Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Co-sponsors 2010 tax return	I'm in desperate need of some advice regarding the interview process and when or if they ask you for your sponsor and co-sponsor's latest tax return. The problem is that my husband and our co-sponsor live in California and as everyone knows were hit very hard last year with the recession. My sponsor went from making $300,000 a year to maybe $30,000 last year. I don't know what to do because I'm afraid we'll be denied as we don't have enough financial support. Can anyone give me some advice as to what to do and whether they take into consideration the recession and poverty guidelines? I'm really very worried:( Thanks again everyone!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-03-23 19:37:00
Canada	K3 medical and interview	Hi everyone I'm getting ready for my K3 medical on April 6th and the interview on April 14th in Montreal. Just a question for some clarification. The interview letter stated that all documents were accepted (original birth certificate, marriage certificate, police records, fingerprints and copy of my passport) so, do I still need to bring copies of everything? I know I need to bring a copy of the appointment letter, passport, 2 color US passport photos and proof or relations. Anything else I'm missing? I've also heard that I need to bring a copy of the AOS?! The problem with that one is when we sent it in we completely forgot to make copies of it Don't they already have that in front of them for reference? Anything else that anyone can think of would be great! Thanks!!!!!!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-03-15 16:49:00
Canada	Woo hoo! And a BIG "Wheh!"	Can you tell us what questions they asked and what additional documentation they asked for? Congrats BTW	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-03-20 10:29:00
Canada	CR1 Interview, March 22nd, 2010	Just wonderful, Bern! And yep...I think you round up the group of us that was waiting for so long for an interview date. The big ol' blitz of February and March interview dates is pretty much done! Is it just me, or are there very few CR-1 folks on here who have April interviews? I have an interview April 14!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-07 23:42:00
Canada	Medical Review - Medisys	Thanks for posting this - it reminded me that I wanted to share my story as well For anyone who is taking an anti-depressant it is imperative that you bring documentation from your GP, psychiatrist and any other mental health practitioner that you've dealt with . What they are really looking for is that you haven't been a threat to yourself or to others and that you haven't been hospitalized due to mental health issues. It's not a big deal that someone is on an anti-depressant (most of the US is on them anyways) as long as you don't have any major disorder or psychosis. And for those of you who do - just bring a lot of favorable documentation in support of your progress, etc. I, myself was really worried that it was going to be a hindrence but the associate at Dr.Seiden's office in Montreal just said that all the documentation was in order and asked if I thought seeing a doctor in the US every 6 mths was going to be OK. He also had written a lot of info on the form. I asked if he thought me being on anti-depressants was going to be an issue and he said 'no'. Hopefully, it won't be a problem at the interview I'll keep everyone posted!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-09 10:29:00
Canada	Notification of Interview	Hi Veronicali, You don't need a copy of your I-864, yes, they will have it in front of them. What you will want to take is updated financial information from your sponsor - recent pay stubs also, you should have the 2009 tax return by then, since the cut off is April 15th, so if possible you should also have that. Also, can you fill in your timeline please, it helps everyone LOL - I'm not sure why but, I never got these replies. Anyways, thanks for the info and I will fill out the timeline Interview April 14!!!!!!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-11 22:52:00
Canada	Notification of Interview	Good luck on your interview Mine is on April 14!!!!! Please let us know how it all went? Oh, BTW - I applied for the K3 Visa and understand that it is now CR1 etc, but, are you bringing a copy of your AOS? I sent mine in when we completed the I-864 so, I'm not sure why anyone would bring it since the info is in front of them? We for some very stupid reason didn't make a copy of it and I'm concerned they are going to ask me for it.	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-03-22 10:28:00
Canada	medical tomorrow in montreal	ok we are here in montreal survived the bus ride from winnipeg to montreal with two kids now here tomorrow is our medical any tips on it any info i should know Where is your appointment? Dr. Seiden's? Bring your appointment letter, 3 passport pics per person, vaccination history, brief note from GP and/or other doctors and money! Expect to be there for a few hours. It's pretty straight forward and isn't invasive. You'll be fine	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-15 19:13:00
Canada	Bleach in the usa	The trick is to add a touch, let it swoosh around and then leave it to sit for awhile. Another option is to hang your clothes out in the sun - the sun naturally bleaches your whites. Not sure how but, it works and your clothes smell sooooooooooo good:)	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-26 21:32:00
Canada	Interview Tomorrow	Good luck! Everything will be fine and then you'll finally say "Whew, it's done!"	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-26 21:37:00
Canada	POE wishes!!!	Good luck to you!!!!!!!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-26 21:47:00
