dougyceci

Guys Ceci speaks NO english so don't worry. The officer in the visitors line spoke very little spanish, the interviewer spoke Spanish. Ceci always says greet them with a smile and most people are open to helping. Works for her. I would not worry too much. Not much you can do about it. If you are that much concerned then make sure you are with here or him for the POE and trip here. I was waiting outside customs for her. As it turned out the hardest part of her trip would have been managing the airport for the next 3 hours waiting for her connection to Vegas. I am sure all will be fine.

Doug

Just a quick note that we were approved on the 12th and all is well. Some one updated it once but then it disappeared so please, someone update. thanks.

Doug

Thought I would post what little I can here as to help all those coming in later. I went down for the interview but had to leave befor the visa was given to Ceci so she traveled alone into Atlanta and then we met there. So here is her story.

1. She entered the country alone in Atlanta on Wednesday April 18, alone.

2.. I had her fill out the blue customs form only, not the I-94 or whatever it is and she was not asked for it either.

3. POE was in Atlanta.

4. She entered the visitors line.

5. The officer in the visitors line was a gringo (as Ceci said) who spoke little spanish but was very friendly and helpful to her. Looked at her customs form and directed her where to go. The lines were terrible that day and Ceci said she spent more time in this line than in immigration. All told it took her two hours to pass through the whole process.

6. In the secondary room she was tended to by a Cubano, or so she thought from the accent. He was friendly and really only asked her where she was moving to, and if she had any food in her suitcases. The rest was information about what she needed to do and so on. She felt very welcome by everyone.

7. Again she was alone, everyone very helpful and friendly and she landed at 3:30 and was done at 5:30. I was a bit concerned and got my airline to call customs for me and check her status of which they said she had just been released. They really aren't supposed to call but they did and I could not thank them enough. All in all a great day.

Hope this helps.

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

10) How long was the whole process?

Doug

If your spouses would like to write their first hand experiences in Spanish, please feel free to do so, thay way we can pass on the message and information to our spouses in Colombia.

Mil gracias, JK

I guess this is as good as any place to post this. Ceci came through Atlanta on Wednesday this week and she said everyone was so nice and helpful. It took her 2 hours to get through customs. Most of the time in line with everyone else as customs was extremely busy that day. Nothing negative about the entire day for her. No nasty treatment or searching of bags, a few questions and a welcome to America. She was so happy to see me waiting, a familiar face always helps. Since then life has been great. She is adjusting to Las Vegas just fine and both of us could not be happier. I am more than happy to share more if you have particular questions but all in all everything was smooth and great in Atlanta. I have no complaints through this whole process, 7 months in all but nothing I can really complain about.

Doug

George I saw your email and thought best to respond this way. It appears that they changed the way things are being submitted. Ceci and I only sent the 230, passport page and cover sheet to the NVC and the rest we took to the embassy. It appears now NVC is handling everything so there is less done at the embassy. I wish I could tell you more but from other posts it seems this is happening at a lot of embassies. Shifting more work over to the NVC to handle. As previously posted, last week in Bogota many people were being sent home for lack of having all the docs. I am guessing this is becoming more of a problem and this is the way they are trying to stop the scheduling of interviews for those not prepared on interview day. I see it as a positive change, in the long run, for you, in the middle of the process it is just one more hoop. Hope this helps and I will post anything I hear. Ceci tried to get an answer yesterday at the embassy but they would not give her any info on the matter

Doug

Ceci picked up her visa today and will arrive in Atlanta on Wedesday. I am doing the RT from Vegas to meet her outside customs and fly home with her. It will be so great to have all this behind. Thanks again to all who have helped and hope I have shed some light on those passing after. Good luck to all.

