Jay & Beverly

I called this morning and we have an interview!!!

The operator at DOS said that Packet 4 was mailed on March 17th and that our interview date is scheduled for May ______th.

And the reason for the blank?

I was too damn excited and forgot to write down what she said! I think I heard May 18th but she may have said May 19th. I was distracted by her giving me way too much info that Packet 4 contains information "XYZ" that we already know that I second guessed which date she had confirmed. I also blame this minor mix up on trying to prevent wetting myself from the excitement. Apparently the pee-pee dance gets higher level brain function than short term memory.

Rather than me doing the "call of shame" with DOS, Bevie was said she'd check her mailbox this afternoon to see if Packet 4 has been delivered and if not she'd call DOS back. I feel like such a tool... but I just happy to know that there finally is a date.

I'm really not getting the big picture of what the problem is with this situation. If the policy holder is older than you then it is very reasonable and quite likely that you would out-live them rendering these policies useless. Someone else is paying for something they probably will never collect on and that would be money out of their pocket.

Heaven forbid something happen to you (or anyone this person has policies on) but if something suspicious does happen who do you think will become suspect numero uno?

Although I can tell you are upset by this situation, as a person outside of the situation and if these policies are legal, I don't think you have a leg to stand on to make demands that they cancel the policies or that they change the beneficiaries to be your child or husband. Your best bet is just to put it out of mind however difficult that may be.

Whether or not you agree with this person collecting on the policies I do think you should reconsider your own stance on insurance. You had previously mentioned that you're against life insurance and all forms for insurance. The point of life insurance is to protect the people that you leave behind at the time of your death. I'm not sure how old your child is but if tomorrow were to be the day your time on earth ended, your immediate family would be negatively affected by the loss of income that you would have been able to contribute to the family if you lived to a full and normal life expectancy. If you and your husband each rely on one another to pay your mortgage that would be be a significant burden upon him especially if there were significant medical expense racked up. You would be a fool to not have polices of your own in place for your husband and child to ensure they are protected. Having a child and not doing everything you can to protect them in the event of your death, I feel, is very irresponsible.

One thing that I haven't seen talked about that probably contributes to the low savings rate by individuals in their mid to late 20's is student loans. It would be interesting to know what the percentage of people in the age group went to college and are unable to save because of the loans they had to take to finance their education. I took a road less traveled and went into the Navy instead of going off to college like my classmates from high school. I was only in for 5 years which was as long as several who completed their masters programs were in school. Within 9 months of getting out of the military I was a home owner. I remember comments from many friends who couldn't imagine being a home owner because their loan repayments prevented them from saving for a house, let alone saving for retirement.

This year is our 20 year reunion and along the way we've all talked about things we wished we would have done by this point in life. I wished I would have been smart enough to finance my mortgage over 15 years as I would only have 5 more payments left. I have half a dozen close friends that I still in contact with from high school, all but 1 of them have only been able to purchase homes in the last 3 years which signals to me that student loans also play a huge role in to the mid-30's. Those that have purchased homes still owe money on their student loans but have married and having a dual income household is what has enabled them to have become home owners. The "1" from the "all but 1" mentioned is single, a principal of a high school, and is renting. He hopes to have enough saved to purchase his first home later this summer.

I may be an exception to the rule but I appear to be the only one of my peers that was lucky enough to put any dollars towards retirement. I've been able to contribute 12.5% of my pre-tax salary into a 401k and my company has contributed up to 12% annually, although in the last 5 years I think that has been scaled back to 7-9% based on the economy -- still a fantastic opportunity.

Although at times I regret not have made use of my G.I. Bill and earned a college degree, I'm comforted that saving early in life isn't making me stress about retirement. Then again... I haven't had kids yet and as soon as we start I'm sure I'm going to have to scaled down on my retirement contributions.

I work for a large corporation and there are 8,000 employees who work at the campus where I work. My pet peeves are classified into what should be know as "Rules of the Road When Not in a Car"...

Building Etiquette:

-- People who try to get on an elevator before the people getting off on that floor can get out.

