Christine + Blake

Hey there Sister

Seems like you've been pretty good from your posts. Did you see the thread with VSC filer's pushing for a move via Tweet? If not, please ask Dizzy!!! If you don't know how to Tweet TWITTER (Tweeker? lol what is the name!?), she can point you to her post that teaches you how (I had no clue).

Hope you have a very peaceful day today!

Mari

No, I hadn't heard about that! I tweet frequently already so I'd love to know the details! DIZZYYYYY fill a girl in!

Really need to keep my stress and negativity in check. I am doing all that I can, the rest is out of my hands. Everything will work out, one way or another.

now hurry up VSC!!

I love that idea Mari! I'll have to go through my recipes to see which to contribute!

Cici and Jay, omg congratulations!!!! Even though I am stuck at VSC it is still very uplifting to see a Decemberite approved! This is great news and now you will be a big help to us since you will be going through the next step now and can let us know how it goes.

I'm praying for all the rest of us that we ALL get our approvals sooner rather than later so that we can move on in this process as well.

Nikolacolada I know what you mean, sometimes I have to take a day or two (or 5!) away from the forum because I have such a hard time keeping my stress under control. When I saw the news that VSC is running slow, I couldn't face the forum or thoughts about this whole thing at all or else I'd have lost it, but then I remember all the great people we have here who are in the same situation and who are so supportive and fun and I just have to come back!

I'm thinking of all you Decemberites with fiancees in Japan, or those of you living in areas with flood warnings.

This whole 6 months for VSC petitioners thing is majorly stressing me out. It takes a long time to get your interview in Montreal (where I will be going for mine, thank goodness its so close to me) so I am very worried about being approved in time for our 11/11/11 wedding We have chosen our photographer, dj, and caterer (with contracts and deposits) now, which is very exciting if it weren't for my time worries. TRYING TO STAY POSITIVE though.

So glad we all have each other, personally I think we're the best month of filers

Everyday I pray over all of us on VJ (mostly for our sanity lol lol).

oh goodness that is exactly what I need Mari, keep it up!! hahah

happy belated birthday Loxxy!

I'm here in Atlanta with Blake doing wedding stuff and general happiness. We have already booked (and put a deposit down) on our dj, we just got our quote from the caterer (OUCH! I know thats what takes up most of your budget and I know we got a reeeeally good deal for this area and the food we're getting but it still stings to see that big number!) and will be booking them ASAP (also with a deposit). Tonight and monday we're meeting with prospective photographers.

Its all very exciting, but it also makes me that much more anxious waiting for my NOA2 since I need to get all this immigration craziness done in time! We're going to work on our next package while I'm here, so we can both get a copy of everything (mail is so slow, and priority mail is so expensive!)

PHEW!

Wendie, I have totally ignored that advice so far, haha. I'm going to Atlanta tonight (!!!!) for three weeks (!!!!) to do some wedding planning - we'll be putting deposits down on our dj, caterer, and photographer! oops. I know its risky, but we're really hoping for the best and relying on our own advance organization and the fact we gave ourselves some time past the estimated date.. It stresses me out and makes me nervous, but such is life!

Got my long form birth certificate in the mail this week, one more piece of the puzzle to add to my collection. I'm heading off to Atlanta this saturday to spend 3 whole weeks with my fiance in Atlanta, working on wedding planning and immigration forms. phew!

Next week I'm headed to Cali to see my family, my bridesmaids and venues! I'm so excited but also worried about the costs of a large wedding in California. Hope I come back with my dress ordered, bridesmaid dresses selected, and a reception venue in my budget! I'll keep you gals informed!

Good luck! In two weeks I'm heading to Atlanta for 3 weeks to see Blake and hopefully we'll get settled on our caterer, photographer, and hotel recommendations for the guests (and anything else I can manage! haha)

Whats everyone up to for Valentines day?

If your wedding isn't till November then I don't see why you wouldn't have your visa approved by then.

That's what I keep telling myself (since I am doing all the same things as you in regard to trying to be as prepared in advance as possible to speed things up) but I am terrible for worrying.

I was really freaking out the last few days about making the wedding date on time, but seeing other people here with concrete plans for around the same time as me is reassuring. I sent away for my long form birth certificate today, so it was also satisfying to be doing something.

Bec_Dipu: You're totally right - planning a wedding on top of immigration stress and moving (I'm even the one moving!) and everything is really overwhelming. I really wanted to have my wedding on the day I legally get married though, even though I know it doesn't really matter, and I've always really dreamed of a 'big' wedding (it'll be under 70 guests) so we're trying to make it all work. I feel like I'm in the minority though, a lot of people I know/speak to seem to be doing a courthouse marriage/very small wedding rather than the whole big thing.

EVERYONE: We're well on our way to being halfway there! (or at least those of us with early December NOA1 dates, and the rest of you are not far behind!) Chin up, everybody!

We were orignally planning for a mid august wedding but yeah.... plans have changed due to processing rates

So at the moment we are planning for a mid-september to late october wedding.

Think I still have a chance to get to USA by end of August to start college?

NOA was 30th of Dec 2011...

I don't know, I think it might be kinda close. (but I'm hoping for the both of us for our fall weddings)

We have actual solid wedding plans right now for 11-11-11. I'm praying I will be approved in time, because we don't really have a backup.

Do any of you have any plans to visit your fiance before NOA2? I have a few days to spend with mine in March. Anyone else?

I'll be visiting my Blake for the first three weeks of March, we have TONS of wedding things to get done! I think I must be insane to be trying to do both immigration and wedding planning at the same time

I'm in Canada and my fiance is the US and we filed on our own, just being sure to research and double check anything. We filed two months ago and have not heard anything from them about mistakes or RFEs so I think we did alright. I definitely think you can do it on your own.

Hey Christine - the "Last Updated" date is your "touch" date Check www.uscis.gov for your case status. Also - which Service Center was your petition routed to? Make sure you update your timeline!

I don't see any 'Last Updated' date at all - I guess this means I have not been touched yet?

I will do that, we were routed to Vermont!

Where on the case status page do you see when you were last "touched"?

I love having this group to talk to and relate to even more so than the other people on this board. I'm especially happy to see other 11-11-11 wedding dates, since it reassures me that I'm not totally crazy for planning a wedding before I have my visa in hand. Thanks for the encouragement everyone

Anyone have wedding dates set? We do!

We do! 11-11-11! Fingers crossed. When's yours?

Hope your all ready for the waiting game. The time will pass quickly enough just hang on there

Oh, the waiting game sucks - lest play Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Nevermind, I just found an answer early on in the post - ours has been sent to Vermont

Christine, it said something about it on the page where we check our case status, read it carefully because sometimes you can miss on things there. We instantly checked on the processing time for Vermont and it said 5 months at least Try and see if you can find something there ...

I just went to the uscis site and checked my case status (through the option to do that on the homepage) and it doesn't say anything about it being sent elsewhere. Does this mean it stayed at the texas service center for processing? It says it estimates 5 months for texas, but thats about what I was 'time budgeting' for (we have already set our wedding date).

We decided to go ahead and make wedding plans. We filed at the end of November 2010 and got our NOA1 on December 2 2010, and have put a deposit down on our venue for November 11, 2011, giving us 11 months for the visa process. We already changed our date once (from September to November) with no problem from our venue, but thats possibly because it was so far off. I am EXTREMELY stressed about not being approved in time so I probably wouldn't recommend this method to others

Hi dizzylox, I'd love to be added to the group timeline chart!

checking on our case status on the uscis website is freaking me out - it lists average processing time of I129-f as 12.9 months! D: We have our wedding booked for 11-11-11, so this is a HUGE problem! It lists the time for Texas (where we sent) as 5 months though.. The stress is killing me you guys!

bubbi, where did you see where yours has been routed to?

mattb05, we got our NOA1 on dec.02 and we can check the status of it online

I put my photos in envelopes (not sealed) rather than plastic bags.. could I get an RFE for that?

congratulations! Bit of an early Christmas present, eh!

My dad was born Harold Carl Gregg, but he has gone by Gregg his whole life. I wasn't thinking, and just wrote 'Gregg' as his first name on my form. Is this a big deal?

I already sent the form to my fiance in the US, he has it now. If I need to fix it, can he like white it out and fix it or will we need to print out a whole new form with it fixed on it?

thank you!