Becky&Steven

lol... his green card came in the mail yesterday. the day after we got his NOA2 quickest 3 weeks ever!

NOA2 came in the mail today! approved, and his green card will be here within 3 weeks

his EAD came a week ago... the job hunt continues.

he thinks that my boss (who is a veterinarian) would be able to sign for it (I've been there for 13 years - they met him the first time he came to visit a few years ago).

so, steven's UK passport went through the was today. I've been looking into what he needs to do to get it replaced.

I'm looking on the http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/ site, and I'm confused. from what I understand, we need to fill out the lost or stolen passport notification... but I'm not clear on if he needs to fill out a C1 or a BNO-A.

it also says you have to have someone who has known you for 2 years and is a 'professional' as a countersign. I would have NO idea who could do this for him as he's only been here since march.

does anyone have any advice on this?

I mailed the AOS package may 11th. USPS site says it was delivered may 13th.

still no check cashed or NOA 1 as of june 8th. this is driving me nuts. just needed to vent

yeah, I read you have to wait 10 days. what I was trying to ask was is the SSN required for the marriage license? I've been looking all over the gov page looking for this info, and it only says a valid ID is required. do we have to go get his SSN first, or can we take care of that afterwards so I can change my last name and get his SSN at the same time.

on the K-1 visa, once steven is here, do we have to apply for his social security number first, or can we go get the marriage license first - asking because I'm going to be changing my last name, and it would be nice to streamline things into as few trips as possible. I would like to take care of my name change there while he applies for his SSN.

thanks!

the interview for us was booked one month exactly after the medical - and steven didn't even get his letter til about a week before the interview date! he only knew sooner because he kept calling to pester the embassy

early july NOA1 - steven just had his interview today, and he was approved!!! we're looking to have him come here early march!!!

interview went well! we're approved, and he'll have his visa in 2-3 days!!!

I have more guy friends that are sorry their parents got them cut than friends that are happy their parents cut them. there are entire websites dedicated to men trying to restore their foreskin by 'stretching'. it's sad. I'd rather my 'hypothetical' son make his own decisions when he's older and can have control over his own body. it's not my body and it's not my choice. same would go for ear piercings and any other body mods. personally, having had past relationships with cut vs uncut men - I'm VERY happy my fiancé is intact.

food for thought:

by cutting baby boys, are we releasing ourselves from teaching our children good hygiene?

why do we find it socially acceptable to mutilate a baby boy's genitalia, but not a baby girl's?

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for any of you that are adamantly for circumcising boys, you should go out there and research the foreskin (restoration, parents that wished they hadn't, etc)

if steven and I have kids, they will not be cut. I've found that it's just safer to not discuss the topic, because so many people are misinformed about the foreskin... you try to argue against circumcision, and you are met with hostility in most cases! I can't even wrap my brain around it, and I stopped trying a while ago.

medical was jan 18th, and interview will be feb 18th

virginia! (northern sector)

becky, usa & steven, uk

we still don't have our interview yet. it's been 2 weeks since he sent off all his paperwork including the letter of readiness. he called to make sure they got everything ok, and they had - but nothing since then.

it took us 2 months (due to holidays) for them to recognize us in the system at the embassy - and even then we never got packet 3. they just said, sorry - your letter must have gotten lost in the mail!

here is the link to everything you need for packet 3: http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html

if/when you finally get the letter, it only directs you to this page anyways.

just keep calling to find out if you're in the system, and get your packet 3 together in the meantime don't send it off til you know your in the system otherwise your paperwork may not be taken care of appropriately!

we made a cover letter for packet 3, just like we did with the I-129F petition.

Same here, along with several others! We get in arguments all the time on who is correct. I always say that the English may have made up the language, but Americans perfected it!

lol... we get into play arguments all the time about the same thing. aluminum vs aluminium comes up all the time. color vs colour. armor vs armour. favorite vs favourite. (those aren't all mispronunciations, but still!)

I tell him that his lot will throw a U into a word whenever they can

bin. trash can. bin. trash can. bin for the win! trash can! lmao.... he says 'what's that thing on your desktop you put your trash in?' *renames recycle bin to trash can* 'TRASH CAN!' *facepalm*

he says yog-gurt. I say yo-gurt.

he says tomahto. I say tomayto.

I just tell him I don't speak english. I speak american. hahahaha... that one drives him nuts

Since it is so difficult to plan a wedding, giving the uncertainty of dates, my fiance and I are going to have our civil marriage at the courthouse as soon as he can enter the US, and then our actualy "wedding wedding" in 2012, so we can plan for it properly, book the venue we want, and give everyone enough notice to attend!

that's what we plan on doing too. I won't be rushed into planning my wedding.

see my timeline for length of noa2 wait

haha... it's ok!

yeah, he had to call the embassy a few times before he was in the system so they would "release" the info needed to start the next bit of paperwork. apparently the holidays ate his packet 3.

he went and checked on his vaccine record, and he says it's all taken care of.

thank you again for all of your information! I'm passing all of this on to him

sundrop, AOS can also mean affidavit of support aka I-134

thank you for the revised version of my list, nich-nick. I will probably take some of the stuff out at your advisement, but my post was more directed twards anything I may have forgotten. I know I went overboard... I've always been of the mindset better safe than sorry - missing something will just delay him getting the visa. I do thank you, again, though... I will make sure I pass what you said along to steven, he would probably appreciate hearing some of what you said about the medical and whatnot

we're at the medical/interview step now, and I'm getting my stuff together to send to my fiancé for the AOS.

I'm doing the little freak out like I did with the initial petition. I know I'm probably in overkill of info, but I don't want to forget something that the embassy in london might want.

for my I-134 package I have:

I-134 signed

6 months pay stubs (and as luck would have it, the most recent one is the last of the year. nice summary)

3 years of tax transcripts

signed letter from work stating job status, salary, etc.

statement from bank for date opened, current balance, etc.

like I said, probably overkill... but I wanted no possible question about how much I make, and if I make the cut or not.

I've also included:

duplicate copy of the initial I-129F package

duplicate copy of the I-134 package (overkill... like I said)

updated letter of intent to marry

copies of the NOA1/NOA2/NVC letter

original documents from the I-129F

my fiancé is going to supply evidence of continued relationship with yahoo chat calls, etc because my computer had to be reformatted recently.

can anyone that has been through the london embassy think of anything else I would need to send him? I probably have it all, but I'll feel comfortable with a second or third opinion

someone was shot outside the hotel behind my house over facebook. I'm not even in a ghetto part of town person X didn't invite person Y to their party, so person Y shot person X outside the front of this hotel. idiots.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/d65375bb63bb4be1a0d50ea718353ad7/DC--Hotel_Shooting/

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Shooting-Victim--105626183.html

So is that letter any different from the actual NOA2? Does my fiance need to send a copy of such a letter to me for my interview, or just the NOA2 copy as it states in the guides?

sorry I missed this til now! it is a separate letter from your NOA2. it has your case number you'll need for the medical and embassy interview. I don't think you need to take an actual copy of it, but it probably wouldn't hurt. just having the number itself should suffice.