fiance and spousal visa processing delays

[jm21-2]

Although I'd rather not, I'm fine waiting for the ~5 month processing time (we're almost there). For us that would mean we're done in January. However, if there's some sort of screw up at USCIS that is going to delay our petition, cause us both a huge inconvenience (and potentially a good amount of money), and there's something I can do to fix it...damn sure I'm going to do what I can.

Right now people are over the 5 month limit and in limbo. Customer support is horrible and won't give any updates. I'd rather not be in that crowd if I can help it.

[Ray]

Like I said before jm, when you're 30 days past the published processing goal. then you can make an official inquiry on your status.

Just relax, have patience, and I'm sure that everything will work out just fine.

Ray

[Bob_S]

I may get caught in the same trend, though I am optimistic.

I got NOA1 on 10/6/10 and right now it is "under review" whatever that means.  As a person who has worked for the government, I know that sorta jargon means it is sitting on someone's desk or in a file cabinet.

Yep.  It means somebody finally opened it and read what you are applying for, then tossed it into somebody else's in-basket.  Count yourself lucky if you get any more info on the status of your petition before March.   

[jm21-2]

Hadn't checked VJ in a while and stats are starting to fill in for notices received now that the holidays are over. Looks like during the last 2 weeks quite a few people who filed in early August got approved. Fingers crossed we get ours in January.

She was looking into a one-month intensive culinary school in china to give her something to do but sounds like they're closed in January as part of a break for New Years.

A client of mine who owed me a lot of money paid me off through a debt consolidation so that has me in a good mood for now. Almost enough to buy her a newer car.

Also found that playing those little online games is a lot of fun, at least for a while. MSN games and Pogo each have several free multiplayer games that make long distance a bit more fun. She kicks my butt at almost everything though :/.

[thekfc]

Patience jm, you will get that NOA2 soon - when you least expects it.

The MMORPG are great especially when you want to "spent some time together" but are not together.
We played a few like Twinity, ACE Online, Active Worlds & Afterworld.
She wanted to play WOW & DotA but after watching her nieces & nephews play them - too addictive for her taste.

I have all 3 gaming systems at home so we will get to play when she gets her & also when she is alone at home (when not going through my 1000's of movies & music). I think the Wii will be more to her liking.

[robert angel]

I remember the anger at feeling helpless with UCSIS and how seeing how they could make absurd mistakes and insist on following the same stupid course, but inevitably, it almost always works out once the NOA one goes and if the person gives even a marginally credible embassy interview. Things do slow down a bit more with Xmas and New Year's holidays.

Kfc,

That Xbox Kinect system added onto the new slimline, quieter running Xbox 360 Live, may give the Wii a run for the money yet, from the little kids on up to adults. Once they get more stuff along the lines of Super Mario Brothers to go with the dance and sports stuff they've introduced and tie in stuff like 'Grand Theft Auto' and  'Call of Duty' combat type games into interactive Kinect, they'll really be a force. I didn't expect it to be half as good as it is, being a new product. The Wii had some camera action  connection link years back and it was a dud for us.

I can imagine all the trashed living rooms and broken windows already from people moving like crazy.

The non Kinect linked 'Call of Duty' --'Black Ops' sold 5.6 million copies the FIRST day--a new record.

We were at a little party and the Filipinas were loving the new Kinect setup--you can even see high quality film replays of your actual self  dancing, sports moves etc., with a 250 GB hard drive now and the wireless internet built in, unlike before.

So they're trying to add the stuff the Play Station and Wii already have and more. Not sure if has karaoke capability yet, but that'd make it pretty much a sure bet with Filipinos...

[thekfc]

Both the Kinect for Xbox 360 & the Playstation Eye are great add on for their respective system. I will eventually get them both when I get a slickdeal. They may both give the Wii a run for the money (gaming wise) if both systems "push for & improve" on their games.

The games looks good on the 360 Kinect but something is missing. The Kinect have great potential & is fun. It will be a while before the Kinect games catch up (fixing "bugs" & stuff like that), Microsoft & the gaming manufactures have to build on what they have.

