MyDestinyAwaits

Does anyone have an idea how long the Embassy take to answer emails? I sent an email on Thursday and was just wondering when I should expect an answer.

I don't know if they have improved or not, but they never answered half of my e-mails! And when they did, it took forever.

I think I'm going to just call the Embassy today.

i emailed the embassy twice and got no response. i gave up on that since calling is much easier.

kk, the embassy will only take your call on monday and friday, 1:30-3:30.

So I got my bank verification letter today. All it has is the date my account was opened and the current amount! I'm pissed because the lady I spoke with from the bank assured me that it would include the total amount of deposits for the last year. I paid $10.00 for that piece of ####### that ain't gonna help me! So, did anyone print out ALL of their bank statements for the 12 month period for the interview???

i would be calling them right back and telling them that they didn't do what they said they'd do. i've saved all my bank statements from the past year and included them with the i-134 even though i have a bank letter. i just wanted to be as thorough as possible.

now here's what has me confused....i don't remember reading that the bio page from the passport was necessary to go with the ds-230. which page is the bio page?

I also called the embassy today. The lady told me as soon as they get the DS-230 we will get an interview date. She also mentioned that it would be in August. We are still going to have a courier take the part 1 to the embassy tomorrow. She told me that the packet was mailed out today to Donna. They received 6 packets today.

where in jamaica does your fiancee live? since my fiance lives so far away it'll be much better for him to pick up his packet and drop off the ds-230 at the same time. we don't want to wait 3 months for a packet to arrive in the mail.

jengles i want to thank you for posting that phone number. it saved so much time! your husband should definitely pick up the interview letter. the lady i spoke to today said that everything he'll need was in the packet including the ds-230 and medical forms. so does that mean that packet 3 and packet 4 are now combined into one?

mail in jamaica is crazy. i've sent things from mobay to morant bay (east coast) and it takes anywhere between 3-5 months to arrive. i'm curious how long the packet that was sent on may 31st will take to reach him in mobay.

ebony you should definitely call the embassy and see what's up. that's such a long time to wait!

futuremrs, you might want to hold off on the courier service. i just used the number that jengles provided. i got an appointment for my fiance to drop off the ds-230 next week. she told me not to use the courier service and i was really surprised that we got an appointment so quick. she said that he'll probably end up with an august interview date. i'm praying that it'll be within the first 2 weeks so that i can still go with him.

here's what we're going to do:

1. fiance goes to embassy next week to drop off ds-230 and pick up packet (it contains the medical info too)

2. i will start calling in about a week to see if an interview date is set

3. fiance will go back to the embassy to pick up the interview letter (since we don't want to wait on the mail and we must have the letter in order to get into the embassy for the actual interview)

I have a question for the moms and moms to be: Did you drink at all during your pregnancy? Is it really ok to have ONE glass of wine or ONE drink occasionally? I have 1 more week and then I'll be into my 2nd trimester. I'm wondering if I might be able to have a drink in JA while we're on our vacation.....

i've actually had to do some research on this topic lately. i adopted my little boy out of foster care and we've had a lot of problems lately. he was just diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and has brain damage as a result of it. he's a very handsome fella and he didn't have the obvious facial deformities and mental retardation which is why it went unnoticed for so long. he had subtle indicators like crooked fingers & toes, a flat philtrum, and a flat nasal bridge. everything i've read and heard about alcohol & pregnancy says that there is NO safe amount of alcohol because every fetus tolerates it differently. fetal alcohol syndrome can range from mild to severe, and alcohol exposure during different stages can cause varying effects. my son's doctor gave me a book about FAS and it said that FAS is starting to become prevalent in the upper-class population because doctors have told their pregnant patients that a little alcohol won't hurt the baby before conclusive research has been performed.

rhonda, i do know that the more a pregnant woman drinks, the higher the risk. i know other women who have had just one glass of wine during pregnancy and their children have turned out fine. please just be very careful. study up on what exactly what stage of development your baby is in during the time that you're in jamaica. alcohol affects whatever is developing at the time. there are children with FAS who don't have any facial deformities because there was no exposure during the time of facial development.

here's a website you can peruse if you're interested.

http://www.come-over.to/FASCRC/

try 876-702-6008 - its the direct line instead of going thru all those prompts.

