ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
United KingdomEXCITED!!!
8 days for us!!! :dance: :dance:

I'm ready for it to be over, to buy his plane ticket, and get the show on the road!! I keep checking the flight prices every day just to see if they change. Why are round-trip flights less expensive than one-way? I've never understood that. You'd think it'd be more because you're taking up seats on TWO different flights!!! Not that travel has ever been logical. :hehe:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-09 15:37:00
United KingdomEXCITED!!!
Peter's parents left for Chile today for three months. He's sad because he's very close to them and just said a tearful goodbye to them for a year. We're getting married on his mother's birthday, so next year when she comes for the bigger wedding it'll be her 70th. He's never been married before, so it's going to be bittersweet that we're doing this without them there, but they planned their trip knowing when we were getting married, so there's not much we can do. His mother actually asked him to wait till they got back in December to come to the US, because she said she didn't think he'd remember to turn the heat or the lights off and lock the door. He's 39 years old for cryin out loud!!! We're not putting off our plans for 2 months just because she's paranoid. It's bad enough they knowingly planned their trip when they'd be missing him getting married. Their loss.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-09 09:45:00
United KingdomEXCITED!!!
We decided to forego the "big" wedding till our first anniversary and just have a vow renewal when we can afford it. By then we'll have had two incomes for several months, so we should be more settled and have time to plan it together, etc.

So when Peter gets here, we're going to go to the courthouse for a little ceremony with a judge and then have about 10 to 12 friends and family members join us at a nice restaurant for dinner and cake/champagne.

We picked out the restaurant today!!! Bellini's has a private room that seats 12 for no extra fees, and they'll let us bring in a little cake for dessert. A few people at work recommended them, and the girl I spoke to at the reservation desk was really nice, so we're tentatively booked for Friday, October 22, at 6:30pm for dinner & drinks!! We're thinking of booking a room in the hotel for 2 nights for a "mini-moon" since my mom is going to keep the kids for the weekend for us.

I'm so excited!!! We have PLANS!!!! I know plans can change if something goes wrong... knock on wood :bonk: but we're hoping that the 17th will continue our luck and he'll be here October 15th. Finally. 2 years of waiting coming to a close. SINGLE DIGITS TILL OUR INTERVIEW!!!!
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-08 16:49:00
United KingdomNo Live Trace/Subject Acccess/I-601
You don't send the police report in with the forms, you take it to the interview, so just take both at the same time. :)
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 21:32:00
United KingdomNo Live Trace/Subject Acccess/I-601
Yes, Johnny, I'm well aware that there is more to it than filling out forms. I'm sure if they need a waiver they'll read the guides so I didn't repeat it.

Edited by Dodi, 15 September 2010 - 07:53 PM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 19:52:00
United KingdomNo Live Trace/Subject Acccess/I-601
No live trace can also allude to the Caution he was given. The Subject Access report should be plenty. If you'd rather be prepared just in case, fill out the forms for the waiver, but you shouldn't need them for something so minor.

Good luck! :thumbs:

Edited by Dodi, 15 September 2010 - 11:39 AM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 11:39:00
United KingdomDS-230, Part 1: In what occupation do you intend to work in the U.S.?
Yes, PM is the little "Send msg to user" button under their picture. :thumbs:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-18 12:06:00
United KingdomDS-230, Part 1: In what occupation do you intend to work in the U.S.?
If you want to pm me I'd be happy to go over the paperwork we sent with you, if it'll help put your mind at ease. I know how worked up I was over the whole packet 3 stuff, and in the end it turned out to be much easier than we expected because of how prepared we were.

Edited by Dodi, 17 September 2010 - 03:37 PM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-17 15:37:00
United KingdomDS-230, Part 1: In what occupation do you intend to work in the U.S.?
LOL, glad I can be of help to someone. I'm pretty useless today at work. My head's in an immigration-induced fog! Peter woke me up at 4am my time to tell me the good news, and I did get an hour or so more sleep, but not much. I'm ready to ZZZZZzzzzzzz
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-17 15:08:00
United KingdomDS-230, Part 1: In what occupation do you intend to work in the U.S.?
Correct, on part 1 only.

For ours, we put "Unknown, EAD to be filed after arrival". They took it, no questions. :)

Hope this helps! :thumbs:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-17 15:01:00
United KingdomSending back P3
We sent it by Special Delivery, have confirmation that it was delivered on 7/29, but it's still not logged in as received yet. I don't know if that made a difference or not, but we were able to track it. Peter said that Royal Mail is notoriously unreliable (don't know if that's true or not), so he wanted a tracking number. (Also better for my sanity.)

