biggish data

Calling all Finns! Embassy, Medical, and other experiences please?

Just an update since I started this thread, I feel like I should close it off for the time being ...

Our interview is now done and Mikko got his visa and passport on Monday, so we're ALL DONE until POE (looking at September 13, since he gave a month's notice to his work and apartment). A huge relief and there were no hassles, just lots of questions along the way but everything worked out just fine!

For future reference, Mikko and I were both very happy with Dr. Borgström -- jolly and Swedish (but fluent in Finnish) and he seemed completely competent. He gave a copy of the vaccination form (marked complete, and notations for chicken pox and most everything else) to Mikko after the medical, and when Mikko went back a week later to pick up the medical packet, it was all ready and he got an extra copy for himself, including the xray cd, etc. Everything just fine, hopefully it will be accepted for AOS with no issues.

Interview also went fine -- the only frustration was timing, since we notified the embassy we were ready on June 25, but they scheduled the interview for a month later (July 24). Looks like people were right about July being a slow/vacation time. I also had some difficulty in emailing them, I asked a question about the I-134 and they never responded to me, even after a second inquiry, just NO response whatsoever. However, they were VERY quick at responding to Mikko every time he emailed, so I don't know if there was something wrong with my email, or if they only answer the Finnish citizen applicant or what. In the end it didn't matter, really, just a bit confusing.

And as for shipping, we contacted Victor Ek and had them come out for a quote. Mikko mostly has heavy books, a pretty large CD/DVD collection, and a few handfuls of clothing -- no furniture and no delicate items, no dishes or housewares. So they gave us a quote of 2700 Euros for shipping from Vaasa to California, which INCLUDES them boxing up everything and cleaning his apartment and getting rid of his couch/desk/bed etc that he doesn't want -- so that actually seems very reasonable to me and we accepted it. It isn't much more than I expected, and it comes with all the extra services which will make life much easier on Mikko, so I'm pretty happy.

Thanks again to everyone for all the useful advice, and I hope people further down the line find this thread useful -- feel free to add to it still if there's any more advice to offer!

Edited by Lynkali, 01 August 2013 - 01:14 PM.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-08-01 13:13:00

Calling all Finns! Embassy, Medical, and other experiences please?

You'll need to call (the USC should call, I believe -- not sure if the foreign fiance is allowed to) the NVC. (603) 334-0700 and give your WAC number. It took mine 17 calendar days (exactly 10 business days) to show up at NVC after the NOA2. The hold times aren't as bad as USCIS, but I did have to wait on hold about 10-15 minutes each time I called. Just press 1 for English and it drops you into the hold queue.

Once your case is at NVC, they should give you a new case number (Helsinki case number starting with HLSxxxxxxxx). Once you have that, then you can track your status at https://ceac.state.g...ker/Status.aspx . When that says IN TRANSIT, then they're shipping it off. Alternately you can keep calling NVC to see when they ship it.

DHL tracking is a whole other issue ... once you know the date your case left NVC, write again and we'll try to find your tracking number!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-11 04:29:00

Calling all Finns! Embassy, Medical, and other experiences please?

Just a small update from me, things are going SO WELL after worrying so much, I actually can start to sleep again at night.

NVC received our case and shipped it out yesterday. It showed up on DHL tracking today! I'm guessing it will arrive in Helsinki on Monday, based on other tracking I've seen.

Mikko called Dr. Borgström and said he was very "jolly and Swedish" and didn't seem scary at all! (Mikko's kinda shy so that was important and a relief!) So he booked his medical exam for NEXT WEEK already, June 13, whee. That will mean a lot of round trips across the country (Mikko lives in Vaasa, doctors in Helsinki), so I feel bad about that, but it can't be helped really.

Borgström verified that Mikko had gathered his vaccine info, and he did make sure that both tetanus and polio had to be quite recent. Luckily, Mikko had gotten both those shots updated via his local health center and work nurse, and got his older "neuvolakortti" transcribed onto an "international vaccination card". So even without his school vaccine records (they are nonexistent and probably destroyed), we are feeling pretty confident about his medical.