The Wii have some great games  - Super Mario Galaxy 2 (10 out of 10 score across the board), Legend of Zelda, World of Goo, Okami, Active, , Wii Fit, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Sport Resort, Mario Kart & the other Marios/Donkey Kongs, just to name a few. Also Call of Duty: Black Ops is also on the Wii.
For some reason I prefer playing Rockband on the Wii than the other platforms.

Each system have their "one" game:
Wii - Super Mario Galaxy 2
360 - Halo
PS3 - MGS4

To me, no one system is better than the other - it depends on the end user.

~The 360 have the other system beat on the number of games available.
~The Wii have some of the best "quality" games.
~The PS3 is one of the best Blu-ray player on the market & it features are upgradable.

And price wise - all these games are too damn expensive.

[Osa]

I'm thinking we might have to get one of those fun systems when girlie finally comes here to be wifey-poo

[Jedironin]

 You're starting to sound like H.R. Pufinstuff!  How old are you again?  

[TurboSS]

Ya I have been playing alot of video games to pass the time.  I wanted to definitely wait some time for her visa so I could prepare.  I just dont want to wait forever.  I am training for a promotion right now so I am glad to get this done before she gets here.  That could be really stressful if she was here by now. 

I was just hoping to have her here by the end of summer but with all the delays that is seeming less and less likely 

[jm21-2]

So, not having any update this morning (my 5 month mark) I called USCIS and got to the second tier of customer service. They filed a service request and expedite request for me. Then contacted the congressional aide I had been in touch with and he sent in a congressional request. 8:00pm I got a text message my case had been updated, logged in, and petition approved! Finally! She was pretty depressed that we still hadn't heard anything and it made her day to know we finally got approved.

[Woody]

So, not having any update this morning (my 5 month mark) I called USCIS and got to the second tier of customer service. They filed a service request and expedite request for me. Then contacted the congressional aide I had been in touch with and he sent in a congressional request. 8:00pm I got a text message my case had been updated, logged in, and petition approved! Finally! She was pretty depressed that we still hadn't heard anything and it made her day to know we finally got approved.

Yay! So, what happens now(boat and her)?

[Jedironin]

Woo hoo!  Congrats!

[thekfc]

So, not having any update this morning (my 5 month mark) I called USCIS and got to the second tier of customer service. They filed a service request and expedite request for me. Then contacted the congressional aide I had been in touch with and he sent in a congressional request. 8:00pm I got a text message my case had been updated, logged in, and petition approved! Finally! She was pretty depressed that we still hadn't heard anything and it made her day to know we finally got approved.

Sweet!!!!

I hope that you were being proactive by gathering everything & they are now ready to be sent to her (or already in her hands).

[Capstone]

That is great news. Things should start moving along at a much quicker pace now.

[jm21-2]

Sweet!!!!

I hope that you were being proactive by gathering everything & they are now ready to be sent to her (or already in her hands).

I've got most things done I think. She has to go to the office of household registry where she was born to get a new birth certificate is all that's left I think. She thought she couldn't get a copy of her birth certificate because the hospital she was born at closed down but the office of household registry appears to keep a copy as well. Unfortunately you can only get one if you go in in person.

Is there a site with a good list of things to have? I looked at the consulate requirements in Taiwan on VJ and we've got pretty much all of it. Working on a digital photo album that I'll send her to print out.

[jm21-2]

Yay! So, what happens now(boat and her)?

Looking at my budget, I think I need to sell the boat for now. Probably buy a trailer sailor and try to get her interested. Think I should have been focusing on how fun sailing can be instead of arguing with her about moorage costs.

[Capstone]

Is there a site with a good list of things to have? I looked at the consulate requirements in Taiwan on VJ and we've got pretty much all of it. Working on a digital photo album that I'll send her to print out.

