Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Ugh Vanessa that sucks! You can file sooooon though! I'm just excited that we can file way sooner than I though. Makes me hopeful we will be all done by the time we are going to Mexico for our honeymoon!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-27 20:46:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Got our marriage certificate in the mail today! A word of advice for anyone else getting married in Los Angeles County...take the time to go in person to the Norwalk office of the County Clerk and register your marriage there. If you do it there, and give them an express envelope, you will get your certificate within 10 business days. From what I was told, if you register at any other office, it takes up to eight weeks! We registered our marriage on Thursday and we got the certificate two days later! So making the trip down there was worth it...even though it was two hours on the bus both ways lol. So, looks like we can file for AOS by next week. Yay!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-27 19:21:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Thankyou Terri and jaimemcd	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-24 16:48:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	I'm MARRIED!!!!!!! Saturday was perfect...the weather held off, it was cool but sunny, the garden looked beautiful from all the work my dad had put in with the owner, we had almost all out loved ones there, and I got a husband out of it too, lol. It really was the happiest day of my life I just can't get over the generosity of all the people in our lives, we surely didn't deserve all the love and gifts given to us. I've been crying all weekend just thinking about it! Now, onto change of status, which will surely make me cry for completely different reasons! Terri - It's such a hard choice to make regarding how the wedding will go down. Alex and I were originally going to elope in Vegas and then have a bigger ceremony a year or so down the track, but then I got cold feet on that and so we decided we would do a 'proper' wedding and an intimate reception in LA. Cost is a huge part of it too. Not including my dress, I think our wedding came in at under $2500. I did a LOT of stuff myself and we did not do a lot of traditional wedding things. We also lucked out that our venue was free and I had friends that called in favours for me too. So yeah, it was very hard trying to plan it from home and the three weeks in between me getting back to the states was HECTIC but I wouldn't have done it any other way now. It was right for us. So if you have decided on the kind of celebration that you want, don't let anyone else shame you into doing something else. It's your special day and you have to be the one in love with it. A lot of people go with courthouse now, big wedding later deal because it just works for K-1'ers. I don't think it decreases the effect. If I walked down the aisle again it would feel just as amazing as it did two days ago. Anyway, enough of my blathering, lol. I'm going to go an enjoy my out-of-this-world husband!!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-22 10:41:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Oh no! I hope your foot is better by Saturday and you have no more little accidents before or on Saturday. Didn't you do the same thing just before your visa interview? Is everything set for your big day? I bet you are sooooo excited! Lol yep smashed my little toe on my left foot and was horribly, blisteringly sunburned. Looked like a fool for sure!! Pretty much a lot of stuff is organised, tomorrow we are doing set up at the venue and all that good stuff. Praying the rain holds off and it's a pretty day!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-18 14:39:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	ARGH! Three days away from the wedding and I smash my foot today! My right foot is swollen and I'm desparatley icing it so I'm not limping like a fool on saturday	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-17 23:36:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	visa approved just now! Had to wait 45 mins to be interviewed..and then was asked about 10 simple questions and she said your approved, your visa will be mailed in a few days! It all feels quite surreal! But I can relax now and go shopping till my flight tonight back to melbourne CONGRATS! Enjoy floating around Sydney in a happy daze	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-15 19:55:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	I posted it in the off topic area, got quite a few replies! In other news - One more week until myself and Natalie are married women! Woot!!