Bill y Bella

By the way, Bella was approved for her visa yesterday. The interview lasted less than 5 minutes.

Well... I have my own good news...

TODAY I got an approval email!

:dance:

Congratulations!

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!

.....THEN SHE SAID THIS....they are sending a CABLE to day and will have your case transfered to

Vancouver for you........I was so grateful I was in tears.....thanking her profusely for helping me......I got off the phone.....praising God and

crying.........I am so relived that she listened to me and didn't blow me off and that she kept working for those 10 minutes to see what could be

done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have know idea how to know when it will actually get to Vancouver.....but I am so grateful that it will be moved to the right place!!!!!!

Lora....I will be praying for a quick check on your application at the NVC.....maybe we will both have things picking up on our behalf!!!!!!

Congratulations! That is good news.

Although they are less than perfect, I have found that the people at DOS are the best ones to contact for information and assistance.

As far as checking on the transfer status, continue to call DOS. They will be able to tell you.

Congratulations CBR & Welcome Back Jeraly!

Mox, did you forget what the judge told you the last ime you pulled your bunny out in public?

As for us, after a easy 5 minute interview our visa was approved today.

Here is the summary of the interview today.

• We arrived at about 6:30. There were a lot of people in line 1 but only about 20 in line 3 which is where the K1´s line up.
• Shortly after we arrived two embassy employees (who spoke english only) worked their way down the line.
• The first one seemed to be affiliated with Domesa (the delivery service the embassy uses to deliver the visas). He added a sticker to the passports and gave us the Domesa forms to be used later.
• The next employee inspected the interview letter and applied green stickers to our shirts. From this point all of our stops were identified with green signs.
• At 7:00 we were allowed to pass through the first gate. We waited inside the gate for just a few minutes and then we were sent through a security check point where they screened bags etc. If you have something they don´t want you to have such a cell phone with a camera you can check it there and pick it up on your way out.
• After that we continued down the sidewalk to the next checkpoint where they looked at the passports again.
• Next we came to the gate for the interior covered embassy courtyard where all the interviews take place. You will never actually enter a building throughout the entire process. As we passed through that gate we were directed to an area where we got in line at booth 40 (which is actually more of a cart than a booth) to receive the folder for our documents. They asked for the appointment letter again before they gave us the folder. The folder has the order of documents attached which is slightly different than the one that is provided in package 3 and package 4. Since we were applying for 3 visas (Bella and 2 kids) we were given 3 folders. We were told to enter all the required documents other than proof of relationship in the folder without any clips holding the pages together. They also said not to insert any extra copies which confused me because the I-134 evidence requires duplicates. I put the duplicates in the folder anyway. After we asked, we were told that the DS-223 & DS-156 should not be signed until we were told to do so. We had not signed ours so I don´t know if it is a problem if they have already been signed or not.
• At 7:45 Bella was called to window 30 (picture a ticket window with a solid pane of glass and a telephone for communicating). Here a clerk that Bella described as ¨serious¨ inspected the documents, had her sign the forms, asked a few minor questions such as how long have you known him?, how do you know him? and what is my work? Next she returned the documents that she did not want. I was surprised to get all the DS-230´s back but at least they did not ask for any documents that we did not have.
• This process took about 15 minutes for them to review our 3 document folders.
• Next we were told to wait near windows 1, 2 & 3 for Bella´s name to be called.
• At about 8:50 they started calling people up to be fingerprinted. Bella was called at 9:00.
• At 9:25 Bella was the first one called for an interview. I was heading for the cafeteria with the kids when her name was called so I had to hurry back. When I got there Bella was already at the window and I was told that the officer (female) wanted me to stand near Bella which is what I did.
• Bella was asked the following questions in Spanish:

• Do you swear to tell the truth?
• How many times have you been to the US?
• How may times has Bill been to Colombia?
• Does he know your family?

• After that she asked to see the proof of evidence. She looked at it for about 30 seconds and then said that we were approved. She never asked to speak to me but did give me a wave and a smile.
• The entire interview lasted no more than 5 minutes.
• The next stop was the Domesa booth to make arrangements for the visa delivery. Before you get into the line find a Domesa employee that will be outside the booth and have them check your forms. If everything is OK you can then get into line to pay for the delivery.
• We were all finished and out of the embassy by around 10:00.

