biggish data

COLOMBIANOS EN VISA K1

Hola Muchachos,

Aprovecho para unirme a este grupito tambien. Te cuento lo poquito que puedo de mi. Soy gringolandes, pero estuve casado con una rola durante casi 14 an~os. Nos casamos en Bogota e hice todos los tramites cuando estabamos viviendo alli (CR1) y todo fue facil en aquel entonces (1993 y demoramos un mes para hacer todo atraves del consulado). Tambien fue facil quitar el estatus condicional (que hicimos en 1996 en Spokane, WA). Inclusive pudimos sacarle la ciudadania sin problemas (1999 o 2000, no me recuerdo exactamente). Y para completar la vaina, fue facil sacar visas de residente para sus papas (mis suegros en ese entonces) y eso fue despues del 9/11. Lamentablemente, lo nuestro no duro y nos divorciamos hace un an~o (pero no guardamos rencores ni nada y pudimos hacer el divorcio sin mayores disgustos -- pero con bastantes lagrimas tengo que admitir)....

Bueno, pero lo que paso paso y hay que seguir viviendo la vida. El caso es que hasta los gringolandeses pueden volverse a enamorar y yo me he enamorado de nuevo... esta vez de una linda peruana. Entonces, si todo sale como Dios manda, y si no me da por trasladarme para alla, supongo que estare en estos tramites de nuevo muy pronto.

Estoy a las ordenes de todos Uds, mis lindos casi-compatriotas (ya que desde hace marras ya me siento medio colombiano), si puedo compartir mis experiencias. No se que tan validas sean hoy en dia, pero por lo menos soy muy bueno para escuchar, si quieren desahogarse con otra persona. Y por supuesto espero que Uds tambien me sirvan de apoyo.

No siendo mas por ahora, me despido muy amistosamente de todos Uds.

Mark, el gringuito maluco

Edited by mlybrand, 19 December 2008 - 09:30 PM.

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2008-12-19 21:27:00

Best airlines to fly to Peru

Just bought tix for October. Cost me 650 round trip from Seattle to Lima via Atlanta. Hopefully it's not too unpleasant an experience.

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-08-12 22:52:00

Best airlines to fly to Peru

QUOTE (luna_azul0609 @ Aug 11 2009, 09:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey everyone, I'm kinda new to this so I have a few questions, maybe someone can help..

I'm looking at flights from Chicago to Lima, just wondering if anyone has suggestions on which airline is best. I used Continental last time I traveled to visit my boyfriend and everything went great. I'd like to stick with the same airline, but I saw American Airlines and Delta are cheaper for the dates I want to travel. Has anyone here used these airlines before?

Also, I'm thinking of moving to Lima for a year so I'll probably buy a round-trip ticket but never use the return flight (I want to buy round-trip in case they give me any problems leaving the US or entering Peru) Any suggestions on how I can get some of my money back if I don't use the return flight? Are there airlines with good return policies?

Thanks

Both times I have flown down I have gone Lan Chile. Both times were great experience (on time, good to great service). Price has been the best for the dates I have flown. The only downside is the connecting in Los Angeles (but that is just because LAX is so unpleasant). My wife flew up to visit me and flew Continental and it was horrible (delays, uncaring service personnel, etc). We chose this flight for the ease of connection in Houston (happily - we thought - avoiding LAX). Never flown Delta or AA.

No info for you on the return policy.

Just my 2 centimos

Bon voyage and enjoy my envy - I miss my wife

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-08-11 23:33:00

DOCS ASKED BY THE EMBASSY IN PERU.

Okay, here is the response from the consulate:

"The documents are good for a year but we do recommend to wait for the package with all the instructions. Sometimes the processing of approving an I-130 petition takes more time than expected."

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-02 10:01:00

DOCS ASKED BY THE EMBASSY IN PERU.

Update: Question has been asked. If history is a guide, I will have an answer tomorrow.

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-01 21:33:00

DOCS ASKED BY THE EMBASSY IN PERU.

QUOTE (ms2474 @ Sep 1 2009, 06:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (nj2peru @ Sep 1 2009, 12:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

does anyone know how long these documents are good for? i just got my NOA1 but i want to be ahead of schedule and get this done early. If, for example, I get these now and send them with the IV packet 6 months from now, will they still be honored?

It would probably be best to get it as close to the time of the interview as possible. Even if it is still valid you don't want to give the officer at the embassy any reason at all to question or deny it.

Hey NJ,

My wife and I were also going to get these after taking care of everything else, but I was planning on asking the consulate directly, as they have answered my questions pretty quick in the past. I am assuming they have some experience with these docs. I will let you know.

In any event, I am willing to bet that getting them at the NOA2 stage or thereabouts is probably pretty good.

