G0ds1ay3r

Hi

Thanks for your response. What does it mean the sealed envelope? Is it the one which you receive from the immigration before the green card arrives, at the final stage?

I have submitted I-130 this month and received I-797C from USCIS, but there was no A# on that paper. It was just blank. I guess I will have a different number later. I think I would just bring my old card to Sydney Consulate when my interview, and ask them what to do with it, unless there is a notice before that.

The sealed envelope is the thing you get when you get your visa in the mail, you bring this to the POE in America but do not open it.

I took my card with me to my interview and they photocopied it and they told me that I could use this instead of getting issued a new one but I guess somebody screwed up because I was issued another number different to my original card.

It is no problem and you will breeze through the process.

You can use your old green card if you still have it when you re-enter the USA at the POE but if the A# on your original card is different to the A# in the sealed envelope then you will be sent to secondary processing and will be there for about 2 hours while the sort it out.

I gave my original card which expires 2017 to the officer at POE but because the A# was different in the sealed envelope (my original A# was the same in every other piece of paperwork in my case) He was very confused as to why the numbers were different and took 2 hours to sort out...... what an ordeal.

Kia Ora Have you looked online for the nearest Kiwi group? I live in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Victoriakiwis get together once a year for a hangi. Its awesome! Vancouver has a group that gets together on Waitangi day and theres 2 kiwi bars in Van as well. You will be surprised how many kiwis there are in this part of the world. Kia Kaha the homesickness does go away.

There is a kiwi club that meets monthly in San Francisco that I used to go to.

By networking and creating a linkedin profile I was able to receive multiple job offers in a relativity short space of time (2 weeks) all in the state with a largest unemployment rate.

Networking is awesome, trust me; you will find a job.

Congratulations, what field do you work in?

I work in the life safety field

Since arriving in USA 2 months ago I have applied for 4 jobs; applied for the 4th job on Friday and had interview today and was offered a job on the spot earning less than I was earning in New Zealand (not much less though) and considering how cheap it is to live in USA I think I got a good deal; even has insurance.

Yay congrats

Got tickets for the 20th :-D

When is your guys interview Heather?

Had my interview this morning 8am; arrived 7:30 & got in elevator 7:45 which is when you are allowed to go to the floor the US consulate is on.

Had to line up and was at the back of the line and security started letting people through at 8am sharp; since I was at the back of the line I didnt get through security till about 8:15 but was told to go straight to window 5 which is where the person my wife and I had been dealing with via email and phone was waiting for me; she couldnt have been anymore nicer.

Breezed through the first part with her except that I forgot to bring a foolscrap registered envelope for them to ship me my passport if I was approved, I also needed to send my orginal birth cert which I couldnt find at home but was found about 30 mins AFTER I got on the plane to my interview, I also needed to get my joint sponsors latest paystub which they would accept via email (which I have now since done and that has been accepted).

I then was sent to wait for my interview and was waiting for about 30-40 mins while other people were served ahead of me; I think because they were all getting tourist or study visas and they are not as time consuming as the IR-1.

Finally got my interview; swore that the application was truthful; given the domestic violence paperwork which they apparently give everyone now and told once my birth certificate gets to them with the envelope they will send my passport back with visa in it.

From the moment I walked up to the interview window I could see my application on top of his desk with a big APPROVED May 2013 stamped on it :-)

Thank you for all your help.

APPROVED!

Thanks Kel

Interview is 8am tomorrow morning and being a dummy forgot to get a registered post bag for them to mail my passport to me if approved.

I remembered when I was in the air flying to auckland for the interview and so when I landed in Auckland of went to the post shop in the airport and asked for a signature required post bag which is apparently what they gave me.

I got to my hotel and checked in then went to get food; while eating it decided to do some research and turns out not only is it the wrong type of bag but it is too small.

All post shops are closed at the moment and the earliest they open anywhere near me is 8am which is my appt time.

How big a deal is this? Can I have my interview then buy post bag and drop it off to the consulate or is there going to be a big song and dance like most of this process?

Thank you for any advice you can give.

Hi all.

Interview in a few days time and going over the last of the paper work. I says on the interview prep page @ http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3740.html

Important Notice: If you did not submit photographs to the NVC, as required, then you must take them with you to your immigrant visa interview.

You must provide two identical color photographs. Review Photograph Requirements for size specifications and more information.

I sent in the photos with my ds-230 a couple months ago; does this mean I do not need to bring passport photos with me to the interview?

Thank you

My wife and I lived in America 3 years then moved to New Zealand; had a baby and have been here in New Zealand 4 years and counting down the days till we can leave.

Already have been granted a greencard in 2005 but abandoned it when we came back to NZ to live; got interview in a couple days for my IR-1.

My salary coming from NZ are quite a bit lower than the average salary for my field in America but that is because New Zealand is a low paying country.

America cost of living is also MUCH cheaper than New Zealand so much so that it bumps my US salary comparatively up a lot.

Personally I think that 40 photo's is a bit excessive; we sent in 6 photos and were still accepted. I think quality over quantity.

I will be bringing my CV just incase.

On my appointment letter for my IR-1 interview at the consulate it has the following on the first page:

All Applicants are required to provide evidence of their own ablility to support themselves in the united states in addition to the i-864 required for family petitions, such evidence may consist of:

- Own Funds (Bank accounts/investments)

- Net assets

- CV/Resume - Work history

Okay so I dont have much funds left (maybe $6k after I pay for plane tickets and what not) and I do not own any assets so that leaves me with giving them a copy of my CV/Resume WHICH they basically have from the DS-230 under work history.

Why is this even required? I am a fire alarm installer/Technician so I am skilled & employable but what about the others that are not? will they be denied on this fact?

Called the NVC today; my files left NVC 14th, they wouldnt give us the tracking information but if they are correct then I already have that thanks to this thread.

My files are currently in a sorting facility in Auckland New Zealand.

Got my medical next week; had to schedule it before I got the information from the consulate since NVC is so slow and my files are not at the consulate.

Ive got the Medical PDF from the USCIS website for New Zealand but is there anything else besides passport photos, Vaccination records and passport that I need to bring?

Thanks

S&J

2005 I filed DFC in New Zealand and it took only a couple of months with no RFE's, no caseworkers with my files sitting on their desks for over a month and it was easy to get a hold of them when I needed to.

This time round I am filing through the NVC because New Zealand is now no longer a DFC country; filing through the NVC is a complete and utter shambles; the people who work in the NVC either A. Need to be trained better, B. Need more case workers to process more visas.

I cant wait till this is all over.

Got my medical next week and it says to bring 3 passport photos but does not say if they need to be recent ones; I have copies of the photos I used for the rest of my visa process but they are from mid march, can I use those? I sure hope so :-)

Thanks

San Fran was our exit port in 2008; there is a nice relaxing rest area complete with awesome showers which is great if you have just come off long #### flight :-) I think its like $5-10 and they supply all the towels etc.

Okay mine better be with that package to Auckland or I am going to be extremely miffed lol.

Okay We got our interview date over a week ago and yet our files have not left the NVC... what gives?

2004 my wife who was then my girlfriend moved to New Zealand from America to be with me after we lived together for 6 months in 2003 when I visited America.

After a couple of year's we moved to America; I started feeling homesick after 3 years so we moved back to New Zealand a couple months shy of me being able to apply for US citizenship.

Fast forward to present time; we've been in New Zealand going on 4 years and have both been homesick for America for the entire time bar 2 weeks.

We are moving back to America end of this year; it is not paradise but we know what we are getting ourselves into; it just took a bit of moving around to realize this.