We had long ago planned for me to visit this summer one last time anyway, and the timing is working out perfectly. I'll fly to Helsinki on June 19th and stay until July 27th, over a month there. That should allow us time to schedule the interview while I'm there, I hope! (Just for moral support and hugs, I know I don't have to be there!) And after interview (mid July? hopefully), Mikko will give his one-month notice to work and apartment, start to ship his things (hopefully I can still be there to help a bit), and probably POE here in late August or early September.

I'd still welcome any feedback on two things that are on my mind:

- best way to ship things (I think we're going to go with VictorEk.fi or pddp's suggestion of niemi.fi )

- how and when does Mikko pay the visa fee? is it a bank transfer or what?

I am on cloud nine in relief and anticipation and happiness that things really are going smoothly now, after SO much trauma, waiting and delays on the NOA2. Walking around feeling panicked that "the house isn't clean/organized enough, he can't come here yet!" but that's a laughing wonderful feeling compared to a month ago.

Thank you all so much for your detailed info both here and in private messages ... and good luck to those of us still in process, I hope everything continues and goes quickly now!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-06 17:13:00

Calling all Finns! Embassy, Medical, and other experiences please?

It sounds like it will be such a relief to deal with the competent Helsinki embassy! I cannot believe how sick I am of USCIS and especially the insane chaotic behavior of CSC. 191 days waiting for NOA2 now, and just this morning I've finally had it, and contacted my senator. Not that I expect much to come of that, but there's simply nothing more I can do when people who filed 4 months after me have already been approved!

PDDP, thanks for your comments too! I still think we'll choose Borgström, although it's good to know that Helle isn't as bad as he might sound. And yes, I'm in Escondido, I grew up here, then spent years in Wisconsin and Germany, and have settled back here probably permanently (inherited a beautiful house so that really influenced our decision for Mikko to come here rather than me going to Finland!). Where are you coming to, San Diego in general? It's a pretty nice town!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-16 14:08:00

Calling all Finns! Embassy, Medical, and other experiences please?

Eve&Josh, thank you so much for the detailed reply! Yes ... pretty sure we'll go with Borgström then, based on the vaccination documentation. I appreciate your other suggestions and my fiance read your post and says he'll try to get a nurse to transcribe to an international vaccination card, too. I could see that being helpful later in the USA, if needed.

We did know about Helle's columns -- rather funny, when we mentioned to a mutual friend the names of the doctors (we were thinking we'd go to Helle then), she started laughing uncontrollably and said "Mikko's going to a CELEBRITY doctor!" and explained what kind of things he writes about. Gave us a little hesitation, which I'm glad because then I started trying to find out more about Borgström.

Just one more doctor question: how are the results returned to the embassy? Did you have to go back to Borgström a week later and pick them up, or do they mail them to the embassy? Since Mikko lives in Vaasa, it would be a hassle to try to get back to Helsinki a week after the medical, but of course he can do that if there's no other choice .... just trying to understand the scheduling.

All your other details are so helpful, and we browsed the Finnish link you had. Mikko said he'd seen the forum before but not that thread, so he'll keep a closer eye on it now, I think! Thanks again!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-15 15:16:00

Calling all Finns! Embassy, Medical, and other experiences please?

There are at least 4-5 of us K-1 filers all set to converge on the Helsinki embassy in the coming months, and probably several CR-1 or other people too, so I was hoping we could get some feedback from people who've recently dealt with Finnish procedures. I think a few others have questions too, but I'll start with mine:

Medical: any reviews of Doctors Helle or Borgström? I'm hearing conflicting things though private messages, for example that Helle will hand-deliver the medical results to the embassy if you don't live in Helsinki (my fiance's in Vaasa and going back to pick up the results would be a pain!), but that Helle is much pickier about vaccinations and Borgström is fine with just the neuvolakortti for proof of childhood immunizations (my fiance had the terveyskeskus do three separate checks and they cannot find any computer records, so he just has the 30-year-old card from his mom proving his childhood vaccines). Would LOVE any input on who we should choose for this!

