Benika

What do you mean by credits? I have a scholarship, and I do not want it to affect my scholarship.

If you file your taxes there are some things you can get tax credits for (this makes you pay less tax). The education credit should not affect your scholarship - it is just a tax break that you could get for any out of pocket education expense.

To anyone filing "Married Filing Joint" - be very aware that you need to report you total INTERNATIONAL income. If your spouse is making any money this need to be reflected on your tax return. You can re-claim any international taxes paid. "Married Filing Joint" almost always results in less taxes paid. So if possible - do the extra work and file this way.

I work at a tax office:

You need to file as "Married Filing Separately"

You will not be able to get some credits (EIC, Childcare, Education)

You will however not need any information about your husbands income (although you will still needs his Social Security number if he has one)

You can go to the IRS website: www.irs.gov

and look up the details about MFS

or I would visit a tax office (Like H&R Block). Most offices will answer your questions for free.

I hope that helps.

Some vaccines can be given at the same day but there will be others that are contraindicated due to interaction with other vaccines.

If I am not mistaken you do not need your vacinations to be done before your interview. (I know I did not) so they can be done once you get to the US too. Start getting them done as soon as possible though and remember it might be more expensive to get the done in the US.

I'm still waiting for my South African Police Report. I have found out it can take as long as 6 monhts. The reason I did not apply earlier is that its only valid for 3 monhts, and knowing the way these things work if I had applied earlier I would have had it in a week and then it would have expired and I would have had to do it all over again. I send the application on the day I found out I had my NOA2, so its been 7 weeks now.

Its horrible being this close and still not being able to finish the process. At least it seems like the Seoul embassy is doing interview within a week or 2 of you applying for the interview.

The only good this is that I thought I only had 4 months before I had to have an interview, but the embassy papers says that I have 1 year ... so now I van at least stop stessing about that.

I will definately wait until I have everything before I schedule an interview then. Even the medical. Thanks

Wow, I'm trying to think when's the last time we had a Korea person on this forum. I wish I could help, but the closest I've been to Korea is in my avatar (Incheon airport doesn't count). Maybe someone will come out of the woodwork.

I happened to see that someone posted they had an interview in Korea next week so I contacted them private and they said they were informed of their interview date the day after they applied for one and it was 12 days later. So I will make sure I have all my stuff ready before I apply for an interview.

The Korean embassy website says that they will let you know the appointment date 2 weeks after you apply for an appointment. It also says appointment dates can not be changed. How long did it take you from the day you applied for the appointment online untill that actual appointment date?

I am still waiting for my South African Police report so I dont want an appointment in the next month. I also dont want to wait a month to make the appointment and then find out it generally takes 2-3 months after you apply for the appointment untill you your date like with some embassies.

Thanks

Benika

Got my "letter" from the Embassy today (the Seoul embassy sends out an e-mail) I really want to schedule my appointment, but I am waiting for my South African police report and I dont want to trust that they will send it in the 21/28 days that they say it takes.

The checklist that the embassy send me does not include many of the things that other places say I should bring with to my interview. Non of the following: NOA1, RFE, NOA2, NVC letter, Copy of I-129 Package, New letters affirming desire to marry, Proof of ongoing relationship. I am planning on still taking them, butI am curious if they will want them. IF they need them I am going to be very happy I did some research, not only followed the embassy instuctions.

Good luck with the paperwork for everyone else too

We got our NOA2 - after checking my status online almost dayly last week (usually after a RFE it seems to take 2 weeks to get approval) with no change, we got the NOA2 in the mail yesterday. Very unexpected, but great news!!

I am very happy now I started the process to get my police reports. (The South African website says 21 days ... but we all know the difference between the website time estimate and the real time stuff takes)

Now I get to compile stacks and stacks of papers again ... such fun!

Just got a RFE. They asked for something we already send them.

My fiance has been married twice before. He send both the divorce papers. The first one is very long and detailed since he has 2 children from that marraige and it includes details of custody and things like that. The second one was a "do-it-yourself" divorce through the florida divorce court.

The official divorce papers is very basic, but it is the formal divorce papers as issued by the court.

