Update

...and I'm back!

That was a lovely break (The Dairy Queen in Ludlow, CA will always remain a special memory).

As I mentioned before, I took the DS-3032 with me and we posted it on the ninth (or maybe it was the tenth - I was kinda tired).

We had our honeymoon in NV, AZ and CA.

Just before Foofer started the sad sad task of driving me to the airport yesterday, she checked her mail. The NVC had contacted her, as my agent, in a letter dated 16th April. They were asking for $400 but it still cheered us up as things are progressing (and they're progressing fast).

The letter also contained instructions about how, three days after (online*) payment Foof should go back to the website she paid on and, once payment was acknowledged, download the next round of forms.

Things are speeding up...

*There were instructions about paying by mail but we skipped those - viva la intrawebz.

More mail!

My DS-3032, Choice of Agent, form arrived today. For some reason it came to the UK via Germany (Deutsche Post in Frankfurt to be exact (or, maybe, Niederaula (as that's on the envelope too))). The DS-3032 is a strange form where you have to enter some of the information twice (why? I do not know).

I have a dilemma.

Do I fill this in and send it or, as I'll be in Las Vegas in 48 hours, do I post it from Sin City? I see that a new option (discussed on Visajourney.com) is to email the NVC directly, claiming that you haven't received your form yet and proposing your spouse as your agent.

I will be IMing with Foof later today so we'll decide what to do then.

The "Magic" of this Blog

When I seem to note, on this blog, that I'm waiting (patiently) for something but that it's going to be a long long time, stuff happens.

Today, Foofer received a package from the NVC (posted on the 25th of March).

A copy of the DS-3032 and a bill for $70. Foofer is paying this fee as I type (which will take about three days to go through).

If my copy of the DS-3032 hasn't arrived by Thursday, I now know that there's one waiting for me in Las Vegas.

Yay!!!

Please Mr Postman

And so our case is officially at the NVC, I called their special hotline and the (irritatingly drawn out - but oh so useful) automated message system (603 334-0700) confirmed it and even gave me our new NVC case number. It's very straightforward but seems to be busy for a lot of the time.

The next step is, apparently, when I receive a DS-3032 through the mail, although it seems that Foofer should receive a copy of that form too (though I'm not exactly sure why). This is the point where the process splits into two and can get complicated:

The DS-3032 asks me to nominate an agent to represent me. Often this could be an attorney or a family friend or even myself but, as payments are needed from a US bank account (which I obviously don't have as you need a social security number to open one) and we haven't relied on anyone else yet, we decided that Foofer would be my agent.

While I'm busy nominating my agent, Foofer will get a request (for money followed by another) for her tax history (I-864) to prove that she can support me if I were to be unable to find gainful employment. If that's acceptable than that would normally be her efforts completed - but as she's my agent she'll have a few more tasks.

It appears that I have to pay a fee too (or maybe two fees? I'll let you know if/when it happens) and then I'll receive the infamous DS-230 form (biographical information).

But for now, I'm waiting at the door for my DS-3032, checking my mail every day. Hoping that, today, the postman will make me smile...

Useful advice...

I have to post this link.

It's a really useful blog (hopefully ours will grow up to be one too) that takes you through the "spouse importing" process, step-by-step - in this case a guy is bringing his wife in from Nicaragua but the experience is essentially the same.

He has checklists and gotchas - If you're just starting out, plodding along, caught in red tape or even near the end of your struggle, I urge to you go and look at his site.