ATTENTION JULY FILERS!

[StillThePrettiest 4]

David got confirmation of our file being at NVC

I expect Packet 3 any day next week...

(Australia has managed to get my police check back to me quicker than the UK... I applied for the UK one more than a week earlier, and the Australian one involved airmail there and back, and they were STILL quicker )

but other than the UK police check, I THINK I have everything I need! yay!

[Jeraly 4]

Hey guys/gals

I received the NOA2 on December 24th, the hard copy - the NVC has yet to receive my package, should I be worried?

Haha - yeah well I'm not expecting mine to be there yet and I gotmy NOA2 a few days before you - it's just CSC fulfilling their role as the underdog Lame!!!

David got confirmation of our file being at NVC

I expect Packet 3 any day next week...

(Australia has managed to get my police check back to me quicker than the UK... I applied for the UK one more than a week earlier, and the Australian one involved airmail there and back, and they were STILL quicker )

but other than the UK police check, I THINK I have everything I need! yay!

Gratzies!!! Now things finally start moving!!! Soooooo exciting!!! I can't believe i am yet to actually get through this visa process - I can't believe I am going to have to be medded and interviewed and whatnot then when everything is done I can go live in the US... My tummy turns over just thinking about it - it is just so HUGE!! (The situation, not just the country )

[Jeraly 4]

Ya, I totally feel the same. Once I get NOA2, things should move on quickly since I am trying to have an interview at an embassy in Tokyo. But, this waiting game sucks so much. I saw one July 27th filer got approved. But ONLY one. VSC approved so many september and october filers now, and CSC has not approved. Well, we need to wait. I just go to work everyday and try not to think about it. I am not sure how long I have to keep this job. I need to notify my manager earlier. But, until I get my noa2, I cannot do so. I can't do real job hunting since I am not planning to live here, so I just work at the local cafe until I get a visa. What do you do everyone!!???

Heh - I know the feeling - you're stuck in limbo - you can't move but you can't do anything significant with your life where you are living right now because you only have to leave anyway!!! I could have taught for a year if I had known it was going to take this long

P.S. I know I'm not a July filer, but I like hanging out with you guys. The November filer thread is kinda dead. . . .

Haha - yeah I think we attract quite a few later filers - the other threads aren't as active mainly because there just aren't as many people!!!

Ok - I am going to do what I have been meaning to do and check my NOA1 date on my timeline is correct to the regulated instructions we now have on VJ - I need to get my OH to send me the NOA2... annoying me that I haven't collected the full set yet

[missingmykiwi 0]

well, it doesn't look like Dan's aunt will help

He had mentioned the costs of tickets and such and she works for air new zealand. we know she gets a discount, and yet she didn't bother to even offer to see what she could do weather it be lower costs, or just making the tickets refunable or changeable if needed. It was a bit disappointing. I have to say I love Dan dearly and vice versa, but this whole process has been so stressful. I can't tell you how many times we have bit each other's head's off b/c of the whole process. Now he's packing up his things and we are looking into freighting companies to get his thing here. I know nothing about how that works. It's really hard. His parents decided he has to go visist his other set of grandparents in the south part of south Island. Not good. Not that I don't want him to see them, but they should have said something months ago instead of him now having to book and pay for another plane ticket on short notice, not too mention the short notice work has. It didn't need to be this way, he had 2 weeks off at the holidays, if it was so important for him to go they could have said something sooner. Dan really feels like its a burdne right now to go, but his parents are insisting. So he goes along with it to keep the peace. I guess they think we are made of money, who knows. Overall I like his parents a lot, just sometimes they are bit conroling and their timing to pull a control issue is not good. He is stressed to the max right now with the interview and move approaching. I can't wait to have him here and than at least we can handle the new stress together. Stess of finding a apartment or co-op and planning the wedding!!!

Ok vent over, I am sorry thanks for listening.

Christine

[Jeraly 4]

Awww *hugs*

I can kinda understand where his parents are coming from but yeah - I don't see why they couldn't have mentioned it earlier... it sounds horrible but you just don't know when he will be back and I don't know how old his grandparents are but... It's something I worry about a lot - my grandparents aren't getting any younger...

