jnurse68

Hi

Just checking if you have heard anything just yet?

I hope you have the package/passport back from the embassy by now.

Take care

Andrew[/color]

Hi Andrew ,yes we did get the package back after 3 weeks and 2 phone calls.But you wont believe when he got the package he ripped it open to retrieve his passport out of excitement and tore the stupid brown envelope.so of course he had to return the envelope via courrier the following tuesday and he recieved it on thursday 2 days later which was last week.He booked his flight out for tuesday 31st August and arrived yesterday afternoon.He is here now at home settled,he had no immigration problems at the POE which was LAX and his is a IR1 visa which is the 10 yr green card.But he is sooo fine and the kids and I are happy it was so surreal,totally unbelievable even for him.well i hope all goes well with you and tracy on your arrival.Take care.

Hi Andrea

Thanks for the comment, I will continue to help as many people as possible in the I-601 club as long as I can before I leave for the USA.

I received my CR-1 Visa last week, a very nice looking visa it is too.. but it also came with a brown paper envelope which was very thick, maybe 2 - 3 inches.. which is the envelope that you have to hand to the immigration officer at the point of entry, which in my case will be San Francisco on 10th November 2010 (I hope)..

Anyway to show you what it looks like but without giving away any of my personal details I have made a sample CR-1 Visa for people to view and I have a photo of the Envelope & Medical Envelope which contains a CD or DVD:

CR-1 Visa Sample

CR-1 Brown Envelope

CR-1 Medical Envelope

I hope you enjoyed my Visa Sample, it is real apart from all the information and photo and the Brown Envelope on the other side has a White piece of paper attached with all my details typed out and a black and white photo of me.

Take care

Andrew

congratulations andrew and tracy,that was fast,im glad its all worked out well for you...my husband sent off his documents last week monday by courrier he still hasnt got his package and visa back.how long did it take from when you sent yours to when you recieved it?

Oh look, someone mentions "Irish sausages" and I miraculously reappear.

Thanks to all of you for remembering me, and thanks especially for your prayers. We need them.

Clearly, with all of these UK moves to Texas, I am going to have to invest in a box of cowboy hats.

I'm glad you're all still here, and C2C, it was lovely to see an update from you. One of the things I complained about when Hubby was here visiting was his tea cup (always on the furniture with no coaster). I would give ANYTHING to have him slopping a big mug of tea from one end of this house to another right now. When you reach a bump in your relationship, just think back to how hard you fought to be together, and I'll bet whatever you are facing will pale in comparison to the 601 struggle.

As for us, wow. What a whirlwind these past 6 weeks have been. It took me a good week to start eating again, then another 2-3 weeks of therapy to be able to function properly. I really just wanted to die. God has other plans for me, I guess, because here I am.

We did hire Mr. Heller as our attorney, and he has been wonderful. He spent an awful lot of time answering what must have seemed to him an unending series of questions. He did a really good job for us, and he's hopeful. I, however, am not. If you've been in this thread for a while, you know that I have had way too many "ups" that turned to "downs" in very cruel ways. It nearly killed me, and as a result, I refuse to have hope. The entire process has been so unfair to us, and having hired a good attorney NOW, I truly do see the differences. It is so hard to tell when you have hired a good attorney. I mean, how do you really know? Our first one talked the good talk, but when there are mere days before the interview and the waiver packet isn't complete, you know there's a problem. He just threw it together. I wrote my own hardship letter, my husband wrote his own letter, and all the attorney did was type up the 601 form. I paid him thousands to fill in forms that I could have filled out myself. He offered no guidance on the hardship letters or anything. He filed no legal memorandum or anything. It was all done last-minute, and we paid the price for it. This time around, we received much more guidance, and Mr. Heller seems to be not only an intelligent man, but a compassionate one, which is sorely needed when one is as tender as I am these days.

So, we did get the appeal filed on time. So far, I have not received anything to indicate that it has been received by the AAO, so I don't know if that means London is reviewing it, or if the AAO is just backed up in sending cards. All I know is that when I turn the key in my post office box, you would swear there's a hornet's nest in there.

The stress of all of this has been unGodly. I continue to suffer horrific bouts of anxiety and depression, and it is really hard to find the motivation to do much of anything. I truly need the harvest from my garden to get me through, but with everything that has happened, it's nothing but weeds. I try very hard to stay focused at my job, and I'm lucky that my boss is very understanding, but my job requires me to be compassionate and mentally sharp, and as you might imagine, I'm neither of those things right now.

That's the news from Happyville.

Thats our gal,you fall,dust yourself and get right back up again ,good on yer JustJ,stay strong and have a little faith and hope in your new attorney Mr Heller im sure he wont leave any stone unturned.Im glad you filed the appeal on time it will all be worth it in the end.Stay strong JustJ we all continue to think of you and pray for you and hubby.

