MyDestinyAwaits

Is there something in the air in Jamaica? Marlon was in Kingston on Tuesday getting money together for the no impediment form when his car was towed! He had to pay $3300JA to get it back and almost had to pay more because it was getting too late!

I just ordered phone service through Cox and now I pay 45 cents per minute rather than $1.09 a minute with T-Mobile and I get the phone service free for 6 months!

*sigh*

sounds like several of our fellas had a bad day in kingston.

dang girl t-mobile is high! are they charging you a monthly access fee in order to get that rate? the wal-mart phone cards are 50 cents a minute.

i've been racking up horrendous phone bills ever since i stopped using my prepaid phonecard service. i pay 38 cents/min and a 4 dollar monthly fee. i was going to look at ringyard but now fiance has mega fone (even thought it ain't working right now).

just spoke to hubby, he got the forms and i belive he said he was also able to do the police certficate....of course his phone battery died

Sorry to find this funny but of course.....haven't we all had this happen...battery dead in the most inopportune time! I don't even get mad anymore....

i think we can all say that is the story of our lives. when it's not the battery, it's the credit. i was so happy when my fiance got a mega fone. unfortunately, it was short-lived. the stupid thing is constantly dropping calls and now it will no longer make a connection. the phone doesn't work anymore and he has to see about getting the problem fixed or replacing it.

yes, he had to actually ask for the packet. the person who took the ds-230 said that it's been mailed out to him and when he said he didn't receive it then she gave him another one. jengles i sure hope he made it back to the embassy before they close.

oh jengles i''m feelin' for ya girl. dealing with them is such a frustration. my fiance said he stood in line at the embassy for 2 hrs on tuesday when it was his turn it took no longer than 1 minute to get serviced. he handed in the ds-230 and the lady took it and dismissed him. it's a good thing he asked for a packet because they sure weren't going to ask him if he needed it.

now in this packet was everything he needed. it had a duplicate of the ds-230, the rest of the forms needed at the interview plus the medical information. the ds-230 is the only thing they gave mr. jengles?

what kills me is how the embassy knows it takes forever for mail to arrive and yet they still expect you to wait on it if you're already there in person to drop off forms.

my fiance still hasn't recovered from his trip to kingston. he left in the middle of the night, spent all day in kingston waiting and running errands. and now he's still trying to straighten out paperwork in mobay and is running around downtown and then going to work. he said he's falling asleep and doesn't even realize it.

how many of us are waiting for an interview date?

kkholiday

mydestinyawaits

futuremrs

jaydonna

i'm dying to know when we'll know something!

hmm, i emailed to both addresses and also used professional wording. i think i'll email and if they don't respond i'll still call them next friday.

I have been teaching 6 years. All I do is put my tax refund of about 1500 dollars each year into the shwab account. Once you have about 1000 dollars you can invest it is pretty easy. I paid my tax man 50 dollars to get me started. Just find someone who deals with peoples fiances and they can help. I also have a girlfriend in the Chicago Stock exchange. I only with draw money if the item is going to pay off in the future and not decress in value like my house and our education.

thanks for the advice. i'm gonna do just that!

hey sara, how did you get the embassy email you? i've emailed them twice with questions and they've never responded. did you email them with an inquiry for marlon's interview date?

belwin how many years teaching experience do you have? i gotta give you props cause you really have your head on your shoulders girl. i would've never thought about getting stocks (outside of an IRA) and then being able to use it to pay off college loans. how many years have you been doing that? i've always thought about using my income tax refund to do just that, but every year when that time comes around there's always some other issue pressing at me.

i got my master's degree by taking night classes. i was teaching during the day and then went to the local university 2 nights/wk and was a full-time student during the summer. it only took 2 years. and then when i graduated, my parents sent me to jamaica as a graduation gift and that's how i met my fiance 4 years ago.

