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5 hours ago, John951 said:

Can I make the GSS profile for her or is it required that she make the profile ?

As far as I know, it doesn't matter who creates the profile.  All you are doing is creating a profile after you have registered with an ID and Password.  From the ID and Password the embassy has no idea who made the profile.  I made the profile for my fiance.

Really, as far as the embassy is concerned, once the petition has been granted and they mail everything from the US to the embassy for the next part of the process, they are dealing with the petitioner or the fiance, but that doesn't mean you can't help in every way you can.  I basically did everything for my fiance except when it came to her signature and, of course, the interview.

Application received at CSC 4/26

Check pending 6/4 

3 minutes ago, rklein said:

What should people in my situation do? My GC expires in about 9 days and I have not received anything from my I-751 filling. I did send my application thru UPS and got a signature from Moya saying it was received, but besides that when I call they have nothing in the system yet. 

If you were to go as far as calling and getting in touch with a Tier 2 officer, you will most likely get the same answer I got.  They are backed-up right now so continue to wait.   Call back in another 2-3 weeks.

When I asked about the GC expiring, he was blase about it and just said, "It's OK, they know there is a problem at CSC, assuming you are filing with CSC.  That really doesn't make any of us feel better and I'm sure there would be problems if any of our spouses had to prove they were a legal resident after their GC expires, but the USCIS just doesn't seem to give a #@$#@.

22 minutes ago, Immigrant8 said:

Hi guys,

I am new to this forum. I need to file I - 751 to CSC. I know it has been crazy busy at CSC and people waiting for more than 4 to 5 weeks to receive NOA1. 

I am ready to file I-751 but in 4 weeks I am planning to move to different state. I do not know the new address yet. Is it advisable to file I-751 now to CSC with my current address and later on call them to make address change? I do not know if they will even have my application in their system in 3 weeks to find and make address change to ensure future correspondence is mailed to right address. 

Another option, I can wait and then after 4 weeks I can file I-751 with new address that I will have. Except new lease agreement for bonafide marriage evidence, I will have all other proofs of old address. Do you guys think this can be issue in I-751 outcome? and also the longer I wait to file, GC will  expire sooner. 

Please advise with detail. 

I would also be concerned.

If it were me, I would seriously consider going ahead and filing your I-751 as soon as you can.  Make sure when you move or a few days before that you file a COA with the Postal Service.  They do a good job of redirecting mail to new addresses.

You can file a Change of Address with the USCIS online here:

egov.uscis.gov/coa/displayCOAForm.do

Read all their preamble stuff on the first page, if you feel the need, then click on CONTINUE at the bottom of this page and it looks like they will walk you through filing a change of address.

The first question they ask is if the COA is for a petition currently in PROGRESS.  So it would seem they deal with this situation all the time.

I didn't think to check VisaJourney until today.  Everything went so smoothly with the initial 2-year green card that I haven't even had a thought about VisaJourney until today.  I may not have mailed the second application if I had come here first, but I didn't, so that's water under the bridge.

Nevertheless, I feel better knowing that on this second application we, at least, have something to show if needed.

Well it looks like an earthquake has hit the California Service Center.  Several people were receiving their I-797's and having their checks cashed within 1-2 weeks of mailing the I-751 package in at the beginning of April.  Looking at how long this thread is now, without actually reading every post, it appears obvious something very significant has happened at the CSC.

We mailed the package on April 25 and it was received April 26 as evidenced by the USPS tracking number.   Unfortunately, I did not use certified mail or a return receipt with signature.  Assuming they lost my application I mailed another application yesterday (May 30) CERTIFIED and RETURN RECEIPT with SIGNATURE.  This time I will have proof.

Today we called immigration and finally spoke with a Tier 2 officer who simply said, they are backed up and to wait another 30 days.

Looks like many of us are in the same situation.  Our spouses will soon have an expired Green Card and zero proof they have filed the I-751.  The Tier 2 officer said, "it's OK, because they know there is a problem at CSC"...right!!!  That's not going to help any of our spouses if they have to prove they are a legal resident.

My suggestion is for everyone to start writing to their Congressman.  They have the power to get answers.  That is what I will do today.

2 hours ago, robinbecki said:

Do you have to bring it to the interview if you already sent it in in Packet 3? We sent ours in in Packet 3 and now when trying to access the confirmation page, the receipt number isn't automatically filled in in the text box. I'm trying to retrieve the receipt number somewhere in my digital and physical records, but if it's not crucial to send it and bring it in, I won't bother.

