aelix

Just to add my 2c... my wife and I had unlocked smartphones from Australia already (Galaxy S2 and Nexus 4 respectively) so we wanted a carrier who would allow BYO device and provided a decent amount of data at low cost. BYO device eliminates Verizon and any Sprint-based providers because they use CDMA which doesn't have an insertable SIM card. So you're left with AT&T and T-Mobile plus the smaller providers that use those two networks.

We ended up with Cricket Wireless (wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T) on a really good deal: $32.50 each per month for unlimited talk and text plus 1GB high-speed data (throttled after that). The setup was 2x $40/mth "basic" plans = $80 but then $10 discount for 2 lines on one account and another $5 discount for using AutoPay = a final bill for BOTH phones of only $65/mth.

The only thing you need to check ahead of time is whether your device works on the right frequency bands. You need a GSM phone that can access at least one of the 700, 850, 1700, 1900 or 2300 MHz bands. These are common bands though, and most modern devices are quad- or penta-band phones anyway.

when a visa gets glued into the passport, study the line that contains the word 'endorsement' and learn what an I-551 document is.

And yes, most CR-1/IR-1 visa holders are successful in getting a SSN 3 to 4 weeks after arriving in the USA, getting into a SSA office and applying for the SSN.

Thanks, I do understand that on entry the endorsed visa will serve as a 'temporary green card'. But the issue I'm trying to resolve is how to insure myself and my family for literally the first few days/weeks that we are in the US, because if I don't get some form of coverage we could e.g. get in a car accident on the way home from the airport and end up with a $100,000 medical bill.

I called the Healthcare.gov hotline and the guy was fairly vague about whether my wife and kids (who are USCs) would be able to apply for a plan through the Marketplace before actually moving to the US. We think the answer is probably 'no' because they won't be able to demonstrate residence (no utility bills, no drivers licence etc). So I think we are going to have to get temporary insurance through a non-Obamacare provider just for immediate coverage, then sort out proper coverage after we get there.

Thanks for the replies. I do know that we need to sign up for a 'proper' plan but our research so far was suggesting that we couldn't do that until we were present in the US. My wife and kids are USCs so it seems like they should be able to sign up - my wife will phone as suggested. But how do I get coverage under an Obamacare plan when until I arrive I won't have anything apart from a visa in my passport? No SSN, no green card etc...

Hi all

We're flying out to the US in October and I've been trying to find temporary health insurance just to cover the family (2 adults, 2 kids) until we're able to get on a proper plan as residents (Michigan). I've seen others talk about getting added to a pre-existing employer's plan but my wife doesn't work and I don't have a job lined up yet.

I looked at travel insurance and it seemed like I could get a policy for emergencies but then at the final stage of signup it asked me to confirm that we would all be returning to Australia after our 'trip'. So that's not going to work.

Does anyone know of a good option? What did others do?

Thanks in advance...

I'm going with Pack n Send for a few boxes when we move. It's going to cost $600ish to send 2x large wool rugs (expensive ones) and 1x large box full of expensive cookware etc. Everything else is being given away or sold because there's just no way to justify the cost of shipping

Yes, you will need to get it re-sealed by the embassy; you should contact them immediately.

Yeah thanks, consulate confirmed this. Bit annoyed as they're making me send them another prepaid express post envelope. So for their mistake/neglect I have to pay another $20 or so.

Hi all

Got my visa packet and passport back last week, and the seal on the envelope was completely open. It looks like they just didn't seal it properly and it came unstuck in transit. I've put some tape on it but I'm wondering if I need to send it back to the consulate and have them send it back to me again?

Thanks for the update! Question:

I filed my 2013 US Taxes from overseas (I'm the petitioner living in Aus with my husband who his the beneficiary). During 2013 I only made AUS income and my 1040 lists my total income as 0.

I wrote 0 in the i-864 form per the instructions which say to write the total income from my 1040.

Is this okay?

The difference in my wife's case was that she actually earned no Australian income at all, so she wasn't required to file a US tax return. That's why writing "0.00" for the US tax return question was wrong - the correct answer was "did not file" (although as pointed out in my post above, they didn't ultimately ask for the revised I-864).

Thanks for the update! Question:

I filed my 2013 US Taxes from overseas (I'm the petitioner living in Aus with my husband who his the beneficiary). During 2013 I only made AUS income and my 1040 lists my total income as 0.

I wrote 0 in the i-864 form per the instructions which say to write the total income from my 1040.

Is this okay?

