hdkimo

Hi August Filers

An update for me...Married nearly two months now, sent off our AOS last month and my I-485 is currently sitting at CSC, patiently awaiting adjudication. AP and EAD still stitting at the National Benefits Center, also waiting patiently

How is everyone else traveling?

We've just been settling in and getting used to each other! Our wedding is May 8th in South Kohala, Big Island, Hawaii. I'm starting to stress out a little as there is SO much planning yet to do. No worries... I anticipate we will file AOS in early June.

Congrats!

I have been so busy I had forgotten to update this thread! The little lady and I arrived (after stopping off in Manila for a day) on February 9th. Our POE was Honolulu and due to the size of the flight (300+) we got seated toward the front of the plane so we could disembark quickly and sprint for immigration! We were 2nd in line at immigration and the whole process took only 10 minutes with absolutely zero bumps in the road.

I have yet to start the AOS forms...probably will this weekend. We are also planning our wedding (looks like the Hapuna Prince Hotel in the South Kohala district, Big Island, HI) for May 1st, depending on availability.

My two daughters are getting nicely acquainted with my fiancee and, well....life is good!!!

I am back in the US! Had my POE yesterday, was amazingly simple and had a very nice CBP officer. SO GOOD to be back with my man Three weeks until I am Mrs. Alex!

That's awesome! Congratulations!

I'm leaving on 4Feb for Singapore to help her move! Can't believe this is finally happening!

Ah! Forgot to update this post: she passed her interview on Friday, 22nd Jan.!!!!! She has an appointment to pickup her visa on Friday the 29th! In two weeks, we'll be together in Hawaii!!!!

Hehe, nice, hdkimo. Good Luck on the interview

My fiancee just finished her interview , they gave her white slip card with a date to pick up her passport on Jan 20th.

The interviewer didn't tell her whether she passed or not, just gave her that card and to come back on the 23rd Jan instead I'm still hoping that to get her passport back only because nothing else is written there.

I'm still trying to get confirmation if she's passed, because for some reason, inside my heart I knew that she's passing, but I need the confirmation...if you know what i mean.

Sounds to me like she passed just fine! I know that the U.S. Embassy in Singapore states that once you pass your interview they hold your passport (for visa preparation) for up to two days. When you pick it up it is all set. Unless they sent your lady away with instructions to complete something else or provide additional information I think you are all set! Congrats!

Good luck Rongo!

Good news here too! After our appointment FAIL she got a letter today in the mail from the embassy and our new appointment date is only next week: Jan. 22. Not too bad of of a setback, I'm actually relieved as I thought we would be set back 3-4 weeks. Fingers crossed...

Good luck to all!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG :) :)

APPROVED!!!

NOA1 : 7th Aug 2009

NOA2 : 8th Jan 2010

Congrats!!!

wow , hdkimo. that's kinda confusing for me....lol...

I did fill the DS 156 online because they asked us to do it there, but i think all DS 156 link are online and create specific barcode. I just hope i'm doing this right.

I guess the real showtime will be in couple more days....Jan 14th..

Yeah...I'm pretty confused too. Just got done authoring a very nice and polite email to the embassy.

We got a paper DS-156 with her packet 3 as well. No barcode on that one though. Rolling the dice, we'll see what next week brings!

Hi, Hdkimo.

I'm not quite understanding about your case about mailing the appointment letter prior . Is it indicated that you have to do that? Because Indonesian embassy seems to just send an email containing the appointment date and time without telling us to mail back anything. So technically, there's no requirement for us to mail the packet 3 nor packet 4.

Maybe i should call the embassy to verify this..

Rongo-

Our story goes like this:

Back in early December she took her completed packet 4 to the embassy, where they would not let her in. They said she had to schedule an appointment online. So, I went to the US Embassy website and found that their online system actually creates a barcoded DS-156 form specific for the applicant. I printed this out and mailed it to her. This process also allowed us to setup an appointment at the embassy and print out the appointment letter. So, she shows up on Jan. 7th at 8am, appointment letter in hand, and goes in. First they tell her she has to go to the "immigrant visa" desk, then they tell her "no...go to the non-immigrant visa desk". Then they ask her about her appointment/instructions letter she was supposed to mail into the embassy. This was apparently part of Packet 4 (which I have never actually seen) and on that form yes...ours did state to mail it into the embassy. Upon mailing that form in we should have in turn received a paper copy of an official scheduled appointment. The embassy was confused as to why we setup an appointment online (duh! Like they told us to!) and how we were actually able to setup an appointment online.

