Trinilad

Whenever I have people coming to the US who have difficulty finding steady 9-5 jobs especially where actual skills are involved, I refer them to a site that has always worked for me in making ends meet. Go to www.narms.com. National Association of Retail Merchandising Specialist. Go to job seach and then select job bank and the area you live in. A lot of companies post jobs here when they are looking for people to do marketing or demo work. From demo's at supermarkets to doing POP and Store resets at grocery chains and stores like Walmart. I was making an extra $1,000.00 a month just doing weekend work here and everytime I need some extra money I go here and take up jobs. Most interviews are over the phone and it does not take rocket science to restock a shelf in a supermarket. Another way your better half can pick up some extra money especially with the holiday coming up.

down inside, you know the answer.

Keep the faith.

Great InFo

Do I have to pay the fee before I can seach for jobs?

ANOTHER SITE

http://shopper.mintel.com/user_apply.php : THEY DO MYSTERY SHOPPING OF FEDEX and UPS locations. You cannot work for either of these companies to get these jobs.

http://www.mcaretail.com/careers/index.html: They do resets mostly

http://www.checkmarkinc.com/shoppers/shopp...ter_secure.aspx : They do mystery shopping at all retailers.

Again, none of these compannies charge for the service. They are looking all the time for new employees. Great part time work for new spouses. I used to sign up for jobs and send my friends to do them when they were waiting for work permit. Remember, you never really meet a hiring manager. They do interview over the phone. Am I suggesting that you be dishonest and sign up for work and have your spouse do it especially if her has no work permit and it does not matter which one of your name is on the check? I would never do such a thing! Hint , hint!

Whenever I have people coming to the US who have difficulty finding steady 9-5 jobs especially where actual skills are involved, I refer them to a site that has always worked for me in making ends meet. Go to www.narms.com. National Association of Retail Merchandising Specialist. Go to job seach and then select job bank and the area you live in. A lot of companies post jobs here when they are looking for people to do marketing or demo work. From demo's at supermarkets to doing POP and Store resets at grocery chains and stores like Walmart. I was making an extra $1,000.00 a month just doing weekend work here and everytime I need some extra money I go here and take up jobs. Most interviews are over the phone and it does not take rocket science to restock a shelf in a supermarket. Another way your better half can pick up some extra money especially with the holiday coming up.

down inside, you know the answer.

Keep the faith.

Great InFo

Do I have to pay the fee before I can seach for jobs?

No, you do not have to pay anything to search the jobs. One of the great tools is that you can go and create a profile and put the things you are interested in and the expereinces you have. Comapnies will then do a search of people in a particular geographical area and actually call you to get you to take work that you express interest in. A month ago, my father and I did a reset for some hair products at CVS. We were paid $100.00 per store and took us about 4 hours each. We did 6 stores that weekend. It may not seem as much, but that was my car payment in one weekend. The good thing about it is you take the jobs you want, you stop when you feel like it and you do not have a set schedule everyday. Now some companies will offer you a merchandising position permanently for a long term. My sister for instance goes into Sears , Hects and JC Penny and restock thier ties and has been doing that monthly for the past two years. I did Hallmark Cards at Target for a year. In those cases you get paid per store. Making $20.00 per store every month and having to just visit that store maybe for twice a month for 15 mins is great if you have lets say 10 stores. Sometimes if you work well, you may service the same store for multiple companies. I used to do Best Buys , Comp USA and Office Depot in my area for 3 different companies resetting POP and cutting in products. Make about $60.00 for a 30 min visit . In most cases you will do the reporting online or mail in paperwork. They do spot checks occasionally to make sure you are doing the work. Just give your free samples to the sales associate and they will always remember you were there when they call even though you may not visit for 3 months.

Companies like Actionlink will have weekend demo jobs for work as doing demo's at Best Buys and those kind of stores. If you are a game buff, Activision will have you doing marketing work for thier games. It is a great site and it does not cost you a dime to have a profile or to do searches.

Another website to check is .WWW.ACTIONLINK.COM. This company offers One time demos and resets and also long term merchandising.