ooh girl, thanks!

jlvr, we're all rooting for you! i bet you won't be getting much sleep for a while. but at least your visa journey has reached it's peak. i thought i was losing my mind waiting for the noa2, things are much worse for me now! i just wanna hurry up and get it over with.

so i tried calling the embassy today. you know how you can only call between the hours of 1:30-3:30 on mondays and fridays...

well i started calling at 2:00 jamaica time and tried about 20 times and kept getting the busy signal. when i finally get through, i follow all the prompts and right when i'm supposed to get connected to an operator, i hear a loud beep and the following message:

"i'm sorry, your call cannot be completed at this time. goodbye" and click!

AHHHH! I'M SO FRUSTRATED!

i'll try again on monday.

the one bit of good news is that i've got a summer job lined up. i interview on monday!

The Embassy doesn't allow walk-ups anymore. If you need add'l ppwrk or a packet you will need to make an appt.

oh jeez. i wish there downloadable medical forms online at the embassy website.

Packet #4 has the interview letter which is needed for the medical. Once you drop of the DS-230 give it a few wks and try calling or emailing the embassy. They should be able to give you the interview date. So your SO can schedule a medical two wks prior to the interview. You will need the packet to attend the medical but not to make the initial appt.

thanks for the info! can the packet 4 be picked up at the information window or will he need to schedule an appt to pick it up? we are NOT going to wait for it to come in the mail if it's at all possible.

NOOOOOOOO.........No medicaid. No public assistance for 4 years.

Same boat here, Tia. I pay $435 a month out of my paycheck for Andre's insurance. So wanting to drop that. On the bright side, in one year, he's had 2 ER visits and a few doctor. It has definately paid for itself in the end.

at least you've gotten your money's worth out of it. in the 4 years that i've known oliver he's never been sick. he just gets minor colds, and even that hardly ever happens. i told him he must've been a breast-fed baby because he's so healthy. his teeth are in great shape too. they're whiter than mine.

It was really quiet in here today. I only had one page to read!!

I am really craving ackee and saltfish and roast breadfruit I don't know if they're pregnancy cravings or just because I miss Jamaica and can't wait for our vacation in August!! The tin ackee is about $18 at the JA store near me

i'm willing to make a 200 mile trip to get ethnic food and both supermarkets i go to don't carry tin ackee right now.

i was absolutely thrilled when i saw this large fruit at the bodega that was advertised to be breadfruit. now i've only eaten roast breadfruit, i've never handled or seen one raw before. i bought it and called my fiance for instructions on how to roast it. i put that thing on the stove, roasted it as directed, and was eager to peel off the skin....only thing is, when i cracked it, smelled really sweet. the sweet aroma was a very familiar scent too. so, i opened it up and sure enough, it was not a doggone breadfruit at all! it looked and smelled like a gi-normous naseberry! it even had the same kind of seed and grainy texture. i was so disappointed because i spent a small fortune on it too. lol

Just an update.

I sent money to Marlon via WU and he got it okay. He sat at the doctor's office all day but found out it was just a gum infection and was prescribed some antibiotics and pain killers. I guess the infection was also causing him to have headaches. I am relieved to know that it wasn't something serious.

Now this leads me to ask how USC's got dental insurance for their SO's here in the States? Currently I work as a temporary (been here for 6 1/2 years), no benefits. As soon as I complete my Stats class next month I will officially have my degrees in August and then I can search for a better paying job.

glad to hear marlon is on the mend sarah. i will be adding my fiance to my insurance once we're married, but my insurance will be more than double what i'm paying now. it is my hope that once he gets a stable job then he can get his own insurance coverage. right now i don't know how many options you really have. marlon won't be eligible for medicaid right? hopefully you'll be able to get a job that offers immediate health coverage so you both don't have to wait. a friend of mine has a teaching license but couldn't get a teaching job in our town so she's been a substitute teacher for a few years. she got married last summer (to a man who's self-employed) and she'd love to start a family but they can't affored to do it without insurance.

only thing is...i'm wondering how much time can actually be saved using the courier service as opposed to waiting for an appointment to drop it off because don't you still have to wait for the embassy to mail out packet 4 before you can schedule the visa interview?