-- People who walk on the wrong side of "normal" direction of traffic in the hallways and passage ways.

-- People walking in groups of two or more side-by-side in a hallway who expect on-coming traffic to get out of their way, or are walking too slow for people behind them to pass.

-- People on breaks who walk through the hallways reading books -- seriously... no book is that good that you have to read it on your way from your desk to the bathroom or cafeteria.

-- Smokers (which should be enough said)... but smokers who throw their butts on the ground instead of using the designated ashtray at the smoking area provided by the company.

-- This one is probably unique to my job, but we have a revolving glass turnstile that requires employees to scan their employee badges. This security door is the inner door of the airlock. While it may be courteous for a person to hold the outer door of the airlock for me or others, they slow down the flow of traffic through the security turnstile and now me and everyone behind me has to wait for them.

Parking lot etiquette:

-- Drivers who literally spend 20 minutes circling the parking lot looking for closer spot instead of taking one of the thousands of spaces they already passed and walking into the building.

-- The same drivers who slowly follow me through the parking lot in hopes of getting the space I am about to give up at the end of my shift. (I counter this by walking down an aisle that isn't mine and walk between cars so to my aisle to ditch them.

-- The same drivers who find me at my spot and wait impatiently (despite the multitudes of open parking they already passed) while I get into my vehicle to go. (I counter this by delaying my own departure for as long as need be for them to move on.... because I'm a #######.)

Mushrooms

Flavor (other than sheep)

I feel very sorry for the rollercoaster that your USC husband has put you through. I don't agree with his behavior at all. And while I am very truly sympathetic to your story, I am also left wondering about your motive of planning on coming to the US regardless. In asking this, I'm not trying to be disrespectful to you. I'm aware of the painful negative stereo-type of a single mom in the Pinay culture. I believe the purest intent of CR-1 visa is to unite husband and wife within the US and you've made it clear that this is not the going to be the case. And while I'm only a casual observer to this forum it sounds suspect and in my opinion would appear to be fraudulent for you to enter the US on a CR-1 since you're not intending to use it to unite with your spouse. I'm saddened for you, your child, and your situation, but I'm also saddened that you may end up with a greencard as a result of this situation.

I know I'm going to hell for contemplating this... but sometimes I get really bad ideas that I must share with the world against my better judgment.

I was think Gretsky could have lit Terry Fox's artificial limb with the torch and carried it around the area aflame before throwing it down and slapshotting it into the Olympic cauldron.

Palin is not a politician... she is a celebritician. Her running for President in 2012 is the one sure fire way for Obama to be elected to a 2nd. You heard it first here, folks.

I cannot fathom not seeing someone for almost 2 years and marrying them. I would encourage another visit if not to support your own case, but to make sure you truly can live with the person. We dated 5 1/2 years and had 8 visits, many for just shy of six months at a time to ensure we were going down the right path. It is not that either of us ever had any questions from day one but I'm so thankful nonetheless to have had all that time together to insure there was no doubts by either party.

Hello, Sleepy and welcome to VisaJourney.com.

I am a US citizen living in Portland, OR and my fiance is Canadian in Nova Scotia. We're going through the K-1 process without the help of a lawyer and have found it rather easy, with the exception of the waiting. I think everyone has already given you sound advice and I hope it helps to ease some of your concerns.

The thing that I found most helpful is editing and updating the timeline found on our profile page and I would encourage you to do the same. This will allow others to better help you at each stage along your journey and will also allow you to find people with similar timelines to compare the progress of your case. As I already touched on, the waiting time can be frustrating, but you have to trust the process and know that things are moving along at a pace that may not be as optimal as you would hope.

The one thing that I did notice when I clicked on your profile to look at your timeline is that it states that Armenia is your consulate. I'm not sure if this is a glitch for new users on VJ or if you placed that there on purpose. If you are you or your fiance was born in Armenia that this would be another layer to work through with your K-1.

I'm still under the impression the backlog in Montreal is continuing -- aside from the 9 couples that received notification last week.

