ADMIRE

Thanks! Where can I find cassava? I know my local grocery stores don't sell it.

which state are u? I know the sore ACRO on Hugh Howell Rd, Tucker, Georgia sells every and anything Nigerian/Afican at good prices.

That's where we buy all our supplies.

They would start letting them in at about 1.00 to 1.10pm. All he has to do is get there b4 the 1pm mark. Iwould say 12noon. Being there early does not necessarily mean he would be one of the first pple attended to though. I was always one of the first pple in the 1pm batch(i had about 6 of such!) and never left anytime earlier than past 4!!!

All the best to u guys.

After 5 years of marriage, one beautiful son, 2 long years of home residency requirement, many tears, millions of Skype calls, tens of thousands frequent flyer miles back an forth, numerous "see you later" and "so happy to see you again" later my immigrant visa was granted!!!!

My interview was Tuesday, August 2nd in Kiev. My appointment letter had 9:00am as a time for the interview, got there 20 min earlier and was told by the guard to wait until 9:25. On their list i was scheduled for 9:30 It was the loooongest hour of my life...waiting and waiting to be able to walk into the Consulate That was the toughest part of the morning. My husband was with me, so we got in at 9:25, proceeded to the immigrant visas area, was called to the window to submit some documents they didnt have, such as proof of my 2 year HRR, child's birth certificate, more proof of relationship. We had a HUGE binder with us (mind you, they already had a TON of pictures we submitted before, I just cant remember when...they returned our albums they had later that morning). I showed the guy our binder, he was startled and asked to give him something small; I started taking out paper articles from our wedding day, engagement, travel documents (iternararies, boarding passes), hubby's passport with stamps, and Ukrainian visa, bills and bank statements in both of our names, more pictures....i cant remember what else I gave him, but he told me to stop and I saw how he wrote on his checklist "she has a lot more!"

After i submitted all this I was asked to wait. While waiting,i was asked to come to one of the windows for finger printing. Since i was the last one who submitted the documents, I was the last one to be called to the interview window. We waited 1.5 hrs to be called. Oh! it was sooooo worth it!

My husband and I both walked up to the window with all of our stuff the officer was very polite and matter of fact. Asked to raise our right hand and give an oath. I think because I was the only wife that morning, he matter of factly stated that we were married, had a cool kid (he saw the pix!), asked if I had fulfilled my 2 year rule ( Yes! i did. Last day was July 26). During this whole time he was signing and signing some forms, etc. Asked me to sign my application. Asked my husband where he works. Told us to go pay for FedEx and that our visa was granted. What a glorious moment it was! My husband embraced me right there in front of the window and we wouldn't let go of each other for about 3-4 min, crying and crying. Before the hugs and the tears, the officer returned my original birth certificate, proof of relationship, etc, etc.

We praise our Lord for all His provision in this matter...we prayed and prayed, and had many of our friends pray with us..God is AMAZING!!! My biggest prayer was to have peace and thankful heart no matter what the outcome of that morning was...God has blessed us beyond what we asked for...

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadows" James 1:17

Congratulations! i am so thankful to God for you guys! Congrats again, and all the best to the future that awaits y'all.

As long as you are sure you will be getting the call records, and other requested information to show, i will suggest you send the email ASAP. First interviews are scheduled about 3-4 months away, but I cannot say if this timeline applies to 2nd interviews. I will go ahead and send the email. It takes them about 2wks to respond anyway. Goodluck!!

The worst disservice you will be doing to urself is NOT gathering ALL that they have asked you to bring. Dont be in a hurry with the new interview date. They will schedule you for an interview once you say u are ready. But better be MUCH MORE ready than under-ready.

Hearken to what all these pple have said - gather ANY AND EVERYTHING THAT SHOWS COMMUNICATION between u 2. The cards you mentioned i hope u still have the envelopes they were posted with? if not? then it doesnt really show much, as anyone cld buy and address cards to themselves.

Your way thru is simple: Bring the things requested or things that support them. Weather ur interview is in 2 weeks or 2 months wld not matter, cos u know u'ld be here in no time and spending your entire life and time with her.

I had that 221g 6 times and finished my embassy runs in about 9months from the first interview. Do i remember the pains anymore? No.

Get up and do what you gat to do.

All the best Bros.

Good luck mate.

Yes, stepson is here too.....

cooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

Thanks all for your responses. We have decided to go ahead and apply. We are currently trying to select a good immigration attorney. My fiance lives in Dallas, Texas. Does anyone have recommendations for a good immigration attorney we could use?

Thanks!

Nikkita

Well, I DID apply for a visitor visa in 2006 also without mentioning that my husband was there in the US. I was denied the visa then. When the time for the immigrant visa interview came I knew they were going to question my insincerity with my previous application. i spent days and nites worrying and did a lot of research on misrepresentation of material facts and all that jibberish...and a lt of sleepless nites.

