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
Showing posts with label I-130. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I-130. Show all posts
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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
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
Friday, August 27, 2010
Package arrived!
Ben just told me now that he was informed by USPS that our I-130 package finally arrived in Chicago. He thought it should have arrived by Monday, but he later found out that the lady who told him that didn't know what she was talking about and it would actually take longer. Oh well, I'm just happy it finally arrived. Now to just wait for the NOA1 to be sent.
In other news, I'm planning on visiting Ben tomorrow. I thought I would have a better chance at getting through US Customs if I went through the land border. Which is what I ended up doing. My dad and I will drive down to Plattsburgh tomorrow morning and I'll catch a flight at 12:45pm, connecting then in Boston, Chicago, and finally landing in Sioux Falls. I'm hoping nothing goes wrong at the border. I'm praying my dad doesn't mess anything up or the immigration officer doesn't ask too many questions.
If no post is put up tomorrow, then I made it through. If there is a post, it's not going to be a happy one. Keeping my fingers crossed that I make it through tomorrow and can finally get back together with my one and only love, even if it is only for a 7-week visit.
~Lindsay
In other news, I'm planning on visiting Ben tomorrow. I thought I would have a better chance at getting through US Customs if I went through the land border. Which is what I ended up doing. My dad and I will drive down to Plattsburgh tomorrow morning and I'll catch a flight at 12:45pm, connecting then in Boston, Chicago, and finally landing in Sioux Falls. I'm hoping nothing goes wrong at the border. I'm praying my dad doesn't mess anything up or the immigration officer doesn't ask too many questions.
If no post is put up tomorrow, then I made it through. If there is a post, it's not going to be a happy one. Keeping my fingers crossed that I make it through tomorrow and can finally get back together with my one and only love, even if it is only for a 7-week visit.
~Lindsay
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The I-130
As soon as I got home from the airport, Ben and I began to research what we needed to do. We decided to file for the CR-1 visa (an immigration visa) since the K3 visa is unofficially not done anymore. We discovered what forms we needed to fill out and what documents we needed to send in. So much is needed!
-form G-1145
-cover letter explaining what's included
-check for $355, fee for the I-130
-form I-130 all filled out, signed and dated
-form G-325A from the petitioner (Ben), all filled out, signed and dated
-a passport picture of Ben
-form G325A from the beneficiary (me), all filled out, signed and dated
-a passport picture of me
-copy of petitioner's passport
-copy of petitioner's birth certificate
-copy of marriage certificate
-copy of beneficiary's passport
-copy of beneficiary's birth certificate
-evidence that our marriage/relationship is real
I knew what I had to do the next day (Wednesday), as did Ben. I needed to get passport pictures of myself done, as did Ben, and I needed to photocopy all airplane boarding passes from my previous trips to the US. I also photocopied some movie tickets from when we went to see movies together. I also needed to make a photocopy of my passport and birth certificate. Once I had everything done on my part, the next day (Wednesday) I sent everything by priority to Ben in the US. He received my package two days later, on Friday. He then spent that night putting everything together in the correct order. And into the manila envelope it went.
On Saturday, August 21st (our three month anniversary), he went to his post office and sent our application for my visa by priority mail.
And now the month-long wait begins. The immigration officer that I spoke with at the airport said this takes about 4 months. He was very wrong. On VisaJourney (the website where we got our information from), users frequently show their own timelines of their journey through immigration. Many of them have taken months just to get their I-130 approved. And then there's more steps after that which takes even more time. By the time most people have sent in their I-130 and have got their new visa in hand, it's closer to a year than 4 months.
So, I'm trying to remain hopeful. I'm planning on visiting Ben soon, but I will discuss the challenges I will face in another post.
~Lindsay
-form G-1145
-cover letter explaining what's included
-check for $355, fee for the I-130
-form I-130 all filled out, signed and dated
-form G-325A from the petitioner (Ben), all filled out, signed and dated
-a passport picture of Ben
-form G325A from the beneficiary (me), all filled out, signed and dated
-a passport picture of me
-copy of petitioner's passport
-copy of petitioner's birth certificate
-copy of marriage certificate
-copy of beneficiary's passport
-copy of beneficiary's birth certificate
-evidence that our marriage/relationship is real
I knew what I had to do the next day (Wednesday), as did Ben. I needed to get passport pictures of myself done, as did Ben, and I needed to photocopy all airplane boarding passes from my previous trips to the US. I also photocopied some movie tickets from when we went to see movies together. I also needed to make a photocopy of my passport and birth certificate. Once I had everything done on my part, the next day (Wednesday) I sent everything by priority to Ben in the US. He received my package two days later, on Friday. He then spent that night putting everything together in the correct order. And into the manila envelope it went.
On Saturday, August 21st (our three month anniversary), he went to his post office and sent our application for my visa by priority mail.
And now the month-long wait begins. The immigration officer that I spoke with at the airport said this takes about 4 months. He was very wrong. On VisaJourney (the website where we got our information from), users frequently show their own timelines of their journey through immigration. Many of them have taken months just to get their I-130 approved. And then there's more steps after that which takes even more time. By the time most people have sent in their I-130 and have got their new visa in hand, it's closer to a year than 4 months.
So, I'm trying to remain hopeful. I'm planning on visiting Ben soon, but I will discuss the challenges I will face in another post.
~Lindsay
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