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-13 12:33:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Hey everyone, this an off-topic post but it is something that has roused my curiosity. I just finished reading a book called "Committed" by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author who also wrote "Eat, Pray, Love." Anyways, the basis of this book is her own K1 journey during 2006/2007. In her story though, there seem to be several inconsistencies with what we all know about getting a K1, and I don't know if it's just her taking some creative licence or if it's just down to the fact that it was back in 2006 and things were different. I do know that the K1 process was changed due to IMBRA being introduced. So, two things that she said was that once her fiance was in the US, that they had 30 days to marry - which we all know to be incorrect, at least currently. She also wrote as if she had an inside knowledge of how her case was proceeding at USCIS, for example, knowing when her own FBI name check was completed. She wrote that it was her lawyer that told her this, but since when are even lawyers privy to each stage of case proceedings? As far as I know, and in my own case, the only time we knew that something was achieved in the case was when we got our NOA's. Then, she also mentioned about having to show joint bank accounts at the petition stage, which again isn't even needed until AOS. So, just a few things that kind of bugged me. Does anyone know if back in 2006 if what Gilbert has stated is correct or she has taken some licence with her writing? Because if she has, it's a tad irresponsible.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-12 00:17:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Visa Approved! Now to fly out on Tuesday. Just saw the AOS fee, have no idea how I'll afford that! Congrats!! Yeah, the AOS fee sucks. Just as well Alex got a great Tax return a few days ago!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-09 20:45:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	It's soooo must less paperwork (in my opinion) than the K1. Much less running around. It's like getting P3, there's a list, you send the list and *done* (well maybe an interview, maybe and RFE but mostly.. done ) Check the link in my signature about AOS. I researched it a couple of weeks back so that I'm not surprised when it gets to it. Hope that it helps you out Yeah, your thread is so helpful!! I've had a look around at the forms and such tonight, it really looks like a breeze compared to the K1!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-09 00:35:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	I hear what you are saying about the snow, my girl just laughs at me and say's "how cute" as I sit staring out the window at the snow! But it is so crazy coming from Brisbane to see it. Now it is time for me to start getting the paperwork in place for the AOS I guess, what are all you guys doing on this? Jason AOS is in the back of my mind all the time, but I haven't gotten around to looking at the paperwork! would be an awesome idea to get the jump on it though, so when it's time to file, we don't have to stuff around.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-08 19:20:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Got my interview on Tuesday, trying to work out if I should go with Jeans or Trousers? I dressed pretty nicely, skirt and blouse. I treated it like a job interview. A lot of the other K1's that were with me that day were pretty similar.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-07 23:07:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	received interview date via email today, only posted packet 3 on wednesday! so was not expected a response that quick Interview is tuesday 16th at 10am..i only get back to melbourne from new zealand on sunday 14th, so the next day I will have to fly to sydney.. im going to be super stressed! How exciting!! The interview is nothing to stress about...look forward to it because it will be the day that this part of your journey comes to an end!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-04 23:47:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Yay for a successful POE! And yay for almost being reunited! I have to agree with Giggles, so weird going from the heat and humidity in Brissie to the cold over here...though in LA, it's not even close to snowing! It's semi nice weather, I'm hoping that it stays sunny and mild for the next few weeks, after that it can do whatever the hell it pleases!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-02-04 20:45:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Hey everyone, I am back in the US with Alex! Pretty smooth POE, no trouble with the CBP guard, he joked around with me while he stamped my passport, as I was being really clumsy from lack of sleep! Asked if I could have a temp EAD stamp, and they don't give them out anymore, he said. Oh well, worth a try, right? My bags were right in front of me when I got to baggage claim, got right through screening and out to my boy! Feels like I am in a dream to be back here, but so nice to be in my own apartment with my own things and my own cat	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-28 12:05:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	I'm sorry but right now I'm just laughing. Not to pick on you, but because I read this AFTER I read your status on FB about how you're having to hold your tongue and even suggested (and then deleted it so i didn't offend people) that it was RSVP's and then I logged here and read this and I was like OMG I SO TOTALLY GUESSED THAT!! I don't understand it either. Tony and I asked that people just call, or text, or email. Everyone has phone access so i thought it'd be super simple to at least send a text... couldn't be MORE wrong. OMG I still remember I was just like you, bordering on hysteria. I was so careful and so dedicated to NOT being a Bridezilla and I just didn't understand why people couldn't just let me know. Some