In NYC

Thanks for your responses.

My son has already applied for the AP along with the AOS. I'm a little confused as I went to the USCIS office nearby and they didn't mention anything about not doing the AOS process for my son even as I mentioned he was going to study abroad.

We also mentioned that when we sent our package to the Chicago office. I just wouldn't like to think we spent all that money for the AOS with no real need.

Well, I'm here again because we are now in our AOS process. We sent our package on December 17th and got our NOA dated December 24th. However, we got a RFE and the documents were received on January 22nd. We have already had our biometrics appointment.

All of this to say that, I was informed today that our cases were transferred to California but my son has already been admitted to study abroad and has to start school next month.

I'm truly anxious as I don't know if the 3 months stated at the USCIS webpage started when we sent our package or if such timing starts the moment the case is transferred.

Is there anyone here who could help me figure this out?????

Thanks

Thank you Diana! I was just a bit concerned as I haven't done any research on the legal issues here.

I have been living here for three months and still don't know much about legal implications on different things like having my name included in the mortgage my husband has or being the main holder in a joint bank account. Is there anyone here who could let me know the ups and downs for these situations?

Thanks!

the hardest part is not having your mates, thats one thing i cant help you with, maybe doing some of these things will help you meet folk.

Ditto, not having my friends is the hardest part of everything.

I've had moments where I want to pound my head into the wall, sure. But they pass when I keep myself busy and thinking positive. For example, my husband is working 14 hours a day for the nexy three days straight, so I basically won't get to see him for 3 days, and I'm on my own for that time. So we planned ahead, and here are the things I can do to pass the time:

Bake cupcakes from scratch.

Walk to the local library and sign up and take books home.

Read an old book that I didn't have time to read in the UK.

Take the dog out.

Read the driving manual to prepare for my written test.

Play a new game on the Playstation.

Search online for some class/job options for when my EAD comes through.

Talk to my British friends on the phone.

Thank you guys!!!! It is good to know I'm not the only one going through this process. I'll try to get on that site to make friends in my area and, of course, will follow your advise.

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!

Thanks for your reply! I think it is that site. I'll try it later.

It is awesome you're going to WDW. Have a great time there!

Well, I'm just married and I've been here for one month. I haven't found a job yet and the truth is the wait is killing me. I used to have a very busy life style in my home country and I truly need some ideas on what to do to help me adapt to this new life.

I do remember I once read here there was a website where I could meet people in my area with the same interests I have but I do not seem to find that now. Any suggestions?????

Thanks!

They probably mean this customs form.

http://forms.cbp.gov/pdf/CBP_Form_3299.pdf

As an intending immigrant you state on the form that you are sending household goods that you have owned at least one year. You get free admission of all your personal goods. It's not that scrutinized so don't worry over a new pair of shoes, as long as what you are shipping looks like a normal persons clothing and posessions. Sending 25 new iPods in boxes would look suspicious and would incur customs duties. Be aware of knockoff...fake designer items...like a fake Gucci bag or fake Rolex. Not allowed. They probably won' t even open your boxes for inspection but the form tells what you are shipping and allows it t clear customs free.

Thanks a lot for your response! I'm getting crazy with all this but I assume we all go through this, right?

Well, here I am again, each day closer to going to the States but trying to send my stuff has been quite a pain! UPS mentioned I need a "free transit document" (whatever that means) to be able to send my stuff. Does anyone here know what that is and how I can get it?

Thanks a million!

uy hermana... I guess you would have to pay for a cross-border move. We did that, but wee were moving from Canada to the US. Check with the major moving lines for those that offer cross-border services.

Gracias Len! Voy a revisar en el internet a ver que encuentro

Hi guys! I have been approved and my fiance and I are planning for me to go there by the end of September. He doesn't want me to leave anything I treasure behind and we would like some advice on how to bring personal stuff like books (tons of them), my son's games, and some home stuff my family gave us.

Since they are too heavy, I assume we'll have to get a delivery service. Any suggestions??????

Thanks a lot!

Thanks so much JustD. I'll take on count every word you wrote. I'm getting a lot more nervous as the moment approaches but I will certainly try to keep your words in mind as I wait for the interview.

I'll make sure I have everything you've just mentioned in my suitcase for the big day!

Thanks again! You're GREAT!!!!

Any updates??? I sure hope there is good news to report!!!!

Hi guys! I'm in Juarez and this has been crazy! I, after a lot of events, got approved but am stuck in Juarez until I get the visas. I'd like to ask something I had never read here but people just told me in the hotel. Is is true that once you get your visas you have to go to the bridge to get them stamped????

