mixxerr0se

Awesome, thank you! (:

These aren't silly questions at all -- they're very good.

Someone else can answer #1. In regard to #2, simply put "undetermined" for the length of visit & date of departure. USCIS is used to seeing this. No one can predict the future; people could have plans to attend a wedding (as you do) and instead have to return on an emergency basis because of a family crisis, for example.

Thank you so much! I just have no idea how that application works (in the sense of actually USING it, that you get a piece of paper with a specific date on it you have to show ON that date to leave or something you know? I haven't looked that far ahead yet). But that is great to know, thank you. So just to make sure, since I have a basic idea of the date would it be better I put "Around DATE" or "Approximately DATE" or anything, just to give them some idea? Because I doubt it will be approved any earlier than I need it for that trip (so no need to consider having to use it earlier for an emergency or anything). Or is is basically a "free pass", if you will, to be used (within reason obviously) as I wish if I leave it as "undetermined"?

Hi there,

QN#1- While making preps for AOS,i pulled out the I-94 from my passport and made copies of it (front and back) then re-stapled it back nicely !

The fields "port", "date", "carrier" and "flight no./ship name" on the back of your I-94 are left blank and don't worry ya self about them. The IO at the POE when you arrived could have filled those out if they wanted to.....no worries ey

Qn#2 has been well answered by TBone TX. i did exactly the same !

Good luck to you.

Oh my gosh, thank you! I has just woken up and saw no reply to this question, then refreshed again and you had replied, now I can give passport to hubby beforehe takes off for work soon and get him to get this done today (we don't have a photocopier and this is the last day he works from the office this week) so thank you! Also reassuring to know you put the same for the I-131 (:

Thanks again so much to both of you!

Hi all! Haven't posted on this part of the forum before, but doing my AOS forms now (adjusting from a K-1 visa).

For several of the forms we are instructed to take a photocopy of the front and back of our I-94. Just wondering, on the back of mine there is nothing written. The fields are "port", "date", "carrier" and "flight no./ship name". I'm pretty sure I filled out all the bits on the form I was supposed to before surrendering it when I entered, but just to be sure, should those fields be filled out? Should I have filled them out or should they have at the airport? I guess what I'm asking is before I take those photocopies should I fill those fields out myself? I don't see much point taking a photocopy of the back if nothing is filled out so I guess I should? Also, they stapled it in to my passport, is it ok if I pull it out so that it is easier to photocopy then staple it back in myself?

My second question relates to the I-131 (with regards to the K1 / advanced parole).

Basically, how accurate does the "Date of intended departure" you give have to be? I want to file for it now with my I-485 etc since it takes a while to approve, but I am not 100% sure the exact date I will leave / how long I will stay. A very close friend is getting married back in NZ, I know the date for the wedding but we are still deciding what the plans will be for what we will do beforehand (so basically how far before this date I will go over), and how long I will stay and catch up with other people. It would be at least a week, probably no more (or not much more) than two weeks, so if I just said 2 weeks under "Expected length of trip" would that be ok? Or 2-3 weeks? I know I should probably just wait until I know dates better but I am scared if I wait I will run out of time for it to be approved.

Apologies for my wordy and probably silly questions. If someone could please answer in particular the first question as soon as possible that would be much appreciated, as I would like to give my passport to my husband tomorrow to take to work to do my photocopying for me (:

Awesome, so happy for you! Ours was not long approved too so the feeling is very much still fresh!

asdfghjkl so exciting! Best of luck and hope it all goes smoothly!

Congrats again hehe (:

Ummm now obviously I'm talking about the K1 here so this could be completely off but for mine I had my medical significantly before I got my interview date... but like I said different processes so yeah that's probably no help at all. If I had had to wait until getting an interview date it would have been SO rushed. But yeah, this probably has NO relevance aha.

CONGRATS! YAY! Now you gotta tell me all about the interview haha My fiance is going for his interview next tuesday, i wanted to go with him, but on such short notice cant get down there now Any tips appreciated! I know ive read the interview stories from other kiwis, but a recent one would be great!

Welcome to the group! (im not a kiwi myself, just a kiwi lover lol)

I assume by next Tuesday you mean today haha, if so looking forward to hearing how it went for him! Let us know (:

Thank you for the review of the interview!! It brought back memories for me It will be most helpful for future kiwis going through the process!

