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Visa/Permit/Citizenship Support GroupA quarantine for those of us losing our minds |
 14.Jul.2015, 06:07 PM
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#1
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Location: Västra Götaland Joined: 8.Mar.2010 |
Tjena!
Just a warm, non-judgmental support group* (*translation: place to b*tch) for those of us in the various stages of applying for a visa or permit or citizenship and slowly** (**translation: rapidly) losing our minds. There was recently a thread on TL for folks waiting for University decisions, and it was very successful. Maybe we can quarantine ourselves here and create the same for current and future visa applicants -- a space to share our knowledge, experiences, application & decision timelines, and to encourage one another and/or complain without abandon  Sometimes all you need is a sympathetic shoulder*** (***translation: computer forum?) to cry on before things begin to feel more manageable. To kick it off... Applied for: Sambo residence permit (UT) Applied on: Jan 17 2015 Email for interview received: May 28 2015 Interview: July 8 2015 Decision: Pending Applied from: USA (California) Trying to plan one's life and future without any certainty of a reliable timeline is hard. We personally have been told or read about decision timelines ranging from 1 week to over 18 months. Everyone's case is different, yada yada yada... but the standard deviation is enough to concern anyone, especially when they are planning house purchases, wedding planning, job arrangements, etc. And so... amidst the frustrating uncertainty, we wait. Anyone else in the same boat?  
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15.Jul.2015, 02:48 PM
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#2
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Joined: 15.Jul.2015 |
Yup. That's me. Applied Feb 15th, still waiting for an interview. I've been married to my swedish wife for over 5 years living in Boston. She(we) are moving to sweden on the 29th of July after she got a job. I am still awaiting the interview part of the process, which is not the final step. It looks like I will go over with her until I am scheduled an interview, which I will fly back take the interview, then I'll wait in the US until I get a decision. I am not looking forward in being away from her for that long. I understand the process, and will respect the laws, but on the swedish site (I can read, write, speak swedish) says a decision will be made in calendar 4 months if you have all the necessary paperwork in. We submitted everything. The nerves are kicking in full gear, as we pray we won't be apart for that long.
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15.Jul.2015, 06:58 PM
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#3
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Location: Stockholm Joined: 1.Jan.2014 |
QUOTE (mjennin2 @ 14.Jul.2015, 05:07 PM) 
Tjena! Just a warm, non-judgmental support group* (*translation: place to b*tch) for those of us in the various stages of applying for a visa or permit or citizenship and
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16.Jul.2015, 09:57 AM
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#4
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Joined: 10.Jun.2015 |
Hi everyone!
We applied beginning of september, had interview in march and still waiting... 10,5 months. What they told many of us is that "4 months" waiting is if your partner don't have to go to an interview. Which 99,99% have to. So the website is crap. Because they tell us we are under the 9+ category, What does that mean? It could be 10 or 14 or 18 you really don't know. They have told me around a year waiting time, not that i trust them... But i Hope to hear from them soon. |
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16.Jul.2015, 02:36 PM
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#5
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Joined: 15.Jul.2015 |
"We applied beginning of september, had interview in march and still waiting...
