Y&E

Interesting to hear about people's driver licence experiences. I have to go and do that in the next couple of weeks (when my SSN arrives) in Indiana. I hope it's not as bad as the licence tests that I had to do in NZ at the end of the 90's / early 2000's!

Congrats cdneh on the job. Can't wait until I receive permission to work. I'm going stir-crazy with nothing to do and only the cat and cleaning for company!

The timeline that he gave you is extremely conservative. When I was waiting some people were getting their interviews within 30 days of sending in packet 3. I think it depends on the time of year. Once you've got your interview day the time will seem to speed by! Just try not to stress too much, at least you know that they have your information.

Same thing happened to the early december filers at CSC. And they skipped over us to the late december filers, but they got to us eventually. It all seems to go very fast once CSC is finished with the case! They will get to you and probably sooner than you think!

Emma

The only check that I received for that in April was a quick peek down my knickers, the doctor just lifted them momentarily and then put them down. It may be different for men though. I'm sure that you can tell from the x-ray, but a different person deals with the x-ray than the doctor whom you do the rest of the exam with. And also anyone that has done certain sports (particularly to an elite level) has a slightly different bone structure to the norm for their build.

Definitely concentrate on the financial info required (tax return, form, W2, payslips) and having original copies of certificates in case they've lost them. They didn't seem to be interested in proof of relationship - I guess that is what is assessed at the USCIS stage. I took photos / emails etc and they didn't want to see them. Just make sure all of your evidence for support is in order and you'll be fine.

i didn't know shoes came as small as size 2. hahah.

try looking for japanese shoes.

not only are they sylish, but come in REALLY small sizes!

Good idea, any suggestions on websites? Search engines don't come up with Japanese websites. Or stores, my parents have 2 weeks there in Sept for work.

Congrats on the biometrics apt, Terri. Hopefully you'll have your interview / direct to California notice soon!

I just went in today, and even though I'd ticked Legal not allowed to work they printed it out with Legal allowed to work. So I guess this is the correct option because I haven't filed for AOS yet and we won't get married until early September.

Just went to get my SSN today. So simple and easy. I was there less than 1/2 an hour, the employee knew what he was doing and nothing went wrong or was missing. I'm very lucky I guess.

Caspar, look forward to Denys' dentists bills if he keeps on drinking that much juice per day!

I had a trip to social security this morning. Equal easiest part of the process (alongside POE) so far. In and out within 1/2 an hour, employee who knew what he was doing, dead simple!

The joys of teenagers! Thank goodness that's a long while off for us

I hear you on the comfy kids shoes (I love chuck taylors) but they're not really suitable for work

Sorry Marilyn and Toni, I can't help you there, but I'm sure that there's online shops for large shoe sizes as well as small ones

it's lovely. What did you watch / read for inspiration?

thanks for all of the suggestions. If you're willing to pay the price and use the UK websites the ones that I use are:

www.thelittleshoeshop.com

http://www.pretty-small-shoes.com/acatalog/

and http://small-shoes.co.uk/ (but they'll only ship to the UK)

Best wishes,

emma x

Don't know if this should be here or in off topic, but it is related to my new life in the US.

I have particularly tiny feet (UK 13 1/2, EU 32, US 2 - 2 1/2) and obviously it's hard to find shoes. Does anyone know of anywhere other than Cinderella of Boston that I can get petite adult shoes in the US? I know of lots of UK websites but I'm not keen on digging into my UK accounts just for shoes!

Thanks

Congratulations Stephanie. I'm so happy for you and your ever-expanding family

Don't worry about lack of planning everyone, we haven't even decided on a wedding date - could be because Yuri is still yet to 'officially' propose - the reason is that he's unhappy that the ring that I designed wasn't made right and I want it altered. I think a registry office do is pretty easy to arrange and then it's just about how big it's going to be.

Meggy - are you going to a bridal shop? I have a phobia of them and anything that's not the dress is being done via the internet

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, we now have wireless internet so I should be on more and we have a washing machine and dryer!

Emma xx

Hey miss Jess,

The cheapest way to ship to the US is aircourier (or airfreight) for some weird reason. I used fastlane international (just google the name). I got the best quote and great service from them and I could choose from different services. Just make sure that when you fill out the unaccompanied baggage doc that they provide you also include a photocopy of the visa and IBC of your passport because they don't tell you that. I think that there are lots of threads in the UK forum about shipping but I hadn't noticed fastlane mentioned on them. My 6 boxes / bags of about 82kg (volumetric) were almost 300 pounds and just over with insurance.

Good luck.

PS - excess baggage took so long to come back to me with a quote that I'd already booked with the other company.

ha, ha, you people and your aircon. I hate aircon and I turn it off when Yuri isn't home. What's the point of summer if I have to wear a jumper when I'm indoors ? So, I think that I deserve a place in the guiness book of records for most unpaid ironing done in one week. At least I don't mind ironing, I suppose.

Glad to hear that everyone is settling in. We're supposed to have thunderstorms here for the next week. The only one so far was the day we went to pick up our couch, typical!

Hi I'm back online. Congrats to everyone who is here now or almost here. I'm glad to hear that you like Ohio, Meggy. Unfortunately I'm really not warming to Indiana (I never have). We seem to live in the middle of nowhere but downtown is only 15 minutes drive away. I don't have a car yet and I'm too scared to drive anyway so I'm feeling really isolated. And Yuri's parents want to visit and we don't get along very well.

I'm sure it will get better in time but so far the only thing achieved is a little bit of unpacking. I ironed for 2 hours this morning, what fun! Sorry for the whingeing. I'm so happy for everyone else and I really hope that you get your interview soon, Stephanie.

Emma x

Hey captain ewok,

One thing that I've noticed, even before the updates, is that popular topics won't open when I'm using Google Chrome as my browser but it opens in IE. Is that something that can be fixed or is that a chrome thing?

Thanks

May i ask what the interview is for? you appear to be married and already gone through the K1 process?

IR1 / CR1 still have to interview the same as K1. This forum isn't exclusively for K1 applicants.

Congrats! Ya everyone is almost done and home with their loved ones. I am so happy for all of us!

BTW I am officially half packed. my room looks like a tornado hit it but I am halfway there!

I tossed3 large garbage bags of ####### that I wont ever use down there!

It is all coming together.

Emma you leave so soon! I am so excited for you

Where is your POE? What is ur flight like??

My room doesn't look like a tornado but it's very bare and is full of boxes! I took so much stuff to 3 charity shops yesterday (I wanted to spread the love) and now my room looks much better.

My POE is Chicago, Meggy and I fly via Paris which turns a 7 hour direct flight into about a 12 hour journey Oh well, it will be worth it just to get there!

I know how Diana feels, Caspar, but hopefully it will be alright - trust me, I had the biggest freak-out about all of this earlier in the year when I got back from visiting my parents in HK but after talking it through with them I managed to get over it and start looking forward to things again. I hope that Diana settles in easily and it will all be fine for her.

My fiancee Nelly and her daughter start the journey from Cartagena to Seattle next Monday 6/28 and arrive in Seattle, WA 6/29. Pretty fast overall started the journey mailing in the packet December 8 and Nelly has had the visa most of this month. Nelly needed to finish some lose ends at home.

Glad to see so many others in the December Class of 2009 get approved and make their travel plans.

Good Luck to all

Congratulations, that's wonderful!

Don't think that the UK consulate ever asks for original copies of the US citizen's stuff. They are only interested in the UK citizen and to ensure that the relationship is real. They are pretty easy on the questions. UK isn't considered to be a high fraud risk country I guess.

Hope that your interview goes well and I suggest that you also read the guides and the UK wiki as they have the answers to questions such as you had about the timeframe for marriage once you enter the US.

Congrats on the visa turning up, Meggy.

I'm off to the charity shops to drop stuff off and do last minute things in town. Then I'll be pretty much all ready to go except for some final packing. Roll on Tuesday morning.