Engineer06

You can get the exam by any civil surgeon, BUT it will include a TB skin test that has to be read a few days later. Are you spending enough time in the other city to complete the exam? Take immunization records with you or the DS-3025 record if there are recent shots she doesn't want to repeat.

I called the Civil Surgeon this morning (in my local area) and have scheduled an appointment next Wednesday. I don't think there will be enough time at my parent's to get everything done soon enough. They said if we don't have proof of the TB skin test, which I don't think we have, then they will do that on Wednesday then the full examination on Friday. All in all, I think this is the best we could have hoped for, I checked out doing an Infopass appointment, but the earliest available slot is December 6th, by which time the examination will be done.

Thanks everybody for your replies and help. It's been pretty frustrating when you think you have done everything (in this case we actually did do everything) and then a curveball gets thrown. Only thing I am worried about now is the November 8th due date, but there isn't much I can do about that but hope the system realizes why we missed it.

Thanks for the replies, I was afraid of that. I actually called the Civil Surgeon the USCIS suggested but they were already closed for the day. I want to do it as soon as possible but we are going to visit my parents for Thanksgiving, leaving tomorrow afternoon. Could we do her examination at a place near my parents? I'm assuming it is OK, but it never hurts to ask.

We received an RFE for form I-693 today, but based on other topics on this forum the examination she had in Japan should have been sufficient. Is this no longer the case? She surrendered her examination at the POE so we have no back-up whatsoever as it was sealed. Specifically the RFE says "All USCIS records relating to you have been reviewed. The U.S. Department of State medical forms DS-2054, DS-2053, DS-3024, DS-3026 AND DS-3030 are not in any of those records."

I called USCIS and all the guy said was "You have to follow the instructions on the RFE and get a medical examination."

On top of all that the original RFE was lost in the mail and we didn't get a new one until today which has a nice "You are given until November 8, 2010 to submit the requested information." Hopefully the process we did to get another copy sent to us was enough to kick the deadline out another month. We originally got the email saying an RFE was coming September 27th and didn't get it until today.

So are we doomed to another examination or is there any way to avoid it? This process has been way too smooth for us so I guess we were bound to be tripped up somewhere along the way. Thanks

Thanks for the replies, we'll take her foreign driver's license and birth certificate with us just in case they ask for those. The whole immigration process has been extremely smooth for us (thanks to this website) and it feels like something needs to trip us up eventually.

We'll be heading to the Social Security office tomorrow to apply for her card but I have a couple questions first that I couldn't easily find the answer to.

1)What does she put for #5, Citizenship? Her work authorization is in the works so is she a "Legal Alien not allowed to work" or "Other"?

2)The catch-22 part, she has her passport for one form of ID but what can she use as the second? The form only gives 3 options, but for a state-issued ID card (Alabama) we require a SSN to get one. Kind of lost on what to do about that.

Thank for the replies. Based on this I think we will go ahead and get married first and just wait a month or so until applying for a SSN. I'll be sure to bring the SSA policy documentation along with us at the time.

I entered into the country today with my fiance with no problems, but in looking into what to do next I have a question. When we get married she will be changing her last name to mine (her maiden name will become her middle name), but if we get married tomorrow that will mean the marriage certificate will have a different name for her than her passport. Will this be a problem when applying for a Social Security card? Should we apply for her Social Security card first with her maiden name then apply to change the name on the card after getting married or doesn't it really matter?

Is there anything else I am overlooking? The whole last name changing thing is making me think of future problems down the road with names not matching. Thanks.

I recently visited India and met my fiancé (just one meeting). Though, we did spend two weeks together. When I came back, we filed the I-I29F; however, I am concerned about proving a genuine relationship. My question is, “should I go back to visit him again or go with him during the interview?” I won’t able to travel twice in a year. He is also five years younger than me. (26-21) Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks much

Since you already submitted the I-129f are you just concerned about getting a request for information? For mine I just had a couple of photos of us together, plane boarding passes and credit card bills showing a hotel reservation I made and train tickets I bought when when I was there. As for going to the interview with him, first you have to make sure if you are allowed to go or not. Some(most?) don't allow anybody but the fiance to attend the interview.

Hi Everyone... I'd like to know how is the interview at the consulate schedule...

Do they give us options of dates? Or they just say when we have to be there?

Could anyone describe all the process after the NOA2??

