Holly♡

4 hours ago, Eric&Olya said:

We all used to talk to much, now the Aprilites are beating us by leaps and bounds

So, let's try to catch up 

 

Beneficiaries, what is the most useless thing that you absolutely must take to the States?

For me that would be old Christmas cards from my friends that I've been collecting for years.

 

Petitioners, what is the most useless (in your opinion) object you've bought/are going to buy for your beneficiary? 

Eric will have to buy a hair drier for me before I come, and you can see from our profile pic why he would never find it useful

I will be buying an espresso machine... pretty useless for me since I don't drink coffee!!!  lol

8 hours ago, marc941 said:

I just arrived in the Dominican Republic this morning so that I can be with my fiancé for the flight and PoE this afternoon.  It feels very strange flying to another country with no bags and only staying a few hours! I'm so excited ... Many months of waiting and it's finally here!

Congrats to you both!!! 
I know what you mean.. I am I am not going to another country, but when I go to LA to meet my F there, I will only be taking a small personal carry on with a few things of mine, but the bag and most of the contents will be for my son. So, because I am not taking anything I am flying with Spirit Airlines (I know, I know lol) but it is a direct flight and was a crazy cheap price of $40 to fly down there.
Does your F live in an area that was affected much by the hurricanes?

On 9/19/2017 at 6:33 PM, annachka said:

Check out http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide for some instructions of what's to come.  Those instructions don't mention the DS-160 for some reason.

 

Here's what my fiance and I have been able to find out.  Disclaimer: I haven't been through these steps myself.  Just trying to help you out.

Those in the know, please correct me if I'm wrong or missing anything.   We haven't completed any of these steps yet, so it would help us so much if I'm mistaken about anything! 

 

- The US citizen needs to fill out i-134 and provide proof that they can support their fiance financially (must be 125% the poverty level or so -- check https://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/2017-federal-poverty-level-guidelines for 2+ people):

• letter from the employer attesting to salary (signed by your employer!)
• tax transcripts or w2, showing your wages
• paycheck stubs for the last few months confirming the salary
• bank statements confirming deposits
• if you don't have enough income showing with just the salary, you can do savings account, etc but you'll have to check the guidelines to make sure the funds are sufficient

- US citizen will also need to send another intent to marry letter to the fiance with a more recent date (might be good to have your fiance do a new one too).

- US citizen should make a copy of the I-129f approval letter (the i-797) and send the original to fiance (someone please confirm this)

- Fiance can start filling out the ds-160 online (they'll need a passport photo taken within the last 6 months, and depending how long your I-129F took, it may have to be a more recent one), but don't submit/sign it until you're asked for it -- you can save your progress in the meantime, though.

- Fiance can apply for a police certificate just in case the embassy asks for it -- this may take a long time to get, so best to start ASAP

- Fiance should find out where they'll need to schedule the doctor appointment just to be prepared.  Make sure to get a copy of the DS-3025!  You'll need it for your Adjustment of Status process, later, else they'll make you get checked up/vaccinated again

- You should prepare some more chat/phone logs and some more recent photos, as proof of your relationship since filing the I-129f.  These will need to be brought to the interview.

- If you guys haven't already done so, the I-129F petition copy and all the documents/photos you had there should also be sent to the fiance for the interview.

 

All of the documents US citizen sends to the fiance (i-134, intent to marry, employer letter) must have original signatures -- they'll check for that. 

 

Don't forget about the CEAC tracker, once the NVC receives your case and the case number is assigned. https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx

 

 

On 9/19/2017 at 9:04 PM, Eric&Olya said:

You've described everything very well but there's something I'd like to point out:

- don't send the original of NOA2. It is the beneficiary's most important document until they get a greeen card, it would be very unfortunate if it gets lost in the mail

- a police certificate is mandatory, not just in case, and it really is best to start asap

 

Here is what I did and it was fine.
I had read somewhere that a letter from your bank was needed to go with the I-134 so I also included that.

