trublubu2

BWAHAHAH - great post! congrats on your speedy approval!

Actual card got dropped in the mailbox (no signature required) at 12:45
Witnesses reported a running Dutchman, towards the mailbox, at 12:46
Card in hand at 12:47
Stupid grin on face 12:47 till present.

hi @walran,

actually, since nvc opens up at 7am, what i did was start calling like at 656am and kept redialing until i got in, put the phone on speaker on for the 20 minutes or so until i got the first recorded query asking me what i wanted to do, then pressed the correct button and waited the 20 minutes or so until a human answered.

on days when i couldn't wake up and function enough to do the above, and it was past 7, i just called it a wash for the day and tried again the next morning. i got in exactly when i wanted and got the info i needed--didn't have to spend days on the phone. all told, it was about a 40-45 minute wait when i called first thing in the morning.

gethuman is a great website for finding the real numbers where you can talk to a person, but i didn't know they offered pop-up, "concierge" services--at least they didn't in fall 2015 when i used it. i really hope it's legit, because, frankly--the whole coincidence of them suddenly popping up on vj sounds *highly* suspect, in my humble opinion.

i'm hoping everything works out okay for you both.

Actually there is a site that will handle these types of calls and waiting for you. Doing some research others here have said that it works very well.. And what could anyone do with an I797 or my name and DOB anyways? As for just a few minutes.. from what I have read people have spent days trying to get through to them.. $50 would be worth it to me rather than hours on hold or as it has been for me today not being able to even get through..

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-skip-through-corporate-phone-trees-with-gethuman/

One person on here said it was a lifesaver on a 2012 post..

I noticed here as well in this older posting... http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/454900-nvc-contact-number/

hi there @juliob

the guides on here teach how to do all types of immigration actions, there are examples of what the filled out forms should look like, a Google-powered search engine exists here, along with knowledgeable people who have done the process themselves and can give personal experiences--some of them are even lawyers.

i.m.h.o., a lawyer is not needed for straightforward cases that have not been compounded by dubious personal history. if the specific situation you're looking at has potentially sticky things like criminal charges, overstaying, denials, deportations, etc., then yes--those are more than likely going to require an immigration lawyer. even then, however, you still need to go to USCIS.gov (or any U.S. immigration site's formal rules) and cross-reference their information, with the legal information and any of VJ's advice. i've seen recently where poor legal advice was given in person and then when looked up via the USCIS site, the legal expert was incorrectly interpreting things (of course they were charging for that poor advice). i've even seen timelines where legal personnel have instructed people to do 2 unnecessary forms (i.e., a married couple was instructed to do BOTH the i-129f and the i-130) which, OF COURSE equated out to more legal hourly fees.

please just take the time to start reading through the site/guides/example forms, search for threads where the subject you're interested in has been discussed (look for the most recent) and be meticulous in all that you do. don't be in a rush! i found that out when i tried to skip over the guides and almost sent off the packet with just the bare minimum listed on USCIS' site. since i've registered here, i've learned to (1) give plenty of time to do forms, (2) double check EVERYTHING, (3) do a search/ask a question--someone else has most likely gone through the same thing and (4) providing more info/supporting evidence than needed is best.

lastly, i realize the D.I.Y. thing may not be for everyone, so why not go up to the top of the page, check out "Guides" and "Example Forms", find the immigration action you're planning on doing and start doing a little reading up to see if it's something you can handle--if not, that's cool and now you know that you'd rather work with a lawyer instead of D.I.Y.-ing it. that's one way to gain a little insight into the process.

best of luck on starting your ...*drumroll* ... Visa Journey.

good morning @firebird00,

with all due respect, this has gone on long enough. you do NOT deserve this type of treatment. since you are trying to abide by the u.s. laws and pursue legal immigration and pay all their fees, it's time to utilize the help and protection of the u.s. laws that you are trying to uphold.

it's time to contact your local and state police departments, it's time to contact the local and national offices of the fbi and it's time to contact uscis. tell them you have a potential hate crime to report and ask them for protection. make sure you are documenting the times and dates and every possible aspect of these calls, i.e., sound of voice, breathing, male/female/accent, background noises, etc. ask them if they can trace the phone call and tell them you need protection for yourself and your household since you are wary of what this deranged-sounding person may do to you and your family.

here are some links where you can report this:

FBI (look under the section marked "Report Hate Crime/Discrimination"): https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes

SPLC: https://www.splcenter.org/eform/submit/send-us-a-tip

i'm sorry you have to endure this--no one should have to live a life uneasy for their personal safety. please be safe and be very mindful of your surroundings. you may even want to order a mini cam for your car, surveillance cams for your home and ask your family to be hyper vigilant and unafraid to call police if they see or hear anything strange--and that's including the people that they come into contact everyday. someone close to you is obviously doing this and that's why they have all that personal information on you.

i sincerely do hope things get better for you and your family, @firebird00.

