WhidbeyGirl

VISA IN HAND!!!!!!!!!!

They nearly didn't give it us, but there was NO WAY in H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS I was going to leave the embassy without it.

First they told us they didn't have it, I said yes you do we were told it would be ready today, because our plane leaves tomorrow morning

then they said we didn't have an appointment, I said oh yes we do, see this little green piece of paper it says 28 September at 1400 that is TODAY right now this is our appointment,

then they told me to leave and call the consulars office, I said I'm standing here right now I will speak to someone here and now I am not calling

then they said you need to come back tomorrow, I said NO our appoint is today and our plane leaves tomorrow morning

then they said the woman who puts the packet together wasn't there, I said we were told it would be ready today at 1400 we are leaving tomorrow morning we need it right now.

then they said why can't you come back tomorrow, I said, OUR PLANE LEAVES AT 0700AM IN THE MORNING (do you think I could have been any clearer???) we cannot come back tomorrow we must have it TODAY!

With each reason they gave us I stood ABSOLUTELY firm and told I was NOT leaving without the visa. My husband said a couple times, maybe we should be patient and just come back tomorrow, I told him NO, they gave us an appointment for today at this time and I am NOT leaving. God gave me the boldness to stand my ground and refuse to leave. Finally they allowed us into the embassy and within 2 minutes we had the visa in our hands! Not only that the cover page on the envelope stated that the package was complete on 24 Sept at 4:30pm. I can't believe they tried to lie to me and tell me it wasn't ready!!!! I think I was a bit scary to the woman at the window on the outside of the embassy, she kept fumbling and calling different people LOL!!!!

VISA IN HAND!!!!!!!!!!

They nearly didn't give it us, but there was NO WAY in H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS I was going to leave the embassy without it. First they told us they didn't have it, then they said we didn't have an appointment, then they told me to leave and call the consulars office, then they said the woman who puts the packet together wasn't there. With each reason they gave us I stood ABSOLUTELY firm and told I was NOT leaving without the visa. My husband said a couple times, maybe we should be patient and just come back tomorrow, I told him NO, they gave us an appointment for today at this time and I am NOT leaving. God gave me the boldness to stand my ground and refuse to leave. Finally they allowed us into the embassy and within 2 minutes we had the visa in our hands! Not only that the cover page on the envelope stated that the package was complete on 24 Sept at 4:30pm. I can't believe they tried to lie to me and tell me it wasn't ready!!!! I think I was a bit scary to the woman at the window on the outside of the embassy, she kept fumbling and calling different people LOL!!!!

OH TO HAVE GOOD COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even like instant in the US. I nearly bought a cheap espresso machine to bring here and give my husband and his friends the knowledge of GOOD coffee, but it just wasn't worth it. LOL!!

I did eat bush pig when I was here the first time and it was very tasty. Shortly after that though all were teasing me about getting me to eat goat so now I refuse to eat any meat while I am here that I didn't bring myself Last night though his friend did sneak some shrimp in on me and I did not realize it until nearly all the rice was gone - LOL, I may live on an island but I DON'T eat purposefully eat anything that has lived in the water (with the exception of tuna in a can).

Congrats Whidbeygirl! God is awesome. I am so happy for you!

Thanks so much to all. Tomorrow we will pick up the visa and Tuesday be headed to the US!!!!!

CHILL girls!!! You both are making assumptions.

@topic:

My first trip to Senegal I brought pancake mix and mapeline to make pancakes. I also brought tuna and chicken in a can, beef jerky, peanut butter. I wanted to make sure I was getting protein. We only had a propane tank to cook on. This time around I brought muffin mix and husbands friend just has a coal oven. I brought Chinese food in a can, pasta mixes, cake mix, beef stew. I make a lot of things with eggs and irish potatoes that can be bought here. OH and I brought Velveeta cheese since it doesn't have to remain cold. I also brought several spices from the Dollar Store, my husbands friends love them! I reserved one of my check-in bags just for pre-made foods, things that are very good hot or warm, but can be eaten out of the can too. My bag was nearly 50 pounds.