Canada	Obtaining credit in the US	Hey there... just opened up a new bank account this Saturday and while were doing so, the woman did a credit check on my SSN and name just to see -- I had a credit score of 794 or something like that -- shocking as I've only been in the US for 6 weeks or so. It turns out that a year or so ago when we first started our Visa journey, my husband put me on one of his credit cards as a secondary holder. He only used it to travel and always paid it right off. Thus, my credit score. So, i applied for my own visa card and was approved for quite a high amount. I could NOT believe it. So, for those of you early in the process or just starting, get your USC spouse to put you on their CC as a secondary holder, it could establish some US credit for you. One of the easier things I had to do here. Just thought I'd pass this on. LGG If I may ask, what information was needed for your spouse to add you on as a secondary holder? I'll get my husband to do that ASAP while I'm still here in Canada	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-26 21:25:00
Canada	POE close to expiry date	Thank you everyone!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-07-21 16:44:00
Canada	POE close to expiry date	Hi everyone, I haven't POE'd yet since it's taken awhile to get my affairs in order before I move down:( My Visa is expiring Oct. 14 and I'm planning on entering end of September beginning of October if I can sell everything by then. Does anyone anticipate that I'll have a hard time since I'm entering close to the expiry and do I need to physically receive my SSN before the Visa expires or is it just a matter of entering before the expiry date? Thanks in advance:)	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-07-20 19:45:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	i 864	Hi everyone - can someone help? I have a problem - my interview is scheduled for April 14th and I understand that you have to bring the latest tax return from your sponsor and co-sponsor (which we have). The problem is that last year was a horrible year for my husband and co-sponsor as California was hit very badly during the recession. I don't know what to do as I'm afraid they will say that we don't have enough financial support. Can anyone suggest what can be done aside from getting a third sponsor and do you need to present the actual Tax Return or just a copy of the W2's or 1099's? Can I confirm from someone that 2009 poverty guidelines for a household of four in California is $27,563? Thanks again guys!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-03-23 20:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	changing name after moving to usa	Hi everyone I'm in the process of getting my K3 visa and have an interview on April 14. In regards to the name change - on my marriage certificate I put that I was changing my maiden name. When I filed for the I-130 I put down my married name and then all of the correspondence from NVC was addressed in my maiden name. I didn't bother changing my name to any of my Canadian documents and am wondering if I'm going to have a problem at the Consulate and moving forward?! Thanks!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-03-20 10:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Financial support question????	Basically they look at the entire picture. From a completely technical point of view, the joint sponsor's income which is over the 125% should suffice, however the purpose of the I-864 is to ensure you don't become a public charge - so they do - look at the whole thing. The technical point: It then goes on to say that if the AOS shows income below the poverty guideline, at that point they should request evidence of: (1) Current employment or self-employment; and (2) Recent pay statements, a letter from the employer on business letterhead - showing dates of employment, wages paid, and type of work performed - or other financial data. The joint sponsor - i'm confused - you mention he has an employment slip (W2) - but you also mention he has his own business - so this is the W2 he issued to himself? His salary? Nothing to be done there if that is the case, his income is what it is and since he is paying himself - well - you should be able to discuss that at the interview, if it comes up. As for your Husband's income - has he filed for 2009? If he included all his cash jobs - then they are on that tax return anyway, so nothing to explain really - his income is what it is. If you mean he has had several cash jobs this year, he should have some evidence of that, if you want to present it as well. Hi Trailmix Yes, he has a 1099 and a small amount on W2 for 2009. As for this year the only evidence I have are his bank statement(s) showing cheque deposits and the employment verification letter stating his hourly wage. As for the co-sponsor, yes, he issued the W2 for himself (I guess)	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-10 12:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Financial support question????	Hi everyone! So, I'm getting ready for my interview - April 14 and am getting worried about a few things: My husband works in construction and he is basically on call so, he has no paystubs since he was paid in cash for some of the jobs he's worked thus far. I do have a letter from his employer stating that he works full time and the wage amount per hour. It's a bit of a contradiction though since he hasn't been working 'full time' since the economy tanked. We have a co-sponsor who filed their 2009 taxes jointly with his wife (he and his wife didn't file an I-864A so, we aren't using her income) and has sent me a copy of his W2 and 2009 taxes which is just above the 2009 poverty guidelines for a family of three (me included). Our co-sponsor has his own business so, I can't provide paystubs or a letter from his employer since he's the owner. I'm just getting worried that I can't provide enough financial support. Do they solely look at the co-sponsor's income and how will I explain that my husband doesn't get paystubs and is mostly paid in cash? Or do I? Thanks again everyone!	