Another website is WWW.MOSAIC.COM. tHIS COMPANY OFFERS MERCHANDISING WORK FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE MORE TECH SAVY. They offer merchandising work for game and DVD companies and tend to be in Best Buys , Game Stop and EB stores. If you are good with doing demo's on printers, cameras, video games and such, this will be ideal. Permanent weekend gigs may be 4 hour weekend making about 50/ each day.

Maybe I am giving too much info. If anyone is really serious about making extra money without the hassle of a permanent part time job, these sites will be great for you and applying or searching does not cost anything. e mail me sometime and I can direct you to a couple more sites if you are interested. I am not selling anything, I am just passing along free info.

And that my friends is my 5 mins for today.

Why the heck am I so nervous? My stomach is doing flip flops and I still have all day tomorrow to get through, and never mind not sleeping tomorrow night!!!

Can you tell me if this is okay or does it need more? It is the employer letter that I am writing to have my boss sign.

(Me) has been employed by xxx since July 12, 1992. She is currently a Staff Accountant in the Office of xxx.

Current salary is xxx biweekly, xxx annually.

This is a permanent position.

If there are any questions, yaddy, yaddy, yaddy.

I have a whole week or so to go and I am unable to sleep at nights. This is too stressful. I cannot imagine ever going through this ever again. I just cannot. So if you are nervous then you are doing just fine.

Ok ladies (and Trini) - I need advice

I am really, really fed up with my job. I'm tired of working almost every weekend, I'm tired of being on all different crazy shifts (in the last year, I've been on 1st shift, 2nd shift, and 3rd shift) and I don't even like my job or the manufacturing industry I've been casually looking around for other jobs but the problem is that I can't find anything that pays even close to what I make now (not counting the overtime money!). Tony's job is too unstable to rely on his income. He's doing roofing but works outside so they can't work in bad weather - in Michigan that's often

I have been at my job for just over 5 years now and I know I would have to start all over again w/ vacation time and all that. I also have really good benefits for me and Tony (medical, dental, vision, 401K, etc) and lots of paid holidays and decent amount of vacation days. But the biggest problem is simply the huge pay cut I would have to take. We're talking $20,000 a year or so! So, do I just stick it out for now and continue working ALL the time - no social life, no time for friends/family etc. Or do I take a huge pay-cut and take another job and get to work "normal" hours (Mon. thru Fri. 8 to 5 or whatever) ??? I am so stressed out over all this. I did not slave away at college for over 4 years to have this job that I can't stand and work every weekend

I guess when you lose your passion for what you are doing it becomes frustrating to continue the 9-5. But at the end of the day the decision is an easy one to make. This is not one of those things you can resolve overnight. From where I look at it, you have to decide whether the stress involved in being unable to make ends meet is less painful than the stress of doing a job you do not have a passion for anymore. You know, the worst of two evils.

Whenever I have people coming to the US who have difficulty finding steady 9-5 jobs especially where actual skills are involved, I refer them to a site that has always worked for me in making ends meet. Go to www.narms.com. National Association of Retail Merchandising Specialist. Go to job seach and then select job bank and the area you live in. A lot of companies post jobs here when they are looking for people to do marketing or demo work. From demo's at supermarkets to doing POP and Store resets at grocery chains and stores like Walmart. I was making an extra $1,000.00 a month just doing weekend work here and everytime I need some extra money I go here and take up jobs. Most interviews are over the phone and it does not take rocket science to restock a shelf in a supermarket. Another way your better half can pick up some extra money especially with the holiday coming up.

You have responsibilities and as frustrating as it may be, you just have to find a way to keep your head above water. Trust me, we would all love to cut back on the hours and make ends meet, but unless you are willing to make some drastic adjustments to your way of life, it is not going to happen. Let's be realistic about that. You have gotten accustomed to a certain lifestyle that you have been able to afford because of the income you have. Are you willing to give it up?

Additionally, this may the time to maybe look at skills you have that you can work on. Yes the degree speaks for itself, but look at the jobs that you are interested in and see if any training can get in the door in about 6 months or so. In the short run, you have to stick it out. The plan now should be to increase your spouse's income and work on that seriously. He may need some skill training too to give himself some options as time goes along. You two have to come together on this one and make a decision that you BOTH can live with and be realistic about it. I am sitting in a job that I love cause it allows me to work from home when I want to, go on vacation in Jamaica when I like and such so I can give you all the advice in the world. But until I walk in your shoes, i am just blowing steam. At the end of the day, it's your call, and deep down inside, you know the answer.

