Gavin + Heather

Hi everyone! Long time no see. Not much has been happening, immigration-wise, so I keep forgetting to check in! (And whoa, the site looks different!) A few weeks ago, I suddenly got a bunch of USCIS alerts on my phone and got all excited, only to find out that they were confirmation notices that we'd changed our address. Well, duh!
In non-immigration land, though, (almost) everything is great, except that we've been trying (to no avail) to get Aaron added to my primary checking account since he arrived. It's an online account through Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct). We had no problem getting a joint account at BoA pretty much the day after he arrived, but CO360 just will not budge. Part of it is probably his lack of a credit history, which I haven't been as conscientious about addressing as I should have and he doesn't really understand the importance of. We applied for some sort of newcomers card for him a few days ago, and hopefully he'll get approved for that and we can start the ball rolling. The CO360 account is just too convenient for us in so many ways that it doesn't make sense to switch banks, so they had better come around at some point.
In other news, though....
...he got a job! He's in school, primarily, until he can boost his education level enough to be competitive for jobs in this area, but we wanted something stable and part-time with regular daytime hours, and my friend/ex-coworker mentioned an opening at her (my former) company. He applied, got an interview, and got the job: the first job he ever applied for in the U.S. I'm so amazed and proud. He's been there a week so far, and if all goes well it will take him through school and provide a giant boost to the family income. Which couldn't have come at a better time, because...
...we bought a condo! Somehow, we managed to keep the wedding affordable enough that we had enough left for a down payment once the dust settled. The new place is gorgeous, in a much more appealing neighborhood, twice the size of the apartment we were renting before (and with extra storage space, a shared porch/yard, and our own parking space, to boot), and the monthly cost to us is the SAME. Best of all, it has 3 bedrooms! One for us, one for guests, and an extra one. Which couldn't have come at a better time, because...
...we're having a baby! I'm due around Thanksgiving.
What a year! And to think that last year at this time, I was sitting on the edge of my seat convinced that the NOA2 would never come and Aaron would never get over here and even if he did, how did I know that we'd get along well and be able to make a life work together. And somehow, pretty much everything fell into place <knock on wood>. Happy, happy, happy.

4.00am, Wake up.....CHECK
4.40am, Get ready and get leave for work.....CHECK
5.20am, Arrive at work.....CHECK
6am-8am, Wait.....CHECK
8.00am, No delivery yet, slight worry.....CHECK
8.10am, Look around to find a phone number for DX to talk to someone.....CHECK
8.20am, Call and find courier is stuck in traffic.....CHECK
9.03am, Delivery.....CHECK
9.05am, Check that envelope is there and unopened.....CHECK
9.06am, Check that passport is my passport and has the visa in it.....CHECK
9.10am, Big smile.....CHECK
9.37am, Clock watching for online check in for flight at 10.10am.....CHECK
In other words, I have finally held the illusive visa in my hands

Well that was all bit surreal. I got to the embassy for 07:05, there were two queue points, one for US citizens and one for visa applicants. I was the first there, some other people turned up and a lady come over to ask if any of us had electrical equipment or key fobs etc. Some did, so off they went directed to near by chemists that can store these things for a small price.
The lady then checked my letter and that I was on her list. After that, I was asked to wait by a pillar where I took off my belt and put it, my keys and money etc in my bag - in preparation for security. Security it pretty much the same as the airport, put your bag on the belt and walk through the scanner and pick up on the other side.
You then leave this small building outside the embassy and walk to the right around the embassy to a different entrance. At reception I handed over my letter, MRV and passport. The receptionist then printed off some barcode labels and stuck them on the letter. She directed me up some stairs on the left to the waiting area. I was sitting down by 07:33. At 08:00 the first numbers were called. All N numbers, 1 through 5 and then at 08:03 my number I901 was called (I for immigration I believe).
I went up to window 1, where the lady asked for my letter,MRV and passport. I tried to explain to her that there was a mix up with Packet 3 and I had sent some stuff with it that they hadn't required. She wasn't too sure what I was saying, but we got there in the end and she popped off for a couple of seconds to retrieve my file. I had sent my birth certificate, the I-134 forms for Heather and her father, pictures with the I-156 forms, police certificate and receipts for the engagement and wedding rings.
She worked through the forms and asked when I was planning to leave, I said next week, she asked for a day, so I said October 12th. While she was doing this, I noticed that on the forms I'd sent in that there was writing on them - so I don't know what processing they'd already done on them. She gave me a pick slip of paper and affixed one of the barcode labels to it that I had gotten earlier. She then told me to sit and wait to be called again. I sat down at about 08:15. So 12 minutes work so far. Oh and she came me the CD from the medical.
At around 09:00 my number was called for window 16. There was an American guy there and he said "Hello", asked me to write Heather's full name on a form and sign it. He then asked me to raise my right hand and swear that I'd tell the truth, which I did. He then very quickly asked a few questions. When we met, where we met, how we knew the mutual friends at the engagement party that we met at. I was also ask my age and Heather's age. I barely had chance to answer before the next question was coming. He then flicked through some photos that we sent in back in February and gave them and my birth certificate back to me. At which point he said "Pleased to say you're approved, please take the pink slip to the courier".
That was it, the interview lasted less than 5 minutes!
Wow, stunned at how quick that was. Oh, and my amazing folders of evidence, not needed Still, I was glad I had it.
:dance: :dance: :dance: :D
So happy for you, I can't wait for my flight next week!

Hopefully only a month left in England before joining my beautiful fiancee...come on Chelsea you have to give me a better send off than this

Congratulations, seeing NOA2s brings warm feelings to my heart

The process is quite straight forward. They blindfold a member of their staff, they go into the storage office and grab 3 random boxes. The contents of the boxes are then tipped out into one pile, which is then shuffled a little. All staff have to pick a handful of petitions from this pile blindfolded, they then have to find their way to a desk. Once at a desk they can removed the blindfold and start processing what they have.
It's difficult for some as they even miss a lunch break while trying to find an unoccupied desk. I think they should introduce a rule that if they've not got a desk in a couple of hours they should be able to remove the blindfold. Any petitions not complete at the end of the day are randomly put back on the pile.
At the end of the week very little is approved on Friday. This is because they're putting the petitions they haven't yet done back in boxes for storage over the weekend. Then Monday they repeat the above.
I hope this helps, it's the only way I can imagine they do it

The process is quite straight forward. They blindfold a member of their staff, they go into the storage office and grab 3 random boxes. The contents of the boxes are then tipped out into one pile, which is then shuffled a little. All staff have to pick a handful of petitions from this pile blindfolded, they then have to find their way to a desk. Once at a desk they can removed the blindfold and start processing what they have.
It's difficult for some as they even miss a lunch break while trying to find an unoccupied desk. I think they should introduce a rule that if they've not got a desk in a couple of hours they should be able to remove the blindfold. Any petitions not complete at the end of the day are randomly put back on the pile.
At the end of the week very little is approved on Friday. This is because they're putting the petitions they haven't yet done back in boxes for storage over the weekend. Then Monday they repeat the above.
I hope this helps, it's the only way I can imagine they do it

The process is quite straight forward. They blindfold a member of their staff, they go into the storage office and grab 3 random boxes. The contents of the boxes are then tipped out into one pile, which is then shuffled a little. All staff have to pick a handful of petitions from this pile blindfolded, they then have to find their way to a desk. Once at a desk they can removed the blindfold and start processing what they have.
It's difficult for some as they even miss a lunch break while trying to find an unoccupied desk. I think they should introduce a rule that if they've not got a desk in a couple of hours they should be able to remove the blindfold. Any petitions not complete at the end of the day are randomly put back on the pile.
At the end of the week very little is approved on Friday. This is because they're putting the petitions they haven't yet done back in boxes for storage over the weekend. Then Monday they repeat the above.
I hope this helps, it's the only way I can imagine they do it