C and J

Anyway, with all the congestion with consolidating service centers and the 30,000 apps a month they are getting in, not to mention the spike in apps by those trying to beat the new fee increase, she said it would realisticly take 6 mos to get my NOA2 (approval) .

Really, that doesn't surprise me at all at this point. I had hoped that mine would be approved in the 3-4 months that standard cases seem to have been approved in, in the past, but that is looking so unlikely as the early March petitioners are only starting to see their approvals drip through now from the CSC.

It's really sad and depressing to think that Josh and I waited until mid-April to file our I130 because my mother-in-law thought we should seek professional help with filling in the forms and that is the length of time it took to get an interview with the Diocese. We didn't even require that help as all the lady at the Diocese did was put 2 N/As in boxes that I had left blank.

If we had filed in February, as we had planned, it would have only been the I130 and not the K3 (that didn't even enter into the equation until Josh had the interview) and I would have an approved petition and it would be at the NVC or further by now. Instead of being stuck in the CSC nightmare which appears to be unfolding because of the huge increase in petitions, with the fees changing.

Congratulations on your approvals. It's wonderful to see some positive posts in this thread after so much waiting. Lets hope this means the rest of the March filers will see something very soon

Thanks Pkewl I'll have to go congratulate them now

I'm so glad to finally see some positive posts in this thread. Congrats on your I129F's being transferred

I've been watching the March filer's thread and as I hadn't seen any movement in that, I was not expecting any in here. Come on USCIS! Start approving the March guys and girls so that we can have some idea of when we might start seeing approvals here!

Kinda off topic, but I had to laugh at the lb vs £ comments. My hubby texts my email address regularly when he's out and about away from his PC, and I've got so used to seeing lb when he texts about money here. I don't even bat an eyelid anymore.

One thing which happened yesterday at work (which, when I told hubby, he jokingly said it was the next stage in his plan to turn me American) is I looked at the date 05/07/07 and the first thing that came to mind was... "I didn't enter that value in May"

If she has been denied on fiancee visa's previously then I would have to say that sounds fishy.

Knowing she was denied, why would she go through the same scenario again and again when the outcome would be the same... being engaged to a different guy does not have any effect on the outcome. Maybe that is why this particular relationship ended in marriage (a different visa, the hope of a different outcome?). And did she wait until the denial to tell your friend that she has had previous denials? Or has that been truthfully told from the beginning?

Again, I am summizing (as we do not know the person or the whole story), but unless she has a weak-spot that causes her to continuously fall for American men, it sounds like she just wants to be in the US

I also don't like the fact that she continuously asks your friend for money, she was self-sufficient before the relationship and I see no reason for that to have changed, as she is still on cruise ships. That is almost as fishy as the previously denied visas.

If your husband goes to the US as a tourist and intends to stay and adjust status while in the US then that is visa fraud.

For an affidavit of support, you can get a relative or friend to sign this for you but the person signing would be legally bound to cover your husband financially (if the need arises) during his time in the States. He would get no financial help from the State what-so-ever.

How far along in your pregnancy are you? The reason I ask is that your husband can stay in the US on a tourist visa for 90 days BUT during that time he cannot work.

If your husband must work, then he would have to stay in Canada. I don't want to recommend that you spend time apart during your pregnancy but I think that is the only option available to you. Spouse visa's are taking about 10 months to authorise which is far to long for your situation.

Without knowing both sides of the story, we can only summize.... One thing that might help is - Has she clarified which type of visa she has been denied in the past? Work visa, fiance visa (I'm presuming she hasn't been married before), tourist visa?

I also know, that if I was on a cruise ship I would write letters to my husband and post them from every port I stopped at. Or phone from ports as often as possible. Purely to keep in contact.

If it's not the cost of travel and accomodation, then I wonder if your husband is adding up the cost of the medical and any immunisations he may have to pay for during the medical? That's the only other reason I can think of for him to say it is that expensive. There is a large list of vaccinations that they require but most are only applicable to certain age ranges and the list looks much worse than it actually is.

The only vaccinations I require for my age group (I'm 27) is MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), Tetanus and, that I have had chicken pox at some point during my life (which I have). If you have those given to you at the medical they do add extra cost to the overall price. However, those 2 are available on the NHS for free.

There is also a cost for the visa (I believe) if it is approved, he might also be taking that into consideration.

Dunno if being from Slough means he's a Londoner? *shrug*

Slough isn't London, we're (I'm from there too - little village called Cippenham) about 20 minutes outside of it, which puts us in a different county (Berkshire) Strange to know there's someone from the exact same area who has gone through the same process

I was not aware of any time-restriction on returning to the States either. Maybe it's hidden away in small print on one of the official sites. This isn't something I would come across as I'm only able to afford to visit my hubby every 6 months.

