LAND DOWNUNDER

[meauxna 15]

Damn....

C'mon chickie.. don't take 'no' for an answer just yet!

How long has he been living over there? Demonstrate all that and have him give a call anyway.. if he is still in Oz (can't keep track of you lot, ask Kath! lol)

The worst they can say is no. The best.. ??

[Poi_n_J 0]

hi ya pris

sorry you got that answer mate...but on the other side of the coin you might of helped someone else in here with the information you just posted..

feelin sad for you mate.. bigg hugs to ya mate...at least you two are together huh thats gotta be a bonus mate..

take care sweetie

kath

Yeah, thanks mate.

Would have saved a lot of hassles in the future... some things are too much to hope for I guess and maybe I was being greedy wanting it to go all my way... poor J; he only got my first email and not the second before he went to school, he will be on cloud nine for a few more hours...lol.

thanks again.

[serendipitous 0]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jo and i was invited to this thread by Kath (thanks Kath!! ) I'm from Melbourne and my fiance and i have just received our NOA2 on the 20th of March for the K-1 visa. I am hoping that there are others who are also from Melbourne in the same boat as us with hopefully similar timelines who may be able to give me some advise on what i should do next.

Hope to hear from you all soon

Jo

Welcome Jo!!

My soon to be hubby is from Melbourne as well. I've visited for a total of 9 months so far, and I fell in love with it! I hope you the best on your visa journey. We can definitely try to answer questions you may have through the process. I know I've asked a bunch and everyone was very helpful.

Hi Jo,

Welcome to the Aussie Forum! Everyone is great in here, very supportive so feel free to ask if you need any information. Btw I used to live in Boronia not far from you. Am living in Canberra with my parents now until I go in April!!! Yay!!

Both yours and Pris's stories of how you met are lovely. It's funny how things happen, I love hearing how couples have met on here.

Cheers

Lyndel

Lyndel!! My soon to be hubby lives in boronia!! I use to walk around there all the time. When everyone was at work, I use to go to Knox and hang out at the Coffee Club! I love that place. Especially their mochas. heheh. Their food was especially good too. He probably lives about 3 blocks from the train station in Boronia. That's so freaky how the world seems so small these sorta details are so cool, realize how close knit everyone in this world really is.

Aww you didn't comment on my details of meeting haha (just kidding!). Mine wasn't that great anyways, it was all online.

Did that one girl decide to buy your car? She seemed to be in love with it when you described how she was when she saw it. I hope she took that burden off of you one less thing for you to worry about before moving over!

I bet you're tons excited huh? About two weeks left isn't it?

Lynn

[serendipitous 0]

Is the checklist thingy the form that says something like, you are ready to be interviewed and you have all the required documents.

So is that the "checklist?" Once you send that back, it verifies that you are ready for an interview correct? And then they will issue you the interview correct?

Just trying to make sure we understand everything.

We just sent back the DS230 yesterday via registered mail. But we didn't include the "checklist" because he didn't call to schedule an appt with the panel doctor yet for a medical examination. But he has one scheduled for the 17th of April and we figure that he'll have his police check by the next month as well (we sent the police application off yesterday as well).

So it's okay that we're sending off our DS230 and our "checklist" (whatever that is, until i get confirmation from you guys what it is lol) at different times right?

Thanks guys!

Lynn

[Kath 0]

hi seren

take a look at some of tamazo's posts...she was asking the same questions as you are might help mate

i thought the checklist was what you had to get together for your interview...can you post a copy of what your talking about...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=27&st=1480

or just right click on tamzo name and see her posts about the packet 3...

just remind him to ask for a copy of the full medical if he isnt going to the one in the city.. question for ya ...has there been anymore doctors added to the melbourne list of doctors..if they have can you let us know or update the consulate embassey info for future reference...

i think he should be fine posting in the readiness form before the medical an police check..if your interview comes before he has them in hand just email them asap to ask for a reschedule...even suggest a date to them...

hope i was some help to you seren

kath

ps and this one http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=27&st=1480

Edited March 27, 2007 by Kath

[girlfrmoz 0]

Hi Pris, I don't have any advice except to say hang in there! Everything has a way of working itself out. Send you hugs and good wishes.

Same to you Moonie, I hope you get a better job soon!