We plan to contact the Florida courts to see if there is any additional paperwork we can send, but I actaully believe that they just missed the correct papers since my fiance just send our package as one huge stack of papers with no dividers of tabs.

I will update we have send the RFE back (and hopefully gotten our RFE)

We got out approval today. We contacted the court and they send us new Divorce papers (that looked exactly like the ones we send in previously and got the RFE for) then we send that, plus the mailing details, plus the invoice for the papers (only 4 bucks luckely) in.

Got RFE on January 13th, Send it back February 2nd, Got NOA2 on February 17th.

Just got a RFE. They asked for something we already send them.

My fiance has been married twice before. He send both the divorce papers. The first one is very long and detailed since he has 2 children from that marraige and it includes details of custody and things like that. The second one was a "do-it-yourself" divorce through the florida divorce court.

The official divorce papers is very basic, but it is the formal divorce papers as issued by the court.

We plan to contact the Florida courts to see if there is any additional paperwork we can send, but I actaully believe that they just missed the correct papers since my fiance just send our package as one huge stack of papers with no dividers of tabs.

I will update we have send the RFE back (and hopefully gotten our RFE)

GRRRRRRR... Got my RFE today ... they want something we already send them!!

They asked for a copy of my fiance's divorce papers, but we have already send them. We phoned the courts where it was issued and they told us the forms he send was the right ones. Now we are not sure what to do. 1: Assume they just missed the information in the package and send it again, or 2: pay to have new forms send from the court and then send that. Any ideas?

Benika - Dont lose hope. You are close here...I think you will get yours really soon. What was the RFE, may be there is something this group can give you pointers on...Thanks.

Tankgurl - Thanks. I hope things are getting stabilized at your end...Good luck

I dont have the letter yet, so I just know that a RFE is on its way to us. Its horrible since I dont know yet what is wrong so I cant start working on fixing it. It was dated the 13th so I hoped we would have it before the long weekend ... but nothing yet. I will post what it was as soon as we get it.

Just found out that we got a REF ... hope its something easy and fast! Its horrible knowing they looked at our stuff and if everything was right we could have had an approval. I cant imagine what they would want. I cant imagine what could be wrong. I had my fiance check and double check everything before sending it off.

I have not been on here for a while, but I have been reading the post.

Congrats to everyone who has been approved. I am hoping we will be able to join that club soon.

I am still in America. Since September approvals started to happen even before my vacation here was over I decided to extend my vacation rather than go back to work in Korea and then have to be there for 6 months before I could come join my fiance (and honestly I really really dont want to leave him at all)

I started collecting information for police reports and stuff. Having travelled all over the world and lived in 4 countries is great in general but horrible for all the information I need. Trying to find the adress of where I lived in England more than 10 years ago is not at all easy (and then they want a phone number ... really? My phone number 10 years ago is going to mean anything today?)

Good luck to everyone for the next step.

No touch or anything yet .. bummer. Congrats to everyone who is getting touches and approvals - good luck to everyone who is waiting.

I must say I am very happy now that I did not sign a 6 months contract for work back in Korea. It would be horrible to get our NOA2 before I even started the contract and I would feel to bad to just not do the contract after I said I would. Now I need to start gathering documents. I thought I would have most of January to get that sorted out, getting police reports are going to take a while.

I am safely with my fiance after having both a bus and an airplane breaking down during my travels (making my travels more than 48 hours!)

I missed Thanksgiving with him, but I am very excited about Xmas. It is snowing here in Colorado Springs - very beautiful

what part of colorado springs do u live at? we will live in fountain but the time i was there he was renting a house closed to fort carson, near Uncle Guidos bar...do u know it!? It would be fun if we live close!

We live on Peterson AFB. Its right next to the airport. I dont know the area near Fort Carson yet, we have not been out in that direction. But as soon as you are here or if you come visit we should meet up. Colorado Springs is all spread out so getting anywhere needs a drive in any case.

