We woke up at 0500 today and got the kids ready for our Drive up to Frankfurt!. We went a different route this time, {which was a BIG mistake} it was supposed to take a lil longer to get to Frankfurt but would save us about 40 km { avoiding Autobahn as much as possible}. Well everything went GREAT till the halway point, from there it was ALL constructions & Traffic jam!. We were supposed to be there no later them 09:30 ( our appointment was scheduled for 09:40) We got to the Consulat at 09:29!. We got to skip a major line right outside the Consulat because T is a US citizen {YAY} We got a Ticket {for me} and three visitor passes for T and the kids. Once inside we had to remove our jackets and belts etc just like at the Airport!. We went to the next building and waited for about 30 minutes till our number was finally called! {while we waited we got our Pictures taken at one of the photos machines}. up the stairs we went to have our paperwork checked! {Part one - the I-130's and the G 325A's}. We had only a few minor things wrong with the paperwork ( now i am happy that we wernt to file in Person!) We are missing one Paper, that we will have to Fax to the Consulat first thing tomorrow!. We had to pay $840 right then and there {OUCH} to have our paperwork submitted / reviewed. After we paid we went downstairs, and waited another 30 minutes to talk to a different lady she reviewed the second part of our Paperwork { the DS 230's} and again we had a few things missing / wrong we fixed it and made Copies of our Passports {The Picture page} after that we waited ANOTHER 30 minutes to talk to the same lady again! She finally gave us our Case number and more info sheets and one last form to fill out {Affidavit of support.} Tomorrow, we will also Fax our "pink sheet" to the consulat, which means that we are ready for our Interview and we have all req. Documents!. They said part one {The petition} could take up to 4 months :( i am praying things will go fast!!!!....
Everything went pretty smooth and everyone is really nice!.
My Best advice for this trip!. bring ALOT of change ( the Photo Booth and the Copy machine dont give change back!!!!) and bring a book! ;)
Since alot of my German friends are about to PCS i thought it might be helpful to post a detailed list of what you need.... Ill just post whatever i needed for me and my daughter Annabell!.
Forms:
2x I-130 (Download here )
2x G 325a (Download here )
2x DS 230 (Download here )
2x I-864 (Download here) - but you will also recieve this form at the consulat
I had to file TWO Petitions one for ME and one for my Daughter { T's "stepdaughter"} since she needs a visa as well. I did not know which of the followin g Documents i needed for the first part so i took all of them along:
Passport(s) ( + copy of the Picture page)
Birth certificates ( Translated and you need one copy of your Sponsors BC for every petition- so i needed TWO (2) of my husbands and then mine and my daughters)
change of name paper ( i had the translated version with me but they wanted the GERMAN original)
Police Reports ( german fuehrungszeugniss AND the MP Report)
Biom. Pictures ( of the sponsor and everyone that petitions for a Visa)
Marriage Certificate ( international)
Shot Records ( you will recieve an info sheet with all the req. Shots BUT if you go to your local Military health clinic they will know what shots you need).
I honestly cant remember, what documents they made copied of and which i didnt need for this part, but it seems that every "case worker" does things differently so just take ALL of the documents above along!. better safe then sorry.
THAT was so helpful. I am SO HAPPY about the fact that you had to do this too and everything was almost the same with us... except for them not telling us about a missing document but it was really relieving to know that we were not doing things wrong and i was SO SCARED to start the whole visa process... i kinda pushed and jiggled it all in front of me until i REALLY had to do it... Now we only have to wait for the final interview appointment and it was really easy and nothing to worry about.. although that guy we saw was really grumpy haha
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