Hi Seren, WOW!!! You are so right isn't it a small world! Tell your hubby that I lived in Narcissus Ave about 6 blocks from the train station on the tennis court end of the street. It on the basket ball court side of Boronia. I loved it there it was quiet, green, lots of possums at night and I use to walk there all the time too. It's a wonder I never bumped into you! lol Knox was great too I loved the fact that you could hear the bell birds singing in the parking lot, that used to amaze me.

Yeah I sold the car last weekend so that is a huge weight lifted. Only 3 weeks to go now and counting! Very excited. Jake has booked our apartment which is available in April and I sent all my shoes today so I don't have any excess luggage to pay for now. Just packing my stuff for shipping now and cleaning out paperwork, etc.

So you are getting pretty close too now...exciting huh! Hope you get speedy appointments for the medical and police check!

My fiance and I met online as well, he was in Iraq at the time so we used to make up imaginary dates and pretend we were going somewhere special or we were on holidays in another country, was goofy but also very sweet. We are like two big kids together and I love the laughter that I share with him. Now I have gone all sooky!

[girlfrmoz 0]

Oops sorry Serendip, I meant soon to be hubby I didn't realise yr a K1'er like me. Yeah that thingo is called the checklist. Give me a yell if I can help you in any way.

[patriciaofoz 0]

Hi everyone

I have been lurking around VJ for a couple of weeks and officially introduced myself in the intro section last week but only found the Aussie thread now This seems to be the best place to be! Though I doubt if I can read through all 114 pages right now just to catch up on everybody's situtation, though I'm sure it'll become evident very soon as we all go through "the journey".

Before anything, I guess an intro of the situation that my American fiance & I are currently facing: we met back in 2003 at University. He was doing his first year in Honours in Nanotechnology and I was doing my first year of my Masters. Since 2003 he has spent of his time here in Adelaide with me only going home during his summer holidays from Uni (Christmas time) or when having to attend his best friend's wedding. In the nearly 4 years we've been together I am very ashamed to say that I haven't been to the US (Missouri, to be exact). It just worked out that his parents would always come down every year and work wasn't really keen on letting me go for an extended period so taking a holiday to the US never came about.

Now it's March 2007 and we're now taking the steps for me to move from little ol' Adelaide to Missouri (Columbia, MO to be exact) as soon as the US Government can allow me to I have to admit that I never would have realised the whole DCF process if it wasn't for VJ only to realise that even though Zach had been living (as an International Student) here in Adelaide for 3 1/2 years, we wouldn't be able to take this route. This is crushing since DCF seems to be the quickest method of petitioning somebody.

As for our immediate future, he's currently back in Missouri (since his student visa has expired) and will be back here in June 1 (our 4 Year Annivesary, how appropriate) and I guess we start planning our wedding so that we can speed things up. At the earliest we're looking at a November/December wedding as he needs to be back in Missouri to start his PhD by mid-January 2008. Originally we were looking at a November 2008 wedding but we figured that the quicker we make our union "official" in the eyes of the Govt, the quicker we can start our permanent future together. It might sound like it's taking the romance out of the wedding, but we don't necessarily look at it that way.

Hmm...this has become somewhat of an essay. Sorry! I guess now we've got to either just face the fact that we can't go for a DCF or try to either a) convince the Consulate that "we're a special circumstance" or B) have Zach move here as a "resident" (as classified by the US Govt) from June-Dec (that's 6 months!) and then we can go for DCF. Or am I kidding myself?

Alright, enough from me. It's just good to talk about these type of things with people who have/or are going through this at the same time. It is definitely comforting to know that I am not alone and that others have gone through the journey and the end result of this whole thing is one of eternal happiness. I know this is all worth it.

[jltan100 0]

Hi Jo,

Welcome to the Aussie Forum! Everyone is great in here, very supportive so feel free to ask if you need any information. Btw I used to live in Boronia not far from you. Am living in Canberra with my parents now until I go in April!!! Yay!!

The Police Certificate can take up to 3 weeks to process and in some states (like mine ACT) it can also take about 3 weeks to get an appointment for finger printing, so that's 6 weeks in total. Well that's how long mine took. The medical only took about 2 weeks from the time I had my appointment to when I had the report in my hands.

Both yours and Pris's stories of how you met are lovely. It's funny how things happen, I love hearing how couples have met on here.