I will post my consulate answer here when I get it...

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-01 21:26:00

Aw man! When I saw this thread pop back up, I thought blsailor was going to be giving us good news. Now I have to go away and sulk some more and fret and worry over my own case. Thanks a lot

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-11 12:46:00

QUOTE (bslsailor @ Sep 4 2009, 08:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Got an answer back from the Atlanta Consulate (sort of)

After a short explanation that there is no procedure to Certify by County Clerk in Mississippi
I asked -
"Will you accept a Apostille or Authentication issued by the Mississippi Secretary of State Office?"

There complete email answer -
"yes"

SOooo, I'll take it as they prefer an Apostille and it's off to the Mississippi Secretary of State
with my $2.00 check in the mail.

If you haven't sent it yet, you might want to see if Mississippi can tell whether Brazil wants apostille or authentication. Here in WA, they have a big binder that tells them such things. The Tennessee SOS office, however, instructed me to find out...

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-04 14:02:00

QUOTE (bslsailor @ Sep 3 2009, 07:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wouldn't expect the local County Clerk to be knowledgeable about Brazilian documentation
however I would think the Brazilian Consulate would know about the State in their jurisdiction.

I WOULD expect them to be aware of the state's apostille program. Every state has one and it is common knowledge, especially for folks in their line of work. That is what I meant.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-03 21:43:00

QUOTE (bslsailor @ Sep 3 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The local county Clerk didn't know about about MS Dept. State Certifications, only she couldn't do it.

Sometimes you just gotta wonder!! You would think the county clerk would know something like this. Oh well, it's all good if it works out in the end

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-03 13:18:00

QUOTE (bslsailor @ Sep 3 2009, 09:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think I just figured out the problem -
I checked the Mississippi Dept. of State Website -

The State of Mississippi has no procedure that will allow Notary Certification by county.

All Certifications are done by the Mississippi Secretary of State Office.
They will issue an Apostille or Authentication for $2.00 by mail.
this form is expressly issued for a foreign country.

I just emailed the Consulate to see if they will accept. Haven't quite figured out
the difference between an Apostille or Authentication yet, but I'm feeling a lot less frustrated now.

John

Don't worry about it. Let the Secretary of State put the right one (at least that is how it works here in WA). If they can't figure it out, ask the Brazilian consulate which they accept (some countries accept one, some the other ... as I mentioned before, I found out that Colombia takes apostilles, but Peru takes Authentications ... go figure).

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-03 11:21:00

QUOTE (bslsailor @ Sep 3 2009, 08:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just returned from another trip to my Country Courthouse -

The Country Clerk is still refusing to Certify my Notary stamp, stating there is
no procedure in Mississippi for that.

Hopefully someone from the New Orleans or Atlanta area is reading this and had successfully done it there.

New Orleans is 50 miles away or I would stop by somewhere in Atlanta before going to
the Brazilian Consulate.

Instead of the county clerk, contact your secretary of state. This would appear to be exactly what you need:

http://www.sos.state...0apostilles.asp

Good luck.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-03 11:11:00

QUOTE (bslsailor @ Sep 1 2009, 06:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, JoeyJoye -

Mississippi used to fall under the jurisdiction of Miami.

We now "belong" to Atlanta, which opened about 2 months ago.

Appreciate your experiences with the other Consulates around the USA -
So you didn't get any certification other than the notary stamp?

I'm asking before I fire off another email to the Atlanta Consulate, trying to keep this from escalating
into a Pi$$ing contest which I'm sure to lose

If anyone has gotten a County Clerk Certification did they just "Certify" the notary?

I didn't specifically have to get a "certificate of singleness," even though Peru also requires this document. The reasoning in the municipality where we got married was that I was divorced, so I was not considered single. This turned out to be lucky as we in the US have a "divorce certificate" issued by the county

My experience was with other affidavits. Advice that I read of others who needed to certify their singleness was to sign an affidavit and notarize it. I know that the Peruvian consulate requires further certification for the notary stamp, which as I pointed out is done by the secretary of state here in WA. The other affs I did were done this way and the consulate legalized/certified them without issue. But I would call the consulate and check to see if this is what they really want from you. So in direct answer to your question to me: I needed the notary stamp, followed by the secretary of state of the state of Washington certifying the notary. That made them happy. (Of course the municipality in Peru wanted the consular legalization of the secretary of state, followed by the Ministry of Foreign Relations certification of the consular legalization, but I am not sure if you have to go that far). The process was similar in Colombia.

If they are being this resistant, have you ever considered that they are simply trying to get you to be a little nicer to them

Good luck.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-01 21:22:00

QUOTE (joeyjoey @ Sep 1 2009, 05:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You do not have to get it certified only by the County Clerk. Any Notary can notarize your signature. The Notary's job is to swear that the signature made befroe them is yours. They are not swearing that all the info in the document or statement is true! They won't be trying to determine if you married a Brazilian before.

