Athens DCF news and a wedding date!
meauxna
and websites maintained. All credit to the users here, I was able to go
to the Athens US Embassy last week *fully* prepared and impressed
staffers left and right!
I went for the primary purpose of obtaining my No Impediment to Marriage
certificate which was received for 55 of my favorite US Dollars
(actually 66 of my favorite Euros) cash only and raising my right hand
and swearing that I'd filled out the form correctly (English and Greek).
That business done, I decided to make hay while I was there and went
over to Visa Processing. Due to the aforementioined preparedness, I
approached the window with my notebook and list of questions in hand
and impressed the staffer there so well that she gave me *all* forms
(very unusual), up to and including Packets 3 & 4 so that we can
submit everything in one go. She answered many of my specific
questions regarding Aff. of Support I-864, evidence of relationship
requested (none) etc. She gave me instructions for where to write for
English documents (divorce, military, police etc) and invited me to
email her with any further questions I have down the line. Now that's
what I call service! Again, I can't stress enough how much my
foreknowledge of the process massaged the way with her. Additionally,
some of the info she gave me was either out of date or incorrect, so
cross-research has helped.
It was also confirmed that we must do the DCF in two visits, one to turn
in paperwork, another for the interview. I will continue to see if I can
shorten that to one visit like the lucky Australians, because it's
expensive to go to Athens.
Continuing my relationship-building mission, I called in on the Visa
Processing staffer that I met a few weeks ago while she was on vacation
on my island. She actually conducts the interviews for non-immigrant
visas, but works hand in hand with the immigrant visa person and does
help her occasionally with the IVs. We chatted about life abroad etc for
about 20 minutes (honest, she wouldn't let me go!) and I left feeling
very confident about the interview process coming up.
The only weak point was the Greek staffer at the INS window. And she
wasn't exactly rude, just Greek (read abrupt). She wasn't familiar with
the fillable forms and insisted I'd like the 5-carbon G325s just fine
(ha!). I also stopped in and picked up my tax extension form and got
some great recommendations for where to have lunch.
My advice for those using your Embassies: remember that the workers
there are people too! They are enthusiastic when you are, and when you
show that you have an interest in them as individuals and also can
demonstrate humble knowledge of their processes (who else in the world
cares about what these folks do except those of us using their
services?)
The best news for me was getting back to Rhodes and collecting the rest
of the docs from the translator to take to the Town Hall for our
marriage licence. We've got a date set of May 2, so I hope you'll all
wish us well then!
Please let me know if I can offer any English addresses for Divorce,
Navy or police record documents, or Greek police certificates.
m
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Inertia. Is that the Greek god of 'can't be bothered'?
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