I Love You, God!

I Prayed, He Answered!

As I went to check the mail, I made a silent prayer and low and behold - My Criminal Record check was sitting in the mailbox! So it's now been scanned and submitted! Thank God!

So now? Back To Waiting! ha ha!

Until Next Time,
Shannon

I Know, I Know!

It's been awhile. But life's been difficult.

Immigration is still the same. Still waiting on that damn Record Check to arrive. But it's been the least of my worries of late.

Sunday May 15th, my brother got very, very, very ill and was put into the ICU. He was fighting for his life but has miraculously recovered thus far beyond anyone and everyone's expectations. He is truly a walking miracle. It went from not being sure if he would live to going home yesterday to finish his recovery. He is blessed and a fighter. <3

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time at the hospital over the past week and am now trying to catch up on work and sleep! ha ha!

Hopefully, I'll have more news to report soon. =(

Until Then,
Shan

Frustrated Beyond Belief

I'm Trying To Remain Positive

I received another checklist letter from the immigration office today. This time they requested my Police Clearance Certificate. Well, if you remember from my previous post - I've already submitted that about ten times by now. Originally on April 12, 2011.

So I re-submit and call the NVC to find out what was wrong with the one I already submitted. They have no idea as apparently no one makes note. They didn't inform me in their letter and the only way I can find out is to submit an inquiry and check back in 10-15 business days.

Seriously?

With tears streaming down my face - I just want to be in my husband's arms. Why is this so difficult and moreso, why does it take so much time?

She said, the usual reason is they sometimes require people to get finger prints. I said huh? I asked specifically If I need finger prints ahead of time and I was told they would take them at the interview. Great, Fine. HUH?

I am doing electronic processing - what on God's Green Earth is a scanned copy of my finger prints going to do? What's that going to achieve?


Made no sense to me. (Stick with the story, there is more). So I call the Halifax Police and explain to them what I need (Yes, crying hysterically on the phone because at this point I honestly can't compose myself anymore.) I was told to bring all of my paperwork and they would figure out what I needed.

Again, logically - it makes absolutely no sense to me what good my finger prints will do. Who, employed by the NVC is going to be able to verify anything from a copy of my finger prints.

But I go to the police station anyways. But not before reviewing all of my information. And what did I find?

Certificate Expiration: May 3, 2011.

Seriously? My fucking police expired a week ago. Seriously.

So now I'm torn. Do I just need a new certificate, or do I need finger prints?!

They tell you to get this stuff in advance, so when you get 'the call', you're ready to go and prepared. Apparently I was a little too prepared? Or they took too long entering it into their system. It's been sitting with them for over a month. =( Just my luck they decide to review it a week after it's expired. You would think the submission date would count for something.

Fast Forward: I get to the Police Station - Explain to them what I think I need - show them the letter. They insist they can't help me and I need to go to someone else.

The Halifax Police, can't help me acquire a Criminal Record Check for US Immigration. Hear that folks? Yeah. Right. I'm reading this letter I received and I keep stopping at this line;

"Because records checks based on name and date of birth only are sometimes less thorough than those based on fingerprints, U.S. diplomatic offices reserve the right to request that certain applicants obtain fingerprint-based searches from the RCMP."

I don't need my goddamn fingerprints. I need a fingerprint-based search.

So I go find this other guy who can do it. $70 later it's been sent into the RCMP and within 72 hours they're supposed to fulfill the search and then mail me the results. Goodness knows when I can expect to receive them.

Thing is: I may not even really need one of these fancy searches. I probably just needed a certificate that wasn't expired. =( But I don't know for sure - so I am going on the side of caution and ordered this type. And I DO have a scanned copy of my fucking finger prints too - just in case.

I'm so frustrated. Not because of the time required to get this information, not because of the money ... but because this has delayed the process - yet again - another 2-6 weeks (or more). It's killing me... I just want to start my life with the man I love. I want to wake up in his arms every morning, see his face, touch him. Feel him close to me. And it seems so so so so far away.

