SupportGeek

China and India have a large number of people yet the majority of people are dirt poor. This they will pay into the government does not hold water. Heck, most third world countries have extremely large populations. Whereas, most offering the highest standards of living - higher than the US - have a much smaller population.

Regardless of the quality of life or poverty argument, the fact stands that the majority of revenue for the government comes from wealthy people. Whereas, not only do the millions living in poverty pay little to nothing in taxes, they cost the country money - lots of money actually.

While I do feel its important that one parent should be a USC for the newborn to be counted as a Citizen, arent you making a leap to assume the child will grow up to become an adult living in poverty? Its just as (or more) likely they will be an average taxpaying citizen.

What dealing with ships, the escort is usually a warship/warships escorting the cargo vessels. That is the terminology used. The 70 is the number of relief workers on board the ships.

My apologies, I got stuck on stupid thinking that 70 was the number of marines, it is indeed the aid workers.

We do not know the number of marines.

However, there are only 3 ships, 2 aid ships, and a hospital ship to follow, no mention of warships.

In a provocative move the Iranian Red Crescent was this weekend due to send two vessels packed with food and medical aid and 70 relief workers.

A third ship, carrying an operating theatre, could follow.

For a start the cargo ships would be sailing under the auspices of the Red Crescent. Even the Iranians would not be so disrespectful as to put armed troops aboard a Red Crescent vessel. To do so would be to void the protected status of the Red Crescent and to render it an armed military vessel under the flag it flies, i.e. Iran.

Yes, yes they would be that disrespectful....

(this line also shows that they consider the marines the military escort)

President Ahmadinejad raised the spectre of a sea battle as he warned the ships would be carrying an escort of "volunteer marines" ready to "teach Israelis a lesson".

I find it annoying when watching the games, but more importantly, Im not in the stadium, the players are and its really affecting them, constant LOUD droning on and on unceasing...relentless. If nothing else, ban them for the players sake, at least i can maybe get used to it over time on TV, but to be on site listening to this droning at the same levels as a damn jetplane? Gimme a break.

*sigh* (((Krikit))), So sorry to hear about your Aunt, I hope they caught it early that it stays encapsulated where it is and its put behind your family quickly and safely. I lost my uncle to cancer some years back, and my father just in December, so Im well aware of the kinds of stress and angst it causes everyone close to the person with it. I will keep you and yours in my thoughts.

Yep, I had to! We have a week booked at a beach in South Carolina with all the family, and were planning on doing it then. Well, that's not gonna happen now! We'll go to the beach anyways, but no wedding yet!

I'm sure I'm not the only one though...

By the way, craziest thing... I was checking flights two days ago, and they were around 830$... Went online today to book one, and they were down to 430$! How lucky can you get! HA!

Yup, 2 days ago would have been Sunday, a bad time to look for Tix, the very best times to look are Tues-Thurs, prices are lower. Of course that doesnt take sales into consideration either

but don't freak out

Did...Did that just happen??!

Vero told someone not to freak out?

(in case its not painfully obvious, Im just playfully teasing you Vero )

I agree that lack of exercise is a problem that contributes to obesity, but diet is far and away the largest factor.

Currently the food guides are indicating to get most of your daily food intake from breads and grains, its what we've been taught for decades. A majority of breads and similar product in markets are of the processed, simple carbohydrate variety, they get broken down into sugars super quickly, eating one slice of white bread these days is about the same as sucking back 1/4 cup of sugar.

Obesity can be combatted by laying off the prepackaged foods as much, and cooking your own meals out of fresh ingredients, just overall dropping the sodium, and dropping simple carbs and sugar in your diet then keeping proper portions should allow you to maintain or lose weight with no more exercise than breathing.

Ive also been reading that just saying LDL is "bad" is a simplification.

LDL can actually be broken up into 2 groups "Large Buoyant" which is also actually good for you, and "small dense" which is the stuff you DONT want at all. so when getting cholesterol checked, its best to know which of these in the LDL is actually high, because if its not the small dense type, you are still ok.

A nutritionist told me once "You want to lose weight and get healthier with one simple rule of thumb? Dont eat white foods"

I don't understand why you need to prove ties to Canada. Aren't you Canadian citizen? If you are, crossing the border should be easy. I crossed the border many times (between BC and Washington) while this immigration process is pending. I even crossed together with my husband and we told the officer we have an immigration process pending and he still let me pass. As long as you don't have many luggages with you that makes them suspicious you won't come back, they should let you cross. Just tell them you go for a trip.

Because the rule of thumb for the CBP officers is that they MUST assume that someone that wants to cross is not going to return unless they can prove otherwise to that officers satisfaction, and there is no hard and fast rule as to what is enough proof from officer to officer.

