Amanda4964

Can you go back to the place where had your medical done and get them to reseal it? I wouldn't risk arriving at your interview or POE with it opened.

Last year, we used King and Wilson. It cost about $1500 (including insurance) to ship 3 cubic meters from Melbourne to Olympia, Washington. It took 5 months due to some delays in customs, but that was not the fault of the moving company and we were very happy with their service overall including packing everything and delivery door to door.

Dropping in to say hello! We have been in the US for 2 weeks exactly and are slowly settling in. Living at my parents' house while we look for a house and jobs. We bought a car last week, so have transportation without borrowing my parents' vehicles. They have made us feel so welcome and we are very comfortable at their house. Still feels like a vacation. I have applied for a couple of jobs, but not stressing yet, just enjoying time with family and friends. Our kids started school this week and are settling in well. I don't want them to get too settled though because when we move to a new house they will have to change schools again. They are only little, so shouldn't be too traumatic for them.

I haven't been on here forever, so not sure who is still around. Was thrilled to read about Sharksbelow case complete and so excited for Soloenta's upcoming interview!

Take care everyone and hang in there if you are still waiting on CC, it will come and your dream will come true too.

I would say get them done at the medical. This will reduce the risk of getting unneccessary ones or not having them all done and having to go through it again at the medical anyway.

AMANDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA so lovely to see you I hope you had a great Christmas and thank you very much. I truly miss you guys so always happy to see you post. God willing this is the beginning of the end just praying for no AP and of course interview approved and Visa in hand. We shall see it is now in God's hands.

I pop in once in awhile to check in on you! We are finishing up selling our belongings (pain in the butt!) and fly to the US in just over 3 weeks!!!!!!! OMG only 10 work days left.

Can't wait to get there and see my family!!!!

Awwww baby girl, I would think it takes a while but just hug your husband when you feel that way. At least you are done with the nightmare everything from here on is Gold.

Big huge announcement, yes thought it would never happen we have an interview

February 19 Th 20 ugg 15

That is wonderful news. You will be done with this nightmare and back together very soon!!!!

Thank you! That is so sweet

And I agree. Why do they want us to suffer so? I don't understand.

People who have talked to a supervisor: is this hard to do? Do they hate having to put you through to a supervisor? Are the supervisors usually helpful? If I talk to a supervisor, will they be able to check and see whether in fact my mother-in-law's i864a is correct seeing as how taxes were jointly filed and return+all schedules was indeed included? Or will they tell us to just send it all in again?

I think it depends which operator you get and why you ask to speak to a supervisor. It can't hurt to try, but some operators will be like gatekeepers. I have heard a lot of people report they will just say the supervisors are in a meeting or just "not avaialable". Some people report never getting through to a supervisor and others appear to get through easily.

I only asked to speak to a supervisor once at the very end when I was at day 67 with no checklist or case complete. I was beyond distressed at this point so I think the operator felt sorry for me and put me through after first saying a supervisor was not available and I burst into tears and all of a sudden someone was available!

Back when I called a very helpful supervisor, Octavio worked 4pm-midnight Mon-Friday, not sure if that is still his schedule, but maybe you could try calling and asking to speak to him? Perhaps if you ask for him by name they will think he is expecting your call? ha ha. Another supervisor I have heard is good is Sylvia, and I think she worked the morning shift.

Best of luck in sorting this out.

Saylin kindly replied to a PM I sent her, asking about this. Saylin thinks that they're probably asking for W2s /transcripts of my mother-in-law, the joint sponsor's wife, even though we stated that they are jointly filing tax returns and are both separately self-employed.

The second part is more understandable, it's the part that we left blank when we shouldn't have.

But they told us that it was my HUSBAND'S W2 that was missing. At no point is my husband even mentioned apart from being the addressee.

The other thing they checklisted us for is my police certificate, as I have mentioned before. The first person we talked to at NVC didn't even mention it, the second person said to just ignore that part because it gets sent to the consulate (confirmed by emailing the Sydney consulate that it's okay to bring my AFP certificate with me to the interview even).

Sigh.

