Life Updates

Goodness, look! Two posts in one day, haha. Just wanted to give a few updates since my last post (well, my second to last post, in March).

So, at the end of March, we moved from South Dakota up to Fargo, North Dakota. My husband found a new job up here, hence the move. We found an awesome 3 bedroom apartment, 2 bathrooms (yes, I have my OWN bathroom), plus, what I've always wanted: a walk-in closet! It's not a very large walk-in, but I'll take it! :)

So, since we moved to a new city, I obviously had to quit my old job at Target. It was bittersweet since I enjoyed working with so many people there. Although, we had just gotten a new store leader whom no one was fond of (she made me cry twice, argh, not to mention others), so I definitely didn't miss saying goodbye to her, lol. Anyways, ended up getting a job interview at a customs broker the same day my husband started his new job. I must have done well, since I got a call back from the staffing agency I went through less than 2 hours later about them wanting to hire me! I of course said yes and starting my new (and first) full-time job two days later!

After a few weeks of living here, we also adopted an adorable cat from a local shelter. Her name was Topanga, but we re-named her to Catniss. Her story: she was found under a tarp with her 3 kittens in December, the dead of winter. She ended up losing the tips of her ears to frostbite. But, thankfully she and her 3 babies lived. Her 3 kittens had already been adopted when we visited. Here's a few pictures of her I put together (the middle one was taken by the shelter):

And here's a picture taken by the shelter of her and her 3 kittens:

Since moving here, the used car I got from my husband (which he had driven before, a few years ago) was getting worse and worse, mostly having acceleration problems. In May, I finally decided to get it looked at as I wanted to get it fixed, whatever it was. So, I made an appointment, and on that Saturday, both my husband and I went. Unfortunately, they thought I had wanted an oil change (they never actually asked over the phone what I wanted done, d'oh!). When I explained what I wanted, he asked what issues I was having. He thought it might be a transmission issue, which they didn't deal with there. He suggested another place to go to instead, but as it was a Saturday, we decided to just go home as they'd likely be all full. My husband lightly suggested we go to the Toyota dealership in town to test drive a Prius. I've wanted one for years, but have never actually sat in one before, lol. So, after lunch, we headed over. I jokingly told my husband, "I better not leave in a few hours with a new car" as that's what happened to my husband on one of his regular visits to the Audi dealership about a year previously. He ended up leaving with a new car, even though he didn't have any intentions to do so. Anyways, so, as with all car dealerships, as we began looking at cars, an employee came up and began talking with us. A few minutes later, I found myself test driving a Prius. After that was done, I found myself in his office, lol. He began to show me the different options and pricing and such. And, to make a long story short, a few hours later, I drove away with a brand new, 2013 Prius, leased under my name. LOL. Not how I had planned the day, but it is what it is, lol. I was happy though as this was MY first car! The one I was driving before was simply given to me and it didn't feel like MINE. Anyways, without further ado, a picture of me and my new car, the day after I bought it:

And I think finally, to wrap things up, I have two upcoming trips. Next week, my husband and I will both be going to Washington, DC. He has some work training there and I decided to tag along as I've never been there. This is what I did previously for Seattle and Chicago. So, very excited about that! But, I'm way more excited about a solo trip I'll be doing this September. FLORIDA!!! I'll be going to Disney and Universal over one week. I absolutely CANNOT wait! It's been more than 7 years since I've been and that's been way too long for this girl, haha.

Anyways, think that's all the major points. Oh, my husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on May 21st :) It was great :D

~Saylin

Certified copy of passport and apartment

Well, I was supposed to go yesterday to pick up my passport and certified copy, but it ended up snowing a lot, so I postponed it till today. When I got to the Passport Canada office, I ended up getting the exact same number as last week (B555). And then, when I got called up, I had the same lady as well and she remembered me too. Anyways, I received two certified copies of my passport in an envelope and received my passport back. Just have to give one copy over to Ben when he comes to visit this weekend!

