AnnexoxShay

Hi Guys I see a few new faces lurkin' Sorry Ive been MIA for so long but as you can imagine lifes gotten rather hectic ....

As usual nothing can go smoothly ... I tried to apply for my SSN and they told me I couldnt until after Shay and I were married and so after we returned from our honeymoon we went to Le Grand got caught in a blizzard only to be told by the guy that I could have applied for the SSN before the wedding ... We're like but we called and spoke to such n such... his like, I dont know why she told you that but yeah .... So I had to apply for it in my maiden name because the marriage licence wasnt registered yet so now we have to make the 2.5hour drive again just so we can apply for it in my married name .. Im just waiting for them to say they cant do it until I receive the one in my maiden name ....

Friday past we went to the court house and thank goodness the marriage licence has been registered finally and we were able to get a copy stamped and signed for $3.75 so I can start getting a few things in my new name! Like a bank account etc ... unless they want a SSN.

Ive spent the better part of the morning looking at AOS papers and I had flashbacks of what it felt like to filling out all the K1 papers and I've managed to give myself a headach yet again ... nothing ever changes

Apart from the inconviniences that have me in a panick everything is going fantastic.... Its taking a bit of getting used to living in a small country town because it is soooooooo small but surprisingly Im finding everything facinating ... I love the deer and the elk and all the masses of birds that Ive never seen before .. the other day a hummingbird managed to fly into the house and needed rescuing .... The local are all very nice and welcoming although I was rather taken aback when the convinience store clerk said ' I see you made it back ok' I was like 'Ummmmm from where' thinking she had mistaken me for someone else .... 'from Reno' she said ... I just looked at her and said 'Ill never get used to everyone knowing my business' ....

The funniest thing to date happened a couple weeks back ... Shay and I had gone into the neighbouring town for some groceries and had bought lunch and gone to the local park to eat ... the park has a pretty pond with ducks and there was a little otter playing so I was telling my new 4 year old nephew (who I adore) about it and the little so and so started mimicking me ... 'Otter in the Water' I sat there gasping, he put on the accent and everything ... its bad enough his father (shays brother) makes fun of my and calls me british but a 4 year old? but it really was funny after I got over the shock of the nerve! so I tickled him and gave him a big kiss and told him he was just tooooo cute and he then informed me that he wasnt cute, big tough guys were mean and ugly

Our honeymoon was awesome!! .... we spent one night in Winermucker which was 5hours drive away then the next day we travelled another 3 hours and spent 2 nights in Reno and then headed up to Lake Tahoe for another night ... we were going to drive the 9hours all the way back on the return trip but Shays mother called when we were about 3hours away and told us a storm had hit and so we drove another couple hours and spent another night and headed back the following afternoon ... We both wished we could have stayed in Tahoe longer and are planning to go back, I mean Reno was fun but OMG I wish we had spent the extra time in Tahoe it really is a beautiful spot ...

Anyway reality is starting to set in and the panick of getting the AOS stuff together ... My poor honey has an ear infection but has to work 12hours today because his boss is a MOOOO but thats another story but he did have the Memorial Weekend off and we hit the yard sales and got a chest of drawers and a few other bits and pieces for the bedroom ... and on Saturday w went up to the flea markets in Sumpter and stopped of at a couple more yard sales ... Sunday we rearranged our bedroom and on Monday we finished bringing in the stuff from the garage ... So today I decided I wasnt doing a darn thing!

Hi Guys! Sorry I havent had a chance to pop in earlier but its sure been crazy around here!

The trip went ok ... I nearly missed the flight from Sydney to San Francisco and was the last to board!!!! mainly because I had 2hours connecting and they loaded the plan way to early .. thank goodness I was to lazy to go hunting for the train and ended up catching a taxi!

The flight itself was ok and met a nice lady to keep me company and yap to in San Francisco for the 4.5 hour wait ... her flight was a couple hours after mine and she gave me a hug and wished me well when I caught my next flight to Boise....

Getting thru immigration was a total breeze .. it took no more then 10-15minutes and it almost felt like something wasnt right but I got my I-whatever so no drama ....

The flight to Boise was on a tiny little flight and the woman sitting next to me was a crabby cow that pretended was asleep and wouldnt even look at me ... to that point everyone was very friendly but honestly I was so nackered by then I really didnt care if she wanted to talk or not .... LOL Shay was already there and waiting for me but I was in such a daze I clear missed me and he had to walk right up to me before I saw him ....

The couple day stay in Boise was really nice ... Thats until I discovered my luggage I had sent ahead with Jetta hadnt arrived! United Airlines apparently kept my luggage in the Sydney Airport for an entire week and so we had to head home and then do the 3 hour drive back to Boise to pick it up!!! as you can imagine I wasnt impressed!

Anyway a week later I was able to get it and the customs guy is like put down the value is $200 soo I didnt have to pay the customs fee soo I was happy about that ... I still had to pay the $25 handling fee for United though, which I thought was rude since they misplaced my stuff to start off with .. Arrrgh.