since then, it seems like grad school has been streamlined. now you don't have to go to campus, you can take online classes which is so much better because you can work it around your schedule. juggling a job and college ain't no joke though and it did have it's stressful moments. i recently decided that i want to get a degree outside of teaching. i want to become a school counselor and the program i looked into is 7 semesters long and it meets one weekend a month instead of having night classes every week. i wanted to start this summer and some of my coworkers thought i was out of my mind. she reminded me that i have a kid, a career, and that i'm about to get married. i'll put it off until next summer and then i'll decide if the timing is right.

now as for the student loans...well, for me they were a necessity. there's no way i could afford to pay for grad school, and since i already had a small fortune racked up in undergrad student loans i figured what's the point in trying to pay for it now. so i've got a large amount of debt due to college loans, mortgage, and my car but i did what needed to be done. i have a career i enjoy.

oooh! jlvr i'm so happy for you. once you guys get to chat it over i wanna hear all the details.

I mean really you are to fly down just to answer a few questions, I hope they have a valid reason. I would complain my butt off the reason is frivolous

Kingston is a high fraud Embassy so they give people a hard time...in most cases. The vets on here always recommended the US citizen to be present during the interview. It's the best proof of a relationship.

Please remember that the Embassy does not have to issue a visa....trust me, I read crazy stories everyday...some couples will ever live in the same country. Luckily, no one has been on this thread has been denied yet...except for ganga use. Count your blessings.

I so don't think I would be an asset to hubby, I can't tolerate stupid people and they might want to ask a super intrusive/stupid question and it would go downhill from there.

the sad thing about Kingston is that there is fraud going on, on both sides of the fence

Only few people on here had "tough" interviews. Most of us had "okay" interviews...some consular officers were even nice.

There's no doubt the fraud is on both sides but it's still a high fraud Embassy mainly because of overstays of visitors visas and deportations of Jamaicans here in the States. They made the process harder for the legit ones....

jlvr, my man called at 10 this morning...he is in the same time zone as me though and didn't have to travel home to call me..

i still haven't found out what is on the 221g yet but he said the interviewer asked him how old my son was and he knew, and when my son's birthday was and he knew, and my birthday and he knew, and then they asked him when i got married to my ex husband...and he didn't know....and that is when they got difficult with him and called him a liar and that he didn't really know me and then pulled out a receipt from the hotel we stayed at the last time i was there and asked who paid for it and called him a liar again and then said when your fiance comes here, we will issue the visa and gave him the blue slip...

i am going to call the embassy....anyone know the best number and the time/day to call????

dang finesse! they were harsh!

i keep praying that once an interview date is set, that it'll be for the first part of august. i go back to school on the 14th, and i'm sure that the director of human resources won't allow me to take a leave of absence in spite of the circumstances. i've already asked for a leave of absence once and he denied it saying that i should schedule it during spring break or christmas. i was so fired up.

jlvr i'm thinking about ya!

how is everyone doing this morning? finesse & jlvr, y'all doing all right?

my fiance just called. he's still on the drive to kingston. his mega fone hasn't been working these past 2 days & it's been dropping calls like crazy.

kimmy, your little lady is adorable. nothing can top a little girl in pigtails.

jengles, you are the bomb. thank you so much for clearing that up for the rest of us. so where will mr. jengles be getting his medical? my fiance is going to mobay hope. he's heading to kingston in a few hours to get the police certificate, drop off ds-230, & pick up medical info packet.

rhonda, glad to hear things are on the mend with you two. give that baby plenty of jamaican food!

jlvr, how are you holding up? you gonna be able to get any sleep tonight? you're gonna be so relieved once he calls you tomorrow!

thanks jengles! that'll clear up a lot of confusion for the rest of us.

