ADMIRE

I called DOS this morning and my husband is still in AP. I'm starting to get so discouraged. When I started this visa journey I never thought it would take this long or be so hard on me. There have been good things that have happened along the way like getting our I-130 petition approved in only 4 months and then finding a co-sponsor that didn't know us. He is a friend of a friend. He just became a Citizen and was willing to help a fellow Pakistani.

I'm feeling very sorry for myself right now. I miss my husband so much and it's almost 2 years sense I last saw him. I'm feeling like a divorce would be easier than going through AP. In Michigan if you don't have kids you can get divorced in 3 months where with AP there is no knowing when it will end.

I'm trying to exercise and make new friends. I'm trying to stay busy but I'm not coping very well right now. I'm going to Pakistan in July to see my husband. I should be happy but all I do is cry. July seems so far away.

Now,u've dampened my day. Can u pls hang in there a little longer and u'ld have all that you've always prayed for right in your hands. Who knows hubby might even be here wayyyyyyyyy b4 July!

entry date changed to april 20, 2011

Richardo4eva, thanks for making me see that error of my date of entry at POE. Tis actually March 20th and not April, which means, yes, am in already. came in Monday.

HeatDeath, sorry for not giving the feedback. Yeah POE was cool. Officer did not ask me any question. He fished out all he wanted from the envelopes I gave to me. I still dont know hich date he chose cos it isnt indicated on my passport. So, I wld have to wait till when the GC arrives to know. All I got was an i-551 stamp on the visa, and he said to wait for the card in the mail. But that the stamp is as good the real card.

I spent about 3 hours from landing to getting outside cos the officer was the only one attending to us all.

We landed 5.30 am.

If your brother and his fiancee are both in the UK right now, why can't they get marry in the UK?

A proxy marriage in Nigeria is only going to cause problems if both of them are together in another country where they could have gotten married.

thanks pple.

Hello pple,

Thanks for your past help in seeing me through my VisaJourney.

Here's one for my brother in the UK. He wants to be married in Nigeria, only that he isn't physiacally there and his wife-to-be is also not in Nigeria but also in the UK.

Marriage in absentia is accepted for their immigration purposes but he isnt sure if he and is wife are expected to sign the certificate since they aren't physically present at the wedding in the registry. pls help if you have any info.

Is it ok if the certs are signed by their fathers and their witnesses alone.

pls anyreply wld do.

This is going to be harder than I thought. I keep wanting to say "me a miss dis ting" which is patois not pidgin.

Abeg yarn anything wey you wan yarn. Anything goes. Abi no be so my pple?

i called DOS today and i was told that visa was issued today. i don't know i might have to call them tomorrow to be 100% sure. but how long does it take for embassy to contact us for passport after the DOS clears AP??

Muskan4eva, I know that feeling of wanting to call DOS again and just to be sure that indeed the visas had been issued indeed! My hubby called them thrice after!

Hoow long does it take for embassy to contact you? NEVER! in my own case that is. Visa was issued on the 3rd. It was our call to DOS on the 12th that made us know of that dvlpmt. And then a trip to the embassy b4 i was told to pick it uo at the pick up centre that they had delivered it to them since the 4th!! No mail nor call from the embassy.

It's your life, take charge!

I answered you up in the Moving to America forum. Short answer: give them the second marriage date.

Thanks. Got that.

I would definitely quote your second marriage date. The consulate issued the visa on the basis of that date and if you quote a different date, it could come back and bite you.

You can schedule an Infopass appointment with USCIS once you are admitted to hash out, with an IO, whether you should get a 2 year or a 10 year card, but the border officer won't want to be bothered having that discussion, and isn't really the right person to be making that decision anyways. Giving them the most recent date is the safest thing to do to get yourself through the border with the minimum risk of A ) future scrutinizing of that declaration, and B ) hassle at the border. Remember, CBP officers have the ability to declare the whole thing null and void if they feel hassled, argued against, or confused. Best to get through the border and get your conditional PR status safely locked in. You can argue about whether or not you should be a conditional PR or an LPR once your PR status - of any kind - is guaranteed and locked in.

If you are, in fact, entitled to get a 10-year card right away, you can have that discussion with an IO once you're in the US and you don't need to worry about a CBP officer getting testy and cancelling the whole thing. To my mind, it's the option with the fewest question marks for safety.

WELL SAID. thank you so much really do appreciate your frank response. Makes all the sense.

Hi, Pls can anyone help answer this question urgently?