You don't schedule the interview - the Embassy schedules it. And they won't schedule it until after they receive the completed DS-230. The sooner you can get it to them, the better.

yeah now i'm starting to regret that i sent the original to him. i always send him stuff through regular postal mail and it's always gotten there within 2 weeks. i've never had a problem before.

i'm thinking we will go on and courier the ds-230. my fiance has to go to kingston for the police certificate, and we'll see if he can pick up packet 4 at that time.

ok here's my latest question regarding the whole courier vs. app't to drop off the ds-230...

if the ds-230 is sent via courier, you will have to wait for packet 4 to arrive snail-mail right?

i'm trying to look at the big picture here. you can wait a month for an app't to drop off the ds-230 and then wait another month for the visa interview

or...

courier the ds-230 and wait forever for the packet 4 and then schedule the visa interview (which may still be another month of waiting).

what's an impatient girl to do? lol

jlvr i think you just might make it there. your timing couldn't have been better. you are so lucky!

i just put a whole bunch of stamps on the envelope and stuck it in my mailbox. i didn't use those airmail envelopes. maybe that's why it's taking longer?

so what courier service is typically used? i imagine airpak is the way to go since that's what the embassy uses to send visas back to their owners.

only thing is...i'm wondering how much time can actually be saved using the courier service as opposed to waiting for an appointment to drop it off because don't you still have to wait for the embassy to mail out packet 4 before you can schedule the visa interview?

jengles did the courier thing way back in the beginning of april and still waited 2 months for an interview date to be issued. what really is the quickest way to go?

remind me jomo's girl...wasn't jomo able to pick up packet 4 at the same time that he dropped off the ds-230?

Jomo was lucky then because they have completely restructured the K1 process in Kingston! I am hoping that courier will be faster than calling to set an appt to drop the form off. I am worried about sending the NOA2 original as it costs $200.00 to get a replacement copy!!!!!!

what? it costs $200 to replace the NOA2? that's just crazy. i made a copy of it and mailed the original noa2 to my fiance like 3 weeks ago. he went to the post office last week to see if it had arrived and i was shocked to find out that it wasn't there yet. it BETTER be there this week or we're gonna have some problems!

i'm thinking we're also going to use the courier service to drop off the ds-230. how reliable are they?

Jomo's girl

they are going to wait a month to drop off the ds-230. I would courier it in, they could have an interview date by 7/3

kimmy & jengles

oh i'm so glad you two finally have your interview dates! please tell me exactly what you all did in order to get it. did you call the embassy? did the embassy notify the beneficiary? i emailed the embassy a week ago and still no response. i need an interview date no later than early august!

thanks

U should try emailing again b/c i also emailed about 1wk go..and then again today and they replied to the one today...Just keep emailing...both email addresses. I was hoping to get an earlier date but i is what it is..at least we got one I guess

I always called them. I asked if they knew at least what month my interview would be in and they told me. I also asked when they would know my exact date. They said in 2 weeks so I called back and they had the date. I know calling suxs cause it takes for ever to get anyone.

thanks ladies. i think i will go ahead and call them this afternoon and make an appointment for my fiance to drop off the ds-230. he's had it filled out and ready to go since april. we were just waiting for the i-129f to get approved.

this whole fee increase has me anxious. that's a lot of money to put on top of our wedding expense. needless to say i'm looking for a summer job. unfortunately i live in a small city and the job market is very fickle. i tried a few years ago to get a summer job and no one wanted to hire a temporary worker...i even went to a few temp. agencies and even they wouldn't give me a job assignment. i'm saying a prayer and getting started on the job search today!

does the embassy have his case?

yes the embassy ought to have our case by now. it should have arrived last week.

so you think that things can move faster if we get a courier to drop off the ds-230?

yes, its your preferance, hubby is a 2 hour drive from kingston, so he preferred to use courier

that's an option my fiance and i should explore then. kingston is several hours away for him too. at this point i'm willing to try it if it'll give us a earlier interview date. the first day of school for me is august 14th, i'm cutting it pretty close right now. thanks for the tip jengles.

