prpplague

updated information:

the consul just called. not one of the office people, the consul officer himself. he said that he tried to talk to DHS about it but due to changes in the rules, ALL mistakes on b-1/b-1 I-94 cards will be assumed to be 6 months. so we have to get a waiver. the CO was very nice and said he'd put in a recommendation to approve and to expidite the request. i've already got the paperwork done so we will go in tomorrow morning to file the 601 and get the fingerprints done.

I was sent the package 4 this past Saturday and am in process of gathering all documents required and filling out this form. On page 3 question 29 of DS-230 Part II it's asking for the address and phone number of the petitioner (my hubby).

Since he is working in my country (has APO address) what address do we put there? The one here or his address back in the States?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Milimelo

The address on the DS-230 II must be the address in the US. One of the other Frankfurters noted it in her interview report that she had put their German address but the CO asked them to cross it out and enter the US address (the one where the green card is to be sent.) I put both of our addresses (German local address and US address - because I didn't read Zauberblume's report until after I had completed it!) and the CO told me the US address is the one they wanted. APO address is not acceptable.

If you did make a mistake, don't worry, they will have the beneficiary correct it when it comes to interview time.

Good luck!

thats interesting as our CO told us the exact opposite. it's amazing how the consulates can such different procedures!

I was sent the package 4 this past Saturday and am in process of gathering all documents required and filling out this form. On page 3 question 29 of DS-230 Part II it's asking for the address and phone number of the petitioner (my hubby).

Since he is working in my country (has APO address) what address do we put there? The one here or his address back in the States?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Milimelo

as i was in a similiar situation, i'll answer you with what we did. any place where i was asked for an address i used my local address in the foreign country. if the paperwork asked for a mailing address i used the one in the US. part of the I-864(ez) is to show that the USC is either A - staying temporarily in the foreign country or B - planning to re-establish their domicile in the US.

if you plan to show A that you were their temporarily, you will need to show some information like bank statements, property in the US, or a US mailing address. if you plan on B that you are planning to re-establish your domicile there in the US, you will need to show you have rented/leased/purchased a home with an address there, registered kids in school, or some sort of documentation showing that either the USC is employeed in the US or is accepting a job in the US.

so long story short. you should use your local foreign country address on the ds-230 part II

IANAL

Well, we were approved!!!!!! Had the interview yesterday and the guy that interviewed us was really nice. After my question about the I-134 they didn't even ask for one from me. We were in and out in an hour and twenty minutes. Neil will post a review about the entire interview later on. Thank you everyone for your help. We're so excited to be able to spend Christmas together.

congrads!!!!!!!

its always nice to see someone was able to navigate the mine field we call an immigration system!

I got any vaccinations I needed at the time of my medical....repeat MMR and tetanus. They checked for chicken pox immunity with the blood test.

you didn't have any reactions to the MMR?

STEP FIVE:

Read the immunisation schedule provided. You must have certain immunisations - depending on your age - done or renewed, unless you bring written evidence of past immunisation with your documents. If you believe you are immune but don’t have written evidence, you may in some instances be able to have a specific blood test to prove immunity instead. You will have to pick up a special lab. Request from Joan in that case.

Generally if you are aged 18 to 64 you will only need MMR, Td and Varicella vaccines, but do study the full schedule.

please note, that if you get the MMR, there is a reasonable chance you might have some reactions to the shot somewhere between 7-12 days after the shot. if you are going to get this shot, try to get it done atleast 14 days prior to your interview, you don't want to be feeling bad during the interview.

We have a very good reason for overstaying, that reason is: my wife was pregnant at the time, and wanted to go back home to have the child, we had to wait to get me a passport, and once that was completed, she had over stayed the 180 days by two weeks. At the airport she said she had lost her green slip (boarding pass you get attached to your passport when you enter the country).

an overstay is an overstay, doesn't matter the reason. you will most likely still qualify for a I-601 waiver which will allow you to "overide" the 3 year ban (possibly 10 now)

She had honestly lost it!

The airline worker said (when we left) to that "the green slip is for the INS to know when you left the country, since you dont have it anymore, you have to report the INS yourself when you left"

We ofcourse, never reported.

there are procedures for handling a failure to report your departure. items such as entry stamps in your passport, plan tickets receipts, or other documents stating when you left.

Do they know that my wife overstayed?

She has a new passport. A new last name due to marrying me.

Will they find out? And if they do, will she have to wait in her country for two more years?

We have already set up an appointment at the US embassy.

But we would rather not tell them about this overstaying, even though we did have a reason!

lying about it will only assure you a perminent ban. telling the truth about it will make things a little longer to process, but it should eventually get you a visa. my suggestion to you is to apply for the I-130 asap, and in the mean time correct the unreported departure before you have to go for your interview.

IANAL

prpplague,

Congrats on your successful appointment!

So he's saying the D/S was a mismark? How can you be expected to 'pay for that?

I have a feeling that this will turn out well for you, but that's just from reading my coffee grounds this morning.

We'll be eager to hear about you going to pick up the visa, very soon!

yea, i'm keeping all 10 fingers and 12 toes crossed......

one additional piece of information i got today was that i met a USC who was there filing his I-130 for his wife. he was there as a tourist. it appears that barbados consulate told him on the phone that he could file his I-130 even if he was a tourist. we left before he was seen, but he assured me that he spoke to several people at the consulate and they said it was ok to file even if he was tourist, as long as his wife was a current resident on one of the islands that the barbados consulate has jurisdiction over.

in preparation in case i have to file a I-601, i located some information. it appears that the consulate in santo domingo, dominican republic is the offical DHS/USCIS sub office for the area that covers barbados. they have web site info on processing I-601 other than the times vary depending on the reason for the inelligabilty. i called and was able to get someone on the phone. she said that normally for a I-601 with an overstay, the processing time is between 30 and 60 days. of course i take this with a grain of salt as i have no idea what position this person had there.

in addition, i've taken the liberty of getting a letter from my fathers doctor. my father has recently been diagnosed with a disease similiar to parkinsons which also has symptoms similiar to alzheimers(sp?). so this will help as a hardship letter. i've also arranged for a letter from my work stating they need me to be present in the states to retain my employement(really not 100% correct, they'd keep me anyway, my boss is awesome) and i also got a letter from my wife's daughter's biological father who is a USC, stating that it is a great hardship on him not having his daughter(who is a USC) near to visit. i think will all this plus my letter of hardship we should be ok, specially since the ban would be for 3 years and we've been out of the US for over 2 years.

updated info:

well... just got back from the consulate. we arrived at about 7:30. turned in our appointment letter after going through security. we were then called up to a window to present all of our documentation. after all the documents were turned in we were told to have a seat and wait to be called. we waited for about an hour before seeing the consul. we went over all of our documentation. the consul said it was ok if i stayed for the interview but i'd have to take the oath as well. then came the question on the ds-230 part II about the overstay. the consul said since we believed we were legal at the time to answer NO to the question, which we did. he review all the passport information and we were asked about the last stay where she had the I-94 form stamped D/S. he said he'd have to contact DHS to get a copy of the I-94 entry and exit dates information. he did not deny the visa, however he said he'd need to get verification from DHS. he said that the latest information he had said that all mismarked B-1/B-2 entries would default to 6 months. if thats the case, we'd need to file a I-601 waiver. he did say that he had seen other B-1/B-2 mismarked and the BCIS/USCIS had defaulted to 1 year. so we left without the visa, with a letter stating that they get back to us within a week. other than the issue with the overstay he would have given us the visa then and there(DOH!). he also commented that all of the documents were text book perfect(YEH!).

well tomorrow's the big day. we have all of our paperwork organized and ready. the only question we still have is about our i-94 for

her last stay which had a "d/s" on it. i called USCIS about it last week and they said that if it had a "d/s" that it would default to the max

admision period of 1 year. however i still have seen several people say that it will default to the 6 months for the b-1/b-2 admission.

we will ask the consular tomorrow about it.

You've done such a lovely job documenting your process---I really, really thank you.

I'll be thinking good thoughts for you tomorrow and will be interested to know more about the alleged overstay issue. You might let the interview more or less run its course and see what *they* bring up about it.

If you get to the end of the interview and are being congratulated, then you can ask them if/why that was not an issue.

Very best wishes, and I hope you're walking out on air tomorrow!

thanks for the feedback, our only question is how to answer the question on the ds-230 part II about the overstays. if we answer NO, and they see an overstay on the record it looks like we lied. if we answer yes and they see no record of it, then they might dig deeper to find something.

well tomorrow's the big day. we have all of our paperwork organized and ready. the only question we still have is about our i-94 for

her last stay which had a "d/s" on it. i called USCIS about it last week and they said that if it had a "d/s" that it would default to the max

admision period of 1 year. however i still have seen several people say that it will default to the 6 months for the b-1/b-2 admission.

we will ask the consular tomorrow about it.

