USbride

They scheduled my fiance's appt exactly a month after they processed the papers we faxed back in.

They mailed the appointment package (package 3) out on Feb 14th. Found this out by calling the DOS. We faxed the appointment letter in on the 15th. A little birdie told me the lady was out of the office on the 16th and the 19th was a holiday for the embassy. On the 21st I call DOS again, and he had an appt for Feb 20.

If you look at the list it says it is a partial list right now. Keep up hope that you will get a Feb appt, and keep calling the DOS every day. They will tell you how your case is going.

I was around 119, I think. It seems like VSC has finally gotten back off vacation.

Yayyyyy! I just checked, and we've been approved!!!! I am sooo happy. This past week has been so hard.

I checked at lunch time, and our case still hadn't been touched. Then, I checked when I got home and it had been touched and approved!

Keep faith, everyone else's is coming soon. I suggest contacting your congressman if you do not hear anything soon. Good luck all!

I am soooo depressed! I haven't even gotten a touch yet, and some Sep and Oct filers have already gotten approved I wrote my congressman and the USCIS told him that they are currently working on March cases. Why can't they even give a US congressman a true answer?!?! This sucks!

I was looking at igor's list and getting pretty discouraged seeing as how they are still working on June filers at VSC. But then I noticed something...there were very few NOA1's issued in July. The majority of July filers have August NOA1 dates. Does that mean we are all together in the August basket? Obvisouly they do not process the application in the exact order they were recieved...

Sorry, just trying to give myself some hope here. It has been a really tough week for other reason. Hope all is going better for all of you.

Ok, I just realized that my date for the NOA1 is wrong. I have the date listed as the date I actually received the NOA1 not the date on the NOA1. I'm changing it now. I'm an idiot

Please update your timeline to give the rest of us hope. Thanks.

I'm so sad that I haven't seen my fiance since the end of June But we have decided to take this time to really get to know each other.

Belive it or not, we all have a very unique opportunity here. In the majority of marriages, the biggest problem is lack of communication. After the initial "honeymoon" stage wears off, people realize that there are problems that have never been addressed. Add on top of that the cultural differences, and you can see where I'm going. However, because all of us have to be seperated, it gives us a chance to really get to know each other, and discuss any differences that may cause a problem in the future. My fiance an I talk every night, and sometimes we have those difficult discussions, but eventually we come to an agreement, and everything is ok. This strong communication will get us through even the toughest times in our marriage. I am thankful for this, and it gives me strength to get through this whole process.

On another note, I will be starting a better job in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can save up some money to suprise my fiance for Thanksgiving. I found some really cheap tickets around that time. Keeping my fingers crossed XXXX

I also wanted to remind everyone that the States will be comming off of Daylight Savings time on November 2nd, which means our time will be going back an hour. Keep this in mind when making plans to talk to your SO.

Night.

My post said that congressionals get immediate attention not action, and I was refering to the cases still at USCIS. I have no clue how things work with the embassy. I feel for you though. I know how it is to finally find ther person you want to spend the rest of your life with, only to have the US government tell you that you have to wait for an undetermined amount of time.

Be strong and work on the comunication that most marriages are lacking.

As you can see by my user name, I'm a US woman petitioning for a Colombian man. We fell in love while I was stationed over there last year for four months. I am 5 years older than him, but we never even think about it.

Me and my daughter have been down there a couple of times to visit him, and me and him both balled our eyes out everytime I had to leave. This last time I left my daughter started to cry too because she didn't want to leave her "daddy". This made it even harder on both of us. I can't wait for the day when I no longer have to leave him alone. He was denied for a tourist visa, so I will not be able to see hime again until the interview, so I am praying that it comes soon.

Sara, I really feel for you. It would kill me if I had to be away from my fiance as long as you've been away from yours. That's why I think even the ones that get married here should have to go back to their countries to wait it out. That way no one would be able to short cut the system.

Have you tried to call your congress man? I read a discussion in the guides from a former USCIS employee that said congressionals get immediate attention above the rest. I think your case is waaay past the date that a congressional would be appropriate. Hope your day gets better

I am still dumbfounded by the fact that if you get married in the US on a tourist visa, student visa, etc., you are allowed to stay in the US. IMO it would make more sense the make the spouse go back to his/her country and wait like the rest of us. Why do they get to skip the like just because they got married here? Why can't couples that got married in other countries come here to wait?

Sorry if I offend anyone...

But it seems to me that if they made the spouse go back to his/her country to wait like the rest of us, it would make it harder for them to defraud the government like they did in the article.

I keep telling my self the September approval was a fluke. It's the only thing that makes me feel better about someone after me being approved. I can't imagine how the May filers feel about the September approval...

I'm holding on to the hope of four months, that way if it comes before then it will be a welcome surprise

The number for the USCIS is on your NOA1. It is also listed on the USCIS page when you check your case status.

Check your timeline to ensure it is filled in correctly and it will give you an estimated time frame to look at. You should already be near your time frame, if not already in it.

I think you need to change your service center to Vermont to get it to show your time frame.

rvelagapudi,

The packets are the papers that they send your fiance when your application is recieved at the embassy/consulate. These are most commonly reffered to as packets 3 and 4, but some countries send them all at once, or in the case of Colombia they are actually posted online. Here is the link to the Colombian packets http://bogota.usembassy.gov/appt-package.html the ones under Visa K are the two packets. The info varies slightly by country, but are generaly the same.

