This is our timeline...From Sweden to Michigan!!!
February 18, 1999
Mike comes home to Michigan for a weeks visit. We fill out the I-129F papers which I had previously ordered from the INS website (time to arrive less than 10 days).
February 27, 1999
Mike returns to Sweden :-( and I finish getting paperwork and all the necessary copies ready to mail to the Nebraska Service Center.
March 23, 1999
Sent I-129F paperwork off to the Nebraska service center! Not sure why it took so long to get the paperwork around, if we'd known what lay ahead we sure wouldn't have let so much time go by!!! *LOL*
There's alot of information (and from the INS some MISinformation) about this whole process. I highly suggest you check out some of the links on the previous page...it will help tremendously! *S*
April 5, 1999
Received I-129F paperwork BACK in the mail!!!! Apparently the INS is serious about sending in the correct amount!! *LOL* We'd sent a check for $75.00, and the correct amount was $95.00!! This was just the first of many discrepancies we found in the INS instructions!!
I quickly (on a half hour lunch break!!) wrote them a NEW check packed up the paperwork in a new envelope and remailed it the same day!!
April 23, 1999
Got the Approval of visa application letter in the mail today!!! Only 18 days from when I resent the forms and FOUR days from the INS date of receipt! They informed us that the Notice of Approval could take from 82-112 days. Mike and I settled in for a LONG wait!!!
April 29, 1999
I leave Detroit for Sweden to visit Mike and meet his family (THANKS GEOCITIES!!!!! You'll never know what this trip meant to us!!! *S*)
May 5, 1999
I return to Michigan from Sweden...it was a WONDERFUL trip!! For someone who had never really traveled much, I had a great time and very stress free!!! *S*
May, June, 1999
For all of May and most of June, we waited!! But with my daughter graduating from high school (with HONORS!!!! *proud mom*) it was a "down time" that was needed, both for me to get the family through graduation, prom, and open house, and for Mike to make some arrangements for his final trip home! *S*
June 25, 1999
Received Notice of Approval!!!! Time...63 days! Even better than we could have hoped for!! AND the second time we underestimated what was involved in this process. It was at this time that I started to really research the K-1 Visa online and get the information from those that had been through it! (And the reason why I've added our story to my homepage! *S*)
July 7, 1999
Mike receives his packet from the Consulate in Stockholm, he's amazed by the amount of paperwork involved too!! *LOL* But by this time, I'm not surprised by anything!!! *G*
July 8, 1999
Mike calls the INS recommended doctor in Malmo to get his appointment for the medical. Unfortunatly in Sweden July is vacation month and we learn that his appointment MIGHT be delayed because of this. He is instructed to wait a week and call their office back. This wasn't the kind of news we'd hoped to hear!!!
July 16, 1999
Mike sends for his police certificate, cost 160 SEK.
July 19, 1999
Mike calls the doctor in Malmo again and gets the good news that he will get an appointment in a timely manner. He does learn however that they now do the medical exam in two parts. First will be the x-rays and blood tests, the second part will be the actual exam and the results will be ready of the previous tests.
July 26, 1999
I go to my bank expecting a struggle to get the verification of my account, to my surprise it was not only easy, but the very kind clerk notorized the necessary documents for me!! *S* While I was on a roll I decided to try for my employers letter too and was given that on the spot as well!! *S* Just a side note here, Mike and I have been watched over by guardian angels throughout our relationship...they've taken many forms but all have "rescued" us from something or the other. In this case my employer, knowing that I was having a hard time with the affidavit of support, offered to do my yearly evaluation a month early!!! So a big thanks to them!!!! *S*
July 27, 1999
I got the copies of all the paperwork (cost-$6.50) and mailed the packet to Mike! (cost-Global Express $9.00)
July 28, 1999
Mike goes to Malmo (one hour from his home) for part one of his medical (cost 360 SEK). This part of the medical took approximatly four hours to complete! Mostly due to it being vacation time still and the doctor was trying to fit in as many applicants as he could. THANKS DOC!!! *S*
Mike also received his police certificate today (one and a half weeks) and had his ADIT photos taken (cost- 160 SEK). He was a busy guy!! *LOL*
July 29, 1999
The doctors office told Mike that since he'd already had part one of the exam that he could safely go ahead and mail in his checklist...so he did that today! *S*