1. We were one of the few couples there with kids but it did not create any problems. Actually I think it helped us. They jumped us to the head of the line entering the embassy and I am sure that me being seen holding the baby did not hurt the interview process any.
2. You can use the waitng time to go ahead and fill out the Domesa form they will give you at the beginning of the process. To do this you will need the beneficiary´s passport number which you will no longer have by the time you get to the Domesa booth. Fill out the forms before you turn in your documents or write down the passport number. There are instruction sheets for filling out the forms on the tables near the Domesa booth.
3. By the way, it seems that the number in a Colombian passport that is called the passport number is not the passport number. Why am I not surprised? There is a small unidentified number in red that is near the bottom of a page at the front of the passport. This is the number they want on the DS-156 as well as the Domesa forms.
4. They are not kidding when they say it is cold while you are waiting. I had gone outside at about 5:30 this morning to check the temperature and I thought that we were dressed warmly enough. However, it must be about 10 degrees cooler in the embassy courtyard so the baby got Bella´s sweater, the boy and Bella huddled under my coat and guess who was freezing?

Good news! We were approved. The interview was a breeze. I will post the details later. I am trying to book flights now.

Thanks to everyone who wished us luck!

¿Alguien sabe si estas formas se estan todavia usando en la embajada?

OF-156

DS-156

DS-156k

OF-169

¿Otra cosa, donde las puedo bajar y cuales de ellas estan en español?

¿Mast preguntas, para que se usa la forma DS-156k? Quiero empazar a practicar como llenar estos formularios con PattyS. Gracias.

Para la visa K1 necesita los formularions DS-156 y OF-169. Acabé de leer un mensaje de alguien que pagó el cargo del DS-156 y el banco le exigió que estuviera en español, nada de inglés. El costo es de $131 dólares y lo puede encontrar acá:

http://evisaforms.state.gov/instructions_Spanish.asp

El formulario OF-169 lo puede encontrar en la página #5 de las instrucciones que tiene la embajada para visas K1. Este es el link pero como la página de internet de la embajada en Bogotá es pésima, se mantiene mala. Intente de nuevo más tarde a ver si puede abrir el link.

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/apply.html

Diana

Tambien necesita el formulario DS-156K.

I paid for 3 visas today. Ouch! The people at the bank were very nice but they made us fill out 3 new DS-156´s in Spanish (I was expecting that) and they gave themselves a very favorable conversion rate which I was not expecting. For each $131 visa I paid 275.100 pesos which I figure works out to be about $148.

Make sure you take some extra cash when you pay for the visa and also remember to take your apointment letter. That is needed also.

I leave for the airport in less than an hour. Our interview is Friday. Wish us luck!

I leave for the airport in less than an hour. Our interview is Friday. Wish us luck!

Bill...

It looks like you have everything that is important in order...the one thing that I would suggest that sounds a little weak is to put those photos that you have printed on paper made into real 4x6's and put them in a small album...I think it is a small detail but it will look better to the C/O. That is one thing that I have noticed with everyone's case that the C/O's focus a little attention on is the photos...more than 28 would be better and include other members of the family (make sure that you can name them!!!!)

Other than that you look just FINE!!!

We wish you the VERY BEST OF LUCK!!!!

Thanks Scott!

I really appreciate you hanging around here even after you are already married. It is very nice of you to help us that are following in your footsteps.

Ouch, I can not believe how much notarizing is. I just called and they told me 10 dollars a page. I thought it was like 2-3 dollars. I am way behind the times. I was thinking at 2 dollars a page I would notarize anything and everything, but not now. I am going to get that notarized tonight if I can get out of work early, or else tomorrow.

Thanks again!

You can usually get a few pages notarized at your bank for free. That is what I did. What are you having notarized? I only notarized the I-134. Did I miss something?

Our interview is the 29th of this month and I am leaving for Bogota Tuesday morning. Will everyone please review the list that follows and let me know if I am missing something or if you have any suggestions? We are applying for visas for Bella and the 2 children. The kids are less than 16 years old. Bella has never been married or arrested.

