Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
US Citizenship General Discussion	Applying for citizenship and living in Florida	Thanks kstrozyk	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-02-14 14:09:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	Applying for citizenship and living in Florida	Is there anyway to find out before I send in my application for Citizenship where I will have to go to be interviewed and take the oath? I am to mail my package to Texas. Thanks	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-02-14 13:50:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	Passed my Interview 08/27/12 in Jacksonville Florida and got this today from the us citizen website: On August 29, 2012, we placed your application in the oath scheduling que. We will send a notice when the ceremony is scheduled. If you move prior to the scheduled ceremony, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-08-31 03:29:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	Interview 8/27/12 PASSED	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-08-29 00:24:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	Can my BIO appointment be updated please? 7/05/12 New Orleans,LA	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-06-20 03:27:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	My Bio was rescheduled to July 5th in New Orleans	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-06-14 13:28:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	Biometrics appointment 5/7/12 at 1pm in new orleans	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-04-16 17:57:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	NOA 3/27/12	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-03-31 19:05:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	check cashed 3/28/2012	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-03-29 00:09:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	N-400 FILERS - MARCH 2012	====================================== USCIS Dallas/Lewisville, Texas Lockbox ====================================== UserName..........|Sent.....|ChkCashd.|NOA......|Fprints..|Int Ltr..|Intview..|Oath.....|FieldOffice Isobel Birnie........|03/19/12.|--/--/--.|--/--/--.|--/--/--.|--/--/--.|--/--/--.|--/--/--.|City, ST	Isobel Birnie	Female	Scotland	2012-03-22 16:04:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	The Journey is finally over... I cannot begin to tell you how much of a relief this is. My wife and I were caught between that Adam Walsh Act of Jan 2007 (added the date because that's when it affected us, but was actually passed last year) and had a fairly rough set back. Due to the lack of knowledge and information Sydney had about this new legislation, my wife and I were in a state of limbo. Yet, we kept our faith. Sydney tells us that it may take months until they find out what they would do to the pending petitions. A few emails and all they can say is "please check back with the website or email us." Luckily my wife kept her interview date in Sydney... and was allowed to submit her packets. Upon her return home to a town called Adelaide... we decided that it be best to be together through this dilema. Since Sydney stated that it can take many months until this is resolved maybe even up to a year... I can't believe they said that! It put a strain on both of us because we had our hopes up from the very beginning. So I bought her a plane ticket to stay with me in America for up to 90days. And yes, my wife did tell the POE Officer that she was visiting her husband and was still allowed entry. Why? Because she told the truth. February 12th, my wife arrives in Florida! February 22nd... Rose from the consulate apparently called my wife's cellphone and leaves a message stating that her visa had been approved. Mind you, my wife is here in the US. So we get no email, no other calls... they had my wife's home number where they could have left a message with her mother, and they also had mine in the US. That message would eventually be erased since my wife's prepaid plan expired. I send an email on the 25th of February and get an email back on the 28th stating that they tried contacting us and that the visa is ready to be issued. Yes, they will try and contact you once... and that's about it. They will toss you aside... so always follow up in any situation! If I didn't email them, I would have never known that my wife's visa had been approved. If this went into April, Sydney says that my wife would have had to resubmit all her forms to get revaluated. Which means even more delays. My wife calls the consulate asking if she would have to return to Australia and they said yes, she physically has to to be in Australia to send off her passport. So my wife flies back on March 5th, returns to Adelaide and immediately sends off her passport. Wednesday the 7th... wife calls the Consulate. Oops! They are in conference for the next 3 days. My wife leaves two messages with Rose asking her to call back. Monday the 12th... my wife calls the Australia Post asking her if her passport made it to Sydney. She gives them the parcel number and guess what, there is no record of it. Apparently someone was too lazy to scan it into the system for tracking. Holy shiet... my wife and I go crazy! At