JD63

congrats! Seems like they asked a lot of questions!

the number on my check was off a digit or two. try adding one to the number on the check

Had biometrics on 6/16. No problems, took all of ten minutes.

We were a bit delayed because they "had to bring someone in shackles down from lockup" and he "had to clear the room before that can happen"

The webpage updated both EAD and AOS apps yesterday, but still on intial review

Yeah... another weird time frame...

It seems like there's a delay, when mine updated to the website that my I-129F was approved, i didn't get the text message for several hours

As for number 2, she should be able to go to her local Amphur that logged her birth. THey should have records of her parents and can give you copy of birth certificate.

I agree she shouldn't need to register marriage in Thailand. What's her status in Germany currently? Is she back in Thailand? Where will you interview?

It all has to do with "face." This makes lots of sense in the context of thai culture

That seems like about what I had to pay. I could have done it for less at the university medical center, but it was a two month wait to see the travel nurse because "she's the only one who knows the vaccine stuff"

Since my wife didn't have record of MMR or Varicella as a kid we had to do titers for the vaccines, before he would sign it, which cost an extra 200 dollars. All in all it cost around $300, which I was kind of forced into paying since I needed to get it filed. Anyway, I don't have an option of shopping around since there's only two in town.

Hello VJ family,

I just learned that I'll be going to Tokyo, Japan for work-purpose at the end of March for 1 month. I am super excited but nervous at the same time. I wanted to get some opinions from this site because it' a great resource.

I am strict vegetarian (no eggs, seafood, meat, etc). Will I be able to survive there? On the same topic, my concern is if my coworkers there take me to some restaurants, what are the chances there will be some vegetarian option available? What should I take from here just-in-case?

What is the weather like there in March-April? Any suggestions on type of clothes I should pack or not pack?

I am ok in high-hill shoes in US since there is very little walking here but I learned that I will be required to walk to/from train stations? So I should pack some comfortable dress shoes, right?

What other things I can do or prepare so I can mingle properly with local team there (I barely know any of them)? I don't want to offend them in any way. Like I've mentioned, I am super excited but also very nervous because I am worried I'll offend people unintentionally or speak/wear wrong thing.

Thanks again!!!!

It's 40-50 degrees F, so about 5-12 degrees C during March. You should have no problems finding vegetarian food. I would ask someone familiar with Japanese work culture about that. All I know is you should not be boastful or overly confident, it's quite a gregarious/less individualistic culture than western culture is.

I just have a couple concerns about doing a Change of Address. I admit I should read up more on what exactly a Change of Address truly means. One of my assumptions is that they use the address during the background check. So my concern is that doing a Change of Address will cause a delay in the background checks longer than 3 days. My other concern is that her official address has not changed. My concern is that because her name is on a title of a house and all of her official documents give the address of her house, that it will cause issues at the embassy because there was a Change of Address that says she lives somewhere else.

Yeah, I agree with rsn ( I'm assuming your changing the address of the beneficiary?) You can't do this with AR-11 unless it's a stateside address, you have to write a letter to have them change it on the hard copy. It didn't effect my time for background check, but it's much easier just to change it with the embassy. I changed mine with USCIS with a letter because i was paranoid they would send it to Australia.

But it doesn't matter, because you won't get Packet 3 in the mail anyway (at least we didn't, or many others on here) , just download it from the website after ensuring that they have received your file from NVC.

Yeah, same here, in LA and Miami people always tried to speak Spanish with her. Usually they were white guys though.

We got Rin's children's BCs from the local amphur (about 20 THB each). They are stamped near the top with a certification (they were then laminated at the amphur's office). We had them translated at a place near the embassy. The translation includes the certification stamp and says:

Certified True Copy, signed, Mr Phonchai China, Assistant Local Registar of Khlong San District. Then the bottom of the translated copy as a stamp stating "certified correct translation" with name, company, and phone number of the translation company.

We never had anything certified at the MFA (except paperwork prior to getting married in Bangkok).

Yeah, it should have a stamp and signature and then laminated from the amphur

I think they look at them on all the forms, there is a spot on Packet 3 where she would put it, also perhaps the paperwork you sent in stateside.

With mine they emailed me, both the account i had emailed them from earlier and the one listed on the form as well as my fiancee.