So, where we are now is:

1. On Jan. 7th she returned home and immediately mailed the appointment/instructions document to the embassy. It should have arrived on Friday, Jan. 8th.

2. Now we wait for the paper copy appointment letter to arrive at her house. This should only take a couple of days, but who knows when the actual appointment will be schedule.

Your mileage may vary.....but DO read the fine print! It is quite possible that each country/embassy has it's own protocols. Good luck! Oh, also...I would love to call the embassy, but it seems I cannot actually talk to a human being there unless it is an emergency situation involving an American citizen. All other inquires are by email or voice mail only.

they wont open a service request and told me to wait 30 days more

NOA1: 7th Aug 2009

No RFE, No decision....

Whoa....that doesn't sound right! Can they confirm that they indeed DO have your paperwork? And that it was not lost?

Trouble in paradise....

Well, my lady went to her visa appointment at the U.S. embassy on Jan. 7th only to discover that she had forgotten to mail her appointment letter/confirmation prior! Why they let us even schedule an appointment is beyond me. Anyway, she mailed in her letter that same day and they said they would processes it immediately and mail her back an appointment date in a few days. I think that means they will mail a letter to her in a few days, not actually schedule the appointment.

So we are in a holding pattern waiting for that damned appointment letter! I pray that it will all happen in a calendar week or so. This is all seriously screwing up other timing as her work permit is expiring soon and she may have to return to the Philippines (from Singapore where she currently works). What a mess....I REALLY hope this all works out.

My visa was APPROVED!!!!! Yaaaaaaay!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

Hi, Astrid.

It seems we both would live in the same area

To Capuccino Boy:

For Chase, it does take three weeks to get a "signed" letter from them. However, if you want it fast, you can just go to the local branch and ask the personal banker for account verification. It contains the same information. I did both of them .

Planning to email the embassy today to get the interview date. Hoping for mid of January.

Yes, going straight to my credit union local branch it took them one week to author the letter. And $25 (for research! Ha!). Oh well, at least it's done.

BTW: Interview 7Jan2010! US embassy in Singapore is running in slow motion during the Xmas season I guess...

I'm headed off the Sydney in three days for my interview...my head is spinning! The waiting is nearly over for me and I am almost back with Alex...start thinking happy thoughts!!

Astrid,

That's neat, we found out that our interview is scheduled on January 7th, 2010 so we won't be together for Christmas. When are you planning to come to L.A.? Where is Alex in L.A.? I'm in Pasadena and that really is part of L.A. but Pasadenaeans don't want to be considered part of the L.A. scene or culture. I'm hoping that whatever documents for my affadivid of support is good enough. I make more than above the poverty level but there have been postings that indcate requiring a lot more documentation than I am sending. I am sending I-134, recent pay checks, a copy of the latest income taxes, letter from my employer documenting, salary, job title, leght of employment and permanent status. I've checked with the embassy website and it only indicates petitioners must provide proof of adequate financial support once in the United States to ensure the applicant will not become public charges. Documentation regarding financial support can be in any form so long as it contains enough detail and information for the consular officer to conclude that the beneficiary will not become a public charge. So I'm hoping that I a sendin enough information to the embassy. What do you think?

Bernie

I did not send pay check stubs. But I did send (as is requested on the I-134 Instructions) a letter from my bank stating deposit amounts for the past year, length of account, and balances. I hope you don't get beat up on not submitting the bank letter....good luck!

We are in a holding pattern waiting for her NBI (police report) from the Philippines. Even though she has lived in Singapore for 15 years, and already got a police report from Singapore, she still has to get the NBI. That won't be ready until next Monday. Once we have that she can drop the packet at the US embassy and we can get along with things.

The silver lining to this storm cloud is that because of commitments to her job (and the staggering cost of airfare during the holiday season!) her flight back to the US really cannot happen before the 2nd week of Jan2010 anyway. Seeing as how the Singapore US embassy usually schedules interviews within a week and issues visas very quickly we should be on schedule for mid-January.

And just a check in with everyone who was a filer at CSC in August - has anyone had their visa approved yet? Or may I be the first one due for approval?