Go through cookbooks and find things that can be made easily with things you can buy here, find no-cook recipes.

With all this talk about people suddenly getting their NOA2's well ahead of schedule (I'm one of them, though I waited 80 days), and nobody on this site knowing why, I decided to do some reading. Take a look at this:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Working-Tog...gration-Reform/

Obama's interest in immigration reform seems to be the primary reason we're seeing things speed up. They claim the backlog of background checks has been getting smaller, and that they're going to use "cutting edge technology" to get rid of much of the (redundant) paperwork. I can only assume (hope) this means everything's moving online, and once we submit our initial information we get some sort of "ticket number" we mail in with our evidence. This reform will also alleviate issues with immigration fraud (which, hopefully, none of the VisaJourney folks are engaging in).

Good luck guys, looks like things are going to get easier for future filers!!

Then explain why I got my petition approved in 58 days at VSC when Bush was president. Please? And that was considered "normal" at the time. Explain why the CSC has been running much faster than VSC since late last summer. Explain why CSC was cranking out petitions in 30 days back in January and now seems to have slowed. Was Obama only interested in petitions at CSC? And now he is interested only in petitions at VSC? The service centers have a long history of speeding up and slowing down and reversing which is faster for no reason they will explain, but most likely has nothing to do with background checks which normally take a few seconds. If your name comes up on a "bad guy" list they do a manual check, which we are told has been speeded up, not by anything related to immigration, but by improvements at the FBI related to national security. Immigration and K visas are a collateral beneficiary of that.

When VSC doubles their speed, from 80 days to 40 days...on average, not for a few isolated cases, they will be back about the same place as they were in Bush's first term. And no, I am not a Bush lover, quite the opposite. Only demonstrating the ridiculous.

There have been no changes implemented by Obama to speed this process. You are seeing a normal flucuation of timelines.

It is like this.... the weather here is much cooler than last month, must be Obama's global warming initiatives??? Must be. If this keeps up we may see SNOW within a couple months! Some people are even preparing to go SKIING if Obama keeps having such success!

Well you know he is proclaimed to be the Savior HAHAHAHA!!!!! Soon the waters will be parting and immigrants allowed to walk across.

As far as details of 2nd interview:

We got there at 1:45pm with appt at 3:00 and they told us to go away and come back at 3:00. We went back at 2:40 and they let us in. We were in the waiting room by 2:50 and there were 14 others there waiting. I was sure it would be a long wait, but by 3:05 they had called 7 of the people already, they were there just to pick up visas. Then at 3:10 they called us back to window 4. She swore us in and then said we would be interview seperately. Then she asked if I brought anything we wanted to add to the case, so I showed her the HUGE folder I had and told her what was in it. I attempted to push it through the window and she said she would have someone get it. Then she said for me to go sit down, I actually had to go back to the waiting room, seperated by glass doors. I know others have said they were allowed to wait in the same area and hear all the questions. I was SO nervous when they sent me out. I prayed he would get the questions right. She called me in at 3:30 the questions were:

What date we met?

Where did we meet?

What website?

Did we meet through a friend?

Are you absolutely certain of the website because your husband said a different one?

Do you have any siblings?

How many?

Does your husband have any siblings?

How many?

Did your husband propose?

When?

Are you certain he proposed?

When was the first time you saw him face to face?

Are you sure of that date your husband gave another date?

Can I see the stamp in your passport?

Does your husband visit his family often?

Will you travel to his country?

