Bob and Patricia

And the real reson I'm posting is I want you to notice my status and signature because we have officially filed for Removal of Conditions. Oh, must add that to the VJ timeline too. Yay us!

Yay you indeed!

Thinking it's odd we're posting in a 2009 thread when we're on the cusp of 2011... oh well it's a place to meet and keep tabs on each other. So I'll be the 1st to say Happy New Year everyone!

Bob and Pat.

Greetings and felicitations fellow UK VJ peoples.!

We've been lurking in the weeds here watching the goings on. Congrats on babies, jobs, driving licenses and everything else good that's been happening in life.

Nothing major to report here. Pat's kids came to visit in August and we had a vow renewal ceremony since her daughter-in-law was pregnant when we got married last summer.

We're here in England now for the holidays. Manchester looks quite lovely with a few inches of snow. We're staying with friends as they are the only ones with a spare room.

Merry Christmas, whatever the greeting for Boxing Day is, and Happy New Year!

Bob

Your wallet or billfold go inside your purse, silly girl!

LOL thanks Nic. Pat keeps insisting that you put your money in a purse and your purse goes inside your handbag.

We just put Pat's family on a plane for Manchester. We're both a little misty-eyed here but it was a wonderful 10 day holiday. Except for Skype, she has not seen her kids and grand kids since July of last year... and, she got to hold her ten-month old granddaughter for the first time.

We stayed in the Chicago area the whole time, but there were a lot of new-to-Pat activities. The house is *unbelievably* quiet now as we sit on the deck with some Gin and Tonics. (she turned me on to them last May in London after her interview)

See you all later, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this G&T and watch the sunset.

Us

Hello everyone!

We have news for you all too....we are expecting!

Congrats you two! Sounds like the side effect of quitting med school and reducing your stress level.

Bob and Pat

LOL, the way this thread is going, it'll be Christmas before somebody posts again, so I won't hold my breath waiting for trip ideas.

Well not quite Christmas but close enough. If you're looking for some fall colors Nich, I'd be inclined to do the Smoky Mountains in October. I went there 30 yrs ago with wife version 1. The trees all look like sugar drops on the sides of the mountains.

And since everyone else is jumping in with status updates I'll add ours. We had a lovely 1st anniversary. I took the day off from work and we went to a local resort and lounged around by the pool all day. Afterwards we got dressed up and had dinner out.

Pat's family is now here visiting for 10 days. The house is full with 6 adults, 2 kids and an infant. Our house only has 2 bedrooms so the overflow is sleeping in our pop-up camper. This Saturday we're having a wedding-vow-renewal-sort-of-ceremony. We have a full day of garden party planned with ceremony, dinner and party. This will be the first time the whole extended family met, her kids and grandkids, my kids, my sister with her crew, and my parents. We also have some friends coming in from Michigan and I'm thinking they will be sleeping on the living room floor Saturday night. Anyone else that partys too hard will most likely be set up in tents in the back yard... whooo hooo looks like a crowd for Sunday breakfast.

Pat has not gone job hunting yet, but with all our remodeling and garden cleanup (I was a bachelor here for 6 years), she's been quite busy around the house.

Take care everyone, hugs all around!

Us

...just a quick hug to everyone! I didn't mean to neglect checking here, it's just that there's been so much to do and sort out.

Grats on the job Daymo! Also grats to those who got their green cards, good luck to those job hunting, and and and...I hope I haven't left anyone out. If I have, love to all!

:: runs away! ::

Magpie.

Ditto. With 50 hour work weeks, continuing home remodeling, and my parents health problems, time is definitely at a premium.

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.

Bob

Nich, your time in Oxfordshire sounds wonderful, I'm envious!

Everyone else, hope you are doing well and enjoying this time of the year in the USA.

My hubby and I are pretty busy, with new job for hubby and medical school for me! I read up here everyday, but if I don't get to reply, now you all know why

Take care, sending lots of beautiful sunshine (minus the icky humidity) to you all!

Sounds like a lovely holiday Nich. We're going to Manchester for Christmas this year... first time we've been back since Pat arrived Last July.

Good luck to both of you in your new ventures Marm. And don't send too much of that sunshine away. When Pat arrived here I told her we'd have long hot summers. If you recall, last summer was one of the coolest on record here in Chicago.

Bob

Hello Magpie, nich nick, bob and pat,

well had my interview today and i was wondering why they called us, it turns out the doc left something off our medical.. so we have to get that notated and sent off. But I am APPROVED , and should be seeing the card within three weeks. Awesome!

