random thoughts

[Sol]

Hi,

I just returned from Bogota. I'm now married (yeah!!!) and my wife has her visa interview in a couple of weeks. I'm posting some random thoughts that may be of interest/value to others on this list.

1. When I went to the US Embassy in Bogota to turn in papers petitioning for my wife's visa I noticed that the process is now different than what I had been told. I think it's a recent change. They wouldn't accept or even look at any of my documents. All they wanted was the I-130 application (plus $110 fee), her birth certificate and our marriage certificate. They've also replaced the OF-230 with a similar form, DS-230, I think, and they collected that. It turned out that Gary Bala, who did my paperwork was aware of the change and mailed me the new forms in time to present them at the embassy. This saved me some time and effort. The other documentation they won't look at till the visa interview. Argggghhh!! This means I have to hope they don't ask for other documention beyond the extra stuff I'm brining. On the positive side they gave my wife an interview date 15 days after I filed the I-130.

2. The official copy of my wife's Baptism certificate has to be less than a year old. We went to the church that baptised her and got a new one overnight so we'll be ready at the interview.

3. The US embassy clerk told me they didn' t need for any documents in Spanish to be translated into English. This appears to be a change in process.

4. If I were to start this process all over again and knew I was going to be in Colombia a bunch of times I'd invest in a cell phone down there, and pick one that uses prepaid cards, as opposed to billing you monthly. A nice perk is that you can receive calls for free on your cell phone. Making phone calls in Colombia is a pain in the ass, and expensive in hotels - that plus the ease of being reached by family and friends make the $100 investment in a cell phone worth it, in my opinion.

5. At the party the night before the wedding I paid a couple of musicians to serenade her and to play music. Total cost for two hours of very good music with professional sound equipment was a whoppin 180,000 pesos. (that's about $90USD)

6. My wife wanted the dream wedding so I rented her a horse and carriage to ride into the wedding house in. That cost 150,000 pesos.

[Pete E]

... in response to random thoughts, posted by Sol on Dec 30, 2002

Sol,
When I turned in the paperwork for the spousal visa they looked at everything and didn´t ask for anything else.When my wife went in for the second interview they hit her with what we needed that we didn´t have.Just because someone looks at it the first interview doesn´t mean its OK.The second interview person is the one who decides.
Im had to fly home and send more original documents,mostly because we were getting a visa for my wives son also.

Pete

[FenixRises]

... in response to random thoughts, posted by Sol on Dec 30, 2002

Hi Sol,
Congratulations y buena suerte.
I am soon to follow your recent path.
I cannot however find either of the forms,OF230 or DS230,
at the INS web site. There must be some place online, from the government, that these forms are available. Any ideas?
What information is needed for these forms?
Thanks for your trip report.
Fred

[Sol]

... in response to Re: random thoughts, posted by FenixRises on Dec 30, 2002

Hi,

Searching the web via google.com I found this URL with a copy of the form. But, the formatting is not that great. I suggest you look at the form to make sure you have all the answers to all of the questions and ask Gary Bala, when he returns from vacation in mid-January if he'd be willing to mail you a hardcopy or email you an image. Since I'm a client of his he mailed me a hardcopy of the DS230 all filled out with my specific data. Maybe he'd send you a blank form. He told me he became aware of this new form because a client of his ran into it. The embassy wouldn't take the old OF230 form anymore. Also, the clerk at the embassy made my wife sign a form stating that the embassy wouldn't be responsible if she sold her posessions, quit her job. or bought plane tickets. In other words, don't count your visa chickens before they hatch!

Here's the URL:

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/mx2/wwwhof230.html

Here's Gary's email:

garybala@visa-attorney.com

Sol

[FenixRises]

... in response to Re: DS 230, posted by Sol on Dec 31, 2002

Hi Sol,
Thanks for the response.
I'll see if I can find an additional source for the form.
The link is good but I don't know about printing the form from the browser.
I am surprized that the INS doesn't have this form on thier site? Seems wierd.
Fred

[FenixRises]

... in response to Re: Re: DS 230, posted by FenixRises on Dec 31, 2002

Hi all,
Here is a website that has the form DS230 Part 1 and Part 2.
These are in Adobe Acrobat format so you need the reader to see them. With the reader you can also fill the form out on your computor and print it out, you cannot save a filled out form however.

http://immihelp.com/forms/state.html

Fred

[MikePastore]

... in response to random thoughts, posted by Sol on Dec 30, 2002

Can you share some photos of your happy day?