I assume you are talking about bringing that final page with the barcode from the "cgifederal.secure.force” website or what they refer to as GSS or creating your "Profile" after the receipt number fills in once you have made your payment at the bank.

NOTE:  Whenever you print a critical document during any of this process scan it and store it for later retrieval.  Every critical document I ever printed or created is still stored on my computer.  The receipt number is on the bank receipt you got from the bank...at least that is what my memory says.

Sending it in packet #3 should be all you need, but why not bring it to the interview just in case...assuming you have it.  After all, it is only a single piece of paper.  Secondly, I wouldn't worry too much if you have received your letter for an interview and it came with no instructions to bring this page.  That would seem to say all is in order, but again, why not bring it.  Always better to be safe than sorry.

2 hours ago, ShanghaiSurfer said:

My fiancé is from China so even though they drive on same side as USA your Wild Wild West description is fitting. Will take your advice then on learning permit even though she has a Chinese drivers license. Thanks again.

BTW, if you do get a Learner's Permit it will expire on the day your Fiance's I-94 expires.  That is as long as they can authorize it for since her legal presence expires at that time.  If you want to extend it then you will have to apply under the AB60 program.  If you do this then the Learner's Permit will be good for 1 year.

1 hour ago, ShanghaiSurfer said:

My fiancé is from China so even though they drive on same side as USA your Wild Wild West description is fitting. Will take your advice then on learning permit even though she has a Chinese drivers license. Thanks again.

My Fiance and myself, since I lived there for 6 1/2 years, came from a country with the 2nd worst fatality record in the world...and left-hand drive...THAILAND. We had some bad habits to break, plus they had no 2-way or 4-way stops so that was new for her.  The police only stopped people for speeding at roadside checkpoints, virtually no other laws were enforced.

5 hours ago, ShanghaiSurfer said:

i didn't understand the first part when you said Don't bother driving until you have drivers or learning permit. Can you explain your meaning. 

Yeah, that was probably a mis-statement.

Can you drive with a foreign license, yes you can…for a certain period of time.  You will need a good amount of time to help your fiancé learn to drive in the US where the driving is on the right-hand side or they come from a country where the driving is like the Wild West or both.  However, if your fiancé already comes from a well behaved right-hand drive country and is a good driver then you are in great shape to start studying for the written and behind-the-wheel tests and have that over with fairly quickly.  So driving on a foreign license while learning may never be a problem.

If you look at it from the point of view that it is legal for a certain time period to drive on a foreign license, then I guess it's OK as long as any cop who may stop you for some infraction agrees.  I just thought it was much better to get the Learner’s Permit so there was no question she was legal to drive throughout the entire time she was learning.

6 hours ago, Daron and Honey said:

Where to go to get the Export Documents?  and what is the approximate cost? did you check on any restrictions for Thai Air?

 

Thank you

Go here to check on Thai Airways pet policy.

http://www.thaiairways.com/en_ID/plan_my_trip/travel_information/Pet_Travel.page

Thai Air does not allow in-cabin travel, only as checked baggage.  A simple Google search will get you information on any airlines pet policy.  Do not read any results except for those that are on the airlines website.  There are several third party websites that profess to have this information which may or may not be accurate and up-to-date, but I figure the airlines website itself will have the latest and most accurate if anyone does and finally call the airlines to get a hold of a knowledgeable person with pet travel and confirm everything.  Don’t accept “I think so” as an answer.  Get someone who knows for sure.

What a simple Google search may not get you is how good each airline is at taking care of your pet given the distance you will be traveling.  By far EVA seems to have the best reputation.  If you love your dog you will pay the price to fly this airline, but their prices aren’t usually bad.  We called a well known pet rescue place in Phuket and found out they feel EVA is the best of all the airlines.  They ship adopted pets worldwide all the time.  EVA also brought a video of our dog to my wife as she sat in the transit lounge in Taipei.  That was a very nice touch.