Guilty? No... but being hassled by a difficult consulate almost sounds more appealing than being ignored by Montreal. Doubly frustrating considering the six week difference between CSC and VSC between NOA1 and NOA2 and the 70 day difference between Vancouver and Montreal.

Sorry... my biological clock is ticking... =)

Hello all! I'm a Canadian who just got married last week to her American man. Also just sold my condo here in Toronto (closing date is March 31st) and only now realizing how difficult it might be for me to move to the States. Will I have to live on the street before I can move to the States to be with my husband?

Websites are contradictory, there's no possibility of getting a live person... Forms have different names. I really need help! Any and all insights and suggestions are welcome and very appreciated.

Thank you!

TattooersWife

I noticed when I clicked on your profile that you have Armenia listed as your Consulate. Is this a glitch, or were you born in Armenia and immigrated to Canada? This may add another level of complexity to your case. Not saying that it still can't be done, but you may need the advice of someone on this board that has gone through a similar scenario to help guide you.

The above information is incorrect.

Since this thread has turned into a discussion on immigration, I am moving it to the General Immigration Discussion forum.

Welcome to VJ!

I'm curious what was incorrect because that's what I've read and understood on here.... Hmmmmm...

Bevie lives in Springhill, NS and will be joining me in Hillsboro, Oregon for marital bliss sometime this year (c'mon Montreal... schedule us already!!!).

According to Google Maps we are:

• 3502 miles (5636km) if walking (including 3 ferry rides) and it should take me 43 days and 17 hours by Nike. =)
  

• 3718 miles (5984km) by auto and it should take 58 hrs each way when we drive there and back this summer.
  

• 3047 aeronautical miles (4904km), 4 time zones, and 13 hrs and 14minutes (not including driving to and from airports) if Continental departs and arrives on schedule.
  

Outside of the couple where the hubby is in Kuwait at the moment... do we get a prize for longest distance US/CDN relationship in the lower 48 States?

By geographical dumb luck, we had both the CSC and the Montreal Consulate in our approval loop -- meaning the longest wait times.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

I've been told my relatives of mine who now live in California that I can apply for a Green Card in the States. Now, they did this decades ago, so I don't know if that's possible now. Anyone know? At least then I can be with my husband in the US and do all the paperwork from there.

Cheers,

TattooersWife

***DO NOT TAKE THE ADVICE OF RELATIVES WHO DID SOMETHING DECADES AGO*** Laws change with in a year... so logically laws have changed in the last few decades, especially immigration laws. Should you choose to enter the US without a visa, you will be considered and illegal alien and *NOT* eligible for a Green Card. The pathway to a Green Card is 2 years long after LEGALLY entering the United States. I can't stress that enough. My fiance is a Canadian citizen and we are going through the process to get her a K-1 fiance visa so that she can legally enter the US to marry. You need to read up on the process for a K-3 Spouse visa to enter the US legally. This will take you a minimum of 7 months. Once you receive the K-3 visa you can start the 2 year process towards a Green Card. Without the K-3 visa, it is a no go.

My suggestion is to use the forums here on this site and accept the guidance of the people who very recently or are currently going through the process. Their insight and information is going to be lightyears more up to date than any your family could offer.

Additionally, you can find information from the US Department of State Website. (http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2993.html#12)

That being said... you CAN and you WILL everything for your Green Card from within the US... but NOT before your have received your K-3 Visa.

OOOPS!!! I spoke out of turn... Apparently the CR-1 Spousal Visa is much more widely used than the K-3 Visa.

It is interesting to see all the dates are Tuesdays. So much for the Friday-only interviews in Montreal.

I've been looking at the timelines to get a better idea of when we could possibly hope for an interview. I still can't make sense of of everything going on between VCS and CSC. For those of us that filed in September, our VSC applicants have about a 6-week difference in getting their NOA2's faster compared to the CSC filers and the same goes with NVC. I'm hoping that holds true and means we're only 6-weeks behind you for interviews.

And then there are several VCS's with May and June dates for filling the I-129F that are just getting their interview dates. It is such a shame that some folks have been waiting 300+ days and are now going to wind up paying the increased fees like the rest of us.

