Egbosimbas

My heart goes out to you and your baby. You're in my prayers.

I like this topic and am happy to post in it. We are part of the happy 'beginnings' but with a rough and rocky few weeks in there. Kingsley arrived here on January 1st so he's been here just 5 months now. Each day we are finding out more about each other. Each day we are finding OUR footing and finding OUR way. People have said many times on here that the "visa journey" is not the hardest part, the hardest part starts once they get here, and it's so true. I thought "how can ANYTHING be as hard as this is ... being seperated from my husband for so long without an end date in sight?" ... and then he arrived.

I have 2 children from a previous relationship. Kingsley has never lived in the same house with children. I previously lived with my childrens father for more than 8 years. Kingsley has never lived with a woman. I've been the single mom running the show. He's been the bachelor running the show. To say that we have "butted heads" a few times would be an understatement. We have experienced all sorts of emotions during the few short months he's been here. Pure unadulterated joy, complete amazement (both good and bad), excitement, disappointment, confusion, bewilderment, frustration, silliness, love, love, love. There was a point, for about a month solid, that we weren't 'getting each other' at all and it was heart breaking for us both. I was seriously wondering if we had made the biggest mistake. GOD plans things out because we both 'hit our wall' at the exact same time and were able to bring down the walls and just talk it out. Had we hit our breaking points at different times, I'm pretty sure that this post would be quite a bit different and not under 'happy endings' as the topic!

I've never had to compromise so much in my entire life, and neither has my husband. At the end of the day, we get it figured out and we move on and we're happy that we're together. He gets homesick for the familiar. He's been job hunting (with no luck so far) day in and day out. HATES that he's at home while I'm going to work every day. His pride and his self worth has taken a big hit over the last 5 months. He's become addicted to television because there's nothing else for him to do. Since the weather has gotten nicer, he's been working in our yard which is FABULOUS because I don't love yard work and he's a bit particular about things being perfect so I told him that the yard is HIS DOMAIN .. have at it!

Marriage is a work in progress ... for the duration of the marriage. My parents just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last week and my mom said "Marriage is work. It was work from day one and it will be work until all is said and done. Just like your job, some days breeze by and it's hard to believe that you got paid to do that all day long. Other days seem endless, nothing goes right and you wish you could quit and find something else. But you don't because you LOVE what you do, you LOVE your job. It's a work in progess and it always will be. Enjoy to the fullest the days that are effortless. Let go of the days that are difficult, take whatever lesson you learned from it and let it go." I think she's pretty smart.

GOD IS GOOD girl ~ we know this already! Soooooo happy for you both. Long difficult process that you (we) have just come through. And now it begins ... the REAL journey, together at last!

Ours took 71 from NOA1 to approval at USCIS. Our entire process took exactly 6 months. Mailed I-130 on June 24th and hubby picked up his visa on December 24th.

Thanks everyone ~ we are very very happy! Now we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off but it's all good! Merry Merry Christmas to all!

My husband had his interview on December 8th on the Ivory Coast. He left not knowing if he was approved or denied. They said they'd call him. They told us to wait 2 weeks before contacting the Consulate to check on the status of the petition. TODAY is 2 weeks. I emailed them lastnight so when they got in this morning it was there. I received the following response ...

Dear Mrs. Egbosimba,

Your husband’s petition was approved and he will be contacted as soon as his Immigrant Visa packet is ready to be picked up.

Happy holidays,

The Consular Section

Merry Christmas to everyone! God Bless and good luck on this journey!

We had to wait 2 weeks from the interview date to contact the Consulate in Abidjan, that would be TODAY. I emailed them because I could not get through on the phone. I received an email back saying "Mrs. Egbosimba, your husband's petition was APPROVED. He will be contacted as soon as his visa packet is ready to be picked up. Happy Holidays." So, here's another approval ... THANK YOU GOD!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone ...

Erica & Kingsley

Re: Speedracer's #4. It IS true. My husband is on the Ivory Coast (they speak French) so his police certificate from there is in French. He's Nigerian by birth so the one from Nigeria is in English. When I was racing around trying to figure out where to get it translated into English, I found out that if it's in the native language of the country he will interview in ~ no need to translate. I sent it (not being translated) with hesitation and waiting for an RFE - that never came! Don't waste the time or money if you don't need to.

I'm sorry you didn't get a solid answer today! Hang in there. It'll all work out as it's supposed to!

I don't hardly ever post on VJ because of people like you.

Egbosimbas,

I hope you will rethink your position on this. Most of us are here to help and people shouldn't be put off because they think someones style is abrasive - truly. I know this happens here all too often but I would encourage anyone with a question to post!