Veronicali	Female	Canada	2010-04-10 09:18:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Unable to contact Montreal US Consulate	All you need to email for Packet 3 is the DS-160 barcode page, a color scan of your biographic info in your passport, and a scanned copy of the checklist on the second page (with applicable checked items), the 3 files my fiance submitted came to about 2mb all together. You bring the bank statements as a part of the I-134, which you bring to the interview.     Oh my god.. Thank you! Wow..well don't we make the smartest, instruction following couple..we have been scanning stuff all day and neither of us noticed its actually just 3 things they're asking for..wow. Thanks a bunch for explaining it. If you don't mind, chances are I'll be bothering you again for advice since my fiance and I both are so dull :\ Edited by Melisandre, 02 October 2014 - 08:46 PM.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-10-02 20:44:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Unable to contact Montreal US Consulate	.   Don't wait for Montreal to contact you because they'll take their sweet time! As soon as it says "Ready" submit your DS-160 if you haven't yet (remember to save the confirmation page with the bar code!), and just email them Packet 3. Here are the instructions if you don't have them: http://photos.state....ket3-K1-MTL.pdf. When you send this, let them know you want to receive Packet 4 as an email instead of a hard copy.     Thank you kindly. Really appreciate all the help. Just submitted DS-160. I'm working on packet 3 now and my fiance got his bank statements and everything ready. We're scanning them to email. But there's a limit of 25MB attachment limit for most emails.. Do you have any suggestion for me regarding this? Just his yearly bank statement alone is 11 MB and if we change the resolution to make it smaller it becomes a little blurry. I'm guessing I won't be able to send them Packet 3 in two separate emails with the attachment? I don't know what to do...	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-10-02 19:56:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Unable to contact Montreal US Consulate	Thank you so much for your help everyone! I have used their public form to contact them. Hopefully they won't take too long to answer back.   I have a question about something else though. Many of you have mentioned checking the status of case on CEAC to see if it says "ready". Sorry for acting like an airhead, but does that step come AFTER submitting DS-160? (I did read through the forum and the procedure process but perhaps I'm still missing something) I haven't submitted 160 yet, it's filled out I'm just gonna get my pictures taken and submit it tomorrow. In the meantime, other than submitting the 160 and collecting the packet 3 requirement, is there anything else that I should be doing? Or at this point I just wait to hear from the Montreal Embassy.   Another question I have is we just got our house this week so we have a new address. I'm putting the address of our new house on DS-160..that should be okay right? I'm sorry...anxiety makes me incredibly confused.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-09-30 23:41:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Unable to contact Montreal US Consulate	Hey Guys!   I need help with contacting the Montreal US embassy. I called 514-398-9695 and try to get around it for an hour but seems like it's just an automated phone number. Then I tried the emergency number (514) 981-5059 and after an hour a lady picked up and said this is for after hour emergency only and "I have no information on visa or passport or anything like that. Look in internet" and hung up... I received my NVC confirmation on September 18th so I wanted to talk to the embassy if they received my file and about my DS-160 application. How do they run an embassy without answering phone calls! Does anyone know if there's any way to contact them. How do I confirm that they have my file and will be sending me the checklist soon. Thanks you.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-09-30 12:00:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Packet 4 - trouble scheduling appointment for interview	You have to pay the fee first, then it allows you to pick dates from a calendar. It should register that you received p4. Then it will allow you to book interview, if this doesn't work, there is a number you can call to book on the phone and pay fee. The phone number is 438-793-1947 press 1 then 3 Hope this helps   Hi! Thank you for replying. I tried to pay the fee and it says there are no appointments available. I'll call them and try to do it over the phone. Just wondering if you know usually how long does it take to get an appointment if they're unavailable. Is it common for them to be this busy? I'm just curious.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-10-27 01:23:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Packet 4 - trouble scheduling appointment for interview	Hey guys!   I'm not being able to schedule my interview even though its been over 3 weeks since I received packet 4. As the email said I went to this address >    http://canada.usvisa-info.com/   < and tried to book it. It says currently no appointment available every time I try! Is that normal? My location would be the Montreal consulate. I haven't booked a medical appointment yet because I thought I need my interview date to book a medical appointment. Is that right? Please help. Thank you	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-10-24 10:20:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Sorry for disappearing like that, been down with an awful cold and perhaps food poisoning!   You guyssss we got our NOA1 last week!  