Embassy: I hope I know the answer to this, but I want to make sure. For the I-134 and financial documents, they are brought TO the interview, correct? Not mailed in beforehand? (Since I speak German I was looking at some info regarding Frankfurt, just to pass the time, and Frankfurt seems to want the financial stuff mailed before the interview -- don't like that, I'd much prefer to hand-deliver it at interview!) I want to make sure because I'm planning to be in Finland in June-July, and plan to just bring my financial info to my fiance then, rather than mail it.

I'm REALLY hoping for my NOA2 this week or next at the latest -- I'm planning a trip to visit my fiance in June-July, and we're really really hoping that we can have the interview while I'm there. I know it's totally unnecessary for me to be present, it's not that -- I just wanna be there and hug him and know immediately when it's all resolved!!! But that depends on CSC getting my NOA2 to me really soon, so please cross your fingers for me!

Other Finn-USA people, please chime in with questions and answers or just random experiences here too -- we're such a small group, but I hope we can all share information!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-15 01:28:00

Interview question

I don't understand why they want your (Finnish?) bank records, no. The USA ones, for the sponsor to provide proof of ability to support the beneficiary, sure -- I gave my fiance a huge packet with tax and bank account info, which it turns out the embassy barely looked at, but it was requested to have along. But FINNISH assets (the beneficiary's assets??) make no sense to me, so I'm afraid I can't help. That is not at all a normal request, are you sure there isn't a misunderstanding?

The embassy was very responsive to emails -- if you email them, perhaps they'll clarify what and/or why they need any bank records at all.

Edited to add: if I recall, your fiance is not a Finnish citizen, is that correct? Is it possible they're asking for bank records in some sort of relation to his legal presence in the country, or something to do with his native citizenship? I do think it's possible you're going to get a lot more scrutiny than a natural-born Finn, which is unfortunate of course, but I still don't understand what bank records would really have to do with anything, sorry.

Edited by Lynkali, 18 January 2014 - 01:48 AM.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2014-01-18 01:44:00

GERMANY: name change, new documents, same sex marriage...set up for desaster?

Goldfee11: civil unions are not the same as marriages in the eye of the law. http://en.wikipedia....ions_in_Germany "Illegal" is maybe not quite the right word, but Eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaften do not have all the same rights as a regular marriage, sadly.

Unfortunately I have no advice for the original query, but I wish you all the best in sorting it out!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2014-01-17 11:45:00

I'd love some helpful info on what other people (K-1 or CR-1 probably either!) have done regarding shipping belongings to the USA.

My fiancé will probably be doing POE in August, maybe September at the latest, so we're starting to try to find the best way to get his stuff here. He doesn't have THAT much -- definitely NO furniture, no large unboxed items of any kind. But he does have a full bookshelf of books that we really want him to bring, plus of course CDs/DVDs and a few small electronics items (xbox, etc), along with a fairly small amount of clothing (he is a typical guy, not too much he cares about clothing-wise). Probably no kitchen or other "household" stuff, just entertainment things. (Yay for bachelor living!) I'd estimate it might be 12-15 smallish moving boxes total, and that's it -- some quite heavy because they are books, of course.

I think we can ship them all using the regular Finnish postal service, but how does that work on the US customs side? I see something about a "Form 3299" for duty-free entry of household goods, but is that even necessary? I certainly don't want to circumvent any laws, and we'll pay duty if that actually is necessary, it just seems very confusing to me right now and I'd love feedback on what others have done.

