papillonlover

Ugggh! I just read it over again and see tons of typos!!!! lol I know I had written it late that night so please forgive my errors....lol

You're very welcome for the "replay" of our experience. We are happy to share it with everyone! There could always be something learned from each couple's story.

Thank you guys! We wish you the best, as well.....!!

Well, Marcel and I went for the interview early this morning. It was scheduled for 8:30. We ended up waking at 2:45 am to be on the road by 4:30. Thank God we did because traffic was backed up more towards center Philly. Anyways, we arrived at about 7:10 and went inside about 7:50. Before going in, though, you are greeted my a security officer who asks for both of our passports and the interview letter. Then he allows you in and you go through the usual security/metal detectors. Then we went to the 3rd floor, walked in and went up to the receptionist to give her our ORIGINAL letter from USCIS. At roughly 8:50 our names were called. The officer was a female and not overly friendly, but somewhat pleasant. She had us raise our right hands and swear that we would tell the truth.

I was VERY organized and had the copies for the officer all filed and marked accordingly in the order as they were given on the letter. In a separate manila envelope I had all original documents. With these I brought, of course, our photo album which I will comment on later. So this is a breakdown of exactly what the officer asked for and in the order as best my memory serves me.

1. She first asked for my driver's license and Marcel's state id which he doesn't have yet so I gave her his work permit and passport.

2. At the same time she asked for my passport.

3. I then brought out our marriage license.

4. We gave both of our original birth certificates.

5. While she was looking stuff over I did bring out our SS cards, but I am positive she didn't even look at them.

6. The officer then asked me to bring out any items to show proof of our relationship since Marcel being here.

7. With this I brought out the photo album, cards we received from friends when we married, cards between Marcel and I for holidays/birthdays, Valentine's day etc... at this time is when I brought out proof of a joint checking/savings (showed her a voided check, as well) and also letters from both our bank and landlord confirming our resident address. We brought these because all of our mail goes to a p.o. box so we felt they would want evidence of where we reside.

8. There was no other paperwork that she asked for i.e. medical, financial support etc...

Now onto the questions which there weren't many:

1. She asked each of us our full names.

2. Marcel was asked his date of birth.

3. He was then asked each of his parent's name.

4. She looked at the voided check and asked what we use it for. I stated, to pay bills. She asked what bills would that be. I answered accordingly.

5. She asked how much our rent is.

6. How long have I lived there?

7. She asked what our address is.

8. The officer noticed the visa was given in Cyprus so she questioned Marcel why there? He explained he was getting his Master's degree. She then asked how long her lived there, and noted his answer.

9. When she looked at our cards she asked why were the cards given? We said for various holidays i.e. birthdays, wedding etc...

10. She flipped through the album kind of quickly and stopped at maybe 3 or 4 and asked who the one guy was, then what was happening in the one (it was on St. Patty's day weekend at a parade.

After that she typed something in her computer and the entire time checked stuff off and made written notes. She stated that everything seemed to be in order and that nothing more was needed from us. Then she said we would be receiving a letter in the mail. We were then handed a piece of paper that was proof we were there, and that we were approved and no other information was going to be needed. I think it said about receiving a letter from them in the near future.

With this the officer looked through the files and took a bunch of the photocopies of only certain things and we were done. She let us go and wham bam it was less than half an hour for the actual interview.

***Now on a side note I wanted to just mention the photo album which I had asked the question a few days ago about having some printed from work on regular paper. Because I work for a greeting card company I was able to run the pics through a heat machine we use to foil with and it makes the toner shiny. I then glued them to card stock paper and cut them out by hand. I put them all nice and neat in an album which I had 50 pictures. for me it was enough to show our relationship is legitimate. The officer didn't once question the photos in regards to their quality or how they were printed. I in fact gave her simple photocopies of the pictures. I didn't give her Walmart prints. She didn't blink an eye at any of it.***

SO IN THE END THIS WAS OUR EXPERIENCE. WE HOPE IT HELPS THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GONE YET. MARCEL AND I ARE NOT SAYING OUR WAY WAS RIGHT, BUT WHAT WE DID WORKED FOR US. WE UNDERSTAND EACH OFFICER AND LOCATION MAY BE DIFFERENT SO PLEASE TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, ASK ANY QUESTIONS OF US AND GOOD LUCK ALONG YOUR JOURNEY!!!!!

HUGS TO YOU ALL!

MELISSA AND MARCEL

P.S. BE CONFIDENT AS WELL.......=)

We have over 800 photos. Sorry I am not printing 800 + out at Wallie's world. I work for a greeting card company and will have the others printed on nicer paper and already have an album started. These won't just be thrown together and tossed on the desk. I do understand the importance of these photos.

Thank you all for your opinions.

HUGS!!!!

Thank you!! We appreciate the support.....

There aren't dates on the pics. =( I think we will be okay with that though. I understand why it would help. We will just have to cross all of our toes and fingers....lol

Printed on paper is fine as long as you can see the photo - ie the paper is not so thin that all the ink runs. Good luck!