Since the embassies/consulates in each country have slightly different requirements it is hard to give you a checklist of everything that your fiancée will need to submit - many have forms & requirements which are specific to a particular country. She should receive a checklist of these items with her Packet 3/4 though. Many of the Embassies/Consulates have the contents of their Packets 3 & 4 posted on their website - I know Guangzhou does but am not sure about the AIT. Here is the link showing what is needed for a K-1 interview at Guangzhou which will probably be pretty similar to what is needed at AIT: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/guangzhou/47024/K12%20p4/K1K2%20Appointment-Nov%2010.pdf  
Just as a general checklist though, she will probably need the following for a K-1:

1. Passport
2. Birth Certificate
3. Police Clearance
4. Medical Exam forms (Exam will need to take place at an approved medical facility which will be detailed in P3 or P4)
5. Single Certificate (household registration/hukou may be acceptable in lieu of this)
6. Passport photos (Guangzhou requires 6 of these)
7. DS-156
8. DS-156K
9. DS-157
10. DS-230 Part 1
11. Phone records
12. Chat records
13. Emails between you two
14. Photo book
15. Copies of your passport pages showing the entry/exit stamps for your visits
16. Copies of your boarding passes/hotel receipts for your trips
17. Your I-134 and supporting financial records (tax returns, bank statements, etc)
18. Receipt for visa application fee
19. Interview appointment letter
20. Proof of your residency in the US - utility bills, mortgage statement etc.

[robert angel]

Re:

1. Passport
2. Birth Certificate
3. Police Clearance
4. Medical Exam forms (Exam will need to take place at an approved medical facility which will be detailed in P3 or P4)
5. Single Certificate (household registration/hukou may be acceptable in lieu of this)
6. Passport photos (Guangzhou requires 6 of these)
7. DS-156
8. DS-156K
9. DS-157
10. DS-230 Part 1
11. Phone records
12. Chat records
13. Emails between you two
14. Photo book
15. Copies of your passport pages showing the entry/exit stamps for your visits
16. Copies of your boarding passes/hotel receipts for your trips
17. Your I-134 and supporting financial records (tax returns, bank statements, etc)
18. Receipt for visa application fee
19. Interview appointment letter
20. Proof of your residency in the US - utility bills, mortgage statement etc
And #21 NERVE PILLS!

[jm21-2]

AIt lsited requirements for immigrant visas, but couldn't find anything about fiance visas. I figure they've got to be somewhat similar. I haven't seen any mention of the DS-156 or 157 forms for Taiwan but will look into that. Didn't see anything about proof of residency either so will check into that as well. The rest of the stuff is coming together fine. We submitted quite a bit with our petition but will have to update things for the trip in november/december and communication since then.

For the I-134 it looks like all that's required for Taiwan is one year of tax returns. I asked some questions on VJ and most suggested that as long as line 22 on my tax returns is a decent amount above the threshold to not offer any more proof (home ownership, bank accounts, etc). You can get in trouble if they don't think you provided sufficient proof and get an RFE even though your income appears sufficient or something like that. Debating a little on that one but I think I'm far enough over the guidelines I will probably jsut submit the tax return.

It apepars they want a copy of the household registry. She has an old one that she had translated for her Australian visa but we're not sure if it's too old or not.

[Capstone]

AIt lsited requirements for immigrant visas, but couldn't find anything about fiance visas. I figure they've got to be somewhat similar. I haven't seen any mention of the DS-156 or 157 forms for Taiwan but will look into that.

The DS-156, DS-156K and DS-157 are the actual visa application forms and I am pretty sure that they are needed for all K-1 visas no matter which consulate/embassy is used as they are US State Department forms and not consulate specific forms. They should be included in one of the packets that she will receive from AIT.

[Capstone]

Jm,

What's the latest visa news - has Taipei received your petition from the NVC yet?

[jm21-2]

NVC sent out the information to them a few days ago, but she hasn't received anything from AIT yet. She or I will be contacting them within the next couple days if we don't hear anything. I imagine CNY backed things up a bit.

Would be nice to get an interview date so we can plan a bit more. I will probably buy her a ticket for a flight that leaves a few days after the interview date. If there is a month or more left to the interview date though she may go to China for a cooking class she's interested in.

[Ray]

Tip of the Day:  Don't book any flights until she actually has the visa in her hands!

Ray

[jm21-2]

She got the info about a day and a half ago. We had a bit of an argument so are holding off on sending it in for the time being until we can resolve things.