Apart from that, I get on with Shays family and theyve all been nice .... the people around town that I met are also nice... the country side is gorgeous! and I keep meaning to go out and take some pics before the snow melts ... The weathers been gorgeous at around 30 degrees except yesterday and today which is 13 degrees and Im freezing my tooshy off!!! Qld winters average around 15-18 ... Ive also been having trouble with my Astma and have been nasally and congested .... Im not sure whats causing it but I think its from the wood heating around town and theyve had a couple fires and been also burning off some another thing is the food colourings ... I need to take a bit more careful not what Im eating me thinks .... The supermarkets are amazing ... I cant get over how cheap things are in comparison ... Selections and options are 10 fold .... Cable drives me nuts, I cant believe you can have so much channels and have nothing to watch LOL .... I have however been watching My big fat redneck wedding as an incentive of what not to do LOL ...

Annie Ive missed you too darls, things must be getting close for you guys?

Cham good luck with the big day ... we still have a ways to go with the plans ... we have our marriage licence and have ordered the wedding cake soo far ...

Anyway must head off and do something .... Im still trying to organise my rubbish, the garage is stilll full of house stuff and Shays books ... I dont know where its all going to go but I've been working on organising the walking bedroom closet since yesterday and Im nearly done ... Still have a box of my Miscellaneous to sort thru ... Arrrgh ...

I SO SCORED OMG OMG OMG ..I got his ticket for...drum roll pleaseeeeeeeee 578 bucks! I about fell over!

WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO

Congratulations on getting your visa ... we got our ticket for $730 inc flight insurance which was either $40 or 50 but it was worth it since they were none refundable tickets and it covers a few other things too ...

Anyway Im off guys .. Ill see you all in a week and half ... Take care and try not to stress to much ... there is an internet cafe near mums so Ill try to go there and post if I have a chance ...

HUGZ

xoxox

Congratulations Annie! {{{{HUGZ}}}} pretty amazing feeling when you actually have that visa in hand isnt it?????

Congratulations to you to Hampster!! Im not sure what the answer to your question is thou, sorry.

Good Luck Kai and Cham, we're thinking of you! {{HUGZ}}

Arrrrgh, I am ready to drop, Im waiting for mum and her husband to come pick up the last of my stuff ... tomorrow Ill have to finish cleaning and hand in the keys.... this morning it hit me 7 days and I felt like being sick!!!

I dont know if I mentioned it but Shay rented a house a street away .... Shays mum lives with him and the little house is just way to small for 3 adults ... Shays looked at several houses the last few months but hadnt found anything suitable .... last week da mummy was going to give to move out of the master bedroom and give it to us because the small room is to small for 2 but we felt really bad about taking her room and Shay heard about another house that was available and he went and saw it ... Initially he wasnt going to rent it till I saw it but honestly it was 2 good to pass up!

Its still a 2 bedroom but the rooms are bigger, they both have walk in wardrobs where the old house had limited wardrobe space ... this one has a coat closet, a bathroom linen cupboard and the dinning room has floor to ceiling cabinets ... not to mention a seperate garage, green house, fenced in yard for the dogs ... front veranda and back deck... the only negative in our opinion was the lime green carpeting, but thats why god invented rugs

So my poor buby is busy moving and trying to finish before I get there ... welll he wont finish everything but least the furniture will be in and the kitchen and bedrooms will be done...

but we used the new form...i asked on here and they said the new form should be okay his interview is tuesday...our monday...i did not have it noterized

NOW I Am freaking out

Oh Relax relax!! I also sent matt the new form which did not need to be notarized and everything was fine!! If they ask, well then tell them that the form you downloaded from the USC site did not have to be notorized according to the instructions...

Im sorry! I dont know which forms we used, I didnt realise the new forms didnt need notorising .... but Annie is right! stop stressing! Oz isnt a high fraud country if anything USC are in most cases better off moving to Oz so its not likely many Aussies would be going thru this torture for a greencard you'd seriously need to have rocks in your head to be doing this for anything other then genuine love for your fiance .. Like Im seriously not getting much less on unemployment then Shay gets working 40 hours a week, we have more or less free schools and medical, whatever schooling isnt free is subed by things like HEX and Tafe is subed by having a healthcare card and because of my health care card I dont even pay for dental not to mention I only pay $5.20 for the same medication that is going to cost me around $200 in the US ... so stop stressing Kai will be fine and dandy and he will get his visa tomorrow....

If any papers arent in the correct order the first person he will see will go thru them and stick them in order in my case it was a very pretty and very pregnant american girl who was as nice as pie and she kept telling me that she didnt think there would be any problems because everything looked fine ...

{{{HUGZ}}} all the best to you both ... cant wait to find out how you went ... I think Ill be here for one more day, I was planning on going to mums on Tomorrow but I think Ill stay here tomorrow night to because mum has to work Wednesday morning and I dont want to be stuck alone with her monster (husband) ....

Cham your the USC ... Kai doesnt have to provide evidence of what he has in his bank account or what assets he has ... they dont care and wont take his income into consideration only the USC has to prove that they can support the beneficiary...

Far as noterising forms goes ... When shay got his done the person noterising the papers stamped the bottom of the page and signed where the stamp was ....

The order should be as things appear on the checklist...

Again Original Documents are primarily the benificiaries... Youll have to provide Kai with W2's, tax returns, pay stubs and other things requested in the Affidavid of support forms...