Thank you! I hope so!

R.O.C. interview

Today was my interview for R.O.C.... We got to the local office around 7.15am. I thought we would have to wait for it to open but it was already open with the security guards by the front doors etc... It was the same place we went to for AOS interview and we went up to the first floor. I was shocked when we went to walk into the office and saw ALL the people sitting there waiting to be interviewed!! At that time of the morning?? Made me wonder what time does the uscis office open??

Anyway, i slid the interview letter under the tray by the window at the front desk and we sat down and waited.. I noticed that above the main window, it said AOS and Naturalization.. I panicked for like a minute, wondering if we were in the right place but a woman came and picked up the interview letter from the tray and didn't say anything.

We waited for maybe 15 minutes, then our names were called, which surprised me as last time we had to wait almost 2 and a half hours for the interview.. The man led us out of the main waiting room and on a tiki tour through corridors and rooms etc (in the opposite direction of where we went for the AOS interview). We had to remain standing and put up our right hands and swear to an oath to tell the truth etc.

We had to produce our drivers licence and i had to give him my expired green card. He opened our file and i noticed how thick it was He generally went over the I-751 form and asked me the questions that were on it.. He asked us where we got married and when. Asked us how we met. Where we worked. My children's names. I had to show recent bank statements, tax returns, car insurance and photos. He then asked us if we had any credit cards (we don't)

He left the office and photocopied our drivers licence and then said we were approved and should get the new GC in a few weeks. He also said i could apply for citizenship in the future. He said that it is 3 years from when we got married to apply AND three years from the initial date on the greencard. I asked/said to him that you can apply 90 days before the date on the greencard? and he said that it is best to apply for it more closer to the date on the GC or you will lose the $680 filing fee and have the form sent back to you.. so now i am not sure if you can apply safely 90 days before the initial date on your greencard was issued? Anyone know for sure?

So that was that. I am soo glad that it is over. But i still don't know why we got called in for an interview for both AOS and ROC.

Cdneh: I hope you hear something very soon about your ROC!!

Congrats, that is awesome! I can't wait until we have made it that far haha. Seems so overwhelming and far away. I'm stressed because on top of what everyone else has to do which is plenty!, ie planning a wedding, getting married, and doing all the AOS stuff in 3 months, we are also moving house - our lease at fiance's current place will end JUST after our 3 months expires (give or take, depending on when I actually get my a into g and get sorted and get over there) so we will also be house-hunting and packing things up and arranging a move in those 3 months too, argh - I don't deal well with overwhelm, I tend to shut down so a bit scared about all that.

Congrats two both of you, Very awesome, Just got email that my husbands green card was mailed yesterday, so my sister and brother -n-law, ( they co sponsored) and my self are going to wrap up the Green card letter, My sister is going to make him a cake with both flags on it, and we are going to celebrate. So happy, Thanks Jaime for the welcome to the group

Thank you tons! It's a relief, but also stressful as we now have to actually move forward but at least we CAN now! Congrats on the green card!! The cake is such a cute idea (:

Thank you all so much for the kind words and celebratory smilies! Haha (: xx

Thank you all so much! It's so nice having the support from people going through the same thing! Right now I am trying really hard to focus on just getting out of the country - selling my stuff, etc etc right now instead of looking up all the AOS stuff and getting overwhelmed. We don't even have any of the wedding details set at this point, even though it's gonna be really simple / a 'quickie' you know there is still a lot to think about - we don't have a location set at this point, I don't have a dress nor him a suit, nothing haha. But have to just focus on GETTING there then we can worry about all that!

Anyway, here is my 'story' Jamie! And for anyone else it may help in the future, although I don't really know if there's much to it that would help people but I know that most things were quite on point with what others had said about the interview/consulate/etc, and that did make me feel much more in control when I was there!