The difference in my wife's case was that she actually earned no Australian income at all, so she wasn't required to file a US tax return. That's why writing "0.00" for the US tax return question was wrong - the correct answer was "did not file" (although as pointed out in my post above, they didn't ultimately ask for the revised I-864).

Awesome and Congrats

Please paste your consulate review in the review section! http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/dos_review.php

Done, thanks for the pointer.

Hi all

I had my final visa interview on Tuesday morning and it went well - only took about an hour all up and I've been approved. Here's how it played out for those who are preparing for theirs:

• My appointment time was 8.30am but I showed up at 8am since I was in the city already. I went up to Level 10 (reception) where you need to go through security.
  
• Security is similar to at an airport - you put your bag/s through a scanner and go through a metal detector yourself. You can't take any electronic devices, USB sticks or even CDs with you... in my case the clinic that did my medical included a CD with my chest x-rays and as a result I wasn't allowed to take the envelope up to the interview. More on that later.
  
• I took all the docs requested in the interview letter as well as copies of the forms I'd submitted previously, just in case I needed to refer to any of those. I should have taken a book or magazine because in the interview room there are only women's mags :-P
  
• The first step once my number was called was a bunch of admin stuff - handing over my passport, prepaid envelope and the two US passport photos, doing fingerprints etc. I basically stood at the window while the lady looked through documents for 10-15 minutes.
  
• I had to go back down to reception to get my medical envelope because of the security issue I mentioned earlier. They made me open the envelope and take out the CD, then take the rest of the materials back up.
  
• After the admin stuff I sat and waited for 15-20 minutes for my interview. This was with an American officer who literally asked me 6 questions: when did I marry my wife? How did we meet? What does her dad (my co-sponsor) do for work? Why are we moving to the US? What do I plan to do for work there? Where do we plan to live on arrival? Our discussion lasted maybe 6-7 minuets and then she said "congratulations, you've been approved".

I had brought relationship and domicile evidence with me but wasn't asked for anything. But I saw another guy getting grilled quite a bit for his interview so it depends on individual circumstances. My case was about as straightforward as they get: Australian by birth, married to my American wife 5 years, already have 2 kids, moving to be with family. The other guy was Pakistani and had an arranged marriage to an American girl he had never met before etc. etc.

Once my interview was done the lady explained the next steps. The next day I got the email re. dispatch of my passport with visa and my entry package. That should arrive today and then I'm all done!

Many thanks to the VJ folks who helped me fill out forms and avoid common mistakes. Happy to answer any questions about my experience.

Just to close the loop on this issue: I showed up to my visa interview armed with two further versions of my wife's I-864 having been told to bring a completed form to the interview... but the issue wasn't even raised.

Seems a bit odd since I'd been notified that the form was incorrect/incomplete and presumably the officer had that info in front of them, but maybe I just got a picky NVC reviewer and the consulate staff decided it didn't matter (since I wasn't claiming any support from my wife and had a co-sponsor).

Well, the lady from the NVC said we should just write "0.00" against each of the three tax years, so that's what we did (despite my view that it's strictly the wrong response). I presume they'll accept what we've done, if not I may have to argue with them a bit because I'm not posting yet another copy of the form @ $23 and 3-4 weeks delay.

Just reviving this thread because I don't want to leave others with incomplete or incorrect information. We followed the instructions given by the lady from the NVC and wrote zero for the income reported to the IRS for the most recent three tax years. This was not accepted.

While the NVC completed our case and forwarded it to the Sydney consulate who have scheduled my interview, we also received another checklist letter advising that item 13.a. and 13.a.1. were incorrect/incomplete. The letter explicitly states that we shouldn't send another I-864 to the NVC; instead my wife is to sign a new one and I'm to bring it on Tuesday.

I'm now going to follow pushbrk's advice and have my wife write 'not required to file - income below filing threshold' in the relevant sections, because as far as I can tell there is no other option remaining. It does make me a bit nervous though, because if for some reason they're not happy with how we've done it this time I have no way to satisfy them (my wife will be in Melbourne so she can't even sign another new one on the spot).

I'll report back on what happens...

Hi all

I have my visa interview next Tuesday and I've got all my paperwork together, just looking at logistics to make sure I know e.g. how to get to the consulate etc. One thing I haven't been able to work out is whether I need to find somewhere to store my travel bag (coming from Melbourne) and if so, what my options are.

I will only have a single small carry-on bag but I read somewhere that there's "limited space" at the consulate so they don't recommend bringing luggage to the appointment. But I don't have a hotel room in the city so I can't leave stuff there... does anyone have any suggestions e.g. for those coin lockers or something nearby, or should I not worry about it because I only have a small bag?