Despite my Debbie Downer comment... I couldn't be happier for those of you just finding out your dates!!! Seriously!!! What are you waiting for??? Hurry the hell up and let us join you!!!

Maybe I'm the person FOR health care that you were seeking.

I'm never 100% for... nor am I ever 100% against anything. Someone posed the question early along the lines of whether or not a person would be happy if they were forced into having one health care plan. It made me think of my own plan through work and from what I can tell, I'm one of the really lucky people in the world. I work for a corporation of 80,000 people and we have 5 various plans offered to us. I happen to pay into the most expense of the five, while others of my peers have gone with a pay-as-you-go plan. They contribute a certain amount and if and when something happens they pay extremely large co-pays, however, if nothing goes wrong through they year the money goes into a savings plan that they can withdraw from or use in future years. There's also a HMO (Kaiser) plan that people pay the least co-pay, but don't have their own primary care physician. My plan has moderate co-pays, no shared savings, but I do have my own primary care physician which offers me piece of mind.

Why I was FOR heath care is because I have family and high school friends that either can't afford there current health care plans or aren't employed due to the economy and are without insurance.

First case: My sister. Roughly 8 years ago she had both hips replaced to correct a condition she's had where both hips were outside of her sockets. My parents were told she would never be able to walk; but she did by the time she was 3 and learned to cope and move around. Other than a little waddle and wider hips than normal, most people would never know she suffered from her condition. Her husband was in construction and was the last employee laid off from his former company last April and as bad luck would have it, one of the titanium rods in her left hip joint broke 3 weeks later. They were without health insurance and couldn't afford the pain medication, let alone the surgery until he found a new job in mid-November. My sister had her replacement hip surgery last week and is still convalescing in the hospital after some complications. In the time between the breaking her artifical hip and surgery she was constantly in pain, unable to put weight on the associated leg, and had to get by in a scooter that someone was kind enough to donate to her since they couldn't afford one and were without insurance to provide one for her. So you bet your ####, I'm in favor of heath care and thank goodness my brother-in-law's new insurance covered a pre-existing condition.

Second case: One of my best friends from high school and her husband. She's and RN and he is a chiropractor. Together w/ 2 children they pay $1400 a month for health care. That's obscene for a couple in their mid-30's, let alone 2 people both in the medical field that probably take better care of themselves and their children than 95% of the world. You bet your sweet derrier I'm for reform.

Third case: My high school sweetheart and her husband. She's a high school science teacher and he is a mechanic. They have a daughter in first grade. In November they received a letter from the school district that stating that in March their insurance premium was going to triple from $600 to $1800. The only history of medical issues was during her pregnancy 7 years, my friend nearly lost their child and was on bed rest for the last 6 weeks of their pregnancy. Their daughter has no health concerns nor do she and her husband have previous health conditions. Can you imagine having such a huge increase in expense in such a short time where you have nothing like a new house or several new vehicles to show for it? You bet your ####, I'm in favor of health care for all at reasonable standards.

Thinking outside the box...

... When I served in the military, my health care was provided and paid for by the government. I didn't have a choice in one plan or another. Quite frankly it was really great care for the few times I needed to make us of it. I don't think I waited any longer for care at the ER than when I've had issues requiring the same care in the civilian world. Further, I had required annual check-ups in the military that I don't have in the civilian world. So if you think the government doesn't have a system or model to provide healthcare, you are in correct. Additionally, I'm not aware of spouses or children of military members being turned away due to pre-existing conditions.

More thinking outside the box...

... I find most people are against the heath care issue because of the proposed cost. And quite frankly, that is a HUGE number not to be taken lightly. If I have to pay more in taxes for peace of mind that loved ones not blessed with the opportunity I have for health care can be provided for, then I'm willing to open my wallet. There are a number of public services that I pay for and do not get a benefit from, but I know it makes a difference in the lives of others and it is morally the right thing to do -- let me stress, I'm not a religious person and it was hard for me to find a world better than morally.