Its wonderful that you have such strong faith and its going to help you thru this very tedious process but god only helps those that help themselves... so I suggest you gather as much evidence as you can particularly since your fiancee is from the phillipines .... download the forms you need for your pack 3 and start filling them out and gather all the required documents ... Also hang out a bit in the reginal section of the forums and make sure you know what extra requirements that are needed for the phillipines as they need to get as the phillipines consulate has a couple extra requirements....

Good Luck with your journey

Moved to Moving Here and Your New Life in America forum as post concerns documents needed when moving to the US.

Google MARRIAGE LICENCE *STATE* ...... I googled Marriage Licence Oregon and the first link was http://www.weddingvendors.com/marriage-lic...-states/oregon/ so do your state and youll get all the info you need for your state ...

Good Luck!

Thanks to everyone's help, and following the guides on this website, Syelvia's visa got approved with much less hassle & stress than I thought.

She now has the visa in hand, which I guess is a sticker type thing for her passport or something like that. She's probably sleeping with it under her pillow, hahahahaha.

So now we're looking at flights for her to come out here next month (from Indonesia).

1st thought was to book her a 1 way ticket, as I'd expect that to be cheaper.

But then I started wondering if she would run into complications getting out of Indonesia, or worse off, getting into America, if she didn't have a return flight scheduled within 90 days, since the fiance visa is a 90 day visa, and to US immigration, just because she is coming here, in their eyes she doesn't get to stay unless we marry.

Based on that logic, are we supposed to book her a round trip ticket???

One way is fine. It may be cheaper to buy round trip (no kidding!) and not use the return flight, but check prices

US customs does not care how she returns if you don't get married

Yup, getting a return can be cheaper by several hundred ..... I was eyeing some tickets for 2-3 weeks before my interview and they were $1700 return AU$ vs $2400AU$ for one way ... after the interview I went to book and because of the holidays coming up the airline raised the same exact tickets up by $400-500 (I was eyeing several) ... Shay ended up finding me one way via San Francisco to Boise for $730 ... sooo look at all options it can make a huge difference even over a day or two...

Hey guys,

How are you guys? hope all is swell, i just recieved the letter of Notice of Action. Now what do i wait until they reach My fiance in Bogota Colombia in a few weeks or months letting her know from her consulate when the date for her interview is ??

Congratulations Which NOA did you get?

The steps are as follows:

*Initial petition - I-129F

*NOA1

*NOA2

*NVC notification that papers been forwarded to the foreign fiance/fiancee's embassy

*foreign fiance Receives pack 3 instructions

*(They go get medical/police check)

*They send in pack 3

*They receive interview date/time and further instructions of what they need to bring to the interview

Process takes about 7months in total ... sometimes a little less and unfortunately sometimes longer but about 7 months is normal time to expect from start to finish ...

Good Luck!

ahhhh FFS my saga with DIAC (department of immi & citizenship in Australia) continues. If you think USCIS/NVC is bad.. DIAC is SO MUCH worse

We are at the second stage removing conditions stage of my husband's visa and they (in Canberra) have set me around in circles since I first contacted them in early February. It takes them ages to respond to an email (much longer than their 5 business day target time) and every time they give incorrect information or neglect to respond to all my questions. I still have unreplied emails from over 3 weeks ago - this is from both the general email line and from the Manager of the branch (who sent me an apology from when I made an official complaint about them sending my documents to Western Australia instead of Washington, USA!). I still haven't received those documents yet by the way. My last email was to ask how I can have my case transferred to Washington DC .. I guess they don't know so they are just going to ignore it?

But basically since the first stage of our visa was lodged outside of Australia, the rules say the second stage can also be processed outside of Australia (Canberra has confirmed this also - they just haven't told me how). Since it's taken Canberra so long to respond a few days ago I sent an email to the Embassy in DC and pretty much begged them to take the case so that I don't have to deal with Canberra anymore. Long story short they got back to me today, again with incorrect information and said they can't process it for us.

WHY are you people sooo stupid!?

Arrrgh ... Im sorry they are giving you the run around ... I hope its sort out sooner then later ... sooo annoying! beyond me how they can mistake Washington with Western Australia... ijits!

I am so sorry to hear about this Kaffy!!! If they would just work well from the beginning they wouldn't have upset people complaining! Geez... I hope it all works out for you!!

Anne...everyone was very nice and courteous according to Matty.. so all good! Wow you have so little to go! The 14th you'll be hear!!! yay.. Matt will be coming the 26 if the L-rd wills... Just 3 weeks to go.. I hope it goes by quick and painless... it's been too long!!

Hope all the rest of the crew is doing well!!

OMG I am starting to freak out now!!!!!

I went to mums and sorted out my Jetta stuff yesterday ... I had to repack a few things because things have been taken there in stages and they need to be picked up on Tuesday .... Well I had budgeted for 40kg and have ended up with 64kg!!!!!!!!!

I also went to the doc yesterday and got my REF 24 for my Diabeties and Cholestrol tablets and my creams and I asked her for a prescription for ventalin because Ive been really chesty since I was sick (much better thou) and she forgot to include it in the prescription ... my meds are going to cost about 80-90 buckaroos thank god to health care cards because otherwise it would have cost me several hundred but off cause Ive been soo brainless that I forgot to budget for them ...

