Life to live and explore

Making travel arrangement and scouting for cheap air ticket

With the visa interview fixed on 08/28/2008. It’s time to start making travel arrangement and scout for air ticket. The airfare and surcharges are very expensive this days. It’s going to be almost one thousand for a one way ticket from KL to Chicago.

The big boy told me to land on certain days as he may not be able to pick me up on certain days due to working late. Does he think I fly the airplane and have control of the schedule? Unfortunately, I don’t. Going to just grab the cheapest ticket available, don’t care about the day or arrival time. If he can’t pick me up, I am sure I can figure out  a way how to go there on my own. They are airport shuttles and limousines at Chicago ORD airport, don’t they?

Rescheduled interview appointment

The consular office had scheduled my visa interview on 09/09/2008, it’s more than three weeks away. Since I have all the documnets ready and have done the medical examination last Friday, I called to ask for a reschedule this morning.

Talked to Rani, who was at first hesitant to change the date. She told me they have a couple of complicated cases next two weeks and I may have to wait very long if she scheduled me together with them. I pleaded, told her that our case is very simple. She kind of agreed that our case is simple and agreed to “squeeze” me onto the tight schedule! So, the interview is rescheduled to 08/26/2008, two weeks earlier!!

Interview appointment scheduled and medical examination for the immigration visa application

Called the US consulate  after breakfast, was told they have mailed out packet 4 documents i.e. appointment letter, visa application form DS-230 part 2 and all the forms for medical check up to Melaka. However, they would give me a copy of the medical forms  if I wanted to go for medical check up. Well, might as well since I would be here in PJ till Sunday. Must be too excited that things are moving fast at the consulate level, forgot to ask when is the interview appointment date. :-)

However, the consulate is open for immigration visa related matters only on Mon and Fri 2-3.30 p.m. Left PJ at 1.00p.m, decided to take a train down to Ampang Park and walked down to Jalan Tun Razak. The US embassy is about 10 minutes walk from the train station. The sun was so hot, really regret didn’t bring along an umbrella. It was 5 minutes before 2.00p.m at the entrance of the embassy, the guard let me in for security check. The woman guard ran my handbag through the machine (like the one at the custom). She pour  everything  inside the handbag into a basket. Then she put everything back to the handbag except for the hairpin and earphone. She kept these in the basket and gave me a number for retrieving them later. She asked me to take a sip from the water bottle and switch off the handphone. There weren’t many people inside the embassy, was out of the consulate office within 10 minutes.The interview is scheduled to be on September 09 2008. Plan to call the consular office on next Mondayto reschedule to an earlier date, since I have all the documents ready and medical examination is going to be done today.

Armed with the medical forms, took a cab outside US embassy to go to the panel doctor at Bangunan Ming  near Bukit Nanas. The doctor took some history, did some routine physical examination,  and gave me a jab for Mumps, Measles and Rubella (MMR). The biggest challenge during the medical check up was to find the well hidden veins on my hands to draw blood for HIV test! He spent about 20 minutes poking at five places n my left and right hands!! The X-ray has to be taken at PKNS Building at Jalan Raja Laut, took another cab to go there. Was able to get everything done before 4.00 p.m. Walked down to Masjid Jamed station to take a train back to PJ before the rush hour office crowd, reached PJ at 5.00p.m sharp. Took about 4 hours and cost about USD90, now the mandatory medical examination for the  immigration visa application is done, one less thing on the to-do-list.

Express mailed packet 3 documents to US consulate

Went to post office this morning, to mail the package 3 documents to US consulate by express mail. The express mail service by POS Malaysia is very competitively priced, four bucks for guaranteed next day delivery, not bad at all!

The package 3 returned contains the visa application form DS-230 part 1 and a checklist that indicates the availability of civil documents thus readiness for visa interview.

If the consulate receives the package 3 documents on Tuesday, I supposed they will schedule the interview and mail out packet 4 this week.  So, I am going up to KL on Thursday and go for the medical check up and vaccinations on Friday.

Packet 3 documents finally came in the mail

Finally, the packet 3 documents mailed out by the US consulate on Monday came in the mail, on a Saturday, at 3.45 p.m !

It was raining cats and dogs on Thursday and Friday, guess the mailman couldn’t go out to deliver mails on his bike. In fact, on the way to buy bus ticket, I dropped by the post office at 4.30 p.m on Thursday to check whether the mail  was there. The mail room supervisor told me the mail man has already left for home! The supervisor swore mails from KL would take two to three days to reach my parent’s place. But, this one has taken five days!

There is really nothing they could not email in the packet. Packet 3 documents include a cover letter, a check list, an immigration visa application DS-230 form (which can be downloaded from US State Department’s website)  and an instruction sheet about photo format.