Oh and we were late, by about 10 mins, because we didnt find his birth cert. However the very nice lady did not even look at any of our evidence, she asked us the rudimentary questions, have i ever been a member of a club ( i was thinking "what, Sams club"??)etc. and then she asked us about how we met... which was all a precursor to your doctor didnt fill out the i-693 properly.

So with this its hopefully all done for the next 16 months...cooolio.

now to get a job...

will be training to be an occupational therapist in the next year, so i'm excited...its getting better... definately not as grumpy as I was ...

Thanks to everyone for their help.

We love the word approval around here. Congrats!

#### it, let's ALL move to Alaska!!

Looked great from 35,000 feet when I flew between Chicago and Tokyo.

Afternoon all. Just thought I'd drop in on you and say hi.

Since last we spoke, I have:

Got a FOID card

Got Illinois firearms certification

Sooooo, I'm gonna get me a shooter. I decided I needed a hobby; shooting is going to be that hobby. Cool, huh?

Welcome to shooting sports in Illinois.. possibly the most firearm unfriendly state. But, I won't hijack this thread with political ranting, Soooo, get some training, be safe and enjoy shooting.

Bob

<back to lurking mode>

So did you file Married Filing Separately? 'Cause seriously, if you filed Married Filing Jointly, you have to report his income. Wish you would have said you needed help. I walked Bob and Patricia through it.

Damian - - You're a STAR

Walked and talked us through it. Nich is truly a VJ treasure.

Damian, glad you're finished with the paperwork, sorry it was under these circumstances.

Bob and Pat

My husband was approved at his AOS interview today! Link here for experience: MARM's hubby AOS.

Way cool Marm, and congrats from Pat and I!

Bob and Pat

Is anyone interested in this thread? If so, I can start updating. Anything I saw through today I tried to update. If you would like me to add/change/delete, just reply to this thread. I am using this format:

vj name: Names of couple if want with (USC or UK location) - where they live in the US

Sure add us

Bob and Patricia: (Bob USC, Patricia - Manchester England) SW Chicago Burbs

I can walk you through TurboTax. H&R Block is clueless on international and immigration. They messed up a bunch of people last year. I used TurboTax Basic last year, the cheapest version around $24ish. I always buy and install it on the computer. I find it works better for me. It will do all you need. Last year was our first year married and first year in the US, so did the international thing using only Basic. This year we're just a regular couple with no immigration or foreign income to report.

Nich, you're a VJ treasure. (I keep repeating myself)

Bob

Tony and I are in Atlanta, Georgia. We'd love to meet people in our area.

Amanda,

Try http://www.meetup.com/britsinatlanta/ We got hooked up with a group here in Chicago that meets monthly. It's been a good time and very helpful to Pat as she settles into her new life.

Bob

Happy birthday, Mama Nich lots and lots of love to you!

Magpie.

Nich's birthday??

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday chief researcher of the K1 and AOS and EAD, and life in generallllllllll.

Happy Birthday to you,

Much love from Bob and Pat

Now officially in the USA, would be interested in meeting anyone near the West Palm Beach area

Welcome to the states West Palm.. nice place. We spent a portion of our honeymoon in the area..

Kathryn

My wife died intestate. The only life insurance policy she held was at her workplace. Her eldest daughter is the named beneficiary (she made that arrangement shortly after the child's birth in 1991, and never got around to altering it). I am the beneficiary of a small 401K fund, due to there being no other named beneficiary.

With regard to the affadavits, I'd sooner get them from the friends Amber and I met and socialised with as a couple, along with one from her brother. I think that will be more than sufficient; I don't want to put the kids through any more hassle.

Yes, I guess I can do that, but surely it becomes wholly irrelevant as evidence now that Amber has passed? Or am I missing something?

Like a few others here, We only just found out. Our condolences go out to you Damian and, to your wife's children.

I'm not sure about the others on the forum, but this thread is a wake up call to me to make sure I've got my insurance and 401.k beneficiary forms taken care of. Our bank accounts are joint, but the house which I purchased before I even knew Pat remains in my name. The only way to change that is to re-finance .

Nich, you've always been a treasure for this group and from what I've been reading here, you continue to be so. God bless you.

Bob and Pat

Hi Everyone,

I'm right in the middle of filling out all of our AOS forms, getting over jet lag and organising our wedding and i'm getting so confused.