In other news, Ben's been looking at a few apartments these past 2 weeks. He went to see one yesterday after work and he loved it. And so, he went back today after lunch to sign the lease! He's probably going to move in the weekend after he gets back from Canada. He gets the whole place for himself for about 2 months until I get there.

Here's a picture of the outside
A picture of the bedroom
A picture of the huge kitchen
And a final picture of the included (!!!) washing machine and dryer

And a video Ben took the second time he went to see the place: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxJvo2IPcz1qNGFlOTBjNjgtN2QzMy00M2NhLThhNmMtM2YzZTNmZjEyMDc4&hl=en

~Lindsay

8 month anniversary, NVC, and California

*Reference link to abbreviations/terms post*

Happy 8 month anniversary to Ben and I! ^_^

Still no news on our NOA2.

I've been calling NVC's AVR each night just to see if a case number has been assigned. I've heard of a few cases where some people hadn't received their NOA2 in the mail or had any updates on the USCIS website, but found that their case had been approved by finding a case number had been assigned to them at NVC. I now have the NVC number committed to memory: (603) 334-0700. I know which numbers to press as soon as I hear the automated voice (1, 1, 1, 4, 1, receipt number, 1). Once I hear: "There is no record of your case on file..." I hang up. Can't wait to hear: "This case was entered in the NVC computer system on..."

Anyways, in other news, Ben's in California. He's been there since Sunday. No, not to go to the CSC, but for work. Advanced SQL training (he's a programmer). All expenses paid for by his work (flight, hotel, food, and training). He flew Sunday afternoon and his training was Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Yesterday he visited Apple headquarters and bought me an Apple shirt! Just have to wait for him to come and visit me now to get it. He's currently in an IMAX theater watching the Green Hornet in 3D. He flies back on Sunday and I know he's going to visit a long-time friend that he's never actually met in person. He might also go see the Googleplex (Google headquarters), but I don't know when.

Not much else to report on. Come on NOA2!! :D

~Lindsay

Some good news!

*Reference link to abbreviations/terms post*

Just to start off, Happy New Year!

I had a great Christmas with Ben. He flew in Wednesday night and left less than four days later. I'm so glad we got to spend our first Christmas together.

Also, as of January 2nd, it's been 4 months since our NOA1. And as of today, I've known Ben for exactly a year ^_^

Anyways, on to the good news. So, on VJ, I came across a thread indicating that the DS-260 is now mandatory for all visa applicants going through the Montreal Consulate. At first, I was kind of disappointed since I already have the DS-230 filed out, but soon realised how amazing this DS-260 is.

*Reference link to post about the DS-261/DS-260*

I just found out today some very uplifting news which I am so grateful for. This new DS-260 is getting rid of the mail backlog at the Montreal Consulate. As soon as a case is complete at NVC, the DS-260 is sent electronically to the consulate. An interview date is then assigned. How fast are interviews getting assigned now? In this other thread I'm following about the DS-260, there were two members that got case completes this week, and got their interview dates this week as well. This has never happened before. NEVER. (Unless it was expedited, but these are non-expedited cases). Usually, for Montreal, after a case complete, one waits about 4 months, gets assigned an interview date, and then has the interview one month later.

Plus, I haven't gotten to the best news of all. Sure, getting an interview date assigned fast is nice, but WHEN the interview date is important. Instead of being 5 months from a case complete, these two members have interview dates TWO months after case complete. TWO MONTHS. When I saw this, I broke out in a smile. Like, a very large smile. :D :D

If this get-an-interview-two-months-from-case-complete remains, then to get to South Dakota for our first anniversary on May 21, I'd have to have the interview at the beginning of May, which means I need to get a case complete around the end of February/beginning of March. And since NVC only takes a few weeks, this is all possible once we get our NOA2 in the next upcoming weeks. So happy and thankful.

~Lindsay

Police check and two updates

*Reference link to abbreviations/terms post*

So, on Monday I headed to downtown Montreal to get a police record check. Found a cheaper place than my local police station. Someone on VJ linked this site and since it was $20 cheaper, decided to go for it. It's supposed to take 7-10 days, so I should get it sometime next week. I don't know if those "7-10 days" are business days are not, but either way, should get it by next Friday, latest the Monday after.

