TerriandEric

Visa in hand -- I leave in 2 days :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Visa in hand -- I leave in 2 days :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Congratulations!

No, Terri, that was not the reason. They understand that in this day and age digital photos do not have date stamps (you just write where and when it was taken).

Thing is, you can include 1000 of photos and no boarding pass - and they will send an RFE.

Photos are easy to forge, thus it's a secondary supporting evidence. Not just for I-129F, for all stages. AOS, ROC, whatever.

BUT! Photos in conjunction with primary evidence is a very good combo.

So true..we did include all boarding passes,hotel bills, complete photocopies of all our passports showing stamps etc as well as our photos with labels printed on the back stating when where who etc.

One bit of good news! I got the RFE today. Finally. It took me 15 minutes to open it worrying about how ugly the "request" was going to be. When I did open it, there was only one item: 'We need proof that you have met in the last 2 years.' You gotta be kidding me?! What about the afidavit and countless photos in multiple countries??? Apparently, and this just shows what century the USCIS is living in, "...only film dated photos count..." Ok, when was the last time someone used film?!

So, now it's 9pm, I'm at the office making color copies of my passport showing Ukraine Visas, copies of airplane boarding passes, blah blah. I send it back in the morning and with a little luck get my NOA 2 in a couple weeks.

Stay tuned!

I swear the department amazes me every time I turn around. We submitted ONLY digital photos & none were time or date stamped! It must be an adjudicator issue too...someone fussy. I hope and pray it all goes smoothly for you now.

Congratulations Terri and Bek!!

The woman who interviewed you, was she a blonde? And did you notice a Texas coffee cup with her at the desk? If so, she interviewed me too

TY TY TY -- no was a dark haired lady who interviewed me...our package was in a pretty hot pink manila folder too LOL

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTSSS!! Make sure you update your timeline and update us when you get your visa. POE so soon! Exciting!!

How is Reb about it all now? Feeling better?

Thank you thank you thank you!!! Timeline updated -- review done too!

Boo is doing ok with it all. The lady I was talking too while we waited has 2 children & they were over there for her work earlier...she said the schooling is much better there then here in her opinion. She said the teachers actually care, its not just a paycheck to them. It helps that we have been telling her all the things we want to do -- involving her in the process of living there. She is itching to get there now to explore LOL such a relief!!!

APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED!!!! :dance: :dance:

I was asked a few questions and spent my time waiting talking to another lady who is married to the USC. They hired an Immigration Lawyer and she said they have given them nothing but grief & lots of misinformation. I told her about all you amazing people here on VJ and she said she had heard of this site but never came here.

I was asked:

Q. How did you meet?

A. We met in Second Life.

Q. Whats that?

A. An online game.

Q. When are you planning on travelling?

A. We are hoping for this weekend.

Q. What does he do for work?

A. He is a Windows System Administrator/Infastructure Analyst or I affectionately call him the IT Geek. (she laughed)

Q. How do you keep in touch?

A. We keep in touch via phone,email, msn, Skype whichever web cam program works best on the day really.

Q. DO you have any proof of the relationship?

A. (holding lime green folder full of it!) I said yes would you like to see the chat logs or the emails? She replied 'No its ok I found the photos and they are better'

Q. (She asked Rebekkah my daughter) Is that your brother?

A. Yes it is.

Q. Did he not want to go with you?

A. No he wanted to complete Years 11 & 12.

'Love the photos around Sydney...who took them?'

Oh a friend of mine who is from Seattle. We flew her in from Brisbane for the day to take our engagement photos.

'Ok everything is in order, your visa is approved. We will print out your visa & have everything mailed out to you in the satchel in the next 2-3 days. The yellow envelope you are not to open it, but keep it with you in your carry on and hand it over at the airport you come in to.'

APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED!!!! :dance: :dance:

I was asked a few questions and spent my time waiting talking to another lady who is married to the USC. They hired an Immigration Lawyer and she said they have given them nothing but grief & lots of misinformation. I told her about all you amazing people here on VJ and she said she had heard of this site but never came here.

I was asked:

Q. How did you meet?

A. We met in Second Life.

Q. Whats that?

A. An online game.

Q. When are you planning on travelling?

A. We are hoping for this weekend.

Q. What does he do for work?

A. He is a Windows System Administrator/Infastructure Analyst or I affectionately call him the IT Geek. (she laughed)

Q. How do you keep in touch?

A. We keep in touch via phone,email, msn, Skype whichever web cam program works best on the day really.

Q. DO you have any proof of the relationship?

A. (holding lime green folder full of it!) I said yes would you like to see the chat logs or the emails? She replied 'No its ok I found the photos and they are better'

Q. (She asked Rebekkah my daughter) Is that your brother?

A. Yes it is.

Q. Did he not want to go with you?

A. No he wanted to complete Years 11 & 12.

'Love the photos around Sydney...who took them?'