Alternately we might try contacting an actual shipping company, but he lives in a very small town and there aren't really any local ones that do international moves. Same with not using UPS or DHL, the nearest offices for either are two hours' drive away and he doesn't have a car. So ... post office seems best to me, but what of customs and do we have to pay duty fees? And do the items have to arrive AFTER he's already here? So we're supposed to ship them out on the day he leaves or something?

I hate being so confused. Any help appreciated!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-30 16:26:00

I know you can watch 4-hours delayed ANYTHING on Finnish TV broadcast, at http://www.tvkaista.fi/ -- my fiance and I use it a lot, but it isn't real time. They have been promoting the ice hockey stuff, but neither of us watches that, so I'm not sure if they've lessened the 4-hour delay for that or not. (It is not free, but I think they have a one-month free promo maybe?)

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-18 14:19:00

http://www.visajourn...riences-please/

I say yes to a finnish topic!

OK! In hopes of getting a few more people to notice via the Finland portal, I did post a separate thread:

So maybe have any Helsinki discussion there? So happy for the Swedes and Danes and Norwegians already all settled in the USA ... but I never get to see any Finns around the Scandinavian topic!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-15 01:30:00

It wasn't me asking about proving domicile ... that was the poster above me, the one doing a CR-1. I agree, K-1 not involved in that, but hopefully someone has some answers for the original asker.

Do CR-1 people have to do the same medical exam as K-1 people? Would love to hear experiences about vaccination records, etc. with Drs Helle or Borgstrom, since my fiance only has his neuvolakortti ... the tiny village where he was born is no longer in existence, and the terveyskeskus/health center says they have no computer records of his childhood vaccines. So he's relying only on the paper that his mom had from 30 years ago, dunno if that's going to be a problem!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-15 00:30:00

There aren't that many embassy reviews for Finland! I've been watching them myself, but not a lot of info there really.

There are a couple of us K-1 filers just starting the embassy stage (3 or 4 VJ people ahead of me, and I am waiting on pins and needles for NOA2 which should have come by now!), so I would be interested in overall reviews as well. Don't have anything specific yet, other than vague reports that the Helsinki embassy is very responsive to email questions.

I was even thinking of starting a separate thread for Finnish-specific things like embassy, as well as reviews of the medical doctors (I hear different things about Borgstrom vs Helle in terms of vaccinations and ease-of-use). Would that be something to clutter this thread with, or should we start a separate Finnish topic?

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-14 19:16:00

MNL Case number

May 21st is still way within the time frame to get to NVC, I should think. I was approved May 17 and still no arrival at NVC. Every time I call they seem a little less friendly and tell me "ma'am, you're supposed to wait 15 BUSINESS DAYS before calling" so I thank them all friendly-like and call back the next day.

I do hope mine arrives really soon because I am starting to worry, seeing the horror stories of misrouted files between USCIS to NVC, but ... I seriously doubt you should worry yet being the 21st. You've got at least this week to wait, unless you're one of the very lucky ones who go fast.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-03 03:20:00

Department of State Online Visa Status Check

Starbuck -- yes. Although technically the K-1 is a non-immigrant visa, all the embassies HANDLE it like an immigrant visa because it does lead to legal permanent residency so quickly. So for instance, when emailing your embassy you usually will be talking to the "immigrant" visa unit, your interview will be with an "immigrant visa" officer (and probably the line outside too, although it's dependent on your local embassy), and yes the CEAC page treats K-1 as an immigrant visa. It's a distinction without a difference, for K-1 it's really mostly "immigrant" in every normal sense except legality.

The bit about the "interview date was provided" is wrong, that's just some boilerplate language. But the fact that it's IN TRANSIT is the good thing, so you went out the same day as me from NVC (today the 5th). Tomorrow after 3 pm, we should be able to start tracking it on DHL, I hope!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-05 22:42:00

I-797 question for anyone who is doing a K1

Yes, I didn't type in the whole thing, but that's it. I know all cases go to the NVC, but why would they be asking that all the time now?