That is better. We may just print so many from Sam's and just print out some on regular paper. Awesome!! Thanks for your help.

Hi Guys!

I feel way out of touch with everyone. Hope all is well with you all!!!!

So, Marcel and I have our interview this Friday and I am wanting to find out if our pictures have to be originals? We have TONS and they are all online. I am ready to have some printed from Sam's Club, but wondered if I really could just print them off a copier at work? This would be on regular printing paper. If NOT how many pictures do you think we should bring along with us?

Thanks for the help!

Much love to you guys...

Melissa and Marcel

That's what we did personally. Some people haven't been able to get their doc to send it because the doc didn't keep a copy.

Good luck! Hopefully his doc kept a copy.

This is her exact response:

Dear Marcel,

Unfortunately that ı have no copy of your document. You should take copy before giving your results. So ask them, may be they can send youa copy, or if they accept, I can send you mail that you are in good health and all your vaccinations are completed.

Best wishes,

Dr.Sibel Siber

I don't understand because they should have a record there of the vaccinations given to him. All she'd have to do is fill it out and resend it via email.

Sorry to start a new topic....

Will they accept an emailed/pdf file copy of the medical exam and proof of vaccines? The doctor was in Cyprus so I am not sure if she will be willing to mail it to our p.o. box.....

Thanks so much for any help....

Melissa

A regular photocopy of your official marriage licence is all that is required. I personally have a "church" pretty copy, and a "legal" certified copy. The legal one is signed by a registrar and has a seal on it.

Regarding the medical, he doesn't need a new medical but he DOES need to have his immunisations checked. Do you have a copy of his immunisations? If his shots aren't up to date you should see a CS. If you're not sure you could get a blood titre from a regular doctor to check immunities and then take that record to the CS to do a "vaccination transcription". Bear in mind though that USCIS does sometimes lose the medicals and if you get an RFE for the medical you will probably need to undertake a whole new medical. Just keep that in mind and put some money aside just in case.

There's an AOS thread in my signature with info that should help you.

Marcel remembers the doctor writing stuff down and he did get a shot and blood work. That paperwork was in with the white envelope we gave to the officer at JFK. Marcel is going to get in touch with the doctor in Cyprus and see if she can resend written proof of his shots and blood work etc...

Hi guys,

It's been awhile since I last posted about Marcel and I. We just got married on Jan. 19th and will be sending out our package for AOS by the end of next week. Do we need a certified copy of the marriage license or can i get a really good scanned copy of it to send in? Have more of you guys been RFE'd by not sending in a certified of it? Also, Marcel had his medical exam done in Cyprus but can't find where they had given him anything back as proof. If he needs another exam one then that will stink and be costly I 'm sure.....grrrrrrrr....

Thanks for your help....

Melissa

The stamp is not supposed to be accepted for e verify. Even if he gets a job he would have to give it up when the I 94 expires. He doesn't have a green card the number should match his A number minus the A. Once you get married and file he should be able to work within a few months. It is always best to take the safe route with when you deal with immigration.

What do you mean by e verify? I don't know any of the forms you are talking about so this is confusing to me. Also are you saying the safe route would be to wait until we get married and apply for his AOS etc..?

hm, i was under the impression they didn't give those anymore, but from what i heard of it, it was just a 90 day permit. if you got your AOS in like tomorrow, and file the advanced parole and work allowance thing with it then maybe it would come back before the 90 days in which the first one expired? but otherwise he wouldn't be allowed to work as soon as the first one expired and until the 2nd one kicked in. and i believe that even with the 90 day one, he still needs a social security number?

not positive on any of this, just stuff i remember from searching old threads and asking questions.

lol My head hurts from this.....He was offered a small job yesterday just to get something to keep him busy btu I didn't know if he could apply for it with just the stamped authorization paper....

Hi Guys,

When Marcel and I arrived at JFK, the one thing they did was give him a small, stamped piece of paper and the guy said it was his WORK AUTHORIZATION STAMP so Marcel could work. He also copied down Marcel's green card number which he seemed surprised he had a number already.

I tried researching on here about it and I am confused whether this allows him to work or not? Thanks for your help on this...... :help:

GOD, does it feel INCREDIBLE to be home, and with my honey!I swear it is so surreal! We are loving it....I will write about going through JFK tomorrow at some point... :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

CONGRATS! I am happy for you guys! It really is a great feeling! :dance:

I wondered if anyone on here knows if you can take a last minute bus from Port Authority headed to Scranton, PA? I was looking online and maybe I'm seeing things wrong, but it seems like you need a reservation? You can't arrive at JFK..take the ground transportation to Port.Auth. and say hey I need two bus tickets to Scranton? :help:

We are leaving Cyprus early on Sunday morning! One flight to Istanbul (1hr15m) then we board the Delta flight to JFK at around 12:15pm Turkey time. Flight 73 to America! Marcel already knows the Pledge of Allegiance. lol He's too funny. Well if I don't get write again before I leave, you all take care and see you soon when we arrive in NEPA!!!!!!!!

