biggish data

I'm so glad you discovered that you don't have to have your medical in Sydney. What a load off. Getting to Sydney just for the interview is tough if you live on the other side of the country. I was lucky since Sydney is my home.

Regarding rescheduling your interview... I didn't do it myself, but I would suggest that you attach preferred dates to your letter of readiness (the one you send in when you've got everything on the big list ). It makes sense that they will try to accomodate you as best they can.

If you DO have to reschedule, I wouldn't hesitate to email them. In my experience they have been very good with the email. Both times I received a reply within 24 hours. Again, give them the preferred dates in the email. I hope you can organise a decent time.

Best of luck!

Oh, thank you SO much! I feel a little better now about it all... My fiance is sending off the I-129F this upcoming Friday. It's good to know what to expect later. Again, thanks!

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-01 06:18:00

Also, here is a link to the LAND DOWNUNDER this is a place where all the Aussie American couples are and they can help you answer a great deal of questions because they are going through it *hugs*

LAND DOWNUNDER

Oh, thanks so much!

I'll have to pass this link to my fiance... He's a member here too. ^^

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-01 00:58:00

theoretically Call them to make sure they still do though.

I remember there used to be embassies in Sydney, Canberra and Perth, though I only seem to find links to Sydney on here. I'm a QLD'er, so I'll be going to Sydney anyway.

Oh, cool! I'll definitely have to do that, then...

There is one in Perth... I went to it about a month ago to get some info. They were kinda... useless. At least for what I needed. :\

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-01 00:55:00

Can't really help with regards to Sydney with reschedualling, however:

http://www.visajourn...e...&cty=Sydney

Near the bottom of the page is a list of doctors that can perform the medical, and there are 2 in Perth. Maybe give them a ring to find out if they still do them.

I'm worried about my medical too check out http://www.visajourn...mp;#entry864641, and also check out the 'Land Downunder' thread just for all us silly Australians

Wait... So I don't HAVE to have my medical done in Sydney? I can get one done in my own state? O_O

Thanks for the links!

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-01 00:25:00

Okay, let's try this again in the right place. Heh.

As I'm Australian, I will have to go to Sydney for my interview... (I live in Perth, Western Australia). It is more than likely that I will have to reschedule my interview time (when it comes around) because of work commitments. My question is... How flexible is the embassy about changing interview times? Can I get the medical on the interview day if I ask for it? I can't afford TWO flights to NSW and more time off in such a short amount of time. (I ask these questions now so that I know what to expect later, and to ease my mind a little... It's probably not for months and months away yet, but I feel nervous about it already!)

Any advice/experience (no matter how big or small!) about dealing with Sydney would be very appreciative. :blush:

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-06-30 18:27:00

A question fellow Aussie's could help me with...

You guys are champs. Thanks! :thumbs:

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-02 08:30:00

A question fellow Aussie's could help me with...

I hope I can ask this here... I really apologise if not...

On the "Applicant's residence last five years. List present address first." part on the G-325A form, where it says "City" do I have to put in the suburb I live in or the actual capital city (Perth)? Does it matter either way? These forms are making me feel a little paranoid about making mistakes. :wacko:

Sorry for being a pain. >.<

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-02 07:10:00

Interview extention...

Given your timeline, and service center....and as slow as things have been, I would think your I-129F would be approved at CSC someitme in September. From there it could be about a month or a little more (October or early November) before you receive your packet 3. Once you respond to the information contained in Packet 3, sign the checklist signaling you have all the documents required, that is when the Consulate will go about assigning you an interview date. I'm not sure how quickly the Sydney Consulate assigns interviews...accoding to the info here in the Embassy Info the Sydney Consulate assigns interviews about a month ahead. So after they've received your signed checklist, your interview will be around a month from that...so it would be early December at the earliest.
Once you send in your application and receive your NOA1, you'll be able to get a better read on an approximate timeline for your case. Check out the timelines of others who have gone through the Sydney consulate, to see how long it took them from filing to interview for a general idea of approximately how long it may take.

Good luck!

Aha! That's what I was kinda hoping for... In that case, I think I'll be fine. Thank you SO much for the very helpful info.

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-09 22:55:00

Interview extention...