Good luck to you OP

Trailmix,

Thank you. I agree that if someone has a question they should by all means post it. The whole point to my post yesterday was "THINK about how you come across when posting" ~ not asking anyone to change their answer ... just asking them to stop for a moment, read what they have written and maybe choose different words if at all possible. When someone is worried and scared and going through this process, the last thing they need is people jumping all over them and attacking their character or their intelligence. And it DOES happen all to often on here. I think this website and the people on here, have a wealth of knowledge to be shared with others. I do. I think it has, does and will help many many people through this visa process. In the year and a half that I've been on here, I have watched countless people post and get a barrage of comments, suggestions and opinions that were down right mean at times. I think many people reply to a post with their opinion and not with facts. I just wish that more people would use a little tact and compassion when replying to a post and if they don't absolutely know the answer ~ they should either refrain from replying or make sure that it's known it's their opinion.

karina -- don't get snappy at people who are not to blame for the circumstance. There is a high likelihood that you and hubby will have to relocate to Bolivia. Let's hope you can solve the issue; but be prepared for it not happening. We don't wish you ill at all; but the reality is you should have left Spain the moment you were denied the residence card. Not doing so has put you in this quite precarious position. Not our fault.

Chica Yeye ... I am continually amazed at the posts you put up. Where people are looking for hope ~ you are telling them things like "be prepared for it not happening" and "you should have left Spain the moment you were denied the residence card." I'm not saying anyone should give false hope ~ but there is a way to say something with tact and compassion ~ you don't use either. I don't hardly ever post on VJ because of people like you. You seem to have an answer for everything and you don't seem to have any compunction in the way you deliver your message. I don't know Karina and her husband ~ but it seems as if you are trying to scare her and make her feel worse than she already does. Maybe you ought to step back once in awhile and ask yourself, "am I going to help this situation at all?" BEFORE you post. Just a thought.

Karina, I wish you and your husband the best of luck in this journey. Is always hard to be seperated from your love for any length of time ~ especially when you're not sure when the seperation will end.

Sounds like you are in Admin processing. Not denied. The took his passport which is good news usaully. In Nigeria admin processing is usaully due to local checks of documents and home visits.

There were 6 other applicants there today and they all got the exact same thing. No one denied but no one approved. Everyone was told "we'll call you" but not everyone had their passport kept by them.

My husband had his interview today in Abidjan on the Ivory Coast. We didn't get approved or denied. What we got was "we're still reviewing your application and we will call you." This, after only 10 minutes in front of the interviewer. He didn't ask to see any of our evidence. He didn't ask how we met, when we met, nothing like that. He asked the following questions ...

How many kids does your wife have?

What is her kids fathers name?

Where does he live?

How many kids do you have?

What does your wife do for a living?

What do you do for a living?

Have you spoken to your wife today?

What did you speak to her about?

When did you see her last?

They fingerprinted him and kept his passport and said they'd call him. They said to allow at least 2 weeks before contacting them.

The piece of paper they gave him is white, not sure if that means anything or not?!

I never knew time could go so slow and so fast at the same time!!! It is all surreal at this point. To think that our spouses could be here in a few weeks is just almost to hard to believe! 7 days and counting until interview. Good luck and God Speed to each and every one of us going through this now and in the future. Happy Holidays everyone!

December 8th for us! Good luck everyone ~ Happy Holidays!

FIAZ ~

WOW is the first thing that comes to mind and then THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH! This is what I was looking for, thank you thank you! YOU are appreciated!

Erica

I may be dumb, or numb because we just received our interview date, but I don't see anywhere on VJ where there is a sample of CR1 interview questions. Is there such a thing on here? I saw them for the K1, K3, K4, AOS, etc. but not for a CR1 interview. If anyone knows where I could find a good list of sample interview questions, it would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance for any help with this!

Just search for consulate interview or family base interview questions.

Thank you!

I may be dumb, or numb because we just received our interview date, but I don't see anywhere on VJ where there is a sample of CR1 interview questions. Is there such a thing on here? I saw them for the K1, K3, K4, AOS, etc. but not for a CR1 interview. If anyone knows where I could find a good list of sample interview questions, it would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance for any help with this!

You're probably fine to substitute the K-3 questions for the CR1!

That's what I thought ~ but have you seen the K3 questions?? There are only a few. I was like, well if this is all they asked it would be great ... I'm just looking for a more extensive list of questions. I mean I can come up with my own but would prefer to have a list of ones that were actually asked in an interview.

Thanks!