this point we don't know what to do. Finally, Rose calls my wife's home number on the 13th and tells her mom to tell Stephanie to call her as soon as possible. Stephanie was at Uni doing homework. Well my wife didn't have enough credit on her mobile to call Sydney since she's on prepaid and didn't have a place nearby to buy any credit. So I call her myself that afternoon. Rose asks me if my wife is in Australia. And I said yes, she arrived last week and sent off her passport last week. I asked her if she recieved her passport because an overnight parcel would have been there by now... and guess what she tells me... "no, I have not recieved it yet... please have Stephanie call me as soon as possible..." If it was that important, why couldn't she just call her cellphone! So my wife and I are freaking out... we had no idea where her passport is and the post says they'll return our inquiry within 10 days! Well, my wife doesn't have 10 days... we thought this would have been a flight home, and a quick return... so it doesn't totally disrupt her studies. My wife calls this morning on the 14th and Rose is too busy to talk because she's conducting interviews... 1pm Adelaide time on the 14th guess what shows up on the door... yup... the parcel, my wife recieved her visa and passport. Apparently Rose, had no idea somebody else over there was working on it, and apparently the people inside the consulate don't really communicate with each other. So all I can say is, I'm done dealing with Sydney! We have the visa in hand!!! Wife is arriving here on Sunday... just as we expected. Thank you to all who were there for me in the beginning... Aussiewench, Lunamel, CarolineM, Kath... and the list can go on and on... If it weren't for visajourney, I would have been lost... To everyone else who has started their journey recently... this definitely has been a place of support, friendship, and guidance. Use these people wisely, that's why we are all here. Goodluck to everyone!	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-03-13 22:26:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Glad to see some new names in here. For everyone else who was following up on my status... Stephanie has sent her passport back to Sydney last week and we're just waiting to get it back. Tickets back to Florida is going to cost me nearly 1700$ USD. But that doesn't mean much to me... having her here is priceless. We're hoping she'll be able to fly out by this friday. Depends on what Rose says when my wife calls her later.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-03-11 22:16:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Hey Kath... yes, we thought this was going to take months... we didn't believe it would be that quick. They gave us the impression that it was going to take months. My wife made a call to Rose at the Consulate, we have a direct line to her and my wife spoke with her today. Rose said that my wife does have to return and post her passport as soon as she returns to Australia. My wife did leave an express envelope with them. So what's this thing about a brown envelope? What does it contain? Anyway, thanks again for everyone's support. And I do apologize to those who were hoping DCF would continue in some new way... The best thing now is to get into gear and get your things sent off right away.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-28 22:22:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	My wife got her VISA! Well, actually not yet... because she is here in America at the moment. But I emailed Sydney and they called on the 22nd of February to issue her visa.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-28 16:27:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	That's fantastic news!! Consulate is going to be closed from 7th March - 9th March. How did they contact the other person who went through Sydney DCF? Do you know when that person's original interview was supposed to be? From the DCF thread, John and Sonya got their interview date re-scheduled! So it is slowly progressing... Just a question regarding the final interview: Is this all that's needed: Medical Police cert + copy Marriage cert + copy Birth Cert + copy Passport Passport photo I-864 Am I forgetting anything else? Are the questions basically from the DS230? This person emailed the consulate and the consulate told them to send in their passport. They had their final interview back in early February I think... and we were all in Limbo.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-27 19:06:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Great news for those caught in the middle of DCF... At least it is something in writing. Those of us in LIMBO now have an idea of what will happen. I've already recieved an email from someone else who did DCF in Sydney, that Sydney is requesting for their passports so they can be stamped with it's final approval of the visa. I'm just waiting to hear from them myself to get my wife's visa put into her passport. http://www.uscis.gov...pdate022707.pdf One more thing... if you haven't already filed your I-130 petition... you must now file it in the US. This only pertains to those who have already filed the I-130 at an Embassy or Consulate abroad. So hurry and get those petitions in... We