Her citizenship doesnt matter one whit, and the fact that shes undergoing a process to get a visa SHOULD help settle their minds, but for some it doesnt, it makes them more suspicious that you may not return. So would having a husband in the US while your place of residence is not in the US, to most officers this sets off alarm bells that this person has a strong reason to stay in the US and NOT return.

Making sure she has ties to Canada, to show she has reasons to return beyond "I was born there" will help the decision that she can cross if she is questioned or if there are doubts.

Many of us have gone through to visit our loved ones with pretty well no questions asked, many of us have been questioned heavily...some of us have been pulled into secondary because we didnt convince the first officer of our intent, and a few of us have been turned back and not allowed to cross at all.

Its best to go prepared, especially when you are planning a nice holiday.

You should probably cite some credible sources.

Otherwise this is just the usual unsubstantiated FUD aimed at the current administration and nothing to get worked up over.

####### VJ...making me doublepost!

LOL Sam! Congrats on best-crossing-ever!

I forgot to mention here that I also received my EAD! Got it on Saturday. HURRAY!

Congrats ashen! I think forgetting to mention can be overlooked by the fact that you were so elated that the man got a job

You deserve all this good news thats rolling in, thats for sure!

Hi everyone....

I had a few questions and hoped someone could give me some insight.

1st, not sure what all the codes are that people are using.....what are all the packages?

We sent our 129-F in, on Dec.7th they received it.

In May, we received notice that our visa was approved.

June 2nd, we receive a letter saying that our stuff was sent to Montreal and we should wait. It also said that I (the one moving to the States), would be receiving a packet with instructions.

As of today, we still have not received anything....when I called the Montreal consulate, it said there's a wait of 5-7 months.....is that really how long it will take to receive my interview???

Can anyone explain what my next steps will be??? Thank you....this is taking so long and it is so confusing!

Hi! Welcome to VJ!

To help with the confusion, there are some guides here, just click on the K-1 links, particularly the timeline

Also a Link to the FAQ's

Read through them and they will help a lot.

Which codes were you wondering about?

Packages are usually letters that gets sent to the petitioner or the sponsored applicant from the various government agencies involved.

If Im getting my terminology right, it sounds like you have the packet 2 already, which is the notification that its been transferred from NVC to the Montreal consulate. I think Packet 1 was notification that Homeland security is done with it and sent to NVC.

So you are coming up to the packet 3, which goes to the foreign fiancee, it will detail a bunch of forms to download, fill out and send in right away, as well as other things they will need for their interview in Montreal, this will NOT contain an interview date at this time.

After Montreal receives the documents sent in from the packet 3, and reviews them, they will then schedule an interview, and send a packet 4, which will again go to the foreign fiancee, it will detail the date of the interview, as well as things that they will need to bring with them for the interview day.

Start to finish right now, a K-1 is taking around 8-9 months through Montreal, If you look at my timeline, it was about 6-7 weeks from when we got the NOA2 (Packet 2), till I received a packet 3, then my interview date was set a little over 3.5 months from when I sent back the forms from the packet 3. I gathered the rest of the things I needed in the meantime, and scheduled my medical exam all before getting my packet 4. It helped keep me busy some.

Its a long wait, but don't lose faith, you are doing it the right way. Do whatever you can to take the edge off, keep busy, talk lots on the phone, on skype or visit if you can.

Its worth the wait to be with the ones we love

Gratz!

No... well I went to the police station in Trois-Rivières and asked them if this is were I get one done. They told me it was for the whole country, and on the letter it does say in Canada...

I'll ask if it can be done in English, but this is Québec, and with our laws, I doubt they can do it!

Canada is a bilingual country with English and French languages....Unless you are in Quebec

I doubt that will give you peace of mind since you seem hell-bent on making up problems.

Haha, I thought the same sorta, but mostly because of the anxiously calling DoS every day thing from the other thread.

I cant even imagine the amount of Stress you are putting on yourself by calling daily VeroandChris

You're right, it mentions aid workers. But my interpretation of the article was also that the Iranians aren't sending warships but rather are garrisoning the aid ships with a quantity of "volunteer marines" to resist boarders. This is indeed a much more sinister (and probably more savvy) move than simply sending escort warships. Ahmadinijad knows that if he sends warships the Israelis will sink the warships and bomb Iranian military objects to oblivion. It would be far too simple and easy. Iran wants to escalate the conflict while trying to convince some fools in the international community that it isn't.

This is exactly how Im reading it too.

There is no mention of warships in the article, just a "military escort" which would be the 70 marines.

At least this time there would be no question about what actions will be taken by those on the ships should Israel come aboard.

If Iranian warships cross Israel's blockade line, Iran may as well declare war and be done with it.