We did this here in Houston and it was no problem. We took our marriage certificate to the Brazilian Consulate. They translated and notarized the document for us. Next, we took it with us to Brazil to a Cartario. They entered the information into the official records. Eventually, they gave us a Brazilian marrriage certificate to match the US marriage certificate. You are now officially married in both countries. We did not have this issue of proving that we were never married to another Brazilian. Think you just landed in front of a trainee!

Try this:

1. Get the affidavit notarized.
2. Have the county clerk certify the notary stamp.

Here in Washington state, I got affidavits notarized for Peru and had the Secretary of State's office "certify" the notary stamp (secretary of state will also know whether Brazil was the certification (like Peru does) or an apostille (like Colombia does). It will also depend on who the notaries are licensed by in Georgia. In WA they are licensed by the state, so I wouldn't even involve the county. Try that and see if the consulate will accept.

Keep in mind that I know nothing about Brazil and am basing my answer on my experience with Colombia and Peru.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-09-01 20:00:00

COLOMBIANOS VIVIENDO EN LOS EE.UU.

Aunque no soy colombiano de verdad, me uno a este grupo (si no tienen nada en contra). Yo escribi un post un otro foro, que pueden leer aca:

http://www.visajourn...h...t&p=2492190

Estoy para servirles en lo que puedo...

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2008-12-19 22:59:00

Hi, I'm from Peru

Congratulations! You must be very happy to have this process completed. Good luck on the rest of your journey.

Yeah, baby! You know it!! I am so pumped right now. In a mere week my family will finally be here with me

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2010-02-09 01:14:00

Hi, I'm from Peru

Just checking in. My wife and stepson had their interviews last week, visas in hand as of Friday, and plane tickets have been organized. Happily hanging up my bachelor hat on 02/15

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2010-01-19 15:08:00

Hi, I'm from Peru

QUOTE (ardilla @ Jun 15 2006, 08:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi everyone,
My fiance is from Peru (Lima) he has been here for four years, he misses many things from home....especially now during the copa mundial. Before we came here (Minneapolis) we were in Lima (Jesus Maria) and before that me in Colombia (Bogota, Chapinero) and him in Lima. Things I know he misses and the first thing he does when he arrives in Lima (about 1 time per year, this year we will go to visit in January 2007!!):
1) chela + ceviche
2) arroz con pollo
3) lomo saltado
4) pan - pan - pan
5) pastel de acelga
6) acetunas
7) palta

There is a good cevicheria in Lima: la choza nautica, but I have never been there (just heard it is good).

PS> I don't know about the rest of you, but we were surprised that Alan Garcia was re-elected :0

What a small world. My wife is in Lima right now (Jesus Maria - you might recognize the municipalidad en the photo I am using as my avatar) but is from Sullana, Piura. I was married to a Bogotana before and lived in Bogota (near Chapinero in Los Alcazares... Avenida de Chile and Cra. 24) for 2 years.

Now I am all alone again in the Pacific NW, working hard to get my wife and step-son up here with me.

Mark

Edited by mlybrand, 13 August 2009 - 10:42 PM.

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-08-13 22:41:00

Need ITIN for wife even though "Married, filing separately"?

I am also interested in this topic and related issues. I did download IRS Pub 519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens and will be schooling myself a little. I actually started researching ITINs for the purposes of adding my wife as my beneficiary (pension, life insurance, etc), but am holding for now until I have a clearer understanding of the admonitions on the W-7 form about not filing for an ITIN unless you are filing income taxes (do they mean in the future or do they mean at the time of filing the W-7). W-7 lists exemptions for being able to file for an ITIN without filing income taxes, but none of the listed circumstances are even remotely related to the purposes I want an ITIN for.

Just curious, buy why are you just now filing? April 15 was eons ago...

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-08-19 00:55:00

I got my Christmas Present Early

QUOTE (Waldo @ Dec 27 2008, 09:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Mark... I feel for you man. I spent my holidays in a hotel across the street from the airport and worked ALL day. I'll be rooting for you. Which way are you going though to get to Lima? LAX make sure you get your Frequent Miles in as I know with One world 2 trips makes you elite! My wife is in Calloa not to far from the airport down there. I get to head back down on the 12th of Jan. When are you going to go? Salud!

Yeah. The snow event is thankfully pretty mucho over for us (the Spokane airport was still in our news though, so I feel for you and hope you got out).

I am going through LAX, I haven't been doing frequent miles at all, but I will look into it.

