RNkiwi

Hi just to butt in here! It has taken me 2 yrs, 10.5 months to get my visa- it still hasn't sunk in yet..... The fact that my papers were "misplaced" by my attorney several times and the horrendously long processing time at Texas SC certainly try your patience. Just to get an interview in Sydney is a 3 month wait- don't know what other consulates are like at present? Good luck if you get thru in less than 18 months- I was promised 8 months in 2002... :)

Hi all! Finally had our interview today (if you can call it that!),- signed 2 pieces of paper, raised our right hands, interviewer apologised for the delay and that was it... :balloons: Have to go back on Thursday for our passports. Have another 4 days in Sydney, Australia to relax (sold our house, car and excess belongings last week, shipped our stuff to Florida- a full-on week!). Will update when I finally get to Florida. Wendy :beer: :cheers:

Hey, you guys are lucky, we have to take our kids to the interview in Sydney- only a 4 hour flight :chuckle Got my packet 4 yesterday, interview on June 21, should be in the USA by mid July- can't believe the end is in sight....

My visa fee bill was paid in Jan-$335, got a letter from my attorney saying I had to pay another $45 when i go for interview, as fees are now $380 per person. As if it doesn't cost enough already!

Whether you are effected by retrogression would depend on where you were born. As far as I know ( correct me if I am wrong), only India, China and the Philippines fall into the retrogression catergories. All other countries are current. Does that clarify things? :)

I'm pleased for you! :balloons: Hope the rest of the process runs smoothly! Wendy

The bottle is well and truly open! Forgot to mention, the cost of the visa has risen also- now $380 USD each, $45 increase. I have my fingers crossed that things go smoothly for you Sue- for me once DS230 was requested it was only a matter of weeks for approval. Time for another wine! :)

Received my packet 4 today!!!!!! :balloons: Attorney tells me my interview will be scheduled for June, so should be in the USA in July. Roll on early May- consulate said they would call me to confirm my date and time! Just have to sell our house now! Time for a wine! :cheers: Wendy

PS forgot to mention- once you have a case number from the NVC you are able to call the automated ph number, this will tell you where you are in the processing situation. :)

I am guessing that phase 1 approval is the completion of review by the service centre (?). The paperwork is then passed onto the NVC who process it next. The visa fee bill is then requested ( about 4-6 weeks after you are entered into the NVC system ), once this is received by the NVC they will then generate packet 3, which contains the DS230 and some other papers. This is then reviewed by the NVC, once this is complete ( in my case 7 days ), the papers are then sent to whatever consulate you chose. Depending on what consulate you are using, there is now a wait for an interview ( in my case 60-90 days), I am waiting to receive packet 4, which contains info about police clearances, medicals etc. Just as an idea of time- my case was created by the NVC on Nov 2 2004, completed on March 16 2005, sent to Sydney on Mar 22 ( and is still enroute!) Hope this has been of some use to you!

Hi Sue, I feel for you! Have they given you a reason for the delay? Has the visa fee bill been paid yet? Hopefully she is giving the worse case scenario I seem to have ground to a halt here also. I called the embassy last week ($2.75/min), they put me on hold , only to tell me they still didn't have my papers from the NVC ( didn't know the Pony Express was still operating!), so I am patiently still waiting for my interview date and packet 4. Still no news 10 days later.... I think everyone who goes thru this process deserves a medal for perserverance. Personally I am so sick and tired of living in limbo, just getting an interview date would give me something to aim for! Anyway, keep in touch and let us know how you go :)

Hi there, I am currently waiting patiently (not!) :chuckle for Packet 4 and my interview date in Sydney. My I140 was filed in Sept 2003 TSC, approved Sep 2004, case created at NVC 11/04, received Packet 3 late Feb, case reviewed by mid Mar and sent to Sydney. Now have a 60-90 day wait for interview http://www.cptracker.com is a good tool to use to gauge lengths of time :) Good luck! Wendy

Hi Suzanne, trying to sell our house and having a major clean out in the process- you know fresh start and all of that!!!! :balloons: Checking out real estate in Florida ( spending the proceeds of our house sale already!)

Hi Sue, just wondering how you are going with your application? Where are you up to now? My papers have just been sent to the Sydney consulate, who inform me it is a 2-3 month wait for interviews now- can't win! Plenty of time to work on Packet 4 I guess.... :chuckle. Packet 3 was assessed in 6 days.. I see Texas is now processing papers submitted in Jan '05- wonders will never cease! Let us know how you are going! Wendy

Hi Bernadette, I have been battling my way thru the US immigration saga for over 2 years now- hopefully it is more efficient these days. :) CGFNS makes everyone's life hell- I used to call them regularly- mind you there are some total idiots who answer the phones there and have no idea what they are talking about. It took about 6 months for them to do my CES evaluation to sit NCLEX ( I didn't sit the CGFNS exam- applied for a state that didn't require it and then endorsed my licence into Florida once I had sat NCLEX), even though they had all my paper work I had to get "fresh" nursing school stuff from NZ to get my Visascreen. I had to fly to Hawaii to sit NCLEX, but I believe you can sit in Hong Kong now? The longest part of the battle was getting my application processed in Texas ( the service center area for Florida), although this seems to be much quicker now. I just checked the USCIS processing times for California- June 2004- they seem to have caught up a bit also. How long does it take for California to evaluate your nusing papers? Now I am waiting for my interview at the Embassy in Sydney ( hospital has an appalling lawyer, he has lost papers, doesn't pay things when supposed to etc etc)- hope to be gone by May- although I seem to have been saying that for years now!! Are you going thru a recruitment agency? Good luck and feel free to ask me anymore questions,, although can't help much with the California side of things! :chuckle Wendy PS are you in Perth?