Still crossing fingers for everyone else! Stay safe and keep your chins up! :thumbs:

JUST THOUGHT I'D POST THIS AS IT MAY HELP OTHERS! THIS WAS WRITTEN PRIVATELY TO ANOTHER MEMBER, BUT THOUGHT I'D SHARE WITH THE GROUP!

Well, first of all be sure you know which embassy you need to go to for your interview. There is the main one in the south and the "sister" one in the north. We had no clue there were TWO embassies. The problem for us was Marcel needed to pass through the two borders if he wanted to go the southern embassy. The first one he got through no problem. The Greek border FORGET it. They said he needed a visa. No exceptions. The confirmaion letter from the embassy about the interview didn't work. They don't care. NO VISA NO PASSING THROUGH! So be sure once again where you are needing to interview.

Finally, the day of the interview:

It was at 2pm in Northern Cyprus US Embassy. Now we weren't told to come earlier for this one scheduled, but the first one if we were able to get through the borders we had to be there an hour before so make sure you know what time they want you there if earlier. They already had all of his documents so I am thinking that is why they didn't need us to be there earlier.

In regards to the paperwork/documents be sure any of them with bar codes that show on the computer before you print them still shows up after you ACTUALLY print them out. Our DS-156(?) I think it was actually was all black where the bar code should have been. we had to go and reprint it and fill it out all over again. OH, I think it's the one with the passport pics that get attached to it. Anyways, they handed me a checklist and asked me to remove everything from my files that was on the list in the proper order. It was good that I had it all in the accordion files, as it was easy to find each document etc...Marcel and I were shocked that there things they never took from me. I.E. pay stubs, letter from employer, tax transcripts, letter from my bank or my Rynga logs. They took our Skype and emails though. They also, had me keep a bunch of other relationship related items. I.E. cards I wrote to him, notes he wrote to me expressing his love, boarding passes etc...things from when I first came back in April/May.

The consular was American and seemed friendly, and arrived right at 2pm for the interview. She asked him to step up to the window in which she was sitting behind. We expected that he had to go in a room. So, she went on to ask the following:

a. How did you meet your fiancée? Facebook. She added me as a friend.

b. What do you mean she added you as a friend? What does that mean, I'm not familiar with how you add someone as a friend. Marcel went on to explain I was a friend of a friend.

c. So I see you met when..last April? Yes of 2009.

d. So when did your fiancée come here? This April 2010.

e. How long did she stay for? 1 month

f. Where were your pictures taken? Mostly in Harbour. (she wasn't familiar with the area where he mentioned)She went on to ask if that was near where he lived. He said yes in Girne.

g. So what do your parents do back in Nigeria? He explained his father owns his own business. What kind of business? He sells supplies to pharmaceutical companies. Where does he get his supplies from? Lagos, Nigeria.

I really think that was it with the questions. If I remember anymore I will let you know. Then she fingerprinted him and the computers broke down so he had to come back the next day and it took 3 days to get the visa which we picked up today.

With his visa he was given a sealed envelope that needs to be given to the immigration officer at JFK.

Hope this helps and ask me anything that you can think of along the way. if I can help I will gladly do that....

So happy for u guys, all the best.Mine is coming on tomorrow so I need ur prayers as well.

That is GREAT! We wish you well and can't wait to see APPROVED in your next update!!!! :dance:

You are so awesome. No one's man is better than yours!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This made me smile!!!! Thank you...I do have to say he is pretty awesome!!!!...Marcel is gonna get a kick out of this too1 YOU MADE MY DAY! Thanks!!!!

On a side note...Marcel just got a call from the embassy to come to the Embassy TODAY for his fingerprinting so maybe just maybe the visa will be here afterall on Friday!!!!! PLEASE GOD let that be the case.......

Thanks so much guys! In the end we were still lucky to have had this done in the 5 month projection. I know others have not been so lucky. We wish everyone a speedy journey and bring your loved ones home, as well. We will stay in touch because I know there is more to this once we land back in the States.

Marcel would like to personally thank everyone for their continued support along the way. BIG HUGS to you all!!!!!

Well a little over 2 hours ago Marcel was approved for his visa. The only thing is we have to go back for his fingerprinting because the computer went down. He should hopefully have it by Fri. We are praying like mad that he comes home with me on Sunday!!!!! Now we are going out to CELEBRATED!!!!

Doing the HAPPY dance right now!!!!!!!! =)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! I pray for a blessed life together.....hugs to you...

THANKS GUYS! Now I just received an email from my boss and she needs to talk to HR and her boss about me taking more time off! UUUGGHHH!!!! I can't re-book yet until I hear back!!!!! I have vacation time I need to use before Jan. 1st and 4 sick days so I have the time coming to me so let's pray they are sympathetic.....