Colombia Club Part III

[alt+3 0]

Thanks for all the great info. These are the 2 certificates that she got online.

the DAS Certificate is titled, "Certificado de Antecedentes."

It starts out like this....

Bogota, DC 10 de Septiembre de 2011

LA PROCURADURIA GENERAL DE LA NACION certifica que una vez consultado del Sistema de Informacion de Registro de Sanciones e Inhabilidades (SIRI)...

NO REGISTRO SANCIONES NI INHABILIDADES VIGENTES

ADVERTENCIAS:

La certificacion de antecedentes debera contener...

Signed by Mario Enrique Castro Gonzalez

Jefe Division Centro de Atencion al Publico (CAP)

Is that the DAS CERTIFICATE that she needs? If so, that's great and she got it online instantly. I will go to Bogota to get mine.

This one that you are showing is called Antecedentes Disciplinarios and is a different document given by another office.

The one you need is titled Certificado Judicial, given by the DAS. This is the web page where your fiance can get it online and free. www.certificadojudicial.gov.co

Edited September 12, 2011 by alt+3

[married2paisita 1]

Just got off the phone with the NVC, they said that they are doing the October scheduling now. Not big news, but nice to know the process is going.

[kennym 275]

All,

An update regarding our situation..

All of you have helped us get to this point.. Most of you know that My wife arrived last year on a K1, but were waiting for my wife's ex to allow her daughter, Valentina, to come to the US.. We received his promise that he would allow Valentina to come live in the US woth her mom.. We started the process to complete the "follow to join" visa for her.. Today, my wife attended the Interview in Bogota, and recieved the Approval for the Visa for Valentina...

We are extremely excited and anxious for Valentina to come to the US and begin her life here..

Thanks all of you for your support and help...

Kenny

[Mononoke28 134]

All,

An update regarding our situation..

All of you have helped us get to this point.. Most of you know that My wife arrived last year on a K1, but were waiting for my wife's ex to allow her daughter, Valentina, to come to the US.. We received his promise that he would allow Valentina to come live in the US woth her mom.. We started the process to complete the "follow to join" visa for her.. Today, my wife attended the Interview in Bogota, and recieved the Approval for the Visa for Valentina...

We are extremely excited and anxious for Valentina to come to the US and begin her life here..

Thanks all of you for your support and help...

Kenny

Congratulations Kenny! That is really good news.

Diana

[Rolando y Tania 0]

Hello everybody, I want to post our experiences so far with the k1 visa petition so it helps everybody in this forum. First of all I want to say THANKS to everybody for their great information and making life easier for many of us here.

We sent our K1 petition on March 31 and we received the NOA 1 a week after that. We got a RFE for missing some evidence. Make sure you are including: some dated photos (although I didn't have one dated), airline stubs & receipts, if you are divorced your divorce certificate signed by the judge, a good chronological history of your relationship, etc. We got the NOA 2 around July 7th via text message to my cellular (you can set up automatic notifications and check the status of your application online at http://www.uscis.gov). Right after that I waited several days and started calling the National Visa Center NVC (603-334-0700) to get the BGT number and to estimate time of arrival of the package to the embassy. Many people have being able to get their case number right away. I called around 3 times a week for 3 weeks. Every time they would tell me that it would take 15 business days to process the application. At the 15 day they gave me the BGT number. A week after that the petition got to the embassy. We emailed package 3 right away but because it was the 17th of August. I then called Department of State (DOS) a couple of time to get my interview date and they got it around 1 week after the embassy got the paperwork. Even though I emailed then package 3 on the 17th of August they didn't schedule interview until October 12th. To get the interview date you can call DOS at 202-663-1225 X1, X0 or wait until the 20th and 30th of the month where the embassy publish their list for the upcoming month (http://bogota.usembassy.gov/iv-appointments.html).

