TearsOfBabylon

Who else here still use postal mail letters as a form of communication? 
Last week I sent my fiancé a letter with a poem that I want to dedicate to him. He got it yesterday morning (my time) and he was so happy about it. 
I don't know but there's something special and sweet about hand-written letters 

This is the one for Canadians Packet 3.
 
To prepare for your interview you must acquire and checkmark the list of applicable documents below. Then sign, date, and return the checklist to the U.S. Consulate General in Montreal. Subsequently, you will be receiving a Packet 4 letter with instructions on how to schedule your K1 Fiancé(e) visa appointment and on how to get the medical exam in Canada. DO NOT get your medical exam in advance as it has a limited validity! By doing this, you acknowledge that you have gathered the required documents for each applicant, and that you will bring the originals and photocopies for your interview:
 Intent to Marry Letter signed by the petitioner and dated within 30 days of the interview date.
 Passport, valid for at least 6 months beyond the date you plan to enter the United States.
 Canadian Immigration documents, if applicable.
 Birth certificate.
 Marriage certificate(s).
 Death and/or divorce certificate(s) for petitioner and for beneficiary, if applicable.
 Police certificates from each country in which the applicant has resided for 6 months or longer since the age of 16. Canadian police certificate(s) must be issued within one year of the visa appointment.
 Court records.
 Military records.
 Certified translation of foreign civil documents and foreign police certificates.
 Signed Affidavit of Support (I-134) with all supporting financial documents.
 Evidence of petitioner’s domicile in the United States.
 Evidence of relationship between petitioner and beneficiary.
 Two recent photographs http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/photos.html.
 I have read the Rights and Protections for Foreign-Citizen Fiancé(e)s and Spouses of U.S. Citizens and Spouses of Lawful Permanent Residents pamphlet, available here: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/IMBRA.htm

I don't really think there is but spying on the other threads works. Honestly so many people don't finish their timelines so its very inaccurate or even fill one out at all. Everytime some newbie on a thread says I was approved I wanna say fill out your timeline LOL

I think it depends on the embassy. No copy of the petition makes sense because they do receive it anyway, as for the letter, I would check the embassy website.

I don't even know how to get there though!  lol  Guess my brain is smaller! 

Your stress is understandable  I think the beach wedding sounds great if that's what you really want to do. It seems like a very typical thing to have a smaller wedding at first, due to the 90 days restriction, and then a bigger party with family and friends from both sides if you want to go for the traditional thing.
 
I'm certainly not having any family or friends my side at the wedding since it would be really complicated and expensive to organize all that, plus I don't want a big fuss. I rather have my family and friends visiting later than stressing over it right after arriving at the States. And that's also why I feel it's important for my fiancé to come to Spain for a couple of weeks before I leave to get married there, so we can properly say goodbye to my family.
 
 
We also have an average month vacation period in Spain, but do you know what we also have? 15 paid days off when you get married, even for civil unions 
 
I think that has a lot to do with Spanish society being family oriented. That's why here you have two last names, one from your father and the second one from you mother... which I think is great, because moms do so much work for their kids  Well, nowadays you can even choose the order in which you want to give your last name to the baby and mom's can be the first one.
Also we don't change our name when getting married. Actually, I'm not planning on changing mine even if that's the usual thing to do there, in the US. It's a matter of tradition and respect towards my parents, specially with my dad's family name being a very uncommon one that might disappear in some years time. It's also practical, because changing my passport and all documents to that would be very complicated here. Plus my fiancé's ex uses his last name, so that's a little silly reason why I'm not that eager to take it either
 
 
The road trip from Salt Lake to Vegas is a nice one  6 hours only and when you get there is actually an hour less, so that's cool. The best part is when you cross Colorado, since that's a more fun road to drive in between the mountains. Well, Jaime wouldn't agree it was that nice, since he was meowing all the way. Poor thing!
 