I know there has been talk about what people have taken for interviews and what should be taken and this is what my F took:
From me:
       Stuff that I mailed (because of wet signatures) also I used DHL so it would get there in lightning speed time -2 days to be exact- and to make sure that it did get there since these are very important documents. Also, I included 2 of everything just in case and kept one of everything for myself just in case and they ALL had wet signatures:

• certified divorce decree (a copy was not good enough- I had to go to the courthouse and get this)
• letter from HR
• letter from bank
• I-134
• updated letter of intent to marry (I added much more to mine to mine explaining our wedding plans and details)

      Stuff that i put in a file and emailed to him to make the mailed envelope lighter and cheaper:

• bank statements
• w-2's from last 3 years
• pay stubs for the last 4 months
• wedding dress receipt
• room confirmation (for wedding and honeymoon)
• plane ticket confirmations for all who are attending our wedding in FL
• work leave request and approval for wedding/honeymoon dates
• I-797
• Letter from NVC

From him:

• he took a LOT of skype screen shots for proof of ongoing relationship (way more than I had submitted which was only 20)
• more photos - like 5 more different ones (and we do not have pics of us with the others family because we have never met the others family in person since we went to Mexico to meet in person)
• 7 passport photos (for medical and interview... maybe it was 5- i can't remember now =/)
• Vaccination records
• police certificate
• sealed envelope from the medical place
• original and certified? copy of his birth certificate
• proof of his payment
• the DS-160 number (I didn't do that so, I am not sure what that was called)

The embassy already had the packet that I had sent to Texas on March 31st so there was no need to take anything that was already included in that.
I can't remember anything else, but I am sure there was more. We made sure to have more than enough so there would be no problems and there wasn't! It did not matter that we had only met one time in Mexico. I did not send tax transcripts either.
At the medical they asked him for his A number which he couldn't find and when I told him where it was and he gave it to them, they said that wasn't the right number and ended up writing down the case number that was assigned from the NVC so that was kind of weird. And then at the interview they did ask him a LOT of things... like a LOT! I was surprised at how much they asked him.
A bit of advice for anyone who is doubting anything that needs to be taken... if you are unsure of something... just take it. You could never have too much and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Anyhow, this is what we did and got approved.
Hope this was helpful for any who are not sure about things.

5 hours ago, Estibaliz said:

Don't die now, after all the waiting!

Big congrats to you

I just saw your picture in the Last Visas Approved section on the main page, along with Holly's (whose nick is impossible to quote due to that heart, lol). Hope she comes around soon to share the good news too

My post is on page 726 =) You must have been snoozing at that time! hehe 

12 hours ago, amishbaby said:

I wanted to share where me and my fiancee will be (hopefully ) spending our honeymoon.

What do you lovely girls think? I think it's absolutely perfect... it's like something from a romantic movie or novel!

I did not know anything like this even existed!!!  Where is this place at and how did you find it?  hehe
I looked for a long time, but couldn't figure out the spa in the glass of champagne  lol

I just wanna give a shout out to everyone in Florida and hope all are (and remain) safe!!!
AND keep us updated (when you can) so we know that you are!!! 

On 9/8/2017 at 9:58 AM, SabRob said:

Hi Holly! Did you husband have his medical scheduled at Biomedica Clinic? They told me the same thing, that my tonsils were swollen and charged me extra. Lol. What a rip off.

Yes, that is where it was done at. I think they only do that so that they can charge extra =( It should not be allowed for that to happen in my opinion

28 minutes ago, piranda said:

omg Holly, this is what i am going to face too in a couple of days. when is his interview ?mine is on the 12th.

his interview is in 6 hours!!!  lol

31 minutes ago, K1VisaApplicant05 said:

 

wow that's cheap of them. but if he passes and gets his visa, then i suppose it is worth it.

 

 

by the way - is this a thing where every beneficiary has to take passport style photos with them to the medical place? how many are needed?

Yep, and I am sure that is what they are hoping everyone is thinking.
And, I think it was 5 passport style photos that he needed to have. He gave me a pic of one of the reports and they had attached? couldn't tell exactly by the pic, but it looked like they had attached one of the photos to the top left corner of it. Maybe even somehow printed it on there.