PS. OH my god I'm now joining the ranks of finding it really hard to be happy for people

OMG, NVC is a nightmare!!! We all want to provide what they need, but they make it so bloody difficult.

I wish they would provide checklists online instead of letting the phone operators tell you one thing and then weeks later send something different. If everything was online, we could interpret for ourselves and only call if we need clarification. No wonder their phone lines are so busy because people call to find out if they got a checklist because there is no way to check on their own.

It's like their goal in life is to suck the life out of us before they let us "pass". I remember going into NVC so hopeful and coming out so bitter. It will sometimes be hard to be happy for others, but it doesn't make you a bad person. When I would get like that I would just have to stay away from VJ for a few days until my positive attitude returned. It's hard to get used to all of the hurdles they throw at you, but you will get through.

Perhaps they make it so hard so we have to prove we are serious about immigration. Nobody in their right mind would go through all of this on a whim!

Keep your chin up and I am here to talk if you ever need to.

Is there someone who can interpret this checklist email for me? I don't understand why the phone people would tell us one thing and this document appears to say something else it's so bizarre, I'm so upset

Did you get some assistance with this? I am a little sporadic on this site, so not sure I can help, but glad to take a look if you want to post the checklist or email to me I will have a look and see if I can make sense of it. Or maybe you are planning to call NVC tonight (Australia time)?

Sorry you are having a frustrating time. Not fair for them to send the email so long after the checklist. Were you meant to waste all that time waiting to send your documents in case the letter was different to what the phone rep said? Doesn't make sense that they would tell you something different to the letter.

I knew an hour ago but had to wait until I was sure case complete!

BEST NEWS EVER (since my own CC, lol)!!!!!!

I know my emoticons don't do yours justice Soloenta, but this is the best I can do!!!!!

I am thrilled, over the moon and so so happy for you my dear. You have waited so long and are so deserving to finally be nearly done with NVC. I hope you get a quick interview date and can be together again in early 2015.

You have made this site so….what's the word? Colourful? Not just your emoticons, but your sweet loving presence. Never change my dear!

omg i cant believe how long you have come, i thought i was the only one who has gone pass 16 months and still no CC, but everything works out in the end. am sooo happy you will be with your loved one soon, the way is suppose to be. please enjoy each and day and make each day count. stay bless. you have giving me Hope.

Yes, it took 16 months to get CC. We have spent the last 2 months selling our house, as we were not willing to risk selling too early and have nowhere to live or have to get locked into a rental contract.

Hi VJ friends, just checking in. We have finally booked our flights and our POE will be LAX on 22nd Jan. Now, we have 6 weeks to pack up and get ready to leave Australia.

Wishing you all the very best as you get through this lengthy process. I promise it will all be worth it and it will happen eventually. We started this journey 18 months ago thinking it would take 6 months, so there have been some difficult times as our life has been on hold. It all seems like a distant memory now that we can start the next chapter of our life.

Soloenta, this has to be your week!!! And Samreen, your good news must be coming too.

This just all seems so stupid. What an effing stupid thing to be checklisted over. I hate this process so much. It doesn't make any sense. So now I have to be separated from my husband for up to a couple of months because the NVC people have no discretion whatsoever to use common sense and figure sh*t out for themselves.

So upset

I know exactly how you are feeling. I got checklisted for putting my annual income in 13a (instead of $0 because of foreign income exclusion) It was all in my tax return, they could have easily found what they needed, but instead I got a checklist and had to add another 71 days (yes, of course I was the one who went over the 60 days) to have this one tiny thing reviewed. The idiot who reviewed my checklist filed my application away without completing my case, so I had to get a supervisor to review it and complete the case.

I definitely know how absolutely bullsh*t this whole process is and all I can say is hang in there. We are powerless over their ignorance, but we will all eventually get through it one way or another. I know this won't make you feel better right know, but you will get there eventually. Just have to jump through all of their ridiculous hoops unfortunately. Visa Journey was a great support group for me during my wait, so many people can understand and relate, so never hesitate coming on here and venting.

Sending positivity!