Many thanks!

I think it is fine. Can I ask what shipping company are you going with? I am trying to find the best rate and I am in Melbourne also (Western Suburbs).

Thanks :-)

I got a quote from a shipping company which does it per metre squared but it was fairly pricey ($600ish per m2). Another Aussie mentioned Pack n Send (www.packsend.com.au) and when I put the dimensions and weight into their calculator it came out much cheaper - I'll be able to send 2 large rugs plus a large box full of cookware etc for about $600 all up.

We have sold/given away most of our stuff though... the above mentioned items are all we're taking apart from our suitcases.

Hi all

We're due to move to the US in October and I'm just organising the things we want to ship/freight over. I can't quite figure out from the US customs website whether I'll be allowed to import a couple of wool rugs that I want to bring. They are Australian made so no issues with sanctions/embargos but they could be considered animal products if a broad definition was used.

Can anyone clear this up for me?

Thanks!

Hi all

My case is now complete at the NVC and I've been given an interview date (5 August). However, I will have a new passport by the time I show up for the interview (needed to get it renewed before moving to the US) so the passport number won't match the one I've used on forms to date.

I was thinking I'd just take both passports - the old one has the machine readable codes cut off but still has the photo and all other info - and explain that I had to get a new one. But I wanted to check if anyone has been in a similar situation and faced any problems?

Thanks

Hi all

Just a heads-up in case others encounter this strange problem...

I received two checklist letters by email yesterday, one addressed to me (intending immigrant) and one to my wife (petitioner). My letter was straightforward: it reminded me to send in the DS-260 supporting docs, which I've already done and I've confirmed they are in processing with the NVC. However, my wife's letter had some very strange text under the Financial Evidence heading (see attached).

On closer inspection I realised this was actually very similar text to what was in my letter, but for some reason that I cannot fathom the NVC wrote it in a Greek-style font. Note that the words are not actually Greek - just the alphabet used to write the text.

If you encounter this problem, you can read the relevant text by copying it and pasting it as plain text e.g. into the built-in Windows notepad application.

Cheers

A

If there's an argument, you will lose, and if you want to clear NVC, you'll certainly send another. I take it you've already posted the new one?

Yes, we posted the new one the day after we got the checklist. I did just get another AOS checklist letter today which had no further requests in it... hoping that means they've accepted the AOS. I do accept that you're right about the fruitfulness of arguing, so I can only hope it doesn't come to that.

Well, the lady from the NVC said we should just write "0.00" against each of the three tax years, so that's what we did (despite my view that it's strictly the wrong response). I presume they'll accept what we've done, if not I may have to argue with them a bit because I'm not posting yet another copy of the form @ $23 and 3-4 weeks delay.

I understand the above responses, but I would argue that writing anything at all in those fields when we did not actually file returns with the IRS is misleading and incorrect. The question says:

"My total income ... as reported on my Federal tax returns for the most recent 3 years was:"

This implies that tax returns have been filed (even if they had a zero total income) when in fact nothing was filed with the IRS. We left the fields blank because we didn't want to suggest that my wife had actually filed something with the IRS when she hadn't.

Ah ok, thanks for setting my mind at ease.

Hi all - simple question: should I expect an email notification when the NVC receives the docs I mailed in support of my DS-260?

I didn't get a notification when they received my AOS and supporting docs, but I know they got it because I got an AOS checklist letter yesterday. But I thought I'd seen other members here saying they received a receipt of some kind after sending in IV supporting documentation.

Glad someone could be spared the inconvenience - these forums are a godsend for those of us trying to navigate the ins and outs of this process.

Just for the benefit of others who are filling out their I-864s and find themselves in a similar situation to us:

If the petitioner did not have to file US tax returns for any of the most recent 3 financial years because they earned no income at all (or earned so little that they were below the filing threshold)... they MUST STILL enter e.g. "2013" at item 13a and "0.00" at item 13.a.1

We didn't do this, choosing instead to explain in great detail why we had entered no info there, and they sent us a checklist with that as the only required item. It's utterly ridiculous since we explained the situation and it's a nonsense to fill in those items if one hasn't filed anything with the IRS, but that's how it works according to the NVC rep we spoke to.

So... now we have to fill out the whole form again, waste another $23 on express international postage from Australia, and our case gets delayed by several more weeks while we wait for them to get around to looking at it again.

Needless to say I am not pleased.

It took us 11 months to get from NOA1 to NOA2... very frustrating but in the meantime you should work on filling out the I-864s and get all the required documentation together for that and the DS-260. Things have been moving much faster since the NOA2.