Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	I Hate Liars	Well, unfortunately you cant believe everything you hear. Most people in the middle of this process have no clue what they are doing. Thank goodness for VJ and the wonderful advice we get here!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-03-03 13:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	since i am being forced to wait longer...	Im a photographer...so I would go for loooooooong walks with my camera, I also took some online schooling. And of course worked myself to a standstill. I went from being so busy, that when I finally got my visa and moved here, I almost went crazy waiting for my GC and SS!!! The trick really is to stay as busy as you can. And spend lots of time with family, dont forget, once you get your visa, you probably wont see them for a long while again.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-03-22 18:25:00
Middle East and North Africa	Problems calling Morocco today?	Probably just a large call volume, given the situation in Egypt and a lot of other northern african countries. Can he text or email his family ok?	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-01-29 19:33:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 Final Interview	Good luck!! And congrats on the soon to be new baby	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-02-12 19:11:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 Final Interview	Yeah, you have 6 months to use the visa, and if the IO is really nice, sometimes they will push it back further for you (up to 3 months I think). Either way, 1.5 years is waaay longer than they will let you use it. Did you guys use DCF?	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-02-11 19:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	what happens if missing dcument at interview??	It means you are approved pending the documents they asked for. As soon as you get those docs and your passport to them, you will get your visa. Congrats, only a little ways to go now.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-02-28 22:04:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 to IR1 upon Entry into USA	Yes, if they stamped it as an IR-1 visa, then everything else that follows will be based on that (IE, 10yr GC). It took a little while for mine to arrive. I got here in April, and I got my welcome letter and greencard about 60 days later	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-11-22 17:19:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Applying for Visitor Visa while I130 is pending?	When I was waiting for our CR-1 approval, I called the consulate near me and asked if there was a chance that I would get a visitors visa, and I was pretty much flat out told NO.. However, there are people who have received a visitors visa. I think the best way to go about it is to demonstrate your knowledge on where you are in the process (have your NOA in hand at the consulate) and she would have to choose her wording carefully such as "My hubby has filed a CR-1 for me and we have just received our second notice of action and I would like to visit him, as we have not seen eachother in X amount of months, I intend to leave on this day and return on that day, as I have to return to my school". She will have to show that she still maintains ties to her country.. lease agreement, employment, schooling. It will be a hard fight, and it CAN be done... however, it is highly unlikely that they will issue her one. It would most likely be much easier for you to visit her.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2011-02-13 18:23:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	BAD INTERVIEW!!! UGG	so I contacted the POE in St. Louis, figuring THEY would know what the procedure was. Well they told me not to worry, that if her father is american then we can go to the courthouse is St Louis and get a US passport for her. Who is they? American border patrol at St. Louis.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-02-10 12:55:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	BAD INTERVIEW!!! UGG	WOW, three year! The end is almost in sight--even though it may be 2 months away Yeah, we've had endless issues, getting my south african police clearance took almost 9 months!!! Anyway, Im just annoyed because I wanted to go bounding away from my interview yelling random happy things at people. Its just more cost and time now... but at least we were conditionally approved	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-02-10 01:45:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	BAD INTERVIEW!!! UGG	So this is more informational to anyone else going to their interviews... My hubby is the US citizen, and due to the way things worked out, I ended up having our baby in Canada. I figured it would add extra paperwork, so I contacted the POE in St. Louis, figuring THEY would know what the procedure was. Well they told me not to worry, that if her father is american then we can go to the courthouse is St Louis and get a US passport for her. In the mean time she can travel with me on her Canadian passport. Well, I just had my visa interview on Monday, and they wont issue my visa to me until I go to the Vancouver consulate and get her consular report of birth abroad. SO FRUSTRATING, because I was sure I had everything prepared and we would be on our way in 2 weeks. Now because of the Olympics in vancouver, this is adding an extra 2 months onto this process. So just so everyone knows, if your baby is born in canada and your spouse is american.. GET THE CRBA BEFORE YOUR INTERVIEW!!! Im so upset, really thought this was coming to an end after 3 years of jumping through hoops.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-02-10 01:35:00
Canada	FINALLY Visa in hand!!!	Where in the states are you moving to slider?	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-08 21:55:00
Canada	FINALLY Visa in hand!!!	Lol.. when they get to it they get to it. Ive decided red wine is a decent substitute for now....	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-08 21:44:00
Canada	FINALLY Visa in hand!!!	Good stuff!!! Now that yours is out of the office they can move onto mine!!! Congrats and hope you have a smooth POE!!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-08 20:54:00
