Corinthians

Sorry, does anyone know how soon she can visit? She already has a flight booked back with me a few days after the wedding.

Corinthians said:

"You gotta figure that she could come here and stay 'til almost Christmas, go home for a month or whatever to pack things or get papers together and then come back for another 90 days and once that was over,"

Could she really leave with my right after the wedding? The way he put it wasn't that bad at all.

So the tickets are back to Vegas? You never know what the Point of Entry person is gonna do but if your wife says she has friends (or a husband) in the US and wants to travel a bit I don't know why they would stop her. I'm not sure what requirements Canadians have to meet to stay here or how long they can stay...just make sure she can show ties to Canada. Car payments, account balances, leases, etc. I would hope they'd be reasonable especially when they see you are a dual citizen. You never can tell with the government though.

My point is, don't give up or get depressed. It sucks to be apart but if you plan the visits out right, it wont be so bad and before you know it she'll be here permanently.

What does significant mean? If she were to visit for 90 days, would she have to return for 90+?

I'm an American Citizen born abroad. I have dual citizenship in Canada, though.

Thanks again for the reply.

By significant breaks I'd guess something that makes it look like she still has a life in Canada. It can't be a run across the border to BC and come back the next day kinda thing.

You gotta figure that she could come here and stay 'til almost Christmas, go home for a month or whatever to pack things or get papers together and then come back for another 90 days and once that was over, you'd probably be approved or close to it. Plus, you've gotta have some time off where you could go to Canada on vacation. If you have a good job and some stability in your life don't let US CIS pull the rug out from under you. You really won't be away from eachother as much as you think.

The bigger question is how is a Canadian gonna survive the Las Vegas heat?

Thanks for your responses, everybody!

Now, when it comes to tax forms, I understand that tax transcripts are not really required and can be substituted with your 1040 form. I don't know if different embassies have different requirements, but it is stated clearly on American Embassy's in Russia site that you can submit "most recent year tax returns (form 1040) or tax transcripts from IRS". My only concern is that I did my taxes online with HR block, so there is a big COPY, DO NOT FILE statement on the form and, obviously, it doesn't have my signature on it since it was done electronically. Also, notice that they only ask for your last year's tax return, although I see a lot of people saying you need last 3. Any thoughts on whether the kind of copy of the tax form that I have would suffice?

I'd just go for the tax transcripts. Why hassle with it when it's free from the IRS and we all have a few months to wait. I kinda think worst case scenario, you don't want a rookie to see the "do not file" or whatever and send you to AP over it. Probably unlikely, but why open the door?

No clue on the travel, I think if you're from a visa waiver country it isn't a big deal. Now if you have to apply for a tourist or other visa after K1 is filed...good luck getting in.

1 month since NOA1 3.5 to go.

Corinthians July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread ? that's about the funniest thing i have heard in Ages.......... ........

Guten abend and boa noite. Aubrey was my inspiration for that one.

I've been lucky with both sets of family so far. All my gripes would go under the US CIS visa waiver program and POE police are lame thread. Once you apply for a visa it seems like nobody from anywhere other than western europe or canada is getting in this country. Or the why can I fly to Brasil for $1100 but to fly from Brasil to here is $1500 to $2000 thread.

Remember how simple things were before the government got involved? Everyday seems like G325 this or I94 that or $455 here and $1010 there. It's crazy.

Is there a thread on VJ for people to discuss their wedding and honeymoon plans? I can't seem to find one. Since all of us are dealing with trying to throw a wedding that involves at least two countries, and all of us are pretty limited in honeymoon options unless we get Advanced Parole- it only seems reasonable that there should be somewhere where we get gather and talk about the fun, frilly stuff instead of just the logistics of filling out papers!

not that I know of but I say we July fliers do it here so we can all see what we all have planned..from simple to whatever and SUPPORT each other on this wonderful journey!!!

I would love to see what everyone is planning..ideas you name it..MAYBE we can pitch in together and even share ideas...recipes for weddings you name it...I will post mine later on because I am taking the grandkinds home

loves you all!

Meri

This sounds fantastic! What does everyone else think? I just don't want to hijack the thread and annoy people who come in here strictly looking for timelines and paperwork advice. I'd be willing to set up a separate thread if anyone has any objections to doing it in here.

Go for it, I vote for the July people sticking together. Imagine what it would be like if we started a thread for every little topic...July 08 Filer Wedding Plans, July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread, etc.

I've only stayed in the hotel at the international airport and it's a little expensive.