So. My interview was at 10am. I had been planning to leave ridiculous amounts of time to get ready and what not just in case, but had been very short of sleep recently and SLEPT THROUGH MY FREAKIN' ALARM! Luckily I woke up and thought it was a bit lighter than it should have been so checked the time, it was 50 minutes later than I wanted to wake up so I had a bit of a freakout but considering how much time I had left to get ready I still actually had plenty of time as my hotel was all of a like, 10 minute if that walk from the consulate. Although I did have to allow a bit of extra time for the walk down the 14 flights of stairs in wedges - yes, BOTH elevators at the hotel were broken. I was also going to have coffee and stuff before the interview, so luckily the time I'd allowed for that made up for how late I woke up! Anyway, ended up leaving the hotel around 9.15 I think? As I said, much later than I would have liked, but I knew exactly where I had to go and how far away I was so I wasn't too worried - just meant I had to forgo the coffee. Wasn't sure if I should wait until closer to 10 to enter, or if you were supposed to be through security and the first window and all that by that point - in the end entered the building at 9.45. The best way I can describe to find the building is if you are on Queen St. heading towards the water, Customs St. East (I think that was the one aha not West) is on your right (that part I am sure of) just before you hit the busses and stuff at Britomart. Then it's on the right hand side of that street, right next to an Esquires coffee, before you hit any intersections or anything, like really not far up that road at all. It's pretty hard to miss and as someone else mentioned (kiwana I think) there is a US flag outside out.

Anyway, went up on the elevator, and as people have said you come straight out at security. There was a security guard standing behind a desky thing, and I wasn't sure whether I went straight up to him or to this bit that said "Please queue here" or something, and then he would come over to me? So I awkwardly (I am great at being awkward) asked him if I lined up there or not and he asked what time my appt. was and I told him and he like radioed through that I was there. Then he asked if I had a cellphone and I said I did and he asked me to turn it off and I did and I put it back in my handbag and then he asked me to put my handbag on the conveyor belt thing and it went through that and he locked it away and gave me a number to pick it up later. Then he asked if he could look at my folder (that had my evidence etc in it) and I was like sure but he just stood there and I realised he wanted me to open it myself aha. So I did and held it open and he was satisfied and then asked me to leave everything on the counter and walk through the security thing which I did. Then I picked it up again (my folder) and he said to go through the door up to Window 'something' (I forgot the number, but it was the one straight ahead from the door I went through and the only one that says immigrant visas) and press the button so I did.

It took about two minutes before a nice older lady with shortish dark hair came to the window and started talking to me. Basically she just looked through my papers to make sure everything was there and took my passport and said this was the first part and then I'd have an interview with a consular officer. And she just asked a few things that I think she must have had to ask like "Are you planning to get married in the United States" and asked if my fiance worked there (yes) and stuff, like really simple things, that's about all I can remember. And she explained the process of what happened afterwards - like showed me a sample envelope that I take through customs etc when I get there and that I would be taken aside at POE and interviewed a bit or w/e and to allow a butt-ton of time if I had a connecting flight just in case, and a basic overview of the AOS and that sort of thing, although she said that they'd send me info on all that anyway so not to worry too much. And gave me a CD which I assume was my xray since it had their logo all over it aha. And a photocopy of the vaccination record (DS-3025? Too lazy to look it up right now) saying it was very important I hold on to it as I would need it for AOS. I told her I already had it, that the doctors had sent me a pdf copy, and she said that they were SUPPOSED to but only like 1 out of 10 times they actually did or something. Oh and yes I forgot to mention since I assume everyone's read other reports - yes there was glass between us haha and I was standing and you slipped papers under a little hole in the bottom of the window. Anyway that was about all at that window and then she gave me a slip of paper with the new payment info on it (it had just changed to more than $100 less than the old price a matter of days before my interview, pretty sweet!) and told me to go to the next window (payment window) and buzz.

Here almost instantly an Asian lady came and I paid her and that was all very straight forward. She told me to take a seat and I'd be called for my interview. So I did and that was when I actually stopped to look around. Basically the bit where all this happens is almost like a big corridor with the windows (like the interview windows, payment window etc) running the length of it. At the other end by the 'Staff only' or something door there was a very small tv playing American news. There were flags and stuff in a few places and posters about voting on the walls. Overall it was pretty sparse - lots of chairs to wait on, just simple fold-up type ones. I saw that there were two interview windows, but when I sat down there was no one at either. I waited awkwardly, obvs. no magazines to read or anything at a place like this and everything has been taken off you (phones, mp3 players etc) so not much to do. I was the only one in there bar a few people coming in and out of the employee door. A very American sounding man and a Kiwi girl (Maori I think?) came through while I was waiting and talked to the lady I had already talked to. They had got married here by the sounds of it and were starting whatever the process was of immigrating to the States. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but you can just hear everything haha. They were there pretty quick then left again, just went to that one window, I think they were more after information than anything else. I'd been waiting about 10 mins I'd guess (although felt like more) when a man came up to the interview window, but he didn't call me. Then another couple came in and went up to the US Citizens window (right at the end after the interview windows) and buzzed and then appeared to get frustrated at the fact that no one came up to the window straight away and started yelling "Hello?" etc. Which for some reason annoyed me, I mean calm down, you buzz to let them know you're there, that doesn't mean they have to come right away! Besides I'd been waiting way longer than then. Anyway finally they sat down and waited.