I'm a home owner and have been for the last 15 years. I don't have children but for the last 15 years a large portion of my property tax has gone to providing education for other people's children. Why do I have to pay for some other couple's children to get an education? Because it is the RIGHT thing to do. It is how society helps give people opportunity to help themselves up. So I don't see a big deal for society to help cover the cost of health care for those unable to help themselves.

The problem we have isn't health care... The problem we have is wealth care. The people not wanting to pay whatever may be necessary to cover the costs of health care probably have really good health care. They probably don't think anything of paying $5 a day for coffee at Starbucks. They probably have one or more large screen TV's in their homes. They probably have homes larger than what the need to live in... because they can. They probably buy a lot of name brand items to project a a grandiose image to their peers. They probably have one more more large or relatively expensive vehicles. As I write this, I'm realizing that I fit every metric listed, with the exception of the coffee. The point is... those that have... "have". They have the ability to afford help shoulder the burden for those that do not have the ability and genuinely need health care. I'm not trying to go all John Lennon here, but can you imagine what a great country this would be if people stepped up and gave more to others and took less for themselves?

So that's my two-bits on the soapbox. And yes... I'm still in favor of health care reform.

/rant

Ok,

Being that I was the OP I want to clear up some misconceptions that have occurred since starting this thread a few days ago...

First of all, my fingers were quick to type when I heard that President Obama was granting immuinity to Haitians after the tragedy last week. The initial report I heard was that President Obama had granted permanent immunity from deportation to Hatians (who had illegally entered the USA) based upon the collapse of the Hatian infurstructure. As has been pointed out by some folks here - President Obama has granted TEMPORARY immunity from deportation and a protected status in our country. What this will mean long term I'm not sure, because I've heard on CNN that it will be YEARS until Haiti is restored to any sense of normalcy.

So - that being said, I guess I should learn to get all my facts straight before typing my opinion, and to those of you who have friends, family members or loved ones who were affected by the tragedy I sincerely apologize if my words casused you any pain or anguish. It was not my intention to cause anguish to these people, I was merely trying to report what I had heard.

Since excercising my right to voice my opinion I've been accused on this forum of being soul-less, unintelligent, non-caring and many other nouns - matter of fact I was basically told by one poster that they hope my K-1 petition is never approved. Everyone who posts here has a right to their opinion and as such I did not retaliate in a personal manner to those who attacked me personally, I read their posts and their PM's and never responded in a personal manner.

So, now let me qualify my statement. Feel free to condemn me once again...

The fact remains that those who entered the USA illegally will reap the benefit of the TPS that President Obama has bestowed upon them (at least for the forseeable future). I would not have issue with mass immigration of Hatians to escape the devestation of the tragedy that they've endured since the earthquake last week, but the people who've benefited from the temporary protection order are the one's that came here PRIOR to the earthquake. These people entered the country illegally and while it's true (as one poster stated) there is no place to send them home to, the folks who TRULY are suffering are not afforded the same status as the folks who came here illegally. I find it sad that the people who came here the WRONG way are protected while the people who are starving and bleeding in Haiti will continue to do so until aid arrives.

SO, that's how I feel. I'll take my lumps for voicing my opinion last week without having all the facts, but something just seems wrong to me about innocent people suffering while those who came illegally are living amongst our citizens with no fear of being held responsible for their actions.

Alan

Alan --

I highlighted a few things from your latest note. I, too, would have been insulted if this was going to be some sort of end-around the legal journey that we're all on with our significant others.

The thing that bothered me about your original post and also this post is how you wrote things (self-admittedly) in your own opinion. While I value the everyone having their own opinion the most frustrating thing that I find with people in these forums is that they don't base their opinions on fact. And sometimes how they color their opinion puts a totally different spin on things. While you feel you have right to your opinion, you have a greater responsibility to ensure that your opinion is also right on the money.

Had you taken the time to read and comprehend what you were reading, this thread wouldn't even exist. Someone else published a link on your behalf to the AP story (http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=193870) and I read it before formulating my own thoughts. The first few paragraphs in the AP piece are as follows:

What irritates me about both of your posts is the lack of understanding what was meant but what you heard reported first. Perhaps even worse is we all accept what is being reported as fact. The decision to grant the temporary protection status is based on Federal regulations that were put into law years and years ago. Had you read all the posts in this thread you would have seen where another contributor provided a link to the the actual CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) that makes this possible.