10,5 months. What they told many of us is that "4 months" waiting is if your partner don't have to go to an interview. Which 99,99% have to." Why would a partner not have to go to the interview? |
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16.Jul.2015, 02:47 PM
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#6
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Joined: 15.Jul.2015 |
QUOTE (LLHope @ 15.Jul.2015, 06:58 PM)
You can always go the other way, your partner going to the USA!...but then you have to apply for a fiance visa that has a 2 to 6 months waiting time, then you have 90 days
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That's not entirely true. My wife and I went through the process in the states recently, going from temp visa, to permanent resident (10 year green card), to citizen. You are correct, the waiting times may be longer, but my wife did not have to leave the country after we were married, to await a decision. In my situation I am forced to be out of the country while I am waiting a decision, I cannot be with wife in Sweden. Not once did my wife and I have to be apart while SHE was going through the process. I'm sorry, but being away from a loved one is certainly a reason to b*tch. |
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16.Jul.2015, 04:07 PM
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#7
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Location: Västra Götaland Joined: 8.Mar.2010 |
QUOTE (doubleg22 @ 16.Jul.2015, 01:47 PM) I'm sorry, but being away from a loved one is certainly a reason to b*tch. There are no "I'm sorry's" in this thread - it was intended to be a place of lamentation and sympathy  And what you state is the truth, and the problem - if mine were to come to the states, he wouldn't have to leave while his visa was being processed  But since you and your wife were married and living together for over 2 years, I thought the application process was supposed to be different for you - shorter, or allowing you to relocate while your permit was processed or something? I could very likely be wrong, however. @LLHope, my fiance won't be able to move back with me to the states for about 7-10 years because of school and business he has going on in Sweden, hence why I am going there. But our distance is not a short flight; it requires time, money, and vacation days that neither of us has in excess. We've visited each other 4 times since January, but now we're both out of vacation time, and while I can work from a distance, I can no longer step foot in Sweden as we have had our interview. So now we face a 4-9 month wait (which we were mislead to believe we were in the 4 month category for, until recently), trying to plan our December wedding with a 9 hour time difference and the real possibility that I cannot go back with him to Sweden after we are married here in LA. I'm thinking of trying to find cheap accommodation in Oslo, Copenhagen or Amsterdam so that he can come stay with me on the weekends while I work from a distance for a few weeks... this whole thing is just so jacked :/ /end complaining |
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20.Jul.2015, 05:21 PM
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#8
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Location: Västra Götaland Joined: 8.Mar.2010 |
For anyone passing by this thread, it looks like they finally updated the "Processing Times" (for residence permits) into English. It had only been available in Swedish for the past 3 months.
See here: <a href="http://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Private-individuals/Moving-to-someone-in-Sweden/Processing-time.html" target="_top">http://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Pri...ssing-time.html</a> The bad news: The page clearly indicates that those of us who need to have an interview with the embassy (all of us who are non-EU) are most definitely in the 4-9 month bucket. So, there's confirmation finally on that bit. The good news: The page also clearly states that the processing time begins the day you submit your application! Not starting on the date that you have your interview. So that is great to hear! |
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20.Jul.2015, 06:19 PM
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#9
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Location: Gothenburg Joined: 18.Jul.2012 |
QUOTE (mjennin2 @ 20.Jul.2015, 05:21 PM)
For anyone passing by this thread, it looks like they finally updated the "Processing Times" (for residence permits) into English. It had only been available in Swe
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21.Jul.2015, 07:17 AM
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#10
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Joined: 31.Jan.2015 |
QUOTE (mjennin2 @ 20.Jul.2015, 05:21 PM)
For anyone passing by this thread, it looks like they finally updated the "Processing Times" (for residence permits) into English. It had only been available in Swe
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Tack s? mycket mjennin for this info! at last, they finally made an update on this page in ENGLISH. Hoping that all of us will finally get a decision this July or August with fingers crossed! 
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21.Jul.2015, 10:00 AM
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#11
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Joined: 5.Mar.2015 |
I was married July 15th, applied September 29th in the U.S., had interview May 11th, and am now just waiting.
My wife and I went to the U.S. for 3 months while waiting what we thought would be a short process hopefully based on what we were reading and hearing at the time, and hoping I would have the interview during that time period. LOL at our false hopes for that to ever be a reality. Then I did Sweden January, U.S. Feb (first days away from my wife since we met, it was incredibly brutal and i went to a 10 day silent meditation retreat to help me deal with the incredible anger and frustration of being stuck living in a time period where it was a reality to be forced apart from those you love due to retarded laws), Sweden March, Morocco April (decided to stop going to the U.S. and just go somewhere cheap while waiting where we could both actually stay), went to the U.S. in may just for a week for the interview (also, LOL at the interview having to be in washington d.c. or else it would increase my waiting time by having to have them send it to my home town of Detroit), Macedonia for the rest of the month, Sweden part of june and July, and now having to be apart from my wife again in Serbia on