The DS-230 and  the checklist need to be returned to the consular office. So, going to the post office on Monday to mail it by express mail. Hopefully, they will receive it the next day and packet 4  will be ready for pick up on Friday. (The consular section open for Immigration Visa related matters on Monday & Friday only) Packet 4 contains the medical check-up and interview appointment letter. Will need to go down to KL for the medical check up as the panel doctors are in KL and Penang only. It depends on the interview date, if it’s not too far apart, will just stay on for a few days.

Case being forwarded to consulate

Called NVC today, the audio recording system has been updated , saying the approved I-130 is being forwarded to Kuala Lumpur consulate on July 26. Since July 26 is a Saturday, guess that mean the package will be picked up by DHL truck on Monday July 28. That’s really wonderful news!

At the meantime, the big boy is still taking his time to put together all the documents that he has to mail out. It’s true that he had a food poisoning and has been not feeling well this week. But, he has been told what to prepare six months ago! I would expect he has everything in the envelope and just have to drive to the post office to mail them out now. Apparently not!

Too much stress to deal with a procrastinator, good thing my friend Pauline is here visiting over the weekend, a distraction that keeps me occupied instead of feeling upset over his idiotic inaction.

Friends who are going through the same visa process

Since we started the visa journey, I have been hanging around one of the immigration and visa forums quite a bit. Though the forums, I learned more about the visa process and got to know some people who are going through the same process. No one understands the frustration of waiting and waiting better than people who are going through the same.

Most of us are petitioning or being petitioned for a spousal or fiance(e) visa. It’s quite ironic that fiance(e) who is not married yet can get a visa faster than spouse. But, fiance(e)’s visa doesn’t come with work authorization and they have to go through adjustment of status, which is a pain, dealing with USCIS again.

Many of them couldn’t work right after marriage as the work authorization and adjustment of status can take a while to process. A Brazilian woman I met on the forum, her paperwork has been pending and she has been waiting forever, she was bored to death at home. She decided to go to school just to kill time. She paid a few thousands to attend one of the beauty schools, learning the whole thing from shampoo to manicure, pedicure, cutting, coloring, chemicals, facials, etc. She is hoping once her paperwork gets approved, she can find a job immediately with her new qualification.

NVC approved the expedite request

Good news ! National Visa Center (NVC) has approved the expedite request filed a week ago. The approved I-130 petition will be forwarded to KL shortly. The NVC rep confirmed on the phone that we are to pay the fees and submit the documents to the consulate for further processing. NVC will send the file with DHL express mail and it will take about 3-4 days to reach KL consulate.

The next step is to wait for the consulate to mail me a package of forms and a checklist for documents submission. At the same time, the big boy has to mail the Affidavit of Support package which will contain the I-864 AOS form, his tax transcripts, pay stubs and employment letter to me. He also needs to mail all the proofs of bone fide of marriage.

I have him mail me the letter that has my name on his health insurance plan, the statements of the checking account to show co-mingling of our finances, photos and affidavits from his parents.

See, all the hoops and loops we have to jump through in order to prove to Uncle Sam that we are a genuine couple, not of a sham marriage. All due to some black sheep who use sham marriages for green cards, honest people like us got stuck and scrutinized to no end.

Tax transcripts and employment letter

The tax transcripts requested from IRS finally came in the mail today. The big boy deserved a “clueless award” for taking so long to get a simple document!

He is also hitting a bump on the road trying to get an employment letter from his corporate office. They are so ridiculously paranoid about giving out such a letter. Guess they are afraid that it can be used against them as guarantee of employment or salary!

That’s America! Everyone is trying to cover their arses for fear of litigation or being sued!

The choice of agent and affidavit of support fee bill

The affidavit of support fee bill and a copy of the Ds-3032 choice of agent  from NVC arrived in the mail today. The big boy scanned them and emailed them to me. I should receive a copy of the Ds-3032 choice of agent form in the mail too.

The DS-3032 is a form for the visa applicant to appoint someone to be an agent to receive mails from NVC.  Usually people just appoint the petitioner, a family member or a friend with a US address to receive the mails to avoid delays due to international mailing system.

 Looks like NVC is pretty efficient! They have generated the form and bill two days after the file got into their system, and it took 4 days for them to arrive in the mail!!

Relocation and adjustments

With the I-130 petition being approved, it seems we just move one step forward on our plan to relocate to IL. The packing is definitely not going to be an easy task. How can I pack all my belongs into two suitcases? The weather is going to be cold, should I pack all my winter clothings or just buy new ones. A big headache!

