randolady

Anyway, I did not mean for this to be such a hot topic. I am not going to return to this thread. Thank you to those who have been helpful.

One cannot "help" out a family using a tourist visa....period. Now, if you doubt that (which you obviously do), then have your sister tell the CO why she wants to spend 6 months in the US...("helping out with child care")...if the denial takes longer than about 4 seconds, I would be surprised.

My ethics are pure because I am not trying to defraud my own government, nor do I think myself above our laws. And neither does my horse.

So if you had a family member outside of the US who came to visit, and he helped you build a deck while visiting, that would be defrauding the government? Sorry, I don't buy it. And yes, we will let the embassy decide.

I suggest you re read the OP's original post...in which she wants her sister to come for 6 months (NO ONE on planet earth gets six months paid vacation) AND take care of the newborn....pure and simple...and yet there have been suggestions that the future visa applicant lie about her true intentions...something that I do not condone...perhaps you do...but that's your issue....I know what my ethical standards are...I don't need to 'chill out' I smell something fishy....while it may be normal in many cultures for relatives to change diapers, etc, that does NOT apply to those seeking tourist visas in order to provide (nearly) full time child care...the US of A has something called 'au pair' visas (J1) but they have certain restrictions....as do H2Bs....but many people don't believe that they are subject to our laws, encourage their relatives to lie during their interview, then act outraged when said relative is denied....no doubt many people believe that our COs are naive.....they are not.

Don't presume you know anything about my family. My SIL is a student, and even if she had a full-time job, pretty much no one in Tanzania has ANY paid vacation. And it's not uncommon for young folks ANYWHERE to trek across the world to learn about other cultures for an extended period of time. Does that mean they have no ties to their countries? No. She still has family and opportunities back home. We are not looking for her to illegally immigrate here, and neither is she.

And you ride around on your high horse talking about ethical standards? If my mother was retired she would gladly help take care of our child for free for, as I mentioned, only about 20 hours per week. How does her nationality qualify her to do that? She is family visiting and helping out family. Your ethical standards are all out of whack if you think it's "fishy" that a family would like to spend more time together.

Thanks everyone for your replies. A work visa was also something I had considered but don't know much about. How hard is it to become an employer who can sponsor an immigrant?

Hi! My husband and I are finally pregnant! Baby is due at the end of May. We are seriously considering having Ombeni's sister come stay with us afterwards to help with the baby (and to show her the glory of Wisconsin ). I guess she would come on a tourist visa and maybe be here 6 months?

A quick search on Google shows that there are health insurance policies you can purchase if you are visiting the US. And because Verizon is weird, we already have an extra cell phone she can use. And I work 1st shift, my husband works 2nd, so she'd really only be alone maybe 4-5 hours a day, so she won't get too lonely or bored.

Has anyone else brought a relative over for similar circumstances? How did it go? What did you wish you had considered before?

Thanks in advance!

Same as others said, hope you have your notice.

We called the USCIS. They couldn't figure out why we haven't received a biometrics appt yet. The lady said we should hear something back within 45 days. FORTY-FIVE DAYS! Ridiculous. Oh well, at least we don't live in Arizona... then I'd really be nervous!

The best thing for you maybe is to schedule an infopass and see if they can provide you with the other number or some information about your application.

Are you currently in the US or filing abroad?

We're in the US. I found the NOA and plugged the number into the website. It can't find our case. Excellent...

Hi guys, I'm starting to get nervous about our application. We received the first notification saying they received our application. Did your notification say something about extending the expiration date of the green card for a year while they process the application? Ours did. Anyway, we haven't heard anything since then: no scheduling of biometric, no nothing. We filed to the California Service Center. Is anyone else in the same boat?

I'm searching for that paperwork, and I can't find it. Is there some way to check the status based off of the numbers printed on the back of the cashed check?