We don't have anything set in stone because we haven't talk about wedding plans much, due to all the uncertainty. We know it will be a small thing since no one from my side is coming and we don't like the big fuss. Most likely we are having a court wedding in Salt Lake City. Gary's parents (it seems weird to say my fiancé all the time ) might come since they live quite close by... I mean, I honestly would prefer to be only us two and his work friends... because they already invited themselves, lol.
 
Actually his parents live in Vegas now, so that might be an option too. Vegas is our special place. We met in person there for the first time, when we went for a two week vacation early 2015 (he was living in Hawaii back then). Then we went back for a week vacation in 2016 when I was visiting Utah for a couple months and then there's that road trip February this year. Actually it seems we have a tradition now of celebrating my birthday in Vegas
I also think I've read getting the marriage certificate is easier and quicker in Vegas, but it still seems like a big fuss for me, so probably we'll stay at SLC. As we always say, to the point it has become our motto (and I can't say I'm happy about it): "We'll see".
 

Yeah, that's another thing... he feels uncomfortable at the thought of having a wedding with a group of people that he doesn't know (just my family and friends) since all of his people probably will not be able to come. We would be flying back from FL late late on Dec 23, so I had figured... everyone will already be gathered on Christmas, so, why not do it in the evening on Christmas and keep the 2 separate, but together - if that makes any sense hehe  but, he and I would get married on the beach on... 12-13-17 cuz that date would be hard for him to forget lmao

He proposed to me at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and we are thinking of getting married there as well. It will only be him and I, my friend from Denver, and a couple of his friends. My Mum might come if she can but we plan on having a party later next year where my family can come down. Although my sister says she refuses to come to the states under the current administration. lol My sister-in-law who just passed her Canadian citizenship has never been to the states and looks forward to visiting me and Chris eventually. 

The Utah-Vegas connection is strong around here, lol 

I am in Utah and I want to do Vegas as well we decided on the honeymoon there. And it's funny you said Virginia Beach i grew up in Hampton Virginia a not far from there. Most of my family is in North Carolina now.  @TearsOfBabylon

We're also choosing the courthouse wedding because of the small amount of time that we are allowed to get married and as much as possible, we want to finish all the paperworks during that 90 days period   We'll just have a church wedding here in the Philippines in the future where my family and relatives can join as well.
 
As for the wedding celebration, we're still talking about if we would choose to have a small gathering 20 people (that will be very practical in terms of saving money, time and less stressful in preparing) or invite everyone from his side that will reach 50-60 people that there's so much to consider (renting a venue, setting up the venue, hiring a caterer or have some of his friends help with the cooking, expenses). For me, I don't mind having a small gathering or just the 2 of us celebrating after the wedding but because we have a strong family ties in our culture its not inevitable to get everyone invited. For the most part, we're thinking about his mom who is very emotional/sentimental when it comes to family celebrations and milestones esp. he's the first one to get married in their family that's why we cannot have a "no celebration" option.
   

So, I talked with my mom about the idea I had of just getting married in FL and she said she thought that was a good idea and now they might come too! but just for maybe like 4 days, but to be there for the wedding! =) So, just really feeling better about that idea now 

Guten Morgen und willkommen
 
Ich war auch ein März Filer und hatte meine NOA2 Ende Mai Anfang Juni glaub ich bekommen. Ich wünsch dir auf jeden Fall viel Glück. 
Mein Mann kommt aus Williamsburg Virginia... also nicht allzuweit weg von dort wo du bist. Wir fahren aber eigentlich nur zur Weihnachtszeit hoch die FAmilie besuchen. 
 
Natürlich darfst du hier mitmischen. Wir sind immer froh wenn wir helfen können und neue Gesichter hier zu sehn
Wir sind auch eigentlich in allen Visalagen hier... K1, AOS und hier sind auch welche die glaube ich bald ROC machen. Also hier solltest du eigentlich alle Fragen beantwortet bekommen. Einfach Fragen
 
Ich wünsche dir viel Glück!