Thats a another option but be aware of who ur renting from. Sometimes they DO NOT have insurance on the car and if ur pulled over God forbid, ur the one driving an uninsured vehicle. It happened to a friend of mine...what u could do...is see if somehow u can befriend a taxi guy and have him come pick u up when u need to go places. This I do, we get to know each other and he starts giving u a discount. I use the same taxi guy everytime I go..have his number stored in my phone...just another option

that's the route i usually go too. i'm not confident enough to drive on my own, and i really don't want the liability of driving a car that's not mine. so one day i took a route taxi to go grocery shopping and he ended up taking me to tour rose hall great house and to his house in flankers to meet his entire family. that was almost 2 years ago. now his wife and i are great friends.

my fiance's mom feels pretty confident about applying for the travel visa. so when the time comes we'll just hope for the best.

belwin, did anyone in dwain's family try to get one? i'm hoping his mom can show strong enough ties to jamaica. she's got money in the bank, a nice house, and a thriving business.

we celebrated father's day yesterday since my youngest sister has to work today. we took him out to dinner and got him stuff we knew he'd like. mom got him a plasma tv and i bought him movie bucks. i'm going back to my parents house after i put the wash out on the line.

has anyone here had a beneficiary family member try to get a travel visa to attend the wedding? we want his mom and sister to come, and it's time for me to write the invitation letter. if anyone has any tips on how the kingston embassy handles this i'd appreciate it. i'm going to try to research it now.

this is just nuts! with all the different things we're hearing it's no wonder we're all confused. it seems like you can ask the embassy the same question and get 2 different answers.

i wonder what would the consequeces be if our SO's got shots with their family doctors instead of at the medical. jomo's girl did that without any problems, but this was pre-embassy relocation and ever since then everything's been helter-skelter.

exactly how much money would we be saving by going to a clinic instead of the medical exam?

the following is a quote from belwinmills back in may.

Miss Jones

This is what the paper says for the medical

Blue Note attached says: Be sure to go to the Embassy doctor before going to the clinic for additional vaccinations.

Your Medical Examination

1. You must schedule your medical at least 10-14 days prior to the date of your visa interview. The date of your visa interview appears on your appointment letter. Failure to complete your medical examination by 10 -14 days prior to your visa interview may result in delays with your visa application, so you should be sure to make arrangements to take your exam at the earliest opportunity.

There are three locations authorized to perform examinations for immigration visas, and you may have your exam done at the most convient location for you.

MoBay Medical, Andrews Memorial Hospital, Dr. Medical Banbury Medical Associates Hospital

$95 $90 $80

2. Medical Examination Fees

The fee is as noted above, payable in U.S. dollars or Jamaican equivalent. No personal cheques are accepted.

3. What to bring to the Medical Examination

- completed medical history form -passport - your appointment letter - 4 passport size pictures

- any immunization records showing prior vaccinations

** please remove all necklaces and neck chains prior to examination

4. Immunization

U.S. immigration law requires that all applicants be vaccinated for the following disease:

Mumps, measles, rubella, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, influenza type B, hepatitis B, varicella (chicken pox), pneumococcal, and influenza.

Depending upon your age, you may not need all of these vaccinations. Please present your immunization records to the physician at the time of the examination for the physician to determine which immunizations you may need. You may receive any needed vaccinations at the time of your examination. Please note that immunization fees are not included in the cost of your examination. Please be prepared to pay for any additional vaccines that you may require.

5. HIV Testing

During the n visa medical examination, the physician test all applicants over the age of 15 for antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a disease that may lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In cases in which the physician has reason to believe that a child under age 15 might be HIV positive, he or she may require that the child undergo a blood test.

AIDS is the name given to a group of illnesses that may occur in persons infected with HIV. Infection with HIV causes a defect in a person's natural immunity against disease. This defect leaves infected people vulnerable to serious illnesses that would not normally be a threat to someone with a healthy immune system. A positive test result for HIV does not mean you have AIDS, but that you are at risk to develop it. Any positive results will be confirmed with an additional test.

The results of your test will be provided to a consular officer, and may be reported to the Jamaican health authorities, as required by Jamaican law. If the test results are positive, you will be ineligible for the visa and the consular officer is required by U.S. law to deny the application. However, a waiver of this ineligibility may be possible, and the consular officer will explore that possibility with you during the interview.