Hoooray, we received Ombeni's green card in the mail today. For having filed at the end of October and receiving an RFE, this isn't bad at all! Good luck to those of you who are still waiting on it.

We had the same scenario. When I called the "helpline" I was told that the one year is only a guideline and that each service center is within their rights to request whatever they want in addition and that if we didn't complythey could and probably would deny the application which would then have huge consequences and I know that happened to at least one person here.

I would avise that you go ahead and comply - at least then you have peace of mind - the extra $$ is a small price to pay for that...

Thanks for the advice. We'll schedule it tomorrow! Peace of mind is definitely something my husband could use... this is driving him (and me) crazy.

OK, so we received an RFE a few weeks back stating that we needed to send in a properly completed immunization form. We thought that we had. We took our copy back to the civil surgeon who confirmed that we DID have a properly completed immunization form. So I called CSC.

The lady was very nice and got back to me today about our case. She said that our immunization form was ok, but we needed to have the complete medical examination done. I told her that I was under the impression that since my husband had had a medical exam in the past year for his fiance visa, he wasn't required to have another one here. She told me to read the instructions of the I-485 to see how we could get our results sent to CSC. Well, the instructions don't say anything about that, but they DO clearly say:

If you are a K-1 fiancé(e) or K-2 dependent who had a medical examination within the past year as required for the nonimmigrant fiancé(e) visa, you only need to submit a vaccination supplement, not the entire medical report.You may include the vaccination supplement with your adjustment of status application.

We're not sure if we should just have the medical examination done to be on the safe side. I really don't want to pay $170 to have it done when it clearly states in the instructions that he doesn't need to. My idea is to send the RFE back with a copy of the instructions, highlighting the part that says that he doesn't need it, attach another copy of his visa to prove that he came in on a K-1 visa, and write a letter explaining all this. Should this be sufficient? What should I do?

As nice as the CSC people are, they seem kind of clueless. Or maybe I am!

Congrats! So you didn't even have an interview?

so... what i am trying to say... does the one he marked., in section 3,. results., really apply to you?? or was he supposed to mark that he met all vaccination requiremetns?

I think that was the correct box to check, given that he hasn't received some of those vaccinations due to age. But I don't know. You would think these civil surgeons would have enough experience doing all this stuff that they wouldn't mess up so much. I'm sorry it's been such a dilemma for you, too.

Thanks for the advice, you guys. I think the CS must have given us the copy of the form, because I don't remember making a photocopy. I'll go and see if they'll fill it out again for free, and if not, just pay the money. Thanks again!

So, we got an RFE today for the immunization form. I called the CSC and the lady said that they likely had received it, but it was filled out improperly by the surgeon. Can anyone see what's wrong with our form? I have a photocopy of it.

DT/DTP - Not age appropriate

TD - 9/19/07

Polio - Not age appropriate

MMR - 7/17/07 and 9/19/07

Hib - Not age appropriate

Hepatitis B - Not age appropriate

Varicella - 9/19/07 and 10/17/07

Pneumococcal - Not age appropriate

Influenza - Not age appropriate

He checked the "Applicant eligible for blanket waivers" box, stamped and signed his name, and dated the form. However, they didn't fill out my husband's passport number or his country, and his first name and middle initial are in the wrong spots. The lady on the phone didn't think that they would give me an RFE for those things being blank, but who knows?

Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions! I don't really want to pay $40 to go back to the civil surgeon if this is his fault in the first place. I might try just filling out the country and passport info on our photocopy and send that in (both options were suggested by the lady on the phone). What are the consequences if I guess incorrectly. Denial and another $1000 down the drain? Ahh! Maybe I will just go back to him...

waiting for details

Things are still good! He got hired at a restaurant yesterday and is starting his first day of training today. They told him 3-4 shifts a week, so it's not a ton of hours, but it'll be nice for him to have some money and to get out of the house!