Katz,

As long as the visa has been applied for - packet 3 has been responded to - a specific request for an extension is not necessary. The consulate will extend the petition approval on their own.

If one has not responded to packet 3 and the 4-month date is approaching it would be prudent for the alien to contact the consulate to request an extension and perhaps give a brief explanation as to why they have not yet responded.

Yodrak

Ohh... I see! Well, that makes sense. Thank you so much for helping me out! :thumbs:

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-09 18:59:00

Interview extention...

*question flys out of no-where*

2. After the I-129F has been approved, the petition is sent to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) where it is processed and forwarded to the correct embassy and consulate. The process of sending the approved I-129f from the Service Center (through the NVC) and arriving at the embassy takes about a month. The fiance(e) has 4 months from the time the I-129F was approved at the Service Center to obtain the K1 Visa at the US Consulate in the foreign country. This time period can be extended by a consular officer if required.

So, basically I have four months to have my interview from the date the petition is approved. Is that correct? If so... I'll have to ask for an extention (I'll be having my interview at Sydney) if it's approved before October/September (the I-129F is going to be sent out in the next day or so). Has anyone here had to do this? How long are you given? How flexible is the embassy about extentions? I feel a little confused... And silly.

Thanks, guys. :blush:

Katz

Female

Australia

2007-07-09 08:54:00

Hey guys! It's been a long while since I've been here. How is everyone going? Life has been so busy since I got my visa and finally moved to the USA! My husband and I got married on June 28th, and everything has been wonderful since. Well, after weeks of constantly putting it off, we're finally getting our butts motivated to do the AOS. LOL. It looks fairly straight-forward, but I do have one question which I hope someone can help me with. On the I-485 (well, all forms actually), do I have to put down my maiden name, or my married name? (My original Social Security card had my maiden name on it, but I recently got it changed to my new married name - the new card arrived in the mail about three days ago.) I'm a little confused about that bit.

Thanks!

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-07-23 22:32:00

QUOTE (vylex @ May 20 2008, 11:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congrats TracyOZ!!!! Sorry to hear the drama and anticipation! Glad you and your kids are here now!

Also was that mean lady some big Samoan looking lady? If so I know who you're talking about! She seemed like a bitter lady! When my wife was issued her visa they added additional alias note at the bottom that worried us because it misused my wife's middle name as her last name. We were worried it would be an issue at POE. Anyhow, we emailed the consulate and they asked us to come back the following day. When we did come and eventually got called up to the booth, that bitter lady was really curt..."where is your appt. You can't come here without an appt....blah blah blah..."

I shoved the visa and the printed email asking us to come back. Everyone else was very nice though, especially the interviewing officers.

Anyway glad that you made it through! Luckily we had no issue with the misprinted note at POE at LAX. The folks there were nice to my wife so I was happy.

LOL. I think I had that same lady, too! She was fairly decent with me, but she wasn't so nice to the others that had to see her. One couple I saw whilst waiting to be called up again almost had a fit. The woman had a police clearance that was only JUST expired or something, and the consulate emailed them saying it would be okay to use for the interview on that day... The Mean Lady didn't agree. Oh man, the woman was like "We flew all the way from MELBOURNE for this interview, and THIS CONSULATE gave us that information! They said it would be FINE!" etc, etc... I don't know what came out of that, but the couple were mad as hell.

Tracy, sorry that you had to go through all that awful drama - what a nightmare! But congrats on finally making it over here! I arrived on May 15th. LOL. The immigration officer I had said I was his 3rd K-1 - ever! And he was training a new guy. Another guy came over to watch the officer process my papers. They thought it was interesting. Haha.

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-06-04 11:20:00

QUOTE (patriciaofoz @ Apr 30 2008, 10:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Katz @ Apr 30 2008, 10:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...But I don't. The Sydney consulate didn't give my medical exam papers back, and the doctor didn't give me a copy of that form either. All I have is a little Pocket Medical Guide (they provided me with that) with two of the shots he had given to me recorded. The full thing was recorded on the medical exam papers. I'm not exactly sure what to do. Help?

