lisalu100

MOBILE PHONE!!!!!>...... Thanks.

OK, so I need some help on the whole "movig to America" front. I feel like I am missing something! Everyone keeps asking if I have everything ready/ I must be so busy, but aside from soialising with people I wont see for a while, and throwing the few items I have left into a couple of suitcases, what do I have to do?

Most of my stuff is already in Baltimore, because I have taken whatever I could do without on every trip (and then brought it back again as the seasons changed and I still didn't have my visa ).

I have filled out the paperwork for my car (I wrote it off with three weeks to go. Oops, good job Marty bought me one over there before I told him!)

I have handed in my notice at my jobs, and had my hen party (very important, no?).

I've been living with my parents, so I'll just stop the standing order for rent, and I want to keep my bank accounts open, as I still have loans to pay off .

I have booked my flight, and got my visa FINALLY)

Umm, anything else? Is there anything I can do now, to make things easier/quicker once I get to Baltimore?

Hal loumi and cherry tomato skewers on the BBQ...

Now, don't you guys think Tesco is more like Giant? We have two giants near us. One is like a regular Tesco, the other one we call Gucci Giant. It's like a Tesco Extra. And it's only 15 days now until I can get in my new car and use my new Tomtom to find my way to Wegman's.... Wegman's is like a cross between Waitrose, and the Selfridges's food hall. Yum yum yum!!! Toshtishtash and I like to get halloumi cheese there...!

Wow, I've had a whirlwind few days....

I have done ALOT of looking for a mother of the bride outfit for my mum, with no success. I have done a small amount of looking for a dress for my hen night (saturday), with SUCCESS! I now have two dresses... And the best bit - the stone I have lost for the wedding has been worth it! Woohoo! Unfortunately, I still can't afford clothes, but I love my interest free M & S card.

I am meeting my 10 friends tonight for a pizza and beer party, which will probably be the last time we'll all be together for many months. Should be fun though.

Friday I have a work do, sunday I am cooking for 15 family members (he he he, I foresee stress!).

I have planned leaving drinks from my two jobs for the week I leave.

Right now I am taking a break from packing up my room. Luckily, most of my "memory" stuff in already in the States, so there is no sitting on the floor thinking abbout old times, thank goodness.

24 days to go....... We got a great deal on a Manhattan hotel - $169 for a saturday night stay at the Hilton Manhattan, in Chelsea. I am so excited! I keep waiting for the tears to come, but I am too happy! I swear my friends are a bit dissapointed I am not really distarught about leaving them. Maybe I should fake a few tears tonight... Let's just hope I'm not caught off-guard in a few months, once the wedding is over, when I am missing everyone, and waiting for the green card before I am allowed back!

Thanks! I'm happy for all of us

Congratulations Babblesgirl and Ladyynara!! They are finally going to let us in, and ACTUALLY STAY!

One way to look at all of this.... if our relationships can survive separation for this long, and all the anxiety which went with it, we have a pretty solid foundation on which to build a successful marriage. In the past 18 months - Marty moved back to the USA, he got divorced from his former wife, we both changed jobs, we bought a house, survived USCIS, and we have planned a wedding. Those are pretty high up there on the list of most stressful things to do, and our relationship is only stronger. Like I said before, life is pretty good right now

Marty is a chef, and his favourite food is pizza (kind of a pie isn't it?). I work in a restaurant with Key Lime Pie on the menu. It is goooood. Sometimes we ring one through "by mistake" and then we have to eat it...

How is £390 for your flight, direct lon-lax with virgin? I don't know what West Coast prices are normally like... Jeremy's would be $1250 with virgin though. Ouch...

Is anyone else a bit like me? I feel like I know everyone here, because I lurk ALL the time. I love to hear how everyone is getting on, I cried when I read about Aly's wedding, and I have read Weedebz's posts with glee, I am so happy her flights went well. And actually a little jealous that she got upgraded. The thing is, I very rarely post. I've come to realise it's a bit greedy! If you guys hadn't posted all that reading material, what would I have done with all these months? I am a waitress, so I get up at 11am, and before I start work at 5pm, I can usually be found at the computer. I really must make more of an effort to contribute...

Sorry Aly, this is a cut and paste! If you read UK Interview thread, skip to the next post.