By the grace of God, I shall be entering the USA in less than 48hrs and I read somewhere that the immigration officers at the Point of Entry wld ask how long i have been married to my husband and i dont which answer to give them because:

the embassy made asked us to redo our marriage because the original divorce my hubby had was not acceptable by them and thus made our first marriage null and void. So he had to file another divorce then we got married again, and now i have the immigrant visas and wld be travelling in less than 48hrs and dont know which date to quote.

If i say the first date, then I qualify for the IR1 green card. The second date was just this Dec 2010 and so my green card would be CR1.

It was just that one I-130 petition we did. PLS HELP.

Hi, Pls can anyone help answer this question urgently?

By the grace of God, I shall be entering the USA in less than 48hrs and I read somewhere that the immigration officers at the Point of Entry wld ask how long i have been married to my husband and i dont which answer to give them because:

the embassy made asked us to redo our marriage because the original divorce my hubby had was not acceptable by them and thus made our first marriage null and void. So he had to file another divorce then we got married again, and now i have the immigrant visas and wld be travelling in less than 48hrs and dont know which date to quote.

If i say the first date, then I qualify for the IR1 green card. The second date was just this Dec 2010 and so my green card would be CR1.

It was just that one I-130 petition we did. PLS HELP.

Congrats at least it shows they do make mistakes and will apologise for them

Awesome!

Congrats!!!! You must be so excited!

hey, thanks everybody. And yes, I am so very excited. As per when am leaving...let's just say see u on the other side of the world! watch this space.

Congratulations!!

thanks thank thanks

Ladies and Gents,

I am beyond words as I tell you that our visas are in my hands as I speak. God, I thought this day was never going to come.

As posted earlier, it happened that we were placed on AP after being given the welcome to america pick-up letter for 2nd of february.

We we asked not to write and that we wld be called, but guess what? that NEVER happened. It was my hubby's routine call to the Dept of State on wed the 9th March, that brought the news that the visas had been issued. He called two more times at different times to be sure but he kept getting the same info. We waited and waited for a mail from the embassy and even wrote them about our concern. Nothing.

Then today i went to the Embassy at 1pm. Inside, a nigerian officer then called me to the window, and asked why i was there and i explained why, and she showed surprise and brought out a list with my name and children's names and some other pple's names indicating that those passports had been delivered to the pick-up center since the 4th of March! Can u beleive that?! and STILL no email or phone call from the embassy.

Needless to say i took the next available car to the pickup centre where our adorable passports and visas and envelopes were waiting lovingly and patiently for me!!

Thank God, this is over.

I honestly couldn't have done it without you lot.

Pls dont ever hesitate to make that call. Your case matters no more to anybody that your very self.

My heart and prayers still with everybody waiting. It is the worst form of waiting ever.

Ladies and Gents,

I am beyond words as I tell you that our visas are in my hands as I speak. God, I thought this day was never going to come.

As posted earlier, it happened that we were placed on AP after being given the welcome to america pick-up letter for 2nd of february.

We we asked not to write and that we wld be called, but guess what? that NEVER happened. It was my hubby's routine call to the Dept of State on wed the 9th March, that brought the news that the visas had been issued. He called two more times at different times to be sure but he kept getting the same info. We waited and waited for a mail from the embassy and even wrote them about our concern. Nothing.

Then today i went to the Embassy at 1pm. Inside, a nigerian officer then called me to the window, and asked why i was there and i explained why, and she showed surprise and brought out a list with my name and children's names and some other pple's names indicating that those passports had been delivered to the pick-up center since the 4th of March! Can u beleive that?! and STILL no email or phone call from the embassy.

Needless to say i took the next available car to the pickup centre where our adorable passports and visas and envelopes were waiting lovingly and patiently for me!!

Thank God, this is over.

I honestly couldn't have done it without you lot.

Pls dont ever hesitate to make that call. Your case matters no more to anybody that your very self.

My heart and prayers still with everybody waiting. It is the worst form of waiting ever.

Thanks and a big congrats to you. They never asked for my resume but they did retain our ppts (mine and the children's).

Hubby called DOS twice on wednesday, and once today and was told visas had been issued but not a word from the embassy. we wrote them on wed but still no reply. So we are just being cautious. cant survive another disappointment. I guess we just have to wait and see.

God News Good News !!!!!!

My hubby received a text message from consulate that his visa is processed and will be couriered to him today.

