sk8rpatty

October 2022 filer here!  Haven't been on VJ in years.  No interview scheduled yet.

Yay!! We got ours today too! Feb 19th.

"is this person I am going to marry worth everything I own in the case he or she leaves me after only a few months'? If you can't answer yes to that question then perhaps marriage is not the relationship you want"
This is a ridiculous statement, well for anyone with common sense. Especially in a relationship that developed long distance. How can you possibly know someone well enough to not protect yourself?
I was very much in love with my ex when I married him. We were very happily married for over 10 years. 12 years in he developed a gambling addiction and put us in a lot of debt over the next 3 years. When we divorced I had to cover half of the debt HE created and he walked away with half of everything I owned, including a large chunk of my 401K.
Am I more careful this time around?? You bet.

I don't believe it is your intention, but this came off extremely judgmental. There is no way to predict the future. Divorce does happen. Not always, but it does often. Some people choose to be more prepared IF it come to that. Signing or not signing a prenup is not a sign that people are not ready for marriage. If anything, the discussion around it demonstrates an understanding of the complexity of the LEGAL bond about to be entered. Marriage is just as much legal as it is symbolic or religious.
I know I've discussed it because I don't want to burden my fiance with MY debt. He was not there for it, had no say in its accumulation, and it's not his responsibility. Whether we do one or not is still undecided.

1 Year Later....
I was just thinking about how different things were 1 year ago. 5/11 was that horrible day that we learned Jordan could not enter the US and we had to cancel our plans for spending the summer together. 5/17 was the day I sent the K-1 package. I did it in 6 days...6 days of crying, stress, research, more crying, more research, discovering Visa Journey...lots more research, lots more crying after reading timelines, Igor's, etc. Then the sense of accomplishment turning to a sense of dread after reading all the things I might have screwed up. Ugh. Now I can sit back and smile that it's all behind us now.
Hope everyone is enjoying their lives TOGETHER with the one we waited for. Jordan is taking his driver's test today. He said his last step to becoming official. lol Hope he passes, he's only been driving for more than 35 years.
Things are going great for us, hope the same for everyone who supported me here!

Finally!! Our EAD & AP Cases exists. Today's updates...
EAD - On March 28, 2013, we ordered production of your new card
AP - On March 28, 2013, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I131 APPLICATION FOR USCIS TRAVEL DOCUMENT

This morning both showed, "not found"

Today is the day!!
It was almost 7 months ago when Jordan was told he could no longer visit the US, because he was engaged and the first day we learned what a K-1 visa was. We had no clue. Those were some dark days. Then we discovered Visa Journey and started on the path. Now here we are today....
At this moment he's probably standing in the same area at the Vancouver airport with a K-1 Visa in his hand ready to come home!!
He'll be arriving at the OC Airport this afternoon!!!
Keep the faith everyone...your day will come, I promise!

Great post Celeste!
My guy is on his way today too, so it helped me to read it!
Congrats tintin!! I know EXACLY how you feel!

Let's hear those corks pop!
I'll join you with a glass! Just because... well, because I can! I'm celebrating my EAD/AP... there 'ya go!
Cheers, ladies!

Tintin... breathe
I'm afraid this is COMPLETELY out of your control.
You can't control the airline boarding times
You can't control flight delays
You can't control on-air flight times
You can't control CBP
You can't control TSA
You can't control the urge Mike may have to stop at the restroom
Do not stress over things you CAN'T control!
This is out of your hands. He's on his way and things will pan out. The important thing is that HE IS ON HIS WAY TO YOU...... I repeat, HE IS ON HIS WAY TO YOU!
What's the worse that can happen? He misses the connection? The airline will put him on a different flight.
BREATHE IN - BREATHE OUT
[EDIT: Post moved to Progress Reports]

As others have said, it depends on what they wrote up when they turned you away. My fiance had to sign a "Withdrawal of Application for Admission" when he tried to visit (no intent to get married, just not enough ties to Canada for him) We just got approved for our K-1 Visa on Monday. The incident did come up in the interview but we were told "it's no big deal, happens all the time" and then he told us we were approved. We were so worried it was going to be an issue, but it wasn't.
Hopefully that is all you had and not a "denial for misrepresentation"

Thanks everyone!
I go back home today and have a VERY short wait for him to arrive.