I have to say I was much much happier with the speed and diligence BKK provided over USCIS or NVC.

yeah, he'll get MMR and tetanus again, maybe/maybe not varicella zoster

I had this exact same issue. Put your US permanent address, and put her Thai address on the I-129F. You can put your australian address on the G-325, i don't think that matters as much. I had put my fiancee's australian address on the form, and it is a rather large hassle to change it. (and they might forward it to the australian embassy on accident) Plus our Packet 3 never even came to her address after I changed it, it ended up coming to my house yesterday in the states (she's already here)

Also, get started on your Australian police certs now, they seem to be very very slow, and the police/post office randomly go on strike and slow it down even more.

Anyway, feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions, my fiance lived in Australia for a year immediately before we had interview at BKK embassy.

"Varicella-zoster virus is known by many names, including: chickenpox virus, varicella virus, zoster virus, and human herpes virus type 3 (HHV-3)."

They appear to be the same virus, but varicella zoster is the name associated

with "shingles" which strikes older folks and is caused by the same virus that

causes chickenpox in young-uns.

Varicella zoster

I don't know if there is an actual immunization for varicella zoster, but the one

required for AOS is chicken pox.

My ex had a mild case of shingles early on.

It never came back (to the best of my knowlege).

I hate to pull rank here, but i'm a microbiologist by trade.

They are the same thing. The technical name is human herpes virus 3. It causes both chickenpox and shingles, and once you get it, it's for life. Shingles is when you get a flare up of chickenpox, or varicella zoster, later in life. As my virology professor liked to say "love is temporary, herpes is forever"

I don't think it matters, varicella zoster is no longer on the required list for immunizations.

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/...anges121509.pdf

Yes, it most definitely is an issue to bring any animal products to the USA. Brown bears are protected by regulations regarding their hunting and transporting. He should bring every document he has showing when the animal was killed and when it was mounted. The taxidermist should be able to do this or bring a notarized letter if it was killed by a relative, etc. Showing up at the border with a stuffed Brown bear isn't going to get him anywhere without some documents that the animal was legally killed and is legally possessed. Even if one goes fishing or deer hunting in Canada and returns with fish or game legally killed there, it must be documented. Back when I did a lot of hunting, I hunted black bear in Quebec several times and there was pleny of paperwork and declarations needed just to bring back any part of the legally killed animals.

They are restricted only in that they must have documentation to show they are legal taken and possessed. Canada and the US have very strict cooperation on this matter to prevent poaching and smuggling of animal parts.

Yup, Gary is spot on as usual. Check out the USFW page, they have pretty detailed instructions for this sort of thing, although I think a purchased taxidermy specimen probably falls under some grey areas since it's not something you hunted yourself.

They have contact info on the webpage, I would call them and see what their response is ahead of time so you don't have unnecessary delays at the border.

Yea, that will be entertaining for both of you.

Picked it up today, she'll be here next week. POE in Minneapolis. I decided against OHare as I got hung up there three times in the last two months, missing my connections. It gets ten times worse when it snows.

The applicable statutes would be CITIES with CBP, AND you have to ensure it is permissible with US Fish and Wildlife. If you are concerned you can ask them ahead of time.

It should be fine with CBP as CITIES doesn't apply to brown bears, but USFW might need some documentation regarding the legality of how it was taken.

Any help would be much appreciated.

My fiance was approved for her visa yesterday (wootwoot!). I was buying her a non-stop ticket on Thai Airlines from Bangkok to Los Angeles but when I was on the page to complete the credit card transaction a notice said "The owner of the credit card or Visa/MasterCard debit card used for payment must also travel. Failure to present this card at check-in may result in denied boarding." "If passengers are not credit card owners, please click here to observe the regulations and download the Form of Consent."

Click here gave me the following message:

Regulations for passengers who are not Credit Card or Visa/MasterCard debit card owners:

1. Credit Card or Visa/MasterCard debit card owners must download and fill in the Form of Consent (available for download at http://www.thaiair.com/booking/travelform.doc).

2. Credit Card or Visa/MasterCard debit card owners may contact any THAI ticketing office in person or by facsimile +66 2 356 2222 to present/send the following documents;

a. Completed and signed Form of Consent

b. Signed and certified photocopy of Credit Card or debit card owner’s passport or identification card*

c. Signed and certified front photocopy of the Credit Card or debit card used in the purchase*

3. After the documents have been verified and approved, THAI will send a new itinerary with new electronic ticket number back to the email address as entered at the time of booking on our website, at no additional cost.

4. THAI reserves the right to deny boarding to the travelling passengers, if the above mentioned regulations are not fulfilled.