all lost over a month due to this big headache. Edited by David A., 27 February 2007 - 06:42 PM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-27 18:39:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	September?! Vylex... your wife would probably be done with the process by September if you went ahead and filed here in the US. Really? Hmmmm...what to do what do. I am not sure what timelines to believe when filing for IR-1/K-3s. I keep having fears of it taking 12 months or more. I have practically everything ready to go. The only difference is that with the DCF I have more confirmation of the time frame and it is a definite Visa (no K-3 / AOS / EAD overhead). I'll give it 1 more week and then if no news, I'll go ahead and get the ball rolling. Thanks...and congrats on being re-united safely! I'm wishing you the best on the rest of the process! Some timelines I've seen have taken 6-10 months, but for Australia, it wouldn't take more than 12 months.. If you started in February, you probably would have been done by the end of the year. And of course you can wait until this whole DCF thing is sorted out... who knows when that will be	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-13 15:34:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	I'm for happy for David and Stephanie as well! I know how close they were to getting the Visa before the rug was pulled from under them. I'm so happy she was able to get through! I have positive feelings that the people caught in the net will be freed soon enough. I still have high hopes for the DCF's return. The only good thing is that my wife was not planning on coming until September anyway. The problem is that I am on the verge of filing the I-130/K-3. I just hope this mess gets straightened out in the next few weeks. I want to know if I should get the ball rolling now because I am already expecting a 6-12 month waiting period after filing. September?! Vylex... your wife would probably be done with the process by September if you went ahead and filed here in the US.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-13 13:42:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Hey everybody, just wanted to let everyone know that my wife has landed safely at LAX and is already on her plane to Florida... We decided that it's just best for us to be together through this whole process. It's been rough on us, and we just needed to be together. We'll just hope Sydney works this whole thing out soon. BTW... the POE Officer asked my wife why she was visiting and she told them straight out... "to visit my husband." Edited by David A., 12 February 2007 - 07:24 PM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-12 19:23:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	I got an email from the Sydney Consulate asking them what they will be doing to my I-130. I told them word for word what they told my wife at her interview. So I asked them what they know about Bangkok and what instructions were they given about Bangkok. Well, I got an email stating that they have not recieved any instruction from the Department of State as to what will happen to the pending I-130. So I'm asking myself... why did they tell my wife that my I-130 will now go to Bangkok to get a background check? This is frickin' ridiculous. I'm sure the Sydney Consulate is just as confused as everyone around the world... that's why they shouldn't be telling people false information. Until they have it in writing. That's why I asked them what they knew... apparently they are clueless.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-06 15:30:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Routine my @$$... they need to redo the whole Standard Operating Procedure!	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-05 21:54:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	David, just a question about Packet 4 -- did Stephanie have more forms to fill out from Packet 4? What exactly is in the Packet 4? I thought it was just the interview letter and the instructions for things to bring in the day of the interview? Just a bit confused when you posted that Rose gave all her forms to the interviewer and he tried to throw her off with qs on those forms. Yes, packet 4 is the interview letter and instructions for things to bring, also instructions to make certified copies of certain things, like copies of the police certificate and such. When my wife went for the interview, he basically took the basic information that was on her previous applications and asked her basic questions about them. He basically mixed up answers like... Interviewer: "So you were born in the Philippines?" Wife: "Noooo, my husband was born in the Philippines." Interviewer: "So you got married on Sept 15th?" Wife: "Noooo, we got married on Sept 16th, my birthday is Sept 15th." Interviewer: "You guys got married in Florida?" Wife: "Noooo, we got married in Las Vegas, my husband lives in Florida" Instead of asking her a question, he basically mixed questions up, making my wife correct him. It was very easy, and my wife was giggling the whole time, wondering why he was trying to confuse her... but my wife kept correcting him in a sarcastic tone... She said it was too easy and the guy was very nice. You have nothing to worry about, just have all the forms in order and follow the instructions. To everyone else, thank you for the support. It's been full-on but I'm not too worried about, nothing will keep my wife and I apart.