As far as the documentation goes all the information is a Google search away as well.  In any case, first you must have an official vaccination book from your Vet showing all your dogs vaccinations.  The official government department responsible for health documents also wants the doctor’s name, address and license number in the book.  Your pet must have had a Rabies vaccination at least one year before travel and no sooner than one month before you travel.  With this in hand you go to the government Vet at Suvarnabhumi Airport one to three days before you travel and get your health documents.  They use to give you up to 10 days, but now they have cut it down to no more than two-three days.  Cost is about 50 baht or something for the documents…it’s negligible.  What will cost you in cash is your pet to fly on the airline.  You pay at the ticket counter; ours was $200+ USD or equivalent in Baht, which seems about standard unless you are bringing a particularly large dog.  Ours was a small 5kg dog.  Call the airlines ahead of time and give them the weight of your dog and carrier and they should be able to tell you how much.  Also, once you have yourselves paid for and booked on the airline you must make a separate reservation by phone directly to the airline in Bangkok for your dog as most airlines only ship so many pets per flight.

Follow these instructions here for your documents:

http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/998-traveling-with-a-pet

Here are the Google Map coordinates for the Vet on the airport grounds.

13.712726, 100.752533

If you do not know how to use coordinates, just cut and paste them into the Google Maps search box.  It will take you right to the exact spot in a long building where they are located.

We flew our dog from Thailand to Los Angeles.  Unfortunately, much of what I can contribute would be specific to Thailand.  Our dog flew as checked baggage.  Very few airlines allow a dog to travel in couch, especially for such a long distance as we were going and the size and weigh must be small to ride in couch.

We found a shop in Bangkok that sold all the PetMate model carriers.  We purchased a Navigator model and it was OK with EVA Airlines, but their more rigid models might have been better.  The Navigator is made of a somewhat flexible plastic.

You have to be aware of any requirements from countries you might transit through.  We had to email Taiwan for permission to transit our dog through Taipei.  We received an approval document within two to three days which the Airline needed before they would allow us to travel.

Getting export documents and choosing an airline are all specific to Thailand.

We had NO requirements upon arriving at LAX.  My wife showed customs the same documents she had for the airlines, namely health documents she had gotten from the Vet at the airport in Bangkok.  Our dog was taken to the baggage area where my wife met him.  Other states might be a different matter.

This is our RECENT experience from a K1 Fiance point of view.

First of all, DO NOT bother with trying to drive until you have a driving permit or learner’s permit which you should get ASAP upon arriving in the country.  You DO NOT have to be married to get this or have a Social Security Card.  All you need is a passport and it wouldn’t hurt to bring a translated copy of a birth certificate if you have one, but I don’t remember needing this.  What you do need to be aware of is that the permit will expire when your I-94 expires which is 90 days from entering the US for a K1 Visa.  If you find you need more time to pass the written and behind-the-wheel tests then you will need to apply for a permit and/or license under the new AB60 law.

The AB60 law allows any UNDOCUMENTED person to get a driver’s license (LEGAL PRESENCE IS NOT REQUIRED).  The reason you may want to consider this is because everyone will have a certain amount of time in which they are in a gray area of “Legal Presence”.  That is the time between when the I-94 expires and when you are issued your Green Card.  Of course, when your I-94 expires you better have gotten married and filed for Adjustment of Status (AOS) for those on a K1 Visa.  Once you have your Green Card then go back to DMV and apply to convert your AB60 license to a normal license.

AB60 License - Go here and scroll down a bit to learn about the AB60 Law

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/newsrel/newsrel16/2016_01

AB60 Limits – it is important to know the limits of an AB60 License

https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/california-ab-60-drivers-licenses

Once you have passed the written and behind-the-wheel test and you have your Green Card you can apply for a NORMAL License.  The people at local offices really don’t know what goes on at the Legal Presence Unit in Sacramento; they only know what they are told.  Many of them will tell you it takes months to get your license because the Legal Presence Unit has to verify your legal presence in the US with immigration and Social Security.  This is probably true, but it does not take months.  Some people can and have waited and have luckily gotten their license in a reasonable time-frame.  However, many people wait and wait and never see a license.  We waited 3 months before making our first call and we had to call twice.  We had to wait two months after the first call before calling again and then my wife got her license in 10 business days.  My advice is to not wait longer than ONE month maybe TWO months at the most before making your first and hopefully last call.

BTW, this was a big surprise.  We were told by the local office when we got the normal license that the expiration would be the same as our 2-year green card which made sense.  That was not the case.  My wife’s Green Card expires in July 2018, but the regular Driver’s License she got expires on her birthday near the end of 2020.  This is great news because it means we won’t have to deal with the gray period of legal presence between when her 2-year card expires and when she gets her 10-year card.