Keep the faith.

For anyone who recently had the interview for the fiance visa in Kingston, can you remember whether they accepted the income tax return copy printed out from the tax software as Turbo Tax or whether they insisted on the IRS generated tax transcript. I sent the last three years tax return transcripts that I got from the IRS to my fiance and she seems to have misplaced 2005. I have my copy from TURBOTAX that I saved. I am wondering whether that will be sufficient. It is too late to order the IRS transcript in time for next Monday.

Hello-

We had a really good talk last night and we finally got to a point that I think both of us understands one another a little better now. This money issue will take time. This is a hard issue to resolve but I think it will get better once he starts working and making his own money.

On a good note........we received notice that we have our AOS interview on December 7, 2006. It seems kinda fast (I am NOT complaining though!!!!.... ) considering that we have not received the EAD yet. Is that normal????

Is there anything that we need to do now to get prepared for the interview?? What do we need to bring to the interview?

Have a great Sunday everyone!!!

Have a doc that may be of help. I am goint to e mail it to you cause I am not sure I can attach it to this message. There is a chapter here that will guide you through the rest of the process. A PDT. file so you will neeed adobe acrobat to open

Hello-

We had a really good talk last night and we finally got to a point that I think both of us understands one another a little better now. This money issue will take time. This is a hard issue to resolve but I think it will get better once he starts working and making his own money.

On a good note........we received notice that we have our AOS interview on December 7, 2006. It seems kinda fast (I am NOT complaining though!!!!.... ) considering that we have not received the EAD yet. Is that normal????

Is there anything that we need to do now to get prepared for the interview?? What do we need to bring to the interview?

Have a great Sunday everyone!!!

Have a doc that may be of help. I am goint to e mail it to you cause I am not sure I can attach it to this message. There is a chapter here that will guide you through the rest of the process. A PDT. file so you will neeed adobe acrobat to open

Hello-

We had a really good talk last night and we finally got to a point that I think both of us understands one another a little better now. This money issue will take time. This is a hard issue to resolve but I think it will get better once he starts working and making his own money.

On a good note........we received notice that we have our AOS interview on December 7, 2006. It seems kinda fast (I am NOT complaining though!!!!.... ) considering that we have not received the EAD yet. Is that normal????

Is there anything that we need to do now to get prepared for the interview?? What do we need to bring to the interview?

Have a great Sunday everyone!!!

Have a doc that may be of help. I am goint to e mail it to you cause I am not sure I can attach it to this message. There is a chapter here that will guide you through the rest of the process. A PDT. file so you will neeed adobe acrobat to open

Two last questions. So I filled out that VISA application form for Iffeisha and I have two questions that I am not sure I know how to answer.

One question is "DO YOU INTEND TO WORK IN THE US " YES NO

The example on the VJ website says to answer YES -PENDING EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION- EMPLOYER UNKNOWN

Is that safe or should the answer be NO.

Other question: DO YOU INTEND TO STUDY IN THE US. YES NO

What is the correct answer.

In both cases it is obvious that SO will work/ and or attend school at some point in time. So nothing is wrong with saying YES. Or should you say NO to avoid suspicion that you are migrating for employment or educational purposes.

Hello everyone.

Trinilad - when is the carnival in Baltimore?

Have fun tonight

Baltimore has two carnivals. one in July and one in September right after labor day weekend. Not as good ac DC Carnival which is always the last saturday in June.

Thanks....just making sure I didn't miss anything new coming. I went to one in Baltimore last year but couldn't remember which month. We missed the carnivals in DC and Baltimore this year.

So did I. First time in 10 years. I made Jamaica Carnival though. My God! The women there are a lil....how you say it....exposed. Women from Trinidad enjoy carnival cause that is the best Carnival in the world, but Jamaican women takes it to another level. Iffeisha is not into Carnival and it was the first time she saw me respond to calypso music in this manner. Calypso is not played a log in Jamaican clubs. She has sworn never to take me to any place that plays calypso music again. I wonder what she is gonna do when we go DC Carnival next year. I go crazy to soca music. I actually play with the mud band for DC Carnival. To this day I do not know how I got home last year. Just woke up Sunday morning in my tub covered in mud. But whatever I did, I am sure I had a great time. With some luck, no one else knows .