We got all the documents related to the interview:

1. Certificado Judicial (Police Certificate): if this is the first time you get this certificate you have to go personally to the DAS office and ask for an appointment, which may take up to a month. If this is not the first time then you can get it online. I ended up paying a friend to get the interview a couple days ahead. They give you the certificate the same day during the interview (long lines)

2. Certificado de Movimientos Migratorios (DAS Certificate): you can get this certificate at your local DAS office (don't have to go to Bogota). It will take close to 8 days if outside Bogota. For the petitioner you have to notarize an authorization letter and mail that to the Colombian consulate (San Francisco in the West Coast) with a copy of your biographical passport page, a $35 money order and a returned post mark envelope. They will staple a page with several seals basically authorizing the release of information to the other person. They also ask you to place you finger print on it. You then mail this authorization to your fiancée to pick it up for you. Now if you happen to be in Colombia you can personally go and apply for one. Some people get confused about the letter being only notarized. If you are in Colombia you can simply notarize the authorization letter but if you are notarizing from abroad (USA) then you need to do it through the Colombian consulate. This is only needed if you can't either apply or pick up the certificate.

3. Birth Certificates: a simple stamped photocopy from the original which they do not give.

4. Baptismal Certificate: marginal notes included. Done at the church where it happened or at the main diesis.

5. Passport: This is another long line to get the application going. They take the photos there (don't bring photos with you) and you pick it up 8 days later. In Medellin you have to plan to start making the line early in the morning to get a number. Plan to be around 4AM there to get a number by 6AM. It all depends on how many people show up that day which is regularly high. By 6AM there may be over 60 people in line.

6. Vaccines: Good luck on this or have a doctor prepare you one. Have the varicella, MMR, dTap and Influenza shots done a couple weeks before the medical exam or get them there. Don't get them more than a month before the medical examination.

Now I have to wait for the passport to submit package 4 with the visa payment. Now Domesa won't be delivering Visas but DHL which I consider better. I hope that this information help some of the new member out there the same way you all helped me.

Thanks...

Tania & Rolando

[Ready to do it 101]

Thanks for the info. why do you recommend getting the vaccines at the medical or 2 weeks before as opposed to more than 30 days before the interview?

Hello everybody, I want to post our experiences so far with the k1 visa petition so it helps everybody in this forum. First of all I want to say THANKS to everybody for their great information and making life easier for many of us here.

We sent our K1 petition on March 31 and we received the NOA 1 a week after that. We got a RFE for missing some evidence. Make sure you are including: some dated photos (although I didn't have one dated), airline stubs & receipts, if you are divorced your divorce certificate signed by the judge, a good chronological history of your relationship, etc. We got the NOA 2 around July 7th via text message to my cellular (you can set up automatic notifications and check the status of your application online at http://www.uscis.gov). Right after that I waited several days and started calling the National Visa Center NVC (603-334-0700) to get the BGT number and to estimate time of arrival of the package to the embassy. Many people have being able to get their case number right away. I called around 3 times a week for 3 weeks. Every time they would tell me that it would take 15 business days to process the application. At the 15 day they gave me the BGT number. A week after that the petition got to the embassy. We emailed package 3 right away but because it was the 17th of August. I then called Department of State (DOS) a couple of time to get my interview date and they got it around 1 week after the embassy got the paperwork. Even though I emailed then package 3 on the 17th of August they didn't schedule interview until October 12th. To get the interview date you can call DOS at 202-663-1225 X1, X0 or wait until the 20th and 30th of the month where the embassy publish their list for the upcoming month (http://bogota.usembassy.gov/iv-appointments.html).

We got all the documents related to the interview:

1. Certificado Judicial (Police Certificate): if this is the first time you get this certificate you have to go personally to the DAS office and ask for an appointment, which may take up to a month. If this is not the first time then you can get it online. I ended up paying a friend to get the interview a couple days ahead. They give you the certificate the same day during the interview (long lines)

2. Certificado de Movimientos Migratorios (DAS Certificate): you can get this certificate at your local DAS office (don't have to go to Bogota). It will take close to 8 days if outside Bogota. For the petitioner you have to notarize an authorization letter and mail that to the Colombian consulate (San Francisco in the West Coast) with a copy of your biographical passport page, a $35 money order and a returned post mark envelope. They will staple a page with several seals basically authorizing the release of information to the other person. They also ask you to place you finger print on it. You then mail this authorization to your fiancée to pick it up for you. Now if you happen to be in Colombia you can personally go and apply for one. Some people get confused about the letter being only notarized. If you are in Colombia you can simply notarize the authorization letter but if you are notarizing from abroad (USA) then you need to do it through the Colombian consulate. This is only needed if you can't either apply or pick up the certificate.