=(

I miss Chad so much I cannot stand it. But I need to be positive. I need believe that God is in my corner and is going to make this happen. And I know.. I KNOW with absolutely certainty that it is going to be worth it. Chad Cavitt is worth it. I just hope I don't have an emotional/mental breakdown before I see him again....

Hopefully next time, I'll have better news =)
Shan

Congrats Dad & Nancy!

Congratulations!

As some of you may be aware, my father is also currently going through the immigration process. He met his wife, Nancy online quite a few years ago. She immigrated to Canada and has been here for the past 10+ years.

Recently, they decided to make the move back to Maine and started the immigration process shortly after Chad and I. Since she was living here at the time and have been married for awhile, they were able to take a different route (which was supposed to be waaay quicker) but unfortunately something-somewhere along the way got lost and they were delayed. However, good news has finally come and they are now able to schedule their Montreal interview!

WOO-HOO!!!

I know Chad and I are still a-ways off from that part ourselves but we're both very happy to hear 'some' good news on the immigration front! So GREAT NEWS guys!

Our Immigration Update:

We're still waiting. I am still frustrated. I feel like I am jumping through hoops but I have no idea if it's doing anything. This may seem foreign talk for anyone who isn't involved in the immigration process. But - I'm going to vent a little.

On April 9th I submitted my DS-260, which is basically a ton of questions about my intentions upon entering the USA, as well as my personal history. Work, travel, housing, etc.,

On April 12th I received confirmation and was able to submit my supporting documents. Birth Certificate, Police Clearance, Passport, Marriage Certificate, and Passport Photos. (Email Confirmation that it was received)

On April 26th I submitted my Affidavit of Support. (Email Confirmation that it was received)

On May 4th I received two emails stating that they've reviewed my application submitted online (DS-260) and provided me two checklists of documents/information to submit. What did they request? My supporting documents which I submitted on April 12th and my Affidavit of Support which I submitted on April 26th. (Email Confirmation that it was received)

Now they very clearly state that we have to give then up to 20 days to get the information entered into the database, so it's very likely they just haven't gotten it processed yet. But what made me nervous was there was a new 'rule' in there I hadn't seen previously.

They requested that I submit the above mentioned, include the checklist cover letter which they sent in the email and directed me to include our case number on the top of every single page submitted.

*Sniff* - *Sad Face*

Anyone who has any experience with PDFs knows that you can't 'write' on them (at least to my knowledge) I understand there *may* be PDF editors out there but I didn't have one. My only options were to either print off every page (60+) manually write the case number in the corner or just get creative.

If I printed everything off, wrote the number, re-scanned - the quality would be atrocious and I some of the things I have scanned in colour, such as Birth Certificate, photos, mirage certificate, etc.,

So I opted to get creative. After hours of trial and error and screwing up a few times in my emails to them, I believe I got everything they requested. I phoned the NVC to see if I actually was required to submit these things again, since I already had. I was instructed that provided I submitted the cover letter sheet they provided the first time around (which I did) I would be fine. But, to ease on the side of caution - I re-submitted everything anyways.

I'm sure they hate me. I've now sent like 5 copies of Support Documents and 2 or 3 copies of Affidavits of Support.

So then - On May 5th I got an email response to the very first email I wrote them on May 4th when I originally asked, "I already submitted this stuff" gave the dates and such. They're response to me was that my case file is incomplete and I have to send the information.

I'm assuming they didn't even check. So I wrote again and told them - again - I had already submitted everything and did it -again- just to be safe. Do I really have to resubmit everything - again ? Could they not check the email history and confirm if everything they need me to send thus far has been received?

Then I got;

"Dear Sir/Madam:

The National Visa Center (NVC) received your correspondence.

We received electronic documentation for this case. The documentation will be reviewed and uploaded to your electronic case file."

So Now?

I wait.

Again.

I sure must love my husband because this process is stressing Me. OUT!

Ha Ha!
Until Next Time,
Shan