CBR

Approved!!! Date 6/28/11.

Card came today (7/2/11)

Hubby got his biometrics appointment letter today! 4/26/11

CBR - Did you send to VSC or CSC?

CSC

You can add our dates to the list if you'd like:

3/5/11 date of i-751

3/9/11 date of NOA

still waiting for biometrics appointment...

thanks

You're lucky you get to raid that much! I'd love even half of those spots lol. Our guild does lots of 10mans, but we are having a hard time getting 25 with the same availability for raids.

I respec'd my warlock to destruction and I really like it! I love doing random dungeons with her...so much fun.

Hey Warlord, what spec do you recommend for the best DPS of a Warlock that's going to PVE/raid only? I have just started doing regular dungeons with mine at lvl 77 (love the new queue system) and find it kinda awkward dotting up multiple mobs with my affliction spec.

I'm normally a pally so it's a big difference for me. I'm a total Warlock noob!!

Ooo you're gonna love it! My hubby and I started playing at Christmas time last year and it was so much fun exploring each new area as we quested and leveled up. I chose a Paladin and he a Rogue which are both still our main characters.

From my experience I would suggest once you decide on a character (all have their good and bad points) do a little research or ask here about professions. I regret choosing herbalism and alchemy on my paladin because now that I'm raiding I would really love the benefits from mining, blacksmithing, jewelcrafting or enchanting for her. Each profession offers a different benefit at the higher levels and matching them up with the character you choose helps. It takes a while to max the professions out and to start over can be time consuming and expensive (you can only have 2 at a time).

Enjoy!!

civil surgeon's form

Check out the actual form the civil surgeon fills out. Page 2 is about communicable diseases. None of the questions have anything to do with HPV. I'm doubting it's going to be an issue for you.

I grew up with fake trees, then when I was on my own, bought fake after fake as they kept breaking somehow. I now stick with real trees. We have a nice tree farm in the area that has a bonfire going, free hot chocolate and popcorn, farm animals and all around homey atmosphere.

If you decide on fake, you might want to wait until after Christmas and get one on clearance. You can get a much nicer one for cheaper that way. Then you can just get a small real one for this year. Needles, cleanup and importance of watering will vary with the species of tree you pick. Frasiers are supposed to be good for needles that don't fall and the smell, but last year I got one that had the smell, had the awesome needles but more durable branches than a frasier and was nice and full. I'll post again if I remember what kind it was.

I love shopping for Christmas decorations after the holidays for the sales and then the next year I have a bunch of new stuff to put up. It's like early Christmas presents to myself that way lol.

lgg is the one who siad the thing about where you got married determining how long it will take to get the certificate.

Back to what I was saying...we were up front about everything too and explained about uscis giving us misinformation. We were told to file k-1 and that my fiance would be allowed to visit me during the process. This turned out to be untrue the next time we went to the border. Our story is so long and complicated, but I think I failed to mention that he was initially allowed in for 30 days as long as we filed the proper paperwork. It was the next time we tried to cross that he was denied. You are extremely lucky if they allow you to do this. My little 2 cents would be...make sure that same "chief" is working at the border you cross at. Meaning call ahead to make sure she's there. I was told that each officer makes their own determination and the next one you encounter may not be as nice. I hope it goes well for you. I would not wish the hell we went through on anyone else. My fingers are crossed and I'm sending pixie dust your way!!

Is it meetup.com?

I really just wanted to post to say I love your picture!! We're going to be visiting WDW in a few days and I can't wait!

I have never heard of this option...marrying asap and being allowed to cross the border to wait it out in the US. Wow! We were never given that option. I most certainly would have wanted to have my hubby do that so we could have been together. I've never heard of anybody being allowed to do this. I can't wait to hear how this all turns out for you.

I wouldn't call back and I wouldn't try to "correct" his birthdate. You already said you can't possibly do that anyway. My dad went through his entire life (and still is) with his last name mispelled on his BC. My grandma never corrected it and neither did he. We have always had a slightly different last name than the rest of his family. You're best bet is to consider his birthdate in December, not October and just leave it at that.

Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you both. Final-freakin-ly

Non-contested divorce makes no difference. It's the date that your divorce takes place in court. My ex husband and I wrote out the divorce papers ourselves, didn't use a lawyer, just signed the papers on our court date. That court date is the date our divorce became final. People from other states have talked about divorce decrees and that they take a while to get. I did not receive anything called a divorce decree. The papers we all signed in court that date are stamped, notarized and served as my "divorce decree" and I had no problems during the process whatsoever in that regard. There are definitely varying laws and process between the different states.

Hi everyone,

I hate to do this, and I know that the general consensus is that if you have a question to simply read the guides and and FAQ's before posting a generic question, but I have spent the last few days going over this website (which btw has a TON of knowledge everywhere!) but every time I get to a point where I'm like:

"Yeah, that's the right move for me!"

Someone else says something to totally make me second guess and not make me very confident in that particular path. So I guess I'll just share my situation with the whole world and take in whatever advice I can. I'm thinking that my Fiancee and I aren't the only ones who are trying to make this happen and I've see a few of the successful stories (Congrats to each of you) and I'm hoping that I can get some good solid advice to accomplish the same thing.

Here we go:

Me: American Citizen who resides in Wisconsin.

Her: Canadian Citizen who resides in Toronto.

I have been separated for quite some time from a previous marriage (married waaaay young, deployed to Iraq with my Marine unit and decided to stay married during the deployment to better provide for her), so I know that obviously I need to have that wrapped up which will not be a problem and should be wrapped up by the end of December.

In the meantime I've met "Kitten" from Toronto and we have been in this long distance relationship for the past 8 months and I have flown up to Toronto and she has flown down here quite a few times.

Against all the sense in the world, we've decided to get married and have her move down here to live with me. Hopefully I don't get someone to reply to this in a snide way and judge me for what appears to be a irrational decision, because we have spent a lot of time discussing this and we aren't a bunch of teenagers. Helpful advice please!

What we need to accomplish:

1. Speed. (of course, right?)

2. She needs to have the ability to earn an income in the US.

3. She would like to be able to fly back and visit her family in Canada.

4. She does have a BA. (not sure if that helps anything at all?)

I work in law enforcement with the US Federal Justice department, so I cannot have anything go wrong that would affect my career as well. I am also with the US military, with the Marines, so if I can get any added benefits from that, please advise.

If you need any more information from me I will get it to you asap.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Hey Bulldog,

No snide comments here. I was in the same type of situation...except reversed. I'm from just outside of Toronto and my wife is a US citizen in MN. We went through the process about 7-8 years ago and lots has changed since then.

You probably can't do much until your divorce is final. Then you will likely want to apply for a K1. The bad news is that noting about immigration is particularily fast. Kitten won't have any problem going back to Canada for visits. I go back all the time. Her K1 will allow her multiple entries to the US.

She will need to go to Montreal for her immigration interview.

There is a Canada section on the VJ website where you can find lots of people who have gone through or are in the process of going through immigration. They'll have more recent info than I have.

Best of luck to you and kitten. It may take time but it'll pay off in the end.

Ka

Just to clarify, a k-1 is a ONE TIME ENTRY visa. It will NOT allow her multiple entires into the US. Once you activate it at the border, she won't be able to visit Canada until she receives her AP (advance parole).

She would be able to visit you during the time you're waiting for 129-f approval and the interview as long as she's able to prove strong ties to Canada (as already stated). She will have 6 months after the k-1 is issued to use it. Once she uses it to cross into the US, it's done. It cannot be used again. You must marry her within 90 days of her entry or she becomes "out of status". Then you apply for Adjustment of Status to get her green card, once you're married. Along with AoS you will file Advance Parole (which allows her to visit Canada while waiting for the green card)

and EAD (employment authorization document) which allows her to work.

So basically, there will be a timeframe that she will be "stuck" in the US. From when she enters, until she receives AP.

Did you already get married and she's in Wisconsin now?

Or did you just decide to do that and it's planned for the future?

What do you mean by wrapping up your previous marriage?

Are you divorced yet? When were you divorced?

I'm also from Wisconsin and know that we have a waiting period before you can remarry. It's 6 months (unless that's changed since 2007).

I really can't add my advice/opinion until knowing these answers.

This exact same thing happened to us in June 2007. We were given the same misinformation by the same misinformation line at the USCIS. I knew a girl at the time that had recently married her Jamaican hubby, he came to the US for the wedding and stayed during AoS and they got away with it. At the time I had no idea this was wrong. I didn't understand why there were fiance and spousal visas though, so I called USCIS two different times and got the same answer both times that my fiance could come to the US with me, we could get married and that the US allows for spouses of american citizens to remain in the US during AoS. We were stopped at the border, questioned, he was fingerprinted and his picture was taken. We were told he needed to prove strong ties to Canada so we went back to retrieve the papers they requested. We were once again denied and given yet another list of papers to bring. We did this the next month and were denied yet again and told that if he tried again he'd be banned from the US. We were in total shock during this whole thing. We knew nothing about immigration. Hadn't found VisaJourneys yet. Other websites did NOT explain the process well at all. Plus we had been told by USCIS people themselves that it was ok. How were we supposed to know that they were clueless. The people at the border were no better at explaining things. They TOLD us to bring back paperwork and then threatened to ban him for doing so. It's really ridiculous and I felt the same frustration you are feeling right now.

Anyway, long story short, we also had our wedding planned, honeymoon to Disney was paid for and ALL of it was cancelled. It was awful and one of the worst times of my life. We were devastated. We filed the k-1. In order for us to see each other for the 11 months it took from filing to interview date I had to visit him. It was difficult for me. I have 2 kids, a full-time job and was going through a bankruptcy (post divorce aftermath). I was flagged, so everytime I returned to the US after visiting him, I was pulled in for questioning. It ws always fine, but one of the times my kids were with me, they were terrified and all of our bags were opened and contents thrown all over our vehicle. Nice treatment, huh?

At the interview, they knew about the 3 border denials...all the info was in the computer. The guy said it's common for that to happen, and deleted all of it.

We had our wedding in July 2008, went on our Disney honeymoon and are currently USCIS-free, until time to lift conditions. You will get there. It's a long road no matter which route you choose (fiance or spouse visa). You've already been given good advice here. You won't find better information anywhere else and that includes attorneys. I wouldn't waste the money. Do a ton of reading on this site...get to know which posters give accurate info and which don't.

Good luck!!

I remember phantasm, that movie scared the ####### out of me when I was a kid!! Blair Witch Project is also a movie that haunted me for months. I'm hoping the movie out right now, "Paranormal Activity" is good. It sounds like it's kinda along the same line as Blair Witch. "The Ring" freaked me out pretty bad too.

So maybe it is you that has the "brain the size of a peanut" because you go to the states where you know that people say "zee" and not "zed" and yet you repeatedly use a word that is unfamiliar to Americans. I guess it would take a person with a brain bigger than a peanut to just start out saying "zee" when in the United States.

So I take it you use 'zee' when in the U.S. then Scott?

Ok that was a cheap shot - nah, what the hell, you deserved that

On another note, I wouldn't expect any American to identify the word zee.

Zee discussion is over children. Scott I sense some hostility, care to discuss?

Nah I just haven't been on VJ for a while and I got myself caught up on the old posts. It just ticks me off when people point a finger at someone else and say "this person must be stupid because they don't understand what I mean when I say 'zed'" when the person isn't stupid at all but rather the person speaking a language that is foreign to both -- Greek.

The point made a few times was that Canadians adjust if someone says 'zee' up in Canada, but sometimes you run into Americans who can't adjust and have hear what they're used to.

Wonder how many Americans start saying 'zed' when they move to Canada - shall we take a poll?

My fiance lived in Canada for 2 and a half years and spent the whole time telling us that pop was soda, zee was zed and even went so far as to help the kids with spelling....colour had no U according to him. I didn't let him help the kids with spelling homework after that. So I really don't get the "Canadians are supposed to change to accomadate the Americans thing when I know for a fact they wouldn't change for us". My neice married an American as well, they live in Canada...he hasn't changed either.

Don't judge every american this way please. I think that too many people on this board are quick to assume any comment or tease made by an American is stupidity or is made from an intent to be mean. So many of the things you have quoted americans as saying to you that you call ignorance, sounds to me like they're trying to kid around with you. Do you really think they're being serious?

