Bassi and Zainab

Hi Efia! Nice to see you still around here.

The FBI could call you or neighbors etc, but they wouldn't ask for personal information. I think it's wise not to give out any personal information on a call you didn't make. You can get their name and ID and call them back to complete the call if necessary to make sure that if the FBI really needs your input you are providing what they might need. If you call back and find out they are a fraud, then you can notify the FBI of what happened right then and there in case there is a breech of their immigration search files. You could also ask them to send you something in writing which you will agree to respond to and can confirm. I only give these options cause it would be very very frustrating if you simply say no....thinking that it's a basic telephone scam....and later find your case has been effected by your actions.

Luckily Bassi hasn't met anything but great people here. (Ghanaians, but also some other immigrants) When his father died dozens of men came over and had prayers for him. They called him and me to give their condolensces. People we didn't even know personally, but heard of his loss and as Ghanaians will do, send their love your way. I didn't realize what a close Ghanaian community we had up here. But then, I'm not Ghanaian so I wasn't part of that community before Bassi came home.

Good Luck!

Didn't see this earlier

I would send all the forms that are listed on VJ. Its possible that they will not take them all, but better to be safe than sorry. All the forms will probably not be taken from him, but if he does not have the ones that they need, they may ask him to come back at a later date, or something ridiculous like that

When we were going to interview I had my husband take all the forms that are listed here. I don't remember which ones they actually took from him.

Your fiance will take the DS230 with him to the interview. HE SHOULD NOT SIGN IT. He will do that in front of the CO. Some consulates want the DS230 returned to them, others want it brought to the interview.

I thought all the forms they need will be provided with the packet 3? am I missing something?

No.

Its just better to be safe than sorry. It only takes a few extra minutes to fill out the extra forms. Sometimes they ask for a form and can delay you if you do not have it.

I'd like to add that the expectation that they will provide you everything that is needed for the process doesn't exactly jive with the reality of the process as experienced, probably by yourself up to this point, and also by others all over the world.

Is it a reasonable expectation? Certainly!!!

Does it matter if you get there and they ask you for a form they didn't provide you in the interview packet? NO!

They will send you away and you have to start again to try to get another interview date. This is truly about having as much as possible to help you achieve the goal of getting the visa. There is no clear right or wrong when your SO is in Ghana and you're in the US wishing you were together and some nameless, faceless (I've forgotten what the CO looked like that interviewed us) employee has the power to prevent you from being together as long as their heart so desires.

I got HBO free for the weekend of the inauguration and somehow they never turned it off and I've been enjoying my free HBO ever since. Thanks Obama! I'll be sooooo disappointed if they ever turn it off. Bassi asked how much it costs, so I'm thinking he will be missing it enough to actually order it if they ever realize their mistake.

Zee: You have a tv? When did this happen?

Good news to report--

Right before I was going to call the Embassy and Akai House, my SO called me and told me he was waiting at Akai for the results. He said he had called them and the doctor who examined him told him that he was "sorry" about mistakenly telling him yesterday to just take the vaccination card and receipts to the interview. He said he was not aware at the time of the fact that my SO's results were ready to be picked up. So my honey went in and got his envelope today! I was so happy to have this problem resolved, even though I spent most of the morning PMing you guys and writing e-mails to the Embassy.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Jamie

Great news!!

I don't think your emails were in vain though. I think it's important that we notify them that Akai House (which is the only clinic authorized to do the vaccinations) gives their immigration clients a very difficult time and have even refused them what they are being paid for completing. Even if the embassy doesn't do their part, we've done ours in notifying them of the injustice.

I take it your SO went to Akai House. My stubborn husband did the same and we had a similar problem. The thing is, I'm like a tornado when I get going. He has to be in their face and GET the medical before he goes to the interview or he'll automatically be sent packing. I also recommend you email acs at the embassy and try calling acs to file a complaint that Akai House is withholding the medical. I called Akai House as well (much to Bassi's dismay) and I pitched a high holy American b***h fit!! Bassi got his medical, but it took some work. The reality is, your SO needs to be made to understand the urgency of him getting the documentation in a sealed envelope to take with him and the results if he doesn't have it. I remember Bassi going down there one day and just sitting and waiting. It's Ghana baby!!

