ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
CanadaNOA2 Expiration date?
I sent Vancouver an e-mail two weeks ago asking about that. No response. May try again.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-02 18:30:00
CanadaThings to do to make my Canadian feel at home.
Aside from jokes about maple syrup, Canadian flags, and Tim Horton's... maybe a cell-phone with a good long distance plan to Canada so when he gets homesick he can call easily?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-30 11:47:00
CanadaHow will I know which consulate?
The CR-1 is only processed through Montréal. (Alberta K-1s go through Vancouver, but not spousal visas.)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-06 17:44:00
CanadaHealth Insurance?
There are plenty of married graduate students. They skimp and save, but they make it. You'll be fine.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-22 23:26:00
CanadaHealth Insurance?

What's this about student loans suddenly charging tons more interest? This concerns me, as C. has some student loans left and likely will when he moves down here. Where'd you find out about the interest hit?

Grad student HMOs are like others. The university usually covers the student completely but the spouse has to buy in at the unsubsidize rate.


Right now my Canadian Integrated Student Loan has a lovely 'current' interest rate of 8%. It's whatever is the 'going rate', according to all the documents I've been dealing with. Hence, being bent over a barrel to the tune of 1.5k every six months. I'm covered by Interest Relief at the moment, but that will stop when I leave Canada.

It should be in his documents from the National Student Loans Centre. Is he covered by interest relief right now?

And thank you for the info, kitkat; we will look into 'emergency only' medical care, hopefully that will be more manageable for us.


I'll have to ask him if the interest is still subsidized; I thought not, but I only know U.S.student loan mechanics.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-22 09:56:00
CanadaHealth Insurance?
What's this about student loans suddenly charging tons more interest? This concerns me, as C. has some student loans left and likely will when he moves down here. Where'd you find out about the interest hit?

Grad student HMOs are like others. The university usually covers the student completely but the spouse has to buy in at the unsubsidize rate.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-21 23:49:00
CanadaBest/Most in Canada and USA...
The type of car totally depends on the area. Spruce Grove, Alberta? Land of gigantic pick-up trucks, probably because you'll be needed presently to pull your neighbor out of the ditch. Connecticut? C. wonders where all the trucks are when he visits. It's the land of Honda variants.

He wants to get a truck; I told him only if I can get a Mini Cooper and then I could park it in the back of the truck.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-27 22:07:00
CanadaExpiring NOA2
Got through on ext. 235. They answered on the first or second ring, and were very friendly, and put me through to ext. 234, where I left a message. About an hour later, I received an e-mail that said that the consular officer will extend the I-129F at the interview. So we're good.

Thanks for the info!
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-09 21:57:00
CanadaExpiring NOA2
Awesome, thank you. Will try that as soon as my roommate gets off the phone. :)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-09 17:17:00
CanadaExpiring NOA2
My NOA2 expires Monday. His interview is Wednesday.

I've sent a two e-mails (Jan. 16 & Feb. 6) to Vancouver and I have not heard back from them.

Anyone know how to get a live person on the phone at the Consulate? I called once and was in Incredibly Slowly Read Option Menu Hell, and they directed me to e-mail, but it's been three weeks.

I'm sure they've probably automatically extended the NOA2, but I need to confirm that.

Any help? Thanks!
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-09 00:48:00
CanadaCustoms pre-clearance in Toronto?
I think you're just asking questions for the fun of it and to steady your nerves. :)

Canada-U.S. flights have U.S. customs & immigration on the Canada end of the trip, presumably to lessen the workload given how many Canadians and Americans travel back and forth. So then, for the purposes of immigration, at least, the flight from Toronto to Indianapolis will be just like a normal domestic flight.

Tons of PoE experiences listed.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-11 08:32:00
CanadaFor the USCs
C. bought me a book for Christmas full of Canadian phrases and sayings. The best part of the book is its poor-richard's-almanac feel; numerous digressions, histories of words, histories of Agincourt in Canada and by the way here's some stories about Agincourt in France.

How to be Canadian: get food coloring. Dye your money.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-11 23:06:00
CanadaThat "Word" EVERYONE Thinks we all Say! ARGH!!!!!!!
The first time I met my roommate, I noticed her accent and asked if she was from Minnesota. Nope, Toronto. To me, at least, it seems to be an Eastern thing.

The first time I met C.'s family, they were very curious as to whether I thought they all lived in igloos, because they thought that's what Americans thought of them. :lol:
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-13 08:57:00
CanadaVancouver Waiting Room...

caladan

they said our case got sent from NVC on the 23rd of October. the date on my paperwork from the embassy says Oct.31. oh and in case anyone runs into this, i guess Van needs a signed copy of the OF-167 Attachment, they send it with your paperwork and i haven't been able to find it online (if anyone knows where i could find it that would be great) . needs to be signed by the sponser and attached to the I34.



