yourcdnangel

Joe and I are going to NJ to pick up the Marriage license this Friday and we're hopefully getting married over the American Thanksgiving weekend, as my parents will be down at his parents place for the long weekend.

Hearing that from a 5yr old?! Oh my!

Well, Joe is just a few minutes from the border and should be here just after 11pm est. A final weekend with friends and family before we leave for our POE on Sunday morning. Thank goodness the longest wait is behind us. *shoves good wishes towards Paul and Van*

Ok, DHL DID call...this morning. It has arrived at the Brampton location and my Mum is picking it up at lunch. If I recall, we are NOT to open the package until it is handed to a US Border agent at our POE. Am I at least able to open the DHL package to take my passport out? What are the restrictions? I know I read them somewhere, but now I cannot find them.

Disregard my DHL matter above. I did some snooping around and found a link that tells you where to find the waybill information once the Consulate has processed your Visa/Passport.

http://csc.public.s3.amazonaws.com/waybill_instructions_en.pdf

For those who are interested.

This is what a recent CR1 filer posted in the Canada forum regarding her experince with dhl. Good luck!

"No reciept or tracking number, dhl will call you within a few days and you cant track it through the site you signed up through using your passport number etc."

It will be a week tomorrow that I was at the Consulate. I have not received a phone call from DHL with regards to my package. I called them and they told me to call the Consulate to obtain a tracking number.

Glad your POE went smooth Les. Sorry it was bittersweet and emotional

So maybe in all the hype I didn't ask for a DHL tracking number. So would I just call the DHL office I registered to and ask if they've received anything yet?

OMG...ok, well....today was disasterous. The only GOOD thing that came out of today, is that I passed my interview and by next weekend I will POE and forever be with the love of my life.

My day:

1am left Mississauga for Montreal

7:15am arrived in Montreal after our gps got us lost 3 times due to closed exits on the highway

9:15am went inside, passed through security, took a number and waited

10am met at the window, spoke to the dood, then gave me the slip to take to the cashier

PANIC MODE?!?!!? Cashier??? Ya, I didn't read my interview packet properly and figured since we already paid the $455 at the beginning that I had already paid the "Fee". NOPE!!! And so I was completely and utterly unprepared to pay an additional $350USD. I told the dood I'd be right back and went back to the car where my step-dad was waiting and just bawled. I didn't have the money, my parents didn't have the money until Friday and we'd just driven 6hrs on little sleep for nearly nothing. I called Joe and Joe called his parents to see if they could help. Which gratefully they did. They wired the money to me and I made the 3pm cut off just in time.

11:30 went back to the dood and told him I was having money wired to me. So he interviewed me which lasted all of like 10mins and it was mostly a convo about Drum and Bugle Corps (which is how we met), then had finger prints done and boom, approved.

3pm Went back to the dood and showed that I paid. We talked for a few mins, he wished me luck and I went outside and smoked like a fiend while I called my in-laws, Joe and my Mum.

So ya...that was my day. 20hrs on the road, traumatic ordeals and all, it's done. THANK GOODNESS!!!

Hey guys....a quick question...

It is to my understanding that I will have to fill out a number of forms for packet 3?, one of them being form DS-230 Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration. Question #7 asks for my nationality. If you are dual, you indiacte that you are. I have dual citizenship with the United Kingdom (my Father is British, and I was born in Canada), but have never put this down on any previous forms that I have sent to USCIS (except on a Biographical form regarding my parents place of birth). I currently hold a Canadian passport. It just makes me nervous to be adding more information about myself on these forms. What would happen if I just said I was Canadian and didn't mention the UK citizenship? And why do they need this info anyway?

No word yet on Montreal recieving our paperwork, but should hear something by mid November I'm guessing, just want all this over with all ready!!! lol

LeslienScott....you must be bouncing off the walls!!!!! YAY for you! I can't wait to feel that same excitement of finally moving! Good luck!

I have the same heritage. And since I was born in Canada, I put Canadian. Despite my Father being born in Scotland.

lol welcome to army life right? gotta love it! lol.

seriously though....all the best for the interview

ugh tell me about it! thankfully, his "tour" days are over. so the stress about that isn't an issue. it's the delicate nature of his current assignment that stresses me out. but, Joe's got big enough shoulders to carry that weight, he's a tough guy. I just worry about him, ya know?

well, 1 week before I drive to Montreal with my Dad (my roadtrip buddy). I sometimes get into panic mode where I think about the interview and then my teeth start chattering and my knees feel weak. But after I take a few deep breaths it seems to fade. So I'll just take a lot of deep breaths between now and then

They finally just issued my visa on Fri. Oct 8th. Still haven't gotten it in my hand yet. 16 more days until POE!

That's great news! Woot!

Well it's been confirmed, I am going to Montreal solo. Unfortunately Joe is unable to take leave during that time. If I get my visa in hand by the 29th, he will be able to swing up and get me and bring me down in a weekend before work starts on Monday. Thanks to the US Army, things have been far too stressful during this last month for us. Hopefully by months end we can relax and enjoy some time together.

question. once the green card is approved and received, are you then allowed to go back into your country of origin to visit family?

well that's silly. approved is approved is approved where i'm from. and to be quite honest, i'm not a big fan of the people overseeing our entire process. first it was Paul and Van, now it's Les. this is super frustrating and it's not even happening to me!