I forgot that you had this issue too.

It's one of my recurring nightmares and I'm convinced they have my pic up on the wall in their offices at Akai House! That's okay though, Mr. Ray at Trinity says I'm welcome any time.

good morning/afternoon. baby arrived yesterday morning, i was at the hospital all day. today i'm at work and involved in training so unable to post much.

baby was 7 pounds 11 ounces, 18.5" long. both baby and mom are doing fine. and he's a cutie too!

Wow!! Congrats Charles and Nessa on your Easter gift!!

Watch every episode and LOVE it!!! It replaced Big Love which I was also addicted to. It's sooooo funny. Bassi likes it too. He doesn't believe that Jill Scott is not African. He says her accent is on point. I guess one of his friends has to tell him.

I take it your SO went to Akai House. My stubborn husband did the same and we had a similar problem. The thing is, I'm like a tornado when I get going. He has to be in their face and GET the medical before he goes to the interview or he'll automatically be sent packing. I also recommend you email acs at the embassy and try calling acs to file a complaint that Akai House is withholding the medical. I called Akai House as well (much to Bassi's dismay) and I pitched a high holy American b***h fit!! Bassi got his medical, but it took some work. The reality is, your SO needs to be made to understand the urgency of him getting the documentation in a sealed envelope to take with him and the results if he doesn't have it. I remember Bassi going down there one day and just sitting and waiting. It's Ghana baby!!

I agree with Zee.

As I recall, they took the DS156 but made us fill it out again in duplicate. We filled out the form twice for no apparent reason other than the woman being mean spirited. They also took 230 (which you sign in front of the CO) and the 134. As I remember, she compared the 325 to what she had and didn't take the new copy. It was a specific window that went over all your paperwork and then sent you to pay the visa fee and bring back a receipt to her. Once she determined you had everything you needed, then you went back and waited again to be called for the interview.

I think it's best to prepare every single form and have it on hand and to have an absurd amount of documentation and proof of your relationship and then let them decide what they want and what they will keep. It's much much more difficult if they ask for something and your SO doesn't have it, cause they send them on their merry way, happy to get rid of another case for a while. The CO looked at all the stuff I had and kept one copy of a picture and pretty much nothing else. But we had it all, if he dared to ask for the kitchen sink, it was in the bottom of my bag!

I would love to know how Medicaid & USCIS communicate. Cause I think that is a 1 in a million shot.

The information is clearly communicated or how do immigrants receive social security cards.

It is highly unlikely Medicaid is well versed in sposnorship.

Actually, in my experience, you are incorrect. I was a sponsor to my first husband when he changed from a business visa to a residency based on marriage. He became disabled after a work accident. His medicaid and disability benefits were denied until our divorced was finalized. Once finalized (we never legally separated) his benefits were approved and as I said, I was given two options for payback.

Our experience with USCIS is an organization mired in internal confusion and chaos. Not all federal government offices operate in the same manner. Social Security has flags on immigrants that identify whether or not they are allowed to receive benefits based on their current immigrant status.

Of course, I speak from personal real life experience with this issue. I'm not sure what your background is.

Just my 2 cents.

1.If she is receiving Medicaid, they have already reviewed her status and determined that you are not responsible. If they had determined that you were responsible, they would have either denied benefits or contacted you and begun to receive a payback for benefits given to her. They offer you two ways for the payback, one is free will and one is a garnishment.

2. Even if you were found to be responsible for her financially, it would only be a problem if you didn't earn enough income (or have a cosponsor) to cover the additional family member on the income chart. For example, you, your fiance and two kids make a family income of four. Add the ex for a family income of five. Sorry to burst her bubble, but if you make enough money her financial needs won't necessarily stop you from moving forward.

Nice to hear from you girl!! Missed you and hope you'll swing by more often. We formed a yahoo group as well for those of us that are sometimes going through transitional issues. Come check us out there too. {Hugs}

Z

Hey how are things and where is the yahoo group how do I get involved?

Send ZeeBee a PM and she can get you hooked up.