Jeanette



No help for you, but thanks for the info! Mine was sent from NVC on the 18th, so I guess it should be getting here soon.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-11-08 21:32:00
CanadaVancouver Waiting Room...

i'm in :)

just got my packet 3 and getting ready to send it all in. good luck to everyone waiting.


Jeanette



When did your case get shipped from NVC? We're awaiting packet 3.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-11-08 07:23:00
CanadaK-1 Visa - not in time for wedding
From your timeline: of they're predicting your interview for March, you should have the visa by May. Another possibility: can you get your petition transferred to Vancouver?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-14 16:46:00
CanadaValentine's Day Interview
Thanks to everyone for all of their help! I have a cabernet calling meeeeeeeee....
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-14 17:54:00
CanadaValentine's Day Interview
Just got a text message: "Love you. all is good. heading to airport."
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-14 17:26:00
CanadaValentine's Day Interview
Thanks! This is the state of my brain: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh."
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-14 08:16:00
CanadaValentine's Day Interview
Oh, we just have the interview date. I just was kind of tickled it was Valentine's Day.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-11 00:50:00
CanadaValentine's Day Interview
Kinda ironic, no? 2/14/07.

My NOA2 expires 2/12/07. Need to get that extended (they probably do automatically, but will request anyway.)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-01-11 00:38:00
CanadaAirport POE Question
I've flown through Edmonton three or four times now (through Ottawa twice, and Toronto once), and never had a problem. Usually I travel to Edmonton two or three times year. (BUT NO MORE HUZZAH VISA.)

Just do what you always do: bring proof of ties to the U.S., answer honestly, and you should be in good shape. You're planning relatively short visits, too, over breaks, so you don't look like someone planning to immigrate.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-18 18:21:00
CanadaMontreal interview date!!!!
Awesome!!
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-15 19:21:00
CanadaCuba Dreams
Oh, how funny. C. and I were just talking about this, as his brother and his fiancée recently returned from a trip to Cuba and were telling him enthusiastically that he should take me on a trip there.

"She can't go there. She's American."
"Why?"
"Because they're still stubborn over the 60s."
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-18 22:29:00
CanadaWhat is the X-ray for?
So no need to get another X-ray done because he folded this one for AoS?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-14 22:33:00
CanadaWhat is the X-ray for?
So, while I love my darling C., who took the x-ray with him on the plane to Vancouver, and received the K-1, and I think he's a wonderful man, the silly fool did fold the X-ray in half on the way home to fit it in his carry-on.

Do we ever do anything with this X-ray? Does it matter that it now has a crease?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-14 20:33:00
CanadaHeard an interesting story at my medical today
So, her visa's at the border, he has great connections, and she's going to the medical for what, shits and giggles?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-21 21:08:00
CanadaI am absolutely beside myself right now...
Have you told him how this makes you feel? Have you yelled?

C. and I had a huge fight around October because he complained I was nagging him about getting his birth certificate and about the whole process and one night I just lost it. I explained (read: yelled my head off) that in the months I had been researching it, reading immigration law, reading Department of State service manuals, joined VJ, read the forms, figuring out how to co-sponsor, etc, etc, and here he was only doing things because I told him to. Sign here, get this passport photo, order the birth certificate. He didn't even realize there was a fee for the I-129F!

I felt like I was more invested in the process than he was. It improved after I yelled but didn't really sink in until he received Packet 3. "oh. that's a lot of paperwork." EAT IT. And at that point I backed off a lot: it was *my* I-129F, it was *his* K-1.

Sit Réjean down and let him know exactly how you feel, and why you're annoyed. It's looking like he doesn't care if he comes to the U.S. (though I'm sure he does) -- put it plainly -- how is that supposed to anything but upset you?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-24 09:44:00
CanadaQuestion about Passport Stamps & Amount of Time Allowed to Stay in Canada!
I believe the rule is "no more than six months at a time, no more than six months aggregate per year." (So, if you stay from October-June, you've overstayed, even though you only had three months in one year and six in the next.)

I don't expect you should have any trouble, though; I have only about half of my re-entry stamps to the U.S., and I've never been questioned about it.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-02-26 21:34:00
CanadaDS-156, can it be done again
C. sent back his packet 3 in mid-December and then came to visit me; we didn't even think to update the info with the consulate, and it wasn't a problem.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-03-01 19:18:00
CanadaMassive Road Trip Super Happy Happy Fun
Oh, I love big dogs. We used to have Great Pyrenees growing up. No dogs or cats on this trip, though; C.'s cat is a seventeen-year old incontinent monster.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-03-03 16:10:00
CanadaMassive Road Trip Super Happy Happy Fun
Thanks!
CaladanMaleCanada2007-03-02 11:05:00
IMBRA Special TopicsK-1's Treated as Criminals While Illegals Live and Love
You know, it's frustrating. But I, as an American, and my soon-to-be fiancé, have never had to cross a desert to try to be together, and we have to wait, what, about as long as it takes to plan a church wedding?

