Matana74

Hello VJ Family…

I know that I have been promising to fill you in…well I am back home with my husband. It was the favor and blessing of God that we got to leave together. The interview at the embassy in Ghana was very different from what I have been told but I was there…my husband was asked four questions…who was his wife… when did I first come to Ghana… when did we get married and where was his wife right now…when he told the interviewer that I was outside he told my husband to go outside and get me…he actually had a security guard escort him to allow him in and out (because they has his passport at the time). I was sitting outside (in the heat) when he called the taxi driver to drive me over to the entrance…when I went over I thought that there was a problem but he said that the interviewer wanted to talk to me…he asked me when was the first time I was in Ghana…when did we get married…and when I came to Ghana it was only to see my husband.

The only thing the interviewer took from my husband was our 5 photo albums and one stack of the phone bills (which were not even glanced at)…my husband told the interviewer that he has all out our chats and emails and the interview waived them off. The next thing as I was standing there he handed my husband a blue slip to return next week for his visa….we were so happy we were speechless…

The following week I was trying to go with my husband but was told that the American section was closed and I could not go with my husband…he went in at 1:00p and at 1:45 my husband walked out with his CR-1 visa and his envelope….we were happy….

Long story short we flew out Friday night TOGETHER and arrived at LAX on Saturday afternoon…my husband handed his package to the immigration officer…and she asked us how long we were married and commented about my husband’s upcoming birthday and told us to make sure that they issue him a IR-1 visa and not a CR-1 visa because it was already two years…so I went to get our bags while my husband was in the immigration section waiting…40 min later he had him Visa number and his green card will be in the mail soon…the experience was so smooth that I felt like all the stress leading up to it was “unreal”.

When I get a moment I will update my status and give ratings…

Thank you VJ Fam for your help and support thus far.

~Matana74

If your SO is calling you on your landline or your cell phone your bill will show all calls incoming and outgoing...print them, pull them and just highlight the numbers.

~Matana74

Hello everyone. I think that I am the CR-1 interview in October for the US Embassy in Ghana. I have been EXTREMELY busy in getting ready for this interview and my flight to Ghana. This year with Ghana having so many Visa lottery winners they could not handle the load...also being short staff...my emails to the embassy went from 9 weeks to respond to not 2 days. They are also promising to have visas ready within a week of the interview. I will be in Ghana close to a month. I will give details on the interview process because I will be there first hand.

~Matana74

All of those items are indeed important. Keep them and keep track of everything going forward. There is a guide here on VJ that kind of lays it out for you on what you will need just ot submit the I-129...

K-1 Visa Guide

That should really be helpful to you. Be sure you make copies of your final package before you send it off to USCIS. Let me know if you have any other questions...maybe I can help...IM me.

~Matana74

How can a cry be heard if it is a single voice...but if we put a few voices together then they will have to take notice. The key to emailing letters to those high in authority is to fill up the email box...every person on post doing their part.

You can count me in as well.

So let me know what you want me to do or contribute...even though I have my date and I will be in Ghana for my husband's interview most of the forms we will have to pay for all over again. I will be at the embassy to sign anything new. I already reprinted our final copy of our completed case to match new updated forms...new tax information a new letter from my employer...I mean there should not be a reason for my husband to come back. He had 40 pounds of chats (not counting March-October 2010 which I will take with me); 15 pounds of emails; phone records; etc. Our goal is no second interview. I know some have gone for 3 interviews.

Our country's always prided itself in helping and providing for its citizens...where is the help we are not asking for anything out of the ordinary or special favors...we are simply standing in line waiting for our turn and the line hasn't moved in months and for some, years.

I just want to help the next group by opening this door.

Just let me know

~Matana74

Ok...so are we all in agreement to start here with DOS?

I just want awareness, true awareness raised about this...I am ready to start this email campaign. It would be great if we can get all the people going through the Ghanaian embassy to start sending emails to DOS...regarding this delay. Regardless of where they are in the process…a backlog today of a couple months could be a backlog of a few years tomorrow.

Please be mindful that our emails need to be as factual as possible about our cases and concerns and not emails that could appear to be "yelling"...we want to send out emails in the fashion of what we understand of the process compared to what the actual process is...is the process different from embassy to embassy...and if so why...and if not why?...and get answers true answers...I want to ask all of my questions and not get the same "scripted" answer.

I think that if we all commit to this wholeheartedly we will get answers, understanding and movement in the embassy. I pray that our cause stirs up questions behind the scenes at the embassy level.

So when do we start?