Nice to hear from you girl!! Missed you and hope you'll swing by more often. We formed a yahoo group as well for those of us that are sometimes going through transitional issues. Come check us out there too. {Hugs}

Z

Okay, let's see, I had several hundred emails, IM logs, telephone logs, travel receipts, ring receipts, cards and letters (including the envelopes for the postal date stamps), pictures. I don't recommend making copies unless you take the originals to show them. Include pictures across families which I think is good, like I had me with his brothers at one of his soccer matches, that kind of thing.

Congratulations!!

There actually are limits on the number of immigrant visas issued by country by fiscal year. However, denials or approvals are not based on that. Sometimes couples receive an approval and then have to wait for an available immigrant visa. We've had several in Panama last year alone here on VJ. One woman said she was told the wait would be a year. There are no limits on non immigrant visas because they are not directly tied to residency in the US. I don't believe anyone on VJ has yet determined the trend on denials by country. We have identified things that could be red flags and usually share those with people applying for visas. But I don't honestly know if the COs even know. Sometimes it really just seems arbitrary. For instance, there was a large number of visas petitions just before the fees were raised. So, proportionally there could be a larger number of denials. There were staff issues and changes at service centers that effected the processing of petitions in 07-08. That could also have a residual effect on denials or approvals.

Congratulations!!

So, from this, I think it means that we have to do the medical over with a Civil Surgeon over here cause they lost the paperwork that we handed in at JFK. I wonder if our health insurance will pay for this exam cause a lot of people have said the exam is extremely expensive. I have to get it all completed by March 12th. That must also mean the X-rays and lab work that was done in Ghana. We have the immunication card from the clinic in Ghana, so hopefully no vaccinations. We wouldn't be able to get that done by March. Mo' money Mo' money Mo' money!

You do not have a copy of the vacination record from the medical that was done before the interview at the embassy?

If you have that you can contact Dr Arnold and send it to him and have your medical doctor send record of the shots you were missing. Dr Arnold will then send back a sealed I-693 and an unsealed one as well. All it cost us was $20 for Dr Arnold, and the shots from Charry's doctor were covered on insurance.

The husband of a friend of Charry's was charged like $600+ for a Civil Surgeon visit, and no the insurance does not cover it.

We did all the stuff through Dr. Arnold when we submitted the original AOS app. They lost everything, so we have to do it all again. I spoke to the CS office here and they said between $100 and $500. We don't have to do the immunizations over because we have the proof from the CS in Ghana. Just the labs, TB and physical.

I received an RFE in the mail today for a new medical for my husband's AOS. Here is what it says:

New Medical Form I-693: Please submit a properly completed and signed Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. A new version of the medical form I-693 (Revised 06/05/08, or after) is required to be submitted by any applicant whose medical examination was conducted on or after June 01, 2008. The old version of the medical Form I-693 will not be accepted if the medical exam was conducted in or after that date. The medical examination must be conducted by a physician who is on the list of Civil Surgeons approved by USCIS.

We DID use the new form that they asked for BUT I think the reason we got the RFE is because of the dates. My husband completed his medical in Decmeber 2007, so we are within the 1 year mark. He completed the vaccinations on Feb 12, 2008, which, on his vaccination card is written as 12/2/08 (they are written backwards in Ghana). When we got the records transcribed, the CS wrote in 12/2/08 which reads here as Decemeber 2, 2008, but the CS signed the I-693 on 8/21/08.

Also, I called customer service and talked to an IO. He seemed to think that it would be OK if I just resent what we have with a letter explaining the mix up.

Now, I am thinking that I should send another copy of the I-693 along with a copy of my husband's vaccination card (which had all the dates and they will see that the dates are written dd/mm/yyyy and not mm/dd/yyyy).

I just wanted other opinions.

Thanks

Did LE Arnold transcribe it? I think you should contact them and have them redo it and send you the corrected version. The administrative person there is really amenable and helpful. I have a feeling that might be easier than getting USCIS to understand what happened.

My RFE pretty much says they lost the medicals from Ghana so we have to do it over. It says that medical forms DS-2053, DS-3024 and DS-3026 are not in any of their records. I'm going to call tomorrow and then see if I can schedule something with a surgeon here. We have until March 12th to respond.