Hello everyone.

Trinilad - when is the carnival in Baltimore?

Have fun tonight

Baltimore has two carnivals. one in July and one in September right after labor day weekend. Not as good ac DC Carnival which is always the last saturday in June.

This evening is my lil bachelor party. My friends are taking me to a bar close to work to get my drink on. last hurrah!

Have a good time and be careful!!!

My daughter heard me talking on the phone and asked me how do I get drunk. I guess she will be overnighting at the baby sitter. She has never seens me when I drink cause i just don't drink enough to get drunk. Not about to change that though.

We got there at 6:30am, there was about 40 or so people already in line. We got in about 7:30am. Our interview was on a Friday at 9:15am

Stephen, is this weather crazy here today or what??? It was 75 degrees yesterday and now today, it rained this morning, windy as all get out now and supposed to be only 60 degrees !!!

These days I do not know what to wear. I get up on mornings, stick my hand out the window and then go to the closet. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Had to open my windows last night to cool the house down.

This evening is my lil bachelor party. My friends are taking me to a bar close to work to get my drink on. last hurrah!

I'll be at the Knutsford on Thursday and Friday. Now I wish the interview was on Monday so we all could have gotten together. I suppose on Friday they will be all tired and cranky....

Getting nervous...

Party at the Knutsford!!

Good luck to all of you with your interviews!

BTW, I liked the Knutsford when hubby and I stayed there.

really? that is great! i looks nice from the pics i have seen on there website...what kind of things are there to do around there??? how far is the embassy?? a couple of blocks right?

The embassy is a couple blocks away. At 6.30am in the morning, I would not suggest walking. It will take you about 5-10 mins to walk. But it's not like a main street you are coming from. The hotel will call you a taxi which may be about $300JA. Spend the $5.00US and get there safetly.

Things to do around there. Hmmm. It is downtown New Kingston so not much besides shopping. Are you leaving from Mo Bay? There is a lot to do in the counntry side. But in Kingston, from my personal experience, the options are not that much. It is not a tourist town in my opinion.

ok...well we are planning on being at the embassy at 5:00 am because the line gets very long!! so i guess we will just take a taxi then....

guess we will just hang out by the pool

If I can get Iffeisha out of the door at 5.am I would. But to do that, you have to get this woman started at about 3.am. I actually brought the outfit for her to wear to the interview to save us trying on 15 outfits before she decides on the first one she tried two hours ago. But I am going to try to get there as early as I can.

I'll be at the Knutsford on Thursday and Friday. Now I wish the interview was on Monday so we all could have gotten together. I suppose on Friday they will be all tired and cranky....

Getting nervous...

If I can get Iffeisha out of the door at 5.am I would. But to do that, you have to get this woman started at about 3.am. I actually brought the outfit for her to wear to the interview to save us trying on 15 outfits before she decides on the first one she tried two hours ago. But I am going to try to get there as early as I can.

I'll be at the Knutsford on Thursday and Friday. Now I wish the interview was on Monday so we all could have gotten together. I suppose on Friday they will be all tired and cranky....

Getting nervous...

Party at the Knutsford!!

Good luck to all of you with your interviews!

BTW, I liked the Knutsford when hubby and I stayed there.

really? that is great! i looks nice from the pics i have seen on there website...what kind of things are there to do around there??? how far is the embassy?? a couple of blocks right?

The embassy is a couple blocks away. At 6.30am in the morning, I would not suggest walking. It will take you about 5-10 mins to walk. But it's not like a main street you are coming from. The hotel will call you a taxi which may be about $300JA. Spend the $5.00US and get there safetly.

Things to do around there. Hmmm. It is downtown New Kingston so not much besides shopping. Are you leaving from Mo Bay? There is a lot to do in the counntry side. But in Kingston, from my personal experience, the options are not that much. It is not a tourist town in my opinion.