Astrid,

We received notification that her mom received her packet 3 last week and I faxed her IV/F04 yesterday which will set up getting packet 4 sent to her home. She is here with me in L.A. and we have completed all her forms, 156, 156K and my I-134 affadavid of support. She is flying back on December 6th so I hope that they don't schedule the interview too soon as we don't want her not to be there for it. The plan is for her to get everything done and then get a cheap ticket for me to go over to Poland in late December and for us to fly back sometime early January with the new visa. Do you think it's too ambitious? Maybe we won't get the interview date till January? what do you think?

How soon did you recieve your interview date after you sent in your IV/F04?

Bernie

I have been reading (both online references and people's personal experiences) that the processing at each embassy is vastly different. For instance, I hear the wait at the Philippine embassy is something like 3-months from time of packet 4 submission to interview date. Singapore on the other hand is more like one week! Also, some embassy's grant the visa AT the end of the interview (Singapore! Wow, imagine that? No second trip!) while others make you wait and may take a week or more.

Someone on this board advised to NEVER buy airline tickets until you have the visa in hand. I think that is very wise advise!

Hello everyone. I am new to this post and nervously waiting for the approval

Aug 7 2009 - NOA1

Oct 23 2009 - Touched

Good luck Chimpoooo...from the looks of others you should be getting your approval notice any moment!

Received packet four today, my interview is December 15!

Congrats! And good luck!

I just sent my docs to the "Mrs." today. In one week we will have everything in hand and be able to submit to the embassy. I'm hoping we get an interview just after Xmas!

Hi, hdkimo.

I thought the immunizations can be done prior to her Adjustment of Status in the states?

The one that needs to be completed is only the medical examination....well, that's based on what I read in the forum.

As far as Indonesian Panel Physician, it seems they're charging extra for the immunization...so I'm guessing that's something extra? that can be done after she gets to the US?

That's a lot of pictures.....I think for our side, it only needs 1 for Medical..and 2 for Embassy?

But we'll take more of that in December.

From what I heard, the Police Certificate in Indonesia is not that hard to obtain....well...hoping.

The Embassy gave us the place for approved sworn translators in the city, so I'm going to have her to get started with the documents. I'm just hoping that we don't need to translate emails in Indonesian language ...

I feel your pain about the airplane ticket part.....I'm flying to see my Fiancee too this December around xmas, and that costs like $1500ish. And then we still have to take local flights for the medical exam, and interviews....so that's probably another $1,000......and then.....I plan to be there for the interview.....woooh...... time for working my a$$...haha...

The immunizations she got are whatever the examiner (this doctor's office is one of only 4 in Singapore that do the Visa medical exams) had to do to satisfy the visa requirements. I was excited because the medical exam was only going to be about $120USD! After fees (which are B.S.) and the immunizations it ran up to just over $300. Oh well, that part is over. Anyway, your mileage may vary but I'm thinking that the immunizations required for US entry are probably pretty standard for anyone coming from anywhere. I wish you luck!

The passport photos are cheap, but I wish I would have known how many we were going to be needed so she would have only had to go get photos taken once (and buy like 12 copies!) rather than make multiple trips. Oh well...that part is over and done too.

The police certificate is easy enough, it's just that their (Singapore police) schedule for pickup does not work well if you are in a hurry. Oh, and the Philippine NBI we have to get is, obviously, only for Philippine nationals. You will certainly not have to worry about that.

I feel lucky myself that none of our documentation was in anything other than English. It sure seems to add to your "to do" list! I also fee lucky that Singapore, being a city/state, has every place she needs to visit a simple cab or train ride away. I don't know if this all would have worked out had she been required to fly all over. I feel your pain! Good luck!

Just got the package 3 from Indonesian Embassy today

So excited ....too much adrenaline rush....

My Fiancee will renew her passport and initiate Police Certificate. Hopefully all done within 1 week.

I've started to request for Bank letter and letter of employment and fill out the Forms for me and my fiancee....including gathering on going evidence.

How's everyone's doing?

Congrats!!! Glad to see things are progressing for you.

We are (after receiving package 3) running into some delays though. For instance, yesterday we found that, during the medical exam, she needed a LOT of immunizations! And one of them is a two-shot sequence with the 1st and 2nd shots having to be 30 days apart! This may delay our submission to the US embassy now until 17 December! Also, her Police Check is going to take 2 weeks! It can only be picked up by appointment, and that date is 14 days from application. In addition, since my fiance has a Philippines passport she must ALSO get a criminal check done for the Philippines too! That is yet another application/process done not by the US embassy but by the Philippine embassy...so that makes another thing to do. We had to get more passport style photos of her taken too! The medical exam required two, the police check required two more, yet another two were required for her Philippine criminal check. I think the US embassy requires four. Sheesh! But at least we are not in a waiting game...we know where we stand, what timing is involved, and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

This may be for the best anyway...I have been pricing airline tix for the week between Christmas and New Year and WOW!!! Talk about expensive! If this drags on a few extra weeks, like I expect it will, then she will be headed for the US in mid-January. That will save me around $1500 in air fare. Maybe these delays are for the best...

