February 2014 filers

[Mrs.InLOve 14]

Soydeel!! Hi there!! It's been a long long time! Congrats on your marriage. it took 97 days for Johan's ead. We're still waiting for the green card. It'll likely be sometime in August/September since he got an interview waiver letter. At least our spouses are now here!

Hi Tina! I've been posting in the other forums for AOS until it occured to me to check in here for a better timeline. It's definitely a less painful wait with our loved ones here and we can really live instead of visiting each other. But I am so sad we can't travel back to his country yet. Yes left his two kids behind with his ex wife and it's been since Oct that he's seen them. They talk and Skype daily but as you can imagine his guilt level is huge because he's so happy with us here and our baby is spectacular. The youngest over there is 5 and is taking it the hardest. The older is 10 and seems to adjust better although at every holiday when he used to get them she still asks...Will you be here? So sad. Hopefully this all comes through so he can work and stop reorganizing the house over. over and over. bahhahahahahahaah and he can visit those poor kids. I'm also missing his family. They are amazing and his grandma is old and frail having had a partial foot amputated shortly before he left. So we would love to spend quality time w her.

Tick tock tick tock. Looks like ours is on the 90 day road too. So just to confirm...if we hear nothing 90 days from the date they have as "received" , we can open an inquiry?

[msdynamite 57]

Phew we had our interview four hours ago I guess we were approved. At least that's what our IO lady said.

I can't recall it completely..I was too nervous, but we were there like 1.5 hours early and waited around an hour until we were called in.

First sworn in and then she asked for photo ID with our address on it. And there we were with our one big problem which made us hold our breath for a minute or two: my dear husband never got a new drivers license after moving two years ago. So his license had the state montana and a completely different address on it.

That was the one thing I had never checked, I was prepared for everything else.

The IO was pretty upset about this and said that he had to get one latest after 30 days and that we should be trying to proof that we are living at the same house, which is hard without an updated ID.

Luckily I had my boss, who is also our landlord, write an affidavit which said that she is our landlord and knows we are living together.

Phew.

Next questions were the usual like how we met,when we decided to marry, who attended our wedding and where it was and if we have some pictures to show.

And if I had some supporting material.

I handed here taxes filed married, phone bill, joined saving account, joined credit and best buy card and our car insurance and the affidavits I had written by boss and one friend.

She took a copy of a few pictures out of our wedding album and said we were approved.

I didn't receive any confirmation by email yet and realized that she didn't take my EAD/AP card?

[KASH2011 382]

Phew we had our interview four hours ago I guess we were approved. At least that's what our IO lady said.

I can't recall it completely..I was too nervous, but we were there like 1.5 hours early and waited around an hour until we were called in.

First sworn in and then she asked for photo ID with our address on it. And there we were with our one big problem which made us hold our breath for a minute or two: my dear husband never got a new drivers license after moving two years ago. So his license had the state montana and a completely different address on it.

That was the one thing I had never checked, I was prepared for everything else.

The IO was pretty upset about this and said that he had to get one latest after 30 days and that we should be trying to proof that we are living at the same house, which is hard without an updated ID.

Luckily I had my boss, who is also our landlord, write an affidavit which said that she is our landlord and knows we are living together.

Phew.

Next questions were the usual like how we met,when we decided to marry, who attended our wedding and where it was and if we have some pictures to show.

And if I had some supporting material.

I handed here taxes filed married, phone bill, joined saving account, joined credit and best buy card and our car insurance and the affidavits I had written by boss and one friend.

She took a copy of a few pictures out of our wedding album and said we were approved.

I didn't receive any confirmation by email yet and realized that she didn't take my EAD/AP card?

Congrats!

[Tina and Johan 206]

Hi Tina! I've been posting in the other forums for AOS until it occured to me to check in here for a better timeline. It's definitely a less painful wait with our loved ones here and we can really live instead of visiting each other. But I am so sad we can't travel back to his country yet. Yes left his two kids behind with his ex wife and it's been since Oct that he's seen them. They talk and Skype daily but as you can imagine his guilt level is huge because he's so happy with us here and our baby is spectacular. The youngest over there is 5 and is taking it the hardest. The older is 10 and seems to adjust better although at every holiday when he used to get them she still asks...Will you be here? So sad. Hopefully this all comes through so he can work and stop reorganizing the house over. over and over. bahhahahahahahaah and he can visit those poor kids. I'm also missing his family. They are amazing and his grandma is old and frail having had a partial foot amputated shortly before he left. So we would love to spend quality time w her.