even told my mother-in-law. Some didn't bother telling anyone and just rocked up, some of my sister-in-laws friends just rocked up and even ATE FOOD! Still makes me angry BUT at least you have your Aussie people!! Woot woot! S'pose the qn is now, what do you do? Are you having a sit down dinner? Are you having a buffet? Are you going to have extra seats "just in case"? Tony's dad offered to cover anyone OVER our RSVP number as they were their friends and family and we shouldn't have to (in his words and my mind) pay for their rude friends and family. The type of dinner plans dictates what you do. I am of the personal opinion that I wouldn't chase anyone. If they don't care enough about me and our relationship to give a simply RSVP then they're not worth my time. We tossed around the idea of a "guest list" and having security at the door and informing those NOT on the list (but claiming they were invited) that no RSVP = no entry. We also considered setting up additional tables (if we were doing allocated seats) up the back as "non-RSVPers" seats so those that RSVP'd get their meal, those that didn't may have snacks (like nuts or whatever on the table) but they would not be served dinner. Meaning they were permitted to "enjoy" the festivities, but there just wouldn't be enough food so why should the polite people suffer? That wasn't going to work for us because we had a buffet but if it was going to be waiters handing out meals that was going to be the plan. So.. what's the plan? oh and it's okay. Just think PRETTY DRESS! PRETTY PICS! I still think about how annoyed I was, how rude I think his family is (and he agrees) but the wedding pics are still pretty, I'm still married to him, and I'm still HERE with him so in the end it's okay. Having a puppy would help the healing though We would have eloped had his grandmothers being there, and his father being there not meant so much to him. P.s. OMG 2 days?!?! Didn't that go fast! We are having it buffet style, so people can just go up and pick what they want. I am not sure what we are going to do if extra people show up, I need to talk to Alex about that when I get there. We may need to have some spare chairs and such just in case, but the inner ####### in me just wants to not make en effort for them. I am also of the mind that I am not going to chase people for RSVP's, and if people haven't cared enough to reply to us by the time I get back (this wednesday, which is three weeks before the wedding) then they can just forget it. Obviously we don't mean enough to them for something as simple as what we are asking. And even though we did not get people official invitations until the first week of January, we had warned everyone to keep that weekend free months ago. Yep, got to think 'Pretty dress, pretty photos, becoming Mrs. Alex..." or I will literally starting cussing people out! And a puppy would be AMAZING, lol. Oh, and 1 day, 11 hours til I get on the plane, two days, five hours until we are together	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-25 05:00:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Update for me - Two days and 12 hours until I get on my plane. Yay! I'm almost all packed (and constantly freaking out about being over baggage limits, hahah) and have my last day at my job tomorrow. All good! The negative thing though, and I am sure you can all relate to this, is the cruddy RSVP habits of Americans. Our RSVP date was Wednesday of this past week, and all the Aussies had theirs in well before that. As I predicted I would, I am chasing American attendees! I don't think they understand that an RSVP means "we would please like an answer from you by this date," not, " hey, I guess you can just tell us you are coming, but whatever, just stick the card in the mail whenever you like!" I contacted everyone that had not sent theirs back the day after, with a friendly message asking if they had indeed received their invitation (one guest did not, and let me know) to please get us the RSVP card back as quickly as possible. Pretty much no one has gotten back to me, nearly three days later. I know I am bordering on Bridezilla, but I think it's just really rude to just ignore the polite request of a friend to do something as simple as write your name on a card, tick yes or no, and stick the envelope (which we provided and addressed!) back in the mail. As if organizing a wedding from the other side of the planet wasn't hard enough. If people still haven't replied by the time I am in the States, my mouth might get the better of me :/ /rant.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-24 03:29:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Good Luck to those with interviews or medicals tomorrow. I have been packing madly to be prepared to move back into my parents house in 3 weeks...I just arranged for most of my scrapbooking stash to go to a new home...so that is a relief that it will go to someone who will appreciate it all. The rest is slowly being packed, clothes have been given away to the Salvation Army and we have only what we will wear over the next few months. Kind of nice to be cleaning house this way LOL I need to start doing that too! Less than three weeks til I fly out, and somehow I have accumulated a lot of ####### in the past six months! Time for me to visit the Salvo's too!