STRESS!!!

what is AP?

geeze Les, that's stupid. i mean, if the broad that answered the phone the first time didn't know ####### she was talking about, she shouldn't have said anything. why say stupid things to others when it's likely not the case. i mean you were told by the consulate that you were approved. so ####### is taking so long. i hope i don't have to wait that long for mine afterwards. i'm hoping to poe the day after you. i've been back in toronto long enough and i'm reaaaaaaallly beginning to regret coming back. love my parents but omg, i haven't lived with them since i was 18 and at 32....it's NOT ideal.

ps. medical went fine except my doctor forgot to include the print out of my rubella teeter test. so i'm waiting on my doc to fax that over to Seidens office.

Joe & I aren't until the 26th.

So, after 7 long months. USCIS misplacing our case under a pile, then daring to ask for an RFE for something they already had, getting our conresswoman involved, them playing with our case daily for the past week and a half or so, we are finally........

APPROVED!!!!

Now to the next long steps of packet 3 when she gets it, and all the fun land of Montreal and that waiting game!

At least we are moving on finally though!

Joe sent me a text letting me know..

about bloody time is all i've got ta say. welcome to the unamazing race to wrap up the first leg of our tours. :dance:

Fantastic news Les! That's awesome. Care to send me a pm with some of the questions. Pretty sure I know things off the top of my head. But hey, never hurts to be prepared ya!

The congresswoman's office is the one who sent the RFE back to them and told them they were basically stupid.

They asked for a legal document that was already present there and signed by a judge, county clerk, and had the county embossed seal on it as well. So they had it, yet they didn't want to accept it with all of that on it... So the congresswoman's office sent them a letter, another copy, and said "hey look, you have this. it's legal. it's right. here's a phone number to call if you question it. stop being morons."

We were pissed to get the RFE for it to begin with as they had the document..... so yeah... more wait, wait, wait, as you know how they don't like to tell you anything about what they are thinking....

that's make me mad, and it's not even my issue. i can't believe that #######. ugh!

Yup...... 7 months and counting here now as of tomorrow.

It's in "RFE Review" which is flat out stupid when they had everything they needed to begin with and we never ever should have gotten an RFE...... what do you expect from morons who work for the feds though?

They have "touched" it the past 4 days in a row... We don't know what the hell is going on over there. It's damn annoying and frustrating as hell and then on top of that we'll have to deal with Montreal once it finally gets passed on? Ugh. Big freakin' nightmare this has become.

wow...this is really getting out of had. and NVC hasn't said peep to you guys? what about congressman? are you guys completely in the dark? what was the RFE for? or have you not even gotten the paperwork back from that yet? this just sounds retarded to me. i'd be livid!

heyas. no no it's Paul and Vanessa that are still waiting on the NOA bs.

Joe and I are waiting for the US Army to wrap up some matters before he is able to PCS to New York. in the meantime, i've got my medical coming up on the 5th and my interview on the 26th. we're hoping that Joe is able to make it to the interview but we're preparing for a solo trip if need be. but that's still 5wks away and who knows, maybe the Army will get off their butts and finish w/e it is that they're doing. GRR! other then that, i'm just vegging at my parents place, walkin' the dog, visiting friends & family, packing up things i had shipped to my parents place, signing over everything to my mum as power of attorney and then away i go.

*waits anxiously for Leslie to return home or pop in and let us all know how she's doin'*

and UK....wow....beautiful bride and groom. he had a very handsome jacket and i absolutely adore your gown. very lovely. best wishes to the both of you

Are bosses there that mean?

not just in the US, but Canada too. i mean, if you've already had time off, or have an otherwise scheduled vacation slot. they can't just say, yup, take whatever day off. because that affects the others in your office as well.

however, in MOST instances, an employer would give you an afternoon off to be present at a wedding of an immediate family member.

HOUSE IS SOLD!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for all the house selling dancing! It really really helped!

fantastic news Les!! so excited for you. guess you will be poe'ing at the end of oct like you'd wanted. i'll be buggin' ya after you're back from your interview for questions! >.<

as for me, well...with all the stuff Joe is dealing with in the Army right now, looks like i have to go to my interview alone. but we won't really know until time gets closer. but as of right now, that's the case. i may even have to poe alone silly Army!

the stories about Veka are great. i love reading the updates from everyone!

update: we booked for Oct 26th @ 9:30 and hope that w/e the situation is at his Battalion, it's wrapped up in the next week or so, giving him ample time to prepare for his leave.

so yay! interview date! but with all the stress and bs we're coping with, it sorta took the fizzle out of being excited.

so blah.

Why?????

because there is a situation going on in his Battalion that is time sensitive. and so until we have an idea of when it's wrapped up, we can't set the appt date.

see, he received orders to pcs to New York and he is given 30 days of pcs leave to find housing and get his ####### to New York from Maryland. so we were hoping to coordinate our interview during his pcs leave, so that he could come up to Mississauga and take us both out to Montreal together. instead of me having to take a train and find my own way around in a French province on one of the more important days of our life. not to mention, i get minor anxiety attacks when faced with a panel or interview type setting and i'd rather be at ease instead of super nervous.

so if everything works out the way i had it all nicely planned in my head, we'll be able to drive up to the interview, wait for DHL to drop off my visa & passport, load up most of my stuff and then poe. that way we can go back to Maryland, close up shop and move to New York.