I am flying down on 01/15 and staying until 02/05, so we will more than likely overlap.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2008-12-30 12:58:00

I got my Christmas Present Early

QUOTE (Waldo @ Dec 24 2008, 08:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Since the 18th of Dec. We have been snowed in here in Spokane WA. The Post Office was closed for a couple days and our road was so Treacherous they went around us. One of the great guys on our block with a tractor plowed our road But alas... we had a 3-4ft snow berm about 5ft deep all the way to the mailboxes. There was no way for me to get the snow out of they way so I just made stares http://i121.photobuc...82/S4021098.jpg. I found our NOA1 on 12/22/2008.
I know we aren't close but this is the ONLY thing I wanted for Christmas. I wont be able to be with my wife for the holidays so have been working at the airport trying to help others be with there loved ones. I hope no-one here has been effected by the weather. Remember "Breath in..., Breath out..., Move on!" For whatever holiday you and yours celebrate I wish you all the best and have a very wonderful New years!

Hey man. I am over in Olympia and haven't moved my car in over a week. Had to spend Christmas Eve alone. But it'll all be okay. Plus I will be down with my Claris in Lima in just about 3 weeks.

Where in Peru is your better half?

Hope you are doing good other than being snowed in. I have a good feeling that spectacular things await in 2009.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2008-12-25 00:33:00

QUOTE (pushbrk @ Mar 3 2009, 07:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (mlybrand @ Mar 3 2009, 06:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Peter'n'Jaime @ Mar 3 2009, 12:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Marry in the USA and just renew your vows in a ceremony in Peru. Or vice versa. Personally I wouldn't want to chance having problems in the immigration process we all know its long enough already. I was legally married in Peru and we had a great ceremony with his family. We plan on renewing our vows in the USA once my husband gets here for my family.

Has anybody heard of Immigration causing any kind of issue because a marriage in Las Vegas? In other words, has that caused the consular officer in question to raise his/her eyebrows?

Mark

Not at all. Go for it. You only "marry" once though. Don't be trying to get married again later. Married is married.

Thanks. I promise not to get married a second time

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-03-03 22:55:00

QUOTE (Peter'n'Jaime @ Mar 3 2009, 12:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Has anybody heard of Immigration causing any kind of issue because a marriage in Las Vegas? In other words, has that caused the consular officer in question to raise his/her eyebrows?

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-03-03 21:05:00

QUOTE (Bobby_Umit @ Mar 2 2009, 08:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (mlybrand @ Mar 2 2009, 11:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi all.

So a mutual friend introduced my girlfriend and me. We have mostly been doing the distance thing, but I did get to go down and spend 3 weeks in Peru with her. She just got a tourist visa (10 years) and is coming up for a week in April.

Our plan really is to get married in Peru in October-ish (after I get all the paperwork together). But, kind of on a lark, we have been talking about flying down to Las Vegas and getting a quickie marriage just for the two of us. We wanted to keep it secret and everything and we would still go forward with the marrying in Peru plan. The question I have is: would this Vegas marriage cause us problems when we initiate the visa process after marrying in Peru?

I bet I know the answer, but spring time is making me feel all irresponsible

Mark

She can come here and get married on the visitors visa, no problem there. However, since you are intending on doing this, she cannot legally stay and AOS.

But since you state she is going back to Peru, - no issues.

She can go home, and you can start the CR-1 process for her to come back!

If you do get married here, why do you need to get married again in Peru? Isn't the US marriage binding in Peru?

We mostly just wanted to keep it a secret that we got married in Vegas ("What happens in Vegas..."). Then we were going to the whole marriage thing there for her friends and family. Will this situation look funny on the visa paperwork? I assume the answer to the next question is "yes", but: Do I have to report the marriage in Las Vegas if we have the subsequent marriage in Lima? Would the two marriages raise any eyebrows? We should probably just contain ourselves and act more like adults, I'm sure

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-03-02 23:56:00

QUOTE (Anh map @ Mar 2 2009, 08:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hmm.... lots of stuff here. I will let others weigh in with all the fraud talk about using a tourist visa to come in country and then planning to get married.

If she goes back and you go through the CR-1 it shouldn't be a big deal. If she stays after the Vegas wedding then that's where the fraud comes in.

Sounds like it will be a great story to tell when all the dust settles.

Not really planned (well, I guess at this point it is, huh?) She is going back after the week. She has a son and a job to get back to. I hadn't considered it being "fraud". But I guess it could definitely be construed that way. But it really is just a silly, innocent and romantic idea on our part. I know that wouldn't matter a whole lot in the eyes of a consular official, but I add it here for the benefit of any who wish to comment here in the forum.

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-03-02 23:21:00

Mark

mlybrand

Male

Peru

2009-03-02 23:09:00