AniaJ

Oops! I meant * effort *

Thank you all. It took a lot of courage to let go my documents (nothing was lost!) and I just love my evaluation report. It was so worth the efford & money.

Hi, I have just had my foreign degree evaluation done. I am super happy - what a relief!

My advice: find out which company YOU should use for your evaluation. It will depend on what you need your report for. Universities have their preferences when it comes to who prepared your report. Some universities have evaluators working for them and may count your credits all by themselves. If you're going for a license, find out from the licensing board whose report they accept. Good luck!

P.S. When they say originals, they mean originals

Good luck!

Thank you again Gosia & Tito for your help and for taking your time to write back. It's really nice to get some support :-) So far I've only found one friend in NM who had this evaluation done - she did it when she was still in Poland and she hired a lawer. I will be going for reciprocity. Once I succceed I will come back here with an update, just in case anyone else will be looking for the info. Na razie, Ania

Thank you @Gosia & Tito for your feedback. It looks like each state has its own requirements, each university has its own approach and in the end it's up to our employer to recognize a foreign degree or not...

In my field (teacher) getting this evaluation is a must. I cannot move forward without it here in New Mexico and starting from the beginning is not an option. I was told one of the things I need is a course-by-course evaluation done by one of the members of NACES. I am checking their requirements...Some companies want transcripts in sealed envelopes, some accept copies but want certified translations...I have a lot of reading to do!

I'm glad you didn't have to go through all this and congrats on your U.S. degree! A.

@perfect - I'm sorry to hear the evaluation didn't help. at least you tried! I hope now your son has a U.S. diploma and you don't have to worry!

@Inshallah2011 - thanks so much for the answer. They were also my first choice - I got a hopeful feeling reasing their website :-)

@PabloGarcia - thanks! you just confirmed the choice glad it worked for you! I know it will be hard to get done (considering the fact that my college does not exist anymore!) but I just can't start my education from scratch having 2 higher education degrees! Fingers crossed... and prayers.

Hi all,

To find a better job I need to have my Polish teaching degree evaluated by a member of NACES. Their website lists several companies offering this kind of service: http://www.naces.org/members.html

Does anyone have any experience with these companies? Did your eveluation work to your advantage?

I know this is just the first step and I'm sure I will have more questions soon. I don't expect it to be an easy process but I really have to face it. Thank you very much for your help.

Hi everyone! I'm Ania and I've been living in Albuquerque NM for over 3 years now.

I'd love to connect with Polish people living in New Mexico :-)

I opened a Facebook page for NM Polonia

http://www.facebook.com/nmpolonia

Czesc!

thank you all!

you know, i was thinking about what to do and i don't want to have any problems travelling and name changing so we decided we will go to the conulate in LA this March hopefully. they won't have my new passport done before summer so i will travel on my maiden name passport both ways. i wanted to save some money getting things done in poland but the timeline is uncertain and i just don't want to complicate my situation . good luck to you all and thanks for your input!

thank you!

so now i know i have to buy a ticket on my maiden name in passport. i would love to succeed in getting a new passport in poland -but then my ticket back will carry my maiden name and won't match the passport! i wonder what can be done about that!

the ticket needs to be in the name as it appears on the passport! you will not have any issues coming back when you carry your gc as well as your marriage license to show the name change.

as far as getting a new passport in poland, i can only tell you how it works in germany: once you live in another country you have to apply for a new passport through your embassy in the states.

Your ticket has to be in the same name as your passport (so maiden name). To prove name change you carry your marriage certificate with your passport and green card and you'll have no issues.

Don't know about changing name od Polish documents, but if it is anything like in Bosnia, you'll want to have an apostilled marriage certificate, with translation done. I think you can register your marriage through the Polish consulate in the US (may take longer than if you do it personally in Poland).

Good luck!

thank you! i will call the consulate today to find out more!

I need your help.

I got married (K1) almost a year ago, I changed my name and got a green card. My Polish passport is still in my maiden name (I realized I should have gone to the consulate then and get it changed but instead, I was planning to go to Poland this summer and do it there.

I need help from those of you who had it done and could give me any tips.

I don't know what name should be on my ticket (people here say maiden name as the passport stands but then how will i get back if they give me a new passport and punch the old one?). I feel bad because I was so focused on all this immigration and being ok with the US that I did not take care of my Polish 'part". thank you for your help.

by the way, what about changing name on my dowod osobisty?

i would really appreciate your help.

Hi

First I'd like to say thank you for this website, it's really reassuring knowing other couples are going through the same process and for all the information it provides!

I hope someone can help me as I've not found this anywhere.

My question is: I was backpacking around australia for 7 months in 2002. Does this mean I have to provide a police certificate to cover the period I was there for? I was moving from place to place so didn't have a fix address.

I was also in New Zealand for 8 months, working for 3 of them and then backpacking around. So do I have to provide a police certificate for NZ as well?

I am a UK citizen and going through the K1 process.