updated info on medical exam

my wife went for her medical today. monday is the worst day to go. my personal suggestion would be to go on wednesday or

thursday. this way you can avoid the crowds on monday but still get the result before the weekend. my wife is a worrier and since

we did hours on friday, she gets to worry all weekend long ( read as "i will have to reassure her every half hour for the next 48

hours")

well we picked up my wife's paperwork today for her medical, all clear, no problems. we have our interview a week from today. i'll be going over all or paperwork this evening to have it ready!

updated info on medical exam

my wife went for her medical today. here is some additional info on the procedure. you MUST arrive at the clinic before 8:30am or

you WILL NOT be seen that day. after arriving you are given a card with a letter on it and are called in alphabetical order. the

receiptionist will require you to show your appointment letter as well as your passport. if you are under any medical care you must

bring a letter from the attending physcian(s). if you were glasses you must bring a copy of the prescription and the glasses. you

must present your vaccination card. if you do not have a vacination card, you will have to get the required shots. after waiting for

about 30 minutes, you will get your blood drawn for tests. after about another 30 minutes, you will get a chest x-ray done. again

after another 30 minutes your height, weight will be checked as well as checking your vision and providing a urine sample. after

yet another 30-45 minutes you will be called you will be called in to see the doctor. the exam basically covers questions about your

general medical health, heart rate, and blood pressure. a general check of you ears, nose, throat as well as examination of your

overall body appearance. note - the doctor does require you to disrobe. although there was no mention of it, i did get the

impression that the doctor was looking for "track marks" and other signs of drug usage. if you do not have you vacination record,

wou will need to get "Dyptheria, Pertussis and Tetnus" or DPT as well as the "Measles, mumps, and rubella" or MMR. after

completing the exam, you will need to provide the receptionist with your 3 IDENTICAL passport photos. once all the paper work

has been completed, you will need to pay and will be giving a receipt with the instructions to return on the next business day

between 10am and 10:30 to receive you documents. total cost of the medical was $390BBD or about $195USD. total time involved

between 2.5 and 3.5 hours. monday is the worst day to go. my personal suggestion would be to go on wednesday or thursday.

this way you can avoid the crowds on monday but still get the result before the weekend. my wife is a worrier and since we did

ours on friday, she gets to worry all weekend long ( read as "i will have to reassure her every half hour for the next 48 hours")

things to remember:

Appointment letter

passport

3 passport photos

while we were waiting several people arrived without their photos. the staff were less than pleased, so remember the photos.

there is still some question in my mind about the number of photos that are required for the process. some documents state that

only two are needed for the medical exam and one for the visa. however, all the documents for the barbados consulate state that

three photos are needed for the medical. with that in mind, i am thinking that the medical portion requiring three photos, is simply to

make sure all three photos are identical , and one of the photos will actually be used for the visa. i will definetly follow this question

up after our interview on the 4th.

more updated information:

the medical exams are done at the 'Diagnostic Clinic" on beckles road in bridgetown. the basic fee appears to be $157USD plus

some additonal if you need vaccinations. the clinic does not make appointments and is done on "first come ... first serve" basis.

the staff informed me that Monday is the worst day to go, and that Wed. seems to be the slowest day.

Medical Exam

Location: Diagnostic Clinic on Beckles Road

Phone #: 246-421-5056

Cost: $157USD for adults

Appointment not needed

medical exam MUST be done two(2) full days prior to your interview!

the phone number was posted incorrectly:

Medical Exam

Location: Diagnostic Clinic on Beckles Road

Phone #: 246-426-5051

Cost: $155USD for adults

Appointment not needed

you will need to bring four photos to the medical exam. you will also need to bring your interview letter. they will not process your

medical exam without the letter.you must arrive before 8am to have your exam complete that same day. the packet you receive

from the consulate does not include the medical exam forms. these will be forwarded to the Diagnostic Clinic for the exam.

Has anyone been through the DCF process with the consulate in Barbados? My fiance and I confirmed at 3 a.m. this morning that even though he is a Dutch citizen we need to work with the consulate in Barbados since he currently lives on St. Maarten. I have read that they are non-resident friendly. Just looking for confirmation and peace of mind at this point. Help?!

Yeah, rolltide documented her story very well: http://www.visajourney.com/forums2/index.p...amp;hl=Barbados

It's all in the archive now, which you can access from the Search-->Advanced Search-->Search Archive

Be sure to extend the search to 'any date'.

Good luck; she had several very detailed threads in the DCF Forum.

the old forum and archive seem to be no longer available. is there any possibility that someone has access to this post so that it could be re-posted?

Just back from the Copenhagen embassy. I filed the I-130 and DS-230 at the same time. No problems as I now had all the paperwork ok.