The fridge and bed are in the paper and Ive had like 2 calls soo Im fretting about not been able to sell them! and really needing the money ....

My house looks like a mini cyclone has hit it but not one fricken person has offered to help but they alllllll want things from me!!!

I dont know about everyone else but with 10 days left Im not feeling like Im leaving anything behind if anything its reinforcing to me that I made the right decision to leave .... Amazes me how selfish people can be sometimes .... its kind of like when someone dies and everyone fights over who is taking what but no one wanted to go visit the poor old soul before they died ... Everyone is saying the right things and going thru the motions but stuff the fact that your half killing yourself doing everything on your own... Bahumbug!!

Gary no disrespect intended because more often then not I find I agree with you on a lot of your posting .... but Ive followed this little conversation between the three members and I find it a little disturbing .... I see what your saying but what you said originally to what you ended up saying was a complete 360 ...

There is nothing wrong with a woman taking a traditional role .... Its a role I am choosing for many reasons ... age, biological clock ticking away, being seperated from my guy for so long and having a desire to spoil him and look after him etc etc etc .... but there is a big difference in wanting to do this and being expected to do this .... In turn he will and has done the same for me ...

I dont know if where we come from makes a difference ... countries like Oz, NZ, Britian etc arent that different but with some of the other countries the woman are sometimes treated like servants .... making certain comments gives the impression that the petitioner is only bringing these woman into the US to fullfill those duties ... I dont think you guys realise how nasty and degrading some of these comments come across sometimes and it is offensive to the females .... I realise we cant change how people think or even how they post but taking consideration on how things are worded would be nice ...

Tallcoolone ... I dont even know how to respond to you .... One of my sisters married a Phillipino things were once sweet for them to (for about 5minutes)... then he showed his true self amazingly around the same time as his family started to migrate over ... funnily enough same sort of thing happened to several other people Ive known who married phillipinos ...

I distinctly remember this one day when I had gone over to go shopping with her and she HAD to heat up his lunch for him because the poor petal couldnt walk 5 feet and stick the plate in the microwave ... She even took the heated dish to him and placed it in front of him ... got him his drink and napkin and he just sat there staring at her for several minutes while she proceeded to get ready to leave ... we noticed him waiting and asked him what was wrong and his reply was 'Something is missing' so we looked at each other and realised she had forgotten the fork .... at this stage I had to say something and he wasnt very happy but yep you guessed it she went and got him the fork ...

I feel this way too. I am from a European/Canadian background. I went through schook, can hold my own in the work force yet I would love when we are stable to be able to stay at home and take care of the house and kids. The funny thing that I find with some people (which makes me understand a bit where Gary is coming from, though I don't completely agree with what he writes) is that if I tell some of my girlfriends up here they are like "is that what YOU want to do?" I am all pro-choice, it matters not to me if you decide to work or stay home, but I do hate the people who make you feel bad for choosing one over the other. I love that my fiance is willing to let me stay at home as well for my health if we are stable enough to afford it and that he wants to make sure that if I am working that I am not over stressed or over worked. That is a true caring partnership. I wouldn't want him to struggle when I can be helping him.

Thats exactly how I feel to ... part of me feels bad because my fiance will have to take on the role of provider but his reply was 'Im not bringing you here to go and work, but if you want to it is your choice' .... and taking that into consideration if he is going to be the bread winner then my job will be our home ... its a case of give and take, how could you possibly expect the person out there working 10 hour days to come home to cook, clean and fold laundry I couldnt in good concious ... and the fact is we are both in our late 30s and we both want children ... its hard to work and run a more traditional home .... granted my mother did it but she also wasnt planning on living in a small town of 1000 were the options are more limited and therefore you dont have the luxury of negotiating your work hours ...

... I am also all for womans rights ... but to me it means a right to choose .... I have also found that a lot of my female friends look on at my choice to have a more traditional home as a sell out like I personally am doing something to stunt the growth of womens rights .... believing in womans rights doesnt mean we all have to get out there and burn our bras and be in a constant battle over whats right or fair etc ... we should have a right to choose how to live our lives ....

I want to raise my children and bake them cookies and be home when my husband gets home from work with a nice home cooked meal ... if thats how I choose to live my life who am I hurting??????? but to be told thats what I have to do, no way Jack!

But having these view doesnt mean I dont think for a moment that the roles can be reversed and the woman work and the men stay home ... Ive known some stay home dads and they do a fantastic jobs .... Honestly, Ive known some men that take care of the family and the home better then the wives!

There is NO women's liberation. Or very little, though some small amounts seem to be creeping in, very small amounts. For example, women can BY LAW be paid less than men for the same jobs.

I have no problem with this, and wish it was the same in USA.

Are you kidding me?

Wow....horrified this kind of ignorant, self important attitude by backward men like you is still in existence.

No it's the Self Liberated, Everything is About Me attitude that screws up a good woman.......

If it was all about me, I'd be making him move here.

