destinystrikes24

Well, guys we are home and all is well. It was a long trip but the kids were troupers. It was a very uneventful trip all in all. The POE was a breeze. We waited in the US Citizen line since it was only about 10 people ahead of us and the NON US line was line 100. No problem with that, the officer asked for our package and put it in an envelope and sent us to the Green room.... we waited about 20 minutes while they processed us... only asked me one question... "when was the wedding" I told them we hadnt decided yet, but before the 90 days were over. and that was that, they wished us good luck and on our way.

When we got home, the kids were so tired they went right to bed and that was about 7 pm last night and they are still sleeping. Joanna is talking with Mom via skype right now.

Kata and Freddy... CONGRATULATIONS! and thank you for the update and the photos!!! I just love photos!

hello! everyone. anyone here has a filipina fiancee???? i just to ask if i can just book her a one way ticket? or it has to be a round trip???

Amy passed, interview approved. Hopefully she'll be here next week if the visa delivers as we hope.

Wow - it's been a wild ride. I feel like I've spent months on Bodacious. Could not have done it without all of your support and kind words.

Here's to us - and, even more, to all of you!!!

CONGRATULATIONS! AMY AND STAN.....my fiancee pass her medical and will have her interview on dec. 14 at 7am. hope and pray that everything goes well coz i miss her so much now and can't wait for her to be with me.

I don't quite understand what you are asking - it's okay to be over the minimum requirements. In fact, that's good. Did I misunderstand?

hello! missy, i ask for an employment letter from my boss and it is stated there that my pay is just 4$ per hour plus gratuities but on my income tax transcript i make about 30 thousand annual income. i feel that my rate per hour might just be small. what would really matter, is it the rate per hour or the one stated on the income tax???

UPDATE!!!

He's here!!! I picked him up at the airport here in Jackson last night at 6:00 p.m. I cannot say how happy I am right now!

In case you were wondering what's in the mysterious brown envelope that everyone talks about - in ours was our original application that I sent to Vermont, with every correspondence, service request and Congressional Inquiry that I made! It even had the original FedEx envelope that I sent it all in! I was amazed that we got it back!

Lars said that in Houston - his POE - they asked him how my mother was doing!

Anyway - he is here and we are getting married on Tuesday and filing the AOS Wednesday.

hello! missy, just needs some advice over this. my work only gave me 4. something per hour but i exceed on the minimum income requirements which is 129% above poverty level and it shows on my income taxes. would it gave a problem to my fiancee...i am just a little scared coz it shows on my employment letter. advice please

HE GOT IT!!!!

Update! He got a flight out of brazzaville NOW and will be here tomorrow!

WOOHOO! Congrats to Missy and Lars!!

hello! stephen, just needs some advice over this. my work only gave me 4. something per hour but i exceed on the minimum income requirements which is 129% above poverty level and it shows on my income taxes. would it gave a problem to my fiancee...i am just a little scared coz it shows on my employment letter. advice please

Well our interview is officially tomorrow 7 am there @ USEM, Manila time. I hope and pray as always God will see us through, as He will, and as He wills, Mark 11:24. Wow, what a journey, huh? So much love and strife, stress and resilience. Our pain of waiting, my worry is gone and we now leave it all in the hands of Jesus. Yeah, she is a lil bit nervous but she is confident with the truth and Gods' love on our side. Thursday November 5, 2009 will be our best day so far in this long journey with the shortest part of the rest of our life, Amen and Amen.

mari joe, how did you do ur affidavit of support? did you pass it first to the national visa center for verification? or did you just print it out and gave it to ur fiancee to bring to her interview??? plz help...

No, just give it to your SO for the interview, it does not need to go to the NVC for a K1 visa.

thank you...do i still need to make another letter of intent to marry for my fiancee to bring on the interview??? things really got confusing now. please help....

Well our interview is officially tomorrow 7 am there @ USEM, Manila time. I hope and pray as always God will see us through, as He will, and as He wills, Mark 11:24. Wow, what a journey, huh? So much love and strife, stress and resilience. Our pain of waiting, my worry is gone and we now leave it all in the hands of Jesus. Yeah, she is a lil bit nervous but she is confident with the truth and Gods' love on our side. Thursday November 5, 2009 will be our best day so far in this long journey with the shortest part of the rest of our life, Amen and Amen.

mari joe, how did you do ur affidavit of support? did you pass it first to the national visa center for verification? or did you just print it out and gave it to ur fiancee to bring to her interview??? plz help...