Ok so hubby called the medical center in Mo Bay today and he was told his doctor cannot give him any shots, but that is not true correct?? and she asked him if he had a blue paper which he doesn't. Was this blue paper in the same packet that the ds230 came in?

I was going to ask which doctor....his personal or the medical examination doctor. But, then I thought, WHY? Because both can give him shots. Not exactly clear what you are asking here.

If he has not had certain shots, he can go to a clinic or his personal doctor and get them done beforehand.

If he needs shots at the medical examination, they will then give them to him at considerably more cost.

They are telling him he can't go to his personal doctor.

you know there was someone else saying the same thing recently but i don't remember who it was. it may have been jlvr, since her interview is coming up. it was something along the lines of "it was not recommended for the beneficiary to get immunizations anywhere except at the medical". i'll do a search and see what i come up with.

You ladies crack me up! I am debating on getting cable or satellite when Marlon gets here but after reading some of the horror stories here I dunno! lol I do know that Marlon is big time into horror and action films and I too have fallen asleep during them! I am more of the romantic comedy/comedy/sci-fi type.

Rhonda: I am so sorry to hear that Tony is soooo pigheaded! You WILL talk him out of it and ALL will work out! Hang in there as you are a strong and smart woman!

i was thinking about doing the same thing. he says he has to has the fox soccer channel, and i was hoping that with a dish we could also get some carribean channels too. only thing is i kinda like getting internet and cable all lumped together in one bill.

I was wondering the same thing but I chose Satellite dish instead. I had Comcast at my last apt but the bill was getting out of hand. Now we have Satellite for 4 tv w/DVR's and my bill is only $65 a month w/two premium channels. Not only that it has way more channels.

my fiance has never had cable, and when we stay together in a hotel the tv is constantly on. his addiction: sports (specifically soccer & cricket).

Neil didn't have cable either, they only got on channel in yard JTV He didn't watch much tv. The few times we stayed in a hotel it was music vidoes, music vidoes and more music vidoes Oh and how did I forget to soccer and cricket

One more thing.... Is channel surfing a man thing??? Or is it just my mans thing?

i'm more of the music video junkie. i don't usually just sit and watch tv, so i turn on some music and while i'm doing other things. i could definitely live without cable.

my man on the other hand, will watch the 2 or 3 channels he's got regardless of whether he likes the show or not. one night he was watching pretty woman! lol

he does a lot of channel surfing too, especially during commercial breaks on the sports channel. a few times he's even tried to be considerate and hands me the remote. i just look at him and say, "i don't want that thing."

he has a strange habit that i thought was a guy thing. he'll have the tv on some soccer and then turn on some music. so you can hear sports and music at the same time. it's a sensory overload for me and i can't stand it. so when his boy came over i asked him, "is this a guy thing?" pointing to the tv and the music. he laughed and said no. then, the next day we go visit his sister and guess what? she's got the tv on and the radio at the same time! lol

it was a family thing, not a guy thing.

i don't have time to sit and watch tv during the school year, and i usually don't even subscribe to it. but now that it's summer i decided to get a cable & internet package offered by the cable company and i've become quite the couch potato. my fiance has never had cable, and when we stay together in a hotel the tv is constantly on. his addiction: sports (specifically soccer & cricket). i have a feeling that i'll need to put a tv in the bedroom in order to get him to come to bed at night! lol

rhonda, i'd also be shocked and insanely pissed off if my husband signed papers to do something as major as that without first consulting me. i can't believe that he has his mind set on it. he's actually okay with potentially (or probably) missing the baby's birth?

they want my orginal birth certificate????? I have a huge problem with that as I'm from the U.K. and wouldn't know the first about getting it replaced. Why can't they just use the bio page from my passport??

does the embassy take both birth certificates? i was thinking they may only want the beneficiary's.