I have already lost a working day and spent some good amount of money and now they tell me the taxi charges 60USD to take me to the DHL office and to the "line" to have the visa stamped.

As soon as I'm out of this shock, I'll come with a decent post.

You do have to go to DHL to get your Visa's... But it isnt that expensive to go to and from.... Once you get the visa's back, you then need to figure out how you are coming into the U.S. If you go thru El Paso it is $50 for a cab ride there and then you cross there... If you fly out then you will have about a $30 cab ride to the airport. If you are staying at the Holiday Inn make sure you look into the free shuttle.

ANd by the way.... CONGRATS ON THE APPROVAL!!!!!

OK, I'm back in Mexico city. This was quite an experience!

I arrived to Juarez on Sunday. The hotel is really nice and pretty close to the Consulate as you had told me here. There's a very friendly environment there and everyone is always asking how your process is going and sharing their experiences. I have to accept that after listening to many of the stories there, I feel lucky.

On Monday we had the medicals. We heard there were lots of people at the Clinica Medica and decided to go to the older clinic. The taxi was 120 pesos and we were done in about an hour. We got the results at 4pm that day.

We went to the Consulate on Tuesday for the interview and there were lines and lines of people there. It seems like they have a lot of people now due to the influenza thing. We spent 7 hours there. First, document check, then fingerprints and at last the interview with the Consul who was truly nice. He made things a lot easier for us and helped us feel comfortable and relaxed. He didn't ask much. Only when and where I met my fiance, what my fiance and I did for living, he asked a few questions to my son like how many times he had seen my fiance, if he had had a student visa and what school grade he was planning to study in the States. Again, he was so nice that he made us feel very confident. He didn't say we had been approved but he told me he'd cancel our tourist visas so I asked if that meant we were approved and he replied, smiling, they would better be.

We were hoping we would get them on Tuesday but nothing happened. Then Wednesday, we spent almost all day checking for the tracking number and there was nothing. I had to change my flights and get another night. Just after getting in the room, we checked again and the status started changing. It was 6:40 pm when it finally appeared on the web page that the package was ready to be picked up.

We ended up getting it this morning and followed your veeeery wise advise

Just one thing. Make sure you check the Consulate will be open when you are there. Even as we didn't have a problem the first two days, the Consulate was closed on Wednesday and I didn't know until I was there. Some people say that could've been the reason for the delay in deliveries.

Thanks a lot everyone!!!!!! It was thanks to you, to your posts that I knew how to handle things there. I was not expecting a 7 hour wait but I knew it could take from 5 and a half to 6 hours so that helped me feel more comfortable while sitting there

Next step, planning my trip to NY in October

Thanks so much JustD. I'll take on count every word you wrote. I'm getting a lot more nervous as the moment approaches but I will certainly try to keep your words in mind as I wait for the interview.

I'll make sure I have everything you've just mentioned in my suitcase for the big day!

Thanks again! You're GREAT!!!!

Any updates??? I sure hope there is good news to report!!!!

Hi guys! I'm in Juarez and this has been crazy! I, after a lot of events, got approved but am stuck in Juarez until I get the visas. I'd like to ask something I had never read here but people just told me in the hotel. Is is true that once you get your visas you have to go to the bridge to get them stamped????

I have already lost a working day and spent some good amount of money and now they tell me the taxi charges 60USD to take me to the DHL office and to the "line" to have the visa stamped.

As soon as I'm out of this shock, I'll come with a decent post.

Thanks so much JustD. I'll take on count every word you wrote. I'm getting a lot more nervous as the moment approaches but I will certainly try to keep your words in mind as I wait for the interview.

I'll make sure I have everything you've just mentioned in my suitcase for the big day!

Thanks again! You're GREAT!!!!

Hello everyone! Finally the moment for my medicals and interview is almost here and I would like to double-check some things.

1) What will I have to bring with me to the medicals????

2) From your experience, is there any specific order for the documents I'm bringing to the Consulate?

3) Will my son be asked any questions during the interview?

4) Is the visa delivery still taking about a day?

Thanks in advance!!!!

Thanks for the info. I had assumed it actually did transmit some data to the consulate so that they could associate the bar code with the case. If not, I guess we can re-fill out the form to correct a couple of mistakes?

We are going for the interview on Monday!

We have a question about the online 156 form used by Juarez. After you fill it out and press "continue" to generate the PDF, do you print it out and then sign the paper copy/copies?

Thanks in advance.

