PurpleSky

OMG!!!! I'm dancing around like crazy over here. I just checked my status online w/o logging in...well actually going down the different numbers and when I got to mine (ending in 7) it said "On January 31, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)." At first I didn't even realize that it was MY number...then I logged in and sure enough the last update was today. I clicked through again and saw those same words!!! No text or email (yet). OMG!!! I just said to FH last night, if we get approved tomorrow, we can plan out everything with no worries, because he wants to get married on our first anniversary (March 5). I am soooooo amped right now. Happy that we can finally move to the next step.

OMG!!!! I'm dancing around like crazy over here. I just checked my status online w/o logging in...well actually going down the different numbers and when I got to mine (ending in 7) it said "On January 31, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)." At first I didn't even realize that it was MY number...then I logged in and sure enough the last update was today. I clicked through again and saw those same words!!! No text or email (yet). OMG!!! I just said to FH last night, if we get approved tomorrow, we can plan out everything with no worries, because he wants to get married on our first anniversary (March 5). I am soooooo amped right now. Happy that we can finally move to the next step.

OMG!!!! I'm dancing around like crazy over here. I just checked my status online w/o logging in...well actually going down the different numbers and when I got to mine (ending in 7) it said "On January 31, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)." At first I didn't even realize that it was MY number...then I logged in and sure enough the last update was today. I clicked through again and saw those same words!!! No text or email (yet). OMG!!! I just said to FH last night, if we get approved tomorrow, we can plan out everything with no worries, because he wants to get married on our first anniversary (March 5). I am soooooo amped right now. Happy that we can finally move to the next step.

AI, your last response did nothing but prove my point of having choice. YOU are making choices that you subsequently have to live with. That's the bottom line.
There is waiting in everything we do and should YOU decide to continue with the US immigration process I can guarantee this won't be the last time where "waiting" presents itself.
I won't continue to go back and forth with you as I CHOOSE to do something more constructive and rewarding with my time... continue to prepare (for the life I will have with my fiancé) as I WAIT.

Funny thing about the "quote feature", when quoting someone it usually means you are commenting on exactly what the person has said, not on imaginary words. Nowhere in my post did I say VSC was a choice. I said we chose to engage in this [b]process[/b]. We ALL individually made the choice to have our loved ones here with us. So that means we take the good with the bad.
As far as the Microsoft comment, I'll just pretend that you have not heard of a Mac. (Again with the choices, see how that works)?

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

Funny thing about the "quote feature", when quoting someone it usually means you are commenting on exactly what the person has said, not on imaginary words. Nowhere in my post did I say VSC was a choice. I said we chose to engage in this [b]process[/b]. We ALL individually made the choice to have our loved ones here with us. So that means we take the good with the bad.
As far as the Microsoft comment, I'll just pretend that you have not heard of a Mac. (Again with the choices, see how that works)?

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

I don't expect popularity points here but we ALL made a choice and that choice was to engage in this process. As adults we have been exposed to "the system" more than once so this whole thing should not be a surprise. It's the way of this country we live in. Accept it or be miserable for the rest of your life.
What good is it to CONSTANTLY complain about how VSC is ruining your lives? It's healthy to vent every now and then but when it becomes the ONLY thing you do, bitterness begins to sour you. You are no longer the person your fiancé(e) fell in love with once that happens. Why give someone or something that kind of power over you? It is a choice YOU make. Shoot, for every other choice that's taken away from me in this process, I'd much rather grab hold of what I can control myself.
No I am not the least bit happy that I have been waiting over 5 months but in the grand scheme of things this is but a minuscule amount of time. For THAT I rejoice.

Whenever someone isn't in control of something, it breeds feelings of hopelessness and even a little fear. I have not seen my fiance since May 13 and I miss him more than anything. He can not come and visit me (it's pretty impossible for him to get a visitor's visa) and I can't afford to go and see him regularly (each trip is at least $3000). I miss him terribly. (Oh I said that already ) But when we started this process, we knew that it would be an uphill battle from start to finish, plus the cultural differences once he does get here. We made the decision to trust that God knows what He's doing in our lives and that things would progress at the rate/time they are supposed to.
Am I upset that it's taking this long just to get the petition approved? Of course!
Do I get frustrated with people continuously asking me when he's coming? Absolutely!
However I choose to look at the bright side of things for one, this wait has strengthened our relationship and commitment to each other. This wait has given me the opportunity to exercise patience. Why is that important for me? Well simply because I was a pretty impatient person as I was used to getting everything I wanted even as an adult (hey I'm the only girl...what can I say ). I heard it said that when you ask God for something (like patience) He doesn't just give it to you, He presents you with opportunities to exercise it...and boy can I tell ya...I'm patient-ly fit! This wait has also allowed us the time to get things together in terms of things we'll need for the interview. For instance, I'll be at my job that much longer. I'll be able to file my taxes in a couple weeks which will show more income than last year's return. I now have life insurance at a pretty good amount. He has time to get another passport, travel home to Nigeria to say goodbye to his family there that he hadn't seen in the 4 years he's lived in The Gambia He's taking on more responsibility in preparation of getting here and taking care of my son and I along with any children we have together. I mean the list goes on.
Yes, I feel I'm long overdue for my NOA2 but in the meantime I'm excited that when my fiance gets here, things will be set up for him, especially since he won't be able to work right away. I'm excited that I've started buying clothes for him and hanging them up in our closet. I'm excited that I have him all set to be enrolled in school so he can earn a GED and go on to college which is one of his dreams. I'm excited that I get to plan a big wedding ceremony WITH him (after we have our "within 90days" ceremony). I'm excited that this wait has made me see how much we've grown individually AND as a couple. I'm not saying everything is rosy and peachy keen, but I personally, would rather spend my time on something that I have control over rather than lament on things I don't. I understand this is not everyone else's POV or prerogative, but it is much more constructive for ME to do things this way. As my honey always says "God is in control" and I have to admit, He (God) has not failed me yet!