[Sol]

... in response to How about pics?, posted by MikePastore on Dec 30, 2002

Mike,

Given the nasty streak of some of the folks who frequent this forum I've made it a point to keep a fairly low profile. Also, for my privacy and for my wife's privacy I don't mention her name nor do I want to post pictures. I do realize that pictures add life to this forum and make this whole experience  more real to those in the process; if this were a more consistently friendly group I'd post pictures.

To those of you in Northern California - my wife and I will eventually make it to one of Pete's parties; you can meet both of us live !

Sol

[MikePastore]

... in response to Re: How about pics?, posted by Sol on Dec 30, 2002

I understand. Maybe Patrick can add a secure photo-posting area like Yahoo photos. I really have enjoyed seeing some of the photos on the agency sites of couples. Reading the trip reports is a real pleasure, can't wait to get there myself. I will be sure to post a good trip report when I get back. Until I can only close my eyes and imagine Avenida Sexta and Chipichapi Mall

[panol111]

... in response to Re: How about pics?, posted by Sol on Dec 30, 2002

What...I see there is a Northern California Club here!!!:)))
Guys, I am Alamidian (Alameda, San Francisco)...can I hook up with you sometime...Only you know how important it is to get to know first hand experiences...

[Sol]

... in response to Re: Re: How about pics?, posted by panol111 on Dec 30, 2002

Well, we're snobs and only mingle with people 30 miles or closer to San Jose. Just kidding! Pete runs get togethers from his house every month or so. If Pete doesn't chime in then we'll find a way to get you hooked up with Pete to be notified of these get togethers.

It is nice to know there are a fair number of us that make looooong plane flights to find love. I'm VERY jealous of those guys who live in Miami and hop on a plane for a few hundred bucks and are in Colombia in just a few hours. Friday's flight from BOG to SFO took 11 hours and 3 planes but that's because I went via Lacsa and only paid $580.

Sol

[panol111]

... in response to Re: Northern California Club, posted by Sol on Dec 31, 2002

Well, well ... I am touched. I have a real chance to join exclusive club of Colombia aficionados. That's cool. Just let me know. In terms of special flight deals...AA is offering sometimes deals for 30000 - 35000 miles to Cali for SFO so that seems to be a really good deal. 11 hours...that's nothing...it took me recently 55 hours to get back from Dnepropetrovsk (Ukraine))) Sope, hopefully, hasta la vista.

[Wayne]

... in response to Re: Re: Northern California Club, posted by panol111 on Dec 31, 2002

Panol,

What were you doing in Ukraine?

Are you like me and have sworn off Russian Ukraine women for good.

What's your experience?

Take care,
Wayne

[panol111]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Northern California Club, posted by Wayne on Dec 31, 2002

Well, I haven't sworn them off. I just realized that finding a cool girl...smart and good looking in the agency in Ukraine is almost impossible...that is just the nature of intelligent and good looking girls. To have a chemistry with the girl you have to hit them on the street, in the clubs or ..normal places - and in the clubs, well, it is rare thing to find educated normal girl. That, unfortunately, takes time, and luck...I had no problems with most of the girls I met in Ukraine...I can speak Russian...and I am a fun person. So it is really hard to find a cute one and smart in the age of 23-28 I am interested in. I found a couple  but either were too young (20 years old) which I don't believe in, or very cute and smart but with children. That's it. The other two I really liked I could not fight for as I was at the moment in the company of different girls. So, time, time, time. It is pretty bad because as Polish guy I have lot in common with Ukrainian people. With smart, ambitious good looking girl you need to first find her, rather yourself, than build a chemistry...Since I am running out of time I thought to jump to Colombia. I speak Spanish fluently, love salsa and I hear that the girls are really cute there so maybe there I will be moved. But I am considering Ukraine as well. Just have to start planning my vacations...and maybe sick days:))) Want to chat more...email me.

[Hoda]

... in response to random thoughts, posted by Sol on Dec 30, 2002


was a very nice & classy touch, man. At that price, you would've only gotten an hour or two of a limo here. Thanks much for the latest info, on the immigration minefield.

Peace...