Mitexi

Congratulations! ^^

And I know what a very long journey that plane ride is from Australia. x_x But I can imagine how exciting it must be to be so close to finally being together again. =)

Messages can come through any time. Some have even reported coming through at 2am!

2 Am!? Oh no! Now I'll REALLY be jumping at every text message I get! xD

Congratulations! ^^

Do they normally send messages that late? Now I'm going to be anxious for even longer each day until I get mine. =P

Don't worry, I'm still waiting too. I'm sure we'll get them soon. =)

Ah. Well, congrats either way! ^^

I'm hoping mine isn't far behind.

And today we got it! NOA2 is ours! Hopefully another 6 weeks or so and we'll be together again!!!

Was that a result of calling the service center yesterday? Or was it just a coincidence?

Uhg, I got a text from a weird number and got all excited. But it was just some stupid advertisement spam! >_<

My fiance and I are looking for someone who could engrave running wolves on two wedding bands. Would a regular jewelry store be able to do this, or do we need to find a specialty place? Where do we even begin to look? Has anyone here used an engraver or could recommend where to go?

You're at 5 months and 3 days, give it another month. Some people get processed faster than others, unfortunately that is just how it works. The estimate on VJ is just that, an estimate. USCIS receives so many more applications than the ones we see timelines for on VJ. I was about a month beyond my estimate before I got approved. You will get your approval soon, hang in there.

Yeah, I know there's a lot more that goes on beyond VisaJourney, so I'm just trying to chill out and work on getting other stuff together while I wait. =) It's nice to know that I'm getting to the point where I could be approved at any time, but it's also making me really anxious every time I get a text message now, lol. I'm trying to relax, but I just can't seem to shake that "today could be the day!" feeling.

To everyone else waiting, I found it makes me feel better to keep working on other stuff that needs done. Just to keep your mind feeling like you're making some kind of progress. Like the other day I went and cleaned out the attic to make room for some of my fiance's stuff when he gets here. Doing little things like that (or not so little, since it took 8 hours...) make me feel a lot better even though they're not related to the visa process. It's still something that needs done and feels like I'm getting somewhere. =)

It figures things would slow down right as it gets to around the time my NOA2 is due. =/ It's also frustrating when you see a bunch of people with NOA1 dates after you getting their NOA2's. I mean I know they're not really going in actual strict order and they're just working from big piles, but it's still frustrating. It just looks like the list is moving ahead with later and later dates and making it seem like mine got lost or something. it makes me worry. I wish people would update their timelines so that I could at least see if anyone from earlier dates was still being processed and not just fallen inactive or something. *sigh*

I think the best thing to do is to just not watch the trends/timelines so closely. It makes everything go a lot slower and/or cause worry. According to my VJ timeline, "Based on timeline data, your I129f may be adjudicated between May 10, 2012 and May 13, 2012*." That hasn't happened. =/ I'm just trying to not watch the dates so much.

Thank you. I'd rather hear the possible problems now so that I can prepare for them. I'm hoping her taxes might get processed while I wait for NOA2 approval, or by the time of the interview stage. I can always send my fiance the W2, 1040, etc. to turn in when they ask for it, and then send him the transcript later to take to the interview with him in case they need it. Because that shouldn't be for another 2 months or so.

New development. She talked to the IRS people and they said my mom's transcript is unavailable because she owed in, and they haven't even started processing most of those yet. And it could still be a while.

If I send in a regular copy of the tax return (with W2, etc.) that we have from TurboTax, will that still count? Even though it's not apparently processed?

I asked and she said that my dad and her filed separately for 2011.

I went to order my tax return transcripts today so that I had them ready to go. I was able to order mine over the phone for 2011 without a problem. However, when my mom (co-sponsor) tried to order hers, it kept saying that the tax return for 2011 was unavailable. We tried the online order too, but it still says it's unavailable. What would be the reason for that? We had our taxes done at the same time and sent in back in February. She ended up owing in, but paid that a while ago too...

If I can't get her transcript, we have a copy of her tax return from TurboTax with the W2 and all that. I'm a little unsure though if she needs to send in things like Goodwill slips? Does that go with it?

A few weeks longer than expected won't be too much of a problem (other than the wait killing us), but he doesn't want to put off getting ready expecting it to take a lot longer than it really will, and then it ends up zooming by and he's not prepared. If it's happened in less than 2 months, we'd rather prepare for the soonest, just in case. ^^;

Does the medical and police check need to be done after you receive your case number and packet 3, or can he potentially get them done now and have them ready to go?

