Moksha

Ok so here is my list that i miss . Friends , family , food , road side chai . Bars and pubs where u r not carded he he lol . Oh and playing cricket on sunday afternoon

Hello ,

So how are u guys . Good that this thread has been started . So how are ppl doing this festive season . I have to say I am really missing Indian at this time .

So what the plan for Dewali guys ?

Hello ,

I guess the question is , does he know how to drive ? B, How comfortable is he driving on high speed .

What i did was , I got a international Licence before i came here . And then I Just look very carefully while my wife drove me for a week or so . The first step would be getting comfortable driving on the other side . Its hard to get an idea of the clear distance and the lanes Ur driving from the other side . So make him comfortable to drive on the other side . I started driving with in the second week . What we did was in the second week I drove my wife to do grocery shopping and she would tell me advance what i need to do next , Like who have the right away and how yield . In fact she keep telling me the little thing like round way thing , meaning how to enter the round ways while she was driving me . Stop for school bus and pedestrian . all these little things did made a lots of difference for me understanding the driving difference .

Driving on the freeway is different ball game . Speed is very important . I almost got a ticket in the second month of me being here for speed he he . so advice o that part is stay under the speed limit .

The biggest difference was driving a bike here . Their is a lots of respect for bikers which is totally different here .

Don't panic...As Meloveulongtime said, Mumbai usually gets it back the same day...but Delhi usually takes a few days. It took us 3 days for VFS to get my husbands passport back (we interviewed on a Monday, his passport showed up at VFS on Thursday). Once they get it back they will courrier it out that afternoon, or you can chose to go to VFS and pick it up, but you have to catch it before they courrier it out. It's a very short window of time...they usually receive them in the morning and out that same night after 4pm.

Hi Christera,

I had T-Mobile and also hated it. I had horrible service and would drop a lot of calls. I switched to Verizon and never had a problem with them. There is a bunch of plans to pick from. I have a Blackberry through them which has the tri-band on it so I am able to use it when I go over to India to visit my husbands family, but I do want to caution you on that! I got the "international plan" thinking that it was .30 a min to call India from here or call here from India. Well, the first time I went and used it over there I came home to a $460.00 bill! Seems the international plan only covers calling India from here not the other way around...so to call back home it was costing me 2.00 a minute!! And it also costs money anytime you open an email over there as well, so now I shut that feature off when I go so I won't be tempted.

What my husband and I did was got a pre-paid phone over there (actually we just kept his that he already had) and then anytime we go back to India we just put minutes on and use that phone. It's also a lot cheaper to call home using that phone...I think it's only like 5-6 rs per minute to call here...which is much better than 2.00!!!

~Jen

I was the one who Kaushalia is talking about that was also inerviewed, and I showed my US Passport outside and went right in with my husband (then fiance). Once inside they didn't ask me a single question about why I was there. When you first go in and go through the metal detectors you'll go into a faulry large waiting room. They will give your wife a ticket with a number (that's her number throughout the whole interview process). The woman at the door asked me if I needed a number and I said "no, that I was with him" and she was fine with that. You'll sit in that waiting area and wait for your number to show up on the board. Once it shows you move to another waiting area where they do the actual interviewing. Again, you sit and wait for that same number to come up. The first window will be just to hand them any additional papers and pay the visa fee. Then sit and wait for your number again and this time it will be with the interviewing CO. I went to the window with my husband both time and had no problems.

Now, I have heard that they have moved the Embassy or are in the process of it so I'm not sure if any of these details have changed, but like I said...no problem at all.

~Jen

Hi Rohini,

My husband (then fiance) and I went through the K-1 interview in Delhi back in March 2009. Just prior to our interview there were people that were having a very hard time with the Delhi consulate...lots of 221g's. So here's what we did.

We submitted every possible shred of evidence that we had for the 2 years we were together. Pictures, emails, phone logs, chat logs, letters from each of our parents saying that they knew about and agreed to our relationship, "Congrats on your engagement" cards from friends, the receipt for my ring, all of my plane ticket stubs, itineraries and copies of my passport with all of the stamps (I had lived over there for about a year for work plus traveled on my own 5 other times). Submit everything you can to VFS...if they give your fiance a hard time about taking all of it make sure your fiance insists. It's their job to take the paperwork, not decide what they want to take. Plus, you're paying them for it! Oh, and make sure it's submitted 7-10 business days prior to the interview (Holidays are excluded so don't count them).

