gmjdmj

Hey Guys!

I have gotten a lot of great response in reference to the reunion! I have already started a group email of those who are interested. For those of you I have not heard from, please don't hesitate to send me a PM with your email address if you are interested.

The visa has FINALLY been delivered! Just wanted to let everyone know. David never got a text message of the delivery time and date but the courier website did show the date and it was in fact correct. For our time line, it was 2 weeks and 2 days from the interview date to receive the visa back from the Embassy...

Had you checked it already today? I am trying to work out if the courier's site is updated throughout the day or just once every 24 hours. I believe it is the latter... it is not a "live" tracking system like UPS or FedEx.

I had checked the website shortly before posting. I am not sure how often they update it. I am just glad to see atleast that they have it in their hand and that there is plans for delivery.

Sorry...I just found the answer to my own question but thought it would help others in case you were wondering... You can authorize someone to receive your visa on your behalf from the courier. You will need to leave your id with that person along with a letter authorizing them to sign for it.

I wanted to see if there is anyone that knows if David will have to be there to receive his passort/package from the courier or can his parents receive it for him as long as he leaves his ID with them?

I checked on the courier website just a few minutes ago and it shows that the visa is to be delivered tomorrow 12/3. It does not show a time but just a date. David has not received a text message as of yet with more specific details but was told that sometimes they will not send them. I will post once it has been delivered. From our timeline it is 1 week and 2 days from the interview date for delivery. That could be because of the holiday that caused the delay and may not be the case for everyone.

Has anyone had an interview / visa approval in London recently? How long did it take for your visa to arrive by courier? The embassy is saying 3-5 business days but I was wondering whether that ties with actual experiences?

David interviewed and was approved on 11/24 a week ago and we still do not have the visa in hand and have not received any indication of when that may be...we are hoping to hear something this week, but who knows??

Hey Guys! Since there are a lot of interviews this week, I wanted to give you a frame of reference on when visas are coming back. As you all know, David had his interview a week ago today. He still has not received a text message from the courier service letting us know when it will be delivered.We have also checked the tracking number on the courier's website and there is no information available there as well. I called DOS today and was told that they usually show when the visa has been printed and according to our case number, it has not. The system shows no issues or anything pending just the interview date of 11/24. I can only assume that they are backed up or the holiday caused a delay as well. I am hoping in the by the end of the week he will have it back but at this point, there is no way to know...Anyway, I wanted to let you all know so that you can plan accordingly. I will post when we do hear something but for now...we still don't know what is going on...

Good luck to everyone! It is a great start to the week so far!

Congrats to Amanda and Tony and Inhopeforglory! YEAH!!!! I am so happy for you guys!!!!

You should be fine. You will be getting your paperwork into the embassy almost 2 months before the expiration date...

I understand your anxiety. We filed back in May and our status stayed like that until September. The USCIS is getting petitions approved quicker than they were at that time but the only thing that I can say is just be as patient as you can be. Once you get the approval, there is still much more waiting and work to be done. Once our file was received by the London Embassy it was 61 days until we had an interview. I can honestly say...the waiting for the approval was much easier than waiting for an interview date. Right now, while you are waiting, I would start researching the next phase. There are some things that you guys can start working on now to get prepared. If you would like the information, please don't hesitate to let me know and I will be more than happy to help. Good luck! You don't have too much longer and believe me....there are a lot of us on here who know exactly how you feel...

You can contact the NVC by phone or the Department of State at 202-663-1225 press 1 and then 0

I have been getting PM's from those that are interested with your email addresses and I have created a group list so that once I get an idea of how many are interested, I can send out a mass email. For those of you that have showed interest, and want to be on the email list, when you get a moment, please let me know...Thank's for all of the positive responses!

Hello UK VJ Members!

I had this crazy idea the other day and had run it by some of the other UK members and they said that they would be interested...I wanted to go ahead and get the idea out there now before the holidays hit and everyone gets really busy with interviews and moving, etc... I thought after all that we have been through that it might be fun sometime late next year (2010) once everyone has gotten settled in their lives, married, AOS filed, etc...that we could have some type of UK VJ reunion on a weekend somewhere here in the states. This would also include obviously any UK VJ members at any stage of the process....This has been a very emotional ride for all of us and I know that we could have not made it this far without you guys. I just wanted to throw out the idea and see if any of you would even be remotely interested. Once I have an idea of the interest, then we can look at more concrete details and see what would work or if we can even make it happen. Also, if anyone has any ideas...please share. If you are interested...send me a PM with your email address so I can start to get a list together...