And my uncle was also able to recover my birth certificate from Bangladesh! We're back on track.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-04-21 20:59:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	I know right! Why would a birth certificate need a permanent address AND a current address! They said my current address has to be on the main page of my passport! In what world does one's address appear on the main page of the passport! My uncle thinks they want money... apparently the guy said "Well bring me the appropriate document and I'll see what I can do, things are possible" - what a douchebag. I can't believe I'm being asked to bribe get MY birth certificate.   I might have to pay him at the end but I wanna contact the ministry of foreign affairs and the consulate first. This dude is just ughhh..everything that's wrong with South Asia!	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-25 12:41:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	My fiance is having a panic attack and saying stuff like that's it this is it we're doomed, let's hire a lawyer! I want to kick him.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-24 20:37:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	What's WORSE is they didn't even record anything electronically untill 2011 so basically I'm getting a new certificate that they kept no record of!	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-24 20:31:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	I'm in a very weird problem regarding my birth certificate.   I asked my uncle to get my birth certificate from Bangladesh. He went to get it and they asked for photocopy of my passport and my drivers licence. I sent both. Then they said my current address is not mentioned on the main page of the passport (!!!!) so they can't put my current Canadian address on the birth certificate. They said the best they can do is put the address of Bangladesh that I'd use IF I were to visit Bangladesh. That would be my uncle's home address, Where I usually stay when I visit. How big of a trouble am I in? Clearly my current address is Canadian, not to mention I haven't lived in Bangladesh since I turned 13 so I don't even have a police record from Bangladesh. What should I do...would they make a big fuss about it at the embassy? Or can I just explain that their system back there just SUCKS! Ughh...this is so extremely stressful.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-24 20:27:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	I had a wedding lunch vs a reception. Might be an idea for you?   That's actually a really good idea! But the problem is all our family/friends would be coming from out of State, out of country so we'll have to keep them somewhere.  Do you think it would be considered rude if we just ask them to stay for a day/night and not turn this into a 3 day vacation? Even though I understand they're coming from far but...but..I'm a new graduate and my fiance just started his new job..we're poor   I had the same situation as you: I was separated from my husband for 4 years before actually divorcing, and I was in the relationship for several months with my now-husband before my divorce was final. They asked me about it at the interview, and I was VERY glad I had thought to bring my separation agreement which showed the date of separation as being a few years before my rel'p with my new fiance started.     I do have the divorce order that had the separation date on it but the divorce certificate doesn't have the date of separation. I guess I should bring both with me.    Thank you!	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-13 16:46:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	We're 'thinking' of buying a house in USA. I get what you're saying about a house being an asset when we're only paying for the down payment..that's a bummer. What happens if we move the money from the bank and pay for the down payment 'after' my interview. Would there still be problem in terms of address change? Coz at my port of entry I'll be showing the address of the new place right?   To be honest, we're sort of rushing mainly because 1) my fiance pays a lotttt in rent and 2) we plan to have a very, very small wedding and wanted our families to stay with us during the wedding. We're sort of expected to pay for every expense and I mean every expense of our friends and family members that would be attending the wedding (cultural thing?). And we really didn't want to pay for a decent hotel for 15 people for 3 days + eating out :\ If we had a house we could keep at least some of them with us and save some money. + I could really use the space..my fiance sure loves his electronics, action figures and Lego. So there's no room for me.   Trust me I'm not planning the wedding or setting a date already. I know I just filed our petition this week and anything can happen. It's just I'm trying to plan it out financially.	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-09 19:23:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Thank you guys!!! Working on getting the birth certificate.. so frustrating.   We're in an odd situation finance wise.. we have been thinking of buying a house for a while now and we wanted to move in before the wedding. we found a house that we really like (sort of). The problem is..going for a house now would mean 1) address change and 2) whatever money we have saved up in the bank will go for the down payment.   How big of a problem would that be? Would the house still be considered an asset even if we can't show any savings in the bank? And would address change really make it more complicated?   Help	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-09 14:11:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Also, I'm having a hard time navigating the section that would tell me what I need to do/what documents do I, the beneficiary need to gather after NOA2	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-08 18:04:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	We sent our petition today!!!  