About 10 mins after the man appeared on the other side of the interview window he called my name, so I went up. He was quite nice too, like serious I guess but not intimidating. Basically he did the same thing as the lady, just went through all my forms and stuff, said everything seemed in order. He had to get one of my fingerprints again at that window as one hadn't turned out right or whatever. Asked a few questions, like how did we meet (which I said when and how) then he prompted for more details of how it progressed (since we met online I mentioned how we talked on there then emailed then IMed then started using webcam and swapped numbers and how it became more frequent and progressed and all that stuff). He asked what Adam (fiance) did, which I explained the best I could - I said at the end "I don't quite understand it haha" to which he grinned. He asked where we were planning to get married (which I said we were still deciding between a couple of places) which lead him to ask if that (Seattle) was where he lived, which I said yes it was. He asked when I was planning to leave the country, and I said that had depended on when this happened etc but when (/if, didn't know whether saying 'when' would sound too presumptuous haha) this came through we would probably book flights pretty soon for about a month or so out. But yeah all these questions were pretty casual and stuff. He said we were going to take an oath now and to raise my hand like he showed me and I can't even remember what the oath was now lmao, I guess just that everything I had said / on the forms etc was true. And yeah, then he handed me the part of the form that you're not meant to sign until the interview (the one with a part 1 and a part 2 - DS156 maybe? - too lazy to remember the names while typing this, will edit later with them lol) and I signed it then he signed his part saying he witnessed it etc. Then he started talking about how it would take a few days to process and then my passport would be returned to me in the mail etc. And then there was kind of silence and I realised it was like, finished aha. And I awkwardly asked like, if this processing time was when the decision was made, or...? Type thing... and he was like "Oh no no, it's all approved haha, this is just processing time." And I was thinking OMG you could have told me that! Hahaha but yeah I double-checked that he didn't need any evidence and I can't remember exactly what he said but basically he didn't lol. SO I SPENT FOREVER ORGANISING THAT WHOLE BIG FOLDER OF STUFF FOR NOTHING OMG! Still hahahaha it was approved I didn't really care, whatever! Anyway I thanked him profusely and sat back on a seat for a moment to put the extra stuff he had given me that they no longer needed back in my folder etc and the 'US Citizen' people were like "Oh I bet HE can help us" and started harassing him at the interview window lmao poor guy, I mean it's not even the right window! They hadn't been waiting long at all, like my entire interview probably only took like 5 mins, or 10 tops.

Anyway, went back out through security, got my bag back, went down the lift, turned my phone back on. Went outside the building but still sort of in it's entranceway so I wasn't standing in the middle of the footpath and called Adam. He'd very sweetly worked from home that day so that if I had to call him for anything (like if he needed to email something over or whatever) he'd be easier to reach. Anyway I called him with teary eyes and told him "We are allowed to get married!" and I think honestly - it was relief as much as happiness haha. But I was like swirling round on the phone to him all teary eyed, the people passing must have been like ####### but I didn't care. Eventually he said he better call his mum & sister haha, who were very happy, and I went and sat on the bus stop seat there and had a cigarette (no lectures lol) and texted my parents - my mum proceeded to ring me haha saying congrats and stuff. Then I went to the coffee place next door and got coffee and a muffin and got harrassed by a bird (INSIDE MIGHT I ADD) and wanted to like, tell people or something, you know? But that would just be weird and creepy so I kept it to myself and had coffee/muffin and well yeah, that's basically the end of the story

So yeah the interview was on Thursday, it's Tuesday now and no sign of visa yet but not worried yet! I went in at around 9.45 or a bit after, and checked the time when I was out AFTER a 10 min or so phone call to Adam, at 10.40. So around 50 minutes, with at least 20 mins of that just waiting. So I prob only had about 30 mins or so in contact with people, including security, the first window, the cashier window, and the interview itself! Just as some sort of idea of time frames!