EXACTLY @Friend2ya!

@jhn16,

you most likely won't lose your plane ticket if you call the airline TODAY, explain what's going on, what you need to do in terms of not travelling on the pre-planned date and ask for your options.

you'll probably have to pay change fees and the difference of price for the new ticket on the new date--please DO NOT book a new flight until you find out what immigration tells you, that's my thoughts for you.

the other option the airline might give is that you'll have to cancel out the current ticket (for a fee, if you're allowed to do so based on what type of ticket you hold) and keep the money as an airline credit for booking at a later time.

you'll lose your ticket if you do not take ANY action and let your flight day and reservation come and go without notifying the airlines of your situation beforehand.

best of luck with your situation, and please consider what others are saying in the thread about not taking chances with abandoning your GC.

How much is the plane ticket vs your GC?

Flight ticket can be postponed, maybe airline would give you 3-6 months for you to reuse it..for an extra fees.

See here

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thanks--it worked!

i guess it's time for part 2! LOL!

just finishing up the paperwork now and we'll be mailing either January 11th or 15th.

yes, i'm having the same problem--and i'm using the new form.

is the barcode no longer necessary?

please help, somebody...

yes, thanks for this topic, as i would like to know the same thing as well.

omg, @heo luoi, that's EXACTLY what i told the Liat staff at the Barbados airport when they tried to tell me i didn't know what a k-1 visa was and printed off a wikipedia page to explain why they wouldn't let us buy a 1 way ticket, "Ma'am I could teach a CLASS on pursuing the K-1 visa, I basically have a Ph.D. in it now..."

LOL

Even when I was getting butt kicked at university I dont think it felt like this past several months. I feel like I should get a degree in something when this is all over.

congrats! it's a great feeling once it's all done, isn't it?

...then you remember, 'oh yeah, gotta start ALLLLL over again (AOS)'

LOL

congrats to you both!

@InsanelyOne,

thanks for the tips and ideas--per your suggestion, i went and got Liat's rules, made a .pdf and sent to my fiance to print out, and i spoke to an army buddy of mine who's an immigration lawyer now to see what she thought.

i used to be a travel agent, so that's why i'm on such a quest to find something with the protocol to follow--i understand what can go wrong and what they can do with an incorrect interpretation.

i appreciate the well wishes and advice.

First off, the airlines can make up whatever rules they want regarding who can travel on their planes. The only written proof you could provide to the LIAT representative would be a copy of their own rules.

The reason the airlines have these rules in the first place is because they are liable to fly the passenger back if the passenger is refused entry to the US.

The K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa with immigrant intent. Pretty much all airlines require non-immigrant visa holders to have a round-trip ticket. e.g. Visitors most certainly have to show a return ticket.

The K-1 visa is the exception to the rule. But that said, if the airlines policies don't reflect the odd nature of the K-1 visa you are out of luck.

You have tried time and again to explain this to LIAT but it's falling on deaf ears.

I'm not sure what recourse you have.

I wish you luck.

Hi @Maria&Seve,

After booking the flight online and placing it on a 24-hour hold, we had a copy of the itinerary--and thus went to the airport to check out the fare class and rules before purchasing...and that's when I found out that there was a gross ignorance about this subject among the ticket agents--the ones who count as they are the ones that will check you in or deny you boarding.

Also, we'd lose the money on the fare (we'd only get the fees back, not the actual fare itself) unless we booked the most expensive fare class they had--but that is only good for a year, is non-transferable, and one has to pay a change fee and the difference of whatever the price is at the time of re-booking--hence why I said I think it's a scam.

Liat IS a big deal for the Caribbean, not just an "island hopper"--AND THEY KNOW IT. That airline is how my mother would take us to go see our family in Dominica before the majority of the U.S. airlines decided to actually expand their flights past a few islands where we could make the connection to Liat to finally reach home. I highly doubt they know little to nothing about visas.

Well I looked at their website and it does say as a requirement: "Passengers must also be in possession of a copy of their itinerary as proof of their onward or return journey."

Guess the easiest would have been to just book a round trip and after arriving in the US cancel the return part of the trip. LIAT is not a very big airline, feels more like an island hopper so it could well be that they don't have much experience with K1 or any other visa.

...but in this case--where we told them he had a visa--it seems to be. they STILL were trying to tell us that one must have a u.s. passport or green card to enter the u.s. on a one-way ticket, which is false.