Thanks

hey, when I was going through my K-1 process in Poland I tried to figure out that issue because I was an au pair in Ireland for 2 school years. My instructions said I need a police certificate if I lived abroad for a year. So maybe , if the rules are the same, you don't need one if you weren't there for more than 12 months. You may call to find out. I was in Ireland for 10 months one year and 8 months the following year. I called the embassy and they told me the consul can sum the periods up so I'd better have it. It took me 1 month to get it (and only because my host family helped me)! Then, when I had it, my mail from the embassy was answered and they said I didn't need it. Imagine my confusion. Good luck!

Thank you for the help. Why wouldn't they be able to produce it in your city? Instead of having it done in Warsawa?

I have no idea. Maybe it's where the money should go ;-)

But maybe call and ask someone. I tried to find out but they told me : warsaw - so I blindly followed (I didn't want any trouble).

I am curious to hear what other Polish people did. Take care

Question how does she get the police certificate in Poland? She was told by a family member that they send it to the Embassy when you request the police certificate in Warsaw. I thought she would have to go to her local police station and ask them for it. Any help on this issuse would be great and thanks in advance.

wait for instructions. They give an address in Warsaw. I called the embassy to ask if I can get in Lublin but they said no ( I don't know why). I had to make a trip to warsaw just to get that 1 piece of paper ( it was a year ago, i don'r know if it's changed). You fill out the form while waiting in a queue, they check in a computer, stamp it and give it back to you. Then I brought it to the embassy for my interview.

she may try calling sekcja konsularna +48 22 625 1042 ( fiancee visa) monday -friday 10-12 and 14-16.

Hello,

My Fiancee recieved her packet 3 in the mail the other week. She just needs to send back her DS 230 Part I and the check list. The question is they didn't give any information about the medical exam is that stuff included in packet 4 with an appointment made for her? Does she have to make her appointment herself at the doctors?

they will send all the information along with the interview date ( and of course more info on that). I had 1 month. I heard the medical must be completed 1 week before the interview but I don't know if that's true. She can have it all done in 1 day. It's challenging but when I got the addresses I checked all the 3 places on the map to be relatively close. First I gave blood in the morning then I went for an X-ray. Then I was back to collect the blood test results and then I had to go back to collect the X-ray picture on CD. In the afternoon I had an appointment with a doctor. I was in Warsaw. Good luck! It's a lot of hussle

Thanks for the input. Does she get the shots that she doesn't have record of at the medical exam?

I didn't have any records from childhood. The doctor himself knows which shots are obligatory at certain age. Don't worry there:-) I think I got 5 (but he combined them into 2 injections).

Your fiancee will be sent instructions explaining her medical exam. It can be all done in 1 day.

Hello,

I have a question about documents that later on my fiancee will be taking into the interview when it comes time for that. She will be going to the Warsawa, Poland Embassy. Everything thing she brings in does it have to be in English? Also does anyone know anything about the medical exam in Poland and does the fees include the vacs?

Hey, as I remember documents can be either in Polish or in English. It was mentioned in the instructions the embassy sent me. I think most of my stuff was in English.

I didn't have my background check translated into English but I got my birth certificate translated because you need it later for AOS.

The shots are not required for the K-1 visa but it's best to have them done in Poland (she will need them to apply for AOS). Safes a lot of hussle and money.

For the vaccins she has to pay extra but it wasn't much. Please make copies of the vaccination sheet she gets from the doctor. This was the only medical document I attatched to my AOS application and I was approved.

Good luck!

Before I even seriously dated my husband, I asked him how he felt about having a wife that only worked part-time and was a home-maker the rest of the time. He said he had no problem with that. So, that's what we do now.

I work 2 - 3 days a week and I do most of the housework, cooking, laundry and grocery shopping. We share the landscaping work because we both love it.

My husband earns in one day what I earn working four days, but we share the money we make together. I do all the banking and pay the bills with our money in our joint account.

It works for us, even though I have friends who have separate bank accounts and use their own money on things they want. That doesn't work for my husband and I. We feel like we are "partners" in every way, including the finances.

Thanks for sharing your experience raymaga. I also work part time so I have time to do housework and my husband really appreciates it. I love your partnership attitude. Even though we are married (half a year now) I don't feel confident ' using' money I haven't earned myself and I can't recall asking my husband for money. I think it's my pride. I am glad he is clever and buys what we need :-)

Hi, do you mind sharing how you feel about your financial situation when it comes to paying bills and spending money in general?

I have my first job but I would't survive without my husband's support. Thx!

At first each of us went to a different line. My husband said to the officer that he had his fiancee with him and the guy hold the queue letting Jaime grab me from my line. So when I was being processed he was just one step ahead of me, which was very suppotive! It was in Chicago.

in a hostel room in Galway, Ireland

It happened to two couples I know but they both live in Europe. One in Belgium and the other in Spain. The officer's visit wasn't a big deal- everything was ok and the visit wasn't stressful for them.

Welcome! I lived in Albuquerque... (and Santa Fe, Tucumcari & Portales!). It's nice to meet you and congratulations!

Thanks! I wish you were still in Abq...Good luck to you on your journey!

Here is a much longer version of our love story if some of you would like to read it:

http://tobelieveinlove.blogspot.com/