has the margin notes. I haven't seen one yet but I think this is where they make note of special events like marriages. The embassy specifically requires that the document have the margin notes.

They are fussy about "old" documents in Colombia. If they are more than 1 year old, you might want to think about gettng new ones if you can. That is what I had Bella do.

I also recommend that you have 3 extra copies of the birth certificate and a translation for each to bring with you to the US. You will need them for various things once she gets here.

You may also run into problems with the translators. Some translators will not translate an "old" document. There is no hard and fast rule. Each translator seems to have their own policy regarding this. Most translators tell you that you also need an apostille. I do not think that is needed for the visa or AOS process. I did get one birth certificate apostilled, just in case we need it in the future for some unforeseen reason. I probably wasted the money but it is a heck of a lot cheaper than a flight back to Columbia.

Good luck and enjoy your trip to Bogota!

[Mononoke28 134]

This is correct, birth and civil marriage certificates come from the notary they were filed at so once you ask of a copy, it will be notarized. Also, you will probably never, ever get an original from them, they will all have a stamp that says something like "this is a copy of the original" which makes them a certified copy. This is all you need. You can go as many times as you want and usually order as many copies as you need. The notary I got my BC from charged like $1500 pesos per copy and the one we got married at charged $800, so it's pretty inexpensive.

Also, do not get anything apostilled. You won't need it for the visa process nor anything here in the US. Do get several copies of any certificate and have them translated as you may need them here in the US in the future. The translators will probably say that they need to be apostilled, this is lie, just say all you need is the translation or you'll go somewhere else to have it done and that should do it. It's all about getting more money out of you.

Diana