Called local police headquarters today and harassed them for my police check, which I lodged more than two weeks ago. I guess bugging people works, since they girl in charge all police certificates issued said she would have in the mail for me by tomorrow!

Lucky you! In Singapore it's more like an appointment. We got our prints and paperwork done yesterday however the appointment to pickup the cert is Nov. 30. No earlier, no later. Oh well...we have plenty to do in the next two weeks anyway.

Congratz, matt

I'm still trying to figure out how to track package from NVC to Indonesian Embassy.

DHL website keeps giving me no shipment found.

Wonder if i do something wrong.

Just for reference, my NOA2 was 2009-10-28, my NVC Receive date was 2009-11-06, and my fiance received her packet (Singapore, not so far from Indonesia) on 2009-11-11. Very little time in between. I have stopped trying to figure all this down to the minute! It seems that the US government, the embassy's, and the couriers all take their sweet time updating tracking and notification. By the time you figure out where or when something is it's old news! Good luck to you!

Got the updates thing working but unforunately my petition hasn't even been "touched"since August 27th. I hope I'm not the only one who's left in August. :-(

Just FYI...my petition NEVER showed at touched! Never! The one and only notification I got was "approved", so don't worry. I often wondered if getting "touches" was a good thing or not...like your petition had to be reviewed by many different people. Maybe something wrong, inaccurate or missing! I'm sure your approval will come along soon...

Checked the tracking on DHL, my package was delivered today at 10.07 a.m. Weird though, when I called NVC, they said my package was mailed the fourth, but on DHL, no packages were sent to Sydney on the fourth, only the fifth. Oh well, hopefully my boy gets the packet three email tomorrow!

The same thing happened with me. I called the NVC this morning and they told me it was sent out on the 5th. According to DHL nothing was sent on the 4th or 5th. It was sent on the 6th. Now hopefully my girl will have packet 3 in her hands by the beginning of next week.

I did not check your particular countries, but most likely you can Download the packet three and four from the embassy/consulate website, and be finished. Chances are they require a DS-2100 and the DS-230 PartI. there should also be a complete list of what they will expect to see (documents) at the interview. For a few of the documents (police records/ DAS certificates/Bank officer letter for the I-134) if you don't already have them it could take you some time... ie they won't be here by christmas if you don't have them.

We have the Medical exam and fees all taken care of and are waiting on the embassy and snail mail.

Since we already know the embassy has our I-797 approval from NVC; why not just send in your completed packet 3 now... save a week of snail mail time? and get ready for the interview. Unless I am mistaken they make the calendar of interviews the month prior from the DS-2100s received. If received prior to mid month (15 Nov) they will schedule interview mid the next month (Dec 09). if you wait for snail mail correspondence to tell you to send in package three you may be waiting till January for the interview.

Yeah, I have downloaded packet three already and have all the forms they need ready to roll, and I have my medical this thursday, with the results available the following tuesday. I filed for my police check November 1st, and am still waiting on it. I am going to email Sydney now and ask them to confirm my package is there, and if they give me the go ahead I am going to mail my DS-2301 ASAP. I can't do much about the rest of packet three until at least next week.

Got confirmation from NVC today that they sent our case to sydney on the fourth

Hi Alex,

How did you find out that your case was sent? Did you call the NVC? Or did they send you an email update.

Bernie

Hey, it's Astrid. Alex doesn't post on here I called NVC, gave them our case number, both our names and dates of birth, and asked for confirmation of wether is was still at NVC or winging it's way to sydney. NVC don't email for updates for K-1's, I believe. Alex got the hardcopy confirmation in the mail today from them.

Hey Astrid...congrats on your approval! I know you were getting frustrated and a bit worried...

Just curious: did you initiate the police check on your own? Knowing that you will need it anyway? Or did you receive a request from the US embassy asking for it already? I'm trying to figure out what I can do to expedite things...what I can get started on knowing that the US embassy in Singapore has NOT received a packet from NVC yet. Police check? Certificate of "singleness"? Anything else come to mind? I know we have to wait on the medical.

-Tim