Woo hoo!!!!! wtg D&G.. man oh man!! we were on your shirt tails .. Talked to John at 5:30 this morning CST.. and his interview took 2.5 hours (9am to11:30 am UK). He said it went smoothly, he only forgot his original Birth Certificate and Police Certificate, but other than that it went great.. he will post in a bit for the UK interview thread. They told him to get a courier to deliver the originals (he's doing that today or tomorrow), then it will just take an extra day or two for the Visa to arrive.

Thanks Ginny for all your support and info and David for such a fabulous post! My best to all pending processes. Hugggs VJ!!!

(Wendy)

YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! I am so excited for you guys!!!! Woo Hoo!!! Wendy...thanks for your support as well!!!

Hi, this is the "d" of "gmjdmj". I normally read rather than write on here. I leave that to "g", the much sweeter and better looking half!

First: The short version.

Don't worry too much about the interview. Not helpful advice, I know. When you are going to talk to someone who has the power to say you can't be with the love of your life, you're going to be nervous. But it really does seem that if you just do what you're asked, when you're asked to, it goes perfectly smoothly. I'm glad it is over, but I can't stress enough: I've had more vigorous grillings from friends over my international relationship! in fact the most problem I had came from the fact that I was lugging a case filled with documents that turned out to be completely unnecessary and it took time to shuffle them and find the one I wanted. I could have fitted everything I needed into a standard envelope. But I would rather be safe than sorry!

Now, the long version.

I got up super-early and headed in to London. I work in London, and I go past Bond Street tube station every morning without a second thought. I was so preoccupied that I somehow managed to get on the wrong train...

Outside the embassy they wanted to see my passport and invitation letter. I gave them the wrong letter, but it had the reference number on, which was all they really wanted.

They waved me to Security, where they made me take off my belt and x-ray everything that would fit into the machine.

I got to the front desk and took a ticket, and sat in the waiting area and watched the screens. I was I-855. The queueing system isn't really helpful for telling how long you have to wait (Will I-855 be seen before E-900? After N-163?) so I had to be on my wits.

When my number was announced I found myself moving to the window without even realising that I had heard it being called out. A polite and friendly man took two US passport photos, my adoption certificate (instead of birth certificate) plus copy, my police certificate plus copy, and sent me to the next window to pay. When I came back he asked for the I-134 and the last year's tax return. He handed me a pink slip to fill out my courier details and sent me back to wait.

I waited for a while, then was called up and a different, but really rather pleasant and friendly man interviewed me. It was the mildest interview I've ever had. He asked how we met, when and where we met in person. He did comment that "so things happened pretty fast between you", which made my heart stop for a second, until he smiled and said "When you meet the right one, it does". Finally he asked where she lives. He asked if I liked where she lives, and I told him that I love the people. That was it.

Oh, I also took a moment to check that the hyphen in my name wouldn't be a problem - he said the system just doesn't do them and that won't cause problems!

I gave the couriers my details, paid the money, then walked out half dazed. I paused briefly to search for my new home state's flag outside, then walked off wondering what I had been so worried about.

I just heard from David and......we are approved!!!! Yeah!!! He is going to post later the details of the interview but all in all he said that it very smooth and seemless. Good luck to Wendy and John tomorrow and everyone else in the coming weeks and months. Thanks to all of you for your support throughout this process...We couldn't have done it without VJ...

DOS will tell you when the package has been opened and received, when it has been logged into the system and also will be able to tell you when an interview date has been scheduled. Our packet 3 was received by the Embassy on 10/16 according to the tracking number but not entered into the system until 11/4. Each embassy is different and some are more busy than others.

London is more concerned about the I-134 than any other information that you provide at the interview. If your fiance's mother is willing to be a co-sponsor, then I would use her information. Make sure that along with the support documentation with the I-134 that she provides a birth certificate or passport

If he is going to be the co-sponsor he has to provide his certificate of naturalization and I am pretty sure he cannot black out his social security number

London really tries to accomodate your travel dates. What travel dates and wedding date was put on the checklist? Also, have you contacted the DOS to see if they have entered his package into the system?

The Embassy assigns your interview date. The way to find out when it has been assigned, your fiance can find out by calling the DOS.They will try to assign your date based on the dates of travel that you listed on the checklist when you mailed it into them.

The DS forms are not needed until your petition is approved and you are preparing for your interview to be scheduled. Yes, you will both need US size passport photos for the I-129F petition.

The forms that are to be signed in front of the consulate are to be signed and dated on the day of the interview. It may be different at your embassy but that is what we did for London.

You are not required to type the forms. You can handwrite on them. We have had to on some because there is not a lot of space to write in certain boxes. You should be fine. I would just handwrite any box that is not big enough...