JeeplessInSeattle

We just brought my fiance over through his Port of Entry (from Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, WA) on Saturday and it was unbelievable how smoothly it went. I was with him (I helped him pack and move) for his entry interview. They pretty much just breezed through his packet, asked a few questions related to forms they still had to fill out, printed him, and then joked around with us. I think it helped that I was a former police officer because once they found that out, we ended up having conversations about police work, the training of rookies (which I related to since I was a field training officer who trained rookie cops) and use of K9's in law enforcement (which I also used to do). So perhaps that connection is what made things go so smoothly--I am just guessing.

We were completely exhausted and in intense physical pain from the move (both my fiance and I are disabled due to work related back injuries) but we knew we faced the inspection with U.S. Customs once our ferry arrived in the states (in Port Angeles, WA). My fiance was up ahead of me and driving the big U-haul while I was driving his vehicle (which we knew we needed to import). As I exited the ferry and drove up to customs, I didn't see the U-haul anywhere! I fully expected that they would be opening it up and examining everything and that we might be there for a few hours. We were very careful to NOT bring over any fruit, vegetables, alcohol, or plants in soil and we had made a VERY detailed inventory list of every boxed item that we were hauling. But here's how my fiance's entry went:

U.S. Customs Officer: "What is your citizenship or reason for entering the country?"

Fiance: "I'm a Canadian citizen, I've been approved for my K1 visa, and I am moving my belongings into the states."

U.S. Customs Officer: "What do you have in the U-haul? Is it just personal household items?"

Fiance: "Yes."

U.S. Customs Officer: "OK, go on through, have a good night."

Fiance: "Wait a minute! My fiance is behind me and is driving my Ford Explorer. They said we need to import it?"

U.S. Customes Officer: "Oh, well she can pull over and come into the office over there and fill out the paper work."

Needless to say, we were amused that my fiance was WAVED THROUGH and that I (the American citizen) WAS THE ONE who got pulled over into the U.S. Customs office! But after giving them my driver's license and filling out a form, we were on our way. It was beyond anything we expected--even easier than the times we've been grilled coming across the border on visits or the time we transported a "suspicious farmer sausage" that resulted in an hour-long delay and meeting with an agriculture officer to get it approved.

The icing on the cake was that the same day that my fiance got moved into our new home was the same day that my team, the San Francisco Giants (baseball) won the World Series. We truly have been blessed and we look forward to our upcoming wedding, set for Friday November 30th. I just want to encourage those out there who are on their own visa journey to HAVE HOPE! Good things DO come to those who wait!!

So, today was the big day. My fiance went into his K1 interview this morning (in Vancouver) at around 10:00 a.m. I spent the next hour putzing around, running meaningless errands. I've been working on making wedding plans but NOT making firm wedding plans. You know, the type of "wedding plans" where you tell friends and family to "save the date, but don't buy your plane ticket yet", where you reserve the pastor for the ceremony but add "I'll let you know when we know if it's a go," and where you put a TOTALLY REFUNDABLE security deposit down on a wedding venue just in case immigration denies the K1 visa and crushes your dreams. Well, included in the wedding plans was that I had not yet decided on two songs...the romantic song where I will walk down the isle (I'm the bride-to-be in this story, BTW) and then a FUN song at the end after the pastor announces us as husband and wife.

So, today while my fiance was in his K1 interview I was running a meaningless errand at the grocery store when I heard THE PERFECT song being played in the store. It's a song that I now know we will play after the pastor annouces us as husband and wife....it's "LOVE SHACK" by the B52s!! I was jazzed when I got home (about finding a song for the wedding) and looked it up on the Internet. After listening to it, I began researching other wedding songs and stumbled across THE PERFECT song that I want my friend to sing during the most important part of our wedding...when I come down the isle. It is called "You For Me - The Wedding Song" by Johnny Gill (you can find it on YouTube). So I was listening to that beautiful song, and JUST as the song was ending and as the notes were trailing off (and I was envisioning that I would be at the alter, standing next to my Johnny), I received a text. I opened it to read the following text from Johnny: "WE DID IT BABE - I'VE BEEN APPROVED!"

At that very moment, I realized how God blessed me with three things: the PERFECT song I had been looking for, the husband I have been waiting all my life for (I'm 52 and have never been married as I've truly waited for God's best for my life), and the confirmation that this marriage IS God's will.