Maybe Im misreading that, but its even more sinister, its not warships, its likely merchant vessels, but with 70 marines on board ready to repel boarders.

Pretty well the actions of a typical terrorist, provoke a response, then hide amongst the civilians.

This is not a peaceful move and is intended solely to heighten tensions. As Iran is widely held to be the major supplier of arms to Hamas, I doubt the Israelis will allow this flotilla to reach Gaza.

This is not what the region needs, when concerted international pressure is needed to drive the region toward what peace is possible.

Agreed, no matter what is being sent, its going to heighten tensions at LEAST, if not provide the thinnest of reasons for Iran to out and out declare war after Israel stops and or sinks the vessels.

But you live here instead of the promised land. Australia would be a sitting duck for a Chinese invasion, basically defenseless. Who's going to bail your sorry a$es out, Norway? Sweden, or one of the countries with the happiest people? You come from an insignificant player on the world stage. A weak US is bad for the entire world.

Are you serious? China invading Australia? Why? Do they have some overwhelming need for Kangaroos and Fosters?

China is unlikely to invade anyone with a very slight possible exception of Taiwan.

If China did invade Taiwan, a US military twice the strength still wouldn't make a difference to the outcome, it would be over before you blinked.

While I agree the military is the best place to make the cuts (Its the single largest place the spending goes), Im not certain what it looks like is proposed are the best choices.

Why would you want to intimidate you? You're fearful already. You can't imagine an Iran with nuclear power technology let alone with nuclear weapon. Out of your fear, you are hoping Israel bombs Iran pre-emptively. I'm curious do you guys care about the Iranian people at all? Or do you care about human beings at all? You are a people from who I don't expect sympathy for anyone. Most everyone I encountered on off-topic are heartless animals masquerading as human beings, with strange fetish for war, inhumanity, injustice, bloodletting, holding grudges. Basically warmongering savages.

Now that I'm done insulting you idiots deservingly, read this http://en.wikipedia...._Iran_Air_Force Iran doesn't have the most capable air force or military in the world but it can still put up a decent fight. Bombing Iran won't be as easy as bombing Palestine, Lebanon, and/or Iraq.

Also, Saudi Arabia is already denying that they will allow Israel to use their airspace.

http://www.haaretz.c...strike-1.295672

Im worried about any country with a radical/extremist leadership having either nuclear power or nuclear weaponry, obviously Israel is worried about Iran specifically because they have made overt statements that they want to cause Israel to cease to exist.

Why should we care about the Iranian people when their own governments actions seem to indicate that THEY dont even care about their people, continuing on the quest for nuclear power and weapons is certainly not taking their people out of danger now is it?

It definitely wouldnt be easy to bomb Iran, but I seriously doubt they could stop a determined Israel.

As a general rule, Bank accounts and filing are mutually exclusive.

If you were to earn income in Canada, then you need to file taxes.

So unless as stated above, you were to earn enough interest from the Canadian account to matter as "income", you wouldnt need to worry about it

Thanks SupportGeek, I thought so, but as always, your reassurance is very welcome! By the way, I was looking at your timeline, did you receive your visa in the mail yet?

When are you POEing?

Yes, it actually took them almost the full 2 weeks after the interview to send it, I dont think May 24 and Memorial day holidays helped that any since the consular folks get both Canadian and US holidays off.

Im planning to POE June 30, my fiancee will be here on the 24th, we are going to finish cleaning and final packing of my place, load my stuff at Upack, dump whatever I cant take due to space requirements then if everything is clean, head out to drive to Santa Maria, CA. Im thinking on making my POE at Sarnia/BlueWater Bridge, no idea if its a good/bad place to POE or not yet though.

Mummm, that's weird because I've actually read quite the opposite from some people on here. Being turned around at the border as a 'visitor' supposedly has no outcome on 'immigrant visas'

Thanks for the input anyways

This is correct.

AP in Canada is extremely rare.

Good Morning!

So is there anyone that knows which department (DOS or NVC) could confirm to me that we are allowed to travel to the US while waiting for a K-1 visa? I want to know just in case I get drilled bad and then I can say: 'well a lady at ... told me I could!'

Thanks and have a good weekend everyone!

You can look here for some answers, the links at the bottom will help.

It really is up to the CBP officer if he allows you to cross in the end or not, if you have valid ties etc.

Unless asked, you dont even need to tell them you have a visa application in process, keep answers short, and honest, never give any more information than they ask for, giving your "lifes story" is one of the triggers to raise suspicion, and can result in you being sent back. Its how I did it while in process, and no problems at all.

My husband finally got a job!! My husband finally got a job!! My husband finally got a job!! My husband finally got a job!!

lol sorry... but OMG!!! My husband finally got a job!!!!!! :star: :star:

Woot Woot! yay!