Tick tock tick tock. Looks like ours is on the 90 day road too. So just to confirm...if we hear nothing 90 days from the date they have as "received" , we can open an inquiry?

I'm so glad you guys are together. I see he arrived the day before our wedding. <3 Now that he has his EAD/AP card, have you guys planned a trip back for him to see his kids? I hope so!

Phew we had our interview four hours ago I guess we were approved. At least that's what our IO lady said.

I can't recall it completely..I was too nervous, but we were there like 1.5 hours early and waited around an hour until we were called in.

First sworn in and then she asked for photo ID with our address on it. And there we were with our one big problem which made us hold our breath for a minute or two: my dear husband never got a new drivers license after moving two years ago. So his license had the state montana and a completely different address on it.

That was the one thing I had never checked, I was prepared for everything else.

The IO was pretty upset about this and said that he had to get one latest after 30 days and that we should be trying to proof that we are living at the same house, which is hard without an updated ID.

Luckily I had my boss, who is also our landlord, write an affidavit which said that she is our landlord and knows we are living together.

Phew.

Next questions were the usual like how we met,when we decided to marry, who attended our wedding and where it was and if we have some pictures to show.

And if I had some supporting material.

I handed here taxes filed married, phone bill, joined saving account, joined credit and best buy card and our car insurance and the affidavits I had written by boss and one friend.

She took a copy of a few pictures out of our wedding album and said we were approved.

I didn't receive any confirmation by email yet and realized that she didn't take my EAD/AP card?

Congrats MsDynamite! Any update on this?

[msdynamite 57]

Oh gawd it's a fricking pain in the butt.. First of course they sent my greencard to the old address in Oregon. Of course. Then, after my boss forwarded it to me, I went to SSO today to change my status and wanted to go after to DMV and get a Texan drivers license. All in Austin. 50 min drive.

So the lady at SSO told me that even though my name appears correctly on the greencard, it doesn't in USCIS system. They put my middle name also as my last name. Great just great.

So I made an info pass appointment USCIS in Austin, the guy looks at it and says: well I can't do anything about it, since the mistake was done in Portland. You gotta talk them guys..I was like: yea but if I call them I can only make an info pass appointment. There's no phone number directly to the office. He's like: well then you gotta send them a letter!

Seriously it left me speechless! I am SO mad.

So now I wrote a letter to Portland and attached copies of the greencard, SSN and my drivers license in the hopes that they will just correct their mistake.

But I can already picture them answering me: well since you moved to Texas we are not responsible. Or even better: you can only change this by appearing in person in Portland field office or something stupid like that...

Please tell me something nice before I freak out...ARGH!

Sorry for the rant for all those who are still waiting..I know this is a first class problem..but my nerves are just wearing thin after dealing with USCIS for a year now

Edited May 8, 2015 by msdynamite

[msdynamite 57]

Just a little update: today I finally got a letter from USCIS that they updated/corrected my name in their system. So I went to the SSO and had them update my info with the greencard. No trouble with it this time. Phew. And then finally when I have the new card in two weeks or so I can get my new drivers license.

What a hassle it is to be a legal alien.

I hope all you others are doing ok. For those who are still waiting: all the best of luck! You'll get there!!

[Abby & Andre 27]

here are a couple pictures.....lol

Good luck with your journey ..... it feels so fab to be done with this part of my journey!!!!!

Xo

Robynne,

She is GORGEOUS! Congratulations!!!

Sorry I have been MIA everyone. Things have been busy. Andre is working full time and he seems to enjoy it. He is adapting very well from going from the big city to a small little country town haha. I am a little over 30 weeks pregnant now and his family will be coming for the birth in July so that will be nice to see them again. We haven't seen them since our wedding in October. Still at a stand still with the Green card, but the way that looks, it will be awhile before he gets that...which totally stinks because we don't want to travel outside the U.S. until he has that and we are itching for a Canada trip! I hope everyone is doing well. Its crazy how time seemed to crawl until we were with our spouses and now time is flying!

[Tina and Johan 206]

Just a little update: today I finally got a letter from USCIS that they updated/corrected my name in their system. So I went to the SSO and had them update my info with the greencard. No trouble with it this time. Phew. And then finally when I have the new card in two weeks or so I can get my new drivers license.

What a hassle it is to be a legal alien.

I hope all you others are doing ok. For those who are still waiting: all the best of luck! You'll get there!!

It's always something, isn't it? I'm so glad you got your stuff fixed and figