Bill y Bella

We are still waiting for our interview appointment. We faxed the package 3 response on Dec 27. We also sent it by courier the same day. DOS is givng me conflicting information. On Friday they said the DS-230 had been received and it was being reviewed. Today they said there was no record of receiving anything from us.

Sent it myself with RFE all over it in red.....Emailed the lawyer and said forget it......Now we will see what happens.....

Service: NEXT DAY AIR

Good for you Lora. I will be interested in seeing how long it takes USCIS to note the return of the RFE in your online case status. Let's hope things start to move quickly for you now.

Griff and I are soon to be reunited too!! His interview was this morning and he was approved!!! He'll fly over on Jan. 31st!!! I can't believe we actually made it through!

Congratulations! That is great news!!

Hey Bill I am confused.....I have been so upset at the lawyer I called VSC and had them send me a copy of the RFE.....after 2 weeks the lawyer responded and I overnighted the completed form to him but have been unable to find out from him if he recieved it and/or sent it to VSC.....Would it be O.K. if I overnighted them another set of forms and my copy of the RFE? Will it be bad if the lawyer had sent the forms and they recieved 2..........I am so distressed

If you send in the exact same thing as the lawyer sent / will send and you label it as "possible duplicate" I think it may be OK but I have no way of knowing for sure. If VSC has not noted the return of your RFE in the online system I am thinking he has not sent it in yet.

Yes, it is ridiculous! I feel terrible for everyone who has been skipped or who is in RFE limbo. It is obvious they are not processing petitions in the sequence they were submitted and they refuse to correct the situation. In addition the so called customer service is a joke and an insult. It is obvious they have no ability to help anyone.

My heart goes out to you guys. I wish I could do something to help.

As for us, we made it to NVC and down to Bogota fairly quickly. We sent in our package 3 response on Dec 27 (we did not wait to receive package 3) and now we are waiting for an interview appointment. If things proceed normally for Bogota, we should have an appointment in February.

Any Curramberos out there that recently interviewed? I'm trying to time Brianys' flight to the U.S. along with the arrival of the visa from DOMESA. We will be interviewing on the 15th, which is a Tuesday so I assume she will be receiving the visa in Barranquilla by Friday the 25th, which is 8 business days, so hopefully she should be able to fly out by the 26th.

Also, I'm searching for the link to the Colombia Club that's in Spanish. Anyone have the link?

Here you go: K1 Colombia Club In Spanish

Time to get this thread fired up again.

Here are the first approvals of the year. All were approved on Jan 2.

Lissette & Eduardo (DaFifthLetter175) Sent Jul 19. NOA1 Jul 31. RFE received Dec 11. RFE sent Dec 20.

Jennifer & Jonathan (jingai) Sent Aug 9. NOA1 Aug 20.

Virginie & Devin (FishVal) Sent Aug 9. NOA1 Aug 20.

beto & kat (kgnj19) Sent Aug 10. NOA1 Aug 16.

Congratulations to MV-JR, Neophi and Byron for your approvals! A long and difficult process is finally over!!

Byron & Leidy Congratulations!

This is great news, and further proof as to how wonderful and helpful this forum is! I have one question Byron, did they make you show the document with the fathers permission? Sandy and I have one, just not sure if we should bring it with us to the Embassy!

It is simple. Bring EVERYTHING. It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Doesn't seem that a lot is going on at VSC....

Mitch called them on Thursday using the RFE trick and managed to speak to a living person. The officer said that our petition is quote "on the hold shelf".... and hasn't even been assigned to an adjudicator yet,and that we shall call again by the end of January.

And the phone call didn't even cause a "touched".

.....on the hold shelf.....,man......

Wow. Almost 24 hours between posts in this thread. I don´t think I ever saw that before.

In any case, I am not sure I would believe what you were told about being on the hold shelf. That sounds like a "tell them anything to get them off the phone" answer to me.

And finally, Bella already has her Certificado Judicial and it is dated June 21, 2007. Will this be acceptable for a February interview? I think I read several times that it is good for one year, but I can´t find confirmation that the embassy will accept one that old.

Thanks!

I wrote to the embassy to confirm that the CJ from June will be acceptable. They wrote back promptly and this is their response:

"The DAS report is valid for one year from time of issuance. It must be valid at the time of the interview and until the person departs for the US."

I am not sure how they know when the beneficiary will leave the country when they issue the visa, but it sounds like we won´t have a problem.

Everytime I think I have everything lined up something else pops up.

I learned today that the name on Bella´s baptism certificate does not match the names on her birth certificate and passport. Her first name was legally changed by the notaria several years ago and her birth certificate and passport reflect the new name. Unfortunately the priest states emphatically that he cannot change the name on the baptism certificate so that it matches the rest of the documents. They did add one of the infamous notas marginales that states that her name has been changed by the notaria and it references the new name in the nota.

Anexo E of Package 4 makes it very clear that the data needs to be consistent on the 3 documents although the emphasis seems to be on dates, place of birth and civil status. Names are not specifically mentioned.

Luckily I did enter her original name as a name previously used on the I-129F & the G-325A so we can´t be accused of providing false or incomplete information.

We are going to get a "fresh" copy of the notaria´s document that offically changed her name and a fresh copy of the baptism certificate. Other than that I can´t think of what else we can do.

Any thoughts?

By the way, I am beginning to understand why the embassy wants to see the baptism certificates. It appears to be ridicuously easy to change one´s name in Colombia. All Bella had to do was pay the notaria a few bucks and presto chango she had a new name. After that she obtained a birth certificate and passport issued in the new name without any problem. It boggles my mind.

He did fill out the first line with my married name and the second line where it said maiden name used he put none.......the RFE stated that I had provided inaccurate information. My ex husband gave my maiden name as the name for his military retirement benefits so of course the government has my maiden name and married attached to my SS#....I then became concerned later in the day that they were trying to get me for fraud or something....I am ticked at this lawyer though.....I paid him a ton of money for what he said was a quick easy guaranteed visa and it has been anything but that.......and the contract I signed was for everything though AOS........I had no idea about VJ....I wish I had because I think I could of done better then him....and I do not think you are being critical.....I was no too smart

The G325A does not ask for maiden names but it does ask for all other names used. One would think that would include maiden names but apparently your attorney did not read it that way.

I would not worry about fraud. It was an unintentional error and they just need to make sure everything matches up.

As to your attorney, I say dump him. I´m sure if you expressed your dissatisfaction (and I know you know how) that you can get him to refund part of your fees and you can take it yourself the rest of the way.

It looks like we are having 3 interviews on Dec 31. Byron-Leidy, Neophi & MV-JR.

I already wished good luck to Byron & MV-JR so I need to also send some good thoughts to Neophi. Knock em dead Felipe & Silvia!

Best of luck to everyone. It will be so exciting to read about 3 approvals when I get back to the states on the 31st.

Got my RFE notice basically they want me to fill out the 325 form again with my maiden name information.......a little weird but I do not care.....I called the lawyers office and someone actually answered so I am overnighting the information to Vermont now......Yeah.......OMG this is soon moving on......Oscar is very happy that it is an easy fix..........Thanks Guys for putting up with my drama........O.K. VSC get your act together and finish May/June/July now.............

I am glad your RFE was something simple and hopefully they will start processing your petition again very quickly.

I am curious. Did the attorney use your married name in the first block of the G325A but leave the all other names used box blank?

Here is where I am going with this. Unless your attorney was provided incomplete or inaccurate information it is inexcusable that you received an RFE. This might be the ammunition you need to renegotiate your deal with the attorney. If I remember properly you paid for the attorney´s services through AOS. Given that your attorney was useless as your petition languished at USCIS if I were you I would be looking for any excuse I could find to get out of the deal. You don´t need to pay someone a fortune to fill out forms.

Just a thought. Please don´t think I am being critical. I was planning to use an attorney also until I found VJ.

Hey all. Tomorrow I am going to go through the thread and find the top 10 Q's. Last day .

What is going on with this project Ewok?

Hi Guys. I am in Bogota for Christmas and thought I would stop in and see what is going on. I almost wish I didn´t after catching up on the posts. There has not been much progress since I left on the 18th has there?