Doug

My wife picked up her visa today at the embassy in Bogota, Gracias a Dios, and I had her ask them about the fact you are now sending in the documentation to the NVC instead of the embassy and they would not answer her question. I think it was more a fact that they were only interested in giving out the visas and nothing else. I will tell you this makes perfect sense to me for the NVC to collect the documentation. I see it as a positive step in speeding up the process of getting an interview quicker. There were so many people sent away last Thursday at the embassy I could not help but think of all the people who are ready but waiting because of all the unprepared people that have interviews. This will stop. For those of you who are caught in the change I feel bad for you but in the long run I see this as a positive step. You have the documents, you send them in and then when you prove you are ready they schedule you. It will also make the day at the embassy shorter. We were let in at 7:00 am and spent the first two hours dealing with the documents now being sent to the NVC. In the long run it means more interviews scheduled in less time. I am not sure if this is why they are doing but i saw 20-25% of the applicants sent away for not having all of their documents in their folders. Truly a waste of valuable time for those who are prepared. Again for those caught in the change, this has no saving grace for you but for those following I look for a little quicker process. Any one else seen this at the embassy? We actually talked with some of the people so know for sure why they were sent home.

yes you are correct Yodrak, it would be for immigrant visas, I checked what type of visas people were scheduled for the day we were at the embassy and they were all CR1, CR2 and I think F2 visas.

Doug

I am thrilled with your happiness but take issue with your other statements and while I do not feel you intended to offend anyone, I feel you are being a bit judgemental. My wife speaks no english, she will be arriving in the US on Wednesday. We met on the internet and do just fine as I speak Spanish. We have a relationship that is very special because we have learned to communicate in ways people with a similar language will never develop. It is more than possible for this to occur. As to your comment about a lawyer. Again I take issue, when a person wants something bad enough, they find ways to learn about the process, there uncertainty creates a sense of caring and understanding, attention to detail not gotten by one who simply goes by the motion. The power of desire is strong and makes anything possible. I know you did not mean to offend anyone, and truly hope your love continues to flourish in the future. Good luck.

Doug

Meauxna if you want some Vegas tips email me, I live here and would be glad to help if you tell me what you are looking to do.

Thanks a lot guys for your words. I appreciate your support. Good luck to all of you and if I can help, please ask. Ceci is supposed to pick up the visa today at 4, with a bit more luck, there will be no problems and she will be on a plane Wed., meeting her in Atlanta to ease the day for her.

Doug

Mononoke28 there is no packet 3 for CR-1 filers. Only a packet 4. I will look to see if I have mine and try to make it available this week for those of you who have interviews coming. If you look earlier in this thread BradandVicky had a post which tells you the documents you need to take to the interview. It is not just the Bogota embassy, the packet 3 is for all embassies and the K visas. I think you are already aware of this but thought I would post it just in case.

Doug

Call it fascinating or frustrating, either way it keeps us guessing. As to our interview on the 12th, it could not have been easier. I will try to explain the whole day so as to help all those going next.

We arrived right at 6, remember it is not in the front but at the side. When we arrived there must have been 30 - 40 people in line 1, 3 in line #3. Line 1 is for the tourist visas and at 615 when they announced this people moved to line 3, some tried to butt in but that did not work too well. A short while later we were let in, passed through security and into the waiting embassy. You will be directed to the right when enter the actual area. There are some windows there, the last 3, 30, 31, 32 are where they will call you to give them your folder you have prepared.

Once to the right they had about 6 chairs for 30 or 40 us. Each will be given a green folder and instructions on how to organize your folder. Here is the funny part, when they give instructions everyone bunches around the lady to hear and then they have to get back in line and sign in for the folder. Seems the order at the window you get called in is from that sign up sheet, as we were called about 20 minutes later. Organize your documents the night before as per the instructions in packet 4 for cr1, the order in the folder is the same.

They will call you to the window, but be sure to listen. Only your spouse can go. I tried but they made me sit down. They give you back what they do not want, and then send you to windows 2, 3, 4 to wait. I guess this is where the fingerprinting prior to the interview gets done but for us we sat and sat and sat. They kept calling people up and they left. We found out later they were having computer troubles so the people who were missing documents were being sent home to come back another day.

