HOHOHO

Finally finished with the gauntlet.

IR-1/CR-1 visa... I assume now free to travel here.... Beyond doing the move and travel....

Wondering what's next paperworkwise.... I still need the actual Green Card and Social Security Numbers.. I wonder if I have to pursue those or if they just show up in due time.

Effective October 16, 2006 all visa applicants need to complete the electronic DS-156 form.

The EVAF DS-156 can be found at https://evisaforms.state.gov/ds156.asp

Please note that you need to prepare two copies of the completed DS-156.

hmmm.. that form says NON IMMIGRANT VISA?

obviously we are waiting for immigrant visa? just another piece of confusing misdirection?

Advice? this is not knowing where you are in the process....

Request your packet III by email now and schedule the medical / get the police cert as soon as your NOA2 comes in. They (the embassy) won't lose the records - especially if you give them a heads up that it's coming.

Get the packet III paperwork together after getting the police cert and schedule a "documents check". I requested Packet III it by email and did documents check in OCTOBER (laughing) even though our approval wasn't until the end of November. I was there in Jakarta for a visit, so I asked, and they allowed us to do it.

They schedule an interview as soon as the medical records arrive and the documents check is complete. Since we had done all of that before the package arrived from NVC, we got interviewed a few days after they received the NVC stuff.

Hope that helps.

Well at that point of NVC has completed case ( for almost 1 month).... police certificates were already gotten long ago.

I was just in jakarta in december, but unfortunately things continue to drag out.

Just trying to anticipate what to expect (expect, as the whole process nothing to get done for 7 month chunks of life at a time)...

"Wait to be contacted by the embassy"

Do they phone? email? snail mail? Batsignal? Telepathic waves? Pretend to contact and do nothing??

What mode of communication to they choose? What to expect? Contact petitioner or foriegn spouse?

thanks for any input if you've crossed this step.

T W E N T Y

all other information given contradicted other phone operators, and contradicted advice from this forum

i'll check back on the forum again in 2027

goodnight

confusing Request for more information from NVC...

I THINK it means they want not just the Police certificate/translation/copy sent for my spouse's town, but one PER each city she has lived in since age 16..

Is that right?

She's ready to book travel to get the extra police certificates...just want to know if that's really needed.

So damn hard to get through to the NVC on the horn...

thanks for input.

<EOM>

f'ck you racist ahole

a f'all you all for tolerating this post

I wouldnt advise getting a second marriage license for the purpose of lying about your marriage date on an insurance application. Normally you can add your spouse within 30 days of a "life event". Losing health benefits qualifies as a "life event". So, as long as your wife has a certificate of insurance showing a policy cancellation dated within 30 days of when you try to enroll her on your policy, you should be OK.

Isn't your wife interviewing in Jakarta? They asked to see our health insurance info with the I134. It was also helpful in showing bona-fide marriage when they saw she was already enrolled and was a beneficiary in my work benefits starting the month we got married. We probably "wasted" a few hundred dollars for (7) months of unused benefits but I guess I was thinking that I treated our marriage apart the same as if she were right here - and it ended up giving us a smooth, unbroken flow of documentation times and dates through the AOS interview.

this is a great post... thanks

that completely changes my view....I should just go ahead and to the open enrollment then.

There is no need for a separate US marriage license. You are able to take your foreign marriage certificate to the courts to be recorded and certified but I don't really see any benefits because the foreign marriage certificate is still valid anywhere in the US.

well the benefit would be getting married here would enable me to enroll her in insurance at that time

I ask since for insurance purposes I have only one chance per year to add my spouse, exception given to 60 days after marriage at any time of year. I have 10 days to decide to add now or not.

We are already married, but since my spouse has her own insurance, and we are still in limboland waiting for the VISA.

Fact is the extra money for premiums would be better off used for her plane ticket when she finally gets the visa. Especially if this drags on. Even after interview theres 2 to 4 weeks until visa issued, and only after that can we finalize dates for the move....which means best case scenerio 2 month minimum to get it together after the interview....which would mean about $600 in premiums spend for no reason.

I assume getting a marriage license at ye olde city hall shouldn't be a big deal...and might be useful down the line for proof of marriage stuff outside the world of immigration..

Thoughts?

That's illegal.

Most of state law indicated that if the marriage is established from other states, and/or country, you can not get married again.

If you may caught, you can get fined, jailed, and/or both for this.