At the end, the moment came....the consular asked me why my answer to the question "does your spouse live in the USA?" read NO instead of YES.....i just stared at him and stared, and he repeated the question. I looked him straight in the eye, with all the regrets i could muster to show on my face and just replied as meekly as i could: "I was just plain stupid". He looked at me some more and NEVER SAID A WORD ABOUT IT ANYMORE.

Long and short of my story? Be sincere from this point fwd, ans all question as truthfully related to ur story as possible. Admit the ones that are obviously a lie, as long as there a re proves to your relationship, you guys would be fine.

All the very best from me.

He got here tuesday night (july 12)... i cant still absorb the whole idea of him being here. everytime we go somewhere, i cant help myself but to glance to my passenger side to make sure its REAL that he's here. we even spent our first weekend together with my family in San Francisco and it was the best ever....

thank you guys for everything! i couldnt have done this without you all.

p.s he already got his welcome letter too!

and dont forget ur timeline updating too.

He got here tuesday night (july 12)... i cant still absorb the whole idea of him being here. everytime we go somewhere, i cant help myself but to glance to my passenger side to make sure its REAL that he's here. we even spent our first weekend together with my family in San Francisco and it was the best ever....

thank you guys for everything! i couldnt have done this without you all.

p.s he already got his welcome letter too!

Now, this is the sweetest news i have heard in recent times! I am over the moon for you sister. Just thought I'ld ask: Didn't your stepson come along anymore? I thought it was meant to be the 2 of them? am i missing something? Anyways, reply me if you got a moment of break from all the happiness around you. This is good; Life is good.

I will be giving birth in a week..so excited and nervous.. will be praying always... Goodluck Mitch.. so happy for you and hubby :dance:

So Mitch, is he here now? Come on feed my curiosity pls. Wow, it must feel so surreal. And hey, pls update your timeline!!

hello you guys, its been the longest wait ever...... my husband had his interview june 28 and till now, we still dont have his visa.... it was a bad timing since we have this holiday for the 4th of july. ... i hope we'll have it this week so he'll be here next week after the PDOS and all......

Don't worry Mitch, your testimony would not waver IJN. Hubby would be here sooner than you think. Yours is a done-deal, and nothing shall take your joy away IJN. It must a the 4th of July factor at place. Come on smile... :-)

APPROVED AND VISA WAS GRANTED!!! they say it might take 2-4 days for the visa to arrive and he can take his PDOS......

my big hug and thank you to all my friends here at VJ (you guys know who you are ---special mention to twulf, raymon, yna, khanl, lebanese gurl)

this website has been my attorney, my 24/7 friend, my mentor, my guide, my unloading system for my heartaches.... where "almost" everyone is willing to give the best idea and tips that they can to ease the hardship of being away from my loveones... i cannot thank this site enough...

it all came to a point were we are even friends in the real word. Yna and i have been communicating with each other every now and then just to catch up with our everyday living, and im so thankful that she's one of the "bestest" that got me through this journey.... looking back, everything was just a piece of art that the world wants us to go through to value this relationship more. it took us time, money, tears to finish all these. "stress" took a big chunk of my bad travel which i was stressing out too much with anything that comes with this process.... lesson learned? 1. relax, 2. take your time and not to be in a hurry of turning in documents that needs to be rechecked, 3. as long as your presenting all the documents that are needed and the relationship is true, real and honest? you'll get through this. it may take time for there are some instances that cannot be avoided but still.... as i always say, there is always an end to every run. 4. praying about it for God/allah/yaweh/etc only knows best... claim his promises and believe it!

i will still be here and continue to give whatever ideas and experiences i had to whoever is asking for it.... be strong, believe in whatever you have and you'll be in the same boat as i am today ... very happy and very excited.

Mitch, i am so happy for you. Congratulations. If anyone deserves this, tis you. Enjoy. All the very best in life.

Why must everything be so freaking over-whelming here?! I wish you the best Poster, but i do think you might qualify for medicaid from all i've read about it.in Georgia, if ur income is a bit high for medicaid but still not so high, there's the program - PeachCare for that range of income too. See if your state has something similar. I wish you the very best and God's favour.

And what does Administrated Processing involve? How long does that usually take, more or less?

AP is the most frustrating part of your visa journey, believe me, you dont want to know so much about it cos it can cause you sleepless nights even from now!

Now i miss Canada too, and don't even come from nor ever been there???

Congrats! He came in 2days after my birthday!! God bless and keep him. May he grow old and wise.

I don't how much tea bags from state to state is but in South Carolina it costs me over $4 for 40 PG Tips. Pisses me off that UK food is either wayyy expensive or hard to get.

I'm dying for decent black pudding.

Am no English lady and felt the same exact way when I got here! The tea is just too weak. Wld look in to the pointers above, thanks.

how much does the co sponsor need to make?

i hope this helps, copy and paste it on ur browser:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864p.pdf

No don't carry it with you UNLESS traveling abroad. Remember NO ONE IS GOING TO ASK FOR YOU IMMIGRATION STATUS unless you traveling abroad and coming back to US.

I know it states in the welcome letter that you need to carry it with you. they say that so you'll lose it and apply for a replacement card and pay some 400 dollars fee.