No it is not. A lot of airlines refuse to sell one way tickets unless you have a visa because they don't want people to "jump ship" in the US and never go back to their home country. And it's not just the US, I know for example many airlines don't let you book a one way ticket to Japan because of the worry that people will just stay indefinitely.

thanks @bloopygirl for the advice--i'm thinking to do just that, AND,

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!

Huge congrats to StephanieC and Ausa!!!

Trublu, you could always just do the marriage ceremony with your parents and plan a big wedding reception later in the year? Maybe that would make it easier for you!

Ours was pretty crazy, I got into the country on the 3rd, we applied for our license on the 5th, got it on the 8th, and married on the 9th (yesterday!!!). It was stressful but I'm so happy, and glad I got it out of the way early so we can relax and enjoy marriage.

@ausa, congrats to you both!

Congrats to everyone with approvals - we are happy to now be in this category! We got the visa in hand on Friday 2 October, booked flight Saturday 3 October and flew to US on Monday 5 October - we are both deliriously happy to be together and one of us is still jetlagged lol.

What a journey it's been and this website has been invaluable - special mention to StephanieC for her amazing blog ?

as before, i apologize for the delayed response as i received no notifications.

Hi @Maria&Seve and @Boiler, I will reiterate: ALL of the tickets were purchased online. The problems came when talking to the ticket agents at the various airlines about it and they're clueless.

@Maria&Seve, My fiance gave me his information to go into his account on Liat's website to put in his Visa info, but it wouldn't let me in. He then went to the Liat office in Dominica to get them to do it, and his neighbor (the supervisor) said it wasn't necessary; everything should be fine. Per @happiness268's advice, I then advised him to get her to write a letter on Liat letterhead saying that he's good to go. I hope everything works on Friday.

I still think it's a monetary scam of intimidation for those who aren't in the know or are unsure of themselves in this whole process.

hi @abhishek1984--thanks for sharing about the customs, and i must say that i had a great chuckle of familiarity at this part:

[...]basically relatives and friends come to the party and witness the ceremony and eat free food and later complain about things(oh! the food was not delicious,the ice cream was melted and blah blah.#######).

^^ YUP!! sounds just like weddings/engagement parties/bridal showers in the U.S., hahahah!

Why should I spend my hard earned money for people just to show off?.

^^ i concur wholeheartedly with this^^

thanks for the laugh and best of luck on your journey and i wish you smooth sailing all throughout your process.

That's a tricky situation. I know the LIAT asks for a round ticket to PR to reset costs of persons being sent back.

What about the Embassy website? Is there information on K-1 visa not needing a one-way ticket to enter?

I know I researched it but I had to resort to the forum. I think once it is clarified with a LIAT supervisor and you get it in writing you should be fine.

hi there, i didn't know about the being sent back thing--i'd never heard of that. i thought the deportation people took care of putting people on the plane if they need to go back.

as far as the embassy, i emailed them and all we got from them was that 'they don't supply documents to airlines on behalf of applicants because most airlines are aware of K category visas and that to go show the Liat agents the K-1 visa in the passport and let them know that a USC has petitioned the beneficiary to enter the US for permanent resident and if that doesn't work, then take an alternate route into the US.'

when i tried to search "one-way ticket" on the barbados.embassy.gov site, all i got was

thanks for the idea about getting the Liat supervisor to put it in writing...i will let my fiance know.

hello @happiness268 and @boiler,

i want to thank you for the feedback. for some reason, i didn't get any notifications that there were additional posts in this thread, so i wasn't ignoring you, i just didn't know.

well, my fiance got his visa back about a week ago. so when he took his passport/visa back to the Dominica Liat personnel to look at, they said, 'oh yeah, sure--you're able to travel on a one way ticket to the u.s. with this'. they just had never heard about the k-1 visa. he had them put the visa number into the document section (just like the passport number was put in) on his reservation and on his Liat account.

as i'm typing this, i'm thinking that we might also need to call Liat's headquarters in Antigua and ensure that there won't be any problems when he has to board the connecting flight from Antigua to San Juan.

as a side note, i called Southwest, about his flight from San Juan to Baltimore. the agent i spoke with didn't know about the k-1 visa EITHER--she kept thinking that i was asking her about him traveling on Southwest OUT of the u.s. into the Caribbean...so MOST of these airlines know NOTHING about the k-1 visa, but she said that once he's able to check in and has the visa in his passport there won't be a problem as far as she knows. the Southwest air lady suggested that i call TSA and i did, and we had a nice talk, but they told me that they only ensure that he has a boarding pass and i.d. to get to the next place and that he doesn't have anything on him that shouldn't go on board the plane. TSA then suggested i call Customs and Border Patrol next to ask them my questions--which was closed--so i have to call back.