The Legal Presence Unit at DMV in Sacramento has a voice mail system that you can usually get into, but sometimes it is too busy and you will be told to call back…DO NOT give up, keep calling.  It has a feature that allows you to press “1” and then you can hang up and they will call you back preserving your place in line.  You are given this option a couple of minutes after being on hold.  This worked every time for us.  Once it took 50 minutes, but the last time it took about 15 minutes. 

CAUTION:  They will only talk with the person who the license is for.  They are uncompromising on this issue.  If they can tell you are on speaker they will tell you to take it off speaker so be quiet and type the answers for your spouse on a computer screen if she or he needs help.  If your spouse cannot speak or read English then DMV has interpreters for just about every language.  I guess you will have to ask Legal Presence how to arrange for this.

They have several numbers, but this is the one we called and it worked fine:

916-657-7445         VOICE MAIL

They will ask you to send them a scanned copy of your Green Card or other Legal Presence document and your Social Security Card.  They will ask you to put your phone number, driver’s license number and ATTN: to whomever you talked with on the page you fax them.  They gave us the following fax number and it worked fine using a free internet fax service.

916-657-6419     FAX

An alternate way to get your license more quickly might be to send a copy of your Legal Presence document or Green Card and Social Security Card to them via mail.  I have not verified this works, but someone else on a great forum I found did this and it worked for them.  I would do this soon after your temporary NORMAL paper license is issued by your local DMV office.  It’s certainly worth a shot.

Address:

Licensing Operations Divisions
Legal Presence Verification Unit.
Building West MS G204
Sacramento, CA 95818

There is a common perception that the Legal Presence department is overwhelmed, but somehow I think they just sit on many of these and hope no one ever calls.  We have a saying in English:

“The squeaky wheel gets oiled first”.  It’s not about being loud or rude; it’s about being polite and persistent.

If you have already included the GSS Confirmation page or "proof of visa application fee payment" then I doubt they would need it again, but their instructions should tell you EVERYTHING you need to bring to the interview. If all else fails and you still need answers then email the embassy. In Bangkok they get back to almost everyone within 4 days or less.

A visa for a step-son and one for a fiance are two different visas with different procedures so I could only answer this in a logical way and not from experience.

The purpose of the GSS system is mostly two-fold. One is to record your address where the embassy can mail whatever they need to mail to you, most importantly the passport with the visa in it.

The second objective of the GSS system is to instruct you on how to pay the visa application fee and to confirm payment of the fee. For a fiance visa this is done before sending in packet #3 to the Bangkok embassy (I don't know what other embassy's procedures are) so the embassy already has it before the fiance goes to the interview.

I believe some fees are paid at the embassy so if this is the case in your situation then I doubt they would need this confirmation page since you should receive a receipt directly from the embassy. If this is the case then they might want you to bring the receipt. This is all pure speculation.

Instructions for each type of visa are pretty clear so I guess I'd have to ask when, where and how do they want you to pay the visa application fee for your step-son's visa? The visa fee is different from the petition fee, at least it is for a fiance visa.

I'm not sure it matters where the visa was started. If he is interviewing at an embassy outside the US then read the embassy's instructions for your visa on their website.

Given what has happened, for what should have been a simple job of getting the medical fixed, I'm now anticipating any kind of problem. These people know all the tricks to trip you up if they want to, but turning my fiance away during a time they said she should come is way beyond messing with us. That's just plain rude and if they can do that then they are capable of anything.

I'm hoping my congressman will help make sure we do not have anymore problems with this medical with this IV Unit. We had made plans long ago to move to our home in Northeast Thailand which we had to do today. My fiance now has to travel a 1200 kilometer round trip to Bangkok next time and spend over 1400 baht getting there because they could not take 5 minutes to get her medical to her when she was right outside their door at a day and time they specified.

I'm not calling on him for the "Domicile" stuff YET!

As far as my domicile paperwork goes. I just sent them a bunch of documents that were supposedly received at their office on Jan 17. I even sent them a few documents they did not ask for, but they clearly prove my intent to reestablish residence in my home. I have not heard from them yet. I know that I still have to provide them with a driver's license and voter registration card when I get back to the US and I'm trying to confirm with them that this is all I have left to give them.