Whether we choose to believe it our not, modern day broadcasting of the news moves at such a fast pace just to get a scoop over the competition that not all facts are prepared or verified for accuracy 100% of the time before a story is reported. What makes matters worse is that I've yet to see retractions or admissions of errors when follow-up items are covered. Anyone viewing a 24-hour news network can tune in and hear a snippet of a story (like you did) and might and form an opinion based on incorrect info. The people at the anchor desk are reading copy prepared by editors and producers that may have have already been edited multiple times just to get the story pared down to a few brief lines of text. Too often facts are lost in translation. In your defense, even in the AP story linked above they start out by saying something very misleading by using the phrase: "the Obama administration". Many people will read that and be up in arms thinking (like you did) that President Obama chose to do something unprecedented and open the flood gates for illegal aliens when factually, a pre-existing regulation authorizes the US GOVERNMENT regardless of what administration is in office to invoke the temporary stay. Responsible journalism would not make it sound as if this was a partisan decision.

I don't want to condemn you, but I do want you be a compelled to at least fact check your opinions before sharing them and do you part to provide a source that backs up the points you're trying to make.

Separately... I want to applaud and praise you for coming back and taking ownership of your original post. I do get a sense from your follow-up post that you are compassionate towards the people suffering in Haiti. I think you and I both agree that that it is unfortunate that there are people suffering in their country while people from there are here illegally will be given a reprieve from deportation. The link from above mentions that there are 30,000 Haitians with orders to leave of probably 200,000 Haitians here illegally. As someone working the legal channels to bring my fiance to the US I've grown jaded by towards those here illegally. That being said, I agree fully with pausing the deportation of those 30,000 people at this time as it would be inhumane. Due to the devastation from the earthquake there are already 200,000+ dead and that number will surely continue to grow from secondary causes like infections and disease.

With much respect to you --

Jay

I've read some reviews of both the Montreal and the Vancouver consulates. From what I've read, Montreal doesn't schedule appointments and everyone seems to show up an hour before the place opens and interviews are done by numbers given to applicants when they enter the building. Most are are usually out within 2 hours. Not so much grilling as it is just waiting their turn at various windows to submit papers, pay the fee, and then the interview. What I've noticed from reading the reviews at Vancouver is that they do send out appointment times and it appears that most are in the afternoon and none of the reviewers have had issues or been turned away.

Although this may not answer how your consulate does things, I hope this helps reassure you that consulates even within the same country do different things and that time of day is not an indication their being a problem. I doubt there is any credence to the CO's scheduling interviews so that they can go home early.

Best wishes!

As a recent person going through the process via CSC who has recently received my NOA2 in the last 3 weeks... (and without RFE's)... take this to the bank:

The form is G-325A from is 1 page (front and back).

You need to send:

1 G-325A with photo of the USC and

1 G-325A with photo of the beneficiary.

He had just pulled his boat out of the water and onto his trailer. We pulled off the road on to the grass to give him plenty of room to when he was going to be coming up to our end of the access road. And by plenty... I mean he had every inch of pavement and shoulder. What I meant by he came out of nowhere was that there was time period of time in minutes from when we pulled off the road before he even drove up the boat ramp. Enough time had passed that I had reached in my cooler to get a bottle of Mountain Dew, have a drink, unfold the map, locate where we were and were we needed to be before exciting me vehicle. I hadn't seen him drive the 200+ feet up towards us, but did hear the truck as I was looking in the map. He didn't shut his door when he exited his vehicle to approach mine.

So to answer your question... to me... he came out of nowhere in terms of approaching on foot. Hope that rests your mind from wondering what was really going on out there.

BTW... I really should have proof-read that. Hopefully you have an idiot-to-English dictionary to help translate.

ummmm, I wonder what you did to provoke that local from Ocala. Interesting how he could just appear out of no where without you not noticing or hearing another truck pull up beside your car or not see it. Makes me wonder what was really going on out there.

