HappyTurtles

My fiance has just received her Visa and will be finally entering the US in the next few days. So now I am researching a thinking about all of the additional hoops that we need to jump through and more money to spend just to get the approval of the almighty government so that we can be together.

For me, this process has really soured my view of the government. I am finding all of the paperwork and hoops completely unnecessary. And it is making me quite angry at the additional stress and money that I need to spend. I am finding that it is changing my beliefs about this country. And I am now really wishing that the United States had completely open borders for people to come and go as they please from any country. And no working requirements, so that anyone could work in the United States whenever they wanted without the government getting in the way.

I am curious how many others struggling through this process are having their opinions changed by being put through this meat grinder of a process?

I am sitting in Bogota waiting for my Fiance's Visa to arrive.

She had her interview last Friday the 17th. I didn't realize that last Monday was a Colombian holiday wehn I booked our flights to the US for tomorrow, Friday the 24th. I was reading that it would take 2 to 3 business days to received our Visa. So I figured that would leave the rest of Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I figured that would be plenty of time when I bought the tickets.

Anways, we are now sitting in Bogota and have only today left before our flight first thing in the morning tomorrow. I am checking my email and the website every hour or less. But it still says "There is no information on the DHL Waybill at this time." I am still hoping to get it today, but I preparing myself for the fact that I will need to move my flight.

So my question to the boards, if we do not get my fiances Visa today, when do you think is the best time to reschedule the flight for? I was thinking Sunday might be good. Because that would gives us Friday and Saturday to hopefully get it. And I am expected at work on Monday. And I have long since burned through my vacation so every missed day now really hurts financially.

But is that too optimisitic? Would I be better to rescehdule for Tuesday or Wednesday?

Thanks all for the opinions.

My fiance and I are traveling to Bogota for her K1 Visa Interview. So I am looking for a hotel. Nice, but not too expensive. Close to the embassy, but in a nice neighborhood.

Does anyone have any recommondations for a hotel?

If there aren't any problems you should be able to pick up your visa at the DHL office in Bogotá within 2-3 business days. You can also ask them to deliver it and it should take the same amount of days if the delivery address is in Bogotá. Anything outside of Bogotá takes between 6-10 business days, so you would be saving about a week of waiting.

Most people schedule their medical exams about two days before the interview just in case there are any issues, that way you have an extra day to take care of things. And yes, the approved doctors by the US embassy are only located in Bogotá.

As far as purchasing your tickets, the embassy advises not to purchase them until you're sure you have your visa in hand, however, it's up to you to purchase them in advance at your own risk. Based on most people's posts, you should be getting your visa within a week, if delivery is in Bogotá, so it's up to you to purchase your tickets for the week after that. Again, this is only feasible if there aren't any issues at the embassy whatsoever.

Diana

Thanks for all of the help and the great advise.

I am trying to figure out scheduling the doctors visit and am a little worried about not leaving enough time in Bogota to handle everything.

If I read the instructions correctly, the chest x-ray and blood work needs to be done prior to the Doctors visit. How long does this take to get results? Can they be scheduled the same day? Or the day before? Or will the x-ray and blood work need to be done a week or more in advance of the doctor's visit?

Thanks so much for your feedback.

I finally have our interview scheduled!!!

So now, I am looking at buying flights. I want to be there for my fiance's interview. And also be there to fly to the United States with her. Our interview is August 17th. So when should I buy tickets?

How many days in advance do we need to be in Bogota? Are the medical exams only in Bogota?

How many days after the interview do we need to stay in Bogota? How soon after the interview will we likely receive her visa?

How many days will we save if we stay in Bogota and pick up the visa there instead of Barranquilla?

Thanks all!

Are the steps for scheduling the Interview on Visa Journey out of date?

I received my NOA2 on June 15th. And after weeks, the NVC finally received my application and forwarded it to the embassy in Bogota. I called the number in the instructions and they said that the embassy has received my application. What is the next step?

According to the instructions at http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Colombia&cty=Bogota is states to fax the Package 3 response to 011-57-1-(315-4155).