Cheers

Lyndel

Thanks Girlfrmoz! Thanks for letting me know about the police certificate. I will call up soon and make an appointment. I am wondering whether i should wait until i know that NVC has approved it and sent it to Sydney first though? I'll see. I called them last night to find out whether they have it yet but was told they are busy and to try again. I emailed them too so hopefully they will respond soon.

[jltan100 0]

Welcome Jo!!

My soon to be hubby is from Melbourne as well. I've visited for a total of 9 months so far, and I fell in love with it! I hope you the best on your visa journey. We can definitely try to answer questions you may have through the process. I know I've asked a bunch and everyone was very helpful.

Hi Jo,

Welcome to the Aussie Forum! Everyone is great in here, very supportive so feel free to ask if you need any information. Btw I used to live in Boronia not far from you. Am living in Canberra with my parents now until I go in April!!! Yay!!

Both yours and Pris's stories of how you met are lovely. It's funny how things happen, I love hearing how couples have met on here.

Cheers

Lyndel

Lyndel!! My soon to be hubby lives in boronia!! I use to walk around there all the time. When everyone was at work, I use to go to Knox and hang out at the Coffee Club! I love that place. Especially their mochas. heheh. Their food was especially good too. He probably lives about 3 blocks from the train station in Boronia. That's so freaky how the world seems so small these sorta details are so cool, realize how close knit everyone in this world really is.

Aww you didn't comment on my details of meeting haha (just kidding!). Mine wasn't that great anyways, it was all online.

Did that one girl decide to buy your car? She seemed to be in love with it when you described how she was when she saw it. I hope she took that burden off of you one less thing for you to worry about before moving over!

I bet you're tons excited huh? About two weeks left isn't it?

Lynn

Hi Seren

Nice to meet you! Haha, its getting very weird in here. I know knox very well as i still hang out there!! In fact, i was just there last night having coffee with my girlfriends. It is definately a small world! I used to go to school in Boronia!

Sounds like you are a lot further down the process than i am. I would be interested to see what you find out about the checklist and medicals etc. I was under the impression that we have plenty of time to get the police checks and medicals as we only have to bring them in when we go for the interview? But i could very well be wrong. Were there any instructions that came with packet 3??

I had a look last night at some of the forms that come with packet 3 and it looks pretty straightforward to fill in and i can do it pretty quickly. It will only take longer if i need my fiance to fill in the I-134 support form. Do you know if i need to send that in first before the interview?

Kath, i think this form will be easier for me as i have only lived in 3 places since i was 16!!!

[serendipitous 0]

hi seren

take a look at some of tamazo's posts...she was asking the same questions as you are might help mate

i thought the checklist was what you had to get together for your interview...can you post a copy of what your talking about...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=27&st=1480

hope i was some help to you seren

kath

ps and this one http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=27&st=1480

Aww Kath i love you even more!! Thanks for the help, I will definitely check those posts out.

I don't have a copy of the checklist, that's in my fiance's possession.

I will have to ask my soon to be hubby if there were any new doctors added in Melbourne, if so I'll update the embassy information

Hi Seren, WOW!!! You are so right isn't it a small world! Tell your hubby that I lived in Narcissus Ave about 6 blocks from the train station on the tennis court end of the street. It on the basket ball court side of Boronia. I loved it there it was quiet, green, lots of possums at night and I use to walk there all the time too. It's a wonder I never bumped into you! lol Knox was great too I loved the fact that you could hear the bell birds singing in the parking lot, that used to amaze me.

Yeah I sold the car last weekend so that is a huge weight lifted. Only 3 weeks to go now and counting! Very excited. Jake has booked our apartment which is available in April and I sent all my shoes today so I don't have any excess luggage to pay for now. Just packing my stuff for shipping now and cleaning out paperwork, etc.

So you are getting pretty close too now...exciting huh! Hope you get speedy appointments for the medical and police check!

My fiance and I met online as well, he was in Iraq at the time so we used to make up imaginary dates and pretend we were going somewhere special or we were on holidays in another country, was goofy but also very sweet. We are like two big kids together and I love the laughter that I share with him. Now I have gone all sooky!