Canada	Zed or Zee	I was born and raised in South Africa, we say Zed there too, so when I came to Canada I was super happy that they said "Zed" here too. Then I visited my then fiance (now hubby) in the states and was like "#######??" what the heck is ZEEE? Still takes me a while to get used to it, that and HERB.... my hubby (USC) says ERB!! Drives me bonkers..	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-09 23:06:00
Canada	4 years later....Time flies by, indeed!	Thats a wonderful little memory lane Ant!! Lol... we both started our "processes" at around the same time.. you are a citizen and I dont have a visa yet.. ARG! Oh well. Your post made me feel like it CAN BE DONE Continue to enjoy your new life!! (Any more little bambino's in the future???)	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-09 10:01:00
Canada	Approved	YAY!! Another one conquers the consulate!! Congrats and Enjoy the feeling!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-09 23:08:00
Canada	Immunization Question	All the shots are to be as up-to-date as possible, you can't get a TD booster early, there are reasons for that, also why its called a booster. He should just take all his vaccination proof with him to the medical and at the medical they will determin whats to be done, if he needs extra shots etc. They give them at the office if you are missing anything. See if you can get some sort of proof from the doctors office that he had one last october.. that should be sufficient.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 00:59:00
Canada	Need some re-assurance.	If its on his Tax transcripts from the IRS, you should be ok.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 11:40:00
Canada	This has got to be the hardest part!	Thanks everyone. And a special thank you for those that privately sent me some of the more personal questions we might be asked. It's great to have them in mind, and to discuss the answers. The next 18 days I will still worry myself sick, I am sure, but it does sound like it's pretty hopeful we'll be approved. We all worry ourselves sick.. its normal!! I just watched my last marble roll out the door! Good luck with the interview, and try to be confident. You guys have everything but the visa	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 16:37:00
Canada	This has got to be the hardest part!	Haha, I want to get out of here RIGHT NOW, but unfortunately, I have to wait for my semester to be over with! It sucks but I will be pretty soon...Hey, I wish that the consulate folks work on your case next week so that you can move to "podunk" lol I mean BOONVILLE haha... Coralie, I will be so happy the day you cross into the States! I mean it!!! KnR aka slider100 Lol.. Im sure you will hear me whooping for joy in all the way over there in Texas!!! Im probably gonna be knocking on the pilots cockpit door asking "are we there yet???". Well, I hope time flies for you Slider!! And to the OP.. sorry I hijacked your thread... Edited by coraliesolms, 10 April 2010 - 12:55 AM.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 00:55:00
Canada	This has got to be the hardest part!	WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING NORTH OF THE 49th SLIDER???? When my visa gets here, Im walking out of the post office and catching a cab to the nearest airport!!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 00:41:00
Canada	This has got to be the hardest part!	You have a co-sponsor with all the previous tax info.... ok there So, you are 11 years older, happens all the time in NA...ok there Proving relationship, youre fiance does not come from a country where visa fraud is a concern... ok there.. Check check and check. As long as he answers confidently, looks the consul in the eye.. you should be 100% ok Breath easy, your soon to be hubby will most likely be there soon!!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-09 23:02:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	You will have to mail it in, as your transcripts will have an embossed seal on them. But the ACS unit in consulates are pretty good with turning their mail around quickly. Not anything like MTL's IV unit. Glad you can get them though, once you send it in you will get the CRBA in about 10 business days.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 19:19:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	AAAWWWW!!! I miss that newborn phase.... Take it easy....CRBA's are actually pretty easy, sounds to me like you have lots of evidence, and if you dont have enough, its not a huge panic, they give you something like 90 days to get them any extra info you need to supply.. Get some zeee's and have a safe trip!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-07 00:37:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	Which consulte are you going through? I did mine in Vancouver, I emailed them and made sure my documents are correct, someone even called me to go through it with me before I went!! And even if you have a pending, when you get back to where u can get your W-2's you can just mail them in overnight. Then email them to let them know you have mailed it, and theyll start working on it. Thats what I did (turns out vital statistics put a wrong date on my daughters long form bc), and it MAYBE cost me 4/5 days on getting it back. Go to the interview. It not like the immigration offices where they are soooo far behind.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-06 10:57:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	They really do prefer school transcripts.. is there any way you can contact your high school board and get copies sent to you? I got my hubbies K-12 in a week. One look at that and the consular officer was like "well, thats 5 years taken care of for sure!"	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-05 11:39:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	Just to suppliment your info, I was there on the 1st of march... got the CRBA a week later and passports one week after that!! Glad it went well for you!!!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-03 19:11:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	Oh,I misread, if they HAVE proof of american citizenship then thats ok I suppose (there is no better proof than a passport). I was told by DOS that I could take my daughter across on her canadian passport and apply for her US one in the states, so I never did her CRBA.. big mistake. But if you have proof of your childrens US citizenship to take with you to ur visa appt, then you will be ok. The big thing is taking hard proof with you that your children are US citizens, and dont always rely on what the dum dums at the DOS tell you. Even they dont always know the law. Edited by coraliesolms, 29 March 2010 - 12:00 AM.