I guess it is allowed to visit whilst this is pending but VERY risky, i'd need to take as much proof as i can that i'd be returning huh. Which i do intend to do so we can get the visa the correct way you know.

It is deemed by most people to be more risky because you have more of a reason to want to stay than the average John Doe.

But, on a normal entry, you only have to answer the questions they ask you (honestly, of course). So the spouse visa and other things may not even come up in the questions/responses. However, as you have been more-thoroughly questioned on previous occasions it may come up and pre-warned is pre-armed.

So take proof just in case. It's better to have proof that you don't need/use, than not enough proof and be turned away

Nikkisprecious,

There can always be problems with customs and, unfortunately, I think once you are flagged on their systems you are flagged permanently. All you can do is take as much proof as possible with you to prove that you intend to leave. What sort of proof did you take with you as "ties to home" on the last visits? The more you can provide the (hopefully) easier it should be to get through customs.

Can you get a letter of employment from your boss stating that you are visiting the US for a specific period of time and the date you are returning to work?

Do you have property that you can show?

Do you mind me asking how often you visited the US to be deemed as "visiting too often", that really intrigued me.

Thank you very much for those responses They are very helpful And I didn't even think of attaching my bosses business card to the letter, that's a great idea

Thanks for the link Yu and Dan I know what information I can take with me to prove ties and I am fully aware that they may still refuse me entry.

Unfortunately the link doesn't give examples of what the letter should contain (which is what I am specifically searching for). I am presuming the following:-

* Company headed paper

* Full information of the person filling in the form

--- does this have to be their private contact details?

--- are these their company contact details? direst company extention number etc

--- does it have to include both company and private contact information?

* Current position held within the company

* Start date of employment and the fact that it is ongoing

Does this sound good?

and did you guys know the fee for I-129F petition is now $455, wth?

plus K3 petitions are no longer required to pay ANY fee

we don't have our NOA1 from our I-130

we're submitting our money order copy, both front and back and the online case number form

i still can't believe they're charging $455 for K1 petition

Bare in mind, that the people applying for the K3 visa have to pay for the I130 ($355). Which is still cheaper than K1, but it is certainly NOT free (K1 requires no other petition to be filed). The I130 and I129F (K3) used to have two separate costs, they merged them into one cost and applied it to the I130 only. It works out to roughly the same price as pre-"price change".

I am preparing for my visit to the US on Sept 1st and want to arrange for my boss to provide a proof of employment letter to prove ties to home. I have searched the forum and can only find posts and examples linked to the affidavit of support. Would the letter from my boss be similar to this (I presume without the salary information) or is there a specific example of a "ties to home" employment letter that I just haven't managed to find yet?

Don't feel too discouraged about your K3, I think you just had the unluckiness to file when things seem to have ground to a halt at CSC. There are lots of people who filed their I129F in March and still have no approval yet (which means I still have at least 2 months left before my approval - mine is a May I129F petition)

It is very frustrating to see no movement on files but there are a lot pf people who would like to have your I130 approval in their hands

To broaden the last response, as far as I am aware, the USC can only petition for HER relatives, not yours.

You would be able to petition for them once you have taken citizenship, in several years time.

I normally fly Heathrow -> Chicago O Hare -> Moline but the same principle applies. Any flight arriving into O Hare's international terminal has to go through customs, they are your point of entry.

You probably don't need this, as you've been to the airport before but I'm including it for anyone else that it might help...

You go through the immigration desks, pick up your luggage, go through the "declaration" bit and then hand off your checked luggage at a set of check-in desks, before walking out into the airport. Then you have to connect to the domestic terminals (via train), go through hand luggage security and then you're in the main terminal to await your flight.

On your return flight, you arrive in O Hare in the domestic terminal and take an internal bus from the terminal you land at, through to the terminal you will be leaving from. There is no need for you to collect your checked-luggage as it is moved to your next flight for you. There are no security checks other than at the first airport and on arriving back in the UK.

Hope this helps... Chicago security officials can be rather strict but make sure you remain pleasant and have ties to home (just in case you are asked for them) and you should be ok

One thing I really would like to ask, is that your I129F timeline is similar to mine and you have touches through May and June (after the transferral to CSC happened) did you happen to phone them for further information or are the touches just luck

Maybe it should have been voiced as looking for a penpal or something similar, rather than a husband. Friendship has to come first. After all, in a normal relationship (i.e not long distance) if things lead to marriage then they lead to marriage but you shouldn't start out with that particular thought in mind.

However, I also think that long distance relationships only end 2 ways... either burning out or marriage. We don't have the luxury of living together, unmarried, for the rest of our lives, as we do in our own countries. As soon as we make steps to be together, they take that option away from us. So the OPs friend is looking on the bright side... who wouldn't hope for a relationship that leads to marriage, over a relationship ending?