Jomo's girl

they are going to wait a month to drop off the ds-230. I would courier it in, they could have an interview date by 7/3

kimmy & jengles

oh i'm so glad you two finally have your interview dates! please tell me exactly what you all did in order to get it. did you call the embassy? did the embassy notify the beneficiary? i emailed the embassy a week ago and still no response. i need an interview date no later than early august!

thanks

U should try emailing again b/c i also emailed about 1wk go..and then again today and they replied to the one today...Just keep emailing...both email addresses. I was hoping to get an earlier date but i is what it is..at least we got one I guess

I always called them. I asked if they knew at least what month my interview would be in and they told me. I also asked when they would know my exact date. They said in 2 weeks so I called back and they had the date. I know calling suxs cause it takes for ever to get anyone.

thanks ladies. i think i will go ahead and call them this afternoon and make an appointment for my fiance to drop off the ds-230. he's had it filled out and ready to go since april. we were just waiting for the i-129f to get approved.

this whole fee increase has me anxious. that's a lot of money to put on top of our wedding expense. needless to say i'm looking for a summer job. unfortunately i live in a small city and the job market is very fickle. i tried a few years ago to get a summer job and no one wanted to hire a temporary worker...i even went to a few temp. agencies and even they wouldn't give me a job assignment. i'm saying a prayer and getting started on the job search today!

does the embassy have his case?

yes the embassy ought to have our case by now. it should have arrived last week.

so you think that things can move faster if we get a courier to drop off the ds-230?

kimmy & jengles

oh i'm so glad you two finally have your interview dates! please tell me exactly what you all did in order to get it. did you call the embassy? did the embassy notify the beneficiary? i emailed the embassy a week ago and still no response. i need an interview date no later than early august!

thanks

U should try emailing again b/c i also emailed about 1wk go..and then again today and they replied to the one today...Just keep emailing...both email addresses. I was hoping to get an earlier date but i is what it is..at least we got one I guess

I always called them. I asked if they knew at least what month my interview would be in and they told me. I also asked when they would know my exact date. They said in 2 weeks so I called back and they had the date. I know calling suxs cause it takes for ever to get anyone.

thanks ladies. i think i will go ahead and call them this afternoon and make an appointment for my fiance to drop off the ds-230. he's had it filled out and ready to go since april. we were just waiting for the i-129f to get approved.

this whole fee increase has me anxious. that's a lot of money to put on top of our wedding expense. needless to say i'm looking for a summer job. unfortunately i live in a small city and the job market is very fickle. i tried a few years ago to get a summer job and no one wanted to hire a temporary worker...i even went to a few temp. agencies and even they wouldn't give me a job assignment. i'm saying a prayer and getting started on the job search today!

kimmy & jengles

oh i'm so glad you two finally have your interview dates! please tell me exactly what you all did in order to get it. did you call the embassy? did the embassy notify the beneficiary? i emailed the embassy a week ago and still no response. i need an interview date no later than early august!

thanks

Good morning VJ family. I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

Damien and I went to see Capleton last night....it was a nice concert. Gyptian is coming in two weeks.

Jax - Damien has hair also. It took forever to find someone to cornrow his hair to his standards but no one will ever compare to his hairstylist in JA.

gyptian is coming! man i'd take a road trip to go see him. he's one of my favorite artists. i've noticed that capleton doesn't get a lot of love when he performs. he was the last performer at sumfest the year before last and everyone left during his performance. and last year everyone was walking around and talking. my fiance says this happens because he teaches too much. i hope he got a better reception where you were sjb.

hey everyone. congrats to alienukgirl, nannygirl, and welcome dwain!

belwin you are so lucky to have such supportive parents! my father is not accepting my relationship and my mother is ambivalent.

i've been reading back on the last few day's worth of posts and i just found out about mega fone too. man i wish it was around sooner. my fiance has borrowed his friends' mega fones to "try it out". he's also heard about how it might be hard to get connected but so far everytime he's used it it's worked just fine. he's going to get one, and then when he moves here he's going to pass it on to his family. i'd MUCH rather pay that fee instead of dealing with long distance.

sjb- to answer your question, my fiance's family is adventist. now they must go to a more contemporary church because she told me they are allowed to wear pants (although i've never seen her wear pants! lol). the issue that sticks out the most with us is the "no pork" issue. they don't endorse eating pork, shellfish, etc. and my filipino heritage is all about pork and seafood! i know of several churches that don't approve of jewelry so i'm not surprised that SDA is like that also.