Could your SO call a travel agency? They might be able to recommend one. I've used CVC to travel inside Brasil before and they were fine. You could also google Pousadas in centro Rio de Janeiro...just some ideas.

When you filled out the G325 forms and listed places of employment, did you write in Portuguese or translate names and job titles to English (Even if the translation doesn't really work in English)? Any RFE's for that kind of thing?

What's real crazy is how fast the times for estimated NOA2 are moving up, the estimates for me were mid December and now it is moving into November. Hope it's like that for all of us.

anybody else still waiting for their NOA1? starting to get worried...its going to be 2 weeks since i sent out my I129f...

It's a Vermont thing. As long as someone signed for your envelope you'll be fine. They are taking there time lately...if you search timelines for Vermont, you'll see that it has been slow.

Hi all -- I'm also a July filer and just found this through another thread.

We filed our papers on 7/7 (VSC) and the check was just cashed on 7/31! As I said in the other thread I don't think I've ever been so happy to see hundreds of dollars disappear.

No NOA1 yet, but I pulled the case number from the check (also EAC08********) and it works in the USCIS system! Despite the wait (I kind of wish I'd found this thread sooner, I'd looked at the NOA1 estimates and gotten worried the past couple of weeks like the rest of you that something had gotten lost, even though I had the delivery conf) I'm feeling very glad at the moment that the automated system does exist, it feels like we're out of the "black hole", though it sounds like we'll be back into it past NOA2 when everything gets shifted to the main office and then consulate.

It did seem to take a couple of days for my bank to realize the check was taken -- the USCIS stamp says 7/29 but my bank says 7/31.

Good luck to everyone with their process. I found VJ just last month. My fiance and I had been dating across the NY/Canada border for the past two years (Oct 06), the border guards know us so well that some of them had been teasing us about getting married for awhile now. A couple of well meaning but misinformed US guards told us the fiance visa process should only take a month! Then I found this site and panicked. We are underway now, I'm moving to CA for a job at the end of this month (which is why we started looking into paperwork, we thought he'd be able to come with me easily!), he's coming with me to visit for about a month, then coming back up here to defend his dissertation (he's a military historian) and take care of the NOU2 process which should hopefully pick up toward the end of October.

This site has been such a lifeline, though I do get a little overwhelmed at keeping up with it all. But the amount of information here, and the people, are just amazing.

Welcome and great story. That's cool about the guards. He must be feeling good to finish the PhD, it's hardcore.

<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/the_audacity_of_a_broken_promi.html" target="_blank">The Audacity of a Broken Promise

</a>When in the course of political events it becomes advantageous for a presidential candidate to dissolve a campaign promise, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that the candidate at least refrain from wrapping himself in the Declaration of Independence.

Not Barack Obama.

Click on Obama's campaign Web site and you'll find a virtual parchment scroll, complete with running tally of how many "citizens have declared their independence from a broken system by supporting the first presidential campaign truly funded by the people."

Written as " the PEOPLE," in that familiar, evocative style -- and with a July 4 deadline for signing up.

So Obama isn't just junking his campaign pledge to participate in the public financing system if his opponent agreed to do the same. He isn't just becoming the first presidential candidate since Watergate to run a campaign fueled entirely by private money.

No, he deserves praise for this selfless -- scratch that, patriotic-- move.

"Our opponents are dedicated to manipulating this broken system to raise as much money as possible -- and they've proven they are very good at it," Obama's site declares. No mention that Obama's been pretty good at it himself, raising $295 million to John McCain's $122 million. "To compete" -- as if he wouldn't be competitive otherwise -- "Barack has decided to keep putting his faith in ordinary people like you giving only what you can afford."

Ordinary people, that is, if your definition of ordinary people includes bundlers who can collect six- and even seven-figure sums for your campaign. Because even as he was rhapsodizing in public about "the grass-roots values that have already changed our politics and brought us this far," Obama was privately cozying up to Hillary Clinton's major fundraisers.

Earlier this month, he dispatched his campaign manager, David Plouffe, to woo Clinton bundlers in Washington and New York. This week, Clinton will introduce Obama to nearly 200 of her major bundlers, including some who have raised $1 million or more, in a meeting at the Mayflower Hotel.

"This group could represent 50 million, if not 100 million, bucks," said one top Clinton strategist.

Their money is central to Obama's bet that he will do better raising money on his own than taking the $84 million in public financing for the general election. The Obama campaign is aiming to bring in another $300 million for the candidate -- $200 million of that from smaller donations, $100 million from the big players -- plus $150 million for the Democratic Party, much of which would also come in big contributions.