Please can anyone give me a clear answer....

I have the completed DS3025 from Knightsbridge. Do I still have to get it transcribed by a civil surgeon? I've read on some threads that I do but some that I don't.

Also what about the TB skin ####### test...we didn't do that in london do I still need to do it?

We'd really like to file next week so I appreciate any help.

Amanda

We only filed a copy of Pat's DS3025 from Knightsbridge.. didn't have it transcribed by a civil surgeon. Figured if we took a hit with an RFE then we'd get the transcription.

Your mileage may vary,

Bob and Pat

hi all!

I had my interview of AOS last week. It went really well, the interviewer was really nice.. even started to help look for a job for me! can you believe that..I get my card soon..

Im on to the next hurdle trying to find a job!

Congrats Miss G, and good luck om the job hunt.

Howdy! I am home from the hospital. I'm very sore from the surgery but it's always nice to be back home.

Glad to hear you're back home where you belong. Enjoy the holidays!

Bob and Pat

Hi all!

My momma flies in tomorrow for a couple of weeks so I will be offline.

So I wanted to say Merry Christmas to one and all

E

Merry Christmas Ellie, enjoy the holidays!

Bob And Pat

Hey Marm, congrats on that long overdue POE.... I may send a marching band to O'Hare's terminal 5 to greet you

Bob

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome back!

I had some questions:

1) My fiance and I plan on entering at POE together, meaning we will be on the same flight into Chicago. For those that don't know, my fiance got his visa in hand in London on Nov. 12 and we took a trip to Pakistan Nov. 16 prior to his POE in the USA, so both of us will be entering Chicago for my fiance's POE in Chicago on Dec. 26.

We wanted to know, do we enter together or seperate?

And what forms do we need to fill out on the flight? Does my fiance fill out the white I-94 and each of us fills out a seperate customs forms, or do we fill out one customs form?

Is it unheard of to enter as fiance/fiancee together at POE? I am worried about it causing complications...my fiance's visa was issued in London but the reason that my fiance and I made a trip to Pakistan prior to his POE in the USA is because his mother and father are not well and because his immediate family will not be able to attend the wedding so we decided to visit them prior to the wedding here in the USA.

2.) About the I-693 medical forms, is it fine if my fiance submits his DS-3025 from Knightsbridge in London (medical completed in week of Feb 2009) and medical vaccination records from a normal doctor in Pakistan to Dr. Arnold? My fiance did not have his K-1 vaccinations completed at Knightsbridge in London so we were planning on getting his vaccinations done in Pakistan (because they are cheaper) and then we submit both records to Dr. Arnold. Is this possible?

Or does anyone have suggestions on how to get vaccinations done cheaper in Illinois?

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions/advice!

I feel like we are WAY behind because of our trip to Pakistan!

hello, first of all.

well you can both enter together, that certainly is not a problem, i think bob and pat did just that. the I-94 form you get on the flight, he fills it out and takes it to the non us citizen line. make sure however that you do not go in the same lines together, though you might want to wait with him, the us citizen line is far shorter and faster than the non US one, especially at chicago, and you chose a doozie of a day to re enter. Though you may be lucky.

Dr. Arnold is retiring as of last week, you cannot get him to transcribe any vaccinations, there is a list on this forum of civil surgeons that will subscribe, and there is one in Chicago I believe.

I hope that was helpful.

Pat flew in on her own and I paced the waiting area. I wanted to fly out and bring her back but couldn't justify the expense.

Depending on the day, (and I haven't seen any pattern) the Non-US line can be pretty long or short. But if you get through the line before your fiance, you can start dragging your luggage off the carousel.

Good luck!

Green card received today!! It was one day shy of our K1 N0A1 anniversary. Not sure what we did to get through the process so quickly... maybe it's our um ah, mature status. B)

In any event, godspeed to everyone else here.

Semi-off topic: We had an early Christmas party/dinner with several other Brits on Friday night. Chicago has a pretty active expats group on meetup.com. Also got some more tips on a few other markets in the area that may stock Pat's comfort food.

Really off topic: The kitchen remodeling is about 90% done. (I wonder why the first 90% of any project takes 90% of the time, and the remaining 10% takes the other 90% of time.) Waiting on counter tops/sink, range vent hood, and dishwasher yet. Still on track for being done before Christmas... better be, we're hosting dinner this year.

Bob and Pat