Hi all!

Such a pain - I have tried to post here the last few days, but the page kept "hanging" as soon as I hit reply. Any ideas? This has happened a few times in the past too

Well, on monday I had my interview, and got APPROVED! Woohoo! I was convinced my lack of Austtralian police certificate was going to be a problem (very expensive phone line told me I needed one if I was there 6 months or more), but it didn't arrive in time). I had the nice chinese lady at window 1, and the American man at 15. After a few easy questions (how and when did you meet, how many times have you been to USA etc), the american man went through my dates on my gap year travelling, and said

"so, you entered Australia in October, and left in January?"

"Um, no" said I. "I left in April".

"So that's October, November..." counting on his fingers

"6 months and 10 days" I said defeatedly, waiting for him to ask for the police certificate I didn't have.

"OK, well your file is now complete, your visa is appoved, please don't forget to pay the courier."

"Thank-you!" (Tears of relief and happiness are now streaming down my face)

I then had to queue for the longest 45 minutes of my life to pay the courier, when I really wanted to leave, and call everyone!

The visa arrived two days later, on wednesday, and yesterday, thanks to Miss Toshtishtash pointing me in the right direction, I booked a one-way flight direct to JFK with Virgin for £239. Bargain! We are staying one night in Manhattan (I feel a trip to Macy's to finish our wedding registry will be in order...), and then making the 3 hr journey back to Baltimore and my lovely house and lovely cat, and I can finally see my wedding dress, which has been camping out at Marty's sister's house since it arrived. I will have 7 weeks before our wedding, which is May 31st, so Weedebz and I are date twins!

Um, life is pretty good at the moment!

Hi all!

Such a pain - I have tried to post here the last few days, but the page kept "hanging" as soon as I hit reply. Any ideas? This has happened a few times in the past too

Well, on monday I had my interview, and got APPROVED! Woohoo! I was convinced my lack of Australian police certificate was going to be a problem (very expensive phone line told me I needed one if I was there 6 months or more, but it didn't arrive in time). I had the nice chinese lady at window 1, and the American man at 15. After a few easy questions (how and when did you meet, how many times have you been to USA etc), the american man went through my dates on my gap year travelling, and said

"so, you entered Australia in October, and left in January?"

"Um, no" said I. "I left in April".

"So that's October, November..." counting on his fingers

"6 months and 10 days" I said defeatedly, waiting for him to ask for the police certificate I didn't have.

"OK, well your file is now complete, your visa is appoved, please don't forget to pay the courier."

"Thank-you!" (Tears of relief and happiness are now streaming down my face)

I then had to queue for the longest 45 minutes of my life to pay the courier, when I really wanted to leave and call everyone!

The visa arrived two days later, on wednesday, and yesterday, thanks to Miss Toshtishtash pointing me in the right direction, I booked a one-way flight direct to JFK with Virgin for £239. Bargain! We are staying one night in Manhattan (I feel a trip to Macy's to finish our wedding registry will be in order...), and then making the 3 hr journey back to Baltimore and my lovely house and lovely cat, and I can finally see my wedding dress, which has been camping out at Marty's sister's house since it arrived. I will have 7 weeks before our wedding, which is May 31st, so Weedebz and I are date twins!

Um, life is pretty good at the moment!

Woohoo!!! Interview date March 10th, 9am. Had medical yesterday - need more vacs. Will post later.

Such a relief to hear about the not-needed marriage certificate! I was pretty sure I didn't need it, but why don't they just make it more clear on the checklist?????????????

I work at 6pm on the 4th, 5th and probably the 6th March (my schedule only goes up to the wednesday, but it's really flexible). Will your friend meet you after the interview? If not, we could go for lunch then. Hopefully we'll be celebrating! If you have plans for then, I can definitely make the other days too. I'll email you my mobile number.

@ LOSTPUP. I have been keeping my eye out for any info regarding EAD at POE New York. I haven't heard of anyone on here being refused it if they asked. Some reviews don't mention it, some have had there passports stamped with a red ssmudge(!), some have had to ask for it, and received it. I'm pretty sure someone went last week, and got a 3 moth EAD. Check out the POE reviews at the top of your page. Good luck!