~Matana74]

My husband only got one packet and nothing was emailed. He called and was told to come in and pick it up...he did his medicals in March 2010 because we had an K3 appointment in March and then was told that they no longer do K3 Visas (long story)...In Accra when you got to take your medicals you only have to take the "interview appointmnet" letter. Which baffales me as to why they cancelled my husband existing appointment after he took his medicals...

Matana74

Emails take about a month to be answered now...My husband had called and they confirmed they had his file and then they told him to call back in a weekhe called and they told him to come to the embassy the next day at 730am. He went to the embassy they took down him name and told him to come back at 2pm. When he got there at 2pm he was escorted into a room with other people and they called his name handed him the packet and he was escorted out. The packet has like a cover all (xeroxed copies stapled together)...his name was "scribbled" on the front with the interview date. I think that everyone who showed up on that day got the same date...but i am not sure about that...

GREAT IDEA...I dont believe that we all need to be outside of our date...but we need to draw notice to these "delays". Since the embassy has final say so there needs to be some commonality between all of them...a SOP (especially in dealing with telling families of the delay). I agree that we need to bring this to the attention of the right person(s). I know that some of us are already far into the process but there are some who are just getting started. In the length of time it takes to reach the interview stage, spouses/fiances in Ghana will have to pay for certain items all over again. For example, with my husband this will be his third police report right before his interview. In Ghana these documents can be costly...so there are alot of challenges a long the way. I will do some searching also to find out who will at least look into this (someone with true authority and an attentive ear)...even in the business world when production is behind we hire temporary persons, open up other work days, extend hours...just something to help get the flow going...for me this bothers me the most...to know they are behind and yet it appears that nothing is getting done.

~Matana74

I feel you on the waiting until you get your interview date before writing to your senator - nobody wants to do anything that might risk their process. Isn't it a shame that we must feel that way? I'm not saying that I am any different than you or anyone else who is hesitant to challenge the process at this stage of the game. I am just wandering how many of us would really follow follow through with a complaint once our process has moved along - probably why nothing improves at the Ghana embassy. It is a real dilema that we have.

I agree...sometimes we hesitate to complain because we secretly fear that our chances will be hurt or our case maybe delayed on purpose. I think that the embassy knows that we as a collective hold will not call our senators or ask questions or hold the embassy accountable in many ways or even follow through. It has been like this so long that it is the norm for them. If we will just consistently follow through and fight to be united with our families...it will cause change; but it has to be all of us fighting...writing...consistently.

I want to thank each and every person for your words of comfort and for sharing your experierences with me. It is still a little sad but at the same time it is comforting to know that I am/was not alone. Right now I am just planning to go to Ghana and that is my focus right now. I was telling my husband that I didn't want to sound ungrateful to my VJ Family who are in the thick of things just like me and some still dont have a date. I want to formally apologize for my reaction and display of being ungrateful to all of those who dont even have a date yet. It was shock, disbelief, hurt and confusion that was speaking up. Thank you again to everyone. I will be researching a few things about the embassy and procedures that the embassy follows and truly why Ghana is so "backlogged"...and if there's not a different consular who interviews for certain visas then why are CR1 schedule at its current rate (I think 1 per month). Whatever I find please know that I will share the information.

Love you VJ Fam!!!

~Matana74

Greetings to all…

Well just a quick recap…our case completed at NVC in October 2009. In March of 2010 we sent an expedite request; it was finally answered and granted…husband’s file reached Ghana in April 2010. They gave him his packet this morning….NOW can someone tell me why his interview date is scheduled for October 19th, 2010????????????

That is outrageous to me. I am sitting here thinking is this expedited? I am sitting here thinking that if I was still in NVC would that mean that our interview would be years away. I want to be happy I really, really do. Having a date puts a goal in mind BUT 4 months and 14 days away from now …I am confused and sad. There must be a mistake somewhere…I am not even sure if there is anything that I can do or who I can contact….

I am just a skittle bag full of conflicting emotions. Please don’t think that I am ungrateful it's just that the timing just does not make sense…

Any thought(s) are welcomed...

~Matana74

Ok that is good to know. I have worked at the same place for a long long while and my income has only increased since then. So it is more about the stability. So then I feel more at ease about that.

Thank you so very much for the insight.

Have a blessed day!

~Matana74

Just a quick question when will a co-sponsor be requested if NVC already approved your I-864? Even if I am well over the poverty guideline (125% requirement)…what criteria will the embassy (in Ghana specifically) use in making a determination if my husband needs or will need a co-sponsor…I don’t want my husband to be asked to return to the embassy for any reason except to get his visa…

I have been seeing a trend with this…especially if all else is in order…

That is exactly what I was going to say…when my husband goes to the café to chat with me I always tell him to be sure to log out completely. Even if time runs out and the computer shuts “off” if my husband did not log out completely the next person who buys café time and uses that computer will be able to have access to his information. It doesn’t always happen this way but more often during the busy hours of the café.