I'm also waiting for an explanation from them as to why she was turned away yesterday. We may find out they knew nothing about this. I have a little suspicion the Thai lady who told her this did not have the power or authorization to do this, but Thai people are very prone to being drunk with authority if they think they are at a higher status than another Thai girl as I'm sure they assume with almost every girl who walks into that embassy and there is probably a lot of jealousy going on as well that these girls get to go to America and they don't.

Reading your message again, I'm not sure you really understand my intent in getting my Congressman involved. I certainly don't expect him to get it waived and I don't expect him to take the medical for her. I hope he will get the IV Unit to stick to their word so the next time she comes, they treat her with a modicum of dignity and give her the medical that she traveled so far to get. In other words......DO THEIR JOB.

Yeah, wouldn't that be nice. Then all my fiance would have had to do was go back to the hospital because the embassy would have probably sent the medical back them making them responsible since they screwed it up.

What a novel idea!

This Bangkok embassy has ZERO compassion or sympathy for applicants. They treat them like physical items on a shelf to be processed or like cattle and not real live human beings with lives of their own that get screwed up because they make it so difficult.

Even though we still have two things to do; get this new medical completed and me going home to prove domicile, my feeling now is that we will be scratching and clawing every inch of the way to get this visa approved so I'm not messing around with them anymore. I'm getting my Congressman involved. These are the only people government bureaucrats listen to when push comes to shove.

555, if it were only that easy. The medical is a sealed top-secret document. It can only be transported between the hospital and embassy as a sealed package and they did not and will not tell us what the problem is, though we suspect it is because the doctor, in his arrogant and infinite wisdom felt the blood tests did not have to be done in our second medical.

Even if we knew this for sure she will still have to pick up this ultra-secret sealed medical package and I presumm it will have an equally secret message to the doctor inside that is for him alone...see where I'm going with this. This whole process is very a..n..a..l.

That was a belated thought which I had today and next time if they play games again we will do just that, but you are talking about us having to spend another 3000 baht when we should not have to.

Seriouly, if this had happened to you, wouldn't be furious with them? You can't feel the pain and stress we have gone through?

I will preface this by saying up to and through my fiance's interview everything went fine, aside from us getting a 221(g) forcing me to return to the US to prove "domicile".

==============================================================================

My fiance had to do a new medical as her first medical was expiring on Feb 21. As many of you should know the validity of a K1 visa is only good for 6 months from the date of the last medical.

She went to Bangkok and got a new medical on Monday Jan 11 and mailed it to then. The IV or (Immigration Visa) Unit sent an email to us Friday, Jan 15, saying there was a problem with the medical and she needed to go back to Bangkok, pick up her medical, take it to the hospital and get it corrected. Obviously, this was through no fault of her own. They only gave her 2, two-hour windows in which to pick up the medical…Monday or Wednesday between 1-3pm.

We had a long planned move to Northeast Thailand coming on Tuesday so she went to Bangkok the very next Monday and ran into a closed Embassy due to a holiday. I couldn’t believe the person who had written us the email hadn’t been thoughtful enough to mention the very next Monday was a holiday when this person was writing the email on a Friday before a long weekend. Everybody is always thinking about their upcoming holiday on the Friday before. They didn’t even put the disclaimer in the email (except on holidays) like they do on the Embassy website, which might have given us a clue.

Anyway, now we had to postpone the long awaited move from Banglamung to our home in Kalasin so she could go again on Wednesday, which was the next narrow window given to her this week to pick up the medical.

She arrived early, but was jerked around and had to wait about 30 minutes to get inside because the IV Unit thought this would be a really good time to have a meeting. After 30 more minutes of waiting and her reminding them she had an appointment at the hospital they came out and told her the IV Unit was too busy and to go home, they would contact her again with another time!

My fiancé was almost in tears and was shaking so badly she had to sit down for a while before heading back to the bus station. This was our second failed attempt at doing as they instructed to pick up this medical. I can't begin to tell you how angry I was, my whole body was also shaking. I could not believe a government agency from my country was treating my fiance like this.

That was when I KNEW I had to get my Congressman involved. I have already placed an initial call to his office. They had pushed us into a corner. The next time my fiancé goes to Bangkok it will entail a 1200 kilometer round-trip ride on a death-machine called a bus and over 1400 baht in expenses. I need to have a guarantee that when she goes to Bangkok next time they will not pull this cr..a..p again.

