bv2116

March 16th!!!!! I can't stop crying. I'm so excited. This date is also my daughter's birthday Congratulations to all of us!

So a bunch more CR1 visas were scheduled today for March. Congrats to them! Hopefully this means it won't be too much longer before we'll see some K1 scheduling! *fingers crossed*

Holy #######! Wow! Congratulations to you all!

maybe montreal needs more fiber in its diet.

Good question. I would like to know what people's opinions are on how the crisis in Haiti will affect K1 and CR1 petitions. We just moved our date from April to August feeling pretty comfortable that we'd be safe. Now I'm not so sure. This is excruciating! And by saying that, I’m not complaining about Haiti

Just to clarify my position, I apologize if it seems I began an argument, as that was in no way my intent. When I made the statement about treating the poster like idiots, I wasn't calling out anyone in particular. It was just the overall feel I got when reading the posts. It was my opinion and I can see that it maybe came across a bit harshly. I ready where many seemed to say there was “no need” to obtain a cert of non-marriage, and didn’t mention the possibility of any instance where this might be necessary, more information provided or not.

I assume rules are different in the U.S. and Canada, but some of the situations are the same, so they have to modify what's necessary for proof based on the siuation, like in the person who's posted above case. I'm the USC and I also have a daughter. I've never been married and my daughters father is not part of her life. Never has been. He lives in the same ciy, but I wouldn't know where to find him. When I applied for her passport I was required to show up at the appointment with him or to obtian a notarized letter from him stating he gave permission for her to obtain a passport, which gives permission for her to leave the country. Well, I wouldn't know how to find him, and even if I could, we aren't exactly on good terms. So in lieu of him being present or signing a statement, I needed to attach and complete a Special Circumstances form. I ended up getting her passport 2 weeks later with no problems. My point is, there aren't any cookie cutter cases when children are involved. I agree there was a lack of information present to provide the best response possible, but I don't think posters should be treated like idiots for giving their opinions that may be based on their experiences.

I mainly stick to the Canada portal. Once in a while I check the home page for "hot" topics. Reading everyone not dealing with the Montreal consulate making so much progress can be sort of depressing. Happy for them (of course), but depressing.

Congratulations to you and your husband Danu!

I got the impression the Certificate of Non-Marriage was only mentioned because the OP has children and needs to prove they can legally move to the U.S. If the OP was never married, that seems like one way to do it.

Congratulations to you and your husband!

It was busy for about 5 minutes this morning when I called the National Visa Center if that is what you mean by Department of State.

Yeah, NVC...DOS...202-663-1225 I don't get any busy signal or dial tone...it's just air, almost like I didn't complete the number. Oh well, I guess I'll try this afternoon or wait until tomorrow.

sorry for the dumb questions... what's LPR?

LPR is Legal Permanent Resident

Has anyone else tried calling DOS today only to find the line is blank? It won't ring or anything when I call. Very strange.

I know exactly what you're going through, because been through that same thought process. When we got engaged, we tried to figure out a way to qualify for any visa but the K-1, because I did not want to have two ceremonies. When we figured out that this is visa type that was our option, we agreed to two ceremonies with some conditions. We picked a date for our religious ceremony, and will celebrate our anniversary at that time. I was worried about the vows thing too, but found out that you don't necessarily have to say vows to be married. In most states, all you have to say is "I do" or "I will", so we are saving the "to have and to hold" vows for our ceremony with our families. We also are not exchanging rings at our civil ceremony, and I'm not changing my name. We are going to try to have our maid of honor and best man as witnesses to the civil ceremony, because they'd be our people signing the certificate at the religious ceremony. Other than that, we don't want people to associate our wedding with the civil ceremony - that's essentially between us and the government, so no other family or friends.

As for AOS, you'll have a certified marriage license filed with a state. From what I can tell from the research I've done, that's what they want for proof anyway. I also know two couples who did the same thing, and they did not exchange rings or change names or have people at their ceremonies.

Jmd77, that's good to know. After talking about it with my fiance a bit more today, our "Plan B" (as were still going to try for April 9th until 2nd week in February, then we'll change to August 9th) sounds a lot like your plan. We won't exchange vows, except ackowledging him as my husband and me as his wife (I asked if I could just say uh-huh or yeppers and was actually told it didn't matter what I said as long as it was positive acknowledgement), and that's that. His ring was ready for me to pick up today, so I have that and we were planning on saving that, and my wedding band, until the friends/family ceremony. Will anyone say anything during AOS interview if he's not wearing a ring? I briefly thought of my new last name and wasn't sure how I'd handle that. I suppose I could just wait until August to make the changes to all necessary documents, not a big deal. The more I think about our possible new plan, the better I feel. Geeze...they sure don't make any part of this easy on a person eh? (Eh? I see my Canadian fiance is rubbing off a bit )

I'm in.