Still no news on our NOA2, but I have faith that it will be coming very soon. So many people have been getting approved with NOA1 dates in September. Looking on this site of VJ, there's already 12 people that were approved at the end of November, beginning of December.

Oh, and other good news, Ben booked a flight the other day to come visit me for Christmas! He'll be leaving Wednesday afternoon (the 22nd) after work and fly back Sunday (the 26th) evening. He won't be taking any days off since Thursday and Friday are holidays, so he'll have two vacation days (if I remember correctly) to carry over to next year. Oh, and I had much fun tracking his flight in real time at Flight Stats. You put in some info about the flight, and you can watch on a Google map where the plane is exactly. It even gives info on the plane's altitude, its bearing, how fast it's going, and much more. From now on, whenever Ben flies I'll be using that website. It keeps me entertained as I wait down the hours for him to arrive in Montreal. ^_^

~Lindsay

3 months...

*Reference link to abbreviations/term post*

So, it's been exactly three months now that USCIS has received our I-130 package.

Some good news! Someone I became friends with on VJ (and later, Facebook) informed me she got approved Tuesday evening! She has the exact same NOA1 date as me, so it looks like CSC is working on September petitions. I also found out on Tuesday that someone with a September 3rd NOA1 date got approved as well. And just today, I found two more people with approvals (one with the same NOA1 date as ours and the other with a September 10th NOA1 date). So far, that's 4 people with September NOA1 dates that have been approved at CSC. Really good news! I believe the mass transfer of petitions from CSC to TSC really did help the load at CSC.

I'm checking the USCIS website even more often now. And I have my husband's email account open on my other monitor all day, so I know instantly when he gets an email. Keeping my eye out for one from USCIS about an approval.

In other news, Ben left Tuesday :( His flight in Montreal ended up getting delayed for an hour. We were both really worried since, with this delay, he wouldn't make his second flight. And neither would his luggage. But near the end of his first flight, thankfully, his second flight got delayed. He was able to make it (along with his checked bag). The plane ended up being delayed almost another hour on the runway since Chicago was backed up. He finally made it to Sioux Falls and got home around 3:30am my time.

I was sad to see him go, but I didn't cry as much since I know he's going to be back for Christmas. I had a great time while he was here. We saw Harry Potter together and went out to my favorite Japanese restaurant twice. We also had dinner with my grandparents and uncle and aunt. We also watched the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy over two days. He's never seen the movies before, so I was really glad we got to watch them. Plus, I haven't seen the movies in years and enjoyed watching them again. I can't wait to see him again in about a month! Hopefully we'll have our NOA2 by then.

~Lindsay

Ben's third visit!

Ben's on the second plane to Montreal! I'll be leaving in a few minutes to go pick him up.

He was planning on leaving after lunch today and then drive to Sioux Falls. But yesterday when he got home from work, he told me that there was gonna be some bad weather in his area, so he decided to leave a day early and booked a hotel for the night.

He finally got to the airport later this afternoon when his two planes were delayed. His first was delayed so badly that they put him on another flight heading to Chicago. I was tracking his flight online and it seemed it had to stay in the air longer than it had to around the Chicago airport. Apparently the Chicago airport has been hit really bad by delays. His second flight was supposed to leave at 9pm, but then got delayed to 9:55pm. And even after he boarded and the plane left the gate, I believe that he was stuck on the runway for almost 30 minutes before his flight finally took off. He was supposed to have arrived already in Montreal, but because of the delays, he won't be landing for another hour at least.

I'm getting anxious, so I'm going to leave in a few minutes. I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that Ben passes through customs without any issues.

Can't believe he's here till next Tuesday! *big smile*

~Lindsay

5 month anniversary

So, my husband remembered last night that our 5-month anniversary was last week. D'oh. We had both forgotten about it. And yet again, for the third month in a row, we spent our anniversary apart. In a way, I'm happy that we both forgot about our anniversary last week because I would have just been moping around all day wishing I was with Ben.