• Passports for everyone with expirations of July 2017.
• Photographs. 4 of each. We will attach 2 to the DS-156's and take 2 loose photos to the embassy. We already used 2 for the medicals.
• Recent Baptism certificates for everyone. There is a potential problem here because Bella's is in her original name and everything else is in her "new" name. The church would not issue a certificate in the new name but the marginal notes do reference her new name.
• Recent birth certificates for everyone with the notary's colored stamps.
• Colombian police certificate for Bella. I think it is about 6 months old now. She has never been out of the country.
• DAS Migratorio for Bella. It is about a month old.
• Affidavit of support including:

• I-134 notarized. In addition to income (I used the figure from my 2007 tax return) I entered the asset figures for cash, personal property and Real Estate. The net value of those assets is above the annual poverty level income for a family of 4 times 5. For documentation of the Real Estate value I will have a Realtor's Comparative Market Analysis in my briefcase. I don't have anything that "proves" how much I owe on the mortgage.
• Employment verification letter (1 original & 1 copy). The letter states that I am on an unpaid leave of absence until the Spring of 2008. I have not drawn a salary from that company since May of 2007.
• Letter from Bank #1 with total deposits for the year and current balance. (2 originals)
• Letter from bank #2 with current balance, average balance and date opened. One letter is an original and the other is a copy although both look like copies. In the letter they say to see total deposits for the past 12 months one must look at the bank statements. I will have 2 copies of the statements with me in case they are needed.
• 6 paystubs. I have 2 sets. Both are photocopies because that is all I ever received with my checks.
• 2007 Federal tax return with W-2's. The adjusted gross income is well above the poverty level but a lot of it is from self employment.
  Do I need 2 copies? Does it need to be signed by the accountant? Does it need to be notarized?
• If needed I will have tax transcripts from 2004, 2005 & 2006 in my brief case.

• Evidence of the relationship including:

• 28 fotos printed in color 4 to a sheet on plain paper.
• Screen prints of Skype phone call history. Covers from 1/5/08 to present.
• Screen prints of Yahoo Chat history log. Shows dates of conversations and names of participants. Covers 7/06 to present.
• Partial transcripts of 11 different chat conversations. Covers from 7/06 to 2/08.
• Color copies of 10 cards the children made for me over several years.
• A photocopy of the lease in both our names for the apartment we have rented for almost a year in Bogota. Bella and the kids live there.
• A copy of an invoice in both of our names for a washing machine that we purchased for the apartment.
• Color photo copies of my boarding passes for 7 trips to Colombia in 2007. 3 of the trips are after we filed the I-129F.

• 1 DS-230 Part 1 for each one of them. Unsigned.
• 2 DS-156's in English for each one of them. Unsigned. I am assuming that the bank uses 1 of them although they might make us fill out a new one in Spanish.
• 1 DS-156K for Bella. Unsigned.
• Medical exams for the 3 of them.

Thanks for your help!

There was some discussion a week or so ago about DAS requirements to allow children to leave the country. This summary of the requirements provided by DOS seems to cover all the bases:

The link to the page where this information was found is here.

I received a copy of package 4 today in the mail. The appointment letter lists the names of Bella and the 2 children. Then below it lists "Travelling Applicants" and only Bella's name is listed.

This is the first time I have heard use of the term Travelling Applicants and I am a little concerned that the children were not listed. They were designated on line 21A of the DS-230 as accompanying Bella when we requested the interview appointment.

Does anyone know if the children should have been listed as travelling applicants?

Thanks!

Bill

It is very odd Bill.....but here is what the Cpngressman told me.......For whatever reason it appears they pulled the petition for a full security check which was sent I assume to the FBI but the remain papers were sent to Lima......as soon as the Embassy checked on the remaining info not sent it was

discovered that it should of never been sent at all so it was sent back to NVC.....but when they do these kinds of security checks it is something that can not be messed with by anyone...not Congressman, State or NVC....so I am stuck.....Oscar is just so upset about this....we are just everyday people....doing nothing special.....I am really at the very bottom of this hole.........

OK, that makes some sense. Your package was pulled for a security name check when it was at NVC the first time and whatever went to Lima was sent in error. In reading the information on name checks it seems that the majority of them are completed quickly. Hopefully they will complete yours very soon. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Hi Lora, I found this link. Not sure it will help you any but it's informative at the very least.

The link within that link is helpful also.