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-03 00:00:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Hey All.......I'M BACK! Visa is approved and Jake and I are really excited and happy about being together again for good! Where to start......what a day! Thank you to all of you for all your kind thoughts and words of support. It truelly made it much easier knowing I had all you terrific aussie folk in here supporting me. Kath, the photos helped so much. I went for a practice run on Thursday and because I had your pics it was easy to know where to go, so thanks a mil. Hamster thank you for encouraging me to eat choccies but I didn't get a chance to....it went so fast I was out by about 9.30am. Plus the Wiggles were up there getting their Visas for their next tour so I had entertainment!! Was very cool....sleepy Geoff looks older in person! and it made me laugh so hard when the US Consulate guy called up Captain Feathersword! Was hilarious! You guys would have loved it! I took a bottle of water with me and at security on the 59th floor they made me drink some of it in front of them before they would let me take it in. Talk about thorough. The lady who served me said "I just want to commend you on a excellent application" which was a relief as Jake had accidently stood on his employment letter before he sent it and it had a big muddy footprint so I told her and apologised and she just laughed and said she gets much worse than that. Plus, he had used whiteout on the I-134 which is a no-no so I was worried that it would get knocked back. I was also dissappointed that they didn't want to see my beautiful evidence folder , I even asked them "Don't you want to see my evidence?" He said no there was enough evidence from the original petition. It took me hours to put that thing together!!! Well that's enough rambling from me. Good luck to everyone who's next. It was definitely easier than I thought, and thanks again to all you wonderful people. Will put up a proper embassy review in the next couple of days. Huggers Lyndel Congratulations... I'm really happy for you but more depressed because we would have been done too.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-02-02 19:22:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Thank you all for your welcome Today has been a hard day. I get so tired of coming home to an empty house and getting into an empty bed. I miss him lots and lots. Right now we just play the waiting game. My goodness time goes by slowly... I am sure after we hopefully get our NOA2 I will have lots of questions then! The affidavit of support scares me because out of all my working years 2006 was the worst year financially for me lost my job got a straight comission job didn't do to good. I do own a house I hope that would help. I really do not want to ask my mom to co-sponsor! Make sure your taxes are up to date. If you own a house, what's it worth, equity, etc? (you don't have to tell me, it's just something to keep in mind), and do you have a job right now... If you don't want to use your parents to co-sponsor, just be sure you meet the poverty guidelines. Here is link to the 2007 poverty guidelines http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07fedreg	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-31 20:59:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	David: Oh I hear your pain/frustration... at least you have some comfort knowing you're almost there and this is at least just procdural B.S. Thanks for sharing is good to know that they let you in on povety level as Joshua is studying so we definitly won't be above that. We were thinking of the parental support to support that...any other ideas? Cheers, Priscilla If you don't believe he would make the poverty guidelines you do have the option of using his parents to sponsor. The directions are on the affidavit of support, I don't see why that would be a problem, as long as his parents are ok with it. Anybody else have any suggestions?	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-29 19:31:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Lyndel, Don't worry about your interview, you will do just fine. The guy will ask you simple questions and may not even ask for evidence of relationship. But, be sure you bring plenty of evidence anyway, you can never be too sure. Be sure you have everything in order, from the list that they gave you. Rose will ask you for them one at a time. The organized you are, the faster you'll get through it. BTW... my wife woke up a bit late... she forgot to reset her phone to Sydney time so she woke up 30 minutes late. She made it on time, except that she didn't make the first lift, so everyone made it up ahead of her. We weren't in no rush anyway, where was she going to go... my I-130 isn't approved yet. Goodluck! And if you need anything just let me know. Edited by David A., 29 January 2007 - 07:18 PM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-29 19:18:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Wife had her final interview today at the Sydney Consulate. They