Congrats, J nurse, TexasBantam and Andrew and Traci I only wish Julie were with us in our approved Gang, I'm sure you're all with me in combining our thoughts and prayers for the best outcome for here and her Irishman.. Now comes the hard part..living with each other, and if you're not married already - going thru with that ! and applying for AOS - which is even more intense than the original petition stuff..wishing you all an easy POE and the best of luck for the future

Thank you c2c i hope youre doing well and adjusting to all the changes here positively.I still have hope for justj it will all work out well in the end and our prayers are with her and hubby.We have been married over 2 years so i also hope we dont have to deal with the uscis after my husband gets here.take care now,we will keep in touch.

Thank you very much JNurse - - i understand congratulations are in order for you too huh????

Yes we got approved too,letter in the mail saturday,then today monday my husband got another letter telling him to get another police report and do another medical(both expired after months waitin) then he is to send his police report with his passport via courrier to the embassy.He has his medical booked already for next week.Its all soooo exciting.Im so glad we all have had goood news,its just wonderful!

Just this minute got the call from the Embassy...

i am APPROVED.!!!!!

Cannot begin to express how relieved I am....

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU TEXASBANTAM!!!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S

I am so happy for you both.... welcome to the new approval club

Take care

Andrew

Thank you Thank you Thank you!The kids were dancing and screaming OMG what a relief.I am sooooo happy and relieved.I can now enjoy the rest of summer without worrying about USCIS!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! I am sooooo happy for your news!!! You must be over the top with happiness!!! Please keep in touch with us !!! It is turning out to be a nice summer... I'm going to the UK to visit Andrew in September - it will be the first time I will get to visit him without the unapproved visa looming overhead. We will actually just be able to relax, enjoy each other's company and really talk about our future!!! Many well wishes to you and your family!!!

Traci xx

I am so relieved and very happy after 3 years of waiting and then 8 months of absolute total anguish not to mention the the attorney fees $$$$$$ its all been well worth it.I wish you and Andrew the best too and everyone else on visajourney!

Congratulations, JNurse! Are you walking on air???

Best wishes for a bright future together.

Thank you JustJ i feel like im walking on air.Im on my way to work and my patients are gonna be wondering why i got such a big smile!

WE GOT APPROVED !!!!THANK GOD!My husband got his "letter of approval"in the mail today,saturday from mr Elliot cook.we were approved back in may our case sent to DOS then 2 weeks later sent back to USCIS pending further information from me which i sent on july 2nd ,so it went back to under review on jun12th.Our case has now finally been completed july 14th and APPROVED and sent to DOS for visa issuance.My husband hasnt been contacted by phone on what to do next but we wait till monday.Im sooo happy .YAY!!!!

Traci & Andrew

are

A P P R O V E D

As of 8:15am GMT (UK Time)

Received a phone call from the London US Embassy at 8:15am telling me that I have been approved, after our case was completed on the 12th July 2010 (4 days later), I was told that I just need to resubmit a new Police Certificate and go and get another (3rd) medical done, then once the Police Certificate arrives, I have to send this in by the Embassy Courier (Tel: 0871 562 6666) along with my passport, the Medical results will be sent direct from the doctors within 4 working days from my appointment (10:30am Thursday 22nd July 2010).

So if everything works to plan, by the end of July, the US London Embassy will have everything they need to issue my visa, this process I have been told should only take 5 to 10 working days before I have my passport back with the visa inside, this would mean that I would be able to go to the USA by Mid August 2010, however we have made plans for Traci to visit for 6 weeks in September and our 2nd wedding anniversary is in the first week of November so we have decided to delay my entry in to the USA until after our 2nd anniversary allowing us to get an IR-1 (10 year Green Card) instead of going a few months earlier and only obtaining a CR-1 (2 Year Conditional Green card).

I will give more info about the process and timescales as and when they happen so that you can learn from my experiences.

Thanks for all your support

Andrew & Traci

A VERY BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH .Its taken long but well worth the wait.As for my husband he is still waiting,no news from anywhere yet!!.He went to check his mail again this morning ,nothing yet,i guess coz it was all done just a day ago.so we wait again for tomorrow or monday....still hoping for good news.Congrats again Andrew and Traci now you can relax and enjoy the summer!

Lets hope they do update us on Friday, if not my prediction will be next Wednesday 14th July..

Anyway take care

Andrew

Andrew your case has taken sooooo long esp under review,more than 3 months is just too long.But its a good thing on the other hand ,most of the time if you dont hear any news its usually good news in the end.Did you have a huge waiver packet?Fingers crossed for july 14th .