We just sent off our AOS stuff yesterday. The Vaccination Supplement, as we read it, was the form that you would have been given by your Doctor, filled out and certified/signed by the Dr. which says when and that you have in fact had all the required vaccinations that the US Govt. had asked for. It's just a one sided form. I really hope this is the correct one

I photocopied all the medical forms from the Dr. five times over just to be sure. Perhaps to get a copy, contact the Dr. you had your medical with and see if they took a copy for their records. I'm not sure if that's procedure for them, but in case they did then you won't have to re-do your medical again. Otherwise, ask if the AOS folks will take the medical records stating that you got vaccines done.

P.S. Welcome to VJ, MissMellie!

I just rang the doctor's office, and they're sending me out copies of my medical stuff. Thank god! Thank you for the advice.

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-04-30 04:33:00

Hi all!

Been so busy lately with making arrangements, packing up and sorting out last minute details. I finished up with work last week, and it feels really weird... I leave in two weeks from tomorrow, so I've decided to start preparing for the AOS ordeal. I'm finding it all a little confusing... Especially this bit (from the site):

The current I-485 instructions mention a "vaccination supplement". Again as a K1 / K2 Visa holder you should have a copy of this from your exam overseas. If not you will need to make an appointment with an USCIS (INS) approved physician in your area to obtain this paperwork and/or additional vaccinations.

...But I don't. The Sydney consulate didn't give my medical exam papers back, and the doctor didn't give me a copy of that form either. All I have is a little Pocket Medical Guide (they provided me with that) with two of the shots he had given to me recorded. The full thing was recorded on the medical exam papers. I'm not exactly sure what to do. Help?

Edited by Katz, 29 April 2008 - 08:27 PM.

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-04-29 20:25:00

Thanks guys! Ohhh... The relief! Haha.

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-03-28 16:44:00

I got my visa in the mail today! WHOO-HOO! I can't believe that it's done... I'll be flying out to the US on May 15th, then marriage on June 28th.

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-03-28 04:28:00

Well, guys... I'll be boarding my plane to Sydney in a couple of hours for my interview on Tuesday morning. Wish me luck!

*nervous*

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-03-23 05:13:00

QUOTE (vylex @ Mar 18 2008, 12:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Katz,

If you'll be hanging around Sydney, I can at least recommend good eats (in my humble opinion hehe).

1) Go to Harry's Cafe. It's an outdoor stand with really good meat pies....yummm, they don't have meat pies like that over here on the East Coast.

2) I recommend Pancake on the Rocks. It should be pretty close walking distance from the Travelodge. You get a nice scenic walk through Circular Quay into the Rocks. That place is open 24 hours and it seems to be packed for most of it!

Thank you for the recommendations! I will definitely check them out - especially the pancake place. My flight gets in at Sydney at 6:15am, and check-in time at Travelodge isn't until 2pm. I'll eat my morning away. LOL.

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-03-18 01:04:00

QUOTE (Chicago_dreaming @ Mar 16 2008, 01:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Katz @ Mar 16 2008, 02:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi all!

Well, I finally got an interview date! I received packet four via email on Thursday - I was very surprised to get it so soon! My interview is on March 25th at 11:00am (the day before the original expiry date of the petition!), and I'm all ready to go. I was very lucky to get a decently-priced plane ticket and a hotel room (Travelodge on Phillip Street) so close to the Easter long weekend!

I'll have a full day in Sydney to do some touristy things, and the next day is the interview day. I'm very nervous, excited, and... nervous. LOL. I can't wait for it to be over and done with...

It should be interesting to see how long I'll spend at the consulate. I followed the new instructions that the consulate sent to me by email. I had to send all of my documents (with the exception of the evidence and originals of the police certificate, my change of name and birth certificates.) to them instead of taking it all with me.

I wonder if they've changed the way they interview people, too?

Good stuff! I'll let you know how my interview goes.

Also, does anyone know if the fee of AUD$157.20 payable at Aust Post, needs to be made prior to the interview? If so, do I just make the payment out to the Consular since I don't have a bill or anything to give over the counter for them to scan?

Thanks.

$157.20? That's odd... Mine says $150.65... O_o;

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-03-16 00:14:00

Katz

Female

Australia

2008-03-15 22:31:00