July 30, 1999
Mike receives my packet of papers in the mail!! ONLY THREE DAYS after I sent them!! *S* The postal service deserves a big ol pat on the back for that one!!! *S*
August 5, 1999
Mike has part two of his medical exam! All is well (no social diseases!! *LOL*) and with just a couple of immunizations he's ready for the interview!!! We're still waiting for that date from the consulate but we feel pretty confident that he will hear from them in a few days now! *S*
August 11, 1999
Mike got the interview date in the mail today!!!!! *SMILE* He faxed them yesterday and today the letter came! *LOL* He's set up for the interview in Stockholm on August 25th! I wonder if it's possible to function and keep all fingers and toes crossed???? *LOL*
August 12, 1999
Mike booked his flight home for August 28th!!! *GRIN* Nothing like being confident huh? *LOL* That'll give him three days after the interview to finish packing, sell his car and tie up any loose ends. Anyone else find this time to be wildly exciting and yet a little scary??? *grin* He also got his international drivers licence today too....seems funny that he'll have to go through the written AND driving test in order for Michigan to give him a licence...if anyone is familiar with Sweden's drivers test..they'll know that if you can pass that....you can pass ANY test!!!! *LOL*
August 19, 1999
Nothing new going on...just WAITING!!!!!! *LOL* Less than one week until Mike's interview and if it weren't for nerves and worry it wouldn't be so bad!!! *grin* I'm sure everyone that has applied for a K-1 has gone through this little bit of "hell" and survived...but I'd sure like to know HOW!!!! *LOL*
August 20, 1999
New developement!! A problem (of course! *LOL*), Mike received a call from the U.S. Consulate in Stockholm this morning telling him that they require certified copies of all divorce papers! Since this isn't required during the I-129F process and because I still hadn't done alot of research before that, we had just used regular copies and signed the paper stating that the originals were available. Since Mike's interview is in FIVE days I had to move FAST again! *LOL* SO off to the courthouse for certified copies of BOTH of my divorces (*LOL* NO MORE OF THOSE!!!)...cost for this service, $37.00! Then to the post office...and once again I must say that the U.S. Postal service has more than gone out of their way to help us out as much as they could...there were two options for sending these documents to Sweden. There was NO guaranteed delivery for this time so with the choices being regular Global mail which usually gets there in about three days, or Express which takes approximatly the same time but is pulled first for delivery and is trackable I chose that route. The cost...$21.00!!! So for a total of $58.00 we've hopefully fixed this little glitch along the way.
So as to further better our chances at a successful interview for Mike, I also included in this last minute packet a letter from my employer (thanks Quality!! *S*) stating that they would be very willing to provide him with a job in the U.S.!!! All we can do now is....WAIT!!!!!!...AGAIN!!!! *LOL*
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August 25, 1999
Interview day!!!!! Could it go smoothly???? NOT A CHANCE!!!! *LOL* Mike called me at 4:15 A.M...the first words out of his mouth after hello I love you was...I can't come home on Saturday!!!!! Wanna guess how far my jaw dropped??? After a few tears and the WHY NOT???? We got down to business....it all boiled down to that letter from my employer offering him a job (a sincere offer...we need HELP!!! *L*), it didn't include the exact wage and job title, DUH!!!! Soooo...after talking a little bit we realized that we could still pull this off if I got things together quickly. At 8:30 A.M I rushed to my employer and asked for another paper with all the required information...then off to the copy place to make copies and fax the information to the consulate (at 9 A.M my time 3 P.M. theirs!!!) the rush to the post office to mail the whole mess express mail just in case they didn't accept the faxed copy! WHAT a morning!!!!
After a quick trip through McDonald's for breakfast I went home, deeply upset that all our plans were still hanging in the balance! As I walked in the door....the answering machine was beeping at me...all I could think was NOW what????? BUT it was a message from Mike saying the consulate had called him on his cellphone (he was still driving back from the interview!) and that they had processed his visa and he'd have it in time to make his travel plans on Saturday!!!!!! *SMILE* It was FIVE minutes after I'd sent that fax that they called him! THANK YOU CONSULATE!!!!!!!!