As for the interview, I strongly recommend you get on a plane and be there. I flew back for my husband's interview not knowing if they would even let me in to the Consulate, but not only did they let me in...the interviewed me as well. They interview us each seperately (a little nerve-wracking because I wasn't expecting it) and basically asked us each the same questions and compared our answers. The questions were all about the time line and details of our relationship...very detailed questions about when we met, how we met, what we did each time I came there...what were the dates that I was there, what did we do on our first date, what did I order off the menu...stuff like that. If you want to PM me I'll give you the complete low-down. The interviewing officer actually told us that Delhi is a high fraud consulate so they take extra precautions.

Now, with all of that said, there have been plenty of people who have gotten their visas without the fiance/spouse being there, and there are some who swear that if they had known what they know now they would have gone for sure. It's kind of a toss up, but I wasn't willing to take that risk so I went, and still to this day believe that it helped 1000%!

I found through out this whole process that being prepared with too much info was better, especially when dealing with Delhi. If you have all of the proof of genuine relationship and are completley honest and sincere in your questions then you and your finace should be fine.

Like I said, PM if you have any questions or need any help!

Jen

Hi Karri ,

Good luck for your AOS . This process is not as stressfull as K1 process, so hopeing evry thing will go quickly

Moksha

Hi Everyone,

It's so good to see all of the quick EAD/AP approvals. My husband had his biometrics appt today...quick and painless. And I just got an email from CRIS saying that our case was transferred to CSC. From what I've seen around VJ that's usually a good thing...right? I think it means less of a chance for an interview, but what about processing timelines? Anyone have any idea how CSC is doing as far as AOS? Either way...it just makes me happy knowing that they have at least touched our AOS file!!!

Yup, we sent it USPS Express Next-Day and that's the address we used, and they received it no problem

Hi all - still getting the paperwork together, have a question for you all. When my husband (then-fiance) got his medical exam in Guatemala before he came, he got the Hep B, Polio, and MMR vaccines and the doctor gave him a DS-3025. I thought that would suffice, but I've seen where it is recommended to get it transfered by a civil surgeon to a I-693 (I think I have that # right, don't have my papers in front of me). I haven't called around in this area, I was just going to use Dr. Arnold so Josue wouldn't have to get another full exam. What all did you guys do????

Thanks!

We took our DS-3025 to a civil surgeon and had him fill out the I-693. USCIS supposedly will only accept the I-693, although I've heard of people submitting the DS-2035 without a problem, but I didn't want to chance it. When you go to whatever civil surgeon you pick make sure you tell them that your husband DOES NOT need another full medical exam. They will try because they want the money, but in the instructions of the I-693 it says that if you came on a K-1 and are filing AOS within a year you don't need to get another full exam. They should just look over his DS-3025 and transcribe it to the I-693. The Dr. we went to decided that Tarun needed another MMR booster and another Tetnus...even though he had one in 2007!!! It ended up costing us $220 for the visit

There's a list on here of Civil Surgeons and you can search by your state. I'll see if I can find it for you and post the link just in case you want to check it out.

Here's the link for the Civil Surgeon locator:

https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=of...office_type=CIV

Hi Everyone,

We got all three of our NOA's today!!! Now we'll just sit and wait for the Biometrics appt. Oh, and I also cannot see our case online...ours does the same thing that kiwiana's does Guess I'll keep checking!

Quick question for any of you who filled out the forms for your foreign national spouse - did you fill in the parts at the bottom of some of the forms that someone other than the person whose name is listed on the forms filled it out? I was thinking that this was only for people who use lawyers, but my husband isn't doing any of this paperwork other than just signing it because he doesn't speak English - do I have to fill out that part??? Thanks and should get this sent off by Thursday - my NOA dates will surely be June but I may just hang around here since I started here...if it's OK with you all that is

I filled out all the paperwork for my husband...we don't have a printer at home so I typed it out at work, printed it and just brought it home for him to sign. I didn't fill out that bottome part, I figured like you that was for lawyers.

And I say you can stick around here with us...no one will mind at all!

hi.we got our NOA1 on the 14th of January n we still have no news:( should i be worried?

No, don't be worried. Your VJ timeline gives an estimate of mid to end of June, so you shouldn't worry at all. The waiting is hard, just stick with it!

I received notification from NVC that application was approved and forwarded to embassy on April 14, 2009. My fiance has not received his packet or any thing yet from New Delhi embassy. Other timelines that I looked at didn't take very long to recivie the packet. I don't know what to do now. Any advise?