As for flying through JFK - we all want to do it and I don't know how long EAD takes otherwise but maybe it would be worth getting as cheap a flight as poss and just filing AOS/EAD etc asap so you can do things that way...?

[weedebz 0]

weeelllll it's offical....I have lost the plot. I have been sorting out interview stuff, yes I know I have over 3 weeks but i'm obsessive. I have filled file, emptied file, filled file, emptied file and at least twice more. I can't stop crying as I've convinced myself we are going to be declined due to finances or that I'll forget something really important.

[bakofoil 27]

weeelllll it's offical....I have lost the plot. I have been sorting out interview stuff, yes I know I have over 3 weeks but i'm obsessive. I have filled file, emptied file, filled file, emptied file and at least twice more. I can't stop crying as I've convinced myself we are going to be declined due to finances or that I'll forget something really important.

Debz. You're not going to get denied on finances. If you're really worried about the co-sponsor situation I read on another thread that the US embassy in London has their own rules on how much you need to prove you can support yourself. I know from previous posts you've made that you've been saving like crazy. Take evidence of the finances you are taking with you if you are really concerned. That's what I'm going to do since Jesse is currently in college and his mom is co-sponsor.

edited to provide link to thread

Edited January 13, 2008 by babblesgirl

[KGSodie 0]

weeelllll it's offical....I have lost the plot. I have been sorting out interview stuff, yes I know I have over 3 weeks but i'm obsessive. I have filled file, emptied file, filled file, emptied file and at least twice more. I can't stop crying as I've convinced myself we are going to be declined due to finances or that I'll forget something really important.

Debz, we all get stressed out over this long and difficult road we have decided to travel, but if you have done your research and collected all the forms and you guys meet the minimum financial guidelines that are clearly documented, then you have done all that you can do. We just got our interview date on Friday (for February 26) so I've only just started the frantic final push, but I understand at least a little of what you feel. Give me another 3 weeks until I'm 3 weeks before the interview, and I'm sure I'll be a total basket case seeking your advice and the help and support of everyone here on VJ. It's what we DO here, particularly here on the July filers thread. Vent, rant, cry, stress - it's ok, we all understand (and most of us experience the exact same range of emotions you do).

I've always felt a special connection to you because you'll wind up here in Nebraska, where I live and where very few of us (I think) attempt what you do. It's a stupid, tenuous thing and completely artificial and one-sided, perhaps, but still it's there. If there's anything I can do to help you or your groom, just let me know.

[weedebz 0]

thanks for the kind words. We have a solid co-sponsor but he is only a friend of the family and I have never met him. He has known Nicks family 27 yrs so he is almost part of the family so I'm worried that the embassy won't be convinced. Also Nick still doesn't have work but he his trying really hard to get something, he's only been back 5 weeks and then there has been the holidays. I have around £9K to take over with me. We also have a rent free appartment to stay in. But I just keep feeling like we are going to be declined I can't get it out of my head. Nick's parents would have been my co-sponsor but with me added to their very large family they were short by $2000.

[bakofoil 27]

thanks for the kind words. We have a solid co-sponsor but he is only a friend of the family and I have never met him. He has known Nicks family 27 yrs so he is almost part of the family so I'm worried that the embassy won't be convinced. Also Nick still doesn't have work but he his trying really hard to get something, he's only been back 5 weeks and then there has been the holidays. I have around £9K to take over with me. We also have a rent free appartment to stay in. But I just keep feeling like we are going to be declined I can't get it out of my head. Nick's parents would have been my co-sponsor but with me added to their very large family they were short by $2000.

I don't think it matters whether you've met him or not. If he has signed the forms then he's clearly happy about being financially responsible for you and shows his trust for Nick and his family. I think that's very cool. Besides, you don't seem like a person who will be dependent for longer than you need to be.

If you are really concerned (and I think this would just be an exercise to put your mind at rest by covering all bases) you could actually get Nick's parents to fill out the paperwork too because you can make up more than 3 times the shortfall in their income and from what people say that is all the US embassy in London require.

[tucson_chick 0]

hi all!

@ christine: inlaws suck. period.