Mike's inteview was a little exhaustive in some respects and quite easy in others...I'll post that here as soon as my feet hit the ground!! *SMILE*
August 28, 1999
Today Mike comes HOME!!!! YAHOOOOO!!!!!! *GRIN*
Off to the airport for his 3:45 arrival, still anxious that "something" could go wrong! Well it DID but not for HIM!! *LOL* We got stuck in traffic for over an hour and of course me worrying the whole time!! FINALLY arriving at the airport (after watching his plane landing from the freeway! *LOL*) and finding the parking ticket machine broken in the international terminal parking lot (and 90 degree weather to help! *groan* *LOL*), we quickly decided to park anywhere we could and run for it!! *LOL* And of COURSE, for the very first time, he's gotten through the whole process in NO time and is waiting for US!! *LOL* But it was wonderful to finally see all the work we'd done this past six months come to a happy conclusion!!! *SMILE* Now we're just going to enjoy a week of being together before we begin the process of getting married and filing for AOS! (I've had ENOUGH INS for a bit!! *LOL*)
September 17,1999
Wedding day!!!!! *SMILE* Mike and I finally get to see the realization of two years of waiting and dreaming!! We had a very simple ceremony at our local courthouse. It was as beautiful as any wedding could be! Now we're going to start working on the AOS/EAD/AP process (who'd have thought we'd get so good at government acronyms!!! *LOL*)
September 21, 1999
*yawn* *LOL* Up very early this morning for the nearly three hour trip to the Detroit INS office. We'd read conflicting reports as to whether this office did same day interviews but we were going to take our chances and make the drive anyway! Arrived at the office at about 8:30 A.M. and the wait for a number wasn't too bad! They were calling number 203 and we had 208 so we figured it wouldn't be too long...WRONG!! *LOL* After a two hour+ wait our number was finally called, and a very kind lady at the desk looked through our papers, tossed aside the EAD form (she said they issue this on the same day so we didn't need it!!!!) then took a few other's out and told us to wait a minute and she'd see if we could be interviewed right away!!!!! We ended up having to return to the office at 1:00 P.M. for the interview but it did confirm that what we'd been hearing about the Detroit office was right!!! *S*
Unfortunatly there was a glitch and the interviewer didn't have our "brown envelope" (another truth about Detroit...paperwork does mysteriously disappear!!!) which caused us a huge problem! A paper that Mike had specifically asked the consulate about (translation type thing!) was missing with the packet and the INS interviewer, while accepting the consulate's decision, was curious and apparently in a bad mood! So he sent us home, with approval but nothing to prove it! We weren't happy campers at this point and left Detroit feeling less than hopeful!
September 28, 1999
Back to Detroit!!! We spent the week searching everwhere for a translator that could provide what we needed for this INS inspector, unfortunatly, given the short time frame we had to work with (Mike could loose a great job offer!!) we were unable to find anyone! Mike did the translation himself, we had it notorized, and hoped for the best! The INS interviewer had given us a paper so that we could avoid lines and numbers and see him as soon as he was available. Needless to say he was less than pleased that the translation wasn't "official" but after making us feel like criminals he did finally grant our application, and gave Mike the stamp in his passport. Apparently our "brown envelope" is lost forever and we still must find someone to do this translation for us (cheapest so far is $300.00+!!!!) but at least Mike is now employed and for the moment we can forget INS! We left the Detroit INS office much happier and went directly to the Social Security office two hours away!! THAT experience was not only painless, but very very easy! We had his number via phone, two days later!!!! *S*
Just a side note....there was also no need to apply for AP as the stamp works for that too!!! Be as overprepared for the AOS interview as you were for the original K-1 one and you should be fine!! Just remember to have EVERYTHING translated before your fiance leaves their home country!!!! This is MUCH easier than trying to do it afterwards!!! *LOL*
January 2000
The wait for the EAD continues! We've finally sent in the required translation and now have no choice but to wait and see what happens next. We'll contact our congressman if we don't see the EAD card in a reasonable length of time. Otherwise things are going wonderfully! Mike has an even better job now and is happily working in his chosen field! And I'm thinking of changing professions *grin*
March 2000
EAD card arrives!!! WOW! It's impressive looking! *LOL* After the trouble we had getting it....it sure feels great to finally have it in our hands! (Much easier to carry around than the passport and stuff too! *LOL*)
September 19, 2000
Well, one year and one day! Mike and I celebrated our anniversary and reflected on the events that got us to this point. It's been a rollercoaster year, and yet one of the best of our lives. He's changed jobs (it wasn't HIS fault his former employer went bellyup! *LOL*) and things are looking even better! I'm STILL thinking about changing professions *LOL* and am even going for a degree now! Just nine more months before we deal with INS again *groan* *LOL* hopefully this next step will be a bit smoother!
We'll keep updating here through the rest of our INS journey, hopefully it will go alot more smoothly now!!! *S*
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Updated September 19, 2000