I've been avoiding AOS stuff because... I don't want to do it... but hopefully next week we'll get the vaccination stuff and the affidavit of support taken care of so that we can file.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!! <3<3<3

It's not malaria..It's a change of environment

hehehehe, how did you know?

Hello VJers....How are you all?

I hope well! Well, the time is finally almost upon us, and Nana's interview is on Thursday, September 13th. I am so anxious, nervous, excited and feeling like I just want the day to be here already. For the past month I have been unable to sleep properly, because I keep thinking of Nana's interview. Honestly, I'M A BIT SCARED, and i just want everything to go well. We have more than enough evidence, etc to prove our love over the past 3.5 years....I am just soo impatient at this point. I even began to have nightmares about the strangest things like: what if Nana is suddenly kidnapped? What if they forgot they are going to interview him? Ahhhh....On the same note, I truly believe in the bottom of my heart and soul that things will be fine on Thursday. God and love are both on our side. Please, please please keep us in your prayers this week, and I promise that I will update you all once I have any news.

Peace and Love

"Never say you fell in love, say you rose in it".- Toni Morrison

*big hugs* I felt exactly the same way as you do when Ombeni's interview was coming up. It's miserable! I think it's so scary because whatever happens now is totally out of your hands, and there's not much you can do about it. You guys will be fine, though. It's obvious how much you two mean to each other!

Hey everybody. Ombeni made it here safe and sound.

Last Wednesday, he was diagnosed with malaria while still in Tanzania. He took drugs for three days and was feeling pretty good, but he was still vomiting. He left on Friday from Nairobi. He had four hours layover time in Brussels, so he took the opportunity to learn about elevators and escalators, since I told him that he'd have to go on some at JFK.

I was most nervous about things at JFK, but going through immigration was fine! He said, "The immigration officer was very serious... but so was I!" He asked for employment authorization, so they took him to a separate room to give him the stamp. I don't think they took all of his papers. Customs was very interested in his briefcase, but they didn't harass him or anything. He made it onto the tram and into the Jet Blue terminal just fine, checked in again, and waited for his plane! He did all of that in less than 3 hours, which was good! I was nervous that he would miss his flight. Then his flight was delayed two hours... such a deal. I eventually met him at O'Hare.

He didn't vomit on Friday or Saturday, but on Sunday it started back up again. Any time he ate anything, he would get sick. He was sometimes able to keep fluids down. No other symptoms! So after being worried about it and having an embarrassing breakdown about it at work yesterday, I took him to immediate care. I was very reluctant to do so because hey, he doesn't have insurance yet and I don't really have money to blow. But I was tired of being worried, and he was tired of being sick. The doctor didn't really find anything wrong with him after taking blood and urine samples. My guess is that it's mostly nerves, along with maybe some complication with malaria. Anyway, we got him some over the counter stuff that's supposed to restore the natural bacteria in the gut. He got sick again this morning, but he ate pizza two hours ago and hasn't puked yet! hooray.

To conclude, it has been really stressful, but I think things will be great once he's not vomiting all the time. I love him so much, and I can tell that things are going to work out okay. It's a nice feeling!

We're getting married next Friday in the state capitol. It's going to be really small and informal, and I just want to get it over with!

How'd the rest of the journey go? Hope everything is good!

I had never had a full-time real job before... We applied for the K1 on March 9th, I started my job on April 30th, and he had his interview on July 24th. So I had been employed only for about 3 months, and it apparently didn't worry the CO.

Switching jobs, you should be ok!

USPS also worked ok to Tanzania. I did their global express whatever thing... sent it on a Friday, he got it on a Wednesday. The flat-envelope rate was $25, but my envelope was fatter and they charged me somewhere around $40.

I have a question about the I-94 that hopefully someone can answer: Question 8 asks for the country where you live. Should my fiance say Tanzania, or should he say America?

I hope so! Ombeni has about 4 hours of layover time there next Saturday!!! Good luck and have a happy reunion! It's so soon!