took Packet 4 from her including my affidavit of support, which totally met the poverty level. They told her that everything is fine and that my I-130 was pending approval and that it would be sent to Bangkok for final adjudication. After she submitted everything, Rose gave all her forms to the interviewer and my wife was asked a few questions. He tried to throw her off by mixing up the answers to her forms. I guess he wanted to be sure that my wife was telling the truth. After that, he said everything was ok and made my wife sign some form. My wife then asked if he was going to have a look at all the evidence of relationship like emails, letters, photos, etc. He said that he didn't need to do that since he already saw it when I filed my I-130 back in November. My wife then asked him what would happen to my I-130 and he said that it would now be forwarded to Bangkok for final approval. He said that he couldn't tell us when it would be completed, he just kept saying to check the Australia Consulate website for updates. So, if it weren't for this law that was passed last year but not told until last week... we would have been done and my wife would have recieved her green-card within a couple weeks. Oh well	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-29 19:06:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Hey Everyone, I just want to know if you were this nervous before your interview?? It is only Monday and I have to wait until Friday but everytime I think about the interview I get butterflies in my tummy. It didn't help last night with some people partying until 3am in our street. Anyway, trying to keep busy and double checking every little thing in my pack to take with me to Sydney. I am going up Thursday morning so am just going to hang around the city and try and have a relaxing day beforehand. Can't wait until this week is over! Poin J, I hope you have a speedy process. Good luck! Goodluck! My wife left for Sydney this afternoon. She's still attending her final interview tomorrow. Hopefully the Consulate will have some knowledge on what will happen to my I-130. I hope it goes very quickly. If not, my wife will be coming to the US to wait out the process, or up until her 90 days is up... whichever comes first. Goodluck again. You should be fine.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-29 02:47:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Yes, everyone is starting to see why I got sooo upset... after finding out that this law had been written last year, they should have given notice that this is pending approval and that you are at RISK of applying I-130s, since they don't know when the law would immediately come to effect. I orginally was going to apply for my wife's petition here in the USA but found out about the DCF process and realized that in two months time, my wife can have her visa approved and be done with it, rather than waiting 6-8 months like others. Nowhere in the process do they state... "you are at risk of applying the I-130 overseas, as pending legislation may prevent a delay in the process..." A courtesy message of that sort probably would have changed a lot of people's plans. I probably would have decided, I can easily wait an extra 4 months, rather than have to deal with the BS now. When this law was implemented, and according to many Consulates overseas, it was as early as the 22nd of January. If Consulates can easily post a notice on their website when this was implemented and about the new changes to the process, then that means it wouild have been just as easy to place on there a message of any risks for applying for the I-130 due to pending legislations. That easy. So, if anybody else is upset about the people who have control of the process, then I understand.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-26 00:35:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	David et al, please see Condi's explanation here: http://britishexpats...ad.php?t=421608 Thanks Meauxna... that's really good info.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-25 20:00:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	To everybody dealing with the ordeal, keep hope, that's all we can do. Talked to the wife for a bit last night. She's going to fly over to the US under the VWP and just stay with me for up to 3 months if that's as long as it takes to get these forms approved. Her headboss heard about the situation and has always been rooting for us, but with all this, he's a little in shock himself. He's also allowing her to take a leave of absence and if for some reason, my wife will end up in Australia longer, my wife can take her job back since someone will be going for maternity leave later in May. So I guess things are slowly going up. Elle, I hope things work out for you... you did file in America didn't you? Find out what happened to those forms and have them continue it... It's the best thing for you at this moment. Chris, I did get the PM from Koukla explaining what the Consulate had told them. Apparently my wife was one of the first called because Rose had very little information, we didn't hear about this whole Bangkok thing. I hope that it goes smoothly since I've already had the interview and the I-130 is just going there for background