I answered the questions filling in with information she didn't ask for which actually was a good thing because it helped when it came time to explain our different answers. Then she told me she needed to speak to Moses again because there were discreptancies. I was certain it was over right then but kept on praying. I heard her reask the questions and he stuck with his answers, then she asked me to come back to the window. THANKFULLY when I explained how it could be confused she accepted my explaination. She asked when I was leaving the country and I gave her our tickets. That is when we went through the whole airline ticket stuff I wrote of earlier. She then disappeared for awhile and came back, she gave us a green ticket, she had us wait there at the window while she sent everything electronically and received confirmation of acceptance. She told us if there were any problems she would know by Friday before end of day (end of day here on Friday is like 1pm) Friday afternoon has come and gone with no call so all must be well and we will pick up our visa on Monday.

It is AMAZING to see the hand of God through our process. By all accounts we should not be picking up a visa, we should be preparing to appeal a denial. There is NO EXPLANATION but God!! We know for certain had we had the officer who first interview my husband in August we would have failed. It was God who placed her before us because the other officer was in the next window and took the next person, it was God who softened her heart and gave her the ears to listen to us completely. I have read of others who were not allowed to explain that their words were cut off. I had a boldness in me that normally I do not have with those in authority over me.

We compared notes afterwards and he was asked all the same questions.

Taj I posted on your other thread too - all is well girl your man will be in your arms in no time at all!

hello everyone, i just got back to work and i am still feeling so lousy. anyway they didn't give us any reason, didn't ask for any more documents. my husband was even willing to show more documents and give them all the stuff i asked him to bring. they didn't ask for the police clearance (pakistan police clearance) that we were instructed to bring again from our appointment letter. they didn't ask for my employment letter, my taxes, my pay stubs, my birth certificate...nothing. all they looked at were pictures of my husband and i and our son. and the pre screener just asked for some chat logs and call logs.

TO: TAHOMA: congrats to your wife on passing her nclex. i am a nurse myself, i passed last june and i am working now on a respiratory unit. new to work, over a month now...and loving it! thank you for your encouragement. i will get the number from my husband and ask them on monday right away!....

Taj - this sounds EXACTLY like my husbands first interview. Also given a white slip with no requests just stated need to process case more. The only BETTER thing for your husband is they took his passport while they did not take my husbands. The first few days of AP are the hardest, please believe me. Our AP was just 7 weeks, I pray yours will be shorter since they already have his passport. I believe (though cannot be certain) that your husband being a professional will help. My husband does not have beyond high school on record and his profession is hair stylist. I am sure in my heart your AP will be short and sweet - just as Betsy's was. Chin up girl, all will be well. Soon your sweet man will be in the US with you in your arms.

Wow this all amazes me, I had nothing but good experiences with DOS. Jessica and Sarah are the ABSOLUTE best over there, if you can ever speak with them, they will be VERY helpful. Then again also had great experience with the Dakar embassy, emails typically returned within 24 hours. I never did call them but never really felt the need to. Anyways, I am so sorry that y'all are struggling so with DOS, I pray you receive nothing but true and acurate information from this point forward - and that you always get Sarah or Jessica on the line when you call.

I think I have now posted this on all my threads so all will know, sorry if you are reading this a few times.

BLESS GOD ALMIGHTY even though we had TWO MAJOR descreptancies we were APPROVED!!!! GOD IS SO AWESOME!!! Husband told interviewer wrong internet site where we met and wrong date of meeting the first time but we were able to explain and the woman understood!!! NOT only that I showed her I have already purchased the plane tickets and she said, "We advise not to purchase tickets until visa is in hand." I said, "Yes I understand, but if you look there on his ticket I got a ticket for $140, I HAD to buy it!!" She said, "$140??? Tell me how to do that!" I told her I used airline miles but had to purchase 3 weeks in advance. She asked if I could change it, I said "I can but it wIll cost." She said we don't usually give out visas until Tuesday afternoon and the ticket is for Tuesday morning. I said, "yes I know we bought it being positive we would receive the visa." She said, "Ok I'll put it through now and you will have it Monday" GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

GLORY BE TO GOD you can remove my name!!