Anything else anyone wants to know feel free to ask, hope this rambling helps at least someone some! Even if not it feels quite good to talk about it haha. Best of luck to your fiance for the interview Jamie! It's really not that scary at all, I promise, but even though I'd been told that by others I was still scared haha But yeah, pretty unjustified (:

Visa visa vi-SA! -to the tune of the conga-

Hehehe just had to celebrate in ALL the threads ^-^ So happy.

WE ARE ALLOWED TO GET MARRIED!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Ahem. Yes. Approved. Happyy girl is happy. And relieved. Haha.

I have my interview (in Auckland) tomorrow, and here are some of the things I am using as evidence:

A few cards and letters we have sent to each other. Some packing slips from packages sent to each other, or receipts from the postage for them. Receipts from engagement ring. Chat logs / emails. Receipts / confirmations from fiance sending my mother flowers, or sending things to me that my friends have ordered from the States but cannot get shipped to NZ (on Amazon etc). Screenshots from Facebook showing photos I have uploaded of things he has sent me (did them from FB so that it was clear we are very obviously / publicy in a relationship). We have been apart the whole time we have been doing this process so we have no "ongoing" relationship photos of us together. Also some MS Paint drawings (silly things) we have done for each other. Um. Screenshot of my timeline on FB showing various things relating to us - the start of relationship, my trip to Seattle to first meet him, the engagement. I know this was all before we were separated so not really "ongoing" but the fact that it is all public I am hoping shows that we are still very much together and in a relationship etc. I showed the date in the bottom of my computer screen to show when they were taken. Also screenshots of both of our pages where it shows "Engaged to:" with the date also. Other screenshots from various places we have interacted around the internet. Some phone logs from fiance with his calls to me highlighted. That's about it, I know a lot of these won't be applicable to you since as you said most of your interactions are hard to track, being video calls and all haha, but I actually thought the same would be true of us, we are mostly in touch that way too, but I still managed to find quite a few things. Hopefully you can adapt some of those ideas to suit you! When is your interview?? I am so nervous / excited for mine tomorrow! After tomorrow if you need any help with anything re. the interview just send me a message, as I will have gone through it! (:

Thank you for the well-wishes you lovely people! I'm in Auckland now, at a net cafe atm, printed out a couple of things I had forgotten (not part of the evidence as such, but my little lists I made for myself for each section haha so I would remember what was in each). I'm pretty sure I have far more evidence than I will need so I'm pretty sorted but of course there are still the nerves! Interview tomorrow at 10am, eeeeeeeeeeeeeek! So excited and nervous. Won't leave for the US for a while after I get visa, as need to sell some of my things and just kind of tidy up my life here, but at least we will be ALLOWED to get married haha, and we can book flights and actually set dates and eeeee. So excited argh I better get it.

Thank you Andie, that's very kind! I think I am actually ok with finding places and getting there and you know, all that stuff at the moment though, but thank you! And yup I went to good old Warehouse Stationery and there were absolutely heaps of choices, found a smaller concertina file thing that is light-weight and perfect (:

Leaving for Auckland tomorrow, so excited and nervous right now putting the final things together argh! Not looking forward to the 8 hour bus trip each way though aha.

The sealed lip balm is a great idea, thank you! I mean I could deal without one if I had to but I'd rather have one less thing to be anxious about haha.

Yes I actually think I read kiwiana's medical review before my medical if I remember correctly!

Oh wow, it's interesting your sister picks too. The lipstick idea is good at the time, except is it dries / wears off during the day and I put more on etc it mucks my lips up even more and I am far more likely to pick again / worse later. Often lipstick just looks horrible anyway because of the damage I have done, it sucks. I love it but it's rare I get to wear it Thanks for the idea though!

Oh well, no drama about the bathroom, I am sure I can make it through like an hour or whatever it is haha. Coffee doesn't hit me straight away is all so I bet I won't need to go after drinking it and it will hit all of a sudden while I am sitting waiting at the consulate or something but never mind, I'm a big girl, I can hold it

The accordion file thing sounds good organisation-wise, I have one at home I use to help keep organised but I've already scribbled over all the tabs, plus it might be a bit big/bulky to carry one similar to the interview etc, especially since I am getting the bus to Auckland. Or are there like smaller versions I wonder? The one I am thinking of / that I have is quite a big thing, made of hard cardboard with a plastic handle and stuff. I wonder if you can buy one that like zips up or something and you unzip it and it expands. Or even still clips into place but isn't made of that rigid box-like cardboard mine is, so that it is less big and bulky. I'll go to a book shop tomorrow and see what is around anyway.