Omer1 I am getting really fed up with your selfishness. You have no regard, concern or respect about anyone else's roller-coaster of emotions or what they are going through.
This May 2012 thread is to help people and what they are going through. This thread is a like a relationship itself, we are here for each other as others are here for us.
You (Sir) are completely selfish and have had not replied ONCE to anyone else's thread or concerns. Its all about you, you.....you.
We have helped you more than enough, we have answered your questions. How about giving your time up to support someone else rather than wait for people to help you all the time huh?
Rant over.

Umm, you might want to tell her to get on this site and learn something. What is unfair is her accusing you of this. Sorry.
That being said, know that we all have our moments of frustration and this process can bring out the worst in us as we wait. Take a deep breath and pray that you are next. The May approvals seem to be pouring in now so yours should be very soon! Hang in there!

Congratulations!!
Whew!
Congratulations

Dude, you don't need to keep posting back-to-back like that. This isn't an instant messaging program, it's a messageboard forum. If you need to post more within a few minutes, use the edit function under your post instead of continuing to make new posts. Your NOA2 will happen when it happens, spewing posts in here won't make it go any faster. Look at me: September was when I got notice of a RFE. It took them over three weeks to get around to realizing they sent it to my physical address after I corrected them three times about the correct mailing address. They got my response to the RFE on the 12th. I'm still waiting for them to do something with it. Instead of obsessively freaking out and posting every single day that nothing happens, I'm waiting, biding my time, and making plans for both my fiancee's visit at the end of the year if he's not yet approved, and for me to go be with her at the interview when we eventually have it.
Take a couple of deep breaths, calm down, and relax. Make your plans for the future, once the waiting is done. It'll happen soon enough and you'll be just fine.

Omer, seriously, you need to stop creating topics.

You are in the progress report forum. This is where people, you know, post their progress. Simply ignore it if you don't like it, but everyone has the right to celebrate when they get their petition approved or have their visa granted. Everyone here is after the same goal.

I'm already making a honey-do list! It's so hard being alone and working full time. I can never get anything done around the house. He said he's looking forward to being able to help me.
He also has a boat here that needs a lot of maintainence since he hasn't been allowed to vacation here since last year. This will keep him very busy.
Maybe the guys could buy an old car that needs a lot of work and they can make it a hobby to fix it up? It will keep them busy and then they'll have transportation at the end of it.
Home improvement projects such as painting, etc. This will help them feel that they have contributed to the home.

I'm already making a honey-do list! It's so hard being alone and working full time. I can never get anything done around the house. He said he's looking forward to being able to help me.
He also has a boat here that needs a lot of maintainence since he hasn't been allowed to vacation here since last year. This will keep him very busy.
Maybe the guys could buy an old car that needs a lot of work and they can make it a hobby to fix it up? It will keep them busy and then they'll have transportation at the end of it.
Home improvement projects such as painting, etc. This will help them feel that they have contributed to the home.