Later an email from VFS also confirmed that his passport is handed to Blue Dart courier services for delivery....

3 weeks in AP !!!!

Thanks Lord Jesus and Mother Mary....

All out there in AP.... my sincere prayers and wishes to you all.... I know how it feels to be in AP.... but Prayer is power and its been proved in my life again and again...

Probably. Did they ask for your resume or academic details? did they retain your passport.

My husband's passport was retained and they asked for his resume, research papers etc...

Well, his AP is finally over today. 3 weeks in AP..

Hang in there... everything will get sorted.

Thanks and a big congrats to you. They never asked for my resume but they did retain our ppts (mine and the children's).

Hubby called DOS twice on wednesday, and once today and was told visas had been issued but not a word from the embassy. we wrote them on wed but still no reply. So we are just being cautious. cant survive another disappointment. I guess we just have to wait and see.

ok here is what happen in my case the lawyers office did not file my case, so the lawyer sent me a fake receipt with some one else number on it so when i call uscis to change my address all the persons notification started comming to my address even her 130 approval so i called uscis back and told them this is not my name but my receipt number so they told me to go to a local office which i did, then they discover that that number does not belong to me meanwhile the other person does not have a notification either because a year later the mail for the other person was still coming to my house. then i found out i was a victim of froud my my attoney. and all the money i payed for 130 and the retainer fee was lost even my moneyorder to uscis was cashed by an individual. so dont wait because they are going to keep sending it to the wrong address and after a year they will tell you you abandoned the aos, to make an infopass then change the address on line again they will not give you any info on the phone sorry. goodluck

Wow!

Damn! i knew i should have studied English instead!

well, i studied Material Science as well, could this really be the reason for this delay? well, i guess i'll never know. Damn! i knew i should have studied English instead!

oh pls don't.

Hi. I've been reading a few things about how (I'm not sure who to list here, USCIS? "Immigration"?) the authorities record/keep track of what information related to tourist visa travel. This should not be surprising, but it's something I hadn't considered recently. My first big question is, what does this include?

1 - What was said at tourist visa interview (?)

2 - What was said to immigration authorities in the airport/POE (?)

3 - What addresses were given (for where the tourist planned to stay) (?)

4 - Anything else?

My second question is, what do they use this information for?

welcome to the cat and mouse game.

I was one of the first people to congratulate the OP on their good fortune when they originally posted about their quick NOA2.

I don't agree with anyone judging the OP's relationship based on how long or short it's been.

I simply think to complain about being delayed a couple weeks after only filed a month or so ago is silly, and ungrateful in a process that usually takes much, MUCH longer.

He has a right to complain. And he also has a right to having the shortest, easiest and painless possible timeline as he desires. That it's a norm that the process takes MUCH, MUCH LONGER, doesn't make it acceptable. Truth is, Ugly_American way should actually be THE WAY.

See my timeline mate, you'ld agree I've paid my dues, and honestly don't begrudge anyone wanting better.

Thanks. yes, nine pages of color photos with locations and dates. no receipts for gifts, but there were many. I've no question my package will breeze thru manila. i just want it out of the US now.

As for my relationship, it's not for anyone to judge. You who have been online dating for 4-5 years, great. You know the person better or feel more in touch or you enjoy an extended online experience. Whatever. I knew instantly when I met her that this was my mate for life. Please don't judge relationships based on time. This is also something i won't have to deal with on my anonymous account.

last post - good luck

Oh my God, I can't believe pple can be this mean over some other person's good fortune. How can u berate him for wanting a help that he so clearly has a right to? He has ONLY HIMSELF to look out for and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ELSE! So, if you are so sad that his journey swifter than yours, and you are so jealous you have nothing to offer him, why don't you just ignore his question, and let thos who rejoice with pple who rejoice help him with advise all they can.

God, this is playgroup bullying in Cyberspace!

Ugly_American, I bet those berating you are really wishing they were you. Happy more speedy jouney bros!!

I hate it more than you lot! hate! hate!! hate!!! ok, i can go to sleep now.

Do you think if they put someone for 6 month or more or maybe 1-2-3 years on AP and then at the end say you have to re-apply again.This happened to one of my old friend.Do you think they do not stop people from pursuing their dream?

At least they could check these security check or AP before the interview.

This is not fair and of corse they are stoping people from pursuing their dream.

uhm..exactly my thoughts. all those years of waiting for an interview date (mine was a 4 year wait to interview), all those years, file was just sitting down gathering dust. What a waste.