Whenever someone isn't in control of something, it breeds feelings of hopelessness and even a little fear. I have not seen my fiance since May 13 and I miss him more than anything. He can not come and visit me (it's pretty impossible for him to get a visitor's visa) and I can't afford to go and see him regularly (each trip is at least $3000). I miss him terribly. (Oh I said that already ) But when we started this process, we knew that it would be an uphill battle from start to finish, plus the cultural differences once he does get here. We made the decision to trust that God knows what He's doing in our lives and that things would progress at the rate/time they are supposed to.
Am I upset that it's taking this long just to get the petition approved? Of course!
Do I get frustrated with people continuously asking me when he's coming? Absolutely!
However I choose to look at the bright side of things for one, this wait has strengthened our relationship and commitment to each other. This wait has given me the opportunity to exercise patience. Why is that important for me? Well simply because I was a pretty impatient person as I was used to getting everything I wanted even as an adult (hey I'm the only girl...what can I say ). I heard it said that when you ask God for something (like patience) He doesn't just give it to you, He presents you with opportunities to exercise it...and boy can I tell ya...I'm patient-ly fit! This wait has also allowed us the time to get things together in terms of things we'll need for the interview. For instance, I'll be at my job that much longer. I'll be able to file my taxes in a couple weeks which will show more income than last year's return. I now have life insurance at a pretty good amount. He has time to get another passport, travel home to Nigeria to say goodbye to his family there that he hadn't seen in the 4 years he's lived in The Gambia He's taking on more responsibility in preparation of getting here and taking care of my son and I along with any children we have together. I mean the list goes on.
Yes, I feel I'm long overdue for my NOA2 but in the meantime I'm excited that when my fiance gets here, things will be set up for him, especially since he won't be able to work right away. I'm excited that I've started buying clothes for him and hanging them up in our closet. I'm excited that I have him all set to be enrolled in school so he can earn a GED and go on to college which is one of his dreams. I'm excited that I get to plan a big wedding ceremony WITH him (after we have our "within 90days" ceremony). I'm excited that this wait has made me see how much we've grown individually AND as a couple. I'm not saying everything is rosy and peachy keen, but I personally, would rather spend my time on something that I have control over rather than lament on things I don't. I understand this is not everyone else's POV or prerogative, but it is much more constructive for ME to do things this way. As my honey always says "God is in control" and I have to admit, He (God) has not failed me yet!

Amyydukk, I'm sorry this is happening to you. It can't be easy. As usual, Nik & Heather's advice is perfect. As she has said, don't do anything hasty.
My next comments aren't just for you, but for anyone else reading your thread.
I remember all too clearly those days of being apart from my spouse. Those thousands of miles; those time zone differences; those lonely nights. I remember processing for the visa and the heady excitement of every step. Long distance international relationships coupled with the "challenge" of "government interference" is truly the stuff of romance.
I've been in this marriage many years now. It's the best thing that ever happened to me. I always hope it's that way for everyone on these boards. So many times I've read the expression I once used myself - "if we can make it through this, we can make it through anything". The truth of the matter however, is something entirely different. It's not those long lonely nights and international uniqueness of these relationships that destines them to last. Quite simply, what makes these marriages work is the same thing that makes any "domestic" relationship work. It's the quality of character of the people involved and their devotion to each other.
I hope and pray for each of you here at Vj, that your relationships are true, long lasting and fulfilling. I hope you as individual couples are looking at what is the same about each other, and not captivated by what is different. I hope there is no ocean too broad that you would not cross to be together. I hope there is never a clash too broad to separate you once you are united.
And I hope there is healing, for those with the courage to put behind them a lovely memory of a love not known to many.

From my understanding you won't be able to get a state id until you're "lawfully" a state resident which again from my understanding is once you adjust status and receive your conditional green card. Why are you trying to get it now? Your passport should be enough to prove identity for the time being. Maybe we can help you a bit better if the reason you feel you need it right now is known.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your baby. I know the God we serve has already won this victory for you. It's just the battle that makes us weary but you can and WILL pull through. You will emerge even stronger and even wiser. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord! It's wonderful that He vindicates just for us! Even in your storm praise Him anyhow...and watch the reward.