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-11 05:45:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	GOOD LUCK TO ALL INTERVIEWEES FOR TOMORROW! May your journey to the MLC center be quick, painless and produce the result we want!! Giggles - I hear you about the ceremony hoopla. Every other day I wish that Alex and I were just eloping!! But, I know if we did that, I would regret it. Getting married is special that way, every day is different. But the one thing we all have in common is that we are all creating awesome new realtionships	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-11 03:36:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	My mother announced our engagement on Facebook within 10 minutes of Eric proposing lol...was rather funny but all our extended family found out that way. Having a photographer who yu have worked with before makes it that much easier too. Anything that makes that day a little less stressful works for me. Yeah, we called our families and really close friends first, and the let it loose on FB	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-10 07:51:00
Australia and New Zealand	Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date	Exactly! I'm gunna go out on a limb and say ANY event that I know any Aussie to RSVP yes to something, they actually rock up, or if they're unable they call and say they can't. I just don't get why it doesn't matter to them... ooo my personal fave that I forgot to mention.. watch any engagement announcements!! My mother-in-law wrote an announcement including the DATE and TIME and LOCATION of the wedding and this "Friends and family are invited to attend". Umm excuse me? I flipped out and was like "what's the point of me sending invites and asking for RSVP's if it's just "come one come all?"". She claimed it wasn't her, and it was just the format so pre-warning! Haha, maybe lucky that we are from Los Angeles, and thats not really a thing they do over there. It reminds me of the time I asked Alex why there weren't birth notices and engagement announcements in the local paper, like they have in nearly every paper in Australia. And he was like "What, advertise a birth and ask for you baby to be kidnapped?" LOL. I suppose I grew up in country Victoria and South Australia, where the announcement section is the first bit of the local rag you turn to, haha. Papers in the US, all it is is legal notices! Actually makes me a bit sad, would have loved to have seen our engagement in print. Facebook was just as good, I guess! As for photos, lined up our photographer the other day....same guy who did our engagement photos. We're very lucky that someone that knows us well will be shooting us, makes the day much more stress free! Don'tWhateverMe - Got to have the black thongs for formal events! Though sometimes I reach for my silver Havianas, when I feel a bit more fun Edited by alex and astrid, 10 January 2010 - 06:51 AM.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-01-10 06:50:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Hello all ... long time. Hope you're all well & happy. Just a couple of quick Q's. Has anyone been to a SSA office for a name change with their marriage certificate? Was it quick and painless or painful? Has anyone been to an IRS office to have their ITIN #'s and SSN's merged? One thing I have noticed, going to a doc is painful here. I've received quicker and better treatment at the emergency room than with my supposed family doc. I miss home ... . TIA. When I changed my name with the SSA is was quick and painless Brought evidence of my new and old names, explained that I came in on a K1 visa and that was it. Got my new card a week later, and had fun burning the old one. I never had to merge an ITIN and a SSN because I've only ever had a SSN. Doctors.....I didn't start seeing anyone until I got insurance through my job. I adore my dentist (prompt, does great work and has an amazing bedside manner to soothe my dental anxiety!) and I like my GP (old school, older fellow how is fairly quick) but I don't like my OBGYN at all. Brusque, rude and really left a bad taste in my mouth. I miss my old GP!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-03-03 13:47:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Just got back from a trip celebrating Alex and I's first wedding anniversary! One year flew by...can't wait to celebrate more anniversaries with him	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-02-21 14:45:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Today is one year since I left Australia! Last Australia Day I was packing the last of my stuff and eating my last buts of Aussie food. Today I celebrated Australia day by taking Alex to the airport and working, hahaha. Good times!