Yes. It's not really online in the sense that you are transmitting data. It's only online so that it can generate a unique barcode for everyone. The new 160 actually sends data but, as far as I know, Juarez still isn't using it. Be sure you print out two copies or photo copy the original before you sign it. You need to have two copies with the same barcode.

Hi pgp! Since you are going to Juarez precisely one week before I do, could you please post your experience here??????? I'd love to get an idea on what to expect.

Thanks!!!!!

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support!!!! I wish everyone the best of luck that has interviews coming up in the near future and beyond!!!!

All in all Cuidad Juarez was a really nice time. The town and the people are nice, the process though long was well worth it!!! Now it's on with the next chapter of our lives.... Again thanks everyone!!

Congratulations JustD and thanks for your good wishes to us, the ones, who are going to Juarez soon. I have a very tight schedule and I would like to know how long it took you to get the visa in your hands. I know DHL sometimes takes longer than a day and I'm honesly hoping mine will not take longer than that!

:joy: we just got approved. This is the best feeling ever, no kidding. After all that waiting, I'm so excited. My fiance just got back from his interview and he texts me, "start cleaning the house" so that means he was approved YAY!!!

CONGRATULATIONS epifreak!!!!! Time to celebrate.....after cleaning the house of course!

I got approved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now the famous dhl wait. Thanks everyone for their support and their knowledge.

Regarding the payment it was indeed 1900 pesos. It is significantly less now because the dollar now is at 13,50 and a couple of months back got to be around 16.00.

Either way. Cheers everyone and now I can finally relax.

Thanks a lot to everyone who makes this site so incredibly useful.

Cheers!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Anything unusual in your process besides the fact that they charge less now???

as far as I know and according to the website http://ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov/h1n1.html yes after May 15 thats all we are wating for too

Hi! If any of you go to Juarez next week, could you please post your experiences???? I'd like to know if they've become harder or if they'll ask to get a vaccine. I'm planning on going there the second week of June (finally!!!) and I could use some help, before I go crazy due to stress

From the posts i have read and from my husbands experience in december, they ASK you if you want the vaccines, but you DONT!!! 1, for k-1 visas, they are not needed, 2, all the vaccines that are required in teh U.S you can have done in the centro de salud in mexico for free. and just bring your vaccine records to the U.S and have them transcribed by the civil surgion. It is alot cheaper all around, and alot more convenient.

Thanks for the advice GueraKristina. I'll take that on count.

It is just that I kind of freaked out with this influenza thing, imagining that because of that they could probably tell us to get those vaccines.

as far as I know and according to the website http://ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov/h1n1.html yes after May 15 thats all we are wating for too

Hi! If any of you go to Juarez next week, could you please post your experiences???? I'd like to know if they've become harder or if they'll ask to get a vaccine. I'm planning on going there the second week of June (finally!!!) and I could use some help, before I go crazy due to stress

Hi David-J and Ivonne'n Jim,

The only forms that they asked for from Marcos were the DS-156 and DS-156K. I filled out and printed 2 copies of each and paperclipped them together. They did not ask for the DS-157, although I did fill out and printed out 2 copies of that as well, and kept it separate, just in case. There was another, simple form that they had at the consulate and I think the consular officer filled it out for him and had him sign it. I don't know the reference number for that form and I have no idea what the form was about. Also fill out the intent to marry form, don't sign any of the forms because the fiance signs in the consulate.

Remember that although others have not had problems at other consulates with 3 ring binders and sheet protectors (and possibly past interviewees at the Juarez consulate have also not had problems), when we were there 3 ring metal binders were prohibited, so we had to take a taxi to Office Depot to buy an accordian folder. It's best to be aware of this before you/your fiancee go there.

Ok, on to the amount of time it takes to get the visa. We arrived in Juarez on a Sunday afternoon and did nothing that day but check into the hotel. Monday was crazy because we went early to print out the invitation letter, did the medical exam, when Marcos got back from the exam he took his passport photos at the mall across the street from the hotel, we paid the bank fee at the Banamex at the same hotel, and then he went to pick his medical results up that afternoon. So basically Monday was really full, there was hardly enough time to eat from the time we got up in the morning til the time he got back from picking his results up at 4 PM. Tuesday morning he went to the interview, and got his DHL reference number, which we kept checking online and via telephone all day and at the last second before DHL closed it showed up as having arrived. So in all, we did everything, include receive the visa in 2 crazy days. The medical exam is what took the longest out of everything we did. What I would recommend is to plan for 4 full days in Juarez, 5 to be safe. If you can afford the hotel for that amount of time, go for it. I liked the hotel because it had a kind of communal feel to it, lots of the same people hanging out in the common area watching TV and chatting (a little like a hostel). Despite the stress of what was going on, it was actually kind of fun. We got to meet some really interesting people, the area that the Holiday Inn Express is in is safe, and you can kill some time across the street at the mall if you happen to be there a couple of days extra after getting the visa.