checks. From what Koukla said, Bangkok is not easy to deal with. If they want to give me anymore grief, I have the Navy JAG (Judge Advocate General) ready to step in. To add a note. I'm sure this isn't the first worst thing to happen to anybody. I've had many in my life time. Some while serving in the military, everyone should understand why that is these days... But anyway, I remember someone telling me this when I was at my lowest... "you're at Rock Bottom... no where else to go now but up!" And since then, I always had some sense knowing that things eventually works out. Just vent your frustrations, accept defeat, and come back fighting again... Edited by David A., 25 January 2007 - 12:54 PM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-25 12:53:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Hi David, I'm glad you can still go ahead with the interview and at least submit your papers. I sincerely hope it goes quickly for you. Unbelievable that they didn't give people any notice about the new legislation!! We are only engaged so I think we are OK because we only the filed the I129F fiance petition, am trying to search on USCIS for info but it's like searching for a needle in a haystack as usual. When my fiance got back from Iraq we were almost going to get married then, now I am glad we waited. Hang in there! Lyndel Oh ya, you went through the NVC... you should have no problem. Because your husbands application had to go through the USCIS anyway, he got his background check. You'll be ok.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-25 01:57:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Hi David, I am so sorry to hear about the hassles you are having. I was going to ask if you and your wife were getting excited about next week but now I am upset for you that you have to go through this. It's absolutely disgusting how they treat people and stuff up their lives, I am still in shock. Reminds me of the IMBRA RFE's. Well I hope you get some help through the Military. My man is Military also. Keep us posted! Lyndel Hey Lyndel, my wife says that her appointment is still open and that she can attend to submit packet 4. Since her flight is non-refundable, she's going to go ahead and take it to submit the stuff. Once the consulate sends off her forms to the USCIS for approval (that's if they don't make us do it agai) as soon as it returns, then it's automatic approval since we are already done. As for your husband, thanks for his service... and tell him to keep legal informed just in case. Edited by David A., 25 January 2007 - 01:24 AM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-25 01:23:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	My wife called me and said that the US CONSULATE IN SYDNEY are no longer issuing visas for spouses or relatives and that her appointment for NEXT week has been cancelled. I now have to refile all over again here in the US with the USCIS! Now, my venting.. This is bullshiet, apparently this has something to do with some new law protecting children and spouses from sex offenders. Which I believe is a damn good law. What pisses me off is why can't these people at the US consulates, make a simple phone call to the USCIS and ask "does so and so have a criminal record, is this person a sex offender." All this technology and for some reason they forgot that telephones and computers exists. First off, on the application, I put I serve in the military. I even have a statement of service letter from my Commanding Officer who is in charge of this huge hospital. If I were a sex offender I would not be in the field that I am in. I am a Navy Hospital Corpsman, I work in a hospital, and I deal with a lot of patients, many of them being children. Sex Offenders cannot work in a field where they would be one on one with children. They have my Social Security number, why can't these people look me up in the database and just look to see if I am a registered Sex Offender. I believe this is a load of bullshit. And now they tell me that I have to refile in the US! Of course that would mean more fees, because the fees I paid for was to process my stuff in Australia which they did, so they got paid to do it. What the USCIS will say is, "oh, you already paid, but you have to pay us now because we are processing it here this time, again!" That's practically stealing! My wife already paid for her ticket to Sydney on tuesday, non-refundable. There goes 370$US out of my pocket! Tomorrow I am involving the US Military. I will talk to my legal Officer and they can deal with the USCIS. I've served in a combat zone, for that reason when I applied for US Citizenship through the military, I got it in 3 months, not 3 to 10 years. I'll keep you updated on what the Navy does for me... for everyone else who is fortunate enough to have their loved ones with them already, be very humble about life. For those who got slapped, let's stick together on here and we'll get through it. For anybody elses' information... here is ROSES' number directly from my wife's phone... 61 2 9373 9167 I hope that get's you into the US Consulate. If it works, be sure you pass it around to everyone from Australia dealing with visas.