BLESS GOD ALMIGHTY even though we had TWO MAJOR descreptancies we were APPROVED!!!! GOD IS SO AWESOME!!! Husband told interviewer wrong internet site where we met and wrong date of meeting the first time but we were able to explain and the woman understood!!! NOT only that I showed her I have already purchased the plane tickets and she said, "We advise not to purchase tickets until visa is in hand." I said, "Yes I understand, but if you look there on his ticket I got a ticket for $140, I HAD to buy it!!" She said, "$140??? Tell me how to do that!" I told her I used airline miles but had to purchase 3 weeks in advance. She asked if I could change it, I said "I can but it wIll cost." She said we don't usually give out visas until Tuesday afternoon and the ticket is for Tuesday morning. I said, "yes I know we bought it being positive we would receive the visa." She said, "Ok I'll put it through now and you will have it Monday" GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

BLESS GOD ALMIGHTY even though we had TWO MAJOR descreptancies we were APPROVED!!!! GOD IS SO AWESOME!!! Husband told interviewer wrong internet site where we met and wrong date of meeting the first time but we were able to explain and the woman understood!!! NOT only that I showed her I have already purchased the plane tickets and she said, "We advise not to purchase tickets until visa is in hand." I said, "Yes I understand, but if you look there on his ticket I got a ticket for $140, I HAD to buy it!!" She said, "$140??? Tell me how to do that!" I told her I used airline miles but had to purchase 3 weeks in advance. She asked if I could change it, I said "I can but it wIll cost." She said we don't usually give out visas until Tuesday afternoon and the ticket is for Tuesday morning. I said, "yes I know we bought it being positive we would receive the visa." She said, "Ok I'll put it through now and you will have it Monday" GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!!! Finally get to fly home with your husband :dance: :dance: :dance:

If the flight home is like the flight here - there were so few people everyone had 3 seats to themselves!!

Congrats WhidbeyGirl! That is soooo great!

Did the lady say, "Oh, I completely understand! Men just don't remember the details!" Just kidding VJ guys!!! I couldn't resist...

I bet you're so excited!

By the way, Whidbey Island is one of my favorite weekend getaways!!!

LOL!!! You are so correct about men & details! I was SO worried when she said, there are descreptancies I need to talk to your husband again. I thought we were finished right then and there.

EXCITED doesn't even come close to emotions we are feeling right now!!

Whidbey is SPECTACULAR - the southend is the best though Well, Deception Pass is pretty grand also.

BLESS GOD ALMIGHTY even though we had TWO MAJOR descreptancies we were APPROVED!!!! GOD IS SO AWESOME!!! Husband told interviewer wrong internet site where we met and wrong date of meeting the first time but we were able to explain and the woman understood!!! NOT only that I showed her I have already purchased the plane tickets and she said, "We advise not to purchase tickets until visa is in hand." I said, "Yes I understand, but if you look there on his ticket I got a ticket for $140, I HAD to buy it!!" She said, "$140??? Tell me how to do that!" I told her I used airline miles but had to purchase 3 weeks in advance. She asked if I could change it, I said "I can but it wIll cost." She said we don't usually give out visas until Tuesday afternoon and the ticket is for Tuesday morning. I said, "yes I know we bought it being positive we would receive the visa." She said, "Ok I'll put it through now and you will have it Monday" GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TAJ!!!!!!!!!!!

BLESS GOD ALMIGHTY even though we had TWO MAJOR descreptancies we were APPROVED!!!! GOD IS SO AWESOME!!! Husband told interviewer wrong internet site where we met and wrong date of meeting the first time but we were able to explain and the woman understood!!! NOT only that I showed her I have already purchased the plane tickets and she said, "We advise not to purchase tickets until visa is in hand." I said, "Yes I understand, but if you look there on his ticket I got a ticket for $140, I HAD to buy it!!" She said, "$140??? Tell me how to do that!" I told her I used airline miles but had to purchase 3 weeks in advance. She asked if I could change it, I said "I can but it wIll cost." She said we don't usually give out visas until Tuesday afternoon and the ticket is for Tuesday morning. I said, "yes I know we bought it being positive we would receive the visa." She said, "Ok I'll put it through now and you will have it Monday" GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

I-130 Approved 22 Jul 09

NVC case # assigned: 12 Aug 09

Case completed: 01 Sep 09

Interview date:

:wow:

fastest nvc stage passed ever... just 19 days???

