childress_london

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday!

No place is better to live than in Texas.

I'm in Kingston, On. Its a bit of a drive to OT, so I have been trying to look up other things that I think might be fun around there. Not sure of things to do in town though.

Ahhhh. Well, Kingston I can't help you with. Unless you take a side trip to Montreal or Quebec City. If he's in town before the 13th, how about the Quebec Winter Carnival? Or how about Winterlude in Ottawa?

Oh cool! I'll be in Ottawa the weekend of the 14th. Now we have something to do. :-P

Cool beans! It's about time! :dance:

Hey Olivia ~ Sorry we missed you last night Are we able to group chat on FB? does anyone know

I checked and it says: At this time you can only chat with people on a one-to-one basis.

Awwww....such a cute couple!

hey check this obviously outdated memo from the DOS website:

25. The LIFE Act created the K3 and the V categories to bypass administrative processing delays that cause long separation of families. K3s are immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Posts should keep in mind that the intent of the K3 is speedy reunification of U.S. citizen families

send this to Amman Jackie

woohoo Tina, another tall chick

Yeah, what a joke. Some speedy reunification.

I'm average height - 5'5" but my daughter is 4'10". She LOVES heels! LOL. I can't really wear them though. They hurt my feet. :-(

Oh yes, ice cream! I had some the other day called Super Sundae, I think. It was SO GOOD.

I married my husband in August and of course he is still in Canada, has never been to the U.S. (and he is an Iranian citizen living in Canada.) I am trying to file Married Separately, but it seems I need a SSN for him, which of course he doesn't have. What do I do?

BTW he is a student and not currently working.

NV, I found out that I have to file as single, since he does not have a SSN.

You may not file as single.. period. Your best tax consideration would likely be to opt to have your husband treated as a tax resident for the entire tax year, file as married filing joint and exclude his income using Form 2555. Also do your taxes as married filing separate as well. You will have to file for an ITIN for your husband.

H&R Block told me to file single. Now I'm thoroughly confused. I already submitted my taxes.

They were wrong.... go back and get them to file an amendment free of charge. Their guarantee that they will get you the best refund, I guarantee you that they didn't do that.

Ohhhh, free of charge? I like that idea. Yeah, I'm doing an amendment, but didn't think of making them do that. After all, I paid $20 for that bogus advice!!

ty childress

i think i want to vent/whine again today... why didnt we just file a darn 130 alone? i mean..the k3 looked so great, the processing times were rocking when i researched it. then again, we ended up at VSC(8-10 months), not CSC(3-6 months). people who filed at CSC are already approved and have their spouses interviewed or already home. waaaaaaaaaaa

So because of my geographical location, we have been waiting 10 months, and now more waiting!

:deep breathe: ok, i usually keep my whining in the k3 forum, but i know im safe here with my fellow couch buds

thank god for this place you guys, for real! people who havent "been there and done that" just dont get it

Lisa

Do you think adding the K-3 caused problems? Because I filed K-3.

Sorry I missed the sandbox. I was feeling sickly last night. :-(

Congratulations!!!

i need an oreo cookie. i've never had it.

oh they leave a really greasy taste in your mouth

I like Oreos.

I havent seen my husband in 373 days. come the f^ck on NVC!

so my mom has been saying that they might come down here for Spring break and they were thinking of driving...

hubby and I were talking about it this morning that maybe they should fly...

so I was just doing a search for flights and I found an awesome deal with Alaska Airlines... $696 return airfare for 5 people flying from Seattle to Los Angeles..

I phoned my mom and told her and she is going to talk to my dad but it looks like she really wants to book the tickets..

I think it would be better because they would have more time to spend here and I think it would be cheaper then driving down...

Keep checking the flights every day twice a day at least, because they always end up dropping at a certain time during the week. I think every airline is different as to when they drop their prices.

This sounds like fun - could you explain what the sandbox is and how to access the party ?! Thanks in advance ...

Sandbox is the VJ chatroom. On the upper right hand corner of your VJ menu, you will see "Chat". Just click on that and you will enter the chatroom. :-)

(F) (F) (F) (F) (F) (F)

Hang in there. Life is such an adventure, isn't it?

I married my husband in August and of course he is still in Canada, has never been to the U.S. (and he is an Iranian citizen living in Canada.) I am trying to file Married Separately, but it seems I need a SSN for him, which of course he doesn't have. What do I do?

BTW he is a student and not currently working.

NV, I found out that I have to file as single, since he does not have a SSN.

You may not file as single.. period. Your best tax consideration would likely be to opt to have your husband treated as a tax resident for the entire tax year, file as married filing joint and exclude his income using Form 2555. Also do your taxes as married filing separate as well. You will have to file for an ITIN for your husband.

H&R Block told me to file single. Now I'm thoroughly confused. I already submitted my taxes.