Thanks all for your advice. I hate having to wait longer, but this is the path we chose I suppose. We originally didn't want two ceremonies if possible (the legal and then ceremony for family), but I need to be able to plan, especially since we're having a destination wedding in San Francisco. So I think we may have a quickie, just the two of us (and the officiant) ceremony, and then plan our big wedding ceremony in front of our family and friends for August 9th, 2010. We'd celebrate our anniversary in August. I know many couples do something similar, I'm just having a difficult time wrapping my mind around having two. Won't already exchanging vows deminish the ceremony we'd like to recognize as "our wedding day"? I don't know...just thoughts. If we don't have any photographic evedince of our "legal" ceremony when he comes after he receives his visa (*fingers crossed*), will this hurt AOS? I haven't done too much research on AOS just yet, but will begin nosing around soon.

I need to take a poll please. Our original, preferred wedding date is April 9th. I'm not feeling too confident we'll be able to make that work with Montreal's scheduling situation. I already have deposits with vendors for April 9th, who will allow us to change our date and not forfeit our deposit, so long as they're given sufficient notice. If we decide to push our wedding date out, I don't think we be in any better predicament in May, or June for that matter, and I don't want to have to do this again (push our date back). I would like to know what everyone's gut feelings (obviously no one know for sure) are on August 9th. With a P3 log date of 11/25/09, do you feel that an 8/9/10 wedding date is safe? I would like to plan a date we can feel pretty darn comfortable with so our friends and family can make arrangements. Thanks for your opinions

I can't think of anyone on here who lives in Illinois ... most people seem to live in Florida or California. I am moving to Utah and as far as I know I am the only one going there, which is a bummer as I would love have someone in the area to hang out with/talk to about the process.

I'm in SLC, Utah...so my fiance is moving here. You're not alone

I just made my daily call, hoping to hear something different, especially since all the CR1/IR1 February interview scheduled (congrats to you all!), but no. I was told that I was the fifth person that's been eligible since the end of November from MTL that called today. She said MTL is in such bad shape they've gone and asked Washington for help. Then she included, not with the visas of course, but with other things. She still told me to call everyday and good luck that we hear something soon. Who knows what to believe when it comes to MTL. They're in bad shape, they're really trying to get through the backlog (told to a number of November interviewees), they've hired staff, they've asked Washington for help... This is ridiculous! I am particularly frustrated that the fee increased at the consulate by so much...right in the middle of our petition. I'm sorry that I'm not all that optimistic today. Maybe tomorrow. Hopefully some of us K1ers will hear something soon.

Great news from everyone Iowa, don't feel too bad. I may have received NOA2 sooner, but I'm still waiting for an interview date. This is all but killing me, which may happen soon too. We've planned to marry April 9th, but it's not looking too good. I've got all our friends and family asking when we'll know so the can begin booking travel, but I have no clue. It's becoming so stressful. All I can tell them is if it works out and you can afford to attend with short notice, great. Otherwise, it's too bad, but we completely understand. Oh well. What more can you do? Not a damn thing. Rant over. Congrats to eveyone who's SO's are here. Congrats to those who have married...Yay! Congrats to those who have approved interviews with visa in hand or on the way, and congrats to those with pending interviews. It will all be over for us soon too, I hope i was thinking last night, and I can't wait to read about our expecting new additions to our families. That may not be too far off for some

I'm the USC in my K1 petition for my fiance. We don't even have an interview date scheduled yet, but we've had brief conversations about him obtaining US citizenship when he's eligible. He said he has no desire to take that step. I haven't really asked why, but I assume it's becuase he's very proud to be Canadian. It's interseting to hear everyone's reasons however. We are so early in this process that we haven't even thought of half of your arguments for or against. It gives us something to keep in mind.

Enjoy your drive and best of luck adjusting to your new life!

My fiance got his passport photos done while visiting me in Utah at Walgreens for $7.99 for 2 photos. He used these to complete his Packet 3 and medical. So far so good!

Congratulations Americana2009! Hopefully you've started a very positive trend with MTL. Best of luck to you!