Ben did get me something last night in celebration of our missed anniversary. Recently, there was a new update to Windows Live Messenger (MSN) and I don't like it at all. I mentioned to Ben last night how I hate how slow the new MSN is to load on start-up. He told me I should try Trillian, another IM client that he's been using for years. So, I downloaded it and tried it out, liking it. He then bought me Trillian Pro (has more features and themes and such) for our anniversary. ^_^

~Lindsay

Ben's second visit to Canada

Ben arrived in Canada for the second time on Friday night. He didn't have much problems at customs. He was told to go to secondary inspection, but they only asked him two questions and then stamped his passport. He picked up my suitcase (I had left a bunch of clothes and things in South Dakota and he brought them back for me!) and then headed out the doors to where everyone was waiting.

It was a wonderful moment, finally seeing him again, being in his arms and kissing him! ^_^

We took the shuttle back to where I had parked and drove home. It was very late at night, midnight maybe, so we didn't do much the first night and just went to sleep.

Saturday we went over to my grandparents house and I introduced him to them. We all went out to a restaurant, meeting my uncle and aunt there, for supper. They all seemed to think Ben was super nice. He passed the "family test"! :D

Sunday was my 22st birthday. I had set an alarm for 9:57am (the time when I was born) and as soon as the clock ticked to the time, Ben wished me a happy birthday and gave me a kiss. Best birthday present ever. I was hoping all day that I would get a touch from USCIS, but nope. Nothing. Went out for dinner to my favorite Japanese restaurant here in Montreal and enjoyed a lovely meal with Ben.

I don't think we did anything worth mentioning on Monday. Just spent time together. Oh, we took some pictures of our rings. Ben finally got a wedding ring last month sometime and this was our first time together where we both had rings. So a picture of that was a must. Also took some pictures for a new profile picture for Facebook.

Tuesday was his last day here. I felt horrible the whole day, knowing that in a few hours I would have to say goodbye to him all over again. Finally headed to the airport around 2:30pm. Had some trouble at the kiosk, so we had to go to a person at a counter. We then walked to the security checkpoint, the point where I couldn't go any further. We sat together for a few minutes, and then we knew it was time to say goodbye. I of course cried, not wanting to let him go again. After a few tearful minutes, we finally kissed for the last time and he headed in one direction, while I headed in the other direction back to where I had parked.

He's only got two more vacation days left for this year. He said he'll come to visit me for Christmas, but I'm hoping to see him before that. Two and a half months without being with him will be super hard. It'll have been the longest time we've ever spent apart. So far, the longest time we've spent apart was a month and 2 days.

I would like to move to Winnipeg, so I'd only be a six hour drive away from South Dakota, making it easier for Ben to come visit me. It'd be nice if he just drove up after work on Friday night or something and stay till Sunday and drive back again. Doing this every 2-3 weeks would definitely make me happier than I am now. It'd be hard to move there on my own though. It's hard to get an apartment without having a job there first, and it's hard to get a job when you don't have an apartment. We'll see what happens though...

~Lindsay

P.S. Almost a month and a half from our NOA1. Come on CSC, give us our approval! Pretty please.

I-130 transferred

Thursday night Ben got an email from USCIS saying that they received our I-130 package and that it's being transferred to the California Service Center to be processed. They also mentioned in the email that we should receive the NOA1 in 7-10 days. Yay for progress! And once we get that, we can start tracking our package on the USCIS website to see if anyone has looked at it. I'll be checking it everyday religiously.

In other sadder news, Ben will be leaving tomorrow morning. We need to leave my house at 5:45am to beat the traffic and get to the airport on time. I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to him, but I know he'll come back and visit when he can.

~Lindsay

I-130 received and Ben visiting me!

The USPS website finally updated for our tracking number and the USCIS finally picked up our package from the PO Box. Now we just have to wait for the NOA1 and the check to be cashed. More waiting!