Okay, we got an RFE. I was confuse at first, but I think that I have to do the entire medical over. Or rather Bassi has to do the entire medical over. They asked for I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. But the paragragh says that

A review of the record indicates that you enetered the United States pursuant to a valid K-1/K-2 nonimmigrant visa. All USCIS records relating to you have been reviewed. The U.S. Department of State medical forms DS-2053, DS-3024 and DS-3026 are not in any of those records.

Please submit a properly completed and signed Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. The medical exmaination must be conducted by a physicisan who is on the list of Civil Surgeons approved by USCIS.

So, from this, I think it means that we have to do the medical over with a Civil Surgeon over here cause they lost the paperwork that we handed in at JFK. I wonder if our health insurance will pay for this exam cause a lot of people have said the exam is extremely expensive. I have to get it all completed by March 12th. That must also mean the X-rays and lab work that was done in Ghana. We have the immunication card from the clinic in Ghana, so hopefully no vaccinations. We wouldn't be able to get that done by March. Mo' money Mo' money Mo' money!

There was someone recently who said that they got approved through Dakar in 5 days. It's still on the top page of the forum near the bottom. So, they had a positive experience. But in my time on the boards here, I haven't heard that as common.

I missed a birthday cause I'm a drive by poster now.

Happy Birthday Gurrrrlllll!!!!!

Hello again I have a few questions also, or am in looking in to this to deeply? I have a affidavit from the US Embassy in Conakry. My civil marriage was done at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs there in Conakry also. My marriage certificate however is in French which I tried to get in in english but they told me over and over again that its ok. They have done plenty of marriages and have never had any problem, and it just so happen that my wife Queen Mother in our wedding works there and I told her what I needed and I even signed online and showed her this site and the guidelines and she told us not to worry. Do I need to get more proof of "bonefide wedding" or will the proof that I have be enough. And 1 last question my wife birth certificate is in French also will I need to get that translated also and what about when she does her medical exam which will be a French speaking country also will we need to get those documents in english also

First, I'd like to clarify that you need proof of a bonafide marraige not a bonafide wedding. The wedding is only the beginning of the marraige. Proving a bonafide marraige means proving your relationship is real. Think about things like letters, cards, emails, instant messages, phone records, pictures, shared leases or other contracts, shared bank accounts, shared health insurance, etc. Those types of things help you prove that your lives are linked which they infer to mean a true relationship.

Regarding documents, all documents submitted with your petition must be translated into english. Also use the guides up above to help you further.

Good Luck!

THANK YOU Thank you Thank you that is the reply that I was really looking for and the key word is bonafide, I have my wife on my job benefits plan, we have visa debit cards , money transfers from here to Conakry wire tranfer for the past 2 yrs, and well over $5000.00 in phone bills not counting the phone cards and pingo account, I think that I am reading to much in to why so many people have had problem getting thier visa approved. She has alot of family here in Delaware, Philly,New York and DC that we see each other alot and spend alot of time together as a family but all of that means nothing if the 1 that matters the most in your life is not there with you, and it is pure hell to do things with our family while talking to her on the phone. She even send clothes and cloths to my mother and aunts throughout the yr and you can imagine how much the shipping costs to do something like that from Africa. Thank you everyone once again for the answers. Now I wonder if I have to much information or to much proof.

I would really not worry about "too much" I would rather give them more than what they need, rather than recieve a RFE and have the case prolonged while you send what ever it is that they requested that could have been included when you submitted the petition

I disagree - send only what is asked for. When the application says this OR that OR the other it doesn't mean ten of everything. Too much information is a red flag and asking for a detailed comb through, each piece of paper is a chance of an error, an inconsistancy, something to be thought of as a reason to deny. A huge packet of information is also one that gets set aside until time can be attributed to it, therefore other less "intimidating" packets will go ahead.

No, I haven't even started this process, BUT I have worked in government offices, so this is based on my personal experience working in the US Government.

I would caution anyone reading on this site to realize that many people here have varying opinions. The best advice I can share is to do your research and consider the source of the information you are receiving. There are hundereds of people on this site who HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED this process very recently. That information is significantly MORE VALUABLE than conjecture no matter the basis. This is a very difficult and expensive process that is complicated by heart matters. Be very careful and make sure that you feel confident that you've made the decision that is right for you and your process.

Good Luck!

Congratulations!