I think it is all a matter of perspective and attitude. I have lived both in England and Australia and I have lived through all the experiences you mention. First and foremost, I have met many Australians that could not find Kansas on a US map, others could find Steamboat Springs with their eyes closed, equally to many Americans who could tell you the difference between a Perth accent to that of Sydney. I found out that for many Britons, putting America down is a past-time, but I have seen the same level of white-trashness and lack of education in the MIdlands and other regions as one sees here in the boondocks. I also saw similar behavior in rural Australia. I have found out they criticize in America those things that are also present in their countries. Somehow they found solace in finding objectionable behavior in a country other than their own. Perhaps the bottom line is they are unaware there is more to the US, GB and AU other than N.York, LA, London, Glasgow, Sydney, Cairns or Perth. There are entire populations in between, made up of all kinds of people from all socioeconomic layers.
In both countries, almost everyone I met remarked on my accent and commented on certain choices of words I made, as an indication of my provenance. My interest in foreign languages only made it all the more exciting to me to learn the differences in lexicon and speech in three countries that began with the same kind of population and lexicon. I found it fascinating and never stopped creating parallel sets of vocabulary which to use when I go back and visit these countries. If I have any intention of enjoying my experiences there, the least I can do is communicate in a manner they can understand. It would be exceedingly presumptuous for me to expect them to accommodate to me, always. Knowledge occupies no space, so there is no reason to resist acquiring new intelligence for reasons that are jingoist at best.
As each country is different, so must be the frame of mind of any immigrant. For me, I had the option to stay in America and have it my way, all the way. In choosing to live in the UK and AU it was my job to fit in or get out. Neither government begged me to come, or to stay when I decided to leave and the only reason i returned to the US was because the purpose of my project had been accomplished and I chose to get back home. Each time it was great to return home, but heartbreaking to leave my friends behind, or as I put it, according to my personal philosophy, leaving friends ahead, for when we meet again.
All in all there are things I love and dislike about the UK and AU but deep down, it is nobody's fault. It is just the way things are and they are not going to change, nor is it my job to change them. For each thing I disliked in both countries, there were thousand others I loved and still miss.
I am proud of America for being the world's melting pot. I recognize AU and CA are also melting pots. I don't think it makes any of these countries better or worse than the other, so much as it makes them different. It is always an exercise in futility to gauge one country against the others, although it is almost impossible to resist the temptation, so if you do it, do so as an exercise in futility and nothing else.
I think that the real point is that an entire country will not change to accommodate your personal taste or preference. Do your part and fit in. Being multicultural means you can operate effectively in different circles and it does not predicate you must abdicate that which you consider your core cultural values. To be sure, the bigger effort always falls on the immigrant, but you should have known that to be the case when you made the option to live in another country and frankly, in my case, I am much better for it today. You can wallow in self pity and live in a regime of self flagellation for all those things your new country isn't or you can expand your mind and become a citizen of the world by embracing, with abandon, all the new good things your new home has to offer. You have and control that option.

My "touch" date never changed prior to NOA2. It went from my NOA1 date to my NOA2date and I was watching it obsessively. I was at the CSC though. VSC might be different?

Hi All,
I went for my medical today and I thought I would let everyone know how it went since Woking isn't open anymore.
I got P4 on Monday and emailed Dr. Gulzar Cheema's office immediately, they got back to me with available times a few hours later, they said they are flexible and open I think any day of the week but like to make appointments in the early AM.
Getting there from Van in a car is very easy, took me about 30mins this morning. There is free parking for 2 hours. I could see taking the bus as a pain. So those who are from out of town I would consider looking at taking a cab from a certain point.
I was there 10 minutes early and everyone was very helpful. My physical was painless and I was out of their office in 30 minutes and onto blood work and my x-ray. Both blood work and x-ray are located in a building on 12 blocks north of Dr. Gulzar Cheema's office. It looked like there were buses heading north so that is one way to get there, but it would be a long walk.
Blood was fast, but there was a line of people waiting for x-rays before they opened. But I was in and out of both places within an hour. So all and all a good experience, I just have to pick up my results late tomorrow.
Hope this helps someone!

Fees has nothing to be done if their parents committed the crime or they did it themself.
If the cost for DHS is only $500.00 than why the hell rest of the immigrants even temp immigrants looking for H1 visa are charged several thousands?
Ask them to pay the same fee what a K1 or CR1 applicant is paying plus a penalty..... this clearly show Obama has taken this step just for the vote purpose and nothing else.
These kids have already received more than fair share from American Tax payers....lot of them have used the Emergency care and education system.

If a woman is not from a machismo culture, has never lived in a machismo culture, and does not want to live in a machismo culture, then "learning about the culture" is not going to help - the more she learns about the culture, the less she is going to like it. The education process has already been a major shock to her, and it has barely begun.
You can bring the man out of the machismo, but you will never, ever, get the machismo out of the man, and the relationship will get worse and worse the longer you try.
And the converse holds true too - a man from a machismo culture will never ever be happy with a woman who doesn't "know her role". The OP's fiance knows this, has already decided that she will never "break" down to what his culture considers an acceptable feminine role, and has already planned and announced his exit strategy. He knows he will never get the "American feminism" out of her, and he has no plans to abandon the machismo of his culture.
The OP needs a man who comes from a culture where independence and strength [in the modern American/Western European sense] are acceptable characteristics for women, and the OP's fiance needs a woman who grew up in a machismo culture, and is comfortable with and totally bought in to that culture's idea of what femininity is. They will never ever be that for each other, unless one of them becomes a radically different person, and I don't see that happening.
OP: get out, and get out now. The only way this will ever work out is if one of you totally rewrites their personality, and it ain't gonna be him, and I really don't think it should be you either.