ArranNZ

I sent a scanned copy from my fiancee with the affidavit and it was accepted. That said, this was at the consulate in Australia and it could possibly vary from country to country. Maybe scan it to speed things along, but then also mail the original just in case it is requested later?

I'm a bit hesitant to make my advice sound TOO authoritative, since my experience might not be universal.

Thanks for the advice Barbara, I'll get on to that as soon as humanly possible!

Where is your interview? I don't think they'd be that strict about it. You could tell them she sent in the original, and you have a photocopy. I think that'll be fine - I wouldn't worry about it anyway.

It'll be in Sydney; I gather from reading around here that the Sydney consulate is relatively easygoing. I think what I will do is send in the copy I mentioned, but also get Jane to send me a fresh letter whenever she can just in case...that way I'd have a new one to present at the actual interview if required.

I do have a copy of that original confirmation letter, however it is just that...a copy. No pen signature. It's from within the last six months. Would that be enough (in concert with the recent payslips from the same employer), or is a fresh letter (with pen signature) 100% necessary?

Apologies if this has been done to death already; I did search the forums and found advice seemed to differ based on the couple's situation.

I finally have everything I need to send in Pkt 3 (minus medical report due to difficulty getting an appointment; the consulate advised I could send everything else in without it - it is currently scheduled for Nov 2), however I'm not 100% on what NEEDS to be sent as supporting documents for the I-134 affidavit. My fiancee has been employed at the same company for 20 years, and did send an official letter stating her employment with the 129-F petition. She earns $42k a year and has no debts aside from paying off a car. She has sent me some recent payslips (I do have some already, but they're a few months old now so better safe than sorry) so that's fine, but my question is this: Is another official letter from her employer absolutely required for me to send with the I-134?

I would have guessed that her employment details are already on record due to the petition, and if I just sent payslips, would that be enough given that she's still working at the same place? It seems to me like that would be sufficient proof of continued employment with the same company, but I seldom want to assume anything when it comes to something this important.

Hey now don't be like that LOL Oz is my home. Ah yeah cause when you send in packet 4 with all your stuffff you have to supply a 3kg platinum envelope which is what they send your sealed envelope in and your passport with visa inside. And I take it your address is only temporary till you get visa and leave yes? As long as you give them a mailing address to send you papers to and someone can sign for it. Your address in OZ is not the issue really it's when you move here in the US you need to do change of address form.

As a New Zealander, even one who has lived quite happily in Australia for several years, I am legally required to slag off this place!

Yeah, the new place is just temporary for me (all going well, fingers crossed etc). I've been living with a friend in a three-bedroom house ever since I got in the country, and because I'll hopefully be out of here relatively soon she wanted to get a smaller, cheaper place. So I'll be living there for a while, but the current address is the one on ALL the paperwork.

No I would not worry to much about it as you are the beneficiary yes? Aussie? Your American fiance will get packet 3 by email usually and then forward on to you and then when you have it all together and send it in as long as you have an address for them to send your interview info to then you will be ok. Not sure about a PO box for your visa darl as immigration normally like a home address as someone has to sign for your envelope which is big with passport inside.

Packet 3 has already been received; in general getting stuff by mail isn't an issue anyway because I authorised them to contact me via email (eg; after mailing in the D-230 form I was immediately emailed with instructions on how to get police records from New Zealand). Good to know about getting the visa itself sent though; I didn't actually realise I'd have to sign for it...though I guess that makes sense, since the contents are quite important! I assume they wouldn't have a problem sending it to an address different to the one on my application?

I'm actually from NZ originally, hence my eagerness to get out of Australia.

JOKES

Maybe.

Currently assembling everything for Packet 3 (waiting on police certificate and medical appointment), and my address is going to change very soon. Now, in terms of stuff being mailed (if necessary) this is not an issue, as mail to me at the current address has been redirected to a PO box for a while now anyway. But I do have a couple of questions, and I hope someone who's been through something similar might be able to provide some advice or an opinion:

1. Is it actually necessary that I inform the consulate of my address change (bearing in mind that mail is not an issue), and if so, is it difficult?

2. Would that then create an issue in that all my paperwork (including police certificate) will be marked with the old address? Of course, the old address would have been correct at the time everything was gathered.