They were actually able to give us an interview date straight away for the 14th of December . Letter will be in the mail. She said they are trying to squeeze people through before the Christmas rush period. Now we just have to make an appointment for the medical and finalize the documentation for the I864.

couple of quick questions for the record:

did they require the G-325A biographical information forms?

did they ask any residency questions?

if you can, would you post some information on the medical exam. For example where to go for the exam and the fee associated with it. because these vary from place to place, any information you can post will be helpful to other applicants in the planning stages.

btw, congrads, we were also able to get a quick interview date, just 32 days after submitting out I-130

updated information:

well we were able to get an interview date of December 4th at 7:30am. just got email confirmation, however we have not received our packet-4 yet.

updated information:

there are a number of photo shops that will do passport photos in barbados. however most are still using the old polaroid

cameras and do a max of 4 identical pictures at once. they also don't seem to be very familiar with the US passport photo

requirements. in addition if the photos are not correct, for example too dark or out of focus, you still have to pay for the 4 photos.

we shopped around and found "True Colour Digital Photo Lab" at the Quayside Centre. they have a very nice digiital camera

specifically designed for passport photos. in addition the clerks there are very familiar with the US requirments. after taking the

picture, the clerk will allow you to view the picture on a lcd screen prior to printing the photos. you may purchase the photos in

multiples of 2 for a cost of $19.00BDS or around $9.50USD.

based on our experience you will need 5 identical photos for the applicant:

1 for the I-130

1 for the Medical Exam form

3 for the ir-1/cr-1 interview

the USC will also need 1 for the I-130 application.

my suggestion is that if you can only afford to get 6 , that is fine, but if possible, go ahead and have the clerk do 8 photos.

the extra $9.50 USD is well worth the time and hasle if you have to come back for more.

PASSPORT/VISA PHOTOS

NAME: True Colour Digital Photo Lab

LOCATION: Quayside Centre, Rockley, Christ Church

PHONE #: 246-435-8200

COST: $19.00BBD or $9.50USD for 2 photos

HOURS: monday thru saturday 8:30am to 5:30PM

more updated information:

the medical exams are done at the 'Diagnostic Clinic" on beckles road in bridgetown. the basic fee appears to be $157USD plus

some additonal if you need vaccinations. the clinic does not make appointments and is done on "first come ... first serve" basis.

the staff informed me that Monday is the worst day to go, and that Wed. seems to be the slowest day.

Medical Exam

Location: Diagnostic Clinic on Beckles Road

Phone #: 246-421-5056

Cost: $157USD for adults

Appointment not needed

medical exam MUST be done two(2) full days prior to your interview!

some updated information.....

as of 11/1/2006 , the Consulate in Barbados is seriously understaffed. all immigrant visas have been pushed back to a 2-3 month waiting period after approval of the I-130 ( or other relavent petition). if absolutely possible, it is your best bet to have your Packet-3 prepared ahead of time and turn it in along with the documents at you petition interview.

the consulate only receives questions about immigrant visa between 1:30pm and 3:30pm monday thru friday. the phone information is : 246-431-0225 ext 5014 and 5015. it is every difficult to get them to answer the phone so you may have to call repeatedly for 5-10 minutes before actually getting someone on the line. if you leave a message with a call back number, don't expect them to call back.

Her I-94 had a date to leave the US or D/S? Did she enter as a tourist or as a student?

i found a photocopy of the I-94 we were going to use with her I-539 application. she entered on a B-2 visa, and the I-94 has a D/S on it. odd thing is i didn't think the D/S was used with B-2 visa. so the question is, how do we determin if she overstayed?

quick question, my wife has an ITIN but not a SS number. do we need to get a SS# if she already has a ITIN ? will appyling for SS be a problem if we already have the ITIN?

some updated info on the packet 3. you will need to get a "Certificate of Character" from the Barbados Police Department for your DS-230 interview. you can get the form at http://www.barbadospolice.gov.bb/photos/A54.doc . the cost is $10BBD or about $5USD. the person who the certificate is for needs to be present and will be fingerprinted. you will have to pick up the certificate in about 7-10 days. the office that handles the "Certificate of Character" is NOT at the Central Police Station. it is across from the central bank on Spry Street. the sign on the door says it opens at 8am but it appears no one usually shows up untill 9 to 9:30.

Sorry, but she will need a waiver.

yea i figured as much from my reading, just was curious about the authority of consular's authority.

i figure that the I-601 won't be a problem, by the time it gets processed (estimated 6 months) she'll have been out of the country for the three years anyway. and since both our children are US citizens and i work in the US , i suspect a I-601 would be approved.

Her I-94 had a date to leave the US or D/S? Did she enter as a tourist or as a student?

it had a date, she entered with a six month tourist visa B1/B2