mynameisCat

LOL -- I know what you mean about the love and hate at the same time! I like a mix of things from different places in my houses, thank goodness. But my days of decorating in Early American Garage Sale are over, or else!

I honestly can't remember if it was a fiance or husband, especially since I was skimming. Just that they were heartbroken at having to start over again...and now broke! Poor things, my heart broke for them just skimming the story...

Yup, easier if you're in the same city or even province as the POE airport...

I know it's probably going to be almost a year or more off, but I'm SO looking forward to having a new house to decorate when we finally get to the States! I have a lot of furniture and things in storage, so we won't have to get a whole lot, but there'll be enough to spend our money on.

In the meantime I'll have to make do with IKEA in either Ireland or the UK!

Yes, that often helps a great deal - and very quickly too. Let us know how it goes!

Welcome and good luck!

Welcome and best wishes for a fast, easy journey!

Congratulations and hooray!

Congrats! I showed the pic of the loot from your partner's shopping trip to Costco to my partner, and he thought it was hilarious! A KitchenAid mixer, ooooh, I'm jealous!

Yay! Congratulations!

If I were you, I'd keep the money you'd set aside and save it for if they tell you that it needs to be paid, at least until you actually get into the States. But I'm paranoid.

Yay! Do you have everything for the interview ready? Good luck!

Didn't I just read somewhere on the forums that someone's fiance had traveled from NZ through Dublin and got stopped at Dublin, didn't have enough proof of ties, and had to withdraw their I-130? Now they have to start all over again. Hopefully that's not the case with Canadians.

It's your choice, but I wouldn't risk it either. Imagine how you'd feel if you paid for the tickets, and then were stuck at the POE with your baby in some detention center with no food or place to sleep, then were sent directly back to Venezuela?

I know this doesn't help right now, but someday this will make a good story to tell your baby, and you can show your child how hard you and your husband worked to be together. He can visit you in Venezuela, can't he?

Deep breath, take it a step at a time.

Yay, congratulations!

Actually Canadians don't need a visa to travel to the U.S. and they are limited to 6 months a year.

Also, there is no reason to believe that once you have filed it is best not to visit. Proof of ties is the key.

Anyway, some people have already clarified some of this, in your post in the Canada forum, just wanted to clear up those points.

Thanks for clearing those two points up, Trailmix -- it's funny how it all goes...those are both things that I was told myself, and I just believed them! (By visitor's visa, tho, I wasn't meaning an actual hard copy visa - just what each non-visa visitor has as the rules on their visit. But someone did tell me that there were no visitor visas to the US that were longer than six months. Perhaps they forgot Canada is in fact a different country! That was a joke, btw.)

I sometimes can't believe that it has to be this hard and complicated to be with the person you love...

Well, I'm no expert, but I know that her US visitor's visa will state that she only has 3 months out of each year to visit. If she goes over that, there Will Be Problems.

Also, when she enters, she should bring with her proof that she is going back to Canada, as she is a high risk profile for wanting to stay in the US and her husband (and she should be straightforward with Customs, because if she doesn't tell them she's married to you, and they find out, that qualifies as Bad), so Customs will want to see that she is expecting to return to Canada. A letter from her employer (on company letterhead) stating that they expect her back on a certain date is good, and proof of her contract with a rental for her home might be as well. Once you've filed, I believe I've read it's best for her not to visit.

When I talked to a Customs guy about this once, he warned me never to lie to Customs. If they find out you've lied, they will make your life bloody hell for as long as they can, no matter how good your reasons.

Could be wrong about any of this, but hopefully more experienced knowledge will let us know if I am!

Good luck!

A woman I talked to recently did take in some stuff from online and all (with a printout of everything, referenced so they could look it up), but then among all the other things, she also brought in a big box of love letters from the last six years. They laughed and told her it was all slightly overkill, but that they took her point.

Congrats on your marriage!

I'd say give it a go -- if they didn't flat out say no, they can only say no later, and you won't really be out anything, but if you don't try, then you might have missed out, right?

Well, you know what they say...if you want to make God laugh, tell Him all about your plans.

Whoa. I hope you don't give up, but wow, I can bet that you're despairing of ever getting through this. But you've come to the right place -- people here are very helpful and knowledgeable. Give us some details of your story, maybe people can come up with ways to help you. (Getting another immigration attorney sounds like a good first step. Sheesh.)

Cat

Welcome to VJ! I know what you mean about that feeling of relief; I was getting such a terrible headache trying to get it all straight!

Thanks, Penguin! Ireland may be a very real possibility for us, then -- my partner has dual citizenship like you, only Irish/UK, so I think living in Ireland for six months or so would be pretty easy for us...

Thanks again for always being so helpful!

Cat

No, filing a I-130 does not trigger an interview with the petitioner. A headache for the next few months to a year or so maybe, but not an interview.

On the embassy's website for this country, it states that many people are eligable to file if they have a long term visa. However, the general memo sent by the Department of State clearly states 6 months for all countries.

I think in most cases, a long term visa is usually defined as six months or more. So not an issue, really.

If I am not eligable to file using DCF for whatever reason, can I still mail the form to the US and have it adjudicated while I'm overseas? I will still have an address that will be active. Does the I-130 _ITSELF_ require an interview?

More expert knowledge will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that if you're not filing by DCF, you have to file for a IR1/CR1 or a K3. (The I-130 is part of that process, it is not replaced by them.) You can find out more at the VJ guides or the State Dept. website.

Another way to visit the State Dept. website to find out if you can file a DCF and what the exact procedure is, is to visit their listing of consulates/embassies, choose the country your fiancee lives in, and look at their Immigrant Visa information. It's something like click on Visas to the US>Immigrant Visas>Filing the I-130 in (insert appropriate consulate city here).

Remember the process is all on the American side, so it doesn't really matter what the website for her home country says -- it all depends on what the process is from the State Dept. side... I also believe (again, someone I hope will correct me if I'm wrong) that there is always an interview involved somewhere in the process!

Good luck!

Weirdly, although everything I can find says that after five years of marriage outside the UK, they're supposed to give you almost automatic Indefinite Leave to Remain, I can find how you're suppose to do this absolutely nowhere, nor how much it's going to cost you...anyone know?

An e-mail from Ireland to the brethren in the States...a point to ponder despite your political affiliation:

Well, are we supposed to be using Ireland as our political model?