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Thanks for all the congratulations, everyone! Very nice of you. Best wishes, Mark and Anna

Greetings everyone, our final interview was earlier today. Just wanted to share our experience, which is similar to what many others have posted previously in their reviews of the Sydney consulate.

We arrived at the consulate at 7:30 a.m., half an hour early, behind a dozen other people, and yet still managed to be first in line (ticket #001) upstairs on the 59th floor simply because we got off the elevator first! A few minutes after 8 a.m. we were called to the window where the very pleasant Amber took our requested documents, said everything seemed to be in order, and asked us to wait while she looked them over. 20 minutes later we were called back and told all looked good. She asked when we planned to go to the States and we told her Monday! She said that would be possible and gave us a "Welcome to the United States" pamphlet and letter. We asked if we could pick up the visa rather than have it mailed, and she said it would have to be Friday afternoon (2 days hence). That was fine with us. Then she asked us to wait again, this time for the interviewer. 20 minutes later we were called to the interview window where a friendly fellow (whose name I didn't get) asked only a couple of questions: "How long have you been married?" and "Where do you plan to live?" Anna answered quickly and concisely, he and I joked about the Los Angeles traffic, and then our visa was approved. We were back out on the street by 9 a.m.

A very painless, even pleasant experience. I can't say enough good things about our dealings with the Sydney consulate, and want to assure anyone who is nervous about the final interview process there to relax and be completely optimistic. Another couple immediately behind us was approved also, and very quickly as well - we saw them on the street shortly afterward.

Thanks once again to everyone on VJ for being there for us throughout this whole process, and best wishes to those still going through it!

Hello everyone, we could use a little advice. We're getting ready for our interview at the Sydney consulate. A DS-230 Part II was included in our Packet 4 but there is no mention anywhere in the packet instructions about what to do with it; it's not even included in the checklist of documents to bring to the interview. Do we fill it out and bring it unsigned? Do we ignore it? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. Thanks in advance for any help. . . Mark and Anna

You asked too late, today is your interview date?? How can we answer you on time??

Anyone here could please scan the checklist of documents and other concerned to send to him?? I don't know if he still need it.

No worries, David-Hien, thanks for replying. I know it was a very late request but I thought I'd see if anyone confirmed what I suspected, which is that I'm supposed to fill out the DS-230 Part II and bring it along - and that's what I did. Turns out that was correct. As I mentioned, it wasn't on the checklist of documents, which is why I was unsure. Anyway, I'm making a separate post about the interview. . .

Hello everyone, we could use a little advice. We're getting ready for our interview at the Sydney consulate. A DS-230 Part II was included in our Packet 4 but there is no mention anywhere in the packet instructions about what to do with it; it's not even included in the checklist of documents to bring to the interview. Do we fill it out and bring it unsigned? Do we ignore it? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. Thanks in advance for any help. . . Mark and Anna

Our case was completed yesterday, 11 October! I think it was exactly 15 weeks, 105 days. We didn't use James' Short Cuts. Can someone please update us? I'm afraid to mess anything up, because I'm too happy to type correctly! Thanks to everyone on this site - we couldn't have come this far without visajourney.com. Good luck to everyone waiting. Hang in there. . .

Greetings, can someone update me according to my signature below? Finally got the DS-230 and mailed it off, and the NVC confirmed they received the I-864 and it's all in order. Thanks and continued good luck to everyone, Mark

Thanks Jezz85 and Tonyr7, that confirms for me that the police at this station don't know what they're doing! I should have made it clear in my post that Anna DID download the police form beforehand and take it with her, but she was told that was not the form to use. She's not going back to that station - she'll try the Paramatta station or others until she finds one that gets it right. Thanks again. . . Mark

Thanks for updating us, Stabu. . . Mark and Anna

Greetings everyone, we'd appreciate hearing if anyone has had difficulty or gotten conflicting information about the police check process in NSW. My wife Anna (the applicant in Sydney) made an appointment to go to her local police station (in Fairfield, the closest to her residence) under the assumption that she could simply fill out form P799 and pay the $175 AUD. Once there she was told she had to wait until she received instructions from the NVC before they could do the check, and that the police do two separate checks (one for name and date of birth for $50 and the other for fingerprinting for $40 - they seemed totally confused about the $175), and that they do not send her the results (how can she bring it to the interview if they don't send her the results?). Can we not get the police check done ahead of time? Are they just giving her a hard time? Can we circumvent that police station and go to another one or get the check done through the AFP, as I think I read elsewhere on this forum? Any clarification would be much appreciated. . . Mark

Stabu, thanks for adding us into the timeline awhile back! We also received the AOS fee bill and DS-3032 - can I also ask that you add that info? The forms were generated on July 16, 2007. Thanks, Mark and Anna

Hi, we'd like to add our info to the timeline. Do I add it myself? As you can see below, we just received our NOA2 that our I-130 was approved 28 June! Thanks and cheers, Mark and Anna

Hi, we'd like to add our info to the timeline. Dumb question: do I add it myself or is someone in charge of doing the updating? We chose the IR-1/CR-1 route and you can see our timeline below - just received our NOA2 that our I-130 was approved! So you other March (and earlier) filers, hang in there, could be any day now. . . Thanks and let me know if I update this thing myself. Cheers, Mark and Anna

mark ... when i was doing my K1 i was on a visit to the states my packet 3 arrived while i was away so my son just mailed it to me to start on it...if you trust the person that would mail it to you ask them to open anything from USCIS just in case there is something over here that you need sent also for your process...i only say this because it does take up to 7 days to get things to oz from the states and if you open it in oz you might need something from the states..

kath

Thanks Kath, I do have someone I trust, and I'll keep that extra mail transit time in mind. . .