Novemeber 2nd is far away!! i hope i dont have to wait that long i havent seen my hubby since December 9th 2010!!!

Im now staying in sydney till the interveiw , my family lives here ..and the tickets from sydney to USA are cheapper too!

also i got my medical done in sydney and it only took 2 working days to get back so sydney is the best place , it costed $420 cause i never had vaccination records but they give the needles u are required by your age.

Good luck! Good to know that the medical results don't take long. I did get confirmation from the consulate that since there was no doctor in my immediate area that I could send Pkt 3 without the results and still get an interview date. I only just had my fingerprints done so I'll have to wait on that before I can send anything anyway.

They also told me that interviews are only done on Tuesday mornings, so I'll just be scheduled for the first available slot once I send the other stuff in. Did not know that.

In regards to getting priority due to your expiry date, I have recently found from clicking around here and other sites that it's apparently not a big deal for them to extend the four-month thing. As long as you got everything in on time, you should be fine. I think!

Well, I called Sydney and my appointment isn't until November 2. Long time to wait, but even if I'm to assume the clock runs out at the end of November (given that July 30 date listed in Pkt 3), that should still give it enough time. I gather results don't take TOO long to go out, and worse comes to worse I guess I could see about getting an extension given the circumstances.

Sucks having to sit around drumming my fingers for that long, mind you.

Form for police report from New Zealand was sent to the consulate a week ago (for an NZ report you give the consulate authority to get it rather than getting it yourself). Appointment for fingerprint check for Australian police report is on Monday - I organised that a while ago, and couldn't get an appointment for two weeks. Lot of people getting reports done in Canberra, I guess.

And yup, Dr Millar is definitely gone. A bit of Googling found this:

http://panelphysicians.org/default.aspx?tabid=10000050

Thanks Barbara, I'm probably just worrying too much, but a few reassuring words from people who have been through the process are a big help!

Well, five to six hours of driving to Melbourne might still be preferable to waiting for weeks to get in to the place in Sydney. I'm happy to keep it as an option just in case - I have family in Melbourne anyway.

Thanks for your reply. Melbourne seems a little bit far, but I guess that could probably be an option if it turns out I can't see Dr Waks for ages. Having to wait a few weeks is no big deal, I'm just crossing my fingers it's not much longer than that.

It bugs me a little that I can't just get everything done at any old doctor, but the process is what the process is. I'm just a worrier.

Hello all - while this is my first post here, I just wanted to say for starters that this website has been a great resource for my fiancee and I as we go through this process. I'm a New Zealander living in Australia, and Jane is in Chicago. We're actually quite far along with the K1 process; the initial petition was filed around May and was approved barely two months later (!!). However, even this far along, a couple of concerns have cropped up.

While we didn't receive Pkt 3 until near the end of August, the "priority date" listed is July 30. I was actually in Chicago visiting Jane when this arrived, so it was a couple of weeks before I could get on to gathering some of the things I need (a bit difficult to organise police certificates etc from another country). I needed my mum to send over my baby book (for vaccination records) and birth certificate from NZ before I could see about organising my medical examination, and only received that yesterday. So I ring the doctor listed in Canberra (where I live currently) to organise the examination, only to find that Dr Lee doesn't do that any more. I have no big problem going to Sydney for it, but I've also found out that Dr Millar has retired, leaving me only Dr Waks. So I called up that clinic today only to find...Dr Waks is on leave for several weeks. They said they'd call me back if they found there were any alternatives, but that was many hours ago now and I'm assuming I'll just have to bite the bullet and get an appointment with Dr Waks whenever I can.

I don't REALLY mind waiting a bit to get the examination done in theory, but isn't there a four-month clock on getting everything together? Did this clock start ticking on July 30, even though we didn't receive Pkt 3 until weeks after? My concern is that I won't be able to get an appointment with Dr Waks for some time, there's no alternatives to him, and given that nearly two months have passed since the priority date, that there's at least a slight possibility that time could run out.

I'm probably just worrying too much, but it seems a bit rough that there's only ONE doctor in the ACT and Sydney areas that can do the examination, and he's on leave. I feel like the clock is ticking and I've screwed up a bit by not organising the medical earlier.