You make sweeping generalisations that are damaging. Women are capable of being devoted wives without accepting standards that make them slaves to their husbands. I love my fiance. And i get pi**ed at any one who tells me that because I am capable of earning as much as him and more, I am not being a "good" wife. In fact the liberation of women has also to some extent liberated men. And now, because I am educated and capable of contributing to the house hold, both sexes have more choices. Dont you WANT the choice not to have to fulfill this role of always having to be the strong one? Relied upon one? The one that everything rests upon? I want to be a team with my future husband, be able to work while he goes back to school, know that I have his back all the way and if something goes wrong with his job (which it has right now) I am there to take the slack while we work everything out.

I dont want to spend HIS money. I want to earn my own. It's so frustrating to see men want to keep us as housewives in one breath, but moan that we spend all the money and dont adequately contribute in another. You see that all the time on these boards.

I am glad he wanted to marry someone who is capable of challenging him on every level. The only thing I am no challenge to him in is cooking (do you WANT to get poisoned???) and chess.

Hey, here's hoping all the liberated women around your wife dont rub off on her. I hope you are keeping her hidden away from the world as it is today.

I will only say this, about that. I lived in England also. I married a Ukrainian. What do you think?

I think that was a chickenspit sort of agreement with Tallcoolone's Neanderthal views? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave.

Вы имеете право интерпретировать это, поскольку ваша жена позволяет Вам.

No, dude. Equal means equal. She doesn't have to 'allow' me a thing, nor I her....you should strive for more of that in your relationships.

Dave (obviously, hahahahaaa)

Obviously.

It is normal for there to be misunderstanding by disenfranchised liberated women. First I will note they support "freedom of choice" unless someone doesn't choose like them and then we should try to be more like them instead of respecting the "choice" they propose to support. Nothing new there.

Second, there is the opinion that not needing a spouses permission is somehow good or that I even indicated such a thing. I never indicated I didn't need her permission. I presumed you also did. Sorry, my mistake. I was wrong. I forgot. Permission is not necessary from a spouse who has surrendered all her power as a woman by being "equal". I mean really, dude, who cares what they think? Who needs their permission? Right? I mean they are the same, one of the guys right? I mean who does she think she is? Right?

In fact a traditional wife, such as mine, is extremely powerful and you can bet I ask her permission or consent, especially on anything having to do with her responsibilities. It is because she cares and I respect her work and what she takes control of. She cares and respects what I do. We are most definitely "equal" in our areas of responsibility. I think "tallcoolone" would agree. Traditional wives are not for beginners, best to practice with liberated women first.

Giving oneself to another, and that is what this is, nothing more, nothing less. It is making a conscientious decision to offer another all you have to give, body and soul, it does not lessen your power, freedom or abilities. Being a wife and mother hardly takes away from her masters degree and she still speaks four languages, she gave none of that up. She has a husband who would walk on fire for her and jumps to please her as she does to please him. Heck, I even sleep toward the window in case a bear comes, I will be eaten while she escapes. How devoted can I get!?

Enjoying being a feminine woman, I mean really enjoying it, hardly diminishes her womanhood. Personally I think so-called liberated women are insecure and more so every day. They realize they surrendered the very things that made them powerful. Too smart by half...hoist on their own petard. Oops.

Now me, I am sure not going to tell you that you need to be more like me, it is a learning process and will take some time, sounds like you have a good teacher. And I am not going to suggest that your relationship needs to be more like ours. Far be it from me. I feel no need to try and impose my beliefs on others, I am a liberal like that really. I support everyone's right to make a choice for themselves. I would just never choose someone for my wife that had surrendered her womanhood and had nothing to give me. Oh, I am sure that sounds selfish, not so. I mean it should be mutally beneficial, right? I have something to offer her and she has something to offer me. Or else why not stay single? If I wanted to do everything without asking permission, I could have stayed single. There was no one around that cared, wy get married and still have no one that cares? I gained much by being married and gave something up, is is what happens when lives truly join. In my opinion. Those two separate lives end and a one begins. Sounds stupid I suppose, bt I truly believe it is the meaning of marriage and I am not even a religious guy, it isn't about religion, it is about devotion to each other. And I have my wife's permission to say so.

PS: My wife would just have read what I wrote and responded in Russian, or English or Ukrainian or Italian. She doesn't need the online translation wizard. See, she kept all that wonderful knowledge. Do you think neandrethals spoke 3 or 4 languages?

Gary no disrespect intended because more often then not I find I agree with you on a lot of your posting .... but Ive followed this little conversation between the three members and I find it a little disturbing .... I see what your saying but what you said originally to what you ended up saying was a complete 360 ...

There is nothing wrong with a woman taking a traditional role .... Its a role I am choosing for many reasons ... age, biological clock ticking away, being seperated from my guy for so long and having a desire to spoil him and look after him etc etc etc .... but there is a big difference in wanting to do this and being expected to do this .... In turn he will and has done the same for me ...

I dont know if where we come from makes a difference ... countries like Oz, NZ, Britian etc arent that different but with some of the other countries the woman are sometimes treated like servants .... making certain comments gives the impression that the petitioner is only bringing these woman into the US to fullfill those duties ... I dont think you guys realise how nasty and degrading some of these comments come across sometimes and it is offensive to the females .... I realise we cant change how people think or even how they post but taking consideration on how things are worded would be nice ...

