Jennarationnext

Well, I made an infopass appointment for tomorrow to see what they think is the best way to handle it. I called USCIS, the fee for a new I-94 is $320... after Christmas and saving for our AOS fees, that's a lot. Blech. You can imagine how I felt when I pulled his destroyed passport from the dryer!

Hey guys. We're just getting ready to start our AOS process. My husband entered the US at the end of October, we were married a few days after and need to file our AOS by Jan 20.

As I was emptying the dryer last week, I saw something blue and all curled up. Sure enough, it was his passport! While most of it remained intact, all of his entry stamps are gone, and his I-94 is just barely legible. His K-1 visa sticker is still in pretty good shape. I know I need to send a copy of his I-94, but I'm not sure how it's going to look. Also, are they stamped at all? As it is now, it looks like there may have been some kind of ink on it, but there's no visible stamp.

Have any of you heard of someone in this predicament? What do you think our best course of action would be?

Hey guys!

Bryan has his visa in hand, and is starting to plan his drive down next month. He'll be driving through the POE at I-5 in Washington/BC, and is wondering if there's a specific time he'll have to go to have an officer activate his visa? Is it a 9-5 thing, or would he be able to drive through anytime?

Thanks!

I'm a May filer! My consulate is in Vancouver, and last Friday, I received Packet 3! So now I'm working on that, and hoping to have my interview after I get my Birth Certificate + Police Record Check (in about four weeks... :S ) I haven't faxed over my DS-156 PT1 along with my checklist yet since I haven't completed it... or are you suppose to? Acks!

Vancouver's pretty fast.

I'd try to get all you can before you send the form and checklist back.

I think the last member who I recall went through Vancouver got an interview within a month.

I suggest booking your medical now if you havn't done so.

We got our interview VERY fast because we requested it. Vancouver's very accomodating.

Bryan got his Visa in the mail today : ) So, it was just a few days over a month from our NOA2 to Visa in hand!

It stinks that Montreal is so much sloooower than Vancouver. We can hope that they've recently got their acts together and your case will fly through

Congrats on the quick interview! You have to tell us how it went when you get all the details.

Thanks! He was approved, should receive his visa in the mail next week. I tried to get details out of him so that I could share with you guys and in my blog, but didn't get much. The officer asked him how we met, what World of Warcraft is , how we met in person and when we'll be married.

I asked Bryan if the officer looked through all the evidence that I provided and he said that he did. He skimmed through the Skype logs, the pictures of us together, chat logs as well as my paystubs and letter from the bank.

Bryan had the option of either going back to the Consulate next week to pick up his passport+visa, or having it mailed to him for the price of the envelope and shipping.

He said it took longer than expected, but his officer was nice enough. At least we're approved, eh?

I get to see him in three weeks for Canadian Thanksgiving, then he's moving Oct 20. Pretty excited!

Bryan's interview was today at 1:00. It's driving me craaaazy that he's not home yet and I can't call him to see what's up.

Ahhh, I've had butterflies since noon!

I'm sure he passed.

My poor fiance, he just had to dish out 300 dollars for a part in his car that was needed to pass the smog testing.

I have no clue how I'm going to pay for the first gardasil shot and the medical now...

That stinks D:

I'm still not sure how your provincial medical works, even asking my fiance about it a million times. Will it not cover your gardasil shot? I know that's a small expense next to the cost of the medical, though. Bryan had to borrow from his parents.

Bryan's interview was today at 1:00. It's driving me craaaazy that he's not home yet and I can't call him to see what's up.

Ahhh, I've had butterflies since noon!

Well, I'll probably be grinding to a halt now.

Just need to fill out the forms and wait about 2 weeks to even see if I'm logged into their system... if they don't misplace Package 3 in the mail

They're bad for that.

It stinks that Montreal is so much sloooower than Vancouver. We can hope that they've recently got their acts together and your case will fly through

Bryan had his medical appointment this morning in Vancouver. It was set for 6:30am, he finished by 9:30 and has to hang out until 2pm to pick up his paperwork. He said all went well, but he was especially un-fond of the "peepee exam." His words, not mine.

Tomorrow's his interview. Wish I could go with him, but alas, plane tickets are more than I can afford right now. His parents did mention flying me out for Canadian Thanksgiving, though

Yes, I did this.

It is called global transfer - but it really isn't an exchange as such as in you do not exchange your Canadian credit card for an American one.

Basically what happens:

You contact American Express they:

- Tell you what your credit limit will be and ask you which American Am express card you would like (so before you call, pick one)

- A couple of weeks later, if it is approved, they send you your new american card. He does not have to wait until he is in the U.S. to do that, he can do it before he leaves Canada.

- You then have a Canadian card and an American card - which might be handy. They did advise me that if I wanted a higher limit on my U.S. card I would have to cancel my Canadian card, which I did not.

One other thing to consider, I just noted on their site that you must have the Canadian card for at least a year before requesting the service:

• To be eligible for a Card transfer, your Consumer Card must be issued by American Express. You must be the

Basic Cardholder, and have held the Card for at least 12 months. Your Card Account must be open and in

good standing at the time of the transfer request, or if the Card was previously cancelled by you, it must have

been cancelled within the last 3 months. (Corporate Cards, International Dollar Cards, Global Network Cards

and Small Business Cards are not eligible for Card transfers in the U.S.)

Thanks so much! I guess I could have found that on the Am Ex site myself, hm?

He doesn't have an American Express card now. I suppose if he got one he could still use it in the States for a year... it just wouldn't build his American credit during that time.

I read in a thread somewhere that American Express allows you to transfer a Canadian card to American once you move.

I'm trying to talk my fiance into applying for one so he can build credit once he moves. Does anyone have experience with this? Was it hard to transfer the card to an American account?

I see the Form I-134 needs to be notarized. The government website says, that it does not need to be notarized, but each Embassy has their own rules seems. Better to notarize and be safe.

I believe that the newer forms do not need to be notarized. Look up in the corner and see when the form expires. The newer one expires in May, 2010 and in the signature area it says, "I swear under penalty of perjury under United States law..." The older one had instructions for the notary.

I just sent mine off without it being notarized, so I hope I'm right : )

Congratulations on all the approvals! Rhiann! I'm so excited for you!!

As for me: I was just filling in my calendar at work for September because I was out last week, and HOLY COW BRYAN'S INTERVIEW IS NEXT WEEK! Wut!?

I mean, obviously I knew it was the 17th and that we completely lucked out with everything being so speedy, but NEXT WEEK! Gah. I haven't even mailed him all of my paperwork yet. I need to get on that, like today. Eek!

Thanks.

And you better get that paperwork out!

Anyway, what's package 4?

I saw it in your signature, is it the interview letter?

Packet 4 is the interview letter. I'm not sure if Bryan's received it or not... I requested that Vancouver e-mail me when they set the date.

This is going to be fun, trying to get an interview with Montreal.

Makes me wish I lived near Vancouver.

I know, it seems like Vancouver is pretty on top of things. They responded to me within an hour with Bryan's interview date... on the same morning he faxed back his packet 3.

The e-mail did contain a lot of grammatical mistakes, though! ...

Congratulations on all the approvals! Rhiann! I'm so excited for you!!

As for me: I was just filling in my calendar at work for September because I was out last week, and HOLY COW BRYAN'S INTERVIEW IS NEXT WEEK! Wut!?

I mean, obviously I knew it was the 17th and that we completely lucked out with everything being so speedy, but NEXT WEEK! Gah. I haven't even mailed him all of my paperwork yet. I need to get on that, like today. Eek!

Thanks.

And you better get that paperwork out!

Anyway, what's package 4?

I saw it in your signature, is it the interview letter?

Packet 4 is the interview letter. I'm not sure if Bryan's received it or not... I requested that Vancouver e-mail me when they set the date.

Congratulations on all the approvals! Rhiann! I'm so excited for you!!

As for me: I was just filling in my calendar at work for September because I was out last week, and HOLY COW BRYAN'S INTERVIEW IS NEXT WEEK! Wut!?

I mean, obviously I knew it was the 17th and that we completely lucked out with everything being so speedy, but NEXT WEEK! Gah. I haven't even mailed him all of my paperwork yet. I need to get on that, like today. Eek!

I emailed the consulate today requesting an email when they scheduled the interview date. Bryan faxed his packet 3 information this morning and then I sent the email shortly after.

Within an hour I received this:

Hello,

We have scheduled your fiancé's interview for 17 September 2009 at 1:00 pm and we are in process of mailing his interview letter. Please make sure he bring all original documents along with their photocopies as requested on the checklist on the day of his appointment.

Thank you.

K Visa Unit

Vancouver, BC

A quick update: Fiance received his Packet 3 in the mail yesterday, but didn't get home early enough to get it sent off yesterday. He'll fax it this morning with a requested interview date of 9-17-09. We'll see how accommodating Vancouver is for quick interview dates!

I'm really starting to get excited... he might be here in just a few weeks! Though I have TONS to do- his parents are driving him down so my house has to be presentable for the future in-laws!

Jennarationnext, here is a link to the checklist that Maribear posted on another thread.

http://vancouver.usconsulate.gov/content/v...packet3k1k3.pdf

Thanks! I hadn't really put a whole lot of time into researching for the second half. I sent him all the links, now I have to just trust that Bryan will be able to figure out all the forms for himself

From the time I faxed back my packet 3 (which I did on a Friday), it took seven days to receive a reply, which I received last friday, so that's fairly current info! lol

I asked for an interview on August 31st, or the next available thereafter and I was assigned an interview date on September 1st. So, in my case, that's a turn-around time of 18 days from the time I received my P3 to the actual interview. Of course, I don't know what would have happened if I had asked for an earlier appointment!

Good luck on your interview when it comes around!

Your timeline makes me hopeful that Bryan will have his visa soon!

Can I ask you how you requested that interview date? Was it in writing when you faxed back your packet 3?

Is it too soon for me to call DOS to see if Vancouver received our file? Do I just tell them my I-129F case number or is there a new case number that has been assigned?

Thanks! Congrats to all the recent approvals!

Have you called NVC to see if your file has been received and shipped?

Yes. NVC shipped it on Aug. 26 and it should've been in Vancouver Aug. 27, according to DHL tracking.

I don't know if the consulate uses a private courier or Canada Post but I live in Vancouver so I hope to get Packet 3 next week.

Agh! Mine was shipped out on Aug 26, too, to Vancouver. On DHL tracking there was only one package, right? Up until now I was certain it was mine : )

I wonder if ours were shipped together, that would make sense... save on shipping?

Anyway, I called DOS today and they didn't have record of ours in the system yet, said to call back on Monday.

I think they might send them together...look at the weight of the package...the one am tracking weighs 41 pounds...OMG I didn't think sent them that much info

I didn't even think to look at the weight!

Hm. Looks like ours was only 2 pounds. Maybe it was just Kuro's and mine : )

Is it too soon for me to call DOS to see if Vancouver received our file? Do I just tell them my I-129F case number or is there a new case number that has been assigned?

Thanks! Congrats to all the recent approvals!

Have you called NVC to see if your file has been received and shipped?

Yes. NVC shipped it on Aug. 26 and it should've been in Vancouver Aug. 27, according to DHL tracking.

I don't know if the consulate uses a private courier or Canada Post but I live in Vancouver so I hope to get Packet 3 next week.

Agh! Mine was shipped out on Aug 26, too, to Vancouver. On DHL tracking there was only one package, right? Up until now I was certain it was mine : )

I wonder if ours were shipped together, that would make sense... save on shipping?

Anyway, I called DOS today and they didn't have record of ours in the system yet, said to call back on Monday.

Don't worry, we all need to let it out from time to time.

I hope you get something soon. It's not a good feeling to be left hanging.

u have no idea of what i've been threw, letting it out isnt the beginning of it, at less u got an rfe, our file has never been touch, i call uscis and they were useless,all i wanted to know if they still had our file or was it misplace but all they coud tell me is to call back after 5 months, unbeliveable ,its getting to a point that i'm getting to need some help of how upset i'm getting, its not right that i finally found my soul mate and we cant be together, we have been threw so much in our life and then we found each other and being together lots has happened to us, i really cant stand it any more and if i see one more june person gets their im going to scream

Mine was just approved last week with no touches before. Our case status online went from the last update of 5/17/09 to our approval email. Hang in there, we all go through it. Yours should be approved any day now. You have to remember that USCIS is dealing with a lot more petitions than just the people who are represented here on VJ.

Just be thankful you're dealing with CSC. Imagine how the VSCers are feeling... they're still working on March-April and us California filers are being approved from June!

Just remember that you're still in the normal time frame, so try to have a little bit of patience, it's not worth it to get so upset. We all know how tough it is!

Is it too soon for me to call DOS to see if Vancouver received our file? Do I just tell them my I-129F case number or is there a new case number that has been assigned?

Thanks! Congrats to all the recent approvals!

Have you called NVC to see if your file has been received and shipped?

I just checked DHL tracking using NatPatBen's advice. There was one case shipped to Vancouver on the 26th, (I'm assuming it's ours) and it WAS ALREADY RECEIVED! Overnight shipping, wut? I'm getting pretty excited.

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.

I don't quite understand this process. NVC said that they shipped out my case yesterday, 8/26/09. So, under the reference code I'd put EXP 26 AUG 2009A? With a shipping range from 8/26-8/27? (I can't do more because it's in the future.) I tried this, and nothing came up. I even adjusted the dates to see if anything came up for people who may have been sent out earlier and nothing. I think I'm doing it wrong : \