It is the sole job of some scammers to bounce from computer to computer in the café. When I was in Ghana my husband took me to a café so that I can check my work emails…and he was showing me this…on that day there were 2 women and 3 men doing this…

So just make sure when your husband is using the café that when his time comes to 1 min that he logs out and that he can just be sure before he leaves the café.

There seems to be a trend with Ghana at the moment. They are having people come back in a month to pick up visas. I was shcoked to hear this because I think the turn around use to be about 2 weeks at most. I am not sure what the true hold up is...but they are a little bit slower...than before.

~Matana74

Congratulations to you both!!!!!

Thanks to all!!!

My fiance was approved today. They say the 3rd times a charm.

We are ecstatic!!!

WhidbeyGirl, when was the last time your husband was in LA. That is not too far from me but LA living is not what it use to be...

He live in LA on Crenshaw for over 2 years.

K&L - I'm so sorry.

I know that I have prepared my husband with multiple copies of everything (hardcopy and softcopy) just in case. I think that there is so much paperwork, that we all get so over consumed with copies of copies upon more copies.

I am sitting here in my house thinking if he has enough copies of everything or if I need to print something else. In reading all of the VJers experiences with lost or misplaced items I am constantly thinking it is better to have more paperwork than less.

I will be so glad when my marriage functions more like a marriage and less like business transactions and my husband here with me.

Congratulations to you...

I am so glad to keep reading about movement in Ghana. I have been trying to keep myself busy because if I don't, I will be counting the seconds to that infamous email and or phone call

Thank you for the support and well wishes Vanessa i really appreciate it.

Hello Gyenyame

Just wanted to let you know that Ghana is one of the countries that does not do DCF. I know that it can be said that if you make an appointment with the consulate in Ghana and plead your case in why you want to file DCF...that they may make an allowance...but dont hold your breath on that one you will need to prepare to deal with NVC. If you and your SO are together right now you can get the needed paperwork together and signed while in each others presence.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to visajourney but in browsing as a guest I've been so impressed with the quality of information and people's willingness to help. So, today I decided to register and post my own question in preparation for my journey with USCIS & Co.

I will be going through the US naturalization process shortly. In the meantime I also wanted to prepare and get information about filing the I-130 for a spouse directly in Ghana. I'm hoping that this would be quicker and/or easier than going through the NVC. Does anyone here have experience with this? And if so, what are the requirements for length of residence? Please share any information and/or experiences.

Oh, also, I'm not sure if this matters but once naturalized I would be a citizen of both the US and Ghana. Would I have same requirements as, say, a US citizen who is just living in Ghana temporarily without being a Ghanaian citizen?

Thanks all!

CAN I COME LEARN WITH U LOL BUT MY HUSBAND SAID HE WUD EAT ANYTHING I MADE BUT HE WUD ALSO TEACH ME SUFF HE LIKES SO IM NOT WORRIED AT ALL

Sure but it is in California

The one thing that I did notice in Ghana is the dishes are very different from hood to hood...and the one thing that he loves, I will have to go to Ghana to learn is kenkey and its 3-4 day process, his mom makes the best in the whole hood (it was her business). To me it is like a tamale...with a fermented taste. Shito pepper became my sole favorite...(the homemade version) it was hot at first..but I became so addicted to it that I was getting sick from eating food without that "kick"when I returned. It has been over a year now and it doesn't happen as often but it still happens.

The other blessing is that I am the oldest of 5 children and my siblings are all boys...so feeding is my speciality...

I watched my husband put away 3-5 cups of rice at one sitting...I dont know where it goes.... because he is so fit...

I dated a man here in America for a very very long time…only to find out that he was a user. It is not about where the person is from; it really is about what you know about the person and how well you know that person. I am not sure if you wanted to insinuate that people who have foreign spouses/fiancées are/were lonely and likely a target to be scammed…I think that is too general a statement.

I have to agree with Momov31, at least let her have her moment to collect her thoughts…I think that it is important in supporting each other. It was not that what you said was not true but I think that it was just not the appropriate time…no one by any means is saying that you were wrong in the content of what you said it was just too soon. Let us show each other compassion. We cannot fit all people into the same shoes or walk of life.

~Matana74

Congrats...I am so very happy for you....

I love to hear GREAT NEWS like this from the Ghanaian Embassy.