Afterwards, Johnny told me about his experience. Although he was there for about an hour, most of the time was spent with them looking through his paperwork to make sure it was all in order and then giving him instructions on what his next steps were to be. They only asked him a few questions about our relationship. It was quick and painless and we didn't face any of the hurdles that we were afraid we might. So now we will move forward into the next aspects of our journey...moving him to Seattle, getting married, and then filing more paperwork and paying for fees.

Life is too short to NOT play "LOVE SHACK" at your wedding!!!

Thanks so much for the replies. It sounds like we should be fine then. I already have medical insurance that will cover him, so I think I'll give him documenation / proof of that for him to have with him in the interview.

WHEW!!

My fiance is now scheduled for his consulate interview. There's been a looming question that I have just not wanted to ask but I suppose it would be better to know before our interview. My fiance was a realtor for 21 years but in the housing crash, he lost his career, his home, his family...everything. Then he went into home renovations, fell, was severely injured and had surgery but has not recovered. He is living on Canadian provencial disability. He will be immigrating here (Seattle) and his "work" will be to use his marketing / sales skills and experience to help build / market my business (I'm a public speaker / consultant / published author). My salary will support us ($58,000 yr), I've filled out the Affidavit of Support, and I've supplied him with my last 3 years of tax records.

So here's my question: Will the fact that he's disabled automatically mean they won't give him a visa? We have no plans or need for him to collect disability here, but will they deny him because he collected it in Canada (i.e. will they consider him a risk and deny because of that)? Or, is the fact that I sign the Affidavit of Support sufficient for an approval. I read somewhere about geting financial sponsors - do I line someone up now and have the documentation with my fiance for his interview, or wait to see if in the interview they tell my fiance that we need a financial sponsor?

OK, so here's the scoop. I suspect that when we went to the website and created our account we set it up with a wrong trip purpose because our trip purpose was listed as "All Other Visa Types (Go to port of entry)" and we later were advised that our trip purpose SHOULD have read "Permanently Immigrate to the United States (Fiance - K1/K2)". So that mistake that we made somewhere in setting up the account would NOT allow us to change the account or get to the place where we could make our payment.

We were given an email address (I believe this was in my fiance's letter) to send in a question so I did that. The email address was Vancouverk@state.gov. I was skeptical that I would hear from them anytime soon but I sent my email last night and they answered me this morning! They immediately said, "The system shouldn't prompt you to enter the DS-160 confirmation number if you select the proper trip purpose and visa type, as show below"

TRIP PURPOSE PERMANENTLY IMMIGRATE TO THE UNITED STATES (FIANCE - K1/K2)

APPOINTMENT TYPE FIANCE

They gave instructions on how we were to go back into our account and I did that but it still didn't help get us out of our trip purpose black hole (because I couldn't edit the trip purpose). But the email they sent included telephone numbers that we could call for help (I called a US number of 703-439-2319).

I called that number and immediately the automated message gave me an option to pay the $240 and get my fiance's MRV#. PA CHING!!! I jumped at the chance and paid via phone with my credit card and got a payment confirmation number. Then it gave me the option to speak to a human being to ask a question, so I jumped at that chance.

I was surprised that I got someone on the phone right away. When I explained to the gal our circumstance and asked if we needed to fill out the DS-160 she told us that we did. Then I told that conflicted with what my fiance's letter said and what the Vancouver K Visa email people had said. She then started saying something about my needing to call the National Visa Center (and gave me a phone number of 603-334-0700) to schedule our interview and at that point, I think she could tell I was ready to cry. And then, out of the blue, she goes, "Mam, would you like if I were to schedule your appointment right now?"

Ba da bing, ba da bang, ba da boom! Just like that. We're scheduled for an October 1st interview. Whooo hooo!!!!

Sorry...I guess I should clarify. He (fiance) lives in Victoria, BC and his consulate meeting will be in Vancouver. So...I see on the link you gave for the Montreal instructions THEY require the DS-160, but does Vancouver also require the 156, 156K, AND the 160? Because my fiance swears it does not say that on his paperwork. And, well, I guess since he is going to be my husband I am supposed to TRUST HIM!!