For even my close friends that know me (and know Craig), have NO CLUE why Craig is acting the way he acts and why HE is making this experience so flippin stressful.........maturity??!!! I said to him last night, we (me and my son) are SOOO laid back and we're NOT hard to live with.....but he just can't handle the fact that he DOES have to share........but again, this wasn't a "surprise" to him!!!!!!! I suggested to Craig that he reeeeeally needs to be around families WITH kids, my friends with their kids and COUPLES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My son is 12 and a true-blue teenager WITH a mouth at times, but I put him in check and Craig can't STAND when I get upset and raise my voice at my son (I don't discipline physically). I'm the type of parent that won't let my child get away with disrespect, etc and when I say you're grounded....I follow through. My son is a good kid, everyone that he goes and stays with and hangs out at their house compliments me alllll of the time.

Who knows?????????

That parent thing. Are you telling me your parents do not know you are marraid and have no idea who Craig is? Or maybe , I need to read that again. Yey....it looks like that is what you said.

I live in baltimore City . When I get back from JA, maybe we can all get together. Maybe Craig just feel out of sorts and everyone around is foreign to him. Does he have any frinds here from Jamaica or the caribbean?

I am still here.

We are going to have a civil ceremony at the courthouse in Baltimore City that Friday. I work at the Culinary school in baltimore and we have banquet and restaurant faccilities. As a present, my college is throwing me a small reception at no cost for about 25 people. Could not pass up on that offer. Did not feel like doing the decorating for the banquet hall for the ceremony and since the courthouse has a nice wedding chapel area I decided to use them.The time between our arrival and the wedding is too short to plan anything else. We have a lot to take care of when she comes here from deciding which college to attend, my sister's wedding in Florida a week after she gets here, her having to take the Praxis exam for the MD Education board certification on November 14th, a surprise birthday party for her on November 16th , and trying to make sure we cathch all the sales on Black Friday.Phew! I get tired just thinking about it. So I guess I will come up for air sometime in December!

Wow that's nice that your place of employment is doing that for you. But your schedule Stephen, OMG. I'm getting exhuausted just looking at it .

I know. There is so much to do and so little time. I tell Iffeisha all the time that we are going to have to get secretaries and learn how to have a quickie. Between her schedule and mine, it will be a while before we settle down. It's just we had arranged things assuming she would have been here in september. So we are a month or so behind and playing catch up.

DEFINITELY 2nd that........for GOOOOD VIBES to Darlene, Shauna and Stephen. Safe travels and best wishes to everyone!! I'm routin for ya !!

Have a great weekend everyone !!! Hopefully us MD/VA/DC OR PA (if you were around) are going to be able to link up !!

THANKS!

...kelly you are too funny....how's the weather????

Stephen...i have the same date as you and at 7:15 as well.....are you staying over in Kingston the night before??? I decided it would be best for us if we did and then we are also going to stay a extra night...i am sure we will see you there!!

I am staying over in Kingston. I actually fly into Montego Bay on Sunday from JFK and then we are driving to Kingston and overnight at the Knutsford. Do not feel like driving that early morning to get into Kingston.

I will e mail you my contact info in Jamiaca so we can at least maybe get together sometime before you leave. Is he supposed to be flying back with you? I am going to be there until Sunday when we fly back to JFK.

cool!! i am flying into Mobay on Sunday as well...from Philly to mobay and i get in at 11am...then we are going to ochi to get the folder of papers at mike's place then to kingston....and we will be in Kington till tuesday when i leave to go back wish i could fly back with him but can't take that much time off of work...pm me your contact stuff and we can meet up since we will be at the same place...

Darlene...sorry you won't be there

I definitely would. i am getting into MO bay at about 12.30 that Sunday and driving to Brown's Town to drop my luggage off and then head to Kingston. I figure we would spend the night going over the paperwork to make sure everything is in order. I am not sure if I can live through the anticipation. I will certainly e mail you my info. We can have lunch on Monday after the interviews.

Sorry Darlene. I will take a drink on Appleton just for you. I know by the time we are done, you would have been through a dozen bottles of wine. Celebration time! I guess I will see you for Boston Carnival next year. Anyone coming to Baltimore Carnival, make sure you let me know. I am assuming everyone here knows what carnival is right? Keep forgetting your SO are jamaicans and not from Trini.

Kelly -- How are things going on your end? Hope all is well.....

Hey Mindy,

Thanks for asking.....