However, when I talk to the agent at the DOS when I confirmed the embassy had received my application, he stated that I needed to do nothing. That my interview would be scheduled and they would notify me of the date.

Furthermore, I talked to my lawyer and she gave me a link to recent government sample of the instructions letter the Colombian embassy sends out locate at http://photos.state.gov/libraries/colombia/231771/PDFs/English_KPacketMar2012_001.pdf. In it, it does not specify any response needed. Only to go to http://colombia.usvisa-info.com and create an account, pay the fee, and schedule the interview from there.

So I am totally confused. And really want to get a jump on this to have the interview as soon as possible. Is there anyone who has recently scheduled the interview in Bogota? What was the process you used to schedule your interview?

I received my NOA2 on June 15th. I have been calling every day waiting to hear "We have it...". But so far nothing. They keep saying that i am not in the system yet.

Today, it has reached 15 working days since then. And they told me that it should be there by now. So they gave me the email nvcresearch@state.gov and told me to email them a scanned copy of my NOA2 letter for them to research and figure out where my file is. This is so frustrating.

Has this happened to anyone else? Does this happen often? Is there anything I am do to speed up the process? Is this something I should worry about?

Thanks all for the feedback and support.

I received my NOA2 letter on June 15 and am currently waiting for the National Visa Center to receive it and pass it on to the embassy in Bogota.

In the mean time, I am working on preparing all of the documents so that I can get the interview scheduled as soon as possible. I am reading the instructions for the Colombian embassy over and over again and it is not making total sense to me.

What documents will I need to send with Package 3?

The documented links to checking the interview date on not working. Where do I check to see when the interview is scheduled?

Do I need to pay before the interview? How much? Via credit card or other method?

Thanks all for the feedback.

Did you/are you using a Lawyer for your Visa process?

What do they consider emergencies? Is there a list of accepted emergencies somewhere?

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like we'll be applying for Advanced Parole the day after we get married.

But I am still a little about Advanced Parole and Info Pass.

What exactly is InfoPass?

Do you need to provide a reason or emergeny for Advanced Parole? Or only for Info Pass?

What is considered an emergency reason to justify an Info Pass?

Are Advanced Paroles every denied and why?

Thanks all!

I checked online and my I-129F was just approved for the K1 Visa for my fiance. They mailed the NOA2 on Friday and I am expecting to receive it in the next day or two.

One of my big concerns is that we wanted to travel outside of the United States for our honeymoon. From what I am reading, you are only allowed 1 entry into the US with the Visa. And that I will need to apply for and receive Advanced Parole before leaving the US. Otherwise, my fiance will not be able to get back in. But I am still unclear on how the whole Advanced Parole works.

When can I apply for Advanced Parole? What do I need to apply for Advance Parole? How/where do I apply for Advanced Parole?

Thanks all for the feedback!

Thanks for the replies. Let me try to answer the questions.

I had always seen her name spelled with a "y". That is the way I saw it when we meet. That is the way she always signs her name. And that is the way we filled out the I-129F forms together. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when I saw her passport and ID card that I noticed that it was spelled with an "i" on there.

I just saw online today that our application was approved. And they mailed the 2nd NOA letter last Friday. So i am wondering what trouble we might be in? Will it be no big deal as it is 1 character out of a 4 word name. And everything else in the application is good? Or we need to re-apply and wait for another 6 months. Waht should I do now?

Thanks for the advice.

My fiance lives in Colombia. We filed the I-129F application for her K1 Visa at the end of January. I watching the dates on the timelines page on this site and expecting them to get to our application within the next week.

I am worried now that I just realized that my fiance's name is spelled differently on her National ID and Passport that I thought. Her name is normally spelled Leymis with a "y". But I just found out that her name on her National ID and Passport is spelled Leimis with an "i".

Does anyone know how picky they are in the Visa process with details like this? Would one letter be an issue with the middle, two last names, birthdate, and everything else being accurate?

If this is an issue, how do I correct it without waiting another 6 months?

Thanks all for the advice and feedback.