elwoodicious

39 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

CONGRATULATIONS!  Now that wait doesn't matter at all.  It is strange how that stress just stops and now the NVC wait stress starts.  I am hoping NVC is quicker than USCIS!

Comparatively, it's like NVC can fold the space-time continuum...

4 hours ago, Kari & Atti said:

June 19

@elwoodicious - voted off the stinking stalker list.  Congratulations!!!! 🎊🎉🍾

HA! Thank youuuuuuuuu! 🙌🙌

9 hours ago, Naes said:

Uscis? Quick? Nice joke 

 

this should be rather easy. I think you can even ask for it online  

I hope so, the catch is that USCIS “thinks” they never approved it, NVC has everything they needed and sent it to the consulate. I’ve got inquires in to try and get it straightened out. It is truly mind boggling. 

1 hour ago, Naes said:

Congrats!

 

You'll need that noa2 letter for your AOS. So ask them to resend it.

Thanks for the heads up! I seriously hope they can produce it quickly...

3 minutes ago, Allthephils said:

I already have my round trip booked through this airline. I don't want to change my flight at the last minute since I booked this trip so long ago. Just frustrating!

Ok, so this might not help you but I’ve had international flights (domestic too) where I needed to cancel part of the leg/trip and for the most part it’s a fairly painless process and I’ve had that part of the fare refunded to me. Might be worth speaking to the agent to see what the policy is on cancelations and refunds for the return flight.

5 hours ago, John & Rose said:

Hang in there.  Just a little longer.  Forget about the process.  Focus on other things.  We tend to forget the touch, the smell, the warmth of our loved ones when we are apart.  Keep those things at the top of your mind.  The wait is just time.  Each second that passes is one second closer.  Forget about the wait and remember the hugs, smiles & kisses.  Be strong.  No matter how many inquiries or phone calls we make, we will be approved on their timeline not ours.  Please relax and remember the love.

This, 1000 times this. With our kids in the process we can feel the pressure of waiting to set our own timelines and plans to be unified as a family and that sort of thinking, while nice, has caused us so much stress over the months of waiting.

Our efforts have gone back to developing and maintaining intimacy in our everyday lives. Sharing photos and videos of what we are doing, no matter how mundane (chopping onions? Here, have this great pick of me laughing and crying) to regularly scheduled calls (always when we wake up and before we go to bed--tho, easier because we are only 1 hour apart). We even go shopping together via photos and chats... 

None of this is a replacement for the absence of those touches, smells (I often close my eyes and focus on the smell of my fiancee's hair in the sun from my last trip to see her), and warmth of your loved ones, really, though it can strengthen those memories and make the wait just a little more bearable.

21 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

Thank you.  I anticipate the same answer I get every other time.  Not assigned yet and pending for adjudication.

All about the...

2 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

So I will get a call back in 73 minutes...

Good luck!

8 minutes ago, Kari & Atti said:

I know they are big on “seal” and “signature” 

my fiancée divorce decree had none, we were preparing to get as part of the RFE and it wasn’t even included. That’s what I’m telling you... there is no way of knowing what means what to them unfortunately. 

The copy I sent in with the RFE was signed, dated, and notarized by the court (though, still a janky looking webpage printed off some random late 90s site but an official janky looking webpage at least!)

5 minutes ago, Kari & Atti said:

There is really no way to know at what they look at. If you don’t mind me

asking what was your RFE for? 

Sure, they wanted more photos of us together and a signed divorce decree, I’d sent the judgement (in Connecticut the decree looks like a terribly formatted webpage that you printed off some random website so I’d thought, “Judgement is the decree and these two pages are extraneous). 

1 hour ago, Kari & Atti said:

I heard it can take up to 60 days for them to respond. I hope you will hear back from them soon and it is just an oversight on their part and that there is nothing (flagged)on your file. You will be ok and soon will be celebrating your approval. At least you know they have your documents so that’s a step further. Sending you light, hope and love. 

Is there a way to see if something is flagged on the file? What sorts of things can throw a flag? I spent most of my life rooted in one place and then for about 4 years before I met my fiancée traveled a fair amount hitting 10 countries between Europe and the Middle East... 

33 minutes ago, r1mario said:

I looked at the copy of everything we had sent and saw that we have sent a stipulated judgement, signed by a judge. I'm not sure now if that is the same as an divorce decree

I had sent the signed and dated copy of the judgement which was apparently not the decree. We got an RFE and I sent in the decree signed, dated, and notarized. 

2 minutes ago, Naes said:

No I would say it was a bigger rfe than most, and you waited 2.5 weeks and not all rfes come back soon.