Honestly, because the phone reps don't know any better. They aren't trained and simply read from a script. The forms are all the same (I think), and it's definitely true that ALL K-1s pass through NVC on the way to the embassies. If the phone reps say differently, they are just clueless.

I'm really sorry for your situation and delays, and cannot imagine being in your shoes. All I can say is, I don't think the phone reps are going to do you any good. Either your case will eventually get to NVC mysteriously late, or better (if you haven't already), get your congressman involved because that's the only actual pressure you can put on them.

Good luck and my sympathy!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-11 01:48:00

I-797 question for anyone who is doing a K1

That's what mine says as well, verbatim ... although mine goes on with two more paragraphs which I'm a bit too lazy to type in. They say what would happen if you don't marry in 90 days, and that USCIS/DHS reserve the right to perform further checks on your information. But the beginning info is the same, and is not exactly CORRECT for K-1 visas since the NVC still gets the file before the embassy does.

I'm guessing you want verification: my NOA2 says "forwarded to the listed consulate" but in FACT, it was forwarded to NVC, arrived there 10 business days after the NOA2, and was shipped out to Finland last week. According to DHL it arrived Monday, so we'll see if the embassy contacts my fiance in the next few days. That bit about "forwarded to the listed embassy" is just boilerplate and wrong, it completely fails to mention the NVC stage.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-11 00:51:00

How many people have waited over a month to get to the NVC?

It's not the norm for K-1 at all, no. I've been watching Igor's List too, and although not everybody inputs the NVC dates, those that do range from 3 days (sigh, I wish!) to about 3 weeks, so a month still stuck at CSC is absolutely atrocious.

It's my impression that CR-1 takes quite a bit longer to get to NVC, so I wouldn't extrapolate from CR-1 dates.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-30 17:58:00

I have not received any email whatsoever from the NVC. My case was shipped out on June 5th and according to DHL, should be arriving at the embassy today or tomorrow. So, based on my experience: no email, you have to call. Mine arrived at NVC exactly 10 business days after the NOA2 email, and they were a little annoyed when I kept calling before that.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-10 02:16:00

missDKmrUSA are you relying on the CEAC status to tell you your interview is ready? Although it's useful to know that your case has left NVC, CEAC is not updated with the latest info and uses a lot of stock phrases that aren't correct for K-1 files.

Did you track your package on DHL? Have you been in contact with the embassy?

For example, my package left NVC on June 5th. DHL tracking says it's just now leaving Cincinnati sorting hub and should reach Europe tomorrow (7th), but I'm sure it won't be at the Finnish embassy until Monday, possibly even Tuesday. And yet my CEAC status now says "ready" and interview scheduled, which is just boilerplate language for "it's out of our hands now!"

If your case left on the 4th, it probably isn't at the embassy yet because it takes a couple days. It's a half a world away!

I am guessing this is yours: http://www.dhl-usa.c...AWB=7555324490 Of course there's no way to be sure, but if NVC told you it left on the 4th, then that seems likely. There was also a packet for Sweden that left on the 5th, so that one could be yours too.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-07 04:02:00

It's a little confusing to track via DHL, but it's doable. (I got this from the embassies forum, http://www.visajourn...-to-us-embassy/ .)

- go to http://www.dhl.com/e..._reference.html

- enter EXP 04 JUN 2013A or EXP 05 JUN 2013A or whatever date you think it left (and in some rare cases, change it to B instead of A) as the shipper's reference

- play with the date range (it seems picky, you need to put in the date it might have left up to the present day)

- then if you want to filter by your country, you can, or leave it blank to see a sample of ALL the cases that left that day

You can see that they send out a lot of cases, each day. But generally only one for each country.

Yours and mine PROBABLY left NVC the same day, meaning it won't show in the tracking database yet. You can search 04 JUN today, but 05 JUN isn't available yet until after 3 p.m. EST tomorrow (6th). I'm hoping to see a Finland one in there for 05 JUN tomorrow when I check.