Tallcoolone ... I dont even know how to respond to you .... One of my sisters married a Phillipino things were once sweet for them to (for about 5minutes)... then he showed his true self amazingly around the same time as his family started to migrate over ... funnily enough same sort of thing happened to several other people Ive known who married phillipinos ...

I distinctly remember this one day when I had gone over to go shopping with her and she HAD to heat up his lunch for him because the poor petal couldnt walk 5 feet and stick the plate in the microwave ... She even took the heated dish to him and placed it in front of him ... got him his drink and napkin and he just sat there staring at her for several minutes while she proceeded to get ready to leave ... we noticed him waiting and asked him what was wrong and his reply was 'Something is missing' so we looked at each other and realised she had forgotten the fork .... at this stage I had to say something and he wasnt very happy but yep you guessed it she went and got him the fork ...

Has anybody had any problems with a K1 Visa because of a big age difference between the couple? Being the woman way older than the man.

Yes and if u were smart u would stop it now ..........he wants the green card !

If there is a big difference -- ten years or more -- yes, based on the experiences of friends of mine, he wants the green card. Then he will disappear from your life.

Really???? I have some close friends his 27 and shes 42 and he would cut of a limb for her .... You only have to look at them and you can tell they are mad about each other ....

Im personally not big on the big age difference thing but if people are happy with that arrangement and they are within ages that it cant be misinterpreted as one taking advantage of the other who are we to judge or suggest they are in the relationship for a greencard ...

i am the female forereigner, and i just moved back to france from the us in december as my other visa expired,

i know all about work permit and such, that isn t my worry

my question is , is it better for me to bring a letter of my future employer stating she sill hire me as soon as im moving to the us and legal to work ?or it really doesn t matter since my fiance is the one petionning?

They dont care if you work or not and they definately dont care how much $ or savings you have, they only care how much the petitioner earns and if he is employed .... Im not working atm either and when I filled in the papers for pack 3 when I got to those sections I put down Volunteer Receptionist as I was volunteering at a Salvation Army Relief centre at the time (actually yesterday was my final day) ... I proceeded to fill in the address phone number etc as if I was employed .... I wasnt sure what to put but I figured that a voluntery position was not any less important just because money wasnt exchanged and it didnt seem to make any difference infact it was never mentioned ... at my interview I was asked what I intended to do when I went to the states, I said start a family but at that stage you could say you would like to return to your previous line of work as a (whatever) when you have your proper work authority ... but keep in mind that can take a little while to come thru...

i think the hardest part for me is to know that someone gets to decide if i get to be with my angel or not, that same person can skip my file just because he/she doesn t like my face ...lol

it s like we have no control over the situation, and that is what is killing me inside, so the longer the waiting is, the hardest it gets...

i know it s hard for all of us, i also had to separate from my fiance to apply for the k1...and it s like half of my heart got taken away...and i dont complain, but everydayis a inner struggle....

i really do hope we get approve fast, but i do realize that there are so many applications and that the only thing i can do is wait....

let s just support each other and help each other thru this very difficult time, i am sorry to say but there are a few people here that are just plain cold and rude in almost every post...and most of us are allready stressed, or sad enough as it is, we dont need more negativity...

xox

I feel soo bad for guys like you ... being apart is soo horrible but to be seperated is even worse ... I know what Shay and I went thru when he had to go home after 5.5 weeks I cant even begin to imagine how hard it would have been if we had been together for months or a year and then had to be seperated to do this ... Our saving grace was the daily calls and only because he works nights .. if he had worked days it would have been almost impossible because of the time differences...

I think a lot of people start getting nasty because they get sick of hearing the same thing over and over ... Its so unfair I had to wait 5minutes blah blah blah ... its hard for everyone, I know its worse for some because the usual 7 months becomes a year or more but its rarely them that complain but rather the people whose timelines show a month or two ... and its like OMG get over it! and you just know tomorrow its going to be something else and the day after something else again ....

The other thing that kind of bugs me is people who want to keep ringing and ringing ... everytime someone rings about some frivolous thing it holds things up, ya know ... and its like OMG look on the timeline and youll see that your waiting period is within the realms of normal ... Sheesh I was constantly stressed about how long it was between stages I wanted everything yesterday but I/we would look on the timeline and realise we were either on time or sometimes a little earlier then the suggested time .... The only time I became vocal about the delay was when I thought I had waited way longer then normal to get an interview time and when I looked at the consulate section I realised I had misread/misinterpreted what it acutally said and I did email at that point and got an interview date shortly after... but I dont think it had anything to do with the email, I think if I had let it go another few days I would have got that interview date regardless...

We have been living apart now for over 6 months and it's tough but when I come here and read that others have been living apart for.....YEARS, I have to stop complaning and just get through this. I am a little older than most of you and I have learned, the hard way, complaining about how things are never helps. I do it sometimes, but it usually makes me feel worse. I have filed at the VSC too.....I have noticed the times keep getting pushed back....complaining is just going to make us feel worse and make the time go by slower. IMHO - get busy doing something and quit dwelling on it. Just saying.....