I do not know if this is happening because I threatened to contract my Congressman in my last email or whether this happens often and randomly to other people, but I would warn you to keep your emails factual and robotic just like the IV Unit does with their emails. The people in this IV Unit or at least some of them, are drunk with power and are the most callus people I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

My fiance had to return to Bangkok for another medical as it has been 5 months since the first medical...this is through no fault of the embassy...we have delayed our departure until 2016 for our own reasons. We are still flying on a 221(g) for me to prove domicile, which should be no problem. I say "should".

Anyway, she mailed the medical to the embassy and returned to our home last week...two hours from Bangkok. We had been planning on moving to our home in Issan this Tuesday (Jan 19) before I returned to the US on February 1, 2016.

We just got a message from the embassy today that they had received the medical, but there is a problem with it and so now my fiance has to return to the embassy, pick up her medical, go to the hospital and get whatever the problem is corrected.

I was furious, because these hospitals and doctors are chosen by the Embassy and it is the Embassy's JOB to train the doctors properly so I put this down as their fault...NOT OURS, but, we are the ones who have to pay the price by traveling back to Bangkok wasting money and almost an entire day. A day where we needed to get ready to move.

These people are infuriating.

If you are paying in person at the bank it is supposed to take 24 hours or less. If you are paying by EFT or Electronic Fund Transfer then it can take up to 48 hours.

These are notes I wrote down with plans to maybe put them online one day.

Next we created a profile on the “cgifederal.secure.force” website which is needed to make the visa fee payment. Another important use this website has is to give your fiance's correct address where the embassy will mail anything they need to mail to your fiance. Most importantly, her passport with the visa in it at the end of this process.

The link is specific to THAILAND in English.

https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=English&country=Thailand

There are two places you can find instructions for making your payment.

The link is specific to THAILAND in English:

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/th/th-niv-paymentinfo.asp#instructions

This link gives the most detailed instructions for Thailand. Here you can print the BAY Bank Deposit slip under the “Cash at Bank” instructions. There are two different places on this page from which you can print the BAY Bank deposit slip; they are both identical so it doesn’t matter which one you use to print the slip…assuming you will be going to the bank and paying in person as we did. This slip has two copies of the deposit slip on a single page; one is for the bank and one is given back to you as a half sheet as your bank receipt. It is very important for you to keep the one the bank gives back as it must be mailed to the Embassy in packet #3. I kept a high quality scan for my records in case it was lost.

A little more information here:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/niv_howtoapply.html

On this page the information is correct up until it talks about making the appointment which is not true for a K1 visa in Bangkok Thailand. In the case of a K1 Visa the embassy schedules your appointment after they have received and reviewed the Packet #3 documents.

https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=English&country=Thailand

This is my experience with the payment fee website --- link repeated above. Click on the “New User”. There are two places you can do this to create your account, in the top instructions with the yellow background and towards the bottom of the page. Once you have created your account and are looking at your dashboard, click on the left-hand menu item “New Application / Schedule Appointment”.

You will step though answering some questions until you get to the payment options. We chose to print the bank deposit slip and go to the bank in person. Remember: Each Embassy will have their own specific instructions and most certainly with regard to which bank you must use. When you pick your payment option you will get a screen with “Payment Instructions” which has all the information on it you will need such as your expiration date, Receipt#, Virtual account# and CGI#. It is very important for you to save and print these instructions and take them to the bank with you. To do this press “CTRL+A” which will select everything, then press “CTRL+C” to copy everything, then open a Word document and paste everything into a new document by pressing “CTRL+V”, then print and save this new document. I saw no option to do any of this on the web page containing these instructions. Alternately, you can just go to your browsers “File” menu and print the instruction page. I would print it at least twice or make a copy.

NOTE: All important documents I scanned and stored in my computer.

At the bottom of the page with step #8 where it lists the fees you must pay, there is a spot for a “receipt number” at the bottom of the page. The part I blacked out above the Receipt Number is your fiancé’s name.

At this point you can go no further until you have paid the fee at the bank and wait until the next day by around noon or two days if you used EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer). After waiting almost a day or two, you can go back to this point by clicking “CONTINUE” which you will see at the top of the left-hand menu after logging back in to your account. When you get to this step #8 you should now see the “receipt number” filled in. Once you see this number filled in you can now click on “continue” at the bottom right of this page.

This is what I wasn’t so clear about. This receipt number, which is clearly shown on the payment instructions, is filled in AUTOMATICALLY within 24-48 hours after you make the payment at the bank. So you come back here the next day around noon and see if it is filled in or maybe two days for electronic fee payment. Ours was there at just before 10:30am the next day. At this point, you can click on continue at the bottom-right of this page.