Someone grabbed my handbag walking in Korea one night. I happen to be talking on my phone at the time so they did not get that, and did not have much money in my wallet, but since I was busy sorting some stuff out I had my passpost in there. Ironically I had just gotten a new passport (filled up the previous one) and when I went to the embassy they just used the info from my old application to get me a new new one. (I was in shock for weeks that a goverment person actually made a effort to help me and make my life easier!!)

I had reported that snatching that night and even spend some time driving around with some policemen to see if I could spot the guy who had snatched my bag. But when I went back the next day to get a police report they would not issue me a printed one. Korea take great pride in being a very low crime country, and if they printed me a form it would go into the official records (official crime by Koreans on foreigner are less than 1% of the total crime in the country .. now I know why). In the end I had to stage a sit-in at the police office with about 10 foreigner friends and 20 Korean friends for them to give me the police report. (on a "only-in-Korea" note: All the Korean friends who came for the sit-in brought snacks and BEER! In what other country in the world can 30 people get drunk in a police station?) Eventually, after being at the police station for mor than 8 hours, they realized that we were not going to leave and the Chief of police of the City came and gave me a police report.

I came through a POE (in San Francisco) yesterday. It was really quiet, the officer had just come on duty and was in a chatty mood, so I ended up talking to him for almost 10 mins (Not really what I would have liked, I would have prefered to just do it in 10 secs and be done!)

He said one thing that I thought I would pass along.

Q: "Why are you coming the the US"

A: "Visiting friends and travelling."

He had no probelem with that BUT much later in the discussion I happen to mention that I am going to a friend's wedding during my time here. He actually went back and changed the info on my form.

Officer: If you are coming to the US for a specific social event always mention it. You could be traveling to any country in the world, but I like to know why you decided to come to the US specifically.

Better A would have been: "Traveling and visiting friends, my friend is getting married and I am going to her wedding."

He also said that if you had any special plans or tickets you should mention it: Eg: "I have tickets for Disneyworld."

I asked him about the fact that this is one day out of a 5 week vacation and he replied that it is all about why you made the choice to take your vacation in the US rather than any other country. I have never thought about it that way.

Hope this helps someone. Anyone heard anything similar ever?

Beni

The results should put to rest the pointless suspicions about the validity of some relationships. Corruption exists everywhere...and there should be measures taken to discourage it, but just because the chance for a scam marriage exists, doesn't mean that immigrant marriages should be regarded with suspicion. Stereotypes will always be around, but there should be little tolerance when negative stereotypes are openly expressed without the blink of an eye, especially on in immigration website like this.

Why should there be "little tolerance" for bringing up a subject that holds an element of truth and is, as one poster put it, "the elephant in the room"? Fraudulent marriages, including those in which only one party is privy to the fraudulent intent are very real, and I can think of no better forum for discussing them than, in your words "a website like this". Do you find it to be a hush-hush, taboo subject that we'd all be better to ignore, hoping it goes away while we bury our heads in the sand? An 'I don't want to talk about it, I might jinx myself' phenomenon?

The fact of the matter is that while most of us may be involved in marriages and proposed marriages that are based upon love, some of us are using others or being used ourselves as a means to an end: mere vehicles to the holy Green Card. If we want to break it down further, I think we can find logical safety in assuming that the greater the disparity between the standard of living in the beneficiary's country and that of the United States, the greater the likelihood of fraud. Likewise, those who hail from lands where the standard of living is comparable or better to that of the United States have a lesser incentive to enter into a fraudulent marriage with an American for the purpose of immigration.

As for "stereotypes", let's not forget from where they arise: basic truths. They are often greatly exaggerated and abused, and the effects can be unfortunate. But if I may be afforded the liberty to 'stereotype' stereotypes here, I'd have to say that all of them are based upon some element of truth. I don't think someone just woke up one morning and thought

"I wonder what kind of nasty rumors I can start about those Irish and those Americans...I know! I'll say that the Irish drink a lot, and that the Americans are loud and pushy!"