I don't know about Brazil but for my fiance she has to contact the embassy after she gathers all the materials and does her health check to schedule an interview (she'll be scheduling hers next week after she receives my I-134 that I'm sending tomorrow). When I got the I-134 from the embassy in Japan it included instructions on what to do leading up to the interview. For Japan they only have interviews on Mondays and they usually take place 4-5 weeks after you contact them to schedule one. Best bet is to go to the American embassy website for Brazil and see what info they have.

If you have a cellphone you can have them send a text to it that way you don't have to be waiting by the computer. That is how I found out my NOA2 was approved. I don't know why it is working so slow for you, my application won the lottery or something and received its NOA2 after 3 weeks.

Wow, this thread has gotten much larger since last time I have been here. I stopped getting the emails telling me there were replies and nothing has changed on my end so I have had nothing to add. Guess I need to resubscribe to keep getting them.

Anyway, I was one of the lucky ones that got my NOA2 really quick, but unfortunately I didn't need it that soon and now I need to file for a 4-month extension. The petition is set to expire on March 1, but the earliest my fiance can do an interview is the middle of March. If anybody else has done this, what have you sent to file an extension? Did you send a letter along with a copy of the NOA2 and the NVC notice? Or just a letter with your case number on it?

Thanks, time to read through this thread and catch up.

My biggest worry right now is that I've set a tentative date for the wedding and have been trying to plan it all. I set it so that when everything is done it would give us two months of elbow room. But if it takes too long than my two month window will be gone. Especially since my boyfriend is a bit of a slacker when it comes to the forms.

The funny thing here is that out of everybody applying in this thread I am probably the least concerned with it happening as soon as possible. She is currently in graduate school so the earliest she can come over here is May. Some people over the summer recommended I apply in July, but now I am glad I waited, I am not sure how willing the embassy would be in delaying getting the visa issued if I needed it to happen.

But I will gladly be a guinea pig for the rest of the group. Hopefully the test results come out good!

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why are some applications expedited and some not?

You got me there, I have no idea why I was lucky enough to get mine approved so fast. Might just have been I applied at the right time and got in at the tail end of a massive rush to approve a bunch of applications. I sent my package in just as recommended in the guide on this website so I don't think it was anything special about that. I did study abroad while in college in Japan, so maybe that made my application seem more 'legit' and they didn't expend as much energy making sure it was an honest application. But that is just me guessing, I have no idea about the inner workings of the VSC.

OK all Octoberians,

I am just writing to see how's everybody doing?

I think the stimulus we have seen for the past few weeks is finally wearing off, and yes, it was nothing more than what its name suggested, a stimulus--apparently UCCIS pulled the support back much quickly, and left most of our Octoberians hanging dry.

ly, I would be freaked out if I got my NOA2 today -- Happy? Yes! Excitement? Yes! Don't know what to do next? You bet ya!

Since I seem to be the only one with any good news I'll share my latest development. My fiance received a letter from the US embassy in Japan today going over the next set of forms she has to send in. I was only able to talk to her for 15 minutes this morning so I wasn't able to get all the details. It looks like she has to send in another form similar to the G-325a as well as get a health check and get all the immunizations required to live in the US. She was a little surprised that the health check will require her to get completely naked for it (it said so right in the instructions) but if that is what it takes, that is what it takes. As far as showing my financial support I don't know if she needs that right now but the letter did include a section about the sponsor being above the poverty line. I don't know if she needs to send in that proof right now or at the time of the interview. It didn't include anything about an interview date, but I assume that will happen after they confirm she has the health check and immunizations.

Good luck to the rest of the October people, hope you all can join me soon.

Based on the last page or so it seems like I am the only one having any luck out of the October people. Hope all of you can soon join me in getting over the NOA2 hump.

I just received a letter from the NVC saying they received the approved I-129F and will be forwarding it to my fiance's embassy next week. This is all happening much faster than what I anticipated. Hope the rest of the process goes as smoothly as it has up until now.

I am happy to report that VSC is still putting out the NOA2s. Today I had just started on the first hole of the golf course when my phone indicated I received a text message from USCIS. The text message only said that my case was updated. Well, I certainly wanted to leave the golf course to get home to see what USCIS had done but I was stuck there and it was very hard to concentrate on golf. The first thing I did when I got home was to check my email and there it was from USCIS telling me that my Petition was approved.

I truly believe VisaJourney helped me prepare the petition well and I can not thank the contributors enough. Thanks to this site I am already prepared for the next step and the one after that. Now it is time for me to research what we need to do after my love, Xiyun, arrives in the USA.

Congrats! Good to see us October people are getting a quick turnaround.

You might want to consider doing video calls on Skype, but actually typing messages to each other instead of talking over the microphone. This is what we started doing.. then, every day, I take a screen shot of us talking on the web cam and the put it into a word document.. when we are done talking I copy and past the entire conversation into the word document..

We were only talking on the mic, but started doing this the minute we filed, so that we had conversation proof to send. We also send an email to each other at least once a week.. just to have something to add to our pile of "relationship proof"

That's a great idea, we already take advantage of the video calls so it won't take too much effort to take a screenshot in the middle of it. Thanks for the advice.

Wow, just got a text from the VSC saying my application is approved. No way did I think it would get approved that fast especially since it seems like it takes 3 months to get the NOA2. I thought at first it was a mistake, but seeing other people's timelines now it appears I am not alone. I didn't even start preparing for the next step since I thought I had more time and was going to begin in November. Guess I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Woot!

Wow congrats man, you must have luck on your side! whats the next step now after you get approved?

According to the guide on this website I now need to send a copy of the I-129F to my financee, along with an affidavit of support. It also says to send more proof that we continued the relationship since sending it in but it was less than a month ago! I guess the process has sped up recently. Don't really have much proof, all our communication is pretty much through skype and we really only text/email eachother to let the other know we are online (we usually talk online before I head to work in the morning).

I am really glad now that I waited until I did to send it in. The earliest she can come is in May and if I sent it during the summer it would have happened too fast. Now it is time to get in touch with HR to get some proof of employment.

Congratulations!!! NOA1 to NOA2 in 23 days?! WOW, my NOA1 is 10/7, hopefully I will get my NOA2 tomorrow... Hey, there is nothing wrong with hoping right?

Here's to hoping you get your approval soon as well. Maybe they changed the system and made it more streamlined recently because going from 3 months on average to 3 weeks is a huge difference.

Congratulations Engineer 06! That is good news. I think it is good news for all of us if VSC is working that quickly. I know I am encouraged because my timeline dates have, to this point, been exactly the same as yours.

I signed up for the updates from the USCIS website so that is how I found out. Based on looking at others timelines, it looks like it will take a week for the hard copy to come.

Wow, just got a text from the VSC saying my application is approved. No way did I think it would get approved that fast especially since it seems like it takes 3 months to get the NOA2. I thought at first it was a mistake, but seeing other people's timelines now it appears I am not alone. I didn't even start preparing for the next step since I thought I had more time and was going to begin in November. Guess I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Woot!

My Fiancee filed our I-129F Last October 8. he used money order to pay the fees please advise if possible to track if they already encashed the check. its almost two weeks now and we haven't received any notice yet waaaaaaaaaa ( ( . He filed it at the VSC bytheway. Thanks.

Woohoo!!! The check was cashed and showed up in my account this morning. Now time for the long wait until NOA2. Time to dance some more. :dance:

Nice! looks like we're on the same boat they cashed my check today as well! Hopefully we can get the hard copy soon because I cant read the case number on the back of the check at all the image is not too great.

How did he send the package to the service center? Depending on how he sent it, it might have taken awhile to reach there. I sent mine by priority mail through the USPS and it took two business days. I used a check so I was able to check through my bank when it got cashed. I am not familiar with money order so hopefully somebody else can shed some light on that.

As for receiving a hard copy of the NOA1, I didn't get it for a week and half. If your case is similar to mine, he should receive the hard copy today in the mail.

Got my NOA1 hard copy today with a notice date of October 6. Just took awhile to make its way down to me.

I'm sure there are a few more coming. Also got my NOA1 Hard copy yesterday with a Notice date of 10/07/2009 on it. Registered with the uscis and signed up for case updates, I wonder if it will be useful.

I registered for the case updates as well, looks like the only really notify you if they have an RFE. Still waiting for my hard copy though, but Alabama is quite a ways from Vermont so maybe that is why it is taking a little longer for me. Hopefully I'll have an update tomorrow saying I got it.

Nice! looks like we're on the same boat they cashed my check today as well! Hopefully we can get the hard copy soon because I cant read the case number on the back of the check at all the image is not too great.

I was barely able to read the number on my check and I had to turn my head sideways to read it since my bank wouldn't let me download or rotate the image. But registering didn't tell me anything new except that it was accepted and is now in "Initial Review" - nothing explicit about NOA1.

Any other October filers or soon to be October filers out there? We can't possibly only have two.

Woohoo!!! The check was cashed and showed up in my account this morning. Now time for the long wait until NOA2. Time to dance some more. :dance: