Y&E

Can you still buy wine with corks?

It may not be the same for IR1/CR1 but using the USCIS website is really a waste of time anyway. They don't update it immediately and we received the paperwork before the status changed on-line. If they've told you that it's in the system and cashed your cheque that's a pretty good indication that you are in the system. As another poster has mentioned if they had problems with their computer system then they probably have a backlog of cases to add / update - VJers are probably a small percentage of those who get processed every day.

It would be silly for you to withdraw the application and pay again (you've mentioned that money is an issue in other posts), adding more months to your wait, when they already have your file.

Everyone has to wait, no matter what their visa is - many of us wait to see updates but don't get a single touch recorded before approval - so you aren't the only one.

Our experience is similar to that of Tony and Vanessa - except that we did intend to get 'engaged' before the interview but my ring was still being made the last time Yuri was over here. I just told the CO that we were pragmatic people and had made the decision together that we would get engaged and that we wanted to be together. She accepted this. Honestly, I don't want the down-on-one-knee thing - that's not my way of going about things.

Visa! Visa! Visaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! It's unanimous. Just got back on the night train from Kiev. Yesterday went flawlessly, if a bit long. Got to the consulate at 8am, checked in, gave the documents, then waited, waited, and waited. Finally, they called all in the room up to the window and said to go to lunch and be back by 1pm. Finally called to the interview about 1:30. I was asked a couple questions, well, more like told, 'hm, looks like you've met several times' (yes, 5) 'traveled together' (yes, 8 countries in 6 months) 'and you have enough money to support them in the US' (agreed). 'Ok, please sit down and I will ask Diana and Denys a few questions.'

2 minutes later, Denys came out. 5 minutes after that Diana came out with a smile from ear to ear!

Looks like we are going to America! We have tickets already for next Friday but will probably have to make another trip to Kiev to get the visa in time and not wait for FedEx. No worries. Life is good!

Yay!

Congratulations, Caspar. I am so happy for you all I hope that Diana and Denys enjoy their new life in America!

Have to have a freakout moment now - he'll be here in less than 24 hours! Omg!!!

Congratulations!

Read this:Dirty Dozen

container gardens should be the next big thing!!!!!! I am incredulous to see most of what I buy is on the "dirty dozen" list. I buy organic most of the times but not ALWAYS. And, it's expensive!

Thanks for that article! It was really interesting. I buy from both lists but I will definitely be searching out organic until I can have a proper vege patch.

Youre' welcome. I think you'll enjoy them. Peony in Love turned out to be my favourite of the three - they are all so different even though so many elements are the same. See is an amazing writer!

I'm just starting Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, translated from the French, about two educated City boys who are sent into the isolated and rural mountains of China for 're-education' from their flawed, 'intellectual ways' by the Communists. I have just started it so don't have much more than that yet but so far I am also enjoying it. I've just finished Fallen Leaves: the true story of an unwanted Chinese daughter by Adeline Yen Mah which was also absolutely incredible. It is a true story of the 5th Chinese daughter in a well to do Tianjian/Shanghai/HongKong family whose father re-married shortly after her birth. It too is set in the early 20th century and takes you through the years of changes in China from Shanghai as an international center through the Japanese invasion and the growth of HongKong through the arrival of Communism and the Cultural Revolution right up to today, from a personal as well as a cultural level. Another book that I also highly recommend.

So, yeah, I am definitely on some sort of a 20th century Chinese theme - no idea why except that the books by Lisa See seemed to have kicked it off. I am fascinated.

Not 20th C China but I think you might enjoy the two Empress Orchid novels, Kathryn. I can't remember the author but one of them is entitled Empress Orchid. I think the other one is the Last Empress. Anyway, they are really good.

The good thing about Chicago O'Hare is that they see so many immigrants each day that they should know what to do with a K1 visa and they can be relatively quick with immigration (seems to depend on day / time) and it's a nice airport if you get stuck (which i'm sure you won't). The reviews for Chicago as POE are pretty good too. When are you flying. I POE through O'Hare on Tuesday so watch out for my review.

1 more day to go, Caspar! I hope that you're having a nice time in Kiev.

If he IS teaching you immigration law - then he's put out a straw-man argument, in the hopes that you'll do yer own research, for the 10,000 word monograph that he's requiring you to write, to cover the 'how-to's' , for the upcoming week.

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He was lecturing divorce law (NZ uses Socratic method in all law classes) and it's a long time since I was studying at uni - contrary to my youthful good looks

Wait on the AOS talk, I'm not done yet!! I got to Ukraine on Saturday after a reasonable trip (as reasonable as 23 hours and 10,000 km can be) but of course, the airline lost my bag again! That's the third time in a row. Been spending a couple wonderful days with Diana and new son Denys. It's better every time we meet. Went to the ballet last night: 1001 Arabian Nights. Diana commented how ballet is universal and no language or translation is needed. True, but sometimes I STILL don't know what message they are trying to send me!

