Rob&Marife

someone posted an article previously stating that the fees will begin June 1st of this year

Do you have a link to the article?

My fiancee and I aren't the richest of people, but we want to be together and she'll get an Affaidant of Support off her parents.

But how much is this whole shebang going to cost us to get through it and be together?

Are you the US citizen? if so, your fiancees Affadavit of support will be worthless.

Support documentation has to come from the petitioner (US citizen).

As to the cost, That is somewhat of a question without an answer, the fees for this and that can easily be tallied, but there are loads of associated costs such as travel, phone bills etc.

I think the most accurate answer I can give you is, It will cost you every cent you can afford...

Or even better... if you have to ask you most likely can't afford it. My fiancee is from the philippines and by the time everything is said and done it will cost us about $4000 to include her and my step son's plane tickets. Now if you throw in my trips to the Philippines to see her... well over $12,000... then figure in the cost of two weddings, trips back home... the many phone calls back home because she is home sick... as i said before if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

With that early of an NOA1 date, you should be able to get some answers from USCIS. You are well beyond their processing times. If that fails, contact your senators and such. At least that would be my suggestion.

*huggles* Best wishes.

Man you are getting hosed... If I were you I would call the CSC, senators, congressman... anyone that might be able to answer your question. That is just outright ridiculous! Don’t just sit back and let this happen to you make them miserable and tired of having to talk to you 10 times a day.

Tell the cousin go to the province she was born at and go to the local NSO office to request her BC there… it will have the fathers name already on it. I don’t know what is involved in requesting a BC but my fiancée didn’t know her dads middle name either but after she got her BC she found out why… because he didn’t have one lol Honestly I think she should be able to get it without knowing it as long as she has all the other info she needs, but that is just another approach.

You won't get any argument from me... can you say "Roses"? Her Xmas gift just grew in size also...

Well the visa packet doesn’t state it but a buddy and his wife said a firm YES!!! So now she is in route to go get him because I was an idiot and her interview is in the morning her time (Manila) which means she is going to be pressed for time. It is 10:30 pm there now and interview at 7:30 4-6 hours round trip depending on traffic… you do the math.

My step son is 2 years old does he need to attend the interview with my fiancee?

You people amaze me!!!

IMHO Niceguy did the right thing for her, his kids, and himself… you guys need to get off his butt. To say he is an example why IMBRA was enacted is horse dung! He is actually responsible enough to realize that he made a mistake and to avoid any further heartache for everyone involved and was brave enough to call it off. I guess all of you that are criticizing him would have rather seen him marry her and ruin everyone’s life that is involved in the situation. I also think some of you have overlooked the fact that she never disclosed the “mental disorder” to her fiancée… and isn’t one of the most important parts of a relationship/marriage, is honesty?

Oh and nicely put aussiewench.

A letter from my fiance's Commander was also provided and very nessesary

Yes you have to have the employment letter. Have his commander put it on offical letter head and provide contact information at the end of it. If you need a go by send me a PM.

Rob

That WAS funny!!!

But if they're able to process petitions faster by not spending time logging every single move they make .... I'm all about it!!

AMEN!!!

Congrats now lets get some of these other March folks approved. Like Kitkat and wolf… God I really feel for you. I wonder if something is going on at the CSC because I even got a touch on Wednesday. Maybe someone said no one gets Labor Day off unless you clear X number of cases by Friday? Who am I kidding it’s the federal govt and I know to well they never miss a day off.

I can tell you why because CSC has twice the case load as VSC. Somebody at DHS needs to pull their head out and use some common sense on this issue.

Go to this post I just made. There is a little more info there.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26824

First of all I need a little more info on what branch of service etc… It can be different for each branch. I am active duty Army and because of my position and security clearance I had to do a few things to stay in compliance with unit SOP and Army regulations. I was required to notify my chain of command that I was marrying a foreign national. I did this through a formal memorandum for record to CYA. Then through another memorandum for record I had to notify my security office of my intent to marry a FN. They then contacted me and had me come over for a brief interview about the relationship and her. Since she is from the Philippines it wasn’t really a big deal and wasn’t even required to fill out a SF-88 for a background on her. I see your fiancée is from Australia so I don’t think you will have any problems in that department. Unless you have a TS/SCI clearance I don’t think you have to do much of anything as far as with your specific branch of service.

As Raqiwin stated you don’t really get any advantages with being in the military during the visa process. In some cases they will expedite for deployment but they rejected my request recently. I guess it was because I am not going to OIF or OEF, just some undisclosed location where I can be kidnapped, tortured, and killed but hey according to USCIS it doesn’t meet their guidelines… what a bunch of J@ckA$$es.

Now there is advantage after you are married and she is a permanent resident. She is immediately eligible for citizenship and doesn’t have to wait the 5+ years that other permanent residents do. Other than that just sit back and relax because you are in for a wait. Hell I got $100 that says I’ll deploy in November for my 6 months be back and she still won’t have a visa… any takers?

By the way I added a link to this petition to a site based on American/Filipino relationships I hope it helps add to the numbers that sign it.

No matter who you are or if you have a case pending, if you think USCIS needs to get off there collective arses and start doing some real work sign this petition. Let's show our government that we won't take this BS anymore.

I suspect CSC has different groups of people handling different groups of cases, for example those with an IMBRA RFE and those without.

Take it from someone that has worked in a government office; if you think they are that organized think again. What really needs to happen is that the regional offices process our applications instead of sending it off to California to sit in some black hole.

Number of I-129F petitions filed by members of VisaJourney at VSC and CSC from March 1, 2006 through Aug 29, 2006.