Well it's official. We got a checklist. They need my husband's W2 for some reason (did I miss that being necessary when we submitted his return?!) and my mother-in-law's i864a Section 1 to be filled out "completely". NOt sure what that's about. Is it because we left mailing address blank because it was the same as above? Is it because we left the "city" of her birth blank? There is no city it's unincorporated land in China.

So devastated.

Oh no, I am so sorry to see this! I logged on to see your CC announcment and I am so sad you got a checklist. Big hugs

I know what it is like to get a checklist, I got one too. Take time to feel sad, but then dust yourself off and get the corrections in ASAP to start the clock ticking again. You will get through this nightmare.

Wishing you all the best x

Hi Amanda

Guess what they emailed me this morning to say they have rescheduled my interview and then wrote down my current date and time for the new one. I have emailed them back but with Thanksgiving I will have to wait until Friday or Monday for an answer. If it is next Tuesday I will be frantically booking flights on Monday afternoon!

Oh, those silly sausages! I hope they get back to you first thing tomorrow. And I hope your interview is ASAP. How exciting to know they have rescheduled it, so no matter when (2nd, 9th or 16th) you should be able to make it home for Christmas!

Hi friends,

Sorry I have not been around as much lately. So busy with trying to sell the house. After 3 weeks on the market we have received and accepted an offer! We are not officially sold until 9th December, as the buyer is getting an independent building/pest inspection and has to get their finance cleared, but they are pre-approved so we should be good! We got offered more than we had anticipated ($2500 more than any 3 bedroom house in our area has sold for in the past 3 years!), which is wonderful because now we can use the extra money to ship our belongings and put towards flights. We have asked for a settlement date of 21st Jan (flights get cheaper, almost ½ price mid Jan). So fingers crossed, if everything works out, we should have our POE about 22nd Jan!

I can’t believe I might actually be home in 8 weeks! And only 33 days of work left. Ha ha

I am sending all of my positive vibes to MSC for an earlier interview date, EOC for visa issue and Soloenta and SharksBelow for CC. Best of wishes to everyone else going through this process, no matter what stage you are at, I hope everyone gets through quickly!!!

Hi everyone

I am still here reading the thread daily.

Soloenta. It is nearly your turn.

SharksBelow it is just around the corner

I now have the a Medical results in my hand. Have emailed Consulate to see about that earlier interview so am just waiting to hear back. Why do I feel that I have spent the past 15 months just waiting for something all the time.

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too! I am thankful it will be the last one apart from my loved ones in the USA.

My fingers are crossed for Sydney to get back to you ASAP with an earier interview date and get you and the kids (and the pups) home to your hubby in time for Christmas!

I know what you mean and I agree, it's good to have perspective. But my feelings are as valid as anyone else's feelings. We also didn't ask for that expedite.

I was not saying your feelings are invalid, just trying to look at the bright side. Apologies if I was unclear.

I know you didn't ask for an expedite, but what a stroke of luck! I would have given anything to get through USCIS in 11 days versus 9 months. I am sure you have perspective and are thankful for your quick timeline and the fact you are with your spouse. I am just trying to shine a light on the positives, as I know I needed reminding when NVC got me down.

Just hang tight and you will have CC and an interview before you know it! All the best.

It's so hard though, I don't understand why ours would take longer when it is so straightforward

You'll be ok, just try to relax. Please look at the big picture, your timeline shows you have had a pretty good run. Took us 16 months to get through USCIS and NVC, so you got a huge break with the auto-expedite that was not available to us when we applied last year (both living overseas in Australia) and our case was as straightforward as you can get (been married 11 years, 3 kids, no prior marriages, no criminal history, enough assets to not need co-sponsor, etc).

I think you will get your CC this week, just please stay positive and remember it could be a lot worse.

Well, we're more than ready to move to Seattle.

Since we have sold our house and car, we've been living in a hotel waiting for my passport.

We were planning to move to Seattle last Sat since I thought I was getting my passport back last Friday.

Now, I hope to move there by this Friday if possible.

Of course, that depends on when/if I get my passport back.

Montreal Consulate totally sucks!