Edited by Dodi, 12 August 2010 - 02:36 PM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-08-12 14:36:00
United KingdomCheap hotels near embassy in London
When I was there in March we used www.activehotels.com and got a REALLY good rate on the Shaftesbury Premier Notting Hill. It's usually around £229 per night, but we got it for £79. The rooms were tiny (think small shoebox) but were very comfy and clean. They've got lots of other hotels in there in London as well.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 08:56:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process
Check out my timeline. My papers took 2 1/2 weeks to log in London after Royal Mail said they'd been delivered. 3 business days after that, we got our interview date. If your papers were logged in last Friday, then you were eligible for an interview date as Marlea and several others already told you. Three business days later... funnily enough... you have an interview date. Late October is what they're scheduling right now. Your MP honestly had nothing to do with that. They can call till they're blue in the face, but you can't honestly think that the fact that you have an interview date WHEN YOU WERE DUE AN INTERVIEW DATE has anything to do with an MP's lackey calling the embassy.

You're in line like the rest of us, and it's going to stay that way. There are very few reasons that the USCIS/DOS/DHS accept an expedition order on K1 petitions, usually involving serious illness or imminent deployment of a military member. It's just how it works. As Maven said... put on your big girl panties and deal with it. :)
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 11:35:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process
Note to your Freshman Suitemates: Drink enough of any of them and they ALL have vomit-inducing qualities. ;)

The sickest I've ever been from drinking was on gin. A college Christmas party. I've never touched the stuff again. Even the smell is enough to make me ill.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 10:35:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process
I usually buy Stoli, so I'm a slightly less horrendous infraction. The grey goose was a gift after a really long, bad day.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-15 08:52:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process
I've got a bottle of grey goose in the freezer, but I'm out of stuff to go with it. Anyone got cranberry juice they're willing to share??? :help:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-14 20:46:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process
Personally, I would have preferred us moving to the UK. Finances, and the fact that I have 2 children under 12 who would lose their entire family, dictated that we need to be here for at least a few years.

The "free" healthcare there alone, even if you have to wait a bit for some things in places, is worth it to me, as someone with epilepsy and severe asthma, who has had to go without insurance when I've been laid off or changed jobs, and been unable to continue my medication.

Both the US and the UK have their downfalls. Here we have too much religion running the place, and too many rednecks voting in idiots to represent them. The government can't stop fighting long enough to make the changes necessary to make real progress. The UK has an awful service industry. People just accept what they get without complaint. Not here, here we demand good service because we feel that if we're paying for it we deserve it. Peter and I have that discussion all the time. He's learning how to complain to make people do their jobs, even just when shopping for a new sport coat. (Ended up with a free gift certificate when a sales clerk was overly rude!)

Neither country is perfect, we just take the good with the bad and make our decisions based on what works for us. It's when people who are leaving a country start talking-down the country they're going to that makes me shake my head and wonder, "WHY?"
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-14 14:04:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process
I've not attacked anyone here. Please just leave Marlea and I the he1l alone. We've done nothing to you, so back off. The only thing I ever see you post is antagonizing towards anyone you deem deserves it that day. It's a wonder you've not been permabanned.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-14 13:38:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process

Although I doubt that contacting an MP, of a foreign government will have any effect upon the immigration process in the U.S. despite whatever protestations Julian is likely to post. I do have to question why you even care? You two have been shrill at every single word Melissa posts. It's petty and juvenile.


Rob & Mel, I wasn't posting toward Melissa, I was posting toward things Julian has said. And no, I haven't been 'shrill at every single word Melissa posts'. I have been involved in 2 threads with Melissa prior to this, and have made ONE post here. Nothing petty or juvenile has been said here. Back off.

So, by your own reasoning... then why are you here?
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-14 13:13:00
United KingdomGetting MPs involved in the process

So, basically, Julian just admitted that the whole point of all this is to wind us up. Whether he's making it all up or not, he will likely claim that he's right, we are all wrong, the powerful Brits are so much better than us lowly arrogant Americans.


Which begs the question.... if the Brits are so much better, and he's so well connected... why, pray tell, is he leaving?
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-14 11:40:00
United KingdomInternation Removals
We've been quoted about £250-300 for about 80kg of stuff (3 large boxes) door to door by Transglobal Express. He's shipping out his stuff next week. :dance:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-25 20:42:00
United KingdomShipping items between US and UK
WOW, his stuff got here FAST!!!