@ debz: it will be fine!!! you will pass the interview with glory!!!

@ all: i already shipped a good deal of my stuff with UPS. DHL ships 20kg for 62€ to the US. not bad. i will probably pack one more box with books and that's it!

i will have my medical in frankfurt on friday yai - yai!

abt JFK: here's the deal: i called several airlines, and it is crazy expensive to redirect a regular flight (for example with british airways, lufthansa or delta or united) via JFK. here are the numbers:

STR-TUS: € 700

STR-JFK-TUS: € 2000

STR-JFK: € 500 + JFK-TUS: 250€ = € 750

The sales-lady from lufthansa told me that the easiest way would be to buy 2 seperate tickets.

1) Germany --> JFK

2) JFK --> Arizona

That means that I will have to recheck-in my bags and stuff, and that i will have to pay overluggage for the second flight, as it will be a national flight with only ONE bag allowed, but even that will be €1000 cheaper!!!!

CRAZYNESS!!!! now i understand why so many people don't fly via JFK.

But for me, it seems worth it. even if one gets married right away, it will take 3 months to get the stupid EAD papers. with the stamp in the passport and a justice-of-the-peace-wedding the day after arrival, one should be able to work right away. we just really can't afford to live on one sallary for 3 months, plus the cost for moving and the AOS. plus: i want to be able to be active, to earn my own money, and to meet people!

hope things work out the way we plan....

[Jeraly 4]

weeelllll it's offical....I have lost the plot. I have been sorting out interview stuff, yes I know I have over 3 weeks but i'm obsessive. I have filled file, emptied file, filled file, emptied file and at least twice more. I can't stop crying as I've convinced myself we are going to be declined due to finances or that I'll forget something really important.

*hugs* Honey you'll be fine... I know how it is - I know you have checked things and re-checked things over and over. I know you know that the paperwork is in place and I know you know you have done everything you can. Deep down I think you know that it will be ok but you can't quite believe it and are convinced something is going to go wrong now you are so close. Remember that you are also dealing with the stress of an impending move and that is just going to add to the emotions you are going through at the moment.

The money you have in savings with a co-sponsor will be plenty. I can sit here and reassure you (or try) that you will be fine but part of it is just nerves and I don't think anything is going to make you feel totally ok until you have got through it with a stamp in your passport *I* know you'll be ok, everyone else knows you'll be ok - you're just having a hard time seeing it right now

Just think - a few more weeks and everything will be ok *hugs* You know where I am if you need me

[weedebz 0]

3 weeks and 2 days and counting....

[tucson_chick 0]

3 weeks and 2 days and counting....

in 3 weeks and 2 days you will send a txtmessage to aly, apologizing for the worrying and announcing the big party to celebrate the visa!

[rae_and_scott 1]

abt JFK: here's the deal: i called several airlines, and it is crazy expensive to redirect a regular flight (for example with british airways, lufthansa or delta or united) via JFK. here are the numbers:

STR-TUS: € 700

STR-JFK-TUS: € 2000

STR-JFK: € 500 + JFK-TUS: 250€ = € 750

The sales-lady from lufthansa told me that the easiest way would be to buy 2 seperate tickets.

1) Germany --> JFK

2) JFK --> Arizona

That means that I will have to recheck-in my bags and stuff, and that i will have to pay overluggage for the second flight, as it will be a national flight with only ONE bag allowed, but even that will be €1000 cheaper!!!!

CRAZYNESS!!!! now i understand why so many people don't fly via JFK.

Just a warning: allow A LOT of time in between your flights at JFK. It's the most backed up airport in the US b/c they took off restrictions as to how many flights were allowed per day (they are going to reinstate the restrictions at some point but it's still all f*cked up), so it's just jam packed. I am always sitting on the ground waiting to take off b/c there are so many planes in line. I have also sat and waited on the ground in other cities b/c NY airports were so busy that they wouldn't allow us to even get in the air yet.

Better to be safe and end up sitting in the airport with a ridiculously long layover than risk missing your connection, IMO.

I have around £9K to take over with me.

Don't forget, that's like a billion US dollars right now. Our dollar sucks at the moment.