We went through Delhi and it took my fiance a long time to receive the packet in the mail. For some reason it took like 3 weeks for it to make it to him in Noida! We called DOS a couple times a week until they told us that the Embassy had received it, then we printed the forms from online (DS230 Part 1 and the Applicant statement is all you need) and mailed them to the Embassy. We had already mailed them before he even received Packet 3. Same with Packet 4, basically I called DOS twice a week and found out the interview date from them well before we received Packet 4!

Thanks! That makes me feel better. I was worried that they might have lost everything. Did you send anything else at this point besides the SD230 part 1 and the applicant statement?

Nope, that was it for Packet 3. The rest you will bring to VFS 7-10 business days prior to your interview. Let me know if you need anything...we are always here to help!

I received notification from NVC that application was approved and forwarded to embassy on April 14, 2009. My fiance has not received his packet or any thing yet from New Delhi embassy. Other timelines that I looked at didn't take very long to recivie the packet. I don't know what to do now. Any advise?

We went through Delhi and it took my fiance a long time to receive the packet in the mail. For some reason it took like 3 weeks for it to make it to him in Noida! We called DOS a couple times a week until they told us that the Embassy had received it, then we printed the forms from online (DS230 Part 1 and the Applicant statement is all you need) and mailed them to the Embassy. We had already mailed them before he even received Packet 3. Same with Packet 4, basically I called DOS twice a week and found out the interview date from them well before we received Packet 4!

Yes ma'am your name sure has changed! Has a nice ring to it! Have a safe trip home and just think...you are one huge step closer to this process being over and done with!

Talk to you Tuesday!

Hello my financcee visa was denied. What is the next steps for me is it just a sit and wait. Now my other question wil the denial letter from USCIS come via normal mail or email ??????

I received both when mine was denied. Email and snail mail. if your petition is still in your beneficiary's country, then the best thing would be to keep it there. if it comes back to the usa, then you are in for a long wait. my now husband and i decided that waiting was a waste of time for california service center, so we have gotten married. when i return, i will change my name and update all of my information, and we will file for the CR1. will let you know how it goes. good luck to ya

Kaushalia...what are you doing online!!! You're supposed to be honeymooning it up! Congrats on your wedding...I hope all went smooth and I can't wait to see the pictures when you get back! I'm sure you took tons of them! Send M our congrats!

I'll jump in and speak for my husband too (funny how us girls do that)...I'm the USC, he's from India and he came here March 30th on a K-1. I know he misses his family a ton...and his friends...some days I would swear he misses them more than his mom and sister. He used to do Sat night boys nights with them so not having that here is hard for him. And as much as I try I don't think I quite qualify for "boys nights!"

As far as food...we have actually done a pretty good job finding Indian grocery stores and cooking whatever he needs. Plus, I spent 10 months living over there and would travel back and forth every few months so my mother-in-law would load my suitcases with spices and rice galore! Now I think we're stocked for a very long time!

And I have to agree with Chelsey that not being able to walk out the door and hail a taxi (or rickshaw) has been hard for him. He has an international driver's license so he does drive, but we only have one car so if I'm working he's pretty much stuck at home all day. He's becoming quite friendly with Playstation!!!!

Hi guys ,

We just sent our paper in mail today , so lets hope for the best .

Moksha

HI Guys,

We are sending our AOS paper today . So lets see how long this take us . Game 2 start now

Thanks

Congrats!!! It's a long journey but so worth it

Hi H&A,

We went through K-1 so I'm not 100% sure if they will ask the same questions, but they asked my fiance for the timeline of our relationship (and me too...I was there with him for the interview so they interviewed us both). In talking about our timeline they asked him why we didn't get engaged sooner. He said that I was divorced and needed to settle some property issues (I was living over there at the time and couldn't sell joint property from over there), and he asked him if I had kids . He said no, and the interviewer went on asking him more about our relationship. The interviewer wanted very specific details of our relationship so make sure that your SO has all the specifics...knows your family, can identify them in pictures...can tell them specifically how you met, where you work, where you live and even things like where you went out on dates if you did.

It was not a horrible interview compared to what I thought it would be, but Delhi is a tougher consulate so you need to be overly prepared. As long as you have all the details then you should be just fine!

Thank you payxibka!

Hi Everyone,

We are currently in the process of filling out the AOS paperwork and are working on the I-765 for EAD. I was looking over the directions to try to find the answer to question # 16. I'm not sure if we should use (a)(6) because my husband came on a k-1 visa or if we should use ©(9) because we are applying for the EAD at the same time as AOS, or if I should put both (a)(6)©(9)?

Any help you could give us would be great!

Thanks!