Yes.....finally.....after 8 long months to the day our NOA1 arrived in Vermont we have the visa in hand.

hello! can i ask some tips from you since u already have gone through this. its regarding the affidavit of support, it really confuse me. my fiancee's cousin said that i still have to pass my affidavit of support to nvc and then after they verify it. the nvc will be the one to forward it to the us embassy. is it true??? or what's the right thing that i should do? please help...i am ready now to mail all my documents to my fiancee for her medical and interview....

thank you and good luck!!!

Well, I just booked my flight to Poland and our return. I leave on November 25th, interview on November 30th and with luck we will all return together on December 9th.

Congrats! and bundle up when you go to Warsaw! Anna is in Texas now. Everything went well at the POE (Dallas)

That is wonderful news! How is she doing? coping? etc??

She's doing great...just amazed at all the wide streets and roads here and all the fast-food commercials on TV..lol

Joanna had the same types of thought when she was here in June

hello! richard. i really don't know what to do now, i heard from someone that i still need to send my sign affidavit of support to the national visa center for verification before i send it to my fiancee in the philippines. do i still need to send to the nvc???

OUT OF NVC !!!!! Hooray !!!! how can i find tracking number to Kiev, Ukraine . Thanks !

Wahhhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

hello! richard. i need help. i just mail my irs form 1040 last friday and its been a week now. so i call up the irs and ask them how long it would take me to get my income tax copy and he said it will take 7 -8 weeks and my fiancee wants to have her medical mid novermber and she said she needs to bring it especially when she go to the embassy for interview. what can everyone advice me to do????

Waves at Richard!

hello! missy and to all my fellow march 2009 filers. i really help and infos right now. i just filed my income tax return this morning and my fiancee says that she will need the hard copy of my income tax return with the attach w2 when she go for her interview. so how long would i be able to get the hard copy? i mean how many weeks or months? please help guys....

Your filing taxes in October?, or are you saying you ordered copies of your W-2 and tax reterns? I think quickest and easier thing to do is to request a "transcript" of your past three years taxes from the IRS website. Then you should have those in about 2 weeks. Good luck

marijoe, they said that since i just filed today there's no way i would be able to get my tax return transcript. so, how long till i'll be able to get my tax return????

Waves at Richard!

hello! missy and to all my fellow march 2009 filers. i really help and infos right now. i just filed my income tax return this morning and my fiancee says that she will need the hard copy of my income tax return with the attach w2 when she go for her interview. so how long would i be able to get the hard copy? i mean how many weeks or months? please help guys....

Your filing taxes in October?, or are you saying you ordered copies of your W-2 and tax reterns? I think quickest and easier thing to do is to request a "transcript" of your past three years taxes from the IRS website. Then you should have those in about 2 weeks. Good luck

yah, i just filed my income tax this morning october and my fiancee need it immediately. i did'nt thought my petition for her would get approved fast. so what's the best way? to get the tax return transcript??? or would they gave me my income tax return hard copy through fax??? ohhh guys please help.....

Waves at Richard!

hello! missy and to all my fellow march 2009 filers. i really help and infos right now. i just filed my income tax return this morning and my fiancee says that she will need the hard copy of my income tax return with the attach w2 when she go for her interview. so how long would i be able to get the hard copy? i mean how many weeks or months? please help guys....

hello! my march family...this is just an update and later i will update my timeline. my girl just got a letter from the us embassy saying that she's eligible for a fiancee visa interview. any time now after she compile all the requirements she can call the us embassy to get an appointment.....good luck to everyone of us....does anyone knows how long the letter fro us embassy expires??? does she have to call them right away to get an appointment or wait after she gets everything done????

Hi,

We just started this process and hope to MEET other people whom are in my timeline ..

I just recieved my NOA2 also we have an interview date on nov.17, my girl is from the philippines,,

hi! there...were on the same timeline. i already got my noa2 hard copy but my girl still did'nt receive her letter from the us embassy which would contains her interviewed date...how long did it takes ur girl to get her us embassy letter after u get the noa2?

morning march!

Stephen... hopefully you will be out of the NVC today... they havent mentioned AP right?

Stan, I filled out a special form and sent it in as they said do not email them... My letter of discontent on this whole process I sent to the dierctor and the deputy director.