I have to say that the worst part of the whole thing was Juarez airport. I understand that security is a huge priority but it was a bit ridiculous having immigration and customs going INTO the airport (flying OUT of Juarez), where they not only x-ray your bags but also have security thoroughly go through them. We were planning on eating something once we got to the gate to catch the plane but it turns out there was nothing there and we had to leave the terminal completely to get some food and then go back through immigration and the security checkpoint/2nd x-ray/metal detectors. So eat BEFORE you go to the airport and plan some extra time to go through security.

Looking back on the experience, I don't regret at all being really overly cautious and prepared, but I do regret being so stressed and worried.

Thanks Limello!!! What you've posted gives us the step by step process. I hope this will help not to get so stressed while being there. I assume you were veeery lucky to have done everything in a couple of "crazy" days. I think I'll follow your advice and plan for at least four days. Who knows how things will be after this swine flu alert!

Hi everyone!

I'm back in the US with my honey! We arrived yesterday through Pittsburgh airport without any problems.

The past two weeks have been really insane. After we got back to Merida from Juarez I only had one night with internet, but I spent that time packing so I really didn't have time until now to write about the interview. My apologies.

I have to preface this by saying that I think our experience was pretty exceptional, especially in comparison with other VJ'ers that I've been in contact with who are in similar situations.

Marcos and I were in line outside the gate of the consulate, and I left him there around 7 AM and walked back to the hotel. He knocked on the door of our room at 9:45 AM and said that he had been approved. The order in which everything happened was exactly the same as previous posters have said: they checked his papers, he went inside and stapled a number to his invitation letter, there was a screen where his number his passed, and a half an hour later, and he went to a window and they asked for the DS-156 and 156K and they gave him a paper to fill out that is NOT on the consulate website (I think they only give it on the consulate premises). He went to sit down again, then they called him up to take his fingerprints, then sat down again to wait for the interview. They called him for the interview and LITERALLY the only thing they took from him was a copy of our baby's mexican birth certificate. They did not ask to see the affidavit of support, photos, or anything else. Like I said, I think our case was exceptional. Marcos said that the CO was not friendly/nice but wasn't rude either.

She swore him in and then asked him:

What is your full name? What is your fiancee's full name?

Have you been married before? Do you have children with another person?

Was your fiancee married before? Does she have children with another person?

Have you entered the United States before? (Also asking if he had in the past some kind of US documents like a US passport)

Have you had problems with the law in Mexico? In the US?

How did you meet your fiancee?

How do you and your fiancee survive (financially)? This question was because the CO asked Marcos if either of us worked and he said no, so she wanted to know how we were getting by.

He said that most of the time with the CO was spent with her checking over the papers that I had sent as part of the I-129 packet. She said that they didn't have the results of the fingerprint check but if nothing came back on the fingerprint check, she was approving the visa.

I have to say that most of our time was spent with people at the Holiday Inn who were going through the waiver process. Marcos said that when he went to the medical appointment, he was on the bus with a couple that was going through the K-1 process, too, and he offered for them to meet up with us, and I could look over their papers to make sure they had everything, and explain to them what to expect. He said that the Mexican fiance was acting like he didn't want to do it (almost getting mad at the suggestion/offer) so Marcos didn't press him about it. As Marcos was leaving his interview, he saw that same guy again waiting for his interview and he was FREAKING out, asking Marcos what he was asked at what to expect (but it was a little too late at that point).

If anyone has an interview coming up and wants to ask any questions I'll do my best to answer them from our point of view.

Now, wedding plans!

Hi Limello! With all this swine flu issue, I won't be able to go to Juarez soon but I certainly want to have everything ready to go. Could you please tell me which are the forms that have to be filled out for the interview? How many days would you suggest me planning on staying there? Thanks in advance!!!

Congratulations on the visa and good luck on your wedding plans!!!!

K-1 Visa is almost always good for 6 months from date of issue.

6-months to enter, then 90-days to marry.

Thanks for the prompt response!!!!

I hope six months will be enough for me to finish with all my paperwork

Hi everyone! I know I had asked something like that before but I just can't find that information and stress is really killing me

It turns out to be that my degree documents may not be ready for me to leave when I want, reason for which I have delayed going to the consulate. I will have to go in June though. Does anyone here know how many months do I have to get into the States after I have been given my visa?

THANKS!!!