Donors can give $2,300 each to Obama's primary and general election campaigns. So can their spouses. Each can also give $28,500 to the party. So you and your spouse are welcome to write a check totaling $66,200. So much for the campaign truly funded by "ordinary people."

The Obama campaign likes to point out that 93 percent of its 3 million contributions have been $200 or less; nearly half have been $25 or less. Those numbers are impressive, and they reflect a healthier mix of small donors than the McCain and Clinton campaigns. But they are also misleading. One-third of Obama's cash has come in the form of contributions of $1,000 or more. Even in the age of the Internet, those don't tend to arrive courtesy of the Check Fairy. Bundlers help.

I don't take issue with Obama's decision to opt entirely out of the public financing system. That was bound to happen eventually. Obama is smart to exploit his fundraising advantage over McCain. The political price of his about-face will be negligible. Likewise, I don't begrudge Obama his bundlers -- or Clinton's bundlers, for that matter.

What's galling is Obama's effort to portray himself through this entire episode as somehow different from, and purer than, the ordinary politician. Different might have been coupling the announcement with a self-imposed limit on the size of donations. Different might have been -- it could still be -- taking the big checks but acknowledging that, since bundlers will be bringing in even bigger hauls, disclosure should be adjusted accordingly, to reveal not only who raised $200,000 but also who brought in $500,000, who $1 million.

Obama's not the first politician to break a promise. He may be the first to do so in the guise of John Hancock, exuberantly signing the Declaration.

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

Whatever. At it's most basic level this election is about whether or not the USA wants to stay in the G 8 or continue the wonderful path we've been on and become part of the G 20. The dollar isn't worth squat anymore and 4 more years with a Bush clone isn't gonna fix it. People may or may not want Obama but they definitely don't want John McBush for 4 more years.

Our check was cashed!!!!!!!!!! I am registering right now with the number!!!!!!!!! It is coming for all of us Vermont!

I am never this happy to see someone take my money before....

No Doubt!

So the online thing is working today and mysteriously I have a touch on July 29th.

Did everyone have a touch the day they first looked at it online? It seems a little early for a July case to be doing anything other than sitting on a shelf somewhere.

So for people who can see their case online (at USCIS)...did you have to do anything special? Mine doesn't show in the searches. I've searched the forums, is this just a sit and wait thing too?

if you have your case number you can see when it was last touched, but that's pretty much it. they don't say this is gonna happen on this date.

Hey Nessa,

When I log in, it says my case number doesn't exist, but I have the NOA1 here with me....just curious if I am missing something on the USCIS site.

So for people who can see their case online (at USCIS)...did you have to do anything special? Mine doesn't show in the searches. I've searched the forums, is this just a sit and wait thing too?

Mailed July 5, Signed for July 8, check cleared on the 25th. Still working on the NOA1 date.

Anyone else checking check statuses about ohh.... 100x's per day?? Good thing there is no limit on how many times I access my online banking account! They probably wonder what the heck is wrong with me!

I'm just glad they only have 1 more week to sandbag all of us. It'll be good to see the checks getting cashed and all of us getting case numbers. Maybe they're clearing out all the old stuff this month (lots of NOA 2s) and then things will fly for us going forward.

Whatever it maybe, I want an answer. I'm calling CSC if I don't get NOA-1 by this Friday.

Trust me, unless it has been 30 days since they received it they aren't gonna do anything for you. I'm guessin' we won't know anything until the first week of August. And that'll probably just be their story for why nobody's stuff is in the system yet.

So today I have learned that after 30 days, there is a 2nd level of support. If you call USCIS now they just blow you off and say it's impossible to see if your things arrived. So I asked what changes at 30 days and that's it. You can talk to the 2nd level of support. They wouldn't even tell me if my papers were there today, not even a yes or no answer.

You gotta love when rules come first. Is a yes or no too much to ask, it takes 5 seconds...

Forgot to add: packets mailed on July 1st or afterward

I searched the timelines and nobody has NOA1 yet for either center. Any thoughts? Do they have shutdowns periodically for some reason? Maybe people who have been here for a while know....

Hi guys. Geez it seems like there are huge delays right now :/ We filed June 11th, got a receipt from the postal service saying it had arrived. Haven't heard a thing since then. We called them at the beginning of this week and they have no record of our us on their system. We're refiling next week

If it has been more than 4 weeks with no notification or cashed check you can call them and see what's up. It's seems like if you refile, you'd just be that much further back.

Signed for at CSC on July 8 and still nothing. Not even a cashed check....