I havent seen my guy for 2 years and 9days now and I miss him like crazy! Its been a long haul but we finally got there ... 11 more days and Ill be able to give my buby a huge smoochy hug thats whats kept us going knowing we had each other for support ... we never thought we would ever get here ... I admit it, Ive chucked tanties but it didnt get me far ... Ive been mad, Ive cried, Ive screamed and even thrown stuff in frustration ....

For all those waiting, hold in there you will get there ... try staying united and just be there for each other ... It seems like it will never happen but before you know it you'll be planning your weddings and your trips to be with your loved ones ...

Good luck everyone still waiting

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Thats the happy dance!!! I just got a call from Matt!! We got Approved!!! Thank the good L-rd!! Baruch HaShem!!!

Well like most, they didn't ask him for ANYTHING! LOL ... he took a huge thick folder of evidence and nothing was asked for... the officer that interviewed him ask him when he was planning to get married he said may 31 (which is officially our wedding date!! woohoo!!).. and then towards the end ask him if he was going to marry me... my poor babe is half deaf and didn't understand the question instead he said no! LOL!! he said the officer gave him a puzzled look and when he finally repeated the question he was oh YES YES YES!!! haha found that too funny!

Anyways I am so relief and just bursting with JOY!!

Thanks to all for all the help!!

Wooohoooo.... Im soooo happy for you!!!! Congratulations to you both .... How did Matt go? was he nervous? I found the staff really friendly and so I was pretty calm ... Did Matt feel the same?

Hey there friend!

He was a bit nervous! but then calm right down! Everyone was really friendly Matt mentioned that the officer that interviewed him was the same that interviewed him and denied his B1/B2 visa.. he was a bit nervous about that but mention he was super friendly and everything went great! Absolutely no hassles!! I am so excited!! I'll get to see him iin 26 days!! and we marry may 31!!!!

Hey Darlin'

Im so very happy for you both Im glad it all went well, the same guy prob interviewed us both and he was really nice, actually all the people I came in contact with were except the security guys... swear if they smiled their whole face would have cracked!! ... the great thing is our times are soo close to each other which is way awesome we'll more then likely be doing our AOS at the same time and Cham to .... so we can bounce of each other ...

Actually Kai's interview is in like 5days ... Unfortunately Ill be off the net by then but Im going to go to the internet cafe up the road every couple days to read my mail et so hopefully Ill find out how it all went ...

@Annex – still have a few more months to go but definitely will post pics when the time comes…no, havent thought of any names as yet..its soooo difficult to pick names lol!

Your wedding plans sounds nice – pls post pics when you can..looking forward to seeing them.

Hey MzMo Yeah Ill definately post some pics I tend to be a little paranoid because I hate being overweight but Ill post a couple ...

Shay and I have already picked baby names Ronan Kristian if we have a boy after his father who passed away when Shay was 15 and his mum whose name is Christine ... And if we have a little girl her name will be Natasha Marie after my grandmother whose passed away and my mum ... were also playing around with Micah (One of shays grandfathers) and Shayla Storm ... Shayla because its a play on Shays name and Storm which is my Internet User name in all the forums I've visited for years and years and ironically Stormy was one of Shays great grandfathers names ...

Dont be silly, who cares! i cant wait to see them though...not long before you're outta here!

Wow, you guys have the baby names already! Thats good though, we still havent even figured it out ...

yeah who cares ... I dont have much of a choice everyone wants pics ... I went to say goodbye to the ladies at Salvo's that I do volunteer work with earlier today and they all threatened to do me harm if I dont send pics ....

I know its funny we have baby names already but my family are greek immigrants and its traditional to name our children after our parents .... but my sister just had a baby and called her Mariah (shes my little angel ) and her first little girls middle name is Calista Maria soo Im kinda let off the hook besides Ive always loved my grandmothers name and since I was a little girl I wanted to name my kid after my grandmother .. her name was Anastasia but I prefer Natasha.... And Shay always wanted to name his after his father and mother and had wanted Ronny Christine ... When he told me I said what about Ronan, his fathers name is Ronald and I really dont like that name but Ronan is lovely and Ive always loved Kristian ... but the main thing is theyre healthy a name is just a word we learn to respond to ...

I have a question for you all about your wedding dates.....how far in advance did you set your dates? I'm mailing off our packet tomorrow...and I just don't know if I should risk setting a date too soon. I've tried estimating how long the process will take but that seems too risky for me to book vendors and end up having to reschedule. I don't know what to do!

thanks...

~ Dee

Hey Dee ... We set our wedding date about a month ago ... We set 2 dates the 2nd of May and the 16th, we both prefered the 2nd but we thought we should have a back up just incase but I wasnt thrilled with the 16th as thats the date (different month) I got married to my ex 16 years ago ... and the rest of the month was pretty booked up as Shay is a Chef and they had a couple big bookings and also his mothers birthday and the anniversary of his dads death which are all in May ... which meant we would have to wait till July unless we could squeeze in a day in June and neither of us wanted to wait that long! His boss wasnt very happy but we came to a compromised and shortened our honeymoon from 7 days down to 5 and we were able to keep the 2nd as our wedding date ...