About 11 the lady next to us got called and a few minutes later she came back with an approval and note to pick up the visa Monday. We got called to the window a short time later. I thought it was for the fingerprinting but the lady had Ceci pick up the phone and started asking her questions.

1. How did we meet? Ceci responded on the internet and then got asked where which she answered. The lady looked at her strangely but went on. It seemed to me she was concerned about the length of our relationship, only five months before we got married.

2. When did we meet?

3. Where had we visited on my trips?

4. How many times I had visited and for how long?

5. Date of our wedding?

6. How many kids I had and how old they were?

7. Where her parents lived?

8. I think one question about what I did for a living as well.

9. Whether she had relatives living in the US?

She then had Ceci pass the phone to me she asked me

1. When and how we met?

2. How many times she had been to the US?

3. How many times and when was the first time we met in person?

4. If I had met her parents?

5. How we communicated, what language?

6. If I had ever been to Cartagena with Ceci?

My questions were simply to reinforce what she had asked Ceci to see if we matched. After that she typed something into her computer, reached for a white piece of paper and said we could pick the visa up on Monday. I tried to get it the next day and even went back to the window one more time to check but to no avail. In any event, we walked away from the window looking as if we had been denied, the people we were talking to thought that anyway. We were just disappointed not to be able to pick up the visa on Friday since I was leaving Saturday. All this is fine as I just used some of my miles and bought a ticket to meet her in Atlanta to bring her home after she passes through POE and customs.

We spoke with a few people but to be honest there was only one other American, natural born, anyway, there. The rest were American citizens, most Colombianos, if not all, bringing there spouses or other family members over. I wish I could shed more light for you but they did not even look at one piece of evidence I brought. I had a full backpack and another large briefcase or small suitcase, full of chats, emails, photos, phone records. and more, You name it I had it, we were ready.

I hope this helps and would be glad to answer any questions for you about any part of the process. My paying forward for all the help I have received from others. I want, and Ceci as well, to thank all of you. Some have asked questions that made me think, others answered, which made me wiser or more curious. In any event, thanks to all here at VJ. I only hope your day at the embassy will be as easy as ours.

Chao

Doug

George I sent in the 6 pages or whatever there before my signature. I did not send in the directions. Do as you wish but that is all I sent in. I am leaving tomorrow to go home. Ceci will becoming in on Wednesday alone from Bogota to Atlanta and then I will meet her in Atlanta to fly with her to Vegas. I would suggest staying two days after the interview. For us yesterday, and I cannot comment on L4W but only one couple were told to come back today for the visa. All the others we talked to were told to come back on Monday. Said something was wrong with the system to clear and print the visas. Not sure but all I know is we have a piece of paper to get back into the embassy on Monday at 4 for the visa. I would say if you have a Tuesday interview go back on weekend, for Wednesday the same, thurs-fri, not sure what I would do. But I am going home alone. Good luck

Doug

as the choice agent, does my wife now have to send me the supporting documents for the DS 230 instead of taking them to the interview

excuse the mistakes am in Bogota on the foreign keyboard. As for the DS230 you need to take part 1 and 2 to the medical exam. Both filled out and part 1 signed by your spouse. The receptionist asked my wife to sign part 2 at the doctors office. It will then be put in the envelope you pick up at the doctors office the next day and take to the interview. I took an extra copy, both unsigned to the interview with me just in case but was not needed.

I have everything except the police records, should she get this now and send it to me? doesn't she have to get one from bogota where she lived for 2 years also? and doesn't this police record have to be a few months old(3 maybe) and not older?

My wife got her DAS in September and she tells me they are good for one year. It does not matter where they are issued as it is issued for the entire country. We had no problem with anything we did. Am going to post our experience in the Embassy forum shortly. I am returning to the states tomorrow so if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3190.html

Just a quick note, Ceci got her visa today in Bogota, well got the approval. She will pick up the visa on Monday and then head home for the first time. More later but thanks to all who have traveled the road before me. Your help has been invaluable. Thanks.