We're a week behind our schedule (wanted to send it by February 28) but hey that's better than April! Here's hoping that we can get married by November..   Thank you so much each and everyone of you guys for all your help, suggestion and feedback.   Now moving on to the next step. I have 2 problems so far it seems like. 1) I have no record of immunization (my parents can't find it either!..so much for being the only child and having all the attention in the world) 2) They lost my birth certificate (I was born in Bangladesh)   What are my options in this case?	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-03-08 17:43:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Lol! Thanks! My divorce certificate was issues in July 2012. So I'm hoping it would be all good. So close of finishing up the paperwork for K 1 yet so far..    Thank you guys! Will keep you posted	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-02-20 22:34:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Thank you everyone. We are in the process of collecting all the documents..I panic easily and I have severe anxiety issue so this is gonna be a huge test for me    I'm not sure if it's relevant or if I'm over analyzing this.. but one thing I forgot to mention is that I was married before...I got married when I was 19, lived with the person I got married to, who's from Europe for 3 months and then he moved back to Europe. Since then I was separated/ out of touch with him for over 3.5 years. Arranged marriage. Couldn't file for divorce because of family pressure and all that for a long time. I started dating my fiance about 2 months before I officially filed for divorce in Ottawa. My divorce certificate was issued while I was already in a committed relationship with my then boyfriend now fiancee. My fiance and I have been friends since way before I got married to that person. Is there a chance that the embassy will question 'morality'? Or wonder that if I'm "good enough" to be a US resident looking at the timeline of my friendship and my relationship with my fiance? I was separated though.. Also, I never applied for ex's immigration or anything. I sort of started to freak out while filling up the divorce information... and got a little sad. Just a tiny bit.         Also please check the VJ examples, it shows how to answer for Q11.     http://www.visajourn.../Form-I-134.pdf   Thanks a bunch! Q11 is all done!	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-02-19 22:37:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Damn that's brutal! In Ottawa I have to go through US immigration/customs before I board the flight.    Just out of curiosity...what happened to your luggage, if you had checked in any? Coz if I'm denied entry to the US here in Ottawa airport, by then my luggage would be long gone I'm assuming.. Good god this is way more exhausting I though it would be! My wedding excitements are slowly turning into mild panic attacks :\   We're working on the I-134 form. We're not sure what to answer for Question 11. "If you check "intend", indicate the exact nature and duration of the contributions. For example, if you intend to furnish room and board, state for how long and if money, state the amount in U.S. dollars and whether it is to be given in a lump sum, weekly or month, and for how long." I guess "forever" won't be an appropriate answer? :\	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-02-16 01:33:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Thank you guys so much for the suggestions and guiedence. We are working on gathering all the documents and hopefully will be able to apply by the end of this month.   Got a silly question from my CSI, Homeland, Law and Order loving paranoid fiance. He bought some stocks/shares. We know he'll be required to submit all the infos about the stocks along with his other financial info. Apparently he bought a few stocks of "weed" :\ and he's worried that it's gonna "look bad" once they go through his documents. Is that really possible or is he just being paranoid. It's just stocks it's not like he's selling weed :S but he won't listen so he asked me if any of you could kindly have any information on how the embassy/State department looks at "moral judgement"     ...they won't let me in any more since I'm an "immigration risk", so I honestly thought I'd have a of months wait, and be gone.  Sad to say their wait times are worse than us waiting to see a specialist.     Hi dburnt! Your post  got me thinking about travelling to the States. Am I not gonna be allowed to enter the States after we file the petition? [We usually try to meet every 3-4 months] And I'm the one who usually travels because it's harder for him to book off at work. If I show the documents at customs that we have applied for K1 and it's just a travel visit would they still not accept it? I mean why would one apply and spend all this time and money and energy after the process if they wanted to illegally stay there or not return back to their country! :S That's frustrating.. Is he gonna be allowed to come to Ottawa to visit me?	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-02-14 19:31:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	no you didn't live there for 6 months after age 16.    Thank you!!!! Phew!	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-02-12 17:07:00
Canada	K 1 Visa - Ottawa, Ontario	Thank you guys! Wow..this is...overwhelming!   I was looking at the checklist of all the records that are needed. I was born in Bangladesh and lived there till was 14. I have been living in Canada since. I am 26 now and visited Bangladesh only once for 2 weeks in the last 12 years. Am I going to need to get a police record from Bangladesh as well?	Melisandre	Male	Canada	2014-02-12 16:50:00