A quick update...
Ok, so my F had his medical and it was kinda different imo. They had him go back at a later time after doing his x-ray and checking some things and then they told him that he had swollen tonsils and will be sick in a couple of days and gave him a prescription and charged him extra money for "treating" him for his throat, but here is the thing.. he said he felt fine and doesn't feel sick at all so I am thinking that they just wanted to charge him extra money to make more money from him. He went back later in the day (3rd time) and picked up his sealed envelope to take to the embassy which is in about 14 hrs (no, I am not counting down or anything lol) Oh, and they charged him extra to get his results that day or they said his other option was to wait for the results that could take up to 2 weeks... another way for them to make more money  lol  

****** A side note for anyone going through Bucharest - They don't tell you ahead of time in the instructions, but the medical place requires quite a few passport style photos to be taken with you. My F was scrambling to get this done since he had scheduled his appt only 1 day in advance  lol

Super quick note before I head to work... He got the papers I sent on Fri already!!! So, he will schedule is medical for Wed and interview for Thur in the morning!!  I am so excited too!!

31 minutes ago, AnJ Co said:

wow, That's really bad.  It's a sticky situation.  

From what I've seen, those kind of bosses eventually get their hand caught in the cookie jar.

I'd consider EEO, or US Wage but wow, that's like using big guns.   Maybe just wait and see and look for another job in the meantime.

Yeah, I have tried that too... I have an associates and was working towards bachelors when I took break from school to get a FT job so it would look better going through this process... never got a single call for an interview or anything. I even have previous work experience in the medical field... it just really sucks =/

2 minutes ago, AnJ Co said:

What a day!  Congrats on the new job  

Thank you =) It really was quite a day.. lately I feel like all my days are busy busy busy and as I have said before, I know all of us here can relate to this lol

In regards to the new job...
My immediate manager would not put me in to a full time position for the job I have been doing for the last 8 years and I have strong suspicions it is because of my age since he has only been hiring only 18 and 19 year old girls... not saying there is something wrong with that, just that would be discrimination. And even worse, he has recently hired 3 of them on full time and they had only been with the company for a few months and I have been there for 8 years now and never written up and always show up and never call out unless something is absolutely wrong. On the other hand, they call out all the time and call me in to cover their shifts when they do call out... its just such BS so I am really glad that I will no longer be under him anymore. There was this one girl that he would hang all over and follow her around and she got tired of it and quit. Now he is doing it to another girl and she calls out at least once a week and he created a new position just for her. Oh, and a coworker of mine who is the same age as me, can't get a full time job either and she has been there for 9.5 years.
Thoughts?

Oh, and my letter came by mail from NVC came on Friday... 

Hey All!
So, i had an awful and busy Friday with a side of meatballs...
I woke up to a message from my F who told me that he had decided to reread the instructions from the embassy before calling the schedule the interview just to make sure he had everything. He discovered that my ORIGINAL divorce decree was something that he needed to have. When i read this, I woke up REAL fast and not in a groggy state anymore. I called him immediately!! He said called the embassy to inquire about this and the lady asked him if he had scheduled his interview yet and he replied no. She said no problem, she has time to mail them to you then. LIKE UGH!!! LIKE A SERIOUSLY ####### MOMENT!!! And keep in mind I had already sent my signed papers by DHL Tues and he got them on Thur!!! 
So, I immediately start freaking out and he is like, it's ok honey, you just need to go and get them and you can send them. I called work and asked if they minded if I was late to work and they said it was fine after I explained why. It took me 3 hours to get to the courthouse, then to get to the DHL place, then to get to my work due to an accident and construction and then just rush hour traffic and none of the places were remotely close to each other and all was completely out of my way. Then about 2 hours in to my shift one of the managers pulled me into the office, hands me paperwork and asks me if I remember our conversation after I had gotten turned down for one of the full time jobs that I had applied for and I was like yes and he was like ok, do you have any questions for me before we get started? And I'm like is this an interview? and he is like yes... and I'm like OMG I did not know!!! and start panicking about my day and how I didn't even have time to shower blah blah blah and he was like.. it's ok... long story short after the interview, he gave me the paper work for the job offer on a different full time position that was available! 
And then yesterday, after working till 11pm Fri night, I had to be back to work at 8am so of course I did not get much sleep, anyhow, I came home and crashed and got close to 12 hours of sleep, but fell asleep with the AC on so now my throat doesn't feel that great, but I feel great that I got some good sleep.
Oh, and if my F gets the documents on Tues in time, before the embassy closes, he is gonna still try to get his medical and interview done by the end of the week!