I hope it gets some attention and that not only does it help you and others, but that it also ends up making someone accountable for this mess.

hello! stan, just want to ask if you know how long would it takes for first class mail to get to vermont i am from orlando 'coz i mailed the RFE last tuesday and its wednesday now but we still did'nt get an email from the uscis stating that they already receive my mail. i am starting to worry now....please help

Yes Missy, waiting is very very difficult indeed

You ain't kidding.

Still in "additional processing" at NVC as of 2:45 this afternoon. Just talked to my congressman's immigration caseworker, she's going to get a hold of them and see if she can pry loose any further info. Probably not, but I'll try anything at this point.

Stephen... if there is good news here, it is that you are at the NVC... and not the USCIS.. I know that doesnt help you any... but from the outside looking in, it sure seems like good news to me.

BIG SIGH.....I wish I was at NVC

hello! missy. do you know how long for first class mail to get through vermont? 'coz i mailed it tuesday last week but why we still did'nt get any email from them stating that they already receive our RFE. i am starting to worry about this now. please help...

I saw that. I am happy for everyone getting approved, just wish it was us too.

hello missy, how are you??? i hope everyone gets approved now. i just send back my RFE tuesday. i did'nt notice that i miss a question when i fill up the form i-127. hope everything turn well now after they receive it....good luck everyone

Completely off topic here but I wanted to ask a question. I read in a lot of different forums here on VJ. I read a lot of the different regional threads....I am fascinated by the cultural differences between the different countries and the United States.

My question - do you read any of the other stuff and, if you do, are you ever concerned about what you read? I've been reading about a couple, he's 50ish and she's just 21 and I wonder what will happen to her once she's here. I worry because my children are older than she is and I know my children are NOT ready for marriage or immigration. Just curious if I am the only one that does this. I guess I should quit, right??

Hi Missy! I think part of the answer is in exactly what you mention - the cultural differences between the countries. In the US, adolescence is becoming a longer and longer period in life. Actually, there was no such thing as adolescence before the early 20th century. Not long after reaching puberty, kids were expected to start working on the farm or family business, and that started their adult lives. Then child labor laws came into place and education was mandated for longer periods of time - eventually high school was mandatory, ending at 18 and we came up with 18 as being an adult. Government manufactured adolescence. And today, with more and more kids tied to parents through college (and many living with parents after college), the length is extending.

Depending on the other country, this may or may not be true and it's probably not appropriate to consider a 21-year-old from another country based on the US model. Just my 2 cents.

Amy has to go for a sputum culture - translates into an 8-week wait after it starts (September 4). So earliest interview will be early November. So even those who have yet to get the NOA2 will likely have your SO with you before Amy can get here. At least that's my hope for all of you.

i am just curious, does everyone from the philippines needs to go through sputum culture????

thanks amystan, its just today my fiancee receive an email from the uscis letting her know that they are requestion for initial evidence. but i still did'nt get any letter on the mail, maybe i would get it this week hopefully but getting nervous on what kind of evidence we might miss when all i remember i already give them everything. have any clues????

It might be as simple as not checking a box or missing an answer to a question. There is no way of knowing until you receive the hard copy in the mail. I think it took Missy 4 days for them to actually send the letter (4 days from when they said they sent it) and then another few days for the mail to reach her. So just a little more patience... but after a week or so, personally, I would call them

Good luck

Richard is correct. The email said that they mailed it on the 14th but it was post marked for the 17th (Monday) and I received it on Thursday. The good news is I FedExed it back to them on Friday and Sunday they had updated me with another email saying it was received and work on my application has resumed. I knew what had been left out so I had it all ready to go.

hello! missy. just want to know what does ur RFE says? did it says request for initial evidence??? that's what it says with ours on email and what kind of papers works they ask from you? sorry missy, i just could'nt help to get nervous till i got that hard copy. just wanna know so i could relax....sorry guys...

hello! stan, i just want to ask if you did the paper works by yourself or you paid an agency or a lawyer to do it for you??? is it true that its faster if you hire a lawyer or agency to do the paper works? we just did our papers on our own and could'nt help to feel depress at times coz we still did'nt have NOA2...

Hello MayandTim. We did our paperwork ourselves. I haven't read anywhere that having someone else prepare them will get anything done faster. In fact, if you have to send paperwork to the preparer and then they turn around and submit them, it can take longer. Not to mention the more mail involved, the easier to get things lost.

The only exception is if there have been problems with a visa or something else involving USCIS in the past. Then an immigration lawyer may be appropriate.