Rather, those stereotypes exist because the Irish generally drink a lot (though not all of them do), and Americans are generally loud and pushy (though not all of them are). More relevant, the young woman from an impoverished country who marries an American man 30 years her senior is stuck with, in many circles, at least the suspicion of personifying the 'easy Green Card' stereotype. Again unfortunate, especially if that isn't the case- but this stereotype comes to a lot of people' minds because still many others live up to it.

I have to agree here. Anyone that reads this site regularly has seen teary post of people who thought they were marrying for love untill the partner had a green card in hand and then suddenly all pretence of a relationship disapeared. So even on this level this poll did not just happen due to blind prejeduce.

I am safely with my fiance after having both a bus and an airplane breaking down during my travels (making my travels more than 48 hours!)

I missed Thanksgiving with him, but I am very excited about Xmas. It is snowing here in Colorado Springs - very beautiful

In about an hour I will get on the bus and start my journey to the states to visit my sweety. I am excited to see him, but also stressing about the POE ... Keep me in your thoughts so I have no problems.

I will be carrying everyone here who can not be with their loved one over the hollidays with me in my heart. Stay strong ... and you soon you will be looking forward to that long horrible flight too.

1: After my time here in Korea I have a lot of really really good friends in America. Both fellow teachers and mil. people. I am also really involved in re-enactments. SO I would have happily move to the states for a few year, find a job to pay the bills, and then after a few years move on to a new country.

I have a good pension plan and hospital fund back in South Africa that I pay into no matter where I live in the world. So I am not worried about illness or what I would do when I get to old to do what I am doing now. I even have enough savings that I could go a few years without working. Moving to the US would be to be near friends and to enjoy my hobby.

2: My fiance used to smoke. I would not let him do it anywhere near me and especially not anywhere near the kids. Luckily he decided to stop and has now been smoke free for 2 months. Smoke makes me sneeze ... badly. Me sneezing so bad I can hardly stand upright with my eyes streaming tears usually makes even the most hardened smoker stop smoking near me. But it also shows just how bad second hand smoke is for anyone.

The relationship is for love. The marriage is more for the greencard and also to prove that our relationship is out of love to his family. We're not big marrying types. We're more the type to cohabit for the rest of our lives. We looked into every single option out there in order to be able to cohabit. I even found a job at one point, in his area. The problem was how long the "unskilled worker" visas are backed up. The people who were willing to hire me weren't willing to wait months or even years (sometimes 3 years or more!) for me to get an unskilled worker visa. Even if I finished my degree, my area of expertise isn't on the "list" for one of the other visas. We looked and looked and looked. Finally, we decided that getting married was our best bet. It took us months to warm up to the idea and then he "re-proposed" once we were attached to the idea of marrying for more than just being able to live together.

Ditto.

I'm in the middle.. I guess you could say I'm marrying him for a green card because it's the only way to live together. The only other option is a work or student visa, and they're too limited.

We just want to be together.

Ditto.

If there was any way for us to be together that did not include marraige we would jump at it. We also seriously looked into other options, but really there are not any. He is also mil. so its a double wammy for us. Without us being married I cant live with him onbase (cant even get onbase really).

I am amused watching a good friend of mine right now. She wants the white wedding, ring, white picket fence ... man optional. She would marry about anyone just to get married. I am the opposite. I have always been a total free spirit travelling the world. I would be happy just to live with Paul for the rest of my life without a ring on my finger.

Personally I think a lot of American marry way to quick. I have had more than one friend tell me that they "knew" they wanted to get married after a month ... and then see them getting divorced after a year. But its a cultural and legal thing. A relationship that does not include marraige has no rights. Some good friends of mine in the UK has been together 20 years, has 2 kids together, and maybe one day when they have money for it and "if they are sure it will work out" they will get married. They also have basically the same legal right than a married couple. This would be impossible in the US.

So yeah, I am in a relationship for love, but I am getting married for a green card.

When I met my fiance his next posting was going to be Italy and I went: "Hells yeah, I would marry the devil himself to go live in Italy for 3 year" then life happened, and Italy did not happen and I found out I would need to move to America and I went: "Ahhhh #######! You mean I have to give up exotic international travel to go live in AMERICA?"

But honestly I would live in a hut in Africa with him if that is what was required.