It has to be "friendship -> relationship -> marriage" though. Maybe the OPs friend should visit a few sites that interest her (non-dating) and make friends on there. I didn't visit websites to find anyone, but I was lucky enough to find Josh

When you're actively looking for something that is generally when you're NOT going to find it.

My hubby and I don't really argue, we have minor disagreements which are generally caused by lack of sleep for me. I get up at 5am to spend time with him before I go to work, and stay up late spending time with him before he goes to work. Eventually the lack of sleep makes me snarky and shortens my temper. Josh doesn't baite me though, so the mood eventually subsides.

When I am feeling particularly down in the dumps about being so far away, I withdraw away from him to avoid full-out arguements. I switch off my laptop and spend some time feeling sorry for myself, rather than taking it out on him. I don't want to lash out at the person I love just because I end up feeling the way I do. It's not his fault that we're going through this but he deals with it much better than I do. He is the type of person that lives for today and doesn't think about the distant future, where-as I am someone who is waiting for the future to get here so that I can put all this behind me and finally be with him. Two very different ways of dealing with a painful situation. I suppose I envy that he can remain so positive about it all.

Josh doesn't like my self-imposed solitary time, but he understands that I feel I need it. The messages I find in MSN when I do switch my laptop back on prove exactly how much he loves me and help to get my frame of mind back where it needs to be.

It reminds me how truly lucky I am to have found someone so perfect for me, even though he is so far away. And when I say that I am jealous of seeing couples walking around together, he reminds me that they are the ones that should be jealous because we know each other better than they probably ever will. I think long distance relationships open up a depth and strength to the relationship that wouldn't generally occur otherwise.

Josh and I don't have a song, mainly because we're nearly always listening to music, so nothing stands out above the rest for "us". He has lots of songs which remind him of me, because I am generally listening to the MTV Dance/Base channels in the background when talking to him (all those Brit/European songs that he doesn't get to listen to over in the US). There are a few which make me think of him whenever I hear them.

"Stone Sour - Through the Glass" - It's a bit of a mixed song for me... it was played almost constantly on the radio during my February visit to the States and reminded me of being in the car with him on the rather long journey to our little hotel honeymoon... sadly it was also repeated over and over on the inflight-radio on the flight home. As time goes on, the sad memories of sitting on the plane wishing I was still in the US with Josh seem to be clouding the happier memories associated with this song.

"Snow Patrol - Set Fire to the Third Bar" - The words to this song seem to mirror exactly how we feel and what we are going through. It is also a truly beautiful song. This song should have been listed first, but I wanted to paste the words for those that haven't heard it.

I find the map and draw a straight line

Over rivers, farms and State lines

The distance from A to where you'd B

It's only finger-lengths that I see

I touch the place

Where I'd find your face

My fingers increases

Of distant dark places

I hang my coat up in the first bar

There is no peace that I've found so far

The laughter penetrates my silence

As drunken men find flaws in science

Their words mostly noises

Ghosts with just voices

Your words in my memory

Are like music to me

And miles from where you are

I lay down on the cold ground and I

I pray that something picks me up

And sets me down in your warm arms

After I have travelled so far

We'd set the fire to the third bar

We'd share each other like an island

Until exhausted close our eyelids

And dreaming pick up from

The last place we left off

Your soft skin is weeping

A joy you can't keep in

And miles from where you are

I lay down on the cold ground and I

I pray that something picks me up

And sets me down in your warm arms

And miles from where you are

I lay down on the cold ground and I

I pray that something picks me up

And sets me down in your warm arms

Josh and I met in a chatroom for a Sims 2 modding website in May/June 2005. Talking in the chatroom progressed onto online gaming together (first GuildWars and then World of Warcraft). We admitted we had feelings for each other in August 2005, and the first visit in Feb 06 just confirmed them

I always find it hard to believe that a couple who have been together for any length of time would suddenly, on the spur of the moment, decide they want to get married. Maybe I'm just too methodical and too reliant on pre-planning (marriage license, person to perform the ceremony, witnesses) but I don't see "spur of the moment" happening to someone entering on the tourist visa (who is already in the relationship). Especially if it is not the persons first visit to see their partner. It's not really something you can prove or disprove I suppose (other than evidence to show you were going to leave).

Do the USCIS actually ask for proof that the decision was spontanious? I would have thought that this type of entry (especially on a tourist visa when compared against, say, an employment or student visa) would flash warning lights somewhere.

Actually, it may be "last years news" but there are a lot of people here who haven't seen this, including me.

I have seen quotes on the forums saying that it is "speculation that they hold the I130 and let the K3 through" and that "nothing has been said by USCIS to prove/disprove that statement", this article proves that it is more than speculation. Unfortunately Old news is easily forgotten as people move on from the forums and then it becomes New news all over again

Thanks for posting this