Lora, my heart goes out to you. Between a RFE and a sister from hell at Christmas dinner you have really had a rough week. Let´s hope the New Year brings you better luck.

Mirla, hang in there girl. Chances are it won´t be much longer.

Congratulations to cjindia. now

Good luck on your interview on the 31st Byron. I will be flying out of Bogota that morning so I will look for good news when I get back home.

As for Bella and me, our petition arrived at the embassy today (14 days after the NOA2) and we will be requesting an interview appointment tomorrow. If things proceed normally for Bogota, we should have our interview in February.

If I don´t make it back here before the 31st, Best wishes to everyone for a Happy New Year!

Hi folks. I am in Bogota and just stopped in to VJCC to catch up.

First of all, a belated Happy Holidays to everyone!

Next, good luck to Byron & Leidy and MV & JR! With all the information available here in the Colombia Club I know you must be better prepared than 99% of other couples so try to relax.

Our petition arrived at the embassy today (14 days after the NOA2) and we will be faxing in our package 3 response tomorrow.

Has anyone who has been through the interview had to deal with a less than ideal situation in regards to a common language? Bella speaks very little English and my Spanish is adequate for us to communicate because she goes slowly and is patient with me while I try to figure out what she is saying. On the other hand, if someone hits me with some rapid fire Spanish I can get lost very quickly.

This is the one area that worries me. I think we are very strong on everything else. I keeping seeing a scenario in my head where I get called into the interview and the CO makes no effort to help me understand the questions and my Spanish is judged to be inadequate. My biggest fear is that we are denied on the basis of a lack of a common language.

And finally, Bella already has her Certificado Judicial and it is dated June 21, 2007. Will this be acceptable for a February interview? I think I read several times that it is good for one year, but I can´t find confirmation that the embassy will accept one that old.

Thanks!

You do not need to fill it out nor take the second part of the DS230.

Thanks for your kind words!

Bill,

Lucho is absolutely correct...the 1st part of the DS-230 (signed and faxed) is all that is necessary. You won't hear or see part 2, even at the interview. (??????????????)

Thanks a lot Scott & Lucho. That is a big help. I guess I should of realised that but I had it stuck in my head that eventually we had to do the second part also.

I think you are both weary and wary. You have always been a great help to everyone and it is greatly appreciated.

When is the second part of the DS-230 completed? I know it is not needed to request the interview appointment, but is it filled out prior to the interview or at the embassy?

Thanks!

Bill,

I am so weary to give advice since I havent been keeping up to date with any changes the embassy may have made. So someone correct me if i'm wrong.

You only need Part 1 of the DS230. Part 1 consists of pages 1 and 2.

Spanish DS230 Link

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwwfcds230espt1.pdf

Spanish Packet 3 Link

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwwfc...ciones_temp.pdf

The embassy always changes their links. So it's best to save these on your computer.

I am trying to prepare my package 3 request for an interview. Everywhere I look in this process I find conflicting instructions. The form must be in Spanish. The form must be in English. The form must be signed. The form must not be signed. etc.

Can I send Part I of the DS-230 in english even though Bella does not understand english well enough to understand the sworn statement in Part II that she will need to sign at the interview? I am assuming that Part II will need to be done in Spanish because of Bella's inability to read english.

Is Part II of the DS-230 filled out in advance of the interview or at the interview?

Does anyone have a link to Package 3 in Spanish? Every stupid link on the spanish version of the embassy website is broken.

Thanks!

Congratulations to Janaus & especially Mel & Syl! That is wonderful news!

Got my approval today (December 20). We filed on August 21. A wonderful day!!

Wow. A late August filer. Congratulations!

Now.....

everyone: I apologise for ever opening my mouth about the font, size and colour tags

I knew that was a bad idea the minute I saw it.

Congratulations Scott y Yenifer!

Our petition package should be at the embassy soon. It was entered into the NVC system yesterday.

When we fax our Package 3 response to the embassy requesting an interview date, do we need to send a DS-230 for the children also or only for Bella (the beneficiary)?

By the way, the DS-230 on the embassy´s website is out of date. It took me a while but I found the current one here.