He had just pulled his boat out of the water and onto his trailer. We pulled off the road on to the grass to give him plenty of room to when he was going to be coming up to our end of the access road. And by plenty... I mean he had every inch of pavement and shoulder. What I meant by he came out of nowhere was that there was time period of time in minutes from when we pulled off the road before he even drove up the boat ramp. Enough time had passed that I had reached in my cooler to get a bottle of Mountain Dew, have a drink, unfold the map, locate where we were and were we needed to be before exciting me vehicle. I hadn't seen him drive the 200+ feet up towards us, but did hear the truck as I was looking in the map. He didn't shut his door when he exited his vehicle to approach mine.

So to answer your question... to me... he came out of nowhere in terms of approaching on foot. Hope that rests your mind from wondering what was really going on out there.

I can attest to something not positive about Ocala. I was stationed in Orlando for 2 years in the early 90's; there used to be a Naval Training Center there. We had always been warned about staying away from Ocala. On one of my last weekends in Orlando a group of us went camping in Ocala National Forest. On the way there we pulled off the highway on a fishing access road and were well off the pavement and on the grass to look at the map so as not to block access for anyone coming to or leaving their local fishing hole. I mistakenly shut off the engine and had just opened my truck door to walk over to the other vehicle when the door was shoved back against me. I was pinned between the door and the inside frame of the door; one leg still in the truck, on leg on the ground. A rather rough around the edges man was holding the door closed against me and he had reached in his pocket and was holding a straight razor to my throat. He told everyone in the other vehicles to stay where they were or he was going to "cut him and gut him" -- referring to me. I was 20 years old, in really good shape, and nearly lost my bladder control.

It felt like hours but the encounter was probably only 3-4 minutes long. He had noticed my out of state license and proceeded to lecture me about how all of the out of state people weren't welcome in Ocala. I don't remember much else because I was too shocked by his kids hollering in the back of the truck. There were 5 or 6 of them and ranged in age from 3 to 10 years. The older two were throwing beer empty beer cans in the back of their dad's truck at him and begging and pleading for him to let me go. I can still hear the voice of one of the daughters saying, "Pay no attention to him, mister, he's drunk. He doesn't know what he's doing." On one hand, I'm scared for my life... and on the other hand... I thought how tragic this must be for the kids to watch their dad do this to a stranger and it sounded as if this wasn't the first time they had seen him do this either.

He didn't rob me and other than a lump on my head, a bruise on my thigh from having the door kicked against me, and a small trickle of blood from where they razor had been held, I wasn't hurt. This was well before cell phones were affordable to own so if something had gone down I t would have been a bad deal for me.

Crime can happen anywhere and anytime to anyone. This wasn't gang related violence it was more stranger-on-stranger violence. I still keep in touch with many of my friends who still live in Orlando and in the Tampa / St. Pete's area and they tell me Ocala isn't any better now than it was back then. It is one thing for a city to grow and flourish with new business and new homes, but it takes generations to breed out the hate and discontent felt by people who have lived in one area all their lives. Although I recognize that event was nothing other than a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, this many years later I promise you this, I wouldn't recommend to people I don't like living there in Ocala or anywhere in central Florida other than than Orlando metro.

Good advice. But i would think it might also help to mention to them that this process is already extortion for us, and that K visa applicants already have enough fees on hand, No?

I hope you were only joking about mentioning extortion. Although I can empathize with the feeling, I don't see how that could possibly be a helpful comment to leave.

Yesterday Beverly changed her Facebook status read: "Got a touch!!!"

I didn't catch on and had to asked if she got an iTouch or if her sister was being a little frisky.

Still not putting 2 and 2 together I went to the USCIS site (something I hadn't done in 3 weeks after obsessively checking for the previous 2 months) and read the following:

Post-Decision Activity

On December 15, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

The reason I'm posting this is that from the get-go our status always said that our case would be adjudicated between December 15th and December 18th. Now this could be just dumb luck that we actually made it within the exact window they stated, but if luck had nothing to do with it, I hope this is a positive message that everyone else will receive NOA2's within your own stated window!