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-27 01:06:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Here are before and after pictures of the flood in Brisbane from an aerial view that I saw on ABC News. It's pretty amazing to see. Part 1 Part 2 seeing the before and after really shows you the massive amount of water it takes for that much flooding	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-20 15:53:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	they live in seventeen mile rocks, but on higher ground. So they were safe and so was the house. Just a couple of days of no sleep, especially for Mum because she had a lot of friends out in the Goodna/Ipswich area. Mum's work in Oxley went under, they don't know how long it will take until her store is back up and running, it could take 6 months or more. Dad works in South Brisbane at Parmalat and that got flooded, but only about a metre and a half. But, he doesn't know when he will be back at work either....but really, houses and belongings are replacable. Lives aren't	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-13 23:44:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Thinking of all queenslander and ex-queenslanders right now....I'm getting updates all the time from mum and dad but it's pretty bad.....several of my friends are evacuating as the water keeps rising. I hope everyone and their families are safe.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-11 13:33:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Quick qn. Did you find it easy to remember the ROC date? Were you constantly aware of it? Or did you have a reminder? My 90 days just happens to come up in the same month as my mum's bday so it's easy to remember... but I do remind myself of it occasionally. Did you put stuff away for it all the time? Or pull it all together as the date approached? My 90 days are going to be right after my birthday next year so that will make it easy to remember, hopefully!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-10 12:53:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Thanks again Vanessa They didnt ask my legal status either - just for a copy of the marriage certificate and my social security number. He told them at the time I didnt have one yet and they said fine just let us know when she does. We rang them last night and they said there was no stand down period or anything, that I was covered from the day I was added to the policy so am a very happy camper right now Especially since, my big news, I was told I would never be able to have a child. Well Im pregnant, at the age of 40!!!! Now who would have thunk it!! Happy jiggy dance Congratulations!!!!!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-06 23:00:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Happy New Year!! I hope 2011 is a great year for everyone! My husband and I were reflecting on 2010 and what an amazing year it was. We have some exciting plans for 2011.....one thing is we are moving to Japan!! Woot woot!! My new years resolution is to find a job Thanks Astrid. The application where they asked for the SSN was an online application for a temp agency. I have no problem giving them my SSN at the interview stage but I didn't think it was appropriate when applying online....there's a possibility they won't even call for an interview. When applying for government jobs you have to give your SSN, which I can understand. I'm thinking about handing out my resume at some stores at the local mall which I've never done before. Those that have, do you include a cover letter or did you just hand them your resume? I didn't include a cover letter, I just gave out my resume, and whenever I handed one out I asked to speak to a manager and gave them my "talk" about who I was and what I was about	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2011-01-03 23:43:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! This time last year I had my visa in hand and was waiting patiently (but really, not very patiently!) to be back with Alex....now I am happily married and not far off being married a year! Hope 2011 is fabulous for you all	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-31 23:25:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	I know I'm late but I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays Surprisingly I lost 1 pound over Christmas. That's not normal...the scales are supposed to go the other way It has been quite a while since I've been on VJ. I've been so busy with Christmas recently and I also just got back a few weeks ago from a 5 week holiday in southern Africa visiting my family which was amazing! I was just reading everyone's posts about the wages situation here in the US.....it totally sucks! I haven't got a job yet but I will be seriously looking in the new year. It makes me depressed knowing I'm going to have to possibly work for $12.50 an hour (or less) when I use to earn more than double that. I tell my husband that it's like slave labour. Lol. But it's somewhat comforting to know I'm not the only one in that situation. I've notice some companies will ask for your Social Security Number when applying online for jobs online. Has anyone else seen this and just given them your SSN in online applications? I don't feel comfortable doing that with all the identity theft and fraud that goes on these days. Another question when applying for jobs, did anyone write on their cover letters that you are a permanent resident of the US? When a potential employer looks at my resume, they are going to see that I've not worked in the US before. Do you think it's important or do you think the employer would assume I have the authorisation to work here? If I was asked to put my SSN on any applications, I did. But really, you only need to do that if you are applying with an actual form, because on applications they ask if you are legally able to work in the USA, and part of that is having an SSN. If you are going for office type jobs, they shouldn't be asking for your SSN until you are doing your new hire paperwork. On any cover letters I didn't state anything about my immigration status. When I got to the interview stage, people asked about my accent, and thats when I explained that I had immigrated.	