Also Tash, what did you decide to do about the missing marriage certificate? I don't have Marty's one either. What did you write in the checklist? I didn't tick it, but I said it was surrendered in order to receive the divorce certificate. I'm getting nervous... I sent off for my Australian Police certificate today. If I'd known the extra ten days were going to cause me so much hassle in a few years, I wouldn't have spent the extra time there (I was in Oz for 6 months, 10 days).

Tasha, are you going to stay up in London? Maybe we can meet up before or after your interview? It takes me about an hour by train into London.

Has anyone heard from Aly yet? Oh, I hope it all went well...

You need the fingerprint one for london. It kind-of says it in my packet 3, and when I called and checked, they said they advise the finger-print one. I made an appointment, and had them taken at my local police station. My bank is writing me a foreign draft to pay for the certificate, and I need a photocopy of my passport. Hopefull, the whole thing will be done in about 4-5 weeks.

Boy or boy, will I be glad to see that day!! Afterwards, we can keep each other entertained online. What the hell are we going to do with ourselves? I keep telling people I'll start popping out the babies, but in reality, I am soooo looking forward to the sunday where Marty and I go to the supermarket, make sunday dinner, and then sit around knowing there is NOTHING we should be doing, and nothing major to worry about. How nice will that be?

PMT/PMS - I have been sooo emotional the last couple of days. Yesterday Marty told me things are only stressful if you let them stress you out. So, I will try not to let 2 (easy) jobs, wedding-planning, leaving-do planning, the lack of a marriage certificate or an Oz police certificate, an imminent medical, moving to a new country, or the United States Immigration Service stress me out anymore. Or the fact that I don't have enough money for any of it! At least, I'll try my best. I have been reading about Aly's journey over to the US, and I was in tears! I am preparing for when I get to be that happy!!!

The reason for the increased emotion? I am stockpiling my contraceptive pill!!! I figure I wont see Marty for a few weeks, so I have stopped taking it so that I have a few months in the US where I won't need to worry about finding a doctor. Hopefully!

P.S. Does anyone find themselves touching wood alot? (and I mean the type that comes from trees) Every time I tell people my hopeful emmigration date, I feel that I am tempting fate. I never used to be so superstitious...

Australian police certificate? I can't seem to post my own new topic. Boo. This seems the closest I can get...

OK, here goes. I think I may need a police certificate from Austalia. I lived there for 6 months and 10days. I have found out how to get one, it will take about a month. I need to travel 1.5 hours to london, to find an austalian money order, then send off for it. I got packet 3 today. In packet 3, the information is different to what it says on the website. i.e on the embassy website, and on the very expensive phone line, it says I need the Oz certificate. In packet 3, it says I need a certificate for anywhere I have lived for more than one year...

I am thinking I will send off packet 3 today, and also the OZ certificate, get an interview in about a month, and receive the OZ certificate a week later. Hopefully, they won't ask for the OZ certificate, and if they do, I'll refer to the packet 3 instructions, and tell them they'll have it in a week, and then just have to wait a bit longer for the visa. I don't plan to emmigrate till April. Does this sound ok? I don't want to wait for the OZ certificate to come, because I have to go to the states in April for a wedding, and I don't want to come back. My own wedding is in May, and I want to be there to finish planning it, and get the house ready for 30 British guests!

Virgillionaire, I'll be joining you in Catonsville soon! Luckily the snow yesterday didn't affect my flight home

We got it. We actually got it. WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, yes yes!!!!! Woohoooooooo!!!!!!!!! The Current Case Status had finally changed, and it now says "On January 18, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)."

I flew back from the States today. This excitement sure is helping my jetlag!!

Are any of you planning to go through JFK to get a temporary EAD? Ny NOA1 was issued Aug 1st, so I expect my interview around end Feb/early March (hopefully). Our wedding isn't until May 31st (Debs, now we are date twins!), so I am thinking of going out for good straight after the interview. If I get the temp EAD, I am hoping to pick up some waitressing work, even if it is only for 8-10 weeks. I know that the temp EAD will run out before the 1 year EAD arrives, but I have some connections with a couple of restaurants, so hopefully it'll be ok, I can have a break, then start again.

Does anyone know of someone going through JFK and getting refused the EAD? I would hate to go out early, then not be able to work for 6 months, when I could have been a bit more patient and waited until closer to the wedding.