Actually think the record is 10 days, according the the LingChe guide.

I'm leaving my island in less than 8 hours. My flight doesn't leave for another 14 hours but there's not an ferry off the island early enough to get to the airport on time. So I'll probably get to the airport 4 or 5 hours early, depending if my son and I stop to get some breakfast. Poor thing has to wait for the first ferry back, will have about 3 hours and my truck doesn't have any heat. Love my boy . He even colored and highlighted my hair for me today.

I know as well what is it to live on an island...those who've never lived will never know... it's a real experience... I used to wake up at 5 am to get the first boat to go to school in Boston, and I was doing it for 2 years... now my classes are at night which makes things much easier

Anyway, just stopping by to wish you all the best luck in the world and I believe we'll all see the good news posted here in 4 days

Yes but I wouldn't give up Island life, I love it too much.

Thanks I'm sure I'll be posting good news on Thursday!

Our interview is at 8:00am Thursday morning Pacific Time, so if y'all think about it, say a prayer for us at that time.

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST 5 MORE DAYS! AAARRRRRGGGHHHHH WE ARE NERVOUS

Right there with ya!!! Ours is in 4!!!

Congrats reeses!

I am leaving my island in less than 8 hours and my flight leaves in about 14. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only a portion of it has migrated to the new design... That happened Friday afternoon.

Yeah, I noticed that. It looks to me a bid screwing the current design.

They should change everything at a time.

Easier said than done.

I had my interview on March,26,2009.The CO says everything looks good but she needs to do some AR and i asked her how long it will take? she says 2 weeks. i have been under administrative process for more than 5 months.

I got an email from the embassy to send my passport on July,30,2009.

I sent my passport on Aug ,2,2009 .

Every time i send an email to ask about my case status i got the same answer '' the case is pending consular officer review''

On Thursday Sept 17,2009 the Embassy called me and they asked me for a second interview on Sept ,27 ,2009 at 1 PM.

I know it doesn't sound promising sad

I want to know if anyone here had the same situation ?!!!

I thought that they asked me about everything at the interview .so what will they ask me about this time ?!!!!

I wonder why they told me to send my passport and now they need me for a second interview?!!!

Dose that make any sense at all ?!!!!!!!!!!

Mohamed

Do you know the times and days of the week they hand out visas?? I ask because our 2nd interview is on a Thursday at 3pm (they hand out visas on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3pm) I talked with Jessica at DOS and at first she thought it was VERY strange to have an interview in the afternoon she said she'd NEVER seen an interview in the afternoon. Then I told her the visa days and she said, "OH....... well then don't worry about a thing, everything is in order. Just be sure your husband brings his passport to get into the embassy." Now she didn't outright tell me that we are getting the visa but I could definitely tell by her tone and they way she said it that the interview is just to see me, maybe ask a couple of questions and then give us the visa.

I'm leaving my island in less than 8 hours. My flight doesn't leave for another 14 hours but there's not an ferry off the island early enough to get to the airport on time. So I'll probably get to the airport 4 or 5 hours early, depending if my son and I stop to get some breakfast. Poor thing has to wait for the first ferry back, will have about 3 hours and my truck doesn't have any heat. Love my boy . He even colored and highlighted my hair for me today.

I called DOS today and there was JESSICA on the line. Yes, she is great! I wish everybody would be nice like her over there.

She's GREAT!!!

Yes just one for the entire country of Nigeria

Husband also paid about $25 for PCC in Nigeria, got it in about 4 hours - no extra fee needed . He did medicals in Senegal so not applicable for you.