*sigh*

what I got from this:

(1) INCOMPETENCE AND IGNORANCE ABOUNDS

(2) if anyone wants to call TSA or Customs and Border Patrol, here's the info:

TSA (866) 289-9673 Mon - Fri: 9am to 11pm Sat & Sun: 9am to 8pm

CPB (877) 227-5511

Approved!!

Congrats Stephanie!!

you're welcome

When is your wedding??

Mine's october 9th. I'm so excited lol.

Hi there @bloopygirl, CONGRATS on your upcoming nuptials! I know you're excited and thrillie--I'm happy for you!

Wow, to tell you the truth, I don't even know when to have my wedding. We're doing justice of the peace for sure in the US, and then when he can travel, going to Dominica to have a renewal of vows/reception/celebration because most of our family still reside there. My fiance's suggested that we should do it on November 2nd, our country's independence day, but he only gets here on October 23rd so I don't know if that would be enough time.

Thought about doing JoP with a small group of close friends (that are willing to take off work) and then invite them to come and have lunch/dinner with us at a restaurant and then maybe come to the house. However, there's a lot that needs to be done in the house to get it guest ready... But then since the winter weather can be so bad here, I thought perhaps JoP, then a restaurant dinner afterwards and call it a day--but I thought about JoP, then wait until spring and have a reception/party/open house at home (basement or back yard). Most of my friends live out of state, so I would need to give them notice, but I don't know which date to pick and worry about traveling weather. *sigh* I'm literally at a standstill with what should be the best way to proceed...and I still have to see if my mother will be up to come from another state...but that's a whole 'nother can of sadness right there.

We are, however, going to get the marriage license on Oct 30 since that's an off day for me...but apparently in every county of this state we must wait 2 calendar days to marry afterward. The good news is that the license doesn't expire for 6 months.

Here's something else I forgot to add: unless you buy Liat's most expensive ticket for travel that date (they have 4 classes of tickets) you will lose ALL your money on the return flight of the round trip--because that most expensive flight is the only one that is valid UP TO one year.

So if we buy a DOM to SJU (that's the route from Dominica changing planes in Antigua and then landing in San Juan, PR) round trip, we'll lose our return flight money if we don't use it in 3-6 months, unless we get the most expensive round trip flight class.

From what I read here on VJ, advance parole is not a sure thing and it's best to just remain in the US until my fiance gets his 2 year green card which takes about 1 year, correct?

Hi last year 2014. I bought one way tickets to barbaos online. Dont let them fool you. My hunny is in Haiti and it was from haiti to Barbodos.

Hi faithfulblu, thank you so much for the info; however, this run around Liat is giving us is to go to the US point of entry, in this case it's going to be San Juan, Puerto Rico.

My fiance had no problems going to Barbados as it's a CARICOM country--in fact, he had to go through St. Lucia to Barbados because the Dominica airport was shut down due to Tropical Storm Erika. He could have gone through Martinique or Guadeloupe, but because they are French DOMs/TOMs (and not CARICOM) he would have had to have a visaa (just like the U.S.) just to catch a flight from them--so he went through a CARICOM nation, St. Lucia, instead.

Personally, I think it's because Liat hasn't heard of the K-1 visa...because both the Bajan and the Dominican Liat front line ticket agents hadn't heard of it when I was telling them about it.

Hi, I'm at work now, so I can add clarity (and clean up the typos from my phone rush, lol). Sorry, but this is going to be long--so I can give a complete account & show that we've tried different avenues.

We bought online the first time while on vacation in Barbados and just did a 24 hour hold so we could go get clarify on ther policies at the Liat desk at the Barbados airport (= BGI) with the actual Liat ticketing agent. When you buy online going from Dominica (DOM) to San Juan, Puerto Rico (PR). you get a pop-up warning that you must be from one of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and a list of participating countries and that you have to have ESTA approval if you are from one of those countries.

"ESTA POLICY

LIAT advises its customers that there are additional requirements to travel visa-free to the United States. Nationals of Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries need an electronic travel authorisation (ESTA) before travelling to the United States. The application requires basic biographical and travel information to be entered. Passengers will also need to fill out a green I-94W form upon arrival in the U.S.

If you are in possession of a passport of an eligible country and you plan to travel to the United States you must have ESTA approval and present proof of same to LIAT at the time of check-in. Failure to comply will result in check-in being denied. A printed copy of the ESTA approval will meet the LIAT requirement.

Nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries will still be eligible to travel without a visa but will have to obtain an approved ESTA prior to travel to the United States. Following is the list of countries which participate in the Visa Waiver Program:

Visa Waiver Countries

Andorra

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Brunei

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Monaco

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Portugal

San Marino

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel however the Department of Homeland Security recommends that travel authorisation applications be submitted at least 72 hours prior to travel. Unless revoked, travel authorisations are valid for two years from the date of authorisation, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

The on-line ESTA application can be found at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta

Detailed help is outlined at: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/WebHelp/ESTA_Screen-Level_Online_Help_1.htm"

So when we went to the BGI airport to ask about the one-way vs round trip thing, one of the ladies took out an unnecessary fee that Liat adds via online booking from our held reservation (so apparently booking done online can be different that what the agents see at the airport), and then directed us to the ticketing lady for our K-1 visa question because she didn't know the answer.

The BGI ticketing lady told us, yes, you bought it online but you will have problems boarding Liat in Dominica (where my fiance will originate his POE travel) to go to PR . We explained that he would have a visa, the K-1 was approved and it will be affixed in his passport at the time of travel. She said no, that wouldn't work, the only visa that Liat knows about is the visitor visa.

We explained that the K-1 was a type of visa, and told her how the whole process worked and that was why we were in Barbados and that the embassy never told us that there was any extra thing we had to do to board a flight. She went and printed out a Wikipedia page about the K-1 visa and brought it to me and told me it wasn't valid for travel and that if my fiance didn't have problems boarding Liat in Dominica, he would be denied boarding in Antigua (they've changed the flight schedule from direct flights to PR from DOM, to making Dominicans go through Antigua, change planes and then go to PR. Antigua is also their headquarters location and VC Bird airport is their hub).

We then broke down the whole process, the fees, the waiting, the paperwork, the NVC & USCIS processing, and said that Wikipedia is not a valid source of information in this case. So then she said "oh, let's talk to the Liat ticketing supervisor and see what he says." She went in the back and talked for a while and then came back out with Mr. Sylvester, the Liat supervisor. He told us, 'Liat doesn't care what type of U.S. visa it is, once it is valid and affixed to your passport it's okay by us for travel--we won't give you any problems." Mr. Sylvester even extended our 24 hour hold until Friday, October 9th to ensure we get the visa back from the embassy. All these conversations transpired on Saturday, September 26.

Today, September 30, my fiance went to the Liat counter at the Melville Hall airport in Dominica. He asked his friend who works at the Liat desk there to check on the rules for travel to PR on that held ticket and his friend said no, you cannot board this flight in Dominica. My fiance called and put my on the phone with his friend and I asked him, 'Why not?" His friend said I need to call immigration and ask them because it's not allowed and that you must have a US Passport or a Green Card to board a one-way flight to PR or buy a round trip.

I then explained that he weill have a visa in his passport when it's time to board, plus he doesn't need a round trip because he won't be able to come back until he adjusts his status or gains the 2 year conditional Green Card. His friend then tells me that PR won't let him into the U.S., I told him that's where immigration will be waiting to check him in with the K-1 visa. I told him to go online to USCIS and look up K-1 visa.

Next his friend says that Liat in Antigua won't let him board with a one-way ticket, and that he must have a round trip. I told him the Liat supervisor in Barbados, Mr. Sylvester, said that Liat would be okay with it, once he has a valid US Visa in his passport. The friend then tells me that he read the USCIS page online and that we start the visa process 3 months after my fiance enters the US. I said no, we started the process in December and are in the final stages of receiving a visa. I saw that he still didn't understand--so I asked what written proof can I get to make Liat understand that a round trip ticket is not needed and is a waste of money because he won't be able to travel until he gets Advance Parole? The ticket agent kept talking over me and gave the phone back to my fiance.

My fiance's neighbor/high school classmate is the Dominica Liat supervisor and she said she'll call Puerto Rico and get back to him, but I'm worried about what happens when he has to change planes in Antigua because he doesn't have the connections there like he does in DOM, and I've noticed that Liat in Antigua are pretty rude to Dominicans when we travel there or call their HQ on the phone for assistance.

Bottom Line: where do we go to get written proof for the airlines (not only Liat, because now I'm worried about his U.S. flight from Puerto Rico to Baltimore on Southwest Airlines) that a one-way ticket is admissible on a K-1 visa? ^^ THAT ^^ is my question.

Oh yeah, I also emailed BridgetownIV and BridgetownACS the same question because they WILL NOT TAKE PHONE CALLS--hopefully they'll answer soon.

Thanks in advance for any help provided, sorry for typos and yes, the length of the post was to show the runaround we're getting and that we've tried several avenues.

--Lesa