The dates of the visa's being processed changes based on VJ user inputs. When the timelines are updated the processed dates are automatically updated. There were a few June filers that already got approved and I assume that made the time move up a bit, but lately it's been all May filers that have gotten their NOA2's which cause the timeline to move back a bit.

Don't stress too much about the dates as they will continually fluctuate, just keep an eye on the estimated approval date in your timeline, and start bugging the ####### out of USCIS if your date passes!

Keep your head up and stay positive.

Any airport that is an international airport is a POE. I belive most of them are on or near the coasts for fuel reasons.

Does JFK still give stamps for work permits? My fiance wants to begin working immediately when he gets here, but I read somewhere that JFK rarely gives these stamps anymore. It is cheaper for him to fly to miami first, but I would be willing to pay a little more to get him the stamp.

For me, I like to know my paperwork is being processed. So I will look for these touches once or twice a week. If we dont get a touch by mid October, I will place a call to see whats the hold up. As if I am somebody...

I agree. I don't want to wait until after my time passes to start inquiring about the status. That just gives them an excuse to take longer. If I got a slow case worker, I want them to know I am serious about getting this done in a timely manner.

I'm so jealous of those of you who get to see your SO. Mine can't come to the states, and I'm saving my money to go there for the interview (Colombia usually requests the fiance to be there). So, I have to wait...and wait...and wait until I get to hold my honey again.

So, It's been about a month now, and just wondering if anyone has gotten a "touch" other than the initial one?

BTW...that's one month off the wait time! Whoo Hoo

Hello all...

I am a new member and this is my first post, I hope it is in the right place!

My fiancée has a 6 AM appointment on October 6th to renew her Tourist visa. Her present one expires Sept. 24/08.

Am I allowed to accompany her into the embassy and/or the interview?

If not, is the area safe to wait for her?

Is there any things to do around the area while I am waiting?

Is the visa likely to be renewed?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated by us both.

A little background may be in order. My fiancee lives in Barranquilla and has family there and also in the Sarasota area. We were introduced by her daughter-in-law this January. After my trip to see her in Barranquilla and her trip with me to visit my family in Massachusetts we became engaged in early August. I will meet her in Bogotá and stay there a week with her. After the tourist visa is renewed we will start the K1 process. We would like for her to visit Sarasota around Christmas and perhaps again in '09. I understand the K1 takes 6 to 9 months so the Tourist visa will allow her visit while we wait. Pant, pant!

This site is a great resource and I feel fortunate to have found it.

Thank you all,

Sid

Hey Sid Welcome.

First off, I pretty sure they will not let you accompany her to the tourist visa interview (you will understand why when you see the line). And you probably want to advise your fiance to get there well before the scheduled time. I used to work at the embassy, and by 6 am the line would be around the block.

Second, there is a Friday's, Creaps & Waffles (yum), and an El Corral across the street from the embassy (on the opposite side of the visa entrance, across the main street) that you can hang out at. However, I'm not sure what time they open. You may want to hang out with your fiance until she gets in, and then head over to the resturant to wait until she is finished. I'm sorry to say that, there is not much else to do around the embassy, unless you want to take a taxi. But you will be fairly safe (just don't wear a big sign that says "I'm an american")

Be prepared to wait a long time. When my fiance went to attempt to get a tourist visa, he was there at 5:30am and did not leave until around 2pm and was denied!

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

Thanks! I really appreciate it. That makes me feel much better.

Speaking of all this mother stuff, I have a question.

My fiance's mother has been in the states a lot during the past year. I'm not sure if she has ever overstayed her visa, but I do know she went to Mexico and had trouble getting back. My fiance on the other hand has never been to the US and was even denied a tourist visa earlier this year.

My question is, will his mother's stays have an effect on his fiance visa? I didn't think so before, but since you said USCIS tracks these things, and I had to put on the paperwork who his mother is, I'm kind of worried now.

To add to the complication, his brother is married to a US citizen as well (we all met around the same time).

Now Im in the mood for more sweet engagment stories, anyone else got a good one?

Ok, mine's different, but I thought it was sweet...

We met my second day in Bogota (Aug '07), we both agreed that we were just looking to have fun since I was only there for four months. But it soon became clear to both of us that we were falling for each other. We started joking about getting married, and him coming back to the states with me, and other stuff along those lines. Near the end of October, my then 4 year old daughter (Piper) came to visit me. After spending one day with her, he looked at me and said he wanted his own Piper. That night after he went home, he sent me an instant message saying that he wanted to be a part of my family and officially asked me to marry him. I was so nervous that my daughter would be to much for him, but all he saw was his new family. After my daughter left we went out and bought matching wood rings for $2.50 each. Later we upgraded to a white gold Colombian emerald engagement ring for me.

Juan,

The USCIS form is the right one. If you look on the page with all the forms, it shows the acceptable versions. Not only is this one acceptable, but the previous three are also acceptable.

They always tell you to check USCIS for the most current version, so if you are getting it from there, you are good to go.

In all honesty, I don't think an engagement ring is not that important. I never received one because we couldn't afford it and I'm sure there's lots of people out there who can't either. Don't get me wrong, I'd loooooooove to have my bling, bling on but when you can't you can't.

Diana

My engagement ring is just a simple Colombian emerald set in a white gold setting. We got it from the center in Bogota for 200 USD. BTW my original engagement ring was one of the wood type rings, but it faded.

The question I had was would it be wise to take in our wedding rings (which we already have) in the BOX (not on) to prove that we intend to get married.

When we were in Peru we saw a lop bunny that was the size of my hand. It wa SOOOO cute!!

I want a lop bunny!