I love the differences I find in the things my hubby says and what we say here in Wisconsin. We are from a "soda" region, but I call it "pop" (whenever remember to.) I say Zed occasionally, it's more fun than Zee and I love to say it at work and make my co-workers notice. I make poutine every so often to remind him of home. I started putting malt vinegar on my fries when he does (which isn't really Canadian, I know, but I learned it from him and I'm just adding it cuz I want to). And we pick up some Timmies coffee (and hot chocolate for my son) whenever we visit, even though we are both Starbucks addicts.

Anyway, I share these things with friends and co-workers and have not received the same type of responses people write about on this board. People are genuinely interested, amused and curious. They are not morons because they haven't been to Canada and aren't aware of all the little nuances that are different.

And now a word from wiki (just to beat a dead horse)

In many dialects of English, the letter's name is zed, pronounced /ˈzɛd/, reflecting its derivation from the Greek zeta (see below). In American English, its name is zee /ˈziː/, deriving from a late 17th century English dialectal form.^[1] Another English dialectal form is izzard /ˈɪzərd/, which dates from the mid-18th century and probably derives from the French et zède "and z".^[2] Other Indo-European languages pronounce the letter's name in a similar fashion, such as zet in Dutch, German, Romanian and Czech, zède in French, zæt in Danish, zäta in Swedish, zeta in Italian and in Spanish dialects with seseo, and zê in Portuguese.

In Chinese (Mandarin) pinyin the name of the letter Z is pronounced [tsɛ], although the English zed and zee have become very common.

In the Philippines, it is quite common to hear people pronounce the name of the letter Z as "zay" rhyming with "say".

We did the same thing...put Toronto on the form. Didn't know they don't do k-1 interviews. It automatically went to Montreal, no worries!!

I went with my hubby last year for his K-1 interview in Montreal. We were concerned about funds as well and it was a bit expensive for gas ($100 for a tank of gas on the way there, wow), the hotel we got was the cheapest cheapo in the area and it wasn't that cheap (around $125 and the a/c was a complete joke, we felt like we were suffocating the entire time we were in that room, if you go during cold weather though it would probably be fine.) However, this being said, we went in June so maybe that has something to do with the costs.

The interview itself was actually kind of fun. We were so excited to finally be there, we just enjoyed it. Our interviewer was really nice and we laughed with him pretty much the whole time (he was just in that kind of mood I guess).

I'd definitely go with him if you can. It's totally worth it. And it's so much fun coming back together! Remember though, you'll have to wait for the packet to be mailed back to him (they don't allow you to wait for it or pick it up the next day like Vancouver does..or used to?)

Entry into Canada on the way there was no big deal and never was any of the times I visited him. When I went for the visa I simply told them that's what I was there for and that we couldn't say exactly when we'd be leaving Canada, but that it shouldn't be more than a 2 weeks (and it was less than 1 week). On the way back our only issue was an inexperienced officer having a hard time with his computer. They were pretty nice though and it was nice and uneventful.

Gosh I'm getting excited for you just writing about this!! Good luck, have fun with it if you go!!

I have tears of joy in my eyes for you two right now!!! I've been coming to VJ almost daily (even now while we're not currently filing anything) and I always hope to see a post by you that says exactly this!! CONGRATULATIONS!! Not much longer now and you'll be together. What a huge huge relief!

We also thought we'd sail right through, nothing weird about our case. It took 11 months from file date to his entry in the US from Canada. Our consulate was Montreal which does have a history of taking longer than Vancouver, but the majority of our wait was for the noa2 actually, filed through CSC.

I hope it works out for you and if not that you're able to get dates moved or money refunded. I do understand the frustration of your life plans being in the hands of government employees. It's not a good feeling.

Can I just ask how a "greedy doctor" is supposed to make $$ off of giving you a prescription? That's the drug company who makes the money and regulations over their giving anything to the Dr have become (rightfully so), tightened in the last several years. Before you start spouting off ####### about Dr. salaries, read up on it. After dealing with insurance companies here, there is no such thing as a quick quid.

There actually is an incentive for dr's to prescribe certain medications over others.

What incentive are you speaking of? I work for a clinic with hundreds of doctors and there is no incentive for them to prescribe anything. There is no kickback, no nothing. They prescribe what they feel is best for their patients, end of story. Is this perhaps a regional thing?