Hi Everyone

Today 7th July 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

The last update that we received was on Friday 25th June 2010 which was 12 days ago now, this update brings only the addition of 7 new UK & Ireland cases added to the Pending section, there was no other movement of cases to or from Under Review or Completed...

So the highlights of todays update are:

7 UK & Ireland based Cases in total were added to the "Pending" pile making a massive total of 54 UK and Ireland cases Pending!!

DBL2008 140 002 - DBL2009 604 002 - DBL2009 855 001 - LND2008 692 009 - LND2009 211 023 - LND2009 279 022 - LND2009 634 019

No cases were changed to Under Review which still leaves 8 UK based cases

No cases were completed either (NO MOVEMENT IN 19 DAYS), which means they have completed a total of 4 cases for the whole Month of June.

Well this was a good update for new Waiver filers but still no good for anyone already on the waiting list as Pending or Under Review. If your case number is above as a new case and you are on Visa Journey then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

Lets hope USCIS can update us again on Friday with some proper movement of cases rather than just adding a few to the list and calling that an update !!!.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 7th July 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update.

Take care all..

Andrew

Thanks Andrew for the update.we're all waiting anxiously to see what friday has in store for us.take care.

It doesn't feel like it right now. I am faced with an impossible dilemma.

Indeed it is an impossible dilema,you love your mom and you are her main carer and you love your husband and want to be with him and start a life with him.It might be a good idea to give it a few days to think about everything get it all into perspective,hard to choose one over the other.If you move to dublin will your mom be able to cope with migrating to a new country and starting over with her health?What about resubmitting the waiver which apparently is more successful and quicker than an appeal?Is there someone you can talk to ,who you trust who can help with ideas so you can come to the very best solution for all 3 of you?Maybe just visit hubby briefly soon to talk about everything seeing him will definitely make you feel better.

I'm sorry, guys. You are not going to believe this.

We are DENIED.

I will explain as soon as I can see straight. Basically, there was a miscommunication between the Congressman's office & Washington. I have the actual letter in my hand, and yes, we were denied and charged with misrep.

I'm beyond distraught.

Words cannot begin to describe how i feel JustJ.Its so terribly unfair,so wrong ,so unjust from every point of view,I am so sorry.But Andrew is right Reappeal or better Re submit with the extra evidence you had just recently sent in,please dont give up after all these years ,stay strong and fight your case.

Does anybody know if this is the correct address for sending additional evidence?

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services

American Embassy - London

PO Box 2444

London W1A 5T

Everything is right except the post code is(W1A 5WT),dont forget ENGLAND after the post code.Good luck JustJ!

C2C, I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. Somehow, when one of us is victorious, it's like we're ALL victorious. Your wait for the actual visa post-approval was really long. I don't know how you managed to stay sane. I'd have torn my hair out.

Please do check in with us to let us know how things go POE. I would also like to know how you adjust to life in our beautiful country.

Thank you for your continued prayers for all of us. In truth, nobody knows what this is like unless you've been through it. We will miss you.

I was refreshing like a maniac.

Thanks, JNurse. Any news from you? How are you holding up?

Congratulations C2C at last its great to know that after all the worry you finally got your visa,yay!!!Please keep in touch and safe journey.

JustJ im hanging in there Thank you, keeping busy with the kids its coming to the end of the school year so much to do for the next two weeks.

If you check back on page 16 of this forum you will see that with the case of C2C although the case was completed and closed,there was a dispute over the decision and if there is one it has to be cleared up by the head office in Washington.Still yes i do agree that the majority of cases are decided and end with Elliot cooks decision in london,so my case is just the odd one that needs further clarification.]

i think you will find that isnt true elliott cooke does make the decision as he is the field director it only goes to washington if you are to appeal against there decision, i know we had the same situation

But we are not appealing because we have a letter of approval signed by elliot and it also states the case is closed.I also thought the next step is to get the visa which it is in alsmost every case,however when i called friday morning with the # you gave me(thank you),i spoke directly with the lady dealing with our case asking her when is the visa going to be issued,she said she needed to clear up a few things with the misrep,i told her we have the letter of approval from elliot cook,she said she had our file in front of her,and that elliot cook didnt have the final say and that she needed to clarify with the USCIS office in washington and that they all had to be on the same page.Thats exactly what she told me leaving me more confused than before,she told me it would take weeks coz i asked if i could call her next week,so i called my attorneys and congressmans office coz i am totally confused but i will wait and see what happens this week.

b

i think you will find that isnt true elliott cooke does make the decision as he is the field director it only goes to washington if you are to appeal against there decision, i know we had the same situation

But we are not appealing because we have a letter of approval signed by elliot and it also states the case is closed.I also thought the next step is to get the visa which it is in alsmost every case,however when i called friday morning with the # you gave me(thank you),i spoke directly with the lady dealing with our case asking her when is the visa going to be issued,she said she needed to clear up a few things with the misrep,i told her we have the letter of approval from elliot cook,she said she had our file in front of her,and that elliot cook didnt have the final say and that she needed to clarify with the USCIS office in washington and that they all had to be on the same page.Thats exactly what she told me leaving me more confused than before,she told me it would take weeks coz i asked if i could call her next week,so i called my attorneys and congressmans office coz i am totally confused but i will wait and see what happens this week.