3. Birth Certificates: a simple stamped photocopy from the original which they do not give.

4. Baptismal Certificate: marginal notes included. Done at the church where it happened or at the main diesis.

5. Passport: This is another long line to get the application going. They take the photos there (don't bring photos with you) and you pick it up 8 days later. In Medellin you have to plan to start making the line early in the morning to get a number. Plan to be around 4AM there to get a number by 6AM. It all depends on how many people show up that day which is regularly high. By 6AM there may be over 60 people in line.

6. Vaccines: Good luck on this or have a doctor prepare you one. Have the varicella, MMR, dTap and Influenza shots done a couple weeks before the medical exam or get them there. Don't get them more than a month before the medical examination.

Now I have to wait for the passport to submit package 4 with the visa payment. Now Domesa won't be delivering Visas but DHL which I consider better. I hope that this information help some of the new member out there the same way you all helped me.

Thanks...

Tania & Rolando

[Ready to do it 101]

Yep, she got that one too. I am going to Bogota next week. I'll go by DAS and try to get them to give me my DAS certificate (petitioner). Will they give it to me right there while I wait or tell me to come back? Can I have them mail it to my fiance in her city? I assume her interview won't be until November as we have not yet sent in the 2 packet 3 forms. We'll probably do that next week. Hopefully having a DAS certificate that is 2 months old won't be a problem for them.

This one that you are showing is called Antecedentes Disciplinarios and is a different document given by another office.

The one you need is titled Certificado Judicial, given by the DAS. This is the web page where your fiance can get it online and free. www.certificadojudicial.gov.co

[alt+3 0]

Yep, she got that one too. I am going to Bogota next week. I'll go by DAS and try to get them to give me my DAS certificate (petitioner). Will they give it to me right there while I wait or tell me to come back? Can I have them mail it to my fiance in her city? I assume her interview won't be until November as we have not yet sent in the 2 packet 3 forms. We'll probably do that next week. Hopefully having a DAS certificate that is 2 months old won't be a problem for them.

In Bogotá, it takes 3 bussiness days to process the DAS certificate. I understand in another major cities is the same time. Anyways your fiance should communicate with her local DAS office to know How long this process takes.

I definitely recommend to get the DAS certificate until you have an interview date. Usually for K-1, you get the date at least one month and a half before, or more. Enough time to get all the documents they ask for.

If is the case you can not come to Colombia before the interview to get it, your Fiance can do it for you. She can to go to the DAS in person to ask exactly what they need from the petitioner. Probably she will need a notarized letter and copy of your passport.

[Mononoke28 134]

5. Passport: This is another long line to get the application going. They take the photos there (don't bring photos with you) and you pick it up 8 days later. In Medellin you have to plan to start making the line early in the morning to get a number. Plan to be around 4AM there to get a number by 6AM. It all depends on how many people show up that day which is regularly high. By 6AM there may be over 60 people in line.

Thanks...

Tania & Rolando

#######, are you serious? Get there at 4AM to get a number for them to process your passport application? Oh my gosh, why does everything need a line in Colombia to get anything done. I remember the line we had to make to get my cédula a few years ago and it was chaotic. I knew they were implementing the new passports as of last year but I didn't think that would mean getting up so early to get a freaking number which is something I'll need to do whenever I go visit again.

Diana

[Rolando y Tania 0]

Thanks for the info. why do you recommend getting the vaccines at the medical or 2 weeks before as opposed to more than 30 days before the interview?

There have been many complaints about getting the varicella, MMR, dTap and influeza shot to early so when you go to you medical appointment in Bogota the doctors force you to get them again. Everybody recommends to either have these at the appointment in Bogota or no more than a month at your clinic or Red Cross. Now to get all of these two days before the interview is a bit risky if you get symptoms from the vaccines which is very common contraindications. If you get them at your private clinic make sure to have all documentation with receipts. Hope this answers your question.