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-03-28 23:55:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	My sons father is american. I was told by someone at the state department to apply for their american passports. The same requirements that are needed for the CRBA are the same. I was told the same thing by the DoS... however, here I sit waiting for my visa because this isnt the case... at my interview I was told that they would not issue my visa until my daughter had a CRBA... that was 2 months and many tears ago.. PLEASE...get the CRBA	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-03-28 20:21:00
Canada	Register of birth abroad suggestions	We were going to file the birth abroad, and then found out you actually dont have to. You can just apply for you childs U.S passport. Thats all we did, it was really easy, we didn't have to go anywhere but the post office to drop off the application with all the required copies of documents. My son and I still live in Canada in the process of CR-1. Amy83.. I was under the SAME assumption, in fact thats what I was TOLD by US border patrol, I went for my interview, and WHAMMO got told they would not issue my visa to me until I got our daughters CRBA. PLEASE DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!! They are getting very strict about it now, and its cost me almost 2 extra months. Get the CRBA. As for vancouver consulate, they are SUPER NICE as long as you have all the required documentation: *Long form birth certificate = not good enough!! You need the "live registration of birth", this you can get overnighted to you from vital statistics. *Proof of 5 years physical presence in the US (school transcripts etc, you dont have to finish school to get the transcripts, just get the transcripts from the time the US parent was in school). *Proof of US parents citizenship (passport etc) I just did all of this in vancouver on the first March, any questions and I will be happy to answer them all .	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-03-28 19:47:00
Canada	Strained Marriage	It is very encouraging to know that we aren't the only ones who have felt this way. I am lucky to have you guys here on VJ. I feel much more positive about things today.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-11 16:10:00
Canada	Strained Marriage	DARNELL!!! You described it to a TEE!! I really have become an immigration zombie, and it shows. Too much time on the couch moping. And its left us with nothing else to talk about!! ( And yes, I am guilty of the "you dont love me because if you did you woulda filed those papers yesterday instead of today....). Thank you all so much, this is what I wanted when I started this topic. Now I know im not "crazy" and my marriage isnt really that far on the rocks. Just need a bit of "back to basics". Starting with right now... I think Ill take my 3 yr old for a nice walk!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-11 10:12:00
Canada	Strained Marriage	Thank you so much Kathryn!! Thats exactly what it is for us. I think he just doesnt really know how to deal with my hurt, because he is so far away that he feels useless. I just hope this ends soon. Thank you very much for that though Kathryn, Im glad Im not the only one who lets it creep into my head that all of these difficulties are a "sign".	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-11 00:45:00
Canada	Strained Marriage	Since we found out we were in AP, things between my hubby and I have been awkward. Its like its the big elephant in the room and we cant ignore it, but neither of us want to talk about it. The stress has just created too much tension, and Im worried that after 3 and a half years of dealing with this, that its just going to be too much. Has anyone else dealt with this sort of awkwardness? Its like we cant even talk anymore.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-10 17:51:00
Canada	help im such a wreck so nervous	oh my nerves are wrecked already yup 36 hour bus ride im praying hard thank you Yeah, I'd definately be more nervous for that!!! You are a brave soul smurf, good luck girlie!!! Keep us posted	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-11 23:24:00
Canada	help im such a wreck so nervous	The IRS faxed my hubby his transcripts same day. Get yours to call them, you might be able to get a handle on that before your interview....But what you have should be ok, your interview is close enough to tax cut-off that they will probably be happy with what you have. And do try to relax a little. I know its easier said than done, but you will just drive yourself completely bonkers if you let yourself run around in circles. Edited by coraliesolms, 11 April 2010 - 10:11 PM.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-11 22:10:00
Canada	Driving in USA	Some states require that you re-do the drivers exam (bummer, I know). You will really have to ask the DMV in your state. Some states want the SSN card, and others will take the GC stamped in your passport. Its really state specific.	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-11 19:21:00
Canada	Need prayers	Oh good!! At least its all fixed! Ill still keep you guys in my thoughts though... send our hopes for a speedy recovery for him!!	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-08 23:17:00
Canada	Need prayers	Another phone call. They did a test where they "numb" the heart, and apparently he still had pain. So now they're suspecting "possible" indigestion, but they will continue to do other tests. He's staying in the hospital overnight, and his son will call and keep me updated. I must say I'm more relaxed now, but of course still very worried. I mean, this could have been much more serious than it is. I hate to think of the kind of phone call I COULD have had earlier. Just too unthinkable........sighhhhh. Thanks again to everyone for their support. That seems to be good news!! Sending all my happy thoughts your way..	coraliesolms	Female	South Africa	2010-04-08 00:00:00