So sorry about your knee Justj,maybe physical therapy and not surgery for now.More prayers to your mom too hope she gets better soon.Lets see what monday has in store for all on VJ,Enjoy the rest of sunday.

Oh my gosh jnurse68 does it ever end???? Just when we thought our fate was being decided by Elliot Cook in the London Embassy we now get another monkey wrench thrown in the mix...you gotta wonder if DC has the final say why do our files spends months in London???? Unbelieveable!!!! Please keep us informed. Hope your son has a fantastic birthday!!

FYI: No an IR-1 isn't another form it's a type of visa you can apply for:

A IR-1 / CR-1 Visa allows a Non-US Citizen (spouse) married to a US Citizen to legally enter the US, immediately becoming a Legal Permanent Resident upon entry. This option may take longer than obtaining a K-3 Visa. If a couple wishes to pursue this visa they must be legally married (or get married before starting the process). The couple may have previously been married either outside or within the US (the location does not matter as long as the marriage was officially recognized in the location in which it occurred).

The visa processing at the US Consulate is similar to other family visas such as the K-1 and K-3 however the IR-1 / CR-1 Visa is an "Immigrant Visa", which means the Non-US Citizen Spouse will upon receiving their visa and entering the US immediately become a Legal Permanent Resident. Their "green card" will be mailed to them shortly after their arrival. As a Legal Permanent Resident they may work and travel to and from the US freely using their "green card" and status as a Legal Permanent Resident.

Simplified,if you've been married over 2 years you will enter on an IR-1 as a permanent resident. Married less than two years you enter on a CR-1 as a conditional permanent resident and must lift (remove) the condition before the 2nd anniversary of your entry date into the states. Makes life easier if you can enter on a IR-1, but I for one hope my hubby is here long before that time

Take care and thanks for the update!

Traci

Oh Thanks for that info traci,weve been married 15 years.i never applied for my husband until 3 years ago when i became a USC(through work).We thought it would be a walk in the park turns out to be a long horrible dark walk.So that means when my husband gets his visa it will be an IR-1 automatically and will be able to get his green card after he arrives here right?

Hi jnurse68 - Thank you so much for the update. It looks like there is finally going to be an end insight for you!! Hopefully he shouldn't have to do the medical again - unless things have changed the medicals are good for one year. I sure hope ours completes soon - would hate for my hubby to have to get yet another police certificate and medical. We're hanging in there... not much else we can do... hoping June might be our "lucky" month? Keep us posted - doesn't sound like it will be much longer!!!

Hi traci i just gave Justj the 411 of our case(previous post) and it does seem we have to wait quite a bit still,weeks is what the lady told me so if he does get here it will be july or maybe august i dont even know anymore i just have to hang in there and stay hopeful if not for my sake ,for the kids ,you take care now and enjoy the weekend.

Jnurse, it must feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off of you. Congratulations again.

I asked my husband to get new PCC's. I am certain that ours will be expired by the time our case is decided, and I'd like to avoid more delays. Our medical is good until November. If it goes to October, we will have been married 2 years. Would that mean we can change to the IR-1 instead of the CR-1, ya think?

Hey JustJ ,today i called up the DOS again because although they had said to call up my husband yesterday they didnt,so i called them up(02078940592)# and spoke to the lady who issues the visa directly and she told me she had his case in front of her but couldnt yet issue his visa because she wanted to clear his Misrep with the USCIS office in Washington saying that they had the final say and NOT Elliot cook!!! you can imagine how terrible i felt all over again .She said she wanted everyone to be on the same page.Itold her that the case was approved,completed and closed and a letter confirming that was sent to my husband and our attorneys she insisted that their boss in D.C would have the final say and that it would take weeks for us to hear anything.(Sounds very much like C2C)Anyways i contacted our attorney and congressman coz im so done dealing and talking to the embassy....so we wait again till monday(In the meantime i have to organise my sons 14th birthday for tomorrow).By the way what is the IR-1 now is that another form to fill out?I dont think your case will go all the way till october im sure youll hear something this month,lets all try and stay positive,Take care and have a great weekend.