So, today is Monday. Tomorrow we take the overnight train to Kiev for the interview on Thursday. Fingers trebly crossed. Yesterday Diana and I both woke at 04:30 dreaming about documents! I think we were having the same dream--I was copying and she was stamping. Funny!

I'm taking some hope from your experiences that it will be simple, straight forward, and quick with a happy resolution. After all, we have tickets to be home on the 2nd and our first house guests on the 3rd!

Congratulations again, Miss Meggy!

Good luck, Good luck, Caspar, Diana and Denys!

I'm sure it will all go fine. You're so lucky to see the ballet over there, Caspar. I hope that you keep it up when you're back home. I love the ballet, did you guess?

I don't think that you should use that airline again - how can they lose bags in this day and age when bags aren't allowed on board without a ticketholder? Oh well, I hope you get it back soon.

Emma x

I just found out that we will have a balcony at our new apartment so I'm going to try and grow tomatoes and lettuces because we eat a lot of salad. I'm sure that there are plenty of nice veges over there but I'd like to have a go at growing my own.

So, name a country where the marriage in question would not be recognized. While you're at it, let us know what a married couple would need to do in order to live their lives together as a husband and wife in that country, assuming they otherwise individually had permission to remain there.

Go argue about it with my law professor. He's the one that told us that. If you jump over a broomstick in Fiji it may be a legal marriage in Fiji but it may not be recognised elsewhere. There are many kinds of 'marriage', not just the ones that come with a piece of paper.

Can I just say: Go All Whites!

Yeah!! It's like winning the world cup just to tie with Italy!

Can't the jeweller ship them, insured of course? It's illegal to carry things for someone else unless they're a gift that you yourself have bought.

You know what Emma I am doing the exact same thing right now! Ugh so much ####### and I am sitting here with a garbage bag but I cant seem to decide what I want to part with!

Yay 9 more to go eh! That is awesome! I will be following behind you not too long after that!

I am so excited. Oh and of course so pumped to start AOS

Yay, AOS... We're all going to have to keep in touch on how we go with that!

OMG, packing is so stressful! Just spent the weekend up in Scotland with my Godmother and she was great and said - you're starting a new life, you don't have to take everything... only problem is most stuff is packed now So went and unpacked some stuff that I'm not that attached to 9 more sleeps to go!

What's the problem with a connection being outside of the US? If you can connect somewhere else and then arrive at your final destination as you POE isn't that the easiest and least stressful option? You've never told us your final destination so it's a bit hard to give good advice. I ended up going with a flight to Chicago and no connection to Indy because it wasn't going to work. I'm just being picked up from Chicago now and don't have to worry about flight connections.

A canadian friend did this - came over, went away for a few weeks, came back and was promptly deported because you can't leave and reenter within a few weeks according the officials. He's quite proud of having been deported though.

First thing AA want to know is 'country of residence'. I may be being stupid, but should I put UK or US? At that moment in time my residence will be 'the plane' so just wanted to check

Lol! I hadn't thought of it like that

The healthcare thing is the biggest worry for me. To the point that I'm not even sure if we should have children any more because, even though my SO earns a decent salary, I can't see how we will be able to afford it. I'm so used to just being able to go to the doctor / hospital and not worry about whether it's affordable or not.

I get so annoyed when SO refers to me as British! I may be half and half Kiwi / British but NZ was where I was brought up and that's my national identity. He's always telling people that I'm British and it drives me mad! That's my patriotism.

I'm sure that there are many great things about the US but there are also many not so great things - as it is in every country. I know that I won't love the US and I am going simply because that's the best option for us right now. One day we will have to move to NZ or Aus though and we have discussed that so we both know we're on the same page. We even discussed sending our kids (if we have any) to uni in NZ because that would probably be cheaper than uni in the US!

I'd go back... I'm already trying to convince my SO that we should go to NZ eventually anyway.

'My Content' and 'New Content' don't seem to be working this morning. Apparently I have no content and there's no new content

Hello this is Angelo. Megan wanted me to let everyone know that he was approved as of today. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Yay for Meggy and Angelo!

Good luck, Caspar - how heavy are all those pages?!

That was pretty much my experience, all well and good. The place in Carolina the guy was from has the same name as the place i'm going to in another state

Trying to book tickets at the moment, but would i be right in saying that i should try hard to make my POE my destination (other side of states) otherwise i'm likely to miss my connecting flight?

I wouldn't suggest going through Newark, Yuri and his colleagues have delayed flights / missed connections whenever they travel through there. If you read the POE reviews everyone seems to have different experiences at the POE. It may depend on the country you're from or simply on how much traffic goes through that airport. I've had to wait for 1.5 hours to get through immigration in Chicago but I've also only had to wait 20 minutes another time. You could always just make sure that you leave at least 2 hours between your flights.