sara535

ICE = IMMIGRATION CRIME ENFORCEMENT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Yay for Friday - and not a day too soon

Quiet here, I think I will take the girl to the park (after coffee, that is)

I hope its a good day for everyone!

YAY for Earth Day!

Happy hump day to all

sorry for all the denials this week - everyone keep strong and find a way to regroup...

Rainy and cloudy here today, aaah I love it, especially since we too are heading into the hellish summer heat. I guess we get a surprise last minute break.

have a good evening~

Happy Tuesday all.

Its cloudy and rainy here and my car is in the shop. I have a bad feeling its going to be big $$$ for repair, just waiting for them to call me aargh.

goooooo Henia!!

Thank you. It is helpful. Does anyone know if an American can buy a house in Morocco?

sure Americans can buy homes there. Marrakech in particular is full of European owned homes.

thats wonderful he's home! congratulations, I am sure it feels great. Make sure to keep us updated (with pictures too )

Nessa - love the new pics!

Susita - CONGRATS!

Eveline - I got a little teary at the story of your friend, I hope you can go with her to deliver. best of luck to her.

Twila I totally agree about the medical advances - my kids were born 12 years apart and I could tell a big difference in the tests and procedures in that time. but still, its so hard not to be a little paranoid, its amazing how your mind shifts to mama/nurturing mode so early ( for some, anyway).

Stina - I havent taken Amirah to Morocco yet but she's not a real mellow adaptable gal so I picture it being a lot like your trip so I've been putting it off a little....

happy Hump Day everyone

Congratulations! Its nice to hear a good story coming out of Casa every once in a while

enjoy your time on Cloud 9!

good morning everyone - having some coffee here and its so good

its cloudy and a little rainy and so far I have nothing on my agenda but a little laundry. not too bad for a monday...

have a great day all of you!

He made it! We had dinner. Going to bed finally.

Congratulations Olivia. Its been a long road for you!

AP is totally normal and happens to about 99 out of 100 young men coming out of the MENA region. Unfortunately its impossible to predict how long it will take, although Casa is quicker than some, like Cairo, when it comes to AP. The fact that they kept his passport is good. It costs the consulates/government money to run the name checks, which is why they wait to do them until everything else is approved. Now you just have to cross your fingers/hope/pray that he doesnt have a name hit in one of the databases/

good luck and hang in there - you are in the home stretch.

well, congratulations on persevering and getting the visa. wow, what a road thats been for you.

Its hard to tell with Casa these days, on the one hand I think some of what Staashi says is true and makes sense - they DO have access to all kinds of info and if they spend the time to check into all of it and find something that rings alarm bells then sure they are going to investigate the heck out of it. And I think we all know there really is a lot of fraud going on in Morocco, we've seen several examples here on VJ. But I think part of the ripple effect of that is the COs get pretty jaded and probably start to see fraud in every file. My husband and I went through that consulate almost 6 years ago now and honestly I can only imagine we would have a much harder time if we were to file now, given that we have several of the 'red flags'. Yet here we are, married for close to 6 years, parents to our little girl and doing better than ever.

I am sure the COs want to make sure they dont let anyone 'slip through', and in their zeal to accomplish that goal there are some legitimate couples who get caught in the crossfire, just as there are some skilled scammers who will make it......

Happy middle of the week to everyone

Hope its a good one.

Jeanne, I liked The Informant too. I also am a Matt Damon fan - I caught The Talented Mr. Ripley on cable the other day and I had forgotten how good he was in that one too.

Letty,

In my opinion you can go before or after, I didnt go until I knew I was a few weeks pregnant but I know several people who have gone while trying to conceive just to make sure everything is fine. More importantly though you should be asking around and looking for a doctor who you like and respect and who's policies you agree with. It seems to me that many women's pregancy and birth experiences are hugely impacted by the medical staff so you want to be sure you are with someone who you feel good about. For myself, I just asked around to my trusted friends who had babies in the last few years, asked them about their experience and what they did/didnt like about it. I found a midwife who worked in partnership with a couple of doctors and I LOVED her, she was awesome.

in the meantime, you may want to go ahead and start taking a prenatal vitamin

good luck!

@Kelly - hahaha I love your transcription of song lyrics! we get a lot of that too and it always makes me laugh.

There are several of us here with family members who have gotten visas

My MIL got her 10 year visa about 3 years ago - she spent 2 months with us after I had my baby and she is coming again for a few months at the end of the summer. The application process was pretty easy and you've gotten good advice here. good luck!

Amy,

I am already praying for Ayman.

It sounds like he is moving in the right direction, I am sure this is so terribly hard right now and I am praying that one day soon you will be holding your healthy baby in your arms and this will all become a memory.

Hang in there!

I worked in IT a few years ago and my coworker used to randomly read other people's emails all the time, then gossip about stuff. Personal emails, the bosses emails, anything that was going on. It was very very disturbing. I even told both my manager and the owner of the company, and periodically he was 'talked to', but he was so far techologically advanced over anyone else that he would deny it all and cover his tracks quite well. I finally quit and moved on but it left a really bad taste in my mouth about all the employer monitoring stuff.

so yeah, expect that someone is able and willing to read everything.

365 is Whole Foods 'store brand'. I've never had their cookies but all the 365 toiletries and vitamins are wonderful. Although Trader Joe's is awesome too and about a million times cheaper than WF.....

I think there is some compromise involved isnt there? no, a husband shouldnt have to go for a year without sex, but its probably unrealistic in many cases to think your sex life will immediately go back to what it was pre-baby.

I think the biggest thing, the hardest 'work' with having a new baby is that your time is no longer your own. I was a bit of a workaholic too at times, but when its work and you 'hit the wall', or have something else to do, you can always decide to go in early and finish in the morning, or take it home and do it later, or whatever. Once baby arrives, at least for the first few months, you are totally on baby time. It doesnt matter if you are drop dead exhausted, or starving, or havent showered for 3 days - when baby needs something you do it. Or you are ready to head out the door to an appointment or even a lunch with friends and suddenly there is a diaper explosion that requires not only a change of clothes but a bath and then its time for a feeding and suddenly you are an hour late. This was the adjustment that was hardest for me. FORTUNATELY, you are so head over heels in love with your baby that you do all of this gladly, or at least most of the time although I think if everyone is honest most will admit to a moment or two of wondering if you were really up to the whole mothering thing

about the genetic stuff - I was 38 when I had Amirah and my midwife sent me to the local children's hospital (local, well... 60 miles away but still) for a highly detailed U/S. There are some measurements that can be made at the 18-20 week age that are very good indicators for Down's. Mine came out fine but if there had been a question then they would have recommended an amnio and I am not sure if I would have gone for it or not.

My mother in law was also approved for her 10 year visa - she is in her late 50s with children and grandchildren in Morocco. I also sent an invitation/financial responsibility letter but not paystubs. She was approved no problem, 2 years ago.

Good morning everyone

I am not a Monday fan either but so far this one is quiet so I am kinda easing into the week...

hope its a nice day for all of you!