Well I called State number and was told it was in processing.....Called the Congressman's office that helped me....she told me that for what ever reason that they are doing a complete security check on Oscar......it can take 3 weeks to 7 months..........OMG.........I am dying.......someone please tell me this is a nightmare I will wake up from..............I called Oscar...........he is so angry.......He hung up on me.................What have I ever done to deserve this........Has anyone else have this happen to them?????

Are you kidding me? That is horrible!

Something does not make sense to me. I have not heard any explanation as to why only 1/2 the package was sent to the embassy. Was that bad information? Did the embassy send the package back to NVC because the embassy wanted a complete security check and not because the package was incomplete? It seems so strange that a package should be returned to NVC because of their error and instead of quickly correcting the error and apologizing they slam it into an extended security check.

I keep thinking you still have not heard the real story. If the package was sent back to NVC simply due to a NVC clerical error and while it was there it got caught up in a random extended security check, that is bad luck beyond comprehension.

My heart goes out to you and Oscar. I wish so much that I could do something to help.

Well, I will reveal Jason's secret. I was approved today for my K1. And in the end of March I will come to my Jason. Never felt better.

Sasha

Congratulations!

Help me Please someone........I just called NVC and they still have not sent the petition out again........she said we just recieved it on Feb. 17 it still needs to be processed.....I just about died.....I told her it was already processed then sent to Lima and returned because it was only half of it sent.....she told me I had to start over again and the petition was begin sent for processing then a name check......What the hell is this?????.....Can we get a break in all of this???????.....Will calling the State dept number get me some other kind of response?????.................Could stupid be there middle name or what.............

Here is what I am thinking....

1. This might not be as bad as it sounds. Hopefully the processing she referred to is the standard NSC processing that normally only takes a few days. It could be that your petition is on the way back to Peru already.
2. It could be that whatever it is that NVC adds to the USCIS package was not done the first time or was misplaced. Thus they need to do it again.
3. By all means call DOS. They often have better information regarding what is happening at NVC then one receives from NVC customer service. It can't hurt to call and ask, and complain also.
4. NVC is part of DOS.
5. I also suggest that you contact your senator or congressman again. They are already familar with your case and a call from their office to NVC might help the situation.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!! I'M FINALLY FREAKIN APPROVED!!!!!!!

Wow! Congratulations!

I would love to hear their explanantion as to why it took so long but I think that is one mystery that will never be solved. Best of luck on the rest of your journey!

OMG YOU GUYS!!

I GOT APPROVED TODAY!

Congratulations!

The fact that you had to wait so long is outrageous but at last you can move to the next step. I wish you the best of luck on the rest of your journey.

Found this old post in a thread titled "1st post former NSC adjudicator now petitioner".

OP was a Applications Adjudicator at NSC (Nebraska) back in 2003.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=55762&st=0

Would that be the same huskerkiev thread that I have had linked in my signature for 6 months?

Actually I am glad you brought it to people's attention again. That thread should be required reading for everyone.

Well Kim thanks for asking.....A funny thing happened on the way to the embassy........they sent only half of the info.........and instead of sending the other half down they had to send the other half up to be reassembled and send it back.......I guess that is why I have NO warm fuzzies or good feelings these days......The embassy in Lima has been great but they told me they could not accept an incomplete or 1/2 of a packet.......Luckily they called NVC and it was located quickily but it is yet another delay in this process from hell......It still has not left NVC for the second time.....I can not get an explaination as to why but it is still sitting.....at least complete now......in New Hampshire I hope not gathering dust again.......I call every day and they are all so nice but it is just a kinder version of USCIS to me at this point.....No info....no reason.....just check back in a couple of days......OMG I just want to choke something.........So you can see this is why I am in such a horrific mood

Lora...I can believe this since ours left the NVC center feb 13 and I was so excited until the guy said..."yeah it left for Montreal....and I almost chocked because that is the wrong embassy for us...it was supposed to go to VanCouver.....so we are in the process of trying to locate and get it moved....I hate this for you...this whole ordeal has been just that.....an ORDEAL!!!!!!!!!! kEEP US POSTED AND WE WILL DO THE SAME!!!!!!

This is just simply unbelievable! I do not think I have ever seen such a group of incompetent fools as these clowns at USCIS and NVC.

Just popping in to report that Griff and I were married Saturday! It was a lovely day and a good time was had by all! We're both very happy! Now on to AOS!!

Wow! Congratulations!!

PS: We are still peeps right?