CrammyFamily

Thanks. I read something that confused me which said as of ____ date, people residing in a country without a something or other that we in Uganda don't have can no longer file from the Chicago lockbox. Guess I misread. Thanks so much you guys!

You know your husband is African when he mixes ALL of his food together on one plate, no matter what cuisine it may be, and then tries to tell you that eating it this way gives you all the flavors. (even when it is soup, he will pour it allllllll over all the other dry foods)

You know your husband is African when all his "brothers and cousins" walk into your house at 7:30 in the morning and you are still asleep, and he greets them as if it is no problem. (all the freakin time!) Or they come over at three in the morning and ask you both to go out to the club!!! Whaaaaaaaaat? That is the time the clubs CLOSE in Texas!

You know your husband is African when he invites friends and family on your honeymoon, and your in-laws stay in the hotel room right next to yours the night of the wedding. And while opening gifts he gives them to his sisters and parents...that was hard to accept. Haha

You know your husband is African when he explains mind boggling things to you in a completely calm voice. ( There is this beautiful black and white bird very common in Uganda that also happens to be extremely territorial. I would say the majority of houses, unless they are rich families', are roofed with sheets of tin. So one morning we are lying in bed and I heard this hammering noise. I asked him what the hell the neighbor was doing hammering things on the roof at dawn, and he said very calmly, "Oh Ammie, that is a bird. He is killing himself." He then told me they do it because they see their reflection and think it is a threat to their territory. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! At first I was so sad for the dumb birdie, but after I couldn't stop laughing from the way he told me. Now it is a passing joke, "Oh honey, he is killing himself.") Heheheheeeee

You know your husband is African when he says he's going into town and will be back in an hour, and then you freak out and feel like calling the national guard to go looking for his dead body because it is actually five hours later and no sign or contact with him. When he gets home he tells you, "Honey, you shouldn't worry so much. I will be fine." Wowwwwww Do your husbands also have no sense of time or feel obligated to call and tell you everything is okay but they are running late?!?!?!?!?

You know your husband is African when he will eat ice cream only when it is super cold and solid, and very hot out, yet he won't even look at cheese or you when you are eating it! Or any other dairy products!!!

You know your husband is African when all hell is breaking loose, you are out of gas, it is hot, you are lost, and don't even have a charged cell phone, and he keeps a smile on his face and a positive attitude. That one I need to adopt. To this day I have never seen him get upset. He is always so happy no matter what is going on. Gotta love those beautiful African smiles and laughs. <3

Congrats on the approval, and thank you so much for this experience. We are all happy for you!

Okay, thanks for the clarification.

Okay great info you guys. Just one more question: since we do not have a consulate/embassy in Uganda that accepts immigrant visas, is it possible for me to file it from there? The embassy that handles our stuff is Nairobi, Kenya's. Thanks for all the quick and clear responses. You guys rock my socks.

Okay, so then we should just file from Uganda? Does that mean we should re-do all the forms since I have put my US address on them?

Okay, the new plan is to file from the US since I am already here, and all the forms are filled out, but by January, I will be going back to Uganda to stay through the rest of the visa processing. Is this possible? And if so, should we change all the forms and put our Ugandan address on them?

Our plans have changed as of this morning. Originally, I was gonna file from Uganda and stay there the whole time. Now, I am in the US, and the plan was to stay for the whole process. Last night we decided I would stay long enough to save up money (January we hope), to cover the whole cost of immigration, including plane tickets, and then move back to Uganda to wait out the rest of the process.

My question is, if I file from Texas, will I be able to do the rest of the process from Uganda, such as my interview and any appointments they might request me to attend? And will we be able to send in the other packages through my mom here in Texas, even if we are both living in Uganda? I hope that was clear...kinda disorganized right now as things are changing every second! Any advice, experience is welcome!

Thanks,

The Crammies

Okay, thanks everyone for the advice. Ryan H, you have a great memory! Yes, we have tons of proof of being together. Okiedokie. I hope I can offer my help to each of you sometime!

Hi dear! Sorry to tell you this, but you MUST file for the CR-1 now that you are married. You can't file for a K-3 because it is only for fiancée's. This is a great forum, so if you ask all your questions and read everything in the guides and wikis, you might not need a lawyer. Everyone here has told me that one shouldn't really need a lawyer unless there is a lot of sketchy business going on. Try reading through, posing your questions, and doing it yourself, and if it is too much, then look for a lawyer. Good luck!

So maybe one for every two months? What about the phone records? Should we wait or should we be okay?

Hi there. So I am not exactly sure what they mean by sending in email and chat logs for proof of a bona fide marriage. Do they really, truly want all like 500,000 pages of emails and chats we have created over the last three years? If so, can I just print off the screen shot from my folder containing all the emails from my husband? As far as phone records go, we don't have them yet..I want to send in the package by Monday, but should we instead wait until we also have the phone call records? We have tons of other proof!