I may be dumb, or numb because we just received our interview date, but I don't see anywhere on VJ where there is a sample of CR1 interview questions. Is there such a thing on here? I saw them for the K1, K3, K4, AOS, etc. but not for a CR1 interview. If anyone knows where I could find a good list of sample interview questions, it would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance for any help with this!

Okay ~ first and foremost ... change #1 on your list to PRAY! For me the key has been finding something to occupy my time ~ but still lets part of my brain think about all of this a little bit. I crochet. I'm on my 4th blanket!!!!!!!! LOL I, too, work long hours at work and at home. Crying is inevitable, you know it just happens when we least expect it. Drinking starts out fun, but usually turns out bad ... lol I also watch a lot of movies. It takes my mind away for a couple of hours which during this time is like a mini vacation of sorts! I am an avid reader but right now ~ I can't do books. Some people can but for me I get to the end of a page and realize I have no idea what I just read so I haven't picked up a book in months! You'll find your "thing" girl ~ you will. Try something you've never tried before that you have to learn. Something that takes ALL of your concentration ~ at least for a little while. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I think I need to work on my "posting" skills ...

Erica

After getting kicked around and pouring our guts out to 1-3 agencies, I thought it might be helpful for those who have developed a solid coping method to post it for the good of your fellow VJers. I have the mechanics of the thing down, but the waiting and the emotions involved... sheesh!

Sometimes package tracking and AVR listening just aren't enough!

Here are a few of my other outlets:

1. Scour the VJ visa forums, guides and sample forms.
2. Pour out my heart to hubby on phone.
3. Work long hours.
4. Play computer games.
5. Pray.
6. Rant.

Clearly I need more to help lighten up. Cry? Drink? Anybody?

Okay ~ first and foremost ... change #1 on your list to PRAY! For me the key has been finding something to occupy my time ~ but still lets part of my brain think about all of this a little bit. I crochet. I'm on my 4th blanket!!!!!!!! LOL I, too, work long hours at work and at home. Crying is inevitable, you know it just happens when we least expect it. Drinking starts out fun, but usually turns out bad ... lol I also watch a lot of movies. It takes my mind away for a couple of hours which during this time is like a mini vacation of sorts! I am an avid reader but right now ~ I can't do books. Some people can but for me I get to the end of a page and realize I have no idea what I just read so I haven't picked up a book in months! You'll find your "thing" girl ~ you will. Try something you've never tried before that you have to learn. Something that takes ALL of your concentration ~ at least for a little while. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Thanks in advance.

Here is what I did with my family and friends, and it's worked really well for me. EVERY time I would speak to a friend or family member they'd ask the same quetions. Yes, they are interested in knowing what's happening, yes they want me to reunite with my husband and YES ... they are NOSEY! So, I sent out a "mass email" to all who had email (some of the old timers don't have it). I took my time in composing the email and I made it into sort of a timeline if what "we" could expect. I gave them the basic immigration process and told them that instead of me having to repeat myself all the time ~ that I'd email them with updates. At each step (i.e., USCIS journey, NVC journey) I have then sent an email titled "OUR VISA UPDATE" ... I get very few questions any more and they all know that when something happens, they'll get an email from me. I know how you feel, I was getting to the point where I didn't want to answer my phone because I was so tired of explaining this incredibly difficult process! Because I took the time to explain the process to all of them, they now understand how it works. And they also know that my husband and I miss each other and that it's frustrating not being able to be together NOW ~ so they are more sensitive in the questions they ask.

I hope this helps in some way ~ Erica

To qhayder and Egbosimbas!!!

Congratulations to you both

Thank you ~ you are just a step ahead ... by the Grace of God we'll all have December interview dates!

The wait is over. My husband had his interview at 10am today. He called me at work and told me he was approved!!! There was more people denied then approved and I thank God for his grace! The interview was no more than 7 minutes long. The interviewer was really impressed with our evidence and how many years we have been holding on in this distance relationship! Thanks to everyone that has helped me in this journey. If I can help in any way just send me message! Good luck to all of you!!!

THIS is what we all want to hear !!!!! CONGRATULATIONS GIRL!

CONGRATULATIONS qhayder and Egbosimbas

What is it like 10 days from delivery to login failure?

NVC is far more interactive than CIS.

Good luck on the rest of your journey!

Come on case complete!

Hey girl ~

You know, they tell you to allow 6-8 weeks for them to review your case once the DS-230 is received. But lately it seems the norm is 1-2 weeks. Thank GOD it's not the other way around. I couldn't reply to your last email message to me. Not sure what's up with that but this is the next best thing!

Kman's Wife!