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-29 13:02:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Merry Christmas From Mr and Mrs S Attached Files  166251_1592314761745_1052160022_31343212_5719036_n.jpg   36.27KB   9 downloads	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-25 14:41:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	thanks for the brilliant idea Astrid - I have no sales experience unfortunately but I'm still going to try for every office and retail job going. I know something will fall into my lap when its supposed to Posting from somewhere different tonight - currently in Las Cruces, New Mexico which is our overnight stop on our road trip from Fort Worth Texas to Prescott Arizona. Even drove on Texan highways for the first time ever today lol Happy days I applied for office positions too, but some of them were not in nice areas, or too far to travel, or really bad pay. All my employment background is in customer service or retail, so I went with what I knew. Have fun on your road trip!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-18 22:33:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	LOL I was a paralegal, earned over 60k. I'm currently enforced unemployed and addicted to daytime television.....I'll take Walmart and $5 an hour to get out of this house once I get my EAD Thanks girls - its nice to know that I'm not alone in my frustrations!! You made me smile PS - nice to hear you're having a blast Nick - do try not to break any major bones lol. As soon as I knew I had my green card approved I started applications. I trawled through craigslist and went to every major retailers website to apply. I also went to local malls and hot spots to just hand out my resume. It was actually going out and giving my resume to anyone that would take it that got me my current job. I walked into the local Nine West. told them I was an amazing salesperson, and two weeks later I was working for them	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-18 20:52:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Everyone over here has mouths gaping open when I told them I made $20 an hour at home, doing a way easier job, compared to $12 an hour here where I work myself to exhaustion. Good times!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-10 20:15:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Aww about the cry. I did too. Tuesday night actually and then had a bit of a fight with Tony last night so I was feeling even MORE emotional and alone... ugh. It WILL get better I'm sure of it.. I just wish it would hurry up! Awww vanessa I'm sorry. Just focus on having your first christmas in your lovely new home and all the new traditions you are both going to start. We are going to skype with Alex's family and with mine as well so we can kind of be together for the day...maybe you could do that too?	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-10 00:49:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Man, wandering around the forums in the K-1 area can be so depressing. So many angry people. You guys are much happier. How's life, everyone? Are the holidays stressing you guys out yet? For myself, I simply can't wait for the holidays to be over. Not because it stresses me out, but because I have a lot to look forward to in February! I'm coming back to Australia!!!! Yup....people have a real attitude on some of these boards. Us aussies are a pretty friendly group I work in retail, so the holiday season is pretty stressful. I'd love to be happy this time of year but it's kind of hard when you are on the receiving end of rudeness every day, even when you are being as nice as you can be to them So yeah I can't wait to it to be January. As for Christmas, it's just Alex and I. His whole family live in Utah and of course mine are back home. I had a bit of a cry the other night because I was feeling a bit lonely about it being just us. Last year I was crying because I wasn't with Alex! But we are going to make it a great holiday...we just got out first christmas tree and decorations (and our cat is destroying the decorations as I type, hahaha). I loving the fact I get to spoil my husband	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-12-10 00:19:00
Australia and New Zealand	LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi	Got my packet 3 today via email!!!! so excited. im so amazed at how quickly everything has been moving since the NOA2 approval! i have all my documents ready, and ill be putting it all together to return the packet on Monday morning. one quick question.... do i have to send my evidence of a relationship (eg photos, emails etc) in with packet 3, or do i just take them with me to the interview? my fingers are crossed so tightly for getting my visa before christmas so we can spend it together. for all those still waiting for approval keep your hopes high, and trust me have everything ready for your packet 3, it makes everything so so so so so so much quicker! You bring all the evidence and such with you. They probably won't even look at it, my interviewing officer did not. But bring plenty of evidence just in case!	alex and astrid	Female	Australia	2010-11-19 01:10:00