It only took a day and a half. Now comes the fun part: getting 4 - 60lb boxes up the stairs. :blink:

Anyone wanna lend a hand?
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-29 15:14:00
United KingdomPassport in the Laundry...
Nope. No reply at all. Just the bounce notice saying it was deleted without being read.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-01 11:29:00
United KingdomPassport in the Laundry...

I've also read that if you email with your case number in the subject line, that can work as "the special code" and they will possibly reply. I've not tried it, I don't know.


I tried that a month or so ago. Got a bounce notice.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-01 10:47:00
United KingdomPassport in the Laundry...
Unfortunately this is the reason they tell us not to buy a ticket until the visa is in hand. I'm really sorry you're going through this. Stupid men and their inability to just do as we tell them. Don't they realize they'd be so much better off if they did? :rolleyes:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-29 09:12:00
United KingdomPINS & NEEDLES!!!
I'm so scatterbrained today I nearly burned down my apartment with my flat iron by forgetting to turn it OFF before I put it above my medicine cabinet on top of the holder. My boss is aware I'm going to be completely useless today, but I'm here anyway, just leaving early to get ready and head to the airport.

This is nerve-wracking!!!! It's only a matter of HOURS!!! Less than half a day!!! He'll be here at 6:45 tonight, and I'm about to lose it!!

Jill, is Rob on his way yet? When does he get in? Where is his POE?
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-06 08:51:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
VISA DELIVERED!!! TICKETS BOUGHT!!! HE'LL BE HERE IN 12 DAYS!!!!!!!!! :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

No more goodbyes. Ever.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-24 09:51:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
They didn't offer it to us, and I didn't get an email, neither did he. (I know they had my email because the DOS made me verify it sometimes when I called while waiting for P3 to be logged/interview to be scheduled.) DX gave him a tracking number when he paid the fee and the website to look it up. I've been calling the DOS for 2 days to see if it had been issued. They told me this morning, so I checked on the DX website and it says it's scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

Edited by Dodi, 23 September 2010 - 10:26 AM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-23 10:25:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
Speed dial the DOS! :rofl:

202-663-1225 (1 for main menu, 0 for operator)

Wait about 3 business days to call, because they won't have any updates until the day AFTER it was issued. Though I think they can see that it's being issued because you could HEAR the smile in the girl's voice when she told me yesterday that it "wouldn't be too long". I could tell something was up. This morning, they said it was issued yesterday. I checked the DX website and it's scheduled for delivery tomorrow!! Which is great, because Peter has jobs scheduled today and all weekend, so he'll be home tomorrow!! :dance:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-23 09:49:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
I know the feeling, Hunny. Honestly, I've only spent a week with Peter in the past year. He was here one year ago, and I went there in March for spring break. Since then, we've not seen each other, and telephones just don't help when you want someone to snuggle with. :(

He'll be here in 20 days!!!! We're buying the tickets tomorrow!! :dance: :dance:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-23 09:17:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
Visa issued yesterday and on its way!!!!! :dance: :dance: :dance:

WOOHOO!!! We should have it tomorrow!!
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-23 08:57:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
Thanks!
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-21 15:36:00
United KingdomDo they courier the visa the day it is issued?
Question: How long after they issue the visa does it take for them to courier it out? Ours isn't issued yet, but I'm just looking for a ballpark. We're wanting to book his ticket for October 13th, so we've got three weeks, but the closer we get to the date, the more we're going to end up paying.

Any ideas?
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-21 15:03:00
United KingdomPacket 4
It took London 2 weeks to log in our P3 forms after they'd received them, and then another 2 days to schedule our interview. As Marlea said, August slowed everyone down a little, but you should hear something soon. You can always call the DOS to see if they've scheduled anything or logged in your forms. 202-663-1225 (Option 1 for main menu, then 0 for operator)

They can tell you what's been done on your case if you give them your LND case number.

Good luck! :thumbs:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-12 20:30:00
United KingdomPacket 3 still not logged
Is Rob going through Chicago? What time is he getting there? Peter is leaving out of London on American Airlines at 10:15 tomorrow, and getting into Chicago around 12:55 EST. It'd be funny if they were processing there together before going onto OKC and LR.
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-05 12:12:00
United KingdomPacket 3 still not logged
Ours took 2 1/2 weeks, and I was freaking out too. Some people on here lately have said they've had 3 1/2 weeks between receipt and logging in. But they scheduled our interview date about 2 to 3 days after they logged it in. It goes very quickly from here. And trust me... the last 3 days before POE will seem the LONGEST. He arrives tomorrow and I've been on pins and needles since Sunday! :lol:

Good luck! :thumbs:

Edited by Dodi, 05 October 2010 - 11:36 AM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-05 11:34:00
United KingdomMarried Peoples!!
So my *HUSBAND* has been here for 2 1/2 weeks and we got MARRIED on Friday!!! :dance: :dance:

Everything that could go wrong, did.