I passed NCLEX March 2003, I-140 filed Sept 2003, TSC, (papers lost in attorneys office for 3 months), approval Nov 2004, still waiting for interview date- probably another 2-3 months. Nothing happens in a hurry, especially with incompetent attorneys. Good luck!

Hi Sue,is that for Q.10? I put the name of the HR person at the hospital there ( she signed my contract) , along with the address of the hospital- that is what the attorney told me to do. My form has nothing about petitioner????!!!! Good luck with the forms, I did them about 5 times each until I felt they were right! :) I also photocopied them! Wendy OK -I just checked you are filling out Part 2, I haven't done that one yet- saving it for a rainy day!!!

Hey Sue, that is so cool!!! Crack open the champers! It's such a great feeling! What's the bet your case will be processed long before mine is! Hope your attorney is more switched on than mine is.. Let us know how your case progresses. Wendy

Going to Florida- have a job in Broward County. RFE was to do with no SS #, the temporary licence thing that FL does, I actually have a copy of what the attorney sent back to them, he just sent USCIS back some of their quotes regarding temp licences. I felt the whole thing was a waste of time, just another tactic to delay the processing! :chuckle I mean, how many applications do they process for FL, most of whom have ony temp licence? I read on Shustermans site, that most nurses are now getting RFE's. Like you I want everything yesterday-LOL and I feel I could have had it yesterday if it weren't for all the hoops we have to jump through to get there. I am hoping it will be smooth sailing from now on BUT I am not holding my breath!!

Hi Sue, actually the wait was really short! They sent the RFE back on Oct 26th, and I got approval on Nov 2nd. Hope yours is as quick! Have you signed up for email updates with USCIS?- that is how I found out mine was approved on that particular date. Finally found out when my fee bill was paid- Jan 28 as I suspected. The bill was issued on Dec 6, although the attorney's office did not receive until Jan 6, which coincidentally was the day my Fed Ex package arrived in their office- I suspect a liitle confusion there!!!!!! At least my packet 3 is now complete, and after the hissy fit I have thrown over this debacle, I hope it will be filed immediately upon request. Good luck, Sue, let me know how you get on. I will continue with this saga to give you idea of how long this part of the battle goes- hopefully yours will be a lot smoother!!

Finally got a response from the attorney's office- admittedly from one of the aides. Yes- they have paid my visa fee bill- but they won't answer when exactly it was paid- so I am guessing it was within the last 12 hours or so Did I want my family to be processed with me- I thought that would have been rather obvious given that they have 4 completed sets of papers for Packet 3 in their office ( they can be efficient in some matters...) I emailed the agency and suggested that I was seriously thinking of canning this whole immigration lark- what a response! They are going to contact the attorney tomorrow and get me a timeline...... The moral of this story is to stay on their backs, question everything that lawyers tell you and do for you- hopefully no one else will strike the hassles quite like what I have gone through. :)

Hi Sue, I had an RFE as well (apparently every nurse is getting them now, or so Shusterman said!), surprise, surprise, my attorney sat on that one for 6 weeks as well, only managed to send it off when I reminded him. If I hadn't been in New Zealand on vacation, I would have been on his case a bit sooner! He also misplaced my papers for 4 months prior to even filing them with Texas- they were only filed then because I asked for my receipt number. The agency is useless at following up things. You are right, 2+ years is too much effort to throw away, I am looking forward to moving, just have to remember to look past this hiccup ( again!) Wendy

Just waiting for the agency to get hold of him this week,I probably wouldn't be too polite if I had to speak to him!! Hopefully they will speak to the hospital and get this sorted out promptly if he remains unavailable :uhoh21: He has picked the wrong person here if he thinks he can walk all over me!!!

Despite all the promises made by the hospital's attorney, it now appears that he has not paid the Visa Fee Bill on my behalf as promised ( Dec 6th, 2004). He hasn't replied to any of my correspondence nor to any from my agency. I called the NVC and spoke to a "real" person, who informed me as of Jan 25, nothing is in the system regarding the bill having been paid. Now the attorney is conveniently out of the country. :angryfire What would everyone else do in this situation? I am so close to cancelling this whole thing, I feel as though I am banging my head against a brick wall here, seem to take 2 steps forward and then instantly get knocked back 1.5. In absolute desperation....... Wendy

Have just reread what I previously wrote, I don't mean to come across as being ungrateful and self centered, I know there are people who are a lot worse off than me, what with my husband being away over Christmas and New Year and then the terrible disaster in the Indian Ocean its been a fairly emotional time in the last 10 days- so forgive me if I come across the wrong way. Happy New Year to all, and to all those who lost somebody in the tsunami, my deepest sympathy..