CSC = 358 members filed for K-1

VSC = 185 members filed for K-1

Well don’t you think that DHS and USCIS could see that CSC has twice the work load and move maybe NSC or TSC applications to VSC? Of course I want to see TSC applications go there but then again most likely it’ll just bog them both down again.

Percent of I-129F Petitions Approved

for those in here in VisaJourney who have updated timelines

VSC

NOA1 during March 2006.......81%.......approved

NOA1 during April 2006...... 82.5%...... approved

NOA1 during May 2006...... 76%......... approved

NOA1 during June 2006...... 71%........ approved

NOA1 during July 2006...... 43%.......... approved

NOA1 Aug 1-29 2006.........37%...........approved (reported as of today)

CSC

NOA1 during March 2006....56%.........approved

NOA1 during April 2006..... 54%......... approved

NOA1 during May 2006...... 51%........ approved

NOA1 during June 2006..... 29%........ approved

NOA1 during July 2006....... 3%.......... approved

NOA1 Aug 1-29 2006..........0%...........approved (reported as of today)

#@#%)*(&^%$#$#@@@%^&*&**(*^% CSC, you guys suck!

OMG why did I have to file to the TSC and be transferred to CSC? It just doesn’t seem fair! I would like to see actual total numbers of total applications are going the through VSC and CSC in that I bet we see the problem.

You have had a lot of advice and how to send but I have to say xoom is the way to go as well. We have used it for months now and it works great. If you are using your credit card it is like an on line charge and not a cash advance. Lately we have started transferring directly from my checking to her bank account and it only costs about $3.50 but it does take longer. We have just planned ahead for the regular remittance we just do it on the 1st and 15th when I get paid and I do start the process 5 days prior to those dates. This time it only took 2 days but that is usually not the case.

Our now current solution to all of this is I have opened up a second checking account in my name. I can’t put her on it yet because she doesn’t have a passport yet. I am taking the ATM card to her next month when I go to visit and then each transaction will be free because my bank refunds all ATM fees up to $20 a month world wide. Unfortunately not anyone can use my bank because it is USAA which is for US military only. If you are in the reserves or National Guard I highly recommend them. I have had no problems with them now for over 8 years and have never felt more personal service. They have also beaten any interest rate when it comes to loans.

Good luck!

Don’t wait on the USCIS please write a letter of expedition from the petitioners commander explaining in detail (who, what, when, where, and how) and fax/mail it to the service center where your petition is being processed. Can it be denied? Yes! Mine was and now I am going to my congressional and senatorial offices that represent my jurisdiction. Don’t take no for answer! As it was told to me many expeditions are being denied now but you have to pursue your own issues and make USCIS fully understand your position and unique situation. After reviewing some posts on here and USCIS website I know where my request falls short… not enough details. It is just sometimes there are things my command cannot put in writing in a memorandum that is ultimately available to any employee at USCIS. So all details you can provide will help in your situation. If you need more specific details that I don’t feel comfortable with posting on a public forum feel free to contact me via PM.

Good luck!!!

Rob&Marife – I am having a premonition that this will someday be written on one of our tombstones... ** CSC!!! LOL!

ROTFLMAO

That was pretty funny!!!

kitkat1 - Well one thing is for sure, if you are a military person (and this is NOT a knock against the military), USCIS does have some clue of how to expedite a petition. There is a K1 case that I stumbled across with infamously long Manila Embassy (120 - 150 day wait for an interview) with an unpresidented 75 day completion from petition to interview in 2005. Mind you that K1s through the Manila Embassy average more than twice that amount of time.

ALL - Should employers have the option of paying $1000 for an expedited process? Whether it's really expedited or not isn't my thing? I guess that one could also argue why don't citizens receive the same tax breaks as corporations? Maybe it's all relative and we are caught up in the midst of our own misery that nobody but us seems to care about.

I just wish someone with influence at least listened and investigate. Do something!!!

Again... just my thoughts...

Well let me tell you I sent a letter from my commander requesting expedition because of my deployment in November… I still haven’t heard from CSC and according to their website sense I was not notified in 72 hours after receipt it wasn’t approved. So don’t think that just because we are in the military that we catch a break… Granted I wasn’t being sent to OIF or OEF but a hostile environment where I could be killed or injured… Hell the army gives me combat pay and hazardous duty pay but I guess USCIS doesn’t really give a ####### if I get killed and my poor fiancée never had the chance to be with me or marry me before I got sent off.

Oh and if you jerks at the CSC are reading this? I risk my life for the citizens of this country and their freedom but don’t include yourselves in that list. :-D

I was kind of in the same boat as you. Although my divorce took so long because of my deployment to Iraq and subsequent long rehab at a military hospital so hence a 3 year separation from my ex-wife. Now if USCIS wants to question my motives or why I was engaged exactly 6 days after my divorce was final I’ll explain it to them. I mean hell at least I had the common decency to wait till I knew it was finalized and filed by the county clerk before asking my fiancée to marry me.

Just know you can’t use either a K1 or K3 until you get the divorce settled. So I think what the other posted suggested was the easiest although a little on shaky legal grounds. Good luck!

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you that have had to wait so long to get your approval. Our journey has only started and I keep telling my fiancée that we just have to be patient and understand that this is all in God’s hands now. Having worked and been in the government for so long it makes me want to just sigh to think of some lazy GS-9 clerk sitting on their a$$ right now with their coffee cup sitting on some persons file while he/she is reading stock quotes on the MSNBC web site. I think someone at USCIS needs start getting some answers on why they are not cranking out NOA2’s.

I hope my visit next month will help with the inevitable wait that we have before us. Wolf just remember what my daddy use to tell me when I wanted something really bad and I couldn’t have it… Son wish in one hand and piss in the other… now which one do you think will fill up first? LOL