Slowly making it through all the stuff to sort, I almost hope they ask for some of it now as I think I thought of some quite good/clever things to include so I kind of WANT to explain them now, instead of letting all my hard work go to waste. I'll be all like "HERE TAKE IT TAKE IT ALL!". But they'd probably ask for specific / obvious things if anything, like you know, emails or phone logs or whatever, instead of all my awesome things I thought of, oh well.

I'm actually more excited than nervous I think. Looking forward to my few days in Auckland, I've never stayed in a hotel all by myself before, always with a friend or with fiance or whatever, don't think my best friend who lives there will be able to meet up with me, which is sad, but I am kind of seeing it as a little adventure, time to just chill by myself and wander round and eat out and laze in the hotel and well do whatever I want without feeling pressured to do other things, you know? Very excited (:

Hi Jamie! I sent my packet 3 in on the 2nd of this month, it was received at the consulate on the 4th, my interview appointment letter was also dated the 4th but I didn't receive it until the 10th (Easter weekend messed with the post I guess), and my interview is this coming Thursday (the 19th) - I was quite shocked at how close it was! But I guess I did receive the letter a bit late. Appears to be a pretty short turn around time anyhow at the moment just going from what happened with ours, hope that helps!

Edit: 'Packet 4' was only a letter stating my interview time. I guess because the previous instructions list covered everything to bring etc (:

Thank you so much cdneh! That detailed account you linked me to was awesome, and rather reassuring, thank you for hunting that down. You must have been feeling just like I did at the point that was written (as I see you were saying you had yours shortly after). This sounds like a really stupid thing, but they take your handbag off you - would I be allowed to just take a lip balm in with me, like just in my pocket or something? I have dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking, I know it sounds gross but it's a legit thing) focused on my lips, and I freak out if I don't have a lip balm on me at all times, especially if there will be a bit of waiting round and am scared I will start picking if I don't have one. I'm sure if I just take it out of my bag and ask can I take this in that will be fine yes? Also is there a bathroom you can use while waiting? I will probably have a coffee beforehand, that plus nerves plus potential waiting... haha. I suppose they probably think it's a security risk to let people go or something though.

I know vaguely where the building is - my hotel is not far from it which is good. Looked it up on Google maps - even though I lived in Auckland for a few years I never remember which streets are actually called what. But will look in more detail on street view etc closer to the time, and I am going a day earlier than I need to, so the day before my interview I will go for a wander and make sure I can find it to avoid any issues on the day, I am HORRIBLE with my sense of direction etc but I will make sure I find it beforehand.

Good to know the dress code isn't too formal. I will probably buy at least something new anyway haha just because I want an excuse and I will be in central freaking Auckland - I usually shop in HASTINGS -dies- so well why not haha, I have a full day before the interview!

Anyway, I am sitting on my floor right now with evidence surrounding me. Keep writing lists and scribbling them out and starting new ones re. how to organise it. I have kept tons of things since we have been apart, but now it is trying to piece them all together - for example a photo I took of things he sent me + the packing slip from the sending + the card that went with it - they are all part of the same package haha but hard to tell sometimes. And figuring out what dates things were from. I didn't keep things very organised in the year + we have been apart haha. Oh well, I know it will all come together, I trust it will be fine, slowly making progress.

Oh also in the account kiwiana gave she (she?) mentioned bringing some things to the interview that I already sent in (with the interview request form) - I assume since they were only sent like 2 weeks before my interview date I won't have to bring them with me to? Like the I-134 + evidence and things like that (which we JUST sent in, along with employer letters, pay slips, bank stuff etc). I am guessing the instructions were slightly different since it was a few years ago. I will bring originals of any kind of ID either of us have sent in at any point during the process (right back to the petition - fiance's original birth cert. etc etc), and copies of his forms from it, copy of our approval notice from it, copy of his extension request on it (which essentially acts as an updated letter of intent for us both, as it was stated not long ago we were both still fully invested in the process and what not and it was um, notarised I think the word is) and the approval email from that, and well basically copies / originals of anything I can think of that we have sent in so far (bar the last few things sent less than 2 weeks prior unless originals needed, but I sent in originals). This all on top of the 'evidence' stuff. So I'm pretty sure I am actually prepared, probably over prepared from accounts I have read, it's just organising it all in to a usable state haha.