2 minutes ago, MentalVoid said:

Nothing super specific right now. I'm trying to work around two very hectic schedules, lol. I just started my first year of grad school, so I've got appointments and conferences and everything to be worked around. And then my dad is managing a company that's growing right now, and he's going to be out of town for unknown time periods. We've narrowed it down to October, but that's about it. I did order my dress and my fiances ring, though! The easiest step of them all.

I can only imagine how all of our schedules are nothing but hectic! I know mine is too =/ I put my schooling on hold to work more hours so that I didn't have to worry about having my parents sponsor. So, between work (10+ hr days with drive time), trying to do whatever I can around here, research, plan, coordinate with family, research some more, time with the F on skype... there really is no time left for anything!!  lol
Glad everything is working out though!! =) And once he is here, then you guys can plan together!

2 hours ago, MentalVoid said:

Woo our case has been switched over to a non-immigrant visa, and it's currently in AP. My fiance has booked his flight for the 14th of September, hoping that the visa is in his hands by that point. Now I just have to clean the entire apartment and fuss about him hating it for two weeks lol. 

 

I wish everyone the best of luck, this whole process is ridiculous and there's so many of you who should have been done way before me. 

Congratulations on your speedy approval!! Sounds exciting though!!
Do you guys have any wedding plans/date yet? =)

58 minutes ago, annachka said:

Question for everyone with NOA2s:

 

Did you guys get approval through physical mail *only*?

 

I ask because I've signed up for every kind of electronic notification with USCIS and check the case tracker online religiously.  Do any of their notifications or trackers actually work?

Just mail for me. And actually on the USCIS case tracker app.. mine still shows as Received  lol

13 minutes ago, AnJ Co said:

I can never @HOLLY correctly LOL   I can't get that heart to appear no matter how many f3 or f buttons I push LOL    But you know what, you are the only @holly as far as we are concerned.   It's been a great 5 months hanging out with everyone here, even if we can't properly cite you  

Well, I think it is alt+#9825, it works when I use it in a Word document, but sadly not when I do it here... bummer =( I originally created this account from my tablet and that cute little heart was just calling my name so I added it lol

27 minutes ago, Kateryna_I said:

It is strange! But one thing I hope for is that it is moving faster than with uscis  

Thank you so much for support. We really want this to happen today/tomorrow. It will make another stone off our shoulders. 

 

Just one question - currently ceac tracker shows case number and the status "at nvc" only, no case created and case last updated data. Is that OK? This data will appear only after it will be "in transit" or "ready"?

Many thanks for help.  

My case never showed in transit... it went from NVC to ready. I guess the case was scanned through to the embassy in Romania which is why it happened that way, so maybe because some time has passed, maybe that will be happening with yours too =)
So my case was assigned a number on the 22nd, scanned on the 25th and then showed as READY later on the 28th... if this is helpful. It showed as AT NVC in the afternoon on the 28th so I was still worried and had called them and they told me that it had already been scanned through on the 25th... seems that the tracker is not always 100% accurate... the customer service rep told me that. He said for the best accuracy, just to call.

Just hung up with my F and he is going to call the embassy in the morning (that is our tonight) and gonna try to schedule the interview for Tues so that he can do his medical on Mon and he might take a flight here on the 22nd!! That feels so close! He insisted that he is ok with coming sooner than later, but I did try to let him know that if he needs more time, it's no problem. We will know something more tonight I guess =)