In other good news, Ben is here in Canada with me! The day I got denied, he decided to drive up 6 hours to Winnipeg and then take a flight to Montreal. He arrived at the airport at 10am and it was such a happy airport hello. We hadn't been together for more than 3 weeks and it was nice to be with him again. He was able to get a leave of absence so he's staying here until next Monday. I'm going to be sad to say goodbye to him, but I'm happy I finally got to see him.

My dad was planning on moving within Canada and he's been unsure of whether to move out west or out east. After what happened recently, he's now thinking of moving to Winnipeg to make it easier for Ben and I. If we do move there, it will be soon and it'll make it much cheaper and easier for Ben to come visit me. Hope we move soon if we do go out there.

~Lindsay

Introduction

Hello to everyone!

I have created this blog to write down my journey through immigration. Before I begin, I'd like to share a little background information of how I got to where I am now.


It all began on January 7th, 2010. I was on Facebook and going through the news feed when I saw an interesting post by one of my friends who re-posted from one of his friends (Ben). At the end of reading it, I made a comment about it. An hour or two later, I got a friend request from Ben. Usually I don't add anyone on Facebook I don't know, but I thought why not. So, I added him. And that's when our friendship began. That first day alone, we talked for two or three hours on Facebook chat, just getting to know one another. This continued on everyday.

One day, I was on the bus heading somewhere when I got a text message on my phone. When I view it, I see it's from Ben. He mentioned that he found my cell number listed on Facebook and decided to text me. And since then, we texted everytime one of us wasn't home or at work to talk online.

We eventually moved from Facebook chat to MSN as it was much easier.

We soon began to joke about me going to visit him in South Dakota (USA). Eventually, we went from joking to serious, and before I knew it, I was booking a flight from Montreal (Canada) to his little town in the US. Our first meeting was in mid-March and lasted for five days. Throughout the visit, I thought it would be so cool if he was my boyfriend. He was absolutely amazing and on the last day of the visit, I never wanted to leave.

Over the next week, Ben and I expressed how much we missed each other and soon began to reveal our feelings for one another. There was just one little problem...

At that time, I was actually with someone else (my first ever boyfriend), but had fallen out of love with him months before. We had our own apartment together for more than a year at that point. I had never broken up with anyone before, but I knew it must be done. He was in quite a shock when I told him. Within a week or two later, I was back to living with my dad's.

Ben and I thought another visit should be in order, so mid-April, I headed back to South Dakota, this time for only four days. It was technically even less since I arrived late Friday night and left early Monday. But, on April 16th, the first night I was there, Ben proposed to me. We had actually been discussing it since we knew we were right for each other and wanted to have a small courtroom wedding and then get me to the US as fast as possible.

After that April visit, I came back for another four days at the end of April/beginning of May. It had only been two weeks apart, but it felt like forever. I came in earlier on Friday, so we had almost three full days together this time. Again, we didn't want to say goodbye, but we both knew I would return in two weeks time and we'd have the whole summer together.

Two days after I finished my semester, I headed back to South Dakota, this time to spend almost three months there. On May 21, we got married in the courthouse in his town. His mother and grandmother were witnesses (his younger step-brother was there as well playing in the benches). We had decided to just have a small courthouse wedding to get all the legal stuff out of the way, and after some time, we'd have another bigger wedding with everyone invited, once we have the time and money to plan it.

My return ticket to Canada was a week into August. Neither of us wanted me to leave. And looking back, I never should have. But, it was for only 10 days and I needed to get some things done in Canada before I came back and began the process of becoming a legal permanent resident of the US. Leaving was mistake number 1.

Mistake number 2 occurred at customs at the airport when I was going to return back to South Dakota. I unfortunately mentioned that I was going back to apply for a green card. What I didn't know at that time is that you cannot cross the border to the US with the intention of immigrating. That is a violation of immigration laws. I was sent to the immigration area at the airport while I waited for an hour, not knowing what was going on. An immigration officer finally took me in, about 10 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave, and then told me the devastating news. I was not going to see my husband that night. He explained what I was doing wrong and told me that I had to either apply for an immigration visa or a K3 non-immigrant visa. And that I wouldn't be seeing my husband for 4 months. Never have I cried so much in my life....

~Lindsay