Oh a friend of mine who is from Seattle. We flew her in from Brisbane for the day to take our engagement photos.

'Ok everything is in order, your visa is approved. We will print out your visa & have everything mailed out to you in the satchel in the next 2-3 days. The yellow envelope you are not to open it, but keep it with you in your carry on and hand it over at the airport you come in to.'

Well I am home from the US Consulate in Sydney & the girls on my FB page would know this already but --- APPROVED!!!!!! :dance: :dance: :dance:

I was asked a few questions and spent my time waiting talking to another lady who is married to the USC. They hired an Immigration Lawyer and she said they have given them nothing but grief & lots of misinformation. I told her about all you amazing people here on VJ and she said she had heard of this site but never came here.

I was asked:

Q. How did you meet?

A. We met in Second Life.

Q. Whats that?

A. An online game.

Q. When are you planning on travelling?

A. We are hoping for this weekend.

Q. What does he do for work?

A. He is a Windows System Administrator/Infastructure Analyst or I affectionately call him the IT Geek. (she laughed)

Q. How do you keep in touch?

A. We keep in touch via phone,email, msn, Skype whichever web cam program works best on the day really.

Q. DO you have any proof of the relationship?

A. (holding lime green folder full of it!) I said yes would you like to see the chat logs or the emails? She replied 'No its ok I found the photos and they are better'

Q. (She asked Rebekkah my daughter) Is that your brother?

A. Yes it is.

Q. Did he not want to go with you?

A. No he wanted to complete Years 11 & 12.

'Love the photos around Sydney...who took them?'

Oh a friend of mine who is from Seattle. We flew her in from Brisbane for the day to take our engagement photos.

'Ok everything is in order, your visa is approved. We will print out your visa & have everything mailed out to you in the satchel in the next 2-3 days. The yellow envelope you are not to open it, but keep it with you in your carry on and hand it over at the airport you come in to.'

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

So now I frantically pack the rest of the stuff LOL

May your paths be smoother than mine! Yesterday I got "touched" or was it slapped? The dreaded RFE is supposedly on its way. Oh great! Of course now I am wracking my brain at what I could have possibly gotten wrong on the blessed I-129f?! I went over it a dozen times. I called the USCIS (hm, ever notice that if you change the "C" to an "L" you could pronounce it as "USELESS!"). I spoke to the first person, no info., asked for a supervisor, no info., was transfered to some other undefined office who was able (it's a miracle!) to actually find my case.

Alas, she was only able to determine that "something was missing" but as she read off the list of required documents I had included them all at which point she said she was puzzled but could do no more until the letter came to me. And that's the best part! Of couse CSC sent a nice long e-mail to me expalining that there IS a problem but not WHAT the problems is. When I asked if I could get an e-mail that INCLUDED the problem to save a week of mail time I was told, "no, that's not our SOP." Ya, gotta love the government.

So, now I wait (again, or still?) for the snail mail. I figure this will add at least two weeks to the time when we finally have the visa in hand, er, passport. Needless to say, the skype conversation last night was not as joyful as it usually is. But, I gotta say my Diana is strong, supportive, and patient. I guess that's why I love her!

~Casper

I am so sorry Casper -- we can pray that the mail will move a little quicker so you can get the RFE sorted out even faster. It puzzles me that they take so long with these petitions -- especially when others are being approved inside of a month TOTAL MADNESS!

We have our interview in 2 days -- our flights are booked..so Australia Post willing we fly out in 6 days. I am still trying to sort what is important enough to take up precious space & weight in my luggage lol.

That's sad that they are making her feel bad Tez but at the end of the day, it's her life and her decision.

I have my sisters always telling me that I can't leave and can't take the boys far far away ... UM they NEVER come to visit me, so why should I live my life to please them? I think not lol.

It's funny about the whole voltage thing in the US ... I have blown up 2 Aussie hair dryers over there but my GHD straightener works fine! Lachy's DSi takes longer to charge and so does my mobile though. I'm selling all my electricals before I go, like Lachy's consoles (PS2, Wii, DSi etc).

Tezzzzzzzzzzz I wanna be there at your interview LMAO

I agree with everything you have all said -- Bek does need to realize that friends in high school are not always going to be there...I only speak to one of the girls I went to school with & I left school 21 years ago now (OMG I suddenly feel old lmao) We have started looking at some awesome places to take her once we are there -- I am itching to go to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame & Hershey's Chocolate World! I am sure in the long run she will be fine and will settle in happily into life there -- the initial jolt will be tough and we have made her aware that it is not just her who is having a major life change -- it is all 3 of us! Poor Eric has never lived with a teenage girl in the house (poor man!) so he has admitted he has some adjustments to make because of this.

Jaime I wish you were there too -- would be awesome to see someone who understands how this process feels *hugs*

WTG Vanessa!! What an awesome win for you Mum & now for you :thumbs: Sorry to hear that your MIL is stuck in the stereotype.