Sunday, might end up just going to macedonia again as I quite liked it there and it is quite cheap. For people not wanting to work and out of Schengen days, I would highly recommend that option over Morocco. Overall this has been incredibly frustrating, time consuming, expensive, and leaves so many questions about how to begin your life after doing nothing for a year. This fall I think I am just going to take swedish classes, take the swedish drivers license test, and then just work odd jobs for the winter to try to earn some cash. Thankfully I had savings at the beginning of this process, but it was supposed to be for a home, not for traveling all over the world when I just wanted to be with my partner. I have learned insane ways to save money with buses/trains/planes/accommodations and thankfully we still have money to buy a home. My frustrations towards Swedish people as a whole have also grown tremendously, as I have felt not much sympathy, and mostly just questions related to why I can't work, where I'm going to work, when I'm going to work, etc. Its to the point where my wife won't even go to family events and be with certain friends to avoid the questions about how this possibly could work with neither of us able to have a real job while trying to be together. There is no understanding there or humanity about just how difficult this is, just a feeling of "well why didn't YOU just do this differently?" Blaming us for a problem that is pretty much out of our control. I feel like exploding so often in social situations when asked what I'm doing, and it has pushed me further away from wanting to participate in this insane world that we find ourselves in. I try to spread love and happiness and just smile, but inside I just feel terrible at the constant judgements from others for not having a job for a year. I can't wait to see how fast they expect me to have a job, but to be honest I think I would be ok getting a job at ICA in exchange for food at this point just to shut people up and have a bit of stability in life. Thanks for reading this and just know to others out there that you are not alone in this horrible process, we will make it through this. |
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21.Jul.2015, 03:24 PM
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#12
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Location: Västra Götaland Joined: 8.Mar.2010 |
QUOTE (nineallday00 @ 21.Jul.2015, 10:00 AM)
I was married July 15th, applied September 29th in the U.S., had interview May 11th, and am now just waiting. My wife and I went to the U.S. for 3 months while waiting what we
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Hi Nine! My heart goes out to you. You've been in the "spin cycle" far longer than me at this point, but I feel all of your pain Questions for you: 1) Did you apply online, or by paper application? 2) Who told you that doing your interview in DC was quicker than doing it in Michigan? and 3) They allowed you to visit Sweden after your interview? For all accounts and purposes, after ignoring the conflicting statements from governmental officials and getting into the legal text of the Alien's Act, it truly does sound like one is not allowed to visit Sweden post-interview?Just curious. But, if it's any consolation (as you have mentioned), you are not alone in this. Have you called to see at least if a case officer has been assigned to your application? As for our case, the vice consul who did my interview told me to tell my fiance to call MV after two weeks to make sure everything was in order. He called today, and MV basically laughed at him and said there was no reason to call, we are in the queue, and to expect a 12 months wait. |
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21.Jul.2015, 06:41 PM
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#13
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Joined: 30.Mar.2013 |
Well, they updated the times in english but yet, no decision made for my application that I submitted in January.
And when I called them in May to ask about decision with all docs in place, they were telling me that info on the web is wrong and its gonna take at least 11 months Wonder if there is any use of calling them during summer, as most likely entire migrationboard is on vacation... |
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21.Jul.2015, 07:05 PM
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#14
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Location: Västra Götaland Joined: 8.Mar.2010 |
QUOTE (mishutkas @ 21.Jul.2015, 06:41 PM)
Well, they updated the times in english but yet, no decision made for my application that I submitted in January.And when I called them in May to ask about decision with all d
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The queue is pretty long when you call, but you can still get through. We did this morning - you just may need to be prepared to wait (a couple hours?) and deal with questionable attitudes of overworked (or just unhappy) workers. When we first applied in January, MV website said the wait time was 14 months. But then in April the new processing times were published in Swedish, and when we called to clarify, we were told we would have a decision within 4 months of that date because our paperwork was in order (despite not even having received an email for an interview). In early May, we were told we were in the 4-9 months group - starting the date we applied (January) - and that the decision will come super quick after the interview. In June, someone said they were told by MV that the 4-9 month wait time didn't start till AFTER the interview. And now, we were advised by our Consul to call MV today to ensure our file was complete, and MV told us they have everything they need but we should expect to wait 12 months (the starting time of which was left ambiguous). So basically, despite what the wait/processing times state on the website, and despite the law which apparently states we should all have a decision within 9 months of applying (extenuating circumstances aside), the math according to the average advice we receive from MV (which has a standard deviation of about a billion) suggests we should just expect the wait time to be approx. 14 months from the date of application, per usual. Anything shorter than that, should be consider a gift from the old gods and the new. Anyone else get any different kind of advice? |
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22.Jul.2015, 12:31 AM
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#15
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Joined: 21.Dec.2006 |
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