Who said anything about lying???

if city hall says its ok, its ok. I wouldn't be making it a secret we were married outside the country. Maybe they would not say it's ok. That's what this thread is about.

I ask since for insurance purposes I have only one chance per year to add my spouse, exception given to 60 days after marriage at any time of year. I have 10 days to decide to add now or not.

We are already married, but since my spouse has her own insurance, and we are still in limboland waiting for the VISA.

Fact is the extra money for premiums would be better off used for her plane ticket when she finally gets the visa. Especially if this drags on. Even after interview theres 2 to 4 weeks until visa issued, and only after that can we finalize dates for the move....which means best case scenerio 2 month minimum to get it together after the interview....which would mean about $600 in premiums spend for no reason.

I assume getting a marriage license at ye olde city hall shouldn't be a big deal...and might be useful down the line for proof of marriage stuff outside the world of immigration..

Thoughts?

HOHO you will be OK. We K3'd through the Jakarta embassy with only copies of everything submitted. The ONE thing that my wife did was get her passport modified with her new name at the Immigration office in Jakarta before she applied for the visa , so the visa and subsequent documents (EAD/Green Card/SS card) were all issued in her married name (my last name) per the passport modification. I think the cost was like 30 bucks at the immigration office.

Some things they REQUIRE originals of from the issuing sources. A notary saying they are exact copies of originals will not do on some things.

#######

if they require ORIGINALS only then why don't they just say it then... it says originals OR certified copy....

I'm at this stage myself... I'm guessing that Embassy notarized copies are OK.... thats what I'm shooting for; of course it's more possible since my spouse lives in city where embassy is located.

oh well a day late.. had her scramble around to get stamped/seal duplicates where applicable.

She wants to do the name change thing before coming... should that be done NOW? will that delay things??

since javanese don't use surnames its really a name add than it is a name change, though I filled in her "middle" name as a surname, even though it's not.

Some things they REQUIRE originals of from the issuing sources. A notary saying they are exact copies of originals will not do on some things.

#######

if they require ORIGINALS only then why don't they just say it then... it says originals OR certified copy....

I'm at this stage myself... I'm guessing that Embassy notarized copies are OK.... thats what I'm shooting for; of course it's more possible since my spouse lives in city where embassy is located.

Yes, additional documents need to be submitted along with the DS-230. If you send the DS-230 alone, you will receive an RFE requesting the missing documents.

You can go to the DOS Instructions for Immigrant Visa Application link to see the list of documents needed.

Diana

Thanks...

since the only applicable one's in my case are the marriage, birth certificate, passport page and police certificate...

I wonder if I need her to get ALL 4 of those notarized at the embassy ?

(she did that before for marriage certifcate and passport when we applied for ITN for tax stuff)

?

http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&a...=1&.intl=us

hmmmm

still completely confused and unable to get an operator via NVC's 1 man employee call center staff for 5 days in a row.

I've already paid and received the $400 IV bill printed receipts and cover pages....and filled out a copy of the DS-230.

I'm ASSUMING thats what I mail in next...But not sure what documents(if any) go with it. (? the police certificate, marriage lic. spouse birth certificate )

Oddly (?) my spouse received in the mail this notice from NVC:

MISSING DOCUMENT LIST FOR : my spouse name

DS-230-I

THE NVC HAS RECEIVED THE REQUESTED AFF. OF SUPPORT (i864); hOWEVER we are still waiting for the immigrant visa fee. Please submit the fee according to the instructions on the IV fee bill sent to you from NVC. If you have not recieved an IV fee bill, please contact nvc. Do not pay the fees unless you have the accompanying iv fee bill as this will result in a delay in processing your case.

I assume that to mean they are ready for my DS-230 and I just need to send it in with my reciept of IV bill paid.

??

if you were able to print out the cover letter, then you can mail the ds230 to nvc with all the required documents.

OH??

I already printed that.... ?????

filling out DS-230 now... guess I'll remain confused.

u have to wait NVC they will send package of instructions to u but u have to be ready so when u recive(d) ur package to be fast .. translate all ur papers to english ( marriage certificate --- criminal record -- birth certificate--etc ) good luck

thanks,

I guess i'm good to go... marriage lic is in english already, and the police certificate is translated.

Hmmm.. since I'm the agent, should I have the wife snail mail that over to me already? I'm thinking, yes. (?) (or is that step at the embassy level, such that she will need to keep it over there(?)