Hello there fellow Filipina. April whiner here. I feel you. I sometimes get jealous too cause I really miss my man very much. But still I am very happy for those couples and wishing them an extremely happy holiday together. My fiance only have 2 weeks paid leave each year and this year, he did not use it cause he is saving it for our planned wedding ceremony later on here in the Philippines. Yeah, our plan is to get married in his country and have a formal wedding ceremony later here in Philippines. We were together last March but he used an unpaid leave just to come visit me. It's been only 2 months passed since the last time we're together yet it's driving me crazy already. So how much more in your part which I know you are waiting much longer than I am. So I really feel you and the rest here that seems like been waiting for years now to be reunited with your beloved. And yeah..., you are almost there. Everyday is getting closer to our dream (to be with our beloved). 
 
To the rest of us here, together guys, no matter what race, country, nationality, what kind of blood runs in our veins(even if you are vampire or a werewolf), and no matter which filing month we belong, in this battle we are one as brothers and sisters. We can make it through the rain guys and to those who have been issued and RFEs, stay positive guys, cause every rain comes a rainbow.  Best of luck to all of us here..

We kind of have the same "problem".

Our options are:

Courthouse Virginia Beach
Beach, Virginia Beach (unlikely, since it's later fall)
Las Vegas, biggest giant wheel in the world (my fave hehe)

My family is in Germany, my friends are spread all over Germany (so it would be a pain to gather them even if we'd get married here), his family is in Utah, his friends in Virginia Beach.

So most likely we're going to try pick up his parents and sister and do a road trip from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. 

Since it's too expensive to gather everybody/fly all in.... why not get married in FL on the beach and make a party later?
I think everyone will understand, in consideration of the circumstances. At least in our case people do understand.

I almost don't dare to say, but we spoiled Germans normally have 30 days (weekends/holidays not counting) + many holidays. Especially here in Bavaria we have the most: 13 holidays a year!

Just noticed another thing I will miss in the states haha

I know I am getting stressed tryna find a place to get married that doesn't wanna charge an arm and a leg and with options limited in the winter time (I would rather do it outside, but... cant' count on decent weather in the winter in WA) so, I am about to give up on a wedding with my family and friends and get married in FL where I already have the honeymoon planned and have it be just the two of us getting married on the beach.. which I REALLY wanted anyhow. I just feel bad cuz I feel like I would be taking away from my dad in getting to walk me down the aisle... thoughts?

Welcome to the Anonymous Whiners! :-)

Be sure you won't whine alone here! We're hanging in there with you!

4 weeks don't sound that bad to me
My fiance has a little bit over two weeks vacation a year, so sure that makes visiting hard to plan so it's worthy. We are planning on him coming after I have my Visa on hand and hopefully coming back together to the States to start our new life together finally
Good we don't care about big weddings so no need for a lot of preparation and also won't have a honeymoon. It's simply impossible in terms of time.

Hey guys and gals,
My name is Sarah and I am from America. My fiancé Paul and I have been reading posts for a while and haven't joined in until now. We have been through an extremely long wait... we met in 2015 and have been together going strong for 2 years. Paul had to get his birth certificate corrected and we were majorly delayed in filing. We finally filed March 27, received NOA1 dated April 6. We are eagerly await NOA2 hoping it will arrive in a month or so!! God bless all of those who are currently waiting.

Hopefully you can get it worked out. *crosses fingers*

Oh, no, I didn't!
If the military shipping doesn't work I can try that! Thank you!

Have you looked into international relocation services? It might be a bit more costly than going direct through a shipping service but they might move something like a Mac. I've looked into a service for US-India and the rates run about $100/box but I know they also offer moving bigger/specialty items. 

Ugh yeah that's a conundrum for sure.  I am a geek too as is my fiance. 

Awwwwwww that's soooo exciting!!!!
I'm happy for you!!!