We had made plans to get married at the courthouse in Norman, and the clerk had told me 3pm would be the best time. We were going to try to get there for 2pm so we'd have time to wait for a judge to be available as they wouldn't take appointments for weddings. Yeah... plans fall through.

I arrived at my mom's house at 1:30pm after my hair and makeup appts, only to find that Peter and the kids had gotten lost on the way to her house and only arrived there 45 min before, and hadn't even STARTED getting dressed. (Apparently GPS was over his head that day.) I was sort of pissed, but was going to let it go. I was happy it was my wedding day. Then, after he's dressed, Peter walks up to me, "Um, honey... do I need my wallet and passport for anything?" YES!!! :angry: We can't get the marriage license without it!! He'd left it at our apartment on the other side of the city!!

So while I'm finishing getting dressed, and getting my daughter dressed, he and my son take off back to the north side of OKC to get his wallet (which I've told him 89674 times to keep on him always!) and proceed to nearly get lost AGAIN (because he can't follow directions!). Meanwhile, my friend Lupita calls me from the courthouse, "Just thought you should know that the judges have all decided to leave early today, at 2pm, because of fall break weekend." WHAT???? :o They told me THREE was the BEST TIME!!! :o "You can get your license today, but we'll have to scramble around to find someone else to marry you." At which point my photographer beeps in, "I'm sorry, but I only took off my lunch break to come down and take your photos today, so I'm going to have to leave if you're not here and ready to go very soon." :(

So we lost our photographer, and had no judge to marry us. My flowers were completely wilted, so I called FTD and was able to talk to a nice operator (through my tears) and ask for a refund, which she kindly provided, no questions asked, with a huge apology. When we got to the courthouse finally, we were able to get our marriage license, and the clerk told us that the man who ran the vintage train station across the street happened to be an ordained minister and performed weddings all the time. So we called him, and he agreed to do it on short notice. His name was Deano, and thought my friend Loop (age 47) was Peter's mom (he'll be 40 in January). When we said she wasn't, he went to shake her hand and ran his finger up her palm very "suggestively" and then asked her to sit by his desk while he filled out the marriage license (giving him full view down the front of her dress).

In the end, we were married by Deano the Pervy Preacherman. It was a very quick ceremony, full of laughs and few photos (with my mom's digital camera and my phone) but it was what we needed. Our reception dinner was great tho!! Lesleysizseland (VJ) was there with her husband. They're so sweet!! My aunt and uncle came, as well as my mom, and Loop, and the four of us. The wine was nice and strong, the conversation flowed, and we were all stuffed by the end of the meal. Just 10 of us, in a private room at a nice Italian restaurant, and I was amazed at how well everyone meshed. Most of the guests had never met each other before, but we talked and laughed non-stop. Even the kids had a great time!

I'm so happy. My husband is wonderful, and I couldn't have asked for better friends and family!! I'm very proud to be Mrs. Allen! :D

Posted Image

Edited by Dodi, 26 October 2010 - 05:02 PM.

DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-26 17:00:00
United Kingdom2010 United Kingdom Interview Thread
Are you saying you frontloaded the I-864 with the original I-130 petition? If so, you may still want to bring in an updated one, because so much time has passed. It's been more than a year, so they want to know that you still have the same income sources and pay rates, etc. If you can get your updated letter and tax returns, they may help you. I had frontloaded my I-134 with my I-129F petition for our K1, but because it hadn't been more than a couple of months they didn't ask for an updated copy. I can't really imagine them accepting an original that is more than a year old. You may not need the entire thing redone, but you might want to sign an updated one just in case, and bring your backup documentation. The only thing that has to be original is the form itself with your original signature. Copies are fine for everything else.

Good luck! :thumbs:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-10-04 08:34:00
United Kingdom2010 United Kingdom Interview Thread
Congrats! :D :dance: :dance:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-28 08:26:00
United Kingdom2010 United Kingdom Interview Thread
GOOD LUCK TOMORROW, MARLEA!!!!! :dance: :dance:
DodiFemaleUnited Kingdom2010-09-27 12:30:00