Now, this is the funny one to me. he he he...i just carry my drivers. nobody seems to ask for it by the way.

No. The visa application and interview documents are all about you, the beneficiary, except for the petitioner's financial information and I-134.

LONDON gives you a list of what to bring (your documents, not the petitioner's)

London interview documents.

Am sorry I disagree with the above poster. YES, the petitioner's DIVORCE PAPERS are needed if he/she had ever had one before. I know because that was what kept me going back and forth at the embassy level - Petitioner's divorce, not mine, but his. However, usually you must have submitted ur original documents at some point and so u can only have copies to take along for the interview, at which ur original documents wld be rtned to u.

All the best.

Mitch, replied to your posts in one other thread but can't help to say something here as well, cos here was where we met and learnt so much together concerning this life-changing journey, but I know you've had it a little bit tougher than most and would just like to say it again how glad I am that your visajourney is coming to a great and grand end.

Congrats babes, enjoy the feeling.

You even started this thread! See how many lives it's helped!! You are the star!!!

chaks, raymon, twulf.... are you still with me? JUNE is what the vbulletin is having right now.... i am a month away.... should i expect an interview date when i call NVC on the 17 of may???? pls help me pray... i just got back from our vacation in the philippines and i just realized, its harder this time..... its not because i saw my husband but its the parting and saying goodbye that was sad....i hope ill see him here in 2-3months from now.

Hey Mitch, I am so so happy to see you FINALLY have an interview date! You have been the most affected person with all the woes of this process that I know (I think I follow closely behind you though).

Over the months I have followed closely on your progress and I know that this is "the time", and that henceforth, nothing shall stand in your way, not even the almighty AP. You and you hubby would be highly-favored, and you shall have the much awaited visas in your hand in no time.

Well, call this a blast from the past or something... just know that you never left my thots.

Congrats again.

Hello fellow Vj'ers.

I would like to know if lagos consulate recognizes rebtel phone service

I have a local number for my fiance on rebtel.I would like to know if its accepted...cos on the call history,his real number does nt show cos am calling the local number. Hope dis isnt a problem in lagos. Thanks

Print out the logs as showing the names u saved it with as against just numbers. worked for us even when there was a change in phone number; didnt matter as it was just stll my name showing in the log. mindyou though, they never asked for our call log so i dont know if it cld have bn an issue or not.

hey guys,

Just wanted to give you an update on our short sale. I apploogize ahead of time if i will sound like negtive nancy bi##hie pants...

We signed our papers with our bank today, and to be honest it'a all so crazy, that i don't know what to think of it.

At first we were told the closing cost will be around 5k, that is around 3% of the house price, now we are told it will be 6,550k(thank god the sellers will pay at least 5k).

We were told that with the VHDA loan we don't have to pay any MI, and also NO down payment...well....that was all a lie...because our house went up from 175 to 181 because of the MI and the 3.5 downpayment...or at least that's what the MO told us.

Our apraiser is $450(don't know if it's high or low), plus our VHDA loan is 5.25%(i thought is a bit high)

We are suposed to close by 6th of may, so if the apraiser for some reason doesn't do it by then we are beeing charged everyday $100. Why we were so rushed to close i have no ideea.

Also he gave us the list of what closing costs are...oh boy...the bigest BS you ever seen in your life...one that made me laugh was $250 for survey-meaning some guy will come and say your land is from here to there...first of -the house contract should have all the details regarding your property...with how big your land is and everything else. WHY do i need to pay $250 for someone to come and tell me something that is already in my contract???

Honestly...we went through hell and back to buy this house ...but today with all the BS and bureaucracy...i was sitting in that chair in this MO office and i was thinking ...what the hell are we doing??

We have been so manipulated in this process that i feel sick to my stomach..Our new realtors TOLD us who to work with, put all the other MTG officers down, so we had almost no choice, the new mrtg people got on top of things, and by the time we knew it it was all said and done with. I mean looking back i realise how stupid we were, we should have at least get other rates and compare...

Sorry i made your head big, and if you don't understand everything i said..don't worry.. neither did I.

I just hope this house is worth the pain and suffering we went through, and i think when we will get the keys i will have few extra wine glasses

hey Silvana,

first, i want to say how much i enjoy reading your posts. No matter what u write, i always find myself glued to the end. You are a naturale with writing.

well, we are also in the middle of house-buying too, and oh boy, the costs are gradually rising here too. I am almost too scared to look at the good faith(?) estimate, knowing how ridiculously high those costs are, and almost powerless in doing anything about it.

we shld close pretty soon too after we get the appraisal done.

PurpleSky, that is some great news! Congrats and enjoy the rest of your lives "together"! Am glad this has come to an end.

Cheyemo, how have you guys been? Nice to read you again...so to speak.

Your first marriage was null so there was no marriage, you should work with your second marriage date. If they have sent you a wrong card and if this ever comes up it is your responsibility to get it fixed.

Just like if they typed a wrong spelling of your name the burden is on you to provide the correct information.

ok. thanks for the info. wld work on it - promise.