Got my $400 fee paid, receipt, and cover pages done/generated...

says something about read instructions on NVC website...???

Pretty dubious nebulous instructions...

Should I be doing something or just waiting for another packet in the mail. I'm obviously toward the end of the NVC part..... already had my spouse get her police good behavior certificate in anticipation of needing it later. But I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be doing more or just waiting for some note that says it's been sent to the embassy??

The shortcuts pages seem to end at this point.

Should I assume my Support stuff was accepted since I got the 400 clam bill? or will I get something separate from that?

I will be upgrading my pending I-130 tomorrow ,I also changed my name to my married name during the naturalization process.I will upgrade the petition over the phone but for name change I have to send a letter.

My questions are

1.Do i really have to change my name on I-130?

2.When should I send them a letter to update my name change?

3.I am planning to do it after the case is approved and transfered to NVC ,becuase at VSC,it might cause further delay in approval,Is that okay?

Please suggest

Thanks

my wife hasn't, but wants to do the name change, thus I have the same question....

I figure cheaper to change name there before here and then have to fuss with the issue. But I don't want to delay the already long process longer.

I bit the bullet (and continue to do so) with the IR-1/CR-1 route.

For the same reasons, and in addition, i think it winds up much cheaper than the other route for all the extra AOS fees.

At least I'm towards the end of the NVC stage and then to the embassy stage.

Good luck.

Motivated by an earlier post about air fares....

What sites does everyone suggest for teh best international rates? If anyone has specifis for flights to Manila, Philippines; that would be very useful.

I have used several sites in the past, but am finding Orbitz to have the best rates for my needs.

Any offerings?

yeah, feel free to get a quote from these guys... they've always beat the other online prices for me going to Asia. First time I was nervous that the price was TOO good to be true. But they are legit. Have used them 3 times now.

www.itncorp.com

International Travel Network, Corp.

400 Oyster Point Blvd. Ste. 303

South San Francisco, CA 94080

direct line: 1-800-844-0753

------------------------

1-800-677-2943 ext. 22750

thanks men

and I added timetime in my sig...

I guess I'm good to go...

I mailed her the Agent form to sign last week, so still waiting for that to zigzag the globe, but sound the I-864 is ready, coversheets, reciepts, forms, taxes W2s and letter from employer.

Lots of information... information overload.

I'm assuming I can send of the I-864 and documents that go with it without waiting for the DS-3032.

Or must I wait and send DS-3032 first?

Ok... I've followed instructions up to this point to a T.

After getting my NVC casenumber etc...Went and payed my $70 fee online. In a couple days it was marked PAID, and I printed out that reciept.

Now's where I'm a bit confused..... Do I send in the Agent thing with this next? or the Affidavit of support stuff (which I already pre prepared...tax returns W2s everything ready to go.

My paper instructions are confusing..they say to follow those after you pay, but it doesn't say much of anything....

Any easy advice will help, and probably to the same for next person that gets to this step.

Thanks,

Feel 1000% better now that the NVC process has begun (well technically still waiting for mail from them..)..

The pain wasn't really the separation distance wise or the length of the wait...last year I expected a 1 year wait, but the uncertainty is what made it unbearable at times. So it's ending up that it'll likely be 1 and 1/2 or 2 years... if that was known on the other end it would have made things easier to deal with.

But, as my spouse says, if you agree to a foreign marriage, this goes with the territory. When you agree to marriage, you agree to all this BS ontop of the normal wedding vows when you engage in a foreign marriage.

It's really hard to be patient...and being told to be patient never helped me, except when my spouse said it, and said it often. It enabled things to be more tolerable since I knew she'd be there waiting for our days together no matter what happened, how difficult or how long we had to wait.

The site though was (as is) incredible informative. It helped being able to tell my spouse that the delays weren't only us (though I don't think I saw anyone with a longer wait unless they had some complex issue in their past). It's also helping me now to estimate a general time frame from NOA2 to the end.

no doubt this is a valuable site.

Congragulations HOHOHO!!!!!

I actually just wrote a letter to my congressment yesterday. How long did it take for you to hear soemthing from them, the congressmen?

1 day...

I would call them on the horn first. Fill out a privacy release, mail it and then they are free to contact their contacts.

Again I'm not sure if it was coincidence or not, but after waiting over a year, it happened that they discovered I was approved. Finally got the NOA2 in the snail mail too so now the ball is in NVC's court. So glad to be out of Vermont.