mandolinv

I am so glad for you. I hope things continue to go smoothly for you.

My understanding is that if they give you a form that you need to bring back information, and then you bring back information at that time (what they want in full), then everything should be fine. But, this is Sub- Saharan Africa, so who knows. I don't have any specific experance with the Ghana embassy (We went through Nigeria), but from reading, it is similar in the way it "bends" the rules. So, get together whatever they asked for and go back at the assigned time/date. I think they have it in the afternoon because they figure they are only looking at one thing, and not doing the whole interview. As for affidavids of support, I think they take the income of the sponsor and you and count everyone (you, husband, sponsor, and all dependents) as the number to decide if it is enough. I am not positive on this, but I believe it is that way. I hope everything goes smoothly for you when you go back.

Prices will likely be more expensive in January then in Feb. because more people will be traveling (for many it is still the vacation season) so don't be surprised if the tickets for Feb. are much cheeper than Jan. When I was pricing my tickets some years ago, I was looking around in Oct. (I didn't know when I would go so I priced for that time of year). The price was 1000 cheeper than I ended up paying in December (returning in Jan). So price definately depends on time of year. HOpe that helps.

Someone on here had a relative pick up the packet. but, that may have been in Nigeria. It has been a while back, so I don't remember the details. They will send it to the address he put, but that can take a while. congrats on the approval. Good luck.

congradulations! that is so wonderful and quick.

Yep, that is what we did. We waited about a week or 10 days from the time they said it had been sent. Something like that. It did take him all day long and a lot of standing in line. And, I think they gave him a hard time. But but be patient and percistant and they should give the interview time. Good luck.

Okay, I'll leave it as you meant it. It sounded as if you were saying he wasn't being a man because he was worring. Maybe God up would have been a better term.

Congrats!. I am so happy for you.

I'm sorry, am I the only one who takes offense to the "man up" statement. Anyway, I understand what you are going through right now. My mother-in-law was hit by a hit and run driver about 2 months ago and just got out of the hospital a week ago. It has been quite difficult for my husband. Of course, he doesn't want me to know he is worried, but I know it is constantly on his mind. The hospital bills have been outrageous and there is no way they can pay for it there, so we are paying for it from here. I love his family and want to help, but it has been a struggle. Since his mom has been home, he has been better. She still has to go to the hospital every day for treatment, but it is better to have her home then to have her having to stay at the hospital. Just let him know that you are also thinking of his family and thinking of him and how he is handling it. If it is part of your life/relationship, let him know that God has a plan and things will work out the way that they are supposed to. Hope that helps a little. I know how hard it is. Goodluck.

You could run off chat logs. That would show the extent of your talking. Letters of support from each of your families or between each of you and your families may also help. Proof of meeting is a must (ticket, etc). Make sure you have plenty of proof of income (for K-1 in nigeria they are hard on you in this area) including 2005 w-2s/taxes. You can never say if it is enough or not. That is what they have to decide at the consulate. That is what I can think of off the top of my head. Keep thinking until the interview and if you think of more add it. If not, as long as you show an ongoing relationship, you should be okay.

Well, we thought we'd share a couple of happy updates with our lovely vj family. We got an e-mail yesterday dated 7/6 that the welcome letter was on it's way. We're assuming that means the green card was mailed out the same day. This is really great becuse we plan to travel in just under 2 weeks and hope to cross the boarder into Canada and won't be able to do that without his greencard (they took his I94 at the interview and told us not to travel out of country until we get the green card because he might not be able to get back in). Our other exciting news is that we are pregnant. We both want kids so bad, but planned to wait 6 months at least so we could live together alone and get to know each other in our space better. Well, we waited just about that (well, 5 month isn't bad). The due date is March 1. We are just so thrilled and excited and overjoyed and wanted to share with everyone.

So happy for you!

Yes, in general, Lagos is very tough. There is a lot of fraud that goes on through thier embassy. So, it can be very tough on those who are legit. I don't say that to scare you, but to prepare you. Basically, keep and organize anything you can think of that shows proof of your relationship and take it with you. Be plesant and honest at the interview. If you can't remember something, say so. But, be confident in what you do know. Be there early 6 or before. Eat and drink because you probably won't be able to get much during the day. Talk you your fience and support each other around that day (the waiting and wondering is hard on both of you). If it is what you believe in, pray and be confident that your higher power has the right plan for you. Celebrate each other and soon you will be back in each other's arms. Feel free to PM me if there is anything more you want to know or if there is a way I can help you. Good luck.