Things are a little better after not talking to each other for 3 days !!! We HAD to talk last night because I told him he needs to find another place to stay because this is TOTAL BS !!! Anyway, his "deal" is my relationship with my son. He *says* he's not jealous, but.......he asked, when is it ME and YOU time, you and Austin are ALWAYS together !!! Now, here's how things go in our house.....

He leaves for work at 7:30am and I take my son to school at 7:30am. My son has soccer practice Mon & Wed from 5-7pm, we don't get home until 7:30pm-ish. I NEVER know when Craig is going to get home from work, it can be anywhere from 6:30 to 9pm. His place of business is closing so his hours are all over the place. So when I get home, I gotta cook or find something for dinner, help my son with mounds of homework...catch-up on my travel stuff (because working my part-time job takes away from that on occassions), plus I scored the Baltimore Blast soccer team travel this year and that's keeping me VERY busy!! There are certain shows on TV that I like to chill out and watch and Craig likes the shows that I watch (except for The Bachelor). So we usually sit and watch them. My son goes to sleep at 9:30pm and Craig is shortly thereafter. Weekends --my son has soccer skill training Sat for 2 hours (times vary) and Sunday's we're off to anywhere in Maryland or Virginia for a game or tournament. This time of the year, I have a ton of travel functions and shows to go to in the evening and I'm gone till 9pm-ish.

I spend as MUCH time with Craig as I possibly can.........but, he does not "GET" the fact that "I" am my sons only support system. Yes, my son tries to take advantage of that, but I give a little here and I give a little there. For those of us that have kids, you know exactly how I'm feeling and what I'm talking about........it's WAAAAY exhausting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight we have no plans, but ........who KNOWS when he'll be home and he's NOT a "planner". I know that we need more quality time, but being a single parent with a crazy busy schedule (and he totally knew this BEFORE he got here)......"I" NEED a vacation alone !!!

Anyone else feelin me ????????

You know I cannot respond to this one cause I get overly passionate about this issue me being a single parent myself. (For 3 weeks gain at least). Every relationsship with children has its own set of perculiar issues and no two are alike. My personal philosophy when it comes to my child is that I can chose my spouse, but my child I am stuck with for life. It's unfortunate that he feels he has to complete. Maybe he should try to take him to a soccer match or two, get on the sideline and do some cheering. My prayers are with you on this one. I guess I am too much of a cut and dry person for understand this so maybe someone with more of an objective head can give you some tips here. I need to take Craig with me and have a drink one of these days. We live close enough. Maybe he is having some difficulty understanding how easy this whole adjustment can be. Having a successful marraige and a happy home should not be so damn hard. maybe there is something that you are not sharing cause I cannot understand why he just insist on making this such a stressful experience. Maybe one Caribbean man to another, I may be able to share me lil bit of wisdom with him.

DEFINITELY 2nd that........for GOOOOD VIBES to Darlene, Shauna and Stephen. Safe travels and best wishes to everyone!! I'm routin for ya !!

Have a great weekend everyone !!! Hopefully us MD/VA/DC OR PA (if you were around) are going to be able to link up !!

THANKS!

...kelly you are too funny....how's the weather????

Stephen...i have the same date as you and at 7:15 as well.....are you staying over in Kingston the night before??? I decided it would be best for us if we did and then we are also going to stay a extra night...i am sure we will see you there!!

I am staying over in Kingston. I actually fly into Montego Bay on Sunday from JFK and then we are driving to Kingston and overnight at the Knutsford. Do not feel like driving that early morning to get into Kingston.

I will e mail you my contact info in Jamiaca so we can at least maybe get together sometime before you leave. Is he supposed to be flying back with you? I am going to be there until Sunday when we fly back to JFK.

I am still here.

We are going to have a civil ceremony at the courthouse in Baltimore City that Friday. I work at the Culinary school in baltimore and we have banquet and restaurant faccilities. As a present, my college is throwing me a small reception at no cost for about 25 people. Could not pass up on that offer. Did not feel like doing the decorating for the banquet hall for the ceremony and since the courthouse has a nice wedding chapel area I decided to use them.The time between our arrival and the wedding is too short to plan anything else. We have a lot to take care of when she comes here from deciding which college to attend, my sister's wedding in Florida a week after she gets here, her having to take the Praxis exam for the MD Education board certification on November 14th, a surprise birthday party for her on November 16th , and trying to make sure we cathch all the sales on Black Friday.Phew! I get tired just thinking about it. So I guess I will come up for air sometime in December!