Yep 5 more sleeps to interview....I am beyond excited & can hardly wait. I started packing suitcases yesterday as Aus Post willing we will be flying out on the 10th...only 9 more days YAY! :dance:

My daughter signs out of school today & some of her friends have been 'guilt tripping' her about leaving. I keep seeing it all over her facebook page and last night Eric & I were talking about it. We both know today will be tough but with sentiments of 'dont leave us' 'you cant go' 'its never going to be the same now' etc etc etc its not going to get easier for her. All we can do is be here for her like always & be patient while she is so upset...hopefully the excitement will rub off on her over the next few days.

Okay, question number 536 here.

Ham's filling out the packet three form....finally. He isn't sure though about the part where it says city or towns lived since 16.

He's lived in various suburbs of Wollongong and wants to know if he can just put Wollongong on there or if he has to actually list the suburb area.

Like the last place he lived was Leumeah but that was a suburb of Campbelltown and he doesn't know if he can just put Campbelltown or Leumeah.

I listed all suburbs from most recent as far back as 10 years ago -- otherwise I would fill a couple of A4 sheets of paper. Even though I lived in Aberglasslyn in 4 addresses of that suburb I put that suburb in with the time line to account for where I lived. On Packet 4 there was no issue for having needing additional information either.

We got our interview date via email this morning -- April 6th at 10am WOOOOTTT!!!!!!! :dance: :dance:

We got our interview date via email this morning -- April 6th at 10am WOOOOTTT!!!!!!! :dance: :dance:

We got our interview date via email this morning -- April 6th at 10am WOOOOTTT!!!!!!! :dance: :dance:

Sooo I just woke up and I decide hey I am going to check our case status like I do every other day about 200 times a day.

We were touched!!!!

I am so happy I hope this is it!

:dance:

Oooooh, good thinking on that replacement one. Well, he's wanting to try and get an international license there so he can drive over here. But I don't know if it's valid or not. Think he's just trying to avoid doing the parallel parking.

Okay, another question. How long did it take most of you to get your police check back? It's coming up on about two weeks now for Ham to get his. Just worried about us not making it for him to get here in May.

I must have been lucky because I got mine within the 2 week window...which shocked me as I had heard it could take longer. I would ring and ask questions.

Firstly I hope that everyone who is still waiting for their NO2 hears something before the week is out! The whole system is just weird. How hard is it to deal with paperwork in the order in which it arrives?

Anyway, I received Packet 3 yesterday and I am just about to post off the required paperwork. Woo hoo Then more waiting for the appointment letter to arrive, sigh...

I agree Emma -- I do nto understand how some petitions are processed & others are left waiting...its very unfair & extremely frustrating! My prayers are with those of you who have yet to get NOA2.

I received Packet 3, 3 days ago...mailed it back yesterday...hoping to get Packet 4 before the weekend....hoping to fly out of Aus around the 13th April...YAY!

Rosa, I read your post from yesterday & all the responding posts and it really hit home for me too. When I mailed Packet 3 back to the consulate (even sealing it with a kiss for luck LMAO)it really hit home hard that OMG I am leaving Aus! Admittedly I did have a cry & a slight panic attack BUT when I told Eric how I felt & read him these posts he told me that he understands that it is not easy to leave everything I have ever known to move there...but Vanessa he gives you credit for saying what you did about it being like moving to a new town...he then reminded me of when I moved to Maitland 10 years ago and I didnt know a soul....that made me feel much better. He also offered to post pone our wedding from June 5th until closer to the 90 day cut off if that would make me feel better. What ever it is I did to deserve this man I am forever grateful for it.

I guess what I am trying to say (in a long winded fashion lmao) is that as hard as it is going to be to leave (especially since 3 of my children are staying in AUS) I can not wait to embark on my life with Eric & my daughter Rebekkah there in our gorgeous home in Ohio. I know there will be times when I will want to be back here but that will be normal I am told but it is all part of the adventure that lays ahead.

Nice Terri!! I think I'll take your lead and see about getting all my items knocked off early as well!

I started getting as much ready as I could while I waited for NOA2...when P3 arrived in the email this morning, I knew it was a matter of addressing the express post packet & mailing it straight back to them....here is hoping that we get interview super fast as we are looking at flights atm & there isn't many seats left for us to fly out on a weekend like we wanted too so my family could be there...but maybe it will be a good thing that we fly through the week...less tears as we leave

PACKET 3 received today & mailed back this afternoon!! :dance: :dance:

Woot woot! Got everything ready for P3?

I sure do -- it is sitting here waiting for me to address the express post envelope....now if only they would hurry up & send me P3....

Sydney Consulate received my package today.....bring on packet 3!! :dance: :thumbs:

Sydney received our package today :dance: :dance: