Emily and Gareth

Received email and text that EAD Card production had been ordered and that my Application for travel document had been approved.

Phew... Time to get a job!

Just to update you guys....Im in America! Wooohoooo! Finally arrived in Indiana 9pm yesterday. Everything went smoothly at Immigration in Dublin. Thank god the stress and the anxiety of the move is finally over - I didnt sleep one wink the night before I left and was awake 36 hours straight before I saw Emily. Im sure I looked great!

We are getting married in Vegas on the 21st. We will update you after our big day! Thanks again for all your help everybody!

... She said everything looks to be in order but then she told me that they are going to need me to get a police certificate with fingerprints from Australia...

Sorry to hear it. Was it the white slip with consular signature or the blue slip? Don't worry though, it'll all be over shortly!

Corona? You need a Guinness, sister! Ian says you can't get a good Guinness outside of England. LOL I bet he'd choose it over Budweiser.

Be sure to have a six pack of Corona and Bud when he arrives and say WELCOME TO AMERICA!!

It was the blue slip. What is the difference between the two?

Just back from my interview in London, England today guys... Frustrating to say the least. Im really tired so I will give you a quick summary! Everything went well up until the last minute of my interview. She said everything looks to be in order but then she told me that they are going to need me to get a police certificate with fingerprints from Australia. I went on a working holiday visa to Australia 5 years ago for a total of 361 days.... not one year or more.

It says clearly in the Instructions of Packet 3 - "If the applicant…lived in a different country for more than 12 months"

I didnt live there for more than 12 months so I dont really understand why they would do that? Couldnt they have told me that they were going to require that before now? I could have applied for it months ago and had it for them today. Now it has set our plans way back and its really frustrating. I was going to book my ticket for the 20th of November when I got home today

Emily is really upset as she was really looking forward to booking our wedding stuff today or tomorrow...Now it looks like we are going to have to wait at least another month. Apparently its 15 working days for the Police check with Fingerprints in Australia and combine that with postage times from here to there and from there to here it could well be over a month before I even get the certificate back from Australia....Then I have to send it on to the embassy who have to process it and send me my visa...

Really sucks. Just want to get over there and we thought we were so close.

Anyone receive packet 4 recently (September 09?) Just wondering how long it's taking these days.

I got my interview date set about 5 or 6 days of the packet 3 being logged in London....so if I do my math correctly you could get yours today!

Sorry I havent updated the status of our case in a while guys.... I called the Department of State quite a lot over the last few weeks to find out any updates...

On the 29th of Sept to my surprise....they told me that my interview was going to be on the 16th of October in London! Called and booked my medical straight after I got my letter for the 12th Oct so I am heading to London this coming Saturday and staying with family for 6 days....Cant wait to get it all over with!! Wooooooooooooooo!

Hi,

I am just about to send my IV-15k to London however I have a couple of questions first.

1. They ask me when my date of travel is? I dont have a date as yet? Should I give an approximate?

2. They also ask me about my wedding date which I obv havent booked either. Should I give an approximate for this too?

3. I havent booked my medical yet as I was hoping to arrange it as close to my interview as possible - I have to fly from Belfast to London and I was hoping that I would be able to do both within the same week. Do I have to book the medical before I send the checklist away?

Sorry to ask so many questions! Really eager to get this checklist in the post!!!

Thanks in advance

Somehow the Royal Mail lost our Packet 3.....Ahhhh!

I called the department of state about two weeks ago to find out of the packet 3 had been sent. They said it was sent out on the 10th of August however I still havent received it. I thought I would leave it another week or two just in case but I finally bit the bullet and called the £1.20 per minute phone line to the London embassy. It took them 7 and a half minutes (£9.40) to tell me that I would have to email them....

Very frustrating indeed...

Why don't you just pull the forms down from the Embassy website? The info is all under Application for Immigrant Visa..

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/iv_15.html

You don't need to wait for packet 3. All you need to know is that one has been sent. This means they have you in the system and are awaiting your paperwork.

They replied to me already and basically told me what you just said! lol.

My only concern was that I had to send them a reference number that was on the letter or something like that. I am just waiting on some information in the post from Emily then I can send everything in. (Just hope the Royal Mail doesent lose her package too!)

Somehow the Royal Mail lost our Packet 3.....Ahhhh!

I called the department of state about two weeks ago to find out of the packet 3 had been sent. They said it was sent out on the 10th of August however I still havent received it. I thought I would leave it another week or two just in case but I finally bit the bullet and called the £1.20 per minute phone line to the London embassy. It took them 7 and a half minutes (£9.40) to tell me that I would have to email them....

Very frustrating indeed...

Idea for a dress for the girls - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8190112.stm

Thanks for all the replies guys.

There are bound to be more people who have been married in Vegas on this site!? lol. If anyone has any other experiences let me know

We are also wondering about venues for a reception/meal. It is very difficult to choose as we cant actually visit any of the places till the actual day so any information/advice will come in handy.

hi

I already got NOA2 aprroved date 16 of July,09

Now i'm waiting for the case number from NVC.

How long we need wait?

Anybody get it?

my timeline

sent I-129F - 1 Apr,09

Noa1 - 7 Apr,09

Noa2 - 16 Jul,09

now waiting for case no.

Nothing here at NVC either, NOA2 on 7/16

Nice of you to send me an abusive private message EndoftheRoad.....

Yep!! Some people had a problem with their AOS when you get married in Vegas since we all know that everybody can get easily get married in vegas.

You want to make sure that your marriage is registered before you leave vegas you want to have your marriage license in your hands and multiple copies of it.

The above statement about problems with AOS because it is easy to get married in Vegas is FALSE. The problem is people don't read what they are given when they get the license. They give you a nice certificate that can be used to frame or etc, but IT IS NOT THE OFFICIAL / CERTIFIED license. After the ceremony the actual license is sent into the recorders office to be recorded, and the officiating person gives you back the "unofficial one". I know someone recently that sent that in for AOS, and got an RFE for the official certified one.

Once you get married in Vegas it takes a few days to record the marriage, and then get the certified copy from the recorders office: http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/depts/cle...nformation.aspx <--That link gives you all the information.

We got married on a Friday and then picked up the certified copy the following Tuesday. We just used the civil marriage place to get married, it was 50 bucks. In an out in about 15 minutes. We had a big ceremony in Thailand, so no reason to have one here.

Thanks for the advice.

Do you know if we can get the proper marriage licence by post or do we have to physically get it from the recorders office? I ask because we are not too sure how long we will be in Vegas after the wedding.

funny how some of you girls are al "we are not traditional" then see your dresses..... like white christmas.

Funny how your comment is rude....

Make sure you get multiple copies of your marriage license.

Have a good time.

Sounds like good advice. Im just curious as to why? Did you have or heard of a bad experience regarding the marriage licences?

Hi,

Me and my fiance are getting married in Las Vegas hopefully in December time. I was wondering if anyone can share any experiences they have of their own Vegas wedding or if they have attended someone elses. If anyone is planning their own in the future it would be interesting to hear of their plans.

We will probably have about 15 people at ours so it wont be a large ceremony but it def wont be a drive through or an Elvis wedding!

There are two venues that we are looking at at the minute:

1. "The Chapel in the Clouds" which is located 800 feet up in the Stratosphere Hotel - http://www.chapelintheclouds.com/ It looks really nice and the view over Vegas is spectacular. We are thinking of going on the rides on the top of the skyscraper right after the ceremony! http://www.stratospherehotel.com/thrills/

2. The second potential venue is at the Artisan Hotel. It is a lot more traditional and the chapel is great looking. http://www.theartisanhotel.com/weddings.php

Any experiences, links or advice would be greatly appreciated.

... any links to anything that looks good. Let me know!

Did you check out http://www.vegas.com/weddings/

Yes we have looked there but that site is bit too vague. Was looking for something a bit more specific. Thanks though.

We have looked at many different options but I think there must be a few hidden gems.

Another one we have looked at - http://www.chapelintheclouds.com/ Seems cool

I've stayed in the Stratosphere, which hosts the Chapel in the clouds.

I saw the room a bit too, it's very nice.

Could you describe the room at all? Whats the view like? I think it would be really nice to get married in a nice big airy room with a great view.

... any links to anything that looks good. Let me know!

Did you check out http://www.vegas.com/weddings/

Yes we have looked there but that site is bit too vague. Was looking for something a bit more specific. Thanks though.

We have looked at many different options but I think there must be a few hidden gems.

Another one we have looked at - http://www.chapelintheclouds.com/ Seems cool

you know, i thought about a song however, when i heard Halo by Beonce, I totally loved it and thought it appropriate, i think about him every time i hear it...well you guys can laugh all u want! However, vegas weddings never have dances sooo...i dont have to worry..still waaaating....grrrrrrrrrrrr!

So you are going for a Vegas wedding?? Any idea where?

We are hoping to have the wedding in Vegas around Christmas time so both of our families can make it there. I anticipate getting approved late sept/early oct so its going to be tough waiting it out till December with my visa in hand!

My fiance was talking to someone today who said the Artisan Hotel was a good place. They got married in the garden there last month. My fiances parents were at the wedding and said it was very nice

Heres the link - http://www.theartisanhotel.com/weddings.php

If anyone has any experience of weddings in Vegas or any links to anything that looks good. Let me know!

EDIT : Ummm....Just to add a piece....Did a search of the Artisan hotel on tripadvisor....It doesent get a good review at all.....

This is a UK Wiki page with lots of good informational links including a long shipping thread near the bottom of the page.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/UK_FAQ

Thanks. That link should come in very handy!

some time u have to look at the factor that it might be cheaper to buy the new one instead of paying shipping.

unless u have some item which u can not replace then it worth spending that much money on shipping,

otherwise sell it and buy the new one here, just my thaught. good luck

abby n sheryl

Agreed, Im already writing a lot of that stuff off. Its only the personal things that I wont be able to get in America

Hi guys,

Is anyone else wondering about taking furniture or personal possessions with them when they move?

Can anyone else who has already completed the move share any of their experiences on how much it will cost and whether it was worth it?

Personally, I dont have that much large furniture so im probably going to cut my losses and give it to family/oxfam....

Im only looking to send some large boxes of personal stuff that will make me feel at home! I have heard about joining up with someone else who is moving and taking some of their container space. Has anyone done this?

Any information or links would be much appreciated.

Sorry, just didnt get round to updating my timeline. NVC received ours on the morning of the 28th.

Yay, yay, yay!

I thought after it left the NVC my obsessive tracking days would be over but I found this in a different forum and thought I'd repost for anyone who didn't know that the fun won't be over yet! Just for fun I did the whole DHL thing and something left yesturday for Vancouver, I'm letting myself believe that by some twist of fate it was mine and its just not in the NVC computer properly.

1) 2 days after NOA2, starting calling NVC: 603-334-0700 press 1 then 5.

2) Once NVC has your case, they assign a new case #. Ask them what date they sent your file to the embassy & also for the NVC case #.

3) Once you know the date NVC sent off the file, track it at DHL's website: http://track.dhl-usa.com/TrackByRef.asp?nav=TrackByRef For the reference code, enter EXP 10 JUL 2009A (adjust using dates just before the date NVC told you), with a shipping range of that day to a few days later (July 13 - July 14 worked for the example above). Look for shipments to your beneficiary's embassy.

4) To find out if the embassy processed the packet, call the Dept of State before 5pm: 202-663-1225 press 1 then 0

-- Once you know the embassy has processed the file, get the signed DS-230 to them --

5) You can also call the DoS to find out your interview date once you believe the embassy has scheduled it.

I did the above to track the shipment. I found a shipment going to London on the same date as our case went. It was delivered at 1.45 this afternoon however it said it was delivered to Lambeth?

I know that the US embassy isn't in Lambeth. Anyone who has used this method before know if Lambeth is the correct final destination for the package?

I tip cows, si man.

that's tilt, my friend.

Not where I am from!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tipping

I have applied on-line for my ESTA and was approved and sent my application number.

What I need to know is should I have any paperwork with me when I get to the airport or will it be picked up when my passport is electronically read?

I will take a note of my application number as a just in case but would appreciate it if anybody can tell me if they have traveling using their ESTA?

Thanks.

Pauline

I have never been asked to show proof of the ESTA however I do usually bring a print out or have the number written somewhere.