I'm really getting irritated that they're working so far into April and still have so many of our March family left behind. I realize anything I say will be of little consequence to you all - but you're in our thoughts and prayers. I believe the exchange between Missy and Richard is correct - it's totally the luck of the draw and depends on who gets your box. I also agree with another post by Richard that it sounds like they are approving April heavily in order to skew the overall approval timeframe and to make themselves appear as though they are taking less time than they actually are.

thanks amystan, its just today my fiancee receive an email from the uscis letting her know that they are requestion for initial evidence. but i still did'nt get any letter on the mail, maybe i would get it this week hopefully but getting nervous on what kind of evidence we might miss when all i remember i already give them everything. have any clues????

this sux... I'm going to the Philippines on August 28, 2009. I wanted to send all the evidence before I leave I don't think i'm getting the letter before thursday!!!!

it really sucks....my fiancee registered her email add on the uscis website and she just told me that she got an email from the uscis stating the same as yours. but i still still did'nt get any letter from the uscis. how long do you think it gonna take to get it? feel really nervous, on what kind of evidence they are requesting from when i know that i have given all the evidence already....maybe we could help each other....

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while - been pretty crazy. I've started to add a comment or two, but I feel almost guilty since we got our NOA2 and so many others are waiting. Crazy to feel that way, I know. Nevertheless....

Just an update on us and how post-NOA2 has been so far. NVC got our paperwork last Monday and sent it to the embassy on Tuesday (8/18). I waited to call until 8/19 and it was already through. Calling NVC was painless except the number was busy a lot so it took a while to get through. Once connected, very fast and efficient. They gave me the Case Number assigned (see below) but I also got a copy in the mail from NVC on Saturday with that information.

I've tracked what I believe is our package from NVC using the link http://track.dhl-usa.com/TrackByRef.asp?nav=TrackByRef I entered "EXP 18 AUG 2009A" as the reference and chose dates to/from of 8/17 and 8/19. It's documented elsewhere on how to do this, but if you need any assistance, send me a PM and I'd be happy to assist. Anyway, it looks like the package is in Manila now, but hasn't been signed for at the embassy.

Amy has her medical tomorrow. For Manila, it's first-come, first-serve. So all she needed was the print of the NOA2 notification email and the Case Number assigned by NVC (not the EAC number from VSC), along with passport photos.

We hope everyone from March gets approved soonest. My sprinklers are on right now and my pom-poms are out. Hang in there and let me know if I can be of any help. And be ready - as others have said, things happen fast once this step is done.

hello! stan, i just want to ask if you did the paper works by yourself or you paid an agency or a lawyer to do it for you??? is it true that its faster if you hire a lawyer or agency to do the paper works? we just did our papers on our own and could'nt help to feel depress at times coz we still did'nt have NOA2...

Just got home. Checked the USCIS site as was "touched" today. No clue as to what that means exactly. No email or change of status yet, but thinking of calling to see if I can get anymore info. Would be nice to hear something before the weekend. Gonna kill me to wait 2 days!

Which # is everyone calling? 1-800-375-5283 ? What's the trick to getting a live person?

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww dgard finally a touch!!!!good for you.,,update::my SO arrived friday in philadelphia, pa connection to washington,,and had no problem getting thru customs even with NOA2 approval,,,,they asked him "what is the motive of your visit" and he answered "i am on vacation" then they asked "why are you staying at this adress and not a hotel" and he said "because i want my dad and son to see where my fiance lives" and they said" your fiance?" and my SO said "yes, we are applying for the K1 visa , do you want to see the documents?" and he said "no, its ok, but are you sure you are returning on this date to ITALY" and my SO said "yes, my son starts school then" then they said "ok, have a nice vacation and stamped his passport for 90days!!!! so you can visit even after NOA2,, just be prepared to answer questions and have documents ready if needed(although they didnt even look at them)) ok,,,,ciaooooooooo,,,,i am so busy with my special visitors,,,,and almost forgot to say that i received packet 3 august 21,,, things are rolling so fastttttttttt.................ciao ,,,hugs and kisses to all

congratulations to everyone who got their NOA2 already. it start to depress me now 'coz we still haven't got ours and not even any touches on the uscis website. i really feel like crying everyday when i check the mail and no NOA2 yet. hu hu hu.....

uuuuuuuuuuuffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! come on vermont,,,,,,,,,take a double shot of espresso and get at least one March filer approved.........dont make me come there

hi! strega? how are you and how's everyone??? everyone do you think its ok to call the uscis and ask if there's any update about our NOA2?