NOTE: Once you make payment, it is my firm belief that all of this is controlled automatically between the bank's computer systems and the state department's website. I seriously doubt the Embassy has any involvement in monitoring payments on a daily basis and making sure receipt numbers fill in within 24 hours of payment. It makes 100% sense when you think about the ETF taking 48 hours. An extra day is needed for the transfer from your bank to the Embassy's bank. Banks like to do their processing at night after closing hours so one night to process the transfer and one night to process the payment. Paying in person only takes one night of processing.

The next page presented is your Completed Transaction -- click on Printable Version. The file downloaded is a PDF file. When I downloaded it the file was not named correctly, it did not have the “.PDF” extension on it so my computer did not recognize it as a PDF file. If this is the case for you just click once on the file to highlight the file on your computer and then hit F2 to edit the filename…you want to add “.PDF” to the end of the filename, without the double-quote, of course. Now your computer will recognize it as a file which can be opened by Adobe Reader when you double-click on the file…then you can print it from within Adobe Reader. This file has barcodes in it that you will need. This printout needs to be mailed to the Embassy in packet #3.

My interaction with the man at the booth was very brief. I gave him a copy of my email thread with the consulate, passport and unsealed envelope and then was asked to sit down. He asked me to come to the booth again to let him know what my travel plans were today, and I said I have a flight at 7PM out of YUL. He asked me to take a seat, then asked me to come back to the booth and issued me a little orange card to show the guard when I return at noon that I've received permission to.

Once I return I plan to ask those questions. I would really like to know what they think.

Not surprised. These people are like robots. I wouldn't be surprised if when you arrive you are just directed to someone who hands you your documents and this person probably would not comment or even know the particulars of your situation. At this point it may not be worth it. I'd just get your paperwork, make sure EVERYTHING is in order and then head to the airport.

However, once you get to the US and settled after your marriage then I would certainly report it as a congressional complaint or you could start gently and just call immigration, wherever their head office is...nah, I'd just go for a congressional complaint.

I agree wholeheartedly with your replies. This has been a horrible, stressful experience but I hope it will all come to an end soon.

As a short update, I went to the Montreal consulate this morning and met with someone directly to handle my case. After going back and forth from the waiting area to the booth, he asked me to return at noon and "hopefully everything will be sorted out." I sure hope so. I asked about the "letter" or documentation the CBP agent from YYZ said I should bring and the man at the booth said "that's what we're trying to fix right now."

First of all, congratulations that they offered to help you in person and here's hoping it all comes together for you so your wedding comes off as planned.

But here are some questions I would have asked if I were in your shoes. I would have asked them if the petition expiration date should have been extended by them and notated as such on the visa? I would also have asked them if they had, not a "right" as we all know they do, but did they have "good cause" to refuse you...we know the answer is "no". It would be interesting to know what the letter they give you says.

Did they find this whole mess a stupid fiasco also? Did they shake their head? What, if any, comments did they make about these idiot immigration officers. Did they mention they would contact their department head and speak to them?

Just curious.

There is absolutely no question in my mind that every single stupid immigration person involved with this decision at Pearson Airport is brain-dead. Expiration of the petition has no bearing whatsoever on allowing you to enter the US on a K1 visa. As other people have said it is certainly up to them and I don't think anyone on this forum would disagree with that statement, but that does not mean they were right; in fact they were 100% wrong.

Think about it. Most K1 visa holders will arrive at their POE with their petition already expired and that is simply because this whole process takes so long. The petition expiration is 4 months from its receipt at the NVC and that expiration has nothing at all to do with entering the US. It is a kind of clock that they look at as to when you have your interview at the embassy. They target getting the interviews done before this date and that is all it is used for if anything. These guys were new or they have never been stationed in a place that handles K1 visas on a daily basis.

Once you go back to the Embassy and explain what happened and they straighten it out and you finally get into the US then I'd have your US fiance file a congressional complaint. Government departments hate congressional complaints. It is the ONLY thing that gives them even a tiny pause in thinking about what they did. And don't forget to mention their disgusting attitudes with their laughing and joking. Incredibly unprofessional. You should have gotten all their names.

You next point of entry should be a larger airport or at least one that does not have inexperienced immigration officials stationed there.