So incredibly frustrating when you are throwing money down the drain paying for a hotel. I guess the only upside is you haven't had to rebook flights or anything, but still! Not cool Montreal, not cool.

I have a feeling your passport is going to arrive in the next 48 hours and you will be crossing the border into WA state on Friday. Yay!!!!!!!!!

The Montreal Consulate replied to one of my 4-6 emails marked as "EXTREMELY URGENT!!!".

This is what they wrote (I'm copying and pasting below):

Good day,

Thank you for your email.

We can confirm that your issued visa has left our office yesterday. We are currently experiencing technical problems andunfortunately, we cannot provide you with a waybill number at this time.

If you have any questions regarding the courier service, you may visit The Department of State has temporarily disabled hyperlinks> or contact CSC by email at contactus_en_CA@usvisa-info.com

NO WAYBILL NUMBER!!??

I called Loomis and THEY DIDN"T FIND ANYTHING under the Reference ID on the usvisa-info.com site.

I have no idea where my passport is! I can't believe how they're handling this!

Oh my, not the stress you need! That is crazy, how can they have no waybill number for something so important?! Let's hope it turns up very soon!

What date are you planning to leave for Seattle? Hope it gets to you in time.

I'm back from Montreal! My interview was on Monday, but I spent the next two days sightseeing the city.

I now have my laptop computer with me so I just wrote my Consulate Review (Interview Experience)!

It's at the end of my timeline page. http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=166483

I'm now waiting for my passport back with the visa. I hope I get it tomorrow! Fingers crossed!

Loved your review Austin, so descriptive. I will forever picture you doing waiting room yoga! And I nearly spat out my coffee when you wrote about how you wanted the new photos because the old ones made your skin look oily! First world problems! Ha hahahahah.

So happy for you and look forward to hearing about the beautiful home you will find in Seattle. xoxo

AMANDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA how are you my friend? You in the USA yet doesn't say on your signature? How are you doing?

Hello my friend!!! I am well, how are you? Hope you are hanging in there. Can't be long now for you I hope!!!

Still in Australia, we are in the process of selling our house now, so fingers crossed someone buys it soon! We plan to stay until after Christmas and go once the house settles (probably end of Jan).

We will definitely be arriving before 15th March because that is when my husband has to enter for the visa! Seems weird that we waited so long and can't go right away. We just didn't want to sell the house until we had the visa in hand and end up homeless or have to rent. And we thought we might as well have one last Christmas here so the kids can finish the school year and we can have lots of going away parties. :joy:

IT'S HERE!

I'm flying to Montreal (from Vancouver, Canada) today since my interview is tomorrow!

It's crazy to think that I'm flying coast to coast (5 hours and 30 minutes) for a 10-minute interview!

I'll have to use my cell phone to check Visa Journey and Facebook since I won't have my laptop with me!

I don't even know how to insert images using my cell phone! That's no fun!

Some people have asked me, "Are you ready for the interview?"

Well, I'm more than ready since I've waited for 13 months!

Actually, who would not be ready after 13 months?

Anyway, I have this to say! Fingers crossed for myself!

I'll say some jokes during the interview if the CO is friendly and chatty (like me)!

All the best for your flights and interview! I am sure it will all go perfectly and we will be seeing your "Approved" post tomorrrow!!!

So happy to see this day come for you guys. You have waited so long and you will be Seattle before you know it! :joy:

Got CC email.

So from reading the thread this morning looks like no more interviews in December. The children are beyond disappointment. Me too. Do we think this is for definite for all embassies.

When will they start scheduling January?

Don't lose hope! Looking at the interview spreadsheet Australia usually has about 26-55 days from CC to interview, so I think you will still get a December interview. Australia only does them on Tuesdays, so even if you got the 23rd December, you could still make it for Christmas.

For some reason I have a feeling you will find out next week. In the past there were a few Australian interviews booked around the 10th/11th of the month. Although nobody know exactly how they do it at NVC, I still have hope you will get a December interview. Australia always seems to be one of the last countries to book interviews, so I don't think you have missed out just yet.