There are also going to be a lot of adjustments. The cold weather is one big obstacle to overcome. Would not be able to drive immediately too as IL is a state where they do not recognize International driver license. I would need to go for classes and test in order to get a IL driver license. The big boy also need to put me on the car insurance before I can drive. That’s going to cost a bomb, as I have to start from scratch, without American driving experience, I am considered a new driver!

The choice of agent and AOS fee bill

The audio recording at NVC indicated that the choice of agent DS-3032 form has been generated on July 17. The Ds-3032 form has been sent out to the beneficiary, that’s me and a copy has been sent to the petitioner, that’s the big boy. It also said, the AOS fee bill was generated and mailed out on the same day.

It tookONLY two days for them to generate this two documents in the system after they received the file on July 15 2008.

Gambatee, NVC is efficient!

Approved I-130 entered into NVC system

After Erik’s email informing us that the I-130 is approved last Friday. I have been checking the CIS’s online status update. There is none to date!!

At the same time, I have been calling NVC voice response system a few times a day to check whether a case number has been assigned. Finally, today, at slightly after midnight Eastern time, the voice message changed! Woohooo, a NVC case number has been assigned and enter into the system!

It took four days, if not counted Sunday would be three working days! Good job, NVC !

And the old lousy CIS has no update yet!

The I-130 petition is approved

Since the big boy hasn’t followed up with the congressman office or CIS, I decided to call the congress aide myself. Erik is  his name, a nice chap, I must say. He sounded apologetic that CIS is taking its sweet time even with an approved “expedite request”.

He said he planned to talk to the congress liaison officer at CSC later in the afternoon to push for an approval. So I asked him to send me an email if there is any update. I went to bed right after that as it’s already midnight over here.

When I woke up two hours ago, I turned on the computer and checked the emails like I always do every morning. I saw an email from Erik and wondered whether it’s good news.

Wooohooo, the I-130 petition is APPROVED !!!!

I am so happy, I just couldn’t sit down to do any work whole morning, I have been jumping here and there!!!

One month after an “expedite” request

One month after filing an “expedite” request for faster processing of the I-130, we are still waiting for the immigration petition to get approved. It’s getting ridiculous! We were hoping to get an approval notice before the July 4th long weekend, but no, the RFE hasn’t even been updated online.

Don’t know what else we can do to get this process moves. Of course the big boy is partly to blame for not paying attention to details and make mistakes after mistakes on the paperwork. Frustrated.

Waiting is stressful

Another week passes by without any news on the “expedite” request of the immigration petition. It has been more than two weeks, waiting can be very stressful. Checking the online status and mailbox every 5 seconds just added to the frustration.

After one week of torture, realized that this had to go. Have been doing better this week, at least went to bed on time instead of staying late on the phone stressing the big boy.

The slow process gets the better of us

We have been stressed out by the immigration process and out of wit with an organization that asked us to wait thirty days for a decision to an expedite request! They need a dictionary to check out what the word “expedite” means !

Thirty days for an approval or rejection decision on an expedite request certainly does not sound like there is any expedition involved. Even if they approve the “expedite” request, it will take further processing to approve the actual petition.

This stress gets in our marriage when we have splitting perspectives on the process, he thinks he is doing what he can and I am upset with the slow and lack of action. It’s impeded further with someone who doesn’t want to learn about the process and do the right things to get it done in the shortest time possible.

Slow expedite request, an oxymoron

The big boy sent in an expedite request for the papers filed for me. It has been more than a week, we have not heard anything from USCIS. I am getting frustrated with the slow response time.

After filling up two pages of form and send them in in March, the papers just sitting around gathering dust for 3 months? Looks like until someone comes along to dust the files, we will hear nothing for a while !

Finally, a house he likes

The big boy has finally found a place that he likes. He hasn’t put down a deposit because he wants to make sure both of us agree to live at this place. :-)

He sent me no picture of the inside, just a picture outside of the house. I don’t even know how the interior of the house looks like and whether they have modern furniture or old furniture inside. Am I supposed to decide based on this two pictures?

Yeah, picture outside of the garage! Who is going to live in the garage? Not me.

When is he going to learn this? He doesn’t want to learn the fact that his wife is a visual person, no amount of descriptions on the phone can replace the thousands words that a picture speaks!

When am I leaving ?

I really thought it’s going to take me one or two months to clear all the 1000+ books in collection, but it took less than two days! Wow, in two days, I collected enough $$ to get an air ticket to fly to IL. :-)

Of course I am not leaving now. Many of you have asked when am I going to leave. Well, the date is not fixed yet. It depends, depends on the outcome of the Visa. We are hoping to be united by the end of April or first week of May, but only if the Visa is approved by then.