Best of luck to Darlene. You know I do not like to use the word luck acsue it sounds like we are taking a chance at something. The people I have met here are people with great intentions and solid relationships. So this is just a process that is just a part of being together. So to Darlene and all the others I say, give us all a heads up when you and the boo gets back cause you know we "yardies" know how to do things right.

To all who are preparing for interviews next week, best of luck to you. I may not get the chance to put my usual 2 cents bit in before then cause I have so much to get done at work so that I can take the week off to go to my fiance's interview on October 30th. I promise to hang around after Iffeisha and I pop the bottle of wine. Our wedding plans are in place for November 10th in Baltimore. All that stands in our way right now is that 15 minute of fame with that man/ woman on Oxford Road in Kingston.

I know there is someone else who has an interview date same as mine. Cannot remember who it is. Hope I do chat with you before then.

To all of you, best of luck and I have a feeling we will all have success stories to share and guidance to give to those who are just one step behind us.

Last minute jitters I guess. OK I-134 question! I finally got my letter from the bank and all they give me is the date opened and current balance. Since I am using my income from my job to to show I meet the income requirements requirements, how important is this bank statement/ letter? I was able to get almost all the statements for the past year showing deposits and withdrawals, but I am not sure what information they are looking at when you have many transactions in one month? Did anyone who had a recent interview had thier bank statement or bank letter scrutinized? Did they actually ask for it after you provided the job letter and tax return or was it just one of those "just in case" documents that you walked with but never actually used?

I tell you I am already personally responsible for a forest or two disappearing from the earth and I just do not feel like this last minute rangle with the bank. I have the last three years tax return, the job letter, the last 6 months worth of pay stubs. Am I ok here or am I missing something

Here's how our interview went...this past May ---

Dropped off our interview letter at Window 1. Waited for about 30 minutes, called to Window 4. She (not so nice) asked Craig if he'd ever been to the states.....No.....who was his fiancee.....my name. Asked why we had 2 I-134's, but kept both. Gave back all but 2004 & 2005 tax stuff. Then asked us to sit down to be called. Waited another 15 min called to Window 9 ....HE was BIGGEST a&&hole EVER !!!!!! He asked Craig to sign the forms, but we had forgotten to bring a pen. We asked NICELY if we could borrow a pen, he literally THREW down his headset and HUFFED and puffed away. He RELUCTANTLY let us BORROW a flippin pen. He asked Craig about 4x whether he'd been to the states. Asked if he'd ever been in trouble with the law, stopped by the police or had a criminal record. Craig answered that he had been in a car years ago, but nothing ever happened to him. Then he fingerprinted him.

He proceeded to look at our OLD paperwork, meticulously looked through our pictures --which were about 10 pages long. I asked him if he would like some additional pictures, letters, phone records, etc.....NEVER looked at me and said, that wouldn't be necessary. Then he asked Craig, to go sit down and he was going to talk WITH ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This guy, I'm tellin ya, was the most UNPLEASANT and sarcastic person. He gave me an extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely hard time about our age difference, asked if "I" thought there would be that passion and romance once he got to the states, like it was on the "beaches of Negril". I nicely reminded him that I've been coming to Jamaica for over 10 yrs and that I've been back several times since I met Craig in November of 2004. He gave me an extreeeeeeemely hard time about my income. I make WELL over the poverty limits, but he was looking at the paperwork TOTALLY incorrectly and I politely pointed that out to him. When you have your own business, you file differently than any personal income. That's why I had everything stapled together with a BRIGHT pink sticky note, stating the difference. Even making almost $27,000 (not including my child support AND my part-time job) in 2004 was NOT "good enough" in his eyes. He NEVER ever looked at my bank letters, employment letters or child support statement proving the extra income. Never looked at the I-134, just kept going over and over and over again about the 2004 & 2005 income tax info ---which, in fact is OVER the "poverty level" !!!