More info on my question...we read instructions to "follow instructions to select Trip Purpose" but we can't find those instructions or anything that indicates "Trip Purpose". There is no link provided and nothing that seems to be clearly directing us to find where and how we can make our payment. Thanks!

So....we (my Canadian fiance) and I have managed to journey all the way up through his medical but we hit a snag last night. My finance already filled out fors (I believe he said both the 156 and 156K) forms and received a letter that sent us to a web site in order to pay the fees that will enable him to schedule his final interview. TA DAHHHH...you'd think it would be simple, right? NoooooOOOOOoooo!!! Let me just say, without getting into all the details of how we spent 2 1/2 hours (via Skype) only to discover that I think we GOT LOST on that web site. We ended up working on filling out an on-line form for DS-160 which took us to a point where it asked us to download his digital profile picture. Um. He already had his photographs taken in a studio but they are physical photographs printed on photo paper that he was instructed to hand in person to whoever interviews him. And his paperwork did NOT say anything about us needing to fill out a DS-160...but some how that's where the links took us.

So....can anyone (a) confirm that my fiance does NOT need to fill out the DS-160 (since he's already completed the DS-156 and DS-156K) and (b) give me the exact link or exact instructions for how we can go to the web site page where we can pay his fee in order for him to set up his appointment? We've come this far....any help would be soooo appreciated!!

Jeepless

Is it uncommon to go a few days past the predicted adjudication date without hearing anything on a NAO2 determination? We filed back in January and my timeline says that my I129f "may be adjudicated between June 2, 2012 and June 5, 2012." June 5th (and my BIRTHDAY) just passed and so I'm wondering if I should call the USCIS on Monday to inquire? Or are they running a bit late? If I call, do I call the customer service number listed on their web site, or do I call the California Service Center directly? Any advice would be appreciated!

This question has been asked quite a lot. Using the search bar in the corner here are other threads

Thanks Inky for the links. But I'm not clear on the search bar in the corner. I just used the only search bar that I could find on this page (upper right corner - it says "Google Custom Search") and it takes me to useless links on the Internet but not the links you shared within VisaJourney. Is there another search bar that I'm missing???

I checked the status on my case and see we've been issued an OMB control number? What is that?

I'm an American (I'm waiting for my Canadian fiance to make his visa journey so we can marry and live here) and I'm sitting here watching one of the DUMBEST TV shows ever made (why....I do not know...I have NO excuse!!). It is called "FINDING BIGFOOT" (Discovery network) and features a camera crew that follows around some disillusioned Americans who believe they are on the trail of Sasquatch / Big Foot. Now, if you're from another country and don't understand what I mean by "Sasquatch / Big Foot", you have so much to look forward to when you finally get to America! It is basically a giant, unbathed ape/man thing with massive feet that people claim to capture fuzzy pictures of but can never really find. Florida supposedly has one deep in their swamps and they call it "Skunk Ape".

So I'm curious. Is "FINDING BIG FOOT" the stupidest TV show ever, or have you seen worse? Feel free to share your countries most cheesiest TV moments! (And hey, if YOUR country has a Sasquaatch / Big Foot, then let please let us know! Maybe you can have it apply for a visa and we'll see how long THAT immigration processing time takes!)

I find the whole process for a developed country a complete communication nightmare from the lack of comms, to the bad indication of timeframes and the apparent poor connections between USCIS and NVC. Trying to keep positive and I will keep you updated on the journey folks! My daughter is now 13 months old, thank heavens for Skype!

I don't know whether this is true or not, but I heard that the process of immigration became much more complicated, difficult, and as slow as molassas in the states after the tragedy of September 11, 2001 (meaning there was outrage that the terrorists had such an easy time getting into the USA). I would imagine that budget cuts and the recession likely mean there are fewer and fewer USCIS and NVC employees to review cases. And I'm sure there are other excuses out there (for why the process takes months and months).

Hang in there...we feel your pain....you are NOT alone!

Got it! THANK YOU BOTH!

This is a petty question, I know, but I am curious.

I uploaded my profiel photo and I see it when I log into the site and when I go into my profile thingy, but whenever I have posted it does not show my photo. And many other people are photoless. I played with settings and couldn't find anything to change it. Can someone direct me on what to do to make my profile photo visible? Or is it just invisible to ME?