Hi everyone, Mark and Anna here. I've pretty much decided to go ahead and file the I-130 here in the States, then go visit her in Sydney for the next 4-5 months and continue the IR-1/CR-1 process by mail from there. Does anyone foresee a problem with me handling everything long distance that way? Any reason why I might have to be physically present in the States during any of that process? If the DCF comes back soon, we'll cancel and re-file that way in Sydney, if we can (I just e-mailed the Sydney consulate to see if they can give me a hint on any DCF news, and I'll let you know what they say). Thanks for your thoughts, and I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere - I try to read as many threads on here as I can. Best wishes to everyone else in their process. . . Mark

Hi Mark,

I don't see a problem. Just have someone forward you any mail right away as it may have some time frame. As a matter of fact once you reach the NVC portion of the process, your wife can choose to be the agent (the one receiving the rest of the paperwork). Since you will be there with her, you can do most of the process from Sydney. I wish I could hang out in Sydney until we get her Visa. I would have no problem staying abroad in Australia for an extended period.

I also plan on doing the same. Should DCF come back (and allow USC not living abroad to file the I-130), I will do the same. Good luck!

Thanks Vylex, it's encouraging to know someone else is making the same choices. Good advice too. Good luck right back at you -- Mark and Anna

Hi everyone, Mark and Anna here. I've pretty much decided to go ahead and file the I-130 here in the States, then go visit her in Sydney for the next 4-5 months and continue the IR-1/CR-1 process by mail from there. Does anyone foresee a problem with me handling everything long distance that way? Any reason why I might have to be physically present in the States during any of that process? If the DCF comes back soon, we'll cancel and re-file that way in Sydney, if we can (I just e-mailed the Sydney consulate to see if they can give me a hint on any DCF news, and I'll let you know what they say). Thanks for your thoughts, and I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere - I try to read as many threads on here as I can. Best wishes to everyone else in their process. . . Mark

Thanks to everyone who posted a welcome! RINGS, to answer your question, yes, I met Anna because I was dialing an office number in Australia, called the wrong one, and when she answered I was so captivated by her voice that I began flirting with her immediately, sight unseen, from the other side of the world. Lucky for me she turned out to look as good as she sounded.

And POI N J, I don't know if a 2.5 year courtship is a record on here (actually it was 2.5 years from the time we met until I proposed, but from the time we first spoke on the phone until the wedding it was 4.25 years!), but it involved at least 10 trips to Sydney on my part, and 3 trips for her to L.A. in that time.

Sorry - people are on here looking for immigration info and assistance, and here I am rambling about my relationship. Well, we've been holding out for news about the DCF, but what do you think - should I go ahead and file here Stateside before I go back to Sydney just in case, and then switch to DCF if it resumes? Thanks and cheers everyone - Mark

Greetings everyone, we're Mark and Anna. I'm a writer from the U.S., which allows me to visit Anna often in Australia and spend weeks or even months at a time with her. We've been keeping our eye on the VJ boards for awhile and learned so much from it - it's an amazing resource and the people are great - but we only recently discovered the Aussie thread and decided to introduce ourselves.

A bit of our history is below. As you can see, we married just days before word came of the change in DCF the day before I planned to file at the Sydney consulate (our plan was and is to bring Anna back to L.A. with me). I'm back in the States now and Anna's still in Sydney, and like many similar couples around the world, we're waiting to see what will happen with the DCF. I'm going back to see her soon and hopefully before then we'll get word about the DCF resuming; if not, I may bite the bullet and file the I-130 here in the U.S. before leaving.

Anyway, we just wanted to get into the mix here and say hello. . . Cheers, Mark and Anna

Hiya. Yes Australia has changed its procedures.

Read the new instructions on filing the I-130, etc. from their website here:

http://sydney.usconsulate.gov/consular/Pet...nstructions.pdf

You can no longer do a one day walk in and file everything at the same time.

Thanks Sadie33138, yes, I exchanged several e-mails with the US Consulate in Sydney and things are quite different now, but the DCF is still doable for people like me, an American residing in the States with an Australian fiancée. We're getting married in Sydney in January and had planned to do everything beforehand the old way, but now there's nothing we can or need to do until after the wedding. Not a big problem - we can still get prepared and file everything straight away after that. I was worried at first that Australia no longer accepted the DCF process; I breathed a big sigh of relief. The Consulate was very helpful.

Hi NCBABE and sadie33138,

What's this changeover you're referring to? Is Australia changing its DCF policy? My fiancée just e-mailed them requesting a packet 3 to get our case opened and they replied that they don't send out packet 3's now until the I-130 has been filed. I'm trying to get clarification, but if anyone knows more or has had recent experience attempting the DCF route in Australia, please let me know. Thanks!