HOPE THIS HELPS.... kelly

Thanks so much. This has been so much help. I hope I can survive that kind of scrutiny. My fiance been warning me about my so called sharp wit. I hope I can keep my tongue in check. I can see we are going to have one of those odd interviews. Just a lil history on my fiance and I. We met in 2001 in Jamaica at a house party. I was so crazy about her, I was back in Jamaica a couple months later. We used to rack up some $500.00 per month phone bills. The long distance was too much for us and she had no intentions of moving to the US and I had no intention of moving to Jamaica. We were both involved at the time and after a couple visits, the distance got to us and we moved on with our lives. I got marraid. Lasted less than a year because within a couple months I realized that the woman I loved was not the one I was marraid to. My wife then said she always knew, and the divorce was very routine. So I could just see that immigration officer asking me about that since I was marraid for a short time between the time we knew each other. But I guess that may work for us cause we just cannot see ourselves with anyone else even if we wanted to. And we did try. (he he)

So my fiance and I were going through the pics and selecting the ones we were taking to the interview. I suggested to her to take the pictures of her and my daughter from Christmas and also some from when my daughter spent the last summer vacation with her. She thought this was silly since they need proof of us together which we already have and she thinks that pics of her with my daughter is not the same. I told her that any man who sends his 7 year old daughter to spend 3 months with a woman in a foreign country must be having a serious relationship with her and that is what we want this immigration officer to see. You know I got the "whatever." So I told her i am going to pass this one by you guys. Any opinion?

We just found out we have raccoons in the attic......PLEASE tell me Roy isn't going to surprise me for dinner

Omigosh! This reminds me, we have a horrible possum problem this year, and they keep eating everything in Lake's garden. He killed a small one, I felt so bad it was just a baby, but he didnt know, he thought it was a big RAT!

Anyhow, he TELLS me, if he catches the momma, he is COOKIN HER UP!! Fine fixins in Guyana, Mawerry stew...blecht!

i feel sort of lucky i won't have to worry about this kind of stuff...because all mike knows how to cook is eggs and mac and cheese

Nannygirl,

I guess we should count ourselves lucky. My hubby tells me in Trinidad, SKUNK is considered a delicacy!

Trinilad, have you heard of this??? Or is he tellin me a story?

Sorry, but that is a story. Now possum is a delicacy and so are iguanas and armadillo (hope I spell that right). Definitely not a skunk. I am not even sure we have any of those back there

This may be just my day to have a million questions. When I got the NOA2, I noticed that my name was spelt STPHEN instead of STEPHEN. Called the Custumer service number and they said was a clerical error and they will correct it in thier system. They were supposed to send me a letter whwn it was corrected. The notice from NVC has the same misspelling and now I guess Jamaica has the same misspelling. Does anyone anticipate a problem? After all, the approved everything else with all documents showing STEPHEN?

Last minute jitters I guess. OK I-134 question! I finally got my letter from the bank and all they give me is the date opened and current balance. Since I am using my income from my job to to show I meet the income requirements requirements, how important is this bank statement/ letter? I was able to get almost all the statements for the past year showing deposits and withdrawals, but I am not sure what information they are looking at when you have many transactions in one month? Did anyone who had a recent interview had thier bank statement or bank letter scrutinized? Did they actually ask for it after you provided the job letter and tax return or was it just one of those "just in case" documents that you walked with but never actually used?

I tell you I am already personally responsible for a forest or two disappearing from the earth and I just do not feel like this last minute rangle with the bank. I have the last three years tax return, the job letter, the last 6 months worth of pay stubs. Am I ok here or am I missing something

So I am here going over the last set of documents. It says to bring copies of marraige certificates if applicable. Since I have a divore decree from my previous marraige, I am assuming this is not applicable. Am I correct in my assumption or do I need to go to vital records and get a copy of the marraige certificate even though I have the divorce decree?

Just divorce decree. Original document.

The one we get from the courts here in Baltimore has the City Seal and a stamp attesting to the fact it is actual copy of divorce decree. I guess that is what they are asking for?

So I am here going over the last set of documents. It says to bring copies of marraige certificates if applicable. Since I have a divore decree from my previous marraige, I am assuming this is not applicable. Am I correct in my assumption or do I need to go to vital records and get a copy of the marraige certificate even though I have the divorce decree?