 

as this rfe is related to 2 important things:

legitimacy of having met, and being single. I wouldn't be too concerned about it getting lost or anything. It is just getting reviewed again. 

Ok, thank you for the reassurance. It is seemingly impossible to not let me mind run away with the worst of thoughts.

2 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

Was the divorce decree signed by the judge?  I know that is a constant issue.  They need the file that has the judges stamp and signature.

Signed, dated, and notarized...

Feeling a bit hopeless at this point, seeing many RFEs being turned around here on this board in a week.

We received a letter for the RFE on January 8th for more photos and a different copy of my divorce decree. I followed the instructions and included more evidence (much of it duplicated from the application submission because the RFE letter requested it): flight and hotel recipts along with passport pages), included photos with an explanation on the back of when, where, and who is in the photo, a notarized letter from my father attesting that he has been aware of our relationship and has met my fiancée, and organized and tagged all the documents by date.

I sent the package overnight on the 11th and it was received the 12th. Someone touched our file on the 19th with no status update and no letters in the mail since then. Repeated calls have yielded little more than “you need to wait 60 days”, which puts us at March 13th.

Is it possible that our case was lost? Flagged for something and is languishing in some sort of audit?

I know patience is our virtue here, and the wait is something we must do...I just feel...impossibly anxious and desperate that something is really wrong with our case.

8 hours ago, Naes said:

 

June 19

@elwoodicious - RFE rec.

 

We’ve been sort of feeling like we are stuck in limbo. They requested more fotos and a different copy of my divorce decree. They accepted the RFE response on the 12th, our case was updated on the 19th with no status message and when I called today to inquire they said we need to wait at least 60 days before a decision is made.

I’m not sure what we can do at this stage. My fiancée thinks we should get a lawyer but I am not sure if that is going to do anything more then have me writing checks while we wait. 

11 minutes ago, Gators15 said:

I read an interview of the director of the Vermont USICS office a few days back.

Ooo where did you see this interview? I'd definitely be interested in reading it if only for the "inside baseball" angle to things. Thanks!

1 minute ago, Lilly2302 said:

What type of method and how long it would take?

I sent mine priority USPS, a Tuesday afternoon, USPS said they delivered Thursday morning, and USCIS sent me a text message Monday evening with the WAC that they received and sent it along. Later in the week I got the I-797C NOA1 in the mail. Ten days from I-129 dropped in the mail to I-797C in hand.

12 minutes ago, MCL said:

Where can I find a list of the documents the beneficiary will need prior to going to the embassy?

The K1 timeline and the K1 guide are both super helpful. We also bought a book on the process, NOLO Fiancé & Marriage Visas. 

5 hours ago, Stemar said:

Hey there everybody! Question, what are you guys doing while waiting on NOA2? Is there anything I (beneficiary) can prepare while waiting? What will be the next steps to do and forms to file?

The waiting is the hardest part, mostly because once you've got all the forms you can only read them so many times before you go crazy.

We've been continuing to put together all the various forms we will need for this process, such as filling out and the I-134 and gathering the necessary documents for that, as well as continuing to document proof of our relationship to try and anticipate an RFE. My fiancée has been gathering all the documents about her and her son, like birth certificates and immunization records. We have both read over the DS-160 and DS-156 to be ready for when the embassy gives them to her to fill out.

To keep the bureaucratic madness in balance we also spend a lot of time planning our life together in the US. We talk about what to do in the first weeks (where to go out to eat, what to do on the weekends, etc), where she and her son would like to visit during that first year (New York, Nashville, LA, Las Vegas came out on top!). We are also starting the process of remodeling out home in the US so that it truly feels like hers too.

I am lucky that my job affords me an enormous amount of flexibility so in July my daughter and I will stay in Costa Rica for the month living with my fiancée and her son. We will both be taking spanish classes during the week and on the weekends the preparations for the big ceremonial wedding in October (non-legal, it's so that she can have a beautiful day with her family and friends) continue. 

Yay! We received our paper NOA1 today, I-797C.

The timeline for those wanting to compare...

• June 13th we mailed via USPS 2nd day priority
• June 15th received notification from USPS that it arrived
• June 19th received the text/email NOA1
• June 23rd the paper NOA1 arrived

So, 10 days from dropping it in the mail to getting the form in hand. 🙌 

Speaking of USCIS, this is the funniest font combination to me ever. Like a 💃🏽 to a 🤖...

😂

5 minutes ago, KandW said:

Hi guys!

Just received (via email) our I-797 with the WAC receipt number. Is this the NOA1?

 

Oh, 🤔 , I got an email with the WAC and it said that the I-797 would follow via mail in a week or so. But with the WAC you can register to track your case at USCIS. 😁