Edited by Lynkali, 05 June 2013 - 04:51 PM.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-05 16:50:00

I noticed that my CEAC status (ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx) changed today from "at NVC" to "IN TRANSIT" so I called NVC to verify, and sure enough, it's being mailed out today! Great news, and hopefully the DHL tracking stuff will work once it's in the DHL database tomorrow. I think I can check out of this thread soon, not seeing any hiccups from here on out, crossed fingers!

I really send my best wishes and hopes for those of you having problems with NVC, good luck and speedy journeys!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-05 15:47:00

Wooo! Our file arrived at NVC!!! NOA2 May 17, so this was 17 regular days or exactly 10 BUSINESS DAYS, and it arrived today. Got our case number too, but it's not shipped out yet, so I'll call back in another couple days to make sure it's moved on. But it's a HUGE relief, I was starting to worry since so many had already gotten through.

My heart leapt when the lady asked for date of birth and names, because every call before then had just stopped after giving my WAC number. I knew when she asked for date of birth that there was good news, and I could hardly contain my excitement.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-03 14:23:00

I'm starting to feel nervous. We are NOA2 on May 17, nothing at NVC yet.

I see on Igor's List that a fair number of filers from May 15, 16, 17, 18, 21 and 24 have already gotten to NVC.

If they go in batches, ok, but ... where are we? I hate this feeling of being skipped over again. Why is it so irregular? Do I need to start to worry?

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-31 16:12:00

They're only sent out from CSC once every TWO WEEKS? That doesn't make much sense, considering how people here report new arrivals here on VJ from CSC nearly every day. Unless the processing of those batches once they arrive from CSC takes days and days and days .... sounds fishy.

Well, I'm sorry for your horrendous delays (and really hoping mine and others won't have the same issues), but the one saving grace is, at least they know WHERE your file is and it's just a matter of time now! I hope it goes fast!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-30 17:47:00

Mine's still not there yet either, NOA2 May 17th. Getting a little ancy, but it's still well within their 10-15 business days (yes, 15 business days is like 3 weeks!) since it's technically only been 7 or 8 business days (12 calendar days), so can't be too worried yet. Just from my logs, my wait times (all times PST):

Wed 5/22 called at 14:15, on hold until 14:32 (17 min), not arrived yet

Thur 5/23 called at 16:03, on hold until 16:16 (13 min), not arrived yet

Fri 5/24 called at 15:03, on hold until 15:21 (18 min), not arrived yet

Tues 5/28 called at 13:33, on hold until 13:46 (13 min), not arrived yet

Wed 5/29 called at 14:30, on hold until 14:50 (20 min), not arrived yet

Wed 5/29 called at 18:03, on hold until 18:14 (11 min), not arrived yet

Yes I called twice today, hoping that maybe they just hadn't processed today's files the first time. Can't blame myself, after waiting so long for NOA2, that I'm a little overeager.

Edited by Lynkali, 29 May 2013 - 09:11 PM.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-29 21:09:00

I also called today -- got a busy signal first, then after two redials, got in and held for 15 minutes. No case received yet, our NOA2 was May 17th so I'm not worried yet. Just wish it would get there soon!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-28 15:49:00

I like the idea of a thread for K-1's specifically! It's kinda confusing to wade through the CR1 info regarding NVC, I keep panicking before I realize MOST of that doesn't apply for us K-1 people.

Our NOA2 was just this Friday (May 17) so I haven't called NVC yet, gotta give them a little bit of time I think. I'll probably call on Thursday or Friday although I don't really expect anything until next week.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-20 16:38:00

Embassy sent Packet with proof of approval

I have heard rumors that this works elsewhere as well, depending completely on the friendliness and busy-ness of the local embassy. If my case doesn't move through NVC reasonably fast (it's only been 5 days, I'm not expecting any miracles!) I may try it with Finland as well. I think it works that way for smaller/less frequent countries, but probably not for high fraud and very overloaded places.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-05-22 20:13:00

I-134: submit in DUPLICATE means two copies or what?