We filed our I-129f the first week of January. I am thinking that by the time we're finally approved (which hopefully will happen BEFORE I TURN SIXTY!!) I might actually know what AOS stands for, what "biometrics" are, and what all the other Visa slang words actually mean.

I LOVE THIS SITE!! You guys who volunteer your time to share your knowledge/experience make this whole process somewhat bearable for us newbies!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

THANK YOU everyone for your responses! This information (esecially the link to the age-specific list) has been a tremendous help!

My fiance (Canadian) has no records of childhood vaccinations. Apparently his mother took him to clinics for his childhood shots (they did not have a family doctor) and never kept the records. He did some research and found out that once those clincis switched from paper filing systems over to computers (yes...we ARE an "older" couple..my finace just turned 50) that they didn't enter them into computers but apparently destroyed them. So his vaccination records no longer exist.

Does anyone else have this experience of having ZERO proof of vaccinations when they arrive for their medical and can you tell us what we can expect? Or, is there anything else that my finace can or should do? Thanks!

I also have a question about the police certificates for K1 visas. The instructions I read at one point indicated that my Canadian fiance (applying for K1 to move here to the states) would need to get police certificates from every city where he lived since he was 16 (if I remember right). Since he just turned 50 and has bounced around from B.C. to Alberta in his lifetime, that would translate to about 10 different cities he'd need to get certificates from. He asked me if he could instead just get a clearance from the RCMP instead. My guess is that would be too easy (something I have yet to experience with the government). Can anyone clarify this for me?

There are plenty of foreign owned companies in the US so I doubt it would be a problem.

Is there any reason you wouldn't just naturalize before moving back to Canada? Being a Dual Citizen would assure you no problems crossing the border.

Actually, I've already applied for my Canadian citizenship (my Dad was Canadian so technically I am Canadian but I need to apply for it) so I should have dual citizenship before we prepare to move to Canada.

I guess I just assumed there'd be problems, red tape, headaches, and loads of paperwork related to having a business in one country and residing in another. Hmmmm...not sure just WHY I feared that...maybe it was based on what I've experienced so far with the K1 visa application process!

OK, so I don't even know which forum this question belongs under but here goes. I'm an American engaged to a Canadian (we both live near the border--he in Victoria, BC and myself in Seattle, WA). We've filed our I-129 and we're on our merry little Visa Journey but we have questions about residency. Our ultimate desire is to reside in Canada within the next 5 to 10 years. However, we're working to launch a corporation (training dogs/humans in North American and abroad). While our work will be international, the corporation will likely be USA-based and we will have employees (U.S. citizens living in Seattle, WA) who we can manage while we live in Canada.

Is it legal to establish residency in Canada (5 or 10 years from now) while owning/managing a USA-based business? My guess is you can't establish residency in two countries at the same time, right? (and I haven't quite figured out how to BE in two places at the same time either, although sometimes I TRY!!)

Any suggesions on what we need to do and/or how to reseach this? Is this an immigration attorney's area of expertise?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Not only can he not get Canadian benefits after he moves, he can not get any kind of US disability either, it falls under the public charge clause.

It would be up to you to have really good health insurance to pay for his expenses. Since you say you make enough for the financial contract, you shouldn't have any other problems.

That is pretty much what I figured (that he won't qualify for disability income from Canada and that he can't apply for it in the US) but I wanted it confirmed, so thank you! And yes, my income is not only sufficient but we also are working to launch a corporation together, which will allow him to work from our home to help run the business and handle all the marketing (his background).

My health insurance is decent and will cover us both while we live here in the states. I believe I read somewhere that we will just need to continue to pay for that policy for the three to six months while we live in BC, so I think we will be fine. Thanks again!!

My fiance and I plan to form a business once we're married. We expect to remain here in the US (I'm American) while we start the business, but in three to five years we hope to move to Victoria BC (he is Canadian). We would initially like to do business in both the US and Canada (actually, we've already been asked to offer our training in Australia and China, so likely we'll be all over the map).

So the question is can we start a business in the US and then move our business to Canada? We plan to incorporate...is there something special we need to do to make this an international corporation?

No, Canadian public health insurance is only available to permanent residents of Canada, regardless of their citizenship. If he moves to the USA on a visa he ceases to be a permanent resident, and it takes 3-6 months to re-establish permanent residency if he moves back.

Thanks!