Doug

Just a quick note to let everyone know Ceci got approved today. Because of some glitch that was giving everyone fits at the embassy no visas until Monday but at least we got it. There is a post also in the CR'1 section. Will post more details when I get home this weekend. I cannot wait for the visa. Sucks!!!!!!!!!

Doug

Mike or Mark, either one can answer this. Mike you said the pass through is small. Do you mean height wise or width wise. I have all my photos in 81/2x11 plastic sleeves mounted on card stock. I guess I figured when Mark said his wouldn't fit he meant in a hard bound book. These could be folded in half if necessary. I will be leaving on Wed. morning and the interview is Thurs. Am all set, just wrapping up a few loose ends tonight. Thanks

Doug

One more congrats Mark and Sophia. Glad you got back and will be in touch.

Doug

Life just keeps getting better for you down there. Mark gave you his lowdown and I am taking the I-864 I filed and another that I can sign if needed. I am trying to cover all bases, based on what you guys are going through. Good luck.

Doug

The same goes for the Bogota embassy, documents in Spanish or English are fine. The translations were sent in with my I-130 package but for the interview nothing needs to be translated if it is in English or Spanish. Call the embassy and ask or look at the website. It may say there.

Doug

I am leaving Wednesday for my wife's interview on Thursday in Bogota. There it seems to make a difference. Remember that the amount of approvals or denials on VJ is only a small percentage of what goes on. I know there are over 60 interviews in Bogota next Thursday and no one from VJ will be there, at least that I know of. It is country specific but to me it is worth the money for the moral support and to be able to enter the US with my wife the day she enters the US. Just my opinion, but to me it is wel worth the money given all the time and heartache you have put into this process.

Of course, just my opinion,

Doug

Thanks Mark, nice to see you around again. Hopefully all is going well. I wasn't sure of how the doctor sent things but Ceci was in control so I was not too worried, more curious. I will email you later. Been busy getting all the info together and am just about ready to go.

Doug

Sorry to hear you are having all these problems. I can't comment on the lab results as do not know what they will or will not due. I hope all this works out. As to the DS-230 Ceci did not have any problem with the English version. I emailed her the PDF of the original in English and she signed it there and gave it to whomever at Dr. Gonzalez' office. No one said anything to her. As to the date, that did not even cross my mind. I will take a copy of both to the interview just in case this comes up and can also can now say that the doctor needed part I signed so she did that day. I wish I could help you out more but can't. Only let you know about Ceci's experience with the same. All of our stuff is done, she has the results of the medical exam as the doctor told her to pick it up and take it the interview. This sounded strange to me but then don't really know how others got it to the embassy. If there is anything Ceci can do call her. I sent you her phone number and she will be back in Bogota tomorrow afternoon.

Doug

Irene Ceci is at her parents house visiting, maybe she will be in touch, can't say for sure. I thought she talked to you the other day, maybe I was mistaken. In any event she seems to have more confidence in the interview than I do. I am preparing now and so is she. As for Mark and Sophia, they finally received the visa and then had trouble with the plane and repairs to it. I think, according to Mark's email, they got home Monday, he was very frustrated by the whole ordeal and as you know not feeling well to begin with. Anyway all is well with them and settling in. I will talk with Ceci today, tell her to get a hold of you. Thanks for your help.

Doug

Hey George, it has been a dead thread lately. I am preparing everything for our interview next week in Bogota. Taking longer than I thought but getting it done. Nice to have the week off before I go down next Wednesday, interview Thursday and with any luck will be returning Saturday with my wife. Either way I am heading back, she will follow later if necesary. Other than that, Floridaphoto and his wife have returned, had some problems but sure he will apprise everyone later. Take care

Doug

You are adjusting your status to be a permanent resident of the country, not a particular state. Each state has its own residency requirements that have no effect on your AOS. You are just going to have to deal with the change of address issues and hope all works out smoothly.