Were not having a formal wedding soo the only thing we had to book was a pastor and he was flexible and the park but thats officially closed til June (I think) and so the town was more then happy to accommodate us ... thats the great thing about being in a small town, everyone knows everyone and is more then happy to be flexible to help you out, mind you instead of inviting people they are actually asking to come themselves! ... Im not even going to wear a wedding dress instead I found a nice blouse that is silvery grey and Im wearing black slacks .. Im going to do something with my hair I spose and have a little bouquet ... we're going to keep everything very simple and on our first anniversary were going to renew our vows and have something that is more wedding like ...

Actually when you get a chance you should put together a timeline because it will be easier to be able to tell you when to expect what .... We used the flow chart thats available here somewhere and it was pretty spot on for us ... give or take a week or two ....

@Annex – still have a few more months to go but definitely will post pics when the time comes…no, havent thought of any names as yet..its soooo difficult to pick names lol!

Your wedding plans sounds nice – pls post pics when you can..looking forward to seeing them.

Hey MzMo Yeah Ill definately post some pics I tend to be a little paranoid because I hate being overweight but Ill post a couple ...

Shay and I have already picked baby names Ronan Kristian if we have a boy after his father who passed away when Shay was 15 and his mum whose name is Christine ... And if we have a little girl her name will be Natasha Marie after my grandmother whose passed away and my mum ... were also playing around with Micah (One of shays grandfathers) and Shayla Storm ... Shayla because its a play on Shays name and Storm which is my Internet User name in all the forums I've visited for years and years and ironically Stormy was one of Shays great grandfathers names ...

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Thats the happy dance!!! I just got a call from Matt!! We got Approved!!! Thank the good L-rd!! Baruch HaShem!!!

Well like most, they didn't ask him for ANYTHING! LOL ... he took a huge thick folder of evidence and nothing was asked for... the officer that interviewed him ask him when he was planning to get married he said may 31 (which is officially our wedding date!! woohoo!!).. and then towards the end ask him if he was going to marry me... my poor babe is half deaf and didn't understand the question instead he said no! LOL!! he said the officer gave him a puzzled look and when he finally repeated the question he was oh YES YES YES!!! haha found that too funny!

Anyways I am so relief and just bursting with JOY!!

Thanks to all for all the help!!

Wooohoooo.... Im soooo happy for you!!!! Congratulations to you both .... How did Matt go? was he nervous? I found the staff really friendly and so I was pretty calm ... Did Matt feel the same?

Matt is at his interview at the moment, it's 9:05 over there, he got there at 8:25.... I just had to post! I'am waiting and anticipating nowwww!!

Good Luck!!! I know everything will go well for you both but regardless, know Im sending lots of good vibes to you both {{{{HUGZ}}}}}

Initially, Shay and I met at a writers fan forum where Shay had just become a member ... I had been a member for about a year and was posting stories I was writing and Shay and I started chatting when I volunteered to read some of his work ...

Within a very short period we became friends and started chatting everyday on yahoo and after a bit we started talking on the phone ....

Its been 4 years and 4 months since we first met and we have several hours daily contact ... we soon got bored chatting on yahoo and now just talk on the phone but I agree with the others you develope a much deeper relationship when all you have is a phone or messenger to communicate with .... Your able to disguss or open up to topics/past experiences etc that you never would have if you had met in a more conventional way ...

In person, unfortunately we only got to spend 5.5 weeks together ... There were many reasons why we were unable to meet earlier or for longer .. main reason being Shays was caring for his elderly (94year old) grandmother who had Alziemas .... When we did meet it was like we always had known each other, there were little things to discover like habits but overall I think we had both got a good picture of what to expect thru the verrrrrry many hours of yapping ... The other bonus for us was the fact that we are very similar personalities .. this can be a bad thing as people can clash but in our case it worked in our favour because not only do we have similar personalities we have similiar values so tend to have very similar opinions on various scenarios/subjects ...

Ummm since its an early morning wedding were having a brunch .... and were having crossants, meat platter, fruit platter, other types of brunch style nibbles and champaigne fruit cocktails .... Our cake is going to be a 2 layer marble mudcake with chocolate and white chocolate curls *drool* ... the gardens have a gazebo and a picnic area but were going to need to hire some chairs for the people who are there to witness the wedding ... although I have been to a wedding in a park and they didnt have chairs ... What do you guys think? Chairs or no chairs?

We had an early morning wedding too.. no chairs either but the ceremony itself was pretty short.. only about 20 mins, then we did photos and were done within an hour total. Depends how many guests you are having and how long it will be. Also if you have some older guests it may be better if you did

your cake sounds yummmmmy.. can I come? I'll bring a gift

Here's a photo I took today. The cherry blossoms are blooming!! yaay.. spring's around the corner

the more the merrier .... Actually a couple family members wont be able to come so we have to see what happens in the end and decide ... I know Shays planning on inviting some of the great aunts and uncles at this rate Im scared it will literally be the immediate family and none of the ones that live in other states will be able to come ....

The cherry tree is gorgeous!!! Only 2-3 days ago they were having snow and 2.1 degree celcius .... I think Im going to need to rethink what I need to repack into my main suitcase .... I was kind of thinking warmer days, personally ...