* Your credit card or Visa/MasterCard debit card/ID information will be strictly confidential, and will be destroyed once the payment process has been completed.[/u][/b]

I do not know what is meant by "signed and certified" and I have no desire to fax my credit card "signed and certified" to Thailand with my passport. I wired my fiance money to buy the ticket and want to know if she needs the visa in hand to purchase the ticket? She will receive the visa on Monday (Feb. 8), but was going to buy the ticket today or this weekend. Thanks for any feedback and out of curiosity how did other people buy their tickets when they were not in the country with their fiance.

Thanks,

Mike

You'll need the visa to get the boarding pass, not the ticket.

This is Thai Airways standard operating procedure, and yes is a fraud protection measure. You're safe to fill out the consent form and send it to them or your fiancee, or call and talk to them directly to arrange some way of verifying your credit card information and your identity with them.

I think that's a fair decision. If i was your clinician I would agree, the benefits for your wife would be slim to none.

It's cases like yours that made that vaccine requirement quite a draconian regulation, and I think several groups including the OBGYN associations came out very strongly against making it mandatory when comments were opened to the public for the new regs.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/7/750

Context In June 2006, the Food and Drug Administration licensed the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (types 6, 11, 16, and 18) recombinant vaccine (qHPV) in the United States for use in females aged 9 to 26 years; the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices then recommended qHPV for routine vaccination of girls aged 11 to 12 years.

Objective To summarize reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following receipt of qHPV.

Design, Setting, and Participants Review and describe adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) reported to VAERS, a national, voluntary, passive surveillance system, from June 1, 2006, through December 31, 2008. Additional analyses were performed for some AEFIs in prelicensure trials, those of unusual severity, or those that had received public attention. Statistical data mining, including proportional reporting ratios (PRRs) and empirical Bayesian geometric mean methods, were used to detect disproportionality in reporting.

Main Outcome Measures Numbers of reported AEFIs, reporting rates (reports per 100 000 doses of distributed vaccine or per person-years at risk), and comparisons with expected background rates.

Results VAERS received 12 424 reports of AEFIs following qHPV distribution, a rate of 53.9 reports per 100 000 doses distributed. A total of 772 reports (6.2% of all reports) described serious AEFIs, including 32 reports of death. The reporting rates per 100 000 qHPV doses distributed were 8.2 for syncope; 7.5 for local site reactions; 6.8 for dizziness; 5.0 for nausea; 4.1 for headache; 3.1 for hypersensitivity reactions; 2.6 for urticaria; 0.2 for venous thromboembolic events, autoimmune disorders, and Guillain-Barré syndrome; 0.1 for anaphylaxis and death; 0.04 for transverse myelitis and pancreatitis; and 0.009 for motor neuron disease. Disproportional reporting of syncope and venous thromboembolic events was noted with data mining methods.

Conclusions Most of the AEFI rates were not greater than the background rates compared with other vaccines, but there was disproportional reporting of syncope and venous thromboembolic events

It looks I'd be careful about TEs if you're on birth control as well, that's probably what's confounding the disproportional amounts of thromboembolism.

There are lots of complications with the HPV vaccination and is most likely why they removed it from the required vaccination for immigration. I would not necessarily recommend the vaccine for everyone, do some research and weigh the risks before deciding if she should have it done. We most likely would not have had it, if it had not been required when we went for our vaccinations.

Yeah, fair enough. It's a good and safe vaccine, if your fiancee is young and is an ideal candidate (i.e. sexual history/not pregnant) it's not a bad idea, but it's expensive and worthless if you already have HPV.

Mine got it because of her mother had a history of cervical cancer. To me it seems strange that varicella zoster is still routinely given even though it's not required and most everyone is seropositive already. I guess at least you're less likely to get shingles later on.

What specific complications did you uncover?

I assumed he meant pregnancy and/or previous exposure to HPV

Hey Aussie folks, I had a quick question and didn't know if you had run into this before...

My fiancee is Thai, but lived for extended periods in Oz. The police report she was given is rather drab and unofficial looking. The embassy in Thailand almost did not accept it as they insisted it was a photocopy. Is this common? I assumed the thai officials would have seen many australian police certs. Will we run into any problems with this stateside?

Thanks

Yes, no vaccination records either. I think this is quite routine for the hospital (since many including my fiancee are from Isaan and don't even know what or when they were vaccinated with unless they have scars). They have a routine set up which is probably why they use the older forms : PE, Chest Rads, Vaccinations (MMR, dTP, varicella)

You may want to have her ask, or bring the new guidelines so you don't have to pay an extra 5000 for an unnecessary HPV vaccine. However, someone else said it, it's probably cheaper there and it's a good idea to do the HPV series if she hasn't had it and is young enough.