Ok, barring an RFE or extra delays, we should hopefully be getting our NOA2 soon. My fiance (beneficiary) is wondering what the time frame is between NOA2 and the interview/visa in hand from the Sydney consulate. Assuming he sent in the necessary documents as soon as possible after being asked for them, what would be a rough estimate of the waiting time for all of this? He's working a full time temporary job right now and is trying to figure out how long he should stay there before he really cracks down and starts getting his stuff ready for shipping, visiting relatives, etc.

Looking at some timelines, I figured it would be about two months or longer. For anyone who went through there recently, is that about right? Or was yours faster/longer than that? Even a "between X amount and X amount" would be helpful.

Okay, so for the financial support that's required, I have the following:

Me (Primary Sponsor):

- i-134

- 6 months worth of paystubs

- W-2, 1040, etc. for 2011

(I can't get a letter of employment because the place I work for has nothing with a company letterhead.)

Mother (Co-Sponsor):

- i-134

- letter of employment

- 6 months worth of paystubs

- W-2, 1040, etc. for 2011

Is this enough, or do I need more years of taxes? I'm hesitant to use more because I'm listed as a dependent on my mom's taxes before 2011 and I thought that might look bad... So are the 2011 taxes enough? My mom makes well over what is needed. Is 6 months worth of paystubs TOO much? I figured I'd give a lot of mine because I couldn't get the letter of employment.

Just thought I'd ask people who have been through Sydney and know what they're looking for.

Ah, that's good news to hear. =) I already have my tax stuff ready to go, so that won't be a problem. I guess I will include a note about the letter of employment as well. Thank you for the help! That does make me feel a little better now.

For the Letter of Employment, how important is it that it include a company letterhead? Because I asked my manager at work and they do not have any papers with a company letterhead on it to write this letter. Would it be okay if she wrote it on normal paper with all of the information listed, or is it worthless without the company letterhead? I can supply recent pay stubs and my tax information, but this letter is giving me issues.

Alright, thank you both. We will check with the proper places and try to get some answers.

If he wants to change his name prior to US immigration he should do it at home and then change his passport, etc. to reflect his new (old) legal name.

This is what he wants to do, but we're just concerned if this will screw up the process at all. Like if he shows up to his interview with a different name, would that mess things up even if he had the name change documents and the changed passport? Or would it be okay since that name is listed in the "other names used" section? We don't want this to add a bunch of delays or unnecessary hassle, so we're just wondering exactly how much this would affect things.

I agree with everyone else. Don't use a lawyer unless you have a complicated situation. I felt the same as you when I first decided to do this. Everything seemed really overwhelming and confusing and I thought there was no way I could do it myself. But if you read through all of the information on this forum and break everything you need to do down into steps and parts, it's much easier to handle. It can be a bit stressful, wondering and worrying if you have all of your stuff correct, but the people here are always willing to answer your questions and try to help you out. =) Lawyers are expensive, and I've read a lot of cases where the lawyer screws things up. So I think you're better off doing it yourself, where you know exactly what you're writing/sending out, and when.

His biological father's name was his birth name, but it was changed to his step father's name later. And it states at the bottom of his current birth certificate: "previously known as (biological father's last name)"

His biological father's name *was* included in the "other names used" section on the petition.

Okay, so I have an odd situation. My fiance in Australia is wanting to change his last name, and we're unsure of the best time he should do this. We've already started the K-1 and should be pretty close to NOA2 at this point. Could he get his name changed before the interview stage and then bring all relevant forms documenting the name change? Or does that screw everything up? And if it does, when is the best possible time to get the name change?

He'd like to change his name back to his biological father's name (as he currently has his step father's name, but started out with the other), and some of his relatives are taking interest, especially now that he is getting married. We don't want to wait till the naturalization process if possible, because that's years away. We'd like to get this taken care of as soon as we can.

@ Anh map: Darn, I was hoping I wouldn't need the letter and pay stubs for myself since it's my mom who is the main money-maker they'll be looking at. Ah well, at least I can get a correct answer for #7 then, like you said. I'd rather my manager attempt to calculate it than myself anyway. ^^; As for Aussie info, I have talked to a few people on here who went through there. From what I can tell they're not too picky. But better safe than sorry. I'll keep checking out the forum.

@ Jay-Kay: Right. Thank you. =)