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-25 00:55:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	David, sorry to see that Sydney got onto it so quickly -- when I looked earlier today they still hadn't posted anything. In light of that, I think it's probably a good idea to email them before your wife's interview date to see that she can still have the interview on that day. It would be dreadful if she flew all the way to Sydney and was told she couldn't have the interview then. I'm sorry you're going through this, it's such rotten luck. I can't imagine how frustrated you must be feeling right now. Hope it all works out ok. POI my post didn't include what I had replied. But I said that the sponsor has to file in the USA now, you can't do it in Australia anymore. Lunamel, Today is Thursday in Australia isn't it? Then they are closed on friday. Monday would be the second work day if I were to email them today... and they never reply within two days. Even if I sent them an email today, they would not get it in time. My wife's appointment is on Tuesday. I'm hoping that they just take my wife's packet 4 and then send that off to the USCIS in the USA to get final approval. The thing that kinda confuses me is that they state that you can no longer submit the I-130, so that doesn't pertain to us because we've filed in November. Then the part that says they can no longer approve I-130s but if it hasn't been approved, then why have they sent us packet 4. I'm just crossing my fingers that they still let her go.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-24 21:43:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Thanks for that. I've been emailing a dozen places already. It's beyond me why you can't just pick up the phone and speak to someone. Hopefully that is all it means and not that he must go home and apply. Edited by David A., 24 January 2007 - 08:47 PM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-24 20:46:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	So does that mean we must send our I-130 to the States (His local USCIS office)...??? Yes, I believe so. The sponsor must send the request to the USCIS office in their state's jurisdiction.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-24 19:26:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	We did it! We did it!!! Photos on the way...!!! Soz I don't get to keep up with everyones news, I'm at work and have only just recently connected at home to Joshua's LT. We will be booking in for the first interview in Melbourne end of February...Yay!! Sorry to break your heart, but I'm caught in the middle of this. This is what I got from the Australia Consulate Website. "— Notice — Recent legislation has led to changes in the procedures American citizens resident abroad will follow if they wish to sponsor an immediate relative (spouse, parent or minor child) for an immigrant visa. Effective immediately, the immediate relative petition (I-130) must be filed with the USCIS office responsible for the petitioner’s place of residence (that is, the place of residence of the American citizen who is filing the petition). Consular offices at U.S. embassies and consulates are no longer authorized to accept I-130s, although they will continue to provide guidance to American citizen petitioners and their family members. Responsibility for acceptance and approval of immigrant visa petitions rests solely with USCIS. American citizens should submit their I-130 at the CIS office responsible for their place of residence. This procedural change may result in a processing delay for some applicants. The Department of State recognizes and sincerely regrets the inconvenience this may cause." I don't know what will happen now since my I-130 had already been approved. They haven't informed my wife about the change but I am assuming that they might take everything from her on her final interview and send it off to a USCIS to get the final approval, this might take another month or so... I'm so pissed off right now, I just don't know what to do. For all those planning DCF... Unfortunately you won't be able to do it anymore. DCF is over. Edited by David A., 24 January 2007 - 06:30 PM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-24 18:30:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	Anybody have any information regarding DCF no longer possible in Australia? I heard I-130s can no longer be approved at US Consulates abroad. I'm not sure if this affects my wife and others who's final interviews are coming up. I tried calling the consulate in Sydney, but as you know, you can only email them, walk-in, or send a letter by post. Edited by David A., 24 January 2007 - 01:33 AM.	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-24 01:32:00
Asia: East and Pacific	LAND DOWNUNDER	David,...I went through LAX at the end of 2003 to activate a K1 visa. I went through the US Citizens line,..well more specifically, they had a line sign posted for new immigrant/non-immigrant visas.(k1, K3 etc.) I simply asked a Immigration officer that stands near the front of the lines where I should be,..he asked me what I had, and directed me accordingly...All up I was in/out of customs in less then 15 minutes, and that included the wait, and the Customs officer going through the envelope etc... Jodee Thanks Jodee!	David A.	Male	Australia	2007-01-22 00:29:00