I have searched and searched here and am having trouble finding a solid answer to this, or what other people's experiences are:

The I-134 instructions say to "submit IN DUPLICATE evidence of income and resources". I have plenty of evidence, I'm not worried about proving my income (paystubs, tax transcripts, tax returns, W2, letter from employer, letters from investment bank, bank and investment statements, summaries, a TON of stuff totaling 60 pages, something from every category in the instructions).

What I don't understand is do I have to submit TWO COPIES of all that evidence? What does "in duplicate" mean: (a) two identical copies? (b) one original and one copy? (c ) just one copy and keep the original?

It's totally unclear to me.

I don't want to send 120 pages of supporting evidence when my 60 pages are complete. It seems crazy to have to make two copies of everything, but if that's what they want, of course I will do it.

What have other people successfully done for the I-134: one copy of each evidence or two copies?

I thought I remember asking this in a random thread six months ago, and never got an answer. Six months later after having read these forums religiously every day, and it's never come up? What does "in duplicate" mean there?

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-10 18:58:00

Medical question

My husband had his medical in Helsinki in June this year -- they did take his blood for some sort of test, but he's not sure what for. He vaguely remembers a bunch of routine questions about his health history/overall health, one of which may have been drug-related (he doesn't use any, so we didn't pay any real attention to the issue). Neither of us has any recollection of a specific question, and there was certainly no emphasis or notification given that they would test for drugs, but I do think it's a random or slight possibility. I'm sorry I can't be more specific -- it wasn't an issue for us so we didn't worry about it, but I would say there is in fact a POSSIBILITY that they would test, given the blood draw.

If it helps, he does remember that there was no urine sample/test of any kind, so I don't know if that rules out a drug test or not? No idea if drug tests are blood or urine.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-11-27 00:15:00

Packet 3

Our packet took about 2 weeks to arrive after the embassy got our file. We never found any instructions online at the embassy site -- apart from the list of doctors for the medical, which is here: http://travel.state....L-0003-1303.pdf We went ahead and scheduled our medical before we had heard from the embassy, and ended up with a completed medical before we even got the packet. There was no problem, you just need to wait a bit longer for yours to arrive I'm sure -- the holidays do slow things down a lot!

Our packet had blank copies of forms that you can find online, and instructions for the online DS form, as well as a checklist that we had to sign and send back (saying yes, we have these documents and are ready to have an interview) which we stupidly forgot to make a copy of, so I can't tell you exactly what was on the checklist! It was just forms and the checklist, you can start filling out the forms already if you're worried about that -- I think it was the DS-230 and the online DS-156, though I cannot be 100% sure since we simply filled them out and sent them back as soon as we got them.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-12-29 12:31:00

ghana consulate interview. is this normal??

Well we submitted ... proof of me stated as her spouse and emergency contact on her employee profile ...

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding, but to me that would be a bit weird. You're not her spouse yet, you're her fiance. Is there any chance the CO is thinking you've already married, if you're claiming her already as your spouse, when a K-1 cannot yet be married. Just noticed that, but I dunno what the norm is for your embassy.

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-12-10 23:47:00

DHL Tracking From NVC to US Embassy

Hi everyone, For those of you who wrote asking about shipments to your country for June 6th I have put a beside of that shipment. The best of luck to all of you

Waybill: 7555325702 - HELSINKI - HELSINKI - FINLAND

Wheee! So happy, and I did find it maybe 10 minutes before you posted, but thank you!

I am really really curious how you ever found out how to do this, back when you started. It seems pretty random to create the EXP shipper reference -- did you just stumble across it or was there a hint somewhere?

At any rate I hope you know how much your hints and updates are appreciated, it's really an ease to my mind to be able to track the package. THANK YOU!

Lynkali

Female

Finland

2013-06-06 14:23:00