That Italian Sausage soup looks wonderful! I'm not too crazy about It Sausage though, so I might substitute some ground beef or something. Another easy soup, if you like it, is egg drop soup. You can buy the packet with the soup base at the store, but I discovered it's really just chicken broth with some spices. Just make up some broth and stir in an egg. Voila!

I know what you mean, when I was living in Dartmouth, drinking tap water was a GIANT no-no. Simply because, although we had the Atlantic Ocean, anything that went down the drain ended up in the harbor...and we didn't really have any major water treatment plant..so it was just a NO. DON'T DO IT.

Houston water is pretty good. I drink it from the tap all the time.

I'm sure Texas is fine, but Dartmouth is in Nova Scotia, Eastern Canada. The water down there is gross. >_> Kind of like when some friends and I spotted tourists swimming around in it. We all predicted that within the next couple of months that they would grow extra limbs.

Yes, I count myself lucky to have good tap water here. In San Angelo, Texas, the water comes out of the tap white and has so many minerals and it tastes salty. What's gross is the restaurants that make their coffee out of the stuff. You can tell instantly because the coffee has a salty taste. Ewwwwwwwww....

So I am sitting in bed and I start complaining to my husband about my stomach and tell him I need eno. He looks at me all confused and says: "Brian Eno?" and I say: "No... enoooo"

And he starts laughing and says: "Emo"

At this point he thinks I am just joking around and just starts repeating me. He has no idea I am in pain.

And finally I realize what I am saying and I say: "ALKA SELTZER!"

OK, so "eno" = "alka seltzer" what? I'm confused. Is this a Canadian word?

The one thing I don't like about Custom House is they ask for a ton of personal information. They want two forms of ID. I'm not going to surrender that! They're not a bank or any entity that I trust. Maybe that sounds somewhat paranoid, but all I have to go on is a website that says stuff -- there are no physical locations.

Yes there is a physical location in Victoria BC! I personally have walked by it numerous times when I lived there! No it isn't a bank, its a brokerage company,and they require the information to ensure everything is on the up and up. I have used it since 2005 and NEVER had any problems! The customer service is top notch! They will walk ya step by step doing trades, they are very customer orientated! When I'm transferring money, I want to ensure they are a legit company! My biggest transaction was over $25000 (when closed out 1 RRSP acct) and it went very smoohtly

Yes, at the bottom they list their physical locations in the world. They have several. And they tell you the reason they need that personal information is to comply with federal laws. They are trying to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Any institution that deals with money exchange will require this information.

I found this..

The spread between our “buy” rate and “sell” rate is our profit margin. Our spreads are tighter than banks so working with Custom House should result in significant savings.

http://privateclient.customhouse.com/faq.htm

Aha! Now I get the picture. ;-)

Actually when someone gets a government job that requires clearance, I was told that everyone, including your spouse and your spouse's family members can be checked out... That statement made perfect sense to me. Makes me wonder if that's not why my own petition for my husband is taking so long...I never even thought of it!!!

um no. if a secret clearance, they don't run checks on the spouse and family members - just the individual. now if at the ts level, yes. but i still don't believe uscis nor the state department considers the usc's security clearance while adjudicating the i-129f.

so at what point do you think its checked on? i would think the uscis does it when they run the background checks or at least at nvc, maybe?

i don't think uscis checks on it at all - the usc has periodic updates to their clearance, and one has to notify the security people of their "continued, long term contact" with a non-usc, along with that changing to them being engaged, married, and so on. at any point during this the clearance can be suspended or revoked if the agency feels the need.

who does security clearances

secret clearance

top secret clearance

aha!

If anybody investigates the spouse due to her security clearance, it will be her employer. She is required to report to them any contact with certain foreign nationals or marriage to same. They will then do the check on him if required. Most employers will NOT take background checks/clearances from other agencies, and will do their own, even though they are lengthy and costly. If USCIS did do some kind of extra checks, her employer most likely would dismiss them and run their own anyway.

No more than being in the military. How many here openly post about being deployed to ? Revealing the deployment of US forces ? That is much more questionable. Who I work for is not a problem, the fact you have a clearance is a marketable asset when it comes to filling out a resume. Asking exactly what I do at work is a problem. Which is why I had the pleasure of reporting the interviewing officer at the Lagos embassy. To have the petition returned to the US because he could not detail what I do in the office was a totally corrupt method of having him fail his interview. Before that question he had answered everything correctly. The factor that the black woman had questions the interracial nature of the relationship stinks of less than impartial interviews. But the Lagos consulate earns a lot of money for their people by such tactics. They could teach the 419ers a thing or two.

If you have a classified position, your employer should have an unclassified description for your job. It's not that hard to be creative. B) The only time I had a problem with this was in the interview for my current job. I gave the unclassified version of course, but two of the three people on the interviewing panel kept probing deeper, wanting more details, supposedly because they didn't "understand" exactly what I did. All I could say was it was classified and I couldn't discuss it. Thankfully the one not asking more questions seemed to understand and changed the line of questioning. UGH.