Haha! He lives on Forest Rd. I'm sure you've heard of it Oh I use to walk down to that dinky little shopping center with the "boronia mall" Corey and I would joke that it was the lamest malls ever, but we'd still always walk around in there just to pass time. (He doesn't have a car, so we'd just walk down there haha otherwise I'm sure we wouldn't have spent our time at that mall).

I saw a possum out in his tree once! First time I ever saw a possum in person. For some strange and immature reason I wanted to throw something at it cause it just kept staring at me. They have a patio on the second floor and there were trees all around in his backyard so the possum was at eye level with me. Trust me, it was only an urge! I didn't and wouldn't have ever thrown something at it! haha.

How could you go without your shoes for 2 weeks!! I'm a shoe fanatic too. I have over 50 pairs and it's still growing! I'm just like you hehehe. That's a brave thing you're doing, sending off your shoes without you But it does make sense so you don't have excess luggage.

How far along are you packing wise?

And when you go all sooky over someone, that's when you know you really love them When you can just smile because you're just thinking about them!

Hi Seren

Nice to meet you! Haha, its getting very weird in here. I know knox very well as i still hang out there!! In fact, i was just there last night having coffee with my girlfriends. It is definately a small world! I used to go to school in Boronia!

Sounds like you are a lot further down the process than i am. I would be interested to see what you find out about the checklist and medicals etc. I was under the impression that we have plenty of time to get the police checks and medicals as we only have to bring them in when we go for the interview? But i could very well be wrong. Were there any instructions that came with packet 3??

I had a look last night at some of the forms that come with packet 3 and it looks pretty straightforward to fill in and i can do it pretty quickly. It will only take longer if i need my fiance to fill in the I-134 support form. Do you know if i need to send that in first before the interview?

Kath, i think this form will be easier for me as i have only lived in 3 places since i was 16!!!

Hey how are old are you Jltan? There were instructions that came with the packet but I can't tell you too much detail about them, because I'm not the one that's actually in possession of them. I wish I was though, I'm such a control freak haha!

I knew my bf wouldn't meet the necessary income requirements, so when the NOA2 form came through, I had already started up collecting my income evidence as well as get my stepdad to get started on his. It took about a week for us to get our stuff together (a day for my stepdad lol, our credit union was very helpful and quick!) And I sent off the whole packet for him last week. He should be getting it sometime soon.

It is pretty fast to fill out those forms, for some reason my soon-to-be-hubby took like 4 hours doing it. First he wanted to write it out, (which i told him he shouldn't) then he realized it was better to type it out on the computer (of course when I mention it he doesn't want to do it lol) and then he took even more time because he wanted to be really careful about everything (this part is okay hah). But I'm sure it won't take you guys too long. We filled out our DS156 pretty fast. No hassle in that one.

My bf went to get his fingerprints done, he called on a Tuesday and was told that he would be able to come in the same week on Friday, but he had to work so he came in the following Tuesday. They don't seem to be as backed up as ACT is. So scheduling for fingerprints shouldn't be too hard. Just remember to bring your passport with you when you go do it.

He called to make an appointment with the panel doctor this Monday and he has an appointment for the 17th of April. I hope that gives you an idea of how much time it takes to get these two things done. (No difficulties so far thank goodness). And he promises me that he'll be sending out the checklist form by the end of this week, so hopefully we'll get an interview in May or something.

And I have to stop writing novels. I'm sure it's such a hassle to read something so long haha.

[Poi_n_J 0]

Damn....

C'mon chickie.. don't take 'no' for an answer just yet!

How long has he been living over there? Demonstrate all that and have him give a call anyway.. if he is still in Oz (can't keep track of you lot, ask Kath! lol)

The worst they can say is no. The best.. ??

Thanks anyway Mo I will get J to ring just in case but he hasn't been here six months although he will be by the end of it and it appears they just don't have the necessary facilities yet to do the police check on high demand hence the rule to prevent USCs coming over as before...

Aww..Lynn; every story is special..what was yours again? Are you an onliner also? Share, share...

Thanks for the hugs and well wishes Lyndel, I shouldn't complain as he is here now and others are still waiting to be with theirs but as I said it would sure save a lot of future hassles also... So, you're an onliner as well? That's a sweet story; goofy's good..that's the best thing I love about J; with all his serious studies etc he still knows how to be 'silly'..it brings it out in me as I can be too serious at times....