Congrats! Glad things went smoothly.

Valentine, I just wanted to clarify because you seem a bit confused. From my understanding, Sweetee was saying that she had heard that you lied and are in fact NOT a preacher and that your fience thought you were and that that might be one of the problems. She wasn't condeming you for being a preacher, but for not being truthful. At least that is what I read from it.

I may be wrong, but I don't remember seeing anyone on VJ going through Gambia.

Congrats!

I too hope that things work out with you and your fience. Like everyone has said, communication (open and honest) is the only thing that will make things work. If you or she, or both, decide that you do not want to marry within the time set forth by the government, there is nothing you can do to stay here. The purpose of the k-1 is not to get you here (it ultimately does that, but it is not the purpose). The purpose is to give you and your fience time to be together and get married. If that does not happen, it becomes invalid. The government set it up this way because they feel that if you are not marrying your fience you no longer have a right or need to be here. Now, lots of people disagree as to whether this is a "right" or "wrong" thing for our government to have done (I personally see arguments to both sides). But, at any rate, it is the way the law is. So, if you can not work things out, you will not have a legal way to stay here. I do urge you to work on things with your fience if you feel you two can truely be happy. But, please, please, don't simply try to work things out in hopes of staying. I have seen many marriages (of all cultures) fail and be very painful for all those involved simply because the couple tries to stay together for some reason (immigration, kids, $, family pressure). Ultimately if that is the reason you try to stay together, it will not work. So, decide if she really makes you happy and fulfills you and talk to her and see if you do that for her. If so, than work through your differences with communication and understanding that a strong relationship takes hard, painful, and wonderful work. If not, then understand what the purpose of the k-1 visa was and return home and hope for a relationship that better fits you in the future.

Congrats!

Malcon got his card in less than a week. I think it partially depends on where you live in connection with your local office. Congrats!

I don't know what all is correct or not, but what the officer said was that 3 months before our 2 year wedding anniversary we could file to lift conditions. We got married 12/28/04 so that would be 9/28/06 ( in just 3 months). We hadn't been married for 2 years at the time of your AOS so we got the 2 year conditional. I don't know if she is correct in what she said or not, but that is what she said. Thanks everyone for your well wishes.

That's wonderful. Congrats.

Yeah, I am looking forward to a break, but you know what, I don't think there will be much of a break. She said that you can apply 3 months before your 2 year anniversary. That is in just 3 months that we can apply so It will be almost like no break at all. I just can't wait until the 10 year when we will be free from keeping everything and worrying about how we do everything. Being free of the government will be nice (well, we'll never be free, but we can pretend at least).

We had our AOS interview formy husbands 2 year provisional green card yesterday. I think it went very well. It was in Kansas City, MO. We didn't know how long the drive would take, so we were almost an hour early. We were ready for a long wait. We went to the same place for the EAD and waited for a few hours before we were helped. So, we got there around 9:40 (we were suppoed to be there around 10:40- can't remember if it was 10:30 or 10:45). We went in and put our letter in the box and sat down to wait. In only about 30 minutes we were called in. The officer had us swear that we were going to tell the truth. She went through our paperwork and had us affirm that everything we had written when we had applied was true (step by step- exapmle "is your first name ____? Middle name _____? Last name _______? street address _____? street name _______? ). It seemed kind of rediculous to me, but it was simple. Then she explained that she was taking the I 94. I asked if she wanted to see our wedding pictues. She said yes and asked for any support we had (we had shared bank account, letters of support from family, shared insurance, benificiary stuff). She said that was fine. She said that leagally she had 90 days to give us her answer. I told her we were planning on traveling at the end of July to a boarder town had hoped to go into Canada, but that we shouldn't without the green card. She agreed, but thought we would have the green card by then. So, all went very well.We were out of ther by 10:30 (before we were actually ever supposed to be there). So, now we wait for the card in the mail. It was much less "scary" than I thought (although she did seem to try to stay detached and official). Just thought I'd share with everyone. Hope it helps.

I just thought I'd share with our VJ family that we had his green card interview yesterday. It seemed to go just fine. I'll post details in the AOS section, but wanted to let everyone know that it went smoothly and we expect the card soon.