So sorry to ramble, not really even a question, I think it just helps to get my thoughts out actually

Delayed post and you've obvs. already figured it out haha but I had so much grief with that one too! Didn't work on Chrome, tried copying it all out in Firefox, still didn't work, so ended up having to install IE just for that, in the meantime the installation shutting down the other browsers so I couldn't even copy it out from the other one. Oh well, got there in the end (:

Congrats guys!! Must be such a relief, almost at that stage now (although different visa)!

Hello all! I finally have my interview in Auckland for my K1 visa! A week today! Only got the letter a couple days ago due to a long weekend here so pretty short notice, rushing around trying to book transport and hotels and what not. I have all my evidence together, but I am just trying to figure out how to present it if that makes sense. Like, during the interview do you give it all to them and do they keep it? So therefore should I organise it in to sections, maybe with a kind of cover page, and notes describing what they represent etc? Or do I just present it at the interview, like talk about it there, then end up going home with it again? How I will put it all together kind of depends on that.

Also, what on EARTH did you all wear to your interview? I'm guessing it should be kind of formal. (I'm female if that helps.) I think I will go to Auckland a full day early so that I can have a look around the shops. If I even had ONE of the following I'm sure I could make something decent from the clothes I have - a nice simple pair of heels, a decent formal-ish skirt, or maybe like a fitted blazer or something. But I don't have any of them, I think shopping may be in order.

Eeeek I'm so excited but freaking out all at once. Any last minute words of wisdom? Or anyone interviewed at the Auckland consulate who has any little tips they noticed or anything? I mean I'm pretty sure I'm prepared but you know how it is. Wish fiance could come with me, but you know, being on the other side of the world that's not really plausible.

It's a bit ironic really, I love the heat, so probably the wrong place to go, but I love the feel of the place and it's so interesting so I can deal with the cold / rain. It's just so much more 'me' than NZ in so many ways. No need to be jealous if you will be heading that way soon too!

Ok so I'm from NZ not Aus, but YES IT IS SO WORTH IT! I am so excited, I've never been a huge fan of NZ anyway, it's just boring to me. I can't WAIT to move to and explore the States. I guess it's made easier by the fact that I don't really have an official 'profession' - I'm only 23 and have been doing odd jobs so far in my life, whereas fiance has a good stable job there. He would be more than willing to move here, but I went and visited him there (Seattle) and honestly I would much rather go there than him come here. I am so grateful to have fallen in love with the most amazing man in the world, and even though the process of being able to be together is long and hard, I am almost grateful that it worked out the way it did as it allows me to expand my horizons like I had always wanted to do but had never really done anything about. I am beyond excited and think it will be SO worth it!!

Congratulations rubyred!! That must be such a relief to be allowed to just 'be'! I am so happy for you!

I just booked my medical for a week today in Wellington. Apparently the x-ray place (at which I had to make a separate appointment) is just across the road, so hoping it should all go smoothly. We also got our request for an extension approved. I am very excited, I finally feel like we're getting close! I have my first lot of forms all packaged up ready to go - were going to be sent yesterday but I got to the Post Shop too late but they will be sent later today - then it's really only those last few little bits and pieces before I can sign saying I would like an interview date please! I know there's still a bit to do yet but it finally feels like things are starting to come together and I am feeling more positive and excited rather than stressed now (:

OH I just figured it out I think. Since you don't fill out / sign the bottom bit of 156-k until the interview (at which point obviously everything - forms, evidence, etc will have either been sent in or brought in on your person), that is when you can sign obviously because all those things are there and then THEY will put it together properly. Since you are not signing saying all the bits are there at the point you send it in, you are not going against what it says. That explains why it is in the first section to be sent immediately despite saying things that supposedly aren't needed until interview must be attached - it will all be there by the time it is signed etc. Have I solved my own mystery? Sorry for mucking you all around if so - I can be a bit slow sometimes lmao.