Hey Patricia and welcome I think Paul is from Adelaide too..he goes for his interview soon.. I'm curious: is your fiance doing his Masters here? J's university back in Arizona (ASU) won't let him transfer all Honour studies here so we have to go back for that..! I think you should definitely try to do DCF under special circumstances as he has been here that long and hasn't come here specially to do it which I think they are trying to prevent as they don't have the facilities to cope with it yet, if ever.

[Mel and James 0]

Hi everyone

I have been lurking around VJ for a couple of weeks and officially introduced myself in the intro section last week but only found the Aussie thread now This seems to be the best place to be! Though I doubt if I can read through all 114 pages right now just to catch up on everybody's situtation, though I'm sure it'll become evident very soon as we all go through "the journey".

Before anything, I guess an intro of the situation that my American fiance & I are currently facing: we met back in 2003 at University. He was doing his first year in Honours in Nanotechnology and I was doing my first year of my Masters. Since 2003 he has spent of his time here in Adelaide with me only going home during his summer holidays from Uni (Christmas time) or when having to attend his best friend's wedding. In the nearly 4 years we've been together I am very ashamed to say that I haven't been to the US (Missouri, to be exact). It just worked out that his parents would always come down every year and work wasn't really keen on letting me go for an extended period so taking a holiday to the US never came about.

Now it's March 2007 and we're now taking the steps for me to move from little ol' Adelaide to Missouri (Columbia, MO to be exact) as soon as the US Government can allow me to I have to admit that I never would have realised the whole DCF process if it wasn't for VJ only to realise that even though Zach had been living (as an International Student) here in Adelaide for 3 1/2 years, we wouldn't be able to take this route. This is crushing since DCF seems to be the quickest method of petitioning somebody.

As for our immediate future, he's currently back in Missouri (since his student visa has expired) and will be back here in June 1 (our 4 Year Annivesary, how appropriate) and I guess we start planning our wedding so that we can speed things up. At the earliest we're looking at a November/December wedding as he needs to be back in Missouri to start his PhD by mid-January 2008. Originally we were looking at a November 2008 wedding but we figured that the quicker we make our union "official" in the eyes of the Govt, the quicker we can start our permanent future together. It might sound like it's taking the romance out of the wedding, but we don't necessarily look at it that way.

Hmm...this has become somewhat of an essay. Sorry! I guess now we've got to either just face the fact that we can't go for a DCF or try to either a) convince the Consulate that "we're a special circumstance" or B) have Zach move here as a "resident" (as classified by the US Govt) from June-Dec (that's 6 months!) and then we can go for DCF. Or am I kidding myself?

Alright, enough from me. It's just good to talk about these type of things with people who have/or are going through this at the same time. It is definitely comforting to know that I am not alone and that others have gone through the journey and the end result of this whole thing is one of eternal happiness. I know this is all worth it.

[Mel and James 0]

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would say hi seeing as I have been browsing the Aus site for a few weeks now. I was planning to marry my US other half in beautiful Adelaide in June but we decided to revisit plans after DCF was cancelled. I was over in Texas visiting at the time we found out so we made the logical decision to marry in the US straight away (a courtroom with a judge!) so that we could get the immigration underway given it is going to take so long. We are still having the Adelaide wedding with family and friends as planned- but having it made official 3 months early gave us a better headstart on the process - Patricia - just read your story and thought it might be worth considering - if you wait till late 2008 for the wedding and then your other half has to go back to the US and file it might be the end of 2009 before you can move. Having a registry marriage earlier will allow you to file..and then you can always have a wedding service with family and friends on the date that you originally planned..I know its not ideal - I certainly struggled a bit with the decision..but when logic came in to it - we knew it was worth it.

Anyway - am loving seeing all the aussies on the site and reading all your stories - it certainly makes it easier to deal with the frustration when you see so many other people going through the same issues!

Mel

[vylex 0]

Hi Mel,

Vy and I did the same thing although it was a bit more spontaneous. We didn't think long and hard and at the time DCF was still available. We are still having the Church wedding in Sydney come August. I was supposed to apply for the DCF in April but started the process shortly in Feb after discovering the change in process. I just hope the USCIS and NVC process gets done before August. It would be a dream if she had the interview before the wedding. Ideally she would come back with me after the August wedding but we are ok if it's only a little while longer afterwards. I just hope the Vermont Service Center processes it quickly with no issue.