[Rolando y Tania 0]

#######, are you serious? Get there at 4AM to get a number for them to process your passport application? Oh my gosh, why does everything need a line in Colombia to get anything done. I remember the line we had to make to get my cédula a few years ago and it was chaotic. I knew they were implementing the new passports as of last year but I didn't think that would mean getting up so early to get a freaking number which is something I'll need to do whenever I go visit again.

Diana

There are lines for everything in Colombia, specially Medellin. If you lose your cedula you have to wait over 6-12 month to get a replacement back. My fiancée has lost hers some time ago and to go around this I had to pay the person 80K pesos to get it the same day. This is something that the majority of Colombians are not able to afford but an easy transaction if you need it right away.

For the passport people start making lines at 1AM every night because they give certain amount of numbers every morning. You can imagine that by 6:30AM when they open the line is 50-60 people long (at least in Medellin Alpujarra). Make sure to go with a photocopy of your cedula (150%). The guards there also ask you for 80K pesos for making the line for you. I had a friend of mine do the line for us and we showed up at 6AM to replace her. We weren't there for more than an hour but we were the second in that line!

For the Judicial Certificate at the DAS is the same thing. You pay and they give you an interview within the week but if you don't pay then you have to wait the same time as everybody else.

The DAS Certificate (Certificado de Movimientos Migratorios) is way easier. You pay at Davivienda a fee, you then make a letter stating your name, cedula or passport number, first and last day you enter Colombia and which agency (USA Embassy) you are sending this to. You staple all together (letter, copy of passport or cedula, and receipt from bank) give it to the receptionist and pick it up 8 days later unless you are in Bogota which is like 3 days later.

[justwaiting4her 0]

My fiancee is still waiting on her packet 3 documents from Bogota so she can send start the interview process. It has been over a month since her petition was approved, I am starting to get worried. Anybody have a long wait on this, I mean gee we only have until early December to get everything done!

[Mononoke28 134]

My fiancee is still waiting on her packet 3 documents from Bogota so she can send start the interview process. It has been over a month since her petition was approved, I am starting to get worried. Anybody have a long wait on this, I mean gee we only have until early December to get everything done!

justwaiting4her,

Don't wait for the embassy to send her packet 3 because it may never arrive. First, make sure the embassy does have the documents that were sent to them by the NVC. Once they let you know that they do in fact have her case at the embassy, your fiancée can send them packet 3 via email.

Diana

[Rolando y Tania 0]

My fiancee is still waiting on her packet 3 documents from Bogota so she can send start the interview process. It has been over a month since her petition was approved, I am starting to get worried. Anybody have a long wait on this, I mean gee we only have until early December to get everything done!

Call NVC (603-334-0700) and get your BGT#, then send all forms DS-2100 and DS-230 (http://photos.state.gov/libraries/colombia/231771/PDFs/IVPkt3InstructionsJune2011English.pdf)with a copy of your fiancee's passport or cedula to 'IVBogota@state.gov' with your BGT#. A week later call DOS (202-663-1225 Ext.1, Ext.0) and get your interview date. Get all requested documents and send visa payment from package 4 (http://photos.state.gov/libraries/colombia/231771/PDFs/ivpkt4appointmentjune2011englishrev.pdf)

Remeber that right now you will most probably won't get an interview until November if you email the forms today. Hope this help.

[Ready to do it 101]

A few questions. My fiance and I are both in Bogota right now. I had her fly here to meet me as it's easier for me to get to Bogota than to other cities. She brought the K1 packet 3 they sent her. Interestingly on the list of documents, it does not say anything about the DAS certificate for the petitioner. This form "instructions" has an expiration date of November 2011. Next, the DS-2100 they sent her expires November, 2011 (which I guess is ok). Here comes the confusion... The DS-230 Part I they sent her has an expiration date of 9/30/2010. Why would they send her a form that is already expired. Should I have her fill out all her info on this expired form or should I get the one online off their website?