It sucks, but this smacks of middle school, and being mad because the bad kid got a cookie and you got a cookie, too, and you did your homework and being pissed at the world that no one gave them a cookie. There is no option for 99.9% of illegal immigrants; their choices are stay in Mexico in poverty, or migrate illegally. Illegal immigration is a huge problem, but let's face it, someone making $3 a day doesn't have a better life than me and my boyfriend.

If there were no K-1 option and our options were be apart forever or sneak across a border, I dare say we'd sneak, too. It's unfair, but so's life.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-15 16:28:00
IMBRA Special TopicsMet through Marriage Broker???
Good lord. I can't think of anything to say about such services that isn't a foul insult. (Except, maybe, to point out, that Latin food is often fatty and that many Russian women grew up under the nasty, yet egalitarian Soviet Union, so I wouldn't hold my breath for someone who cheerily [redacted] while you treat her like dirt.] Here's hoping the women married to such jacka$$es (which may not be all users, but I ain't holding mah breath) leave them once they have their green card.


Anyhow, to the OP: Not everything online counts under IMBRA. Nor does every online dating site. I'd be honest. To explain why you'd have to be on vacation, you'd have to invent another lie. "We met through a chat site intended for soldiers (or whatever), and decided to meet in person in 2003. From there we fell in teh hott smokin' crazy luv." That's fine, and honest, and you'll have plenty of relationship proof with you.

Relax. You met before the scrutiny and most important you're not using marriage broker!
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-17 21:33:00
IMBRA Special TopicsFelony Conviction
This is reading to me a lot like "a guy is former druggie and convicted felon, and now he's looking for a foreign woman because he won't have a chance getting an American to look twice at him with his past."

In any case, IMBRA simply says that the fiancée has to be informed of the US citizen's criminal background. It's not an automatic denial.

That said, the consulate has considerable discretion, and conceivably, if your friend's fiancée doesn't know that he has such a checkered past, the consulate could deny it (on grounds that they're a sham marriage, maybe, if they're not honest.) or if the interviewer feels that he'd be responsible for a likely crime. It seems like it would be a tought road.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-19 14:47:00
IMBRA Special TopicsYOU SHOULD BE WORRIED !
The law is equal opportunity -- if I had a conviction for assault, IMBRA would affect me, too. The law just isn't gender-specific, and no amount of whining makes it discrimination against men.

Now, that said, you have to be in serious denial if you think sex trafficking is just as much of a problem for immigrant men as it is for immigrant women. Or that there are many sites saying 'marry a submissive Russian man who has low self-esteem who hasn't been ruined by American masculinity.' Fact is, the problem IMBRA is trying to address is one of immigrant women being abused because, like, that's the reported problem.

But IMBRA doesn't single out men. It's not a discriminatory law.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-19 16:48:00
IMBRA Special TopicsIMBRA & You
So IMBRA overturned the Fifth Amendment?

Ooh, and you didn't have enough people riled up, so now you're making the outrageous claim that American women have to fear abuse charges from their foreign fiancés? Are you even listening to yourself?

Whatever. People, read the text of the actual code, not the interpretations of fear mongers.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-19 10:31:00
IMBRA Special TopicsREASON FOR IMBRA ???
I don't think that 'There isn't a law protecting American women!' is a valid argument against IMBRA.

For one, an American woman is in a much better position to ascertain her fiancés character. Yes, you can get to know people well online, and yes, there can always be surprises in real life. But playing the odds? If you can go over to man's neighborhood and meet his family and his college buddies and where he went to school, where he hangs out after work, you'll know a lot more about him than just what he presents.

She's also far less likely to speak English. She also has friends and family in the U.S. who could help her if things turned out to be abusive. She also has a lot more economic options.

And here's the big one. If an American-American relationship sours, one person doesn't hold the 'trump card' of a green card over the other to use as leverage to keep them in an abusive relationship. If I had a husband here who hit me, I could just throw him out without having to leave the U.S.

Not all men would, but the risk is there. It's just not parallel with an American-American case.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-20 16:29:00
IMBRA Special Topicsanyone denied coz of the imbra form?
Might want to check out that caps lock key. Seems to be sticking.

There's a whole forum on IMBRA-related information here that might help answer some of your questions. It's also spelled out in the opening pages of the instructions for the I-129F.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-09-10 20:50:00
IMBRA Special TopicsMail Order Bride Newspaper Article /Star Telegram
Ooh, good point.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-06-15 10:40:00