Thanks in advance!

We haven't mailed ours in yet, but will be on Monday! I'm sooo excited! Thought I would say hello anyway. Good luck to us all!

Well, I just got back to the US this week, and found out my copy of our marriage certificate was misplaced while my family was moving! My husband is scanning his and hope to get everything sent off by Monday! I think you are able to visit Uganda as often as possible once his Conditional Residency has been lifted, which is two years. But I could be wrong about that. As far as medical exams go, there are no Embassy approved physicians in Uganda, so everyone from East Africa has to be examined in Nairobi. You can get your husband's vaccinations done for cheaper in Uganda though! Just make sure they are done by an approved clinic and that they give him a valid vaccine record! Good luck! I know you must be missing him because we are only on week one being apart and already going crazy. I love you all!

Thanks so much for the info!

Hello out there.

I am 2 1/2 months pregnant, and my husband and I are just now starting the immigration process. I am totally confused about if we should list our expected child on our forms or not, because he/she will be born before the process is over. I have not yet sent in an I-130 because I would like to know what to put on the part where they ask you to list all children of immigrant.

Anyone out there that has gone through this before? We have no idea what to do!!!

P.S. We know it is stressfull to be apart during pregnancy, but it truly is the best plan for us now, as it is malaria season here in Uganda, and extremely difficult to treat during pregnancy. Please, no negative, jerkface comments. Constructive is all we need. Thanks.

Okay, so I will post in another thread, but does anyone have experience with being pregnant, then giving birth before the process is over?

Wow, that's a blow. I kept seeing people say on other threads that when children are involved they try to hurry. Oh, by the way, when they ask for children of immigrating relative or petitioner, do we leave it blank, or put pregnant, due date etc....?

Others have told me that a baby is plenty of proof. We are two months pregnant, which might be a bit more tricky. But good luck to both of us!

Hi there,

I am writing our cover letter right now, and was wondering how I can inform them we are pregnant. This is my idea, as the closing line:

"As can be seen from the Ultrasound Reports, we are expecting the birth of our first child on February 4, 2014. We would appreciate our case being handled in the timeliest fashion."

Does that sound okay, or can I say something else, like "we would like our case expedited so my husband can arrive as soon as possible"?

Thanks for the advice in advance,

Amelia

Sorry, wasn't thinking about posting the address being safe or not. Thanks Catherine!

No, there is no plot number for most of the places we will be listing as they are kinda like slum areas. Even on the water, electricity and tax bills there is none listed. I even google earthed them, with no luck!

Yeah, silly me, I can look the work addresses up. Is writing TX for Texas okay, or should every answer be full-form?

Thanks for the reply!

Hello folks.

We are looking at the I-864 forms and I am already confused.

I will start with our details so you have them in mind.

I am married to a Ugandan, living here now, about to move back to Texas to start working on the I-130. We are two months pregnant. I have not worked since living here. My mom will be our joint sponsor. She makes plenty to cover us. We will also be living in the same house as her, so I guess that makes us "house-hold members", right?

So questions:

1) Should my mother be the one to fill out the I-864 and then list me as the joint sponsor?

2) If not, and I fill it out, then does she also fill out her own totally separate form? She will be the only joint sponsor, correct?

3) On part 5 number 7 there is the "Optional: If you have ... parents.... with the same residence who are combining their income with yours by submitting Form I-864A, enter the number here." So I am guessing that we will check this one, but where do we get the I-864A from?!?!

I hope I wrote this in a clear and understandable way, and that someone can shed some light on this whole thing!

Thanks a million times in advance. We appreciate this forum so much.

Amelia and Phillip (and the bun in the oven)

Hello everyone, Amelia here again.

As some of you may know, in Uganda addresses to not have a street number. Just the name of the road, the name of the area, and the city. Is this going to be valid?

For instance, my husband's address is GXXXXXX Road, NXXXXX, Kampala, Uganda.

I really don't know how else we can put something different. It is only certain plots on main roads which are given plot numbers. Our apartment we lived in is Plot 12345 BXXXXX Road, NXXXXX, etc... and I am thinking that this may cause us a problem since we will be including one address with a plot number, and several others without.

Any experienced filers with the same situation? Did they send RFE's or whatever?

Thanks for the help!

Oh, and when requesting "Full Name and Address of Employer", do they really require the full address? I can't remember the addresses of some of the places I worked, so I was just gonna write the city and state. Is that enough?

Hi Oklai125! Yes, it really is good to see other Ugandan/American couples, and be able to talk about the experience together. It has really encouraged me! Thanks for the well wishes, and the same to you. I think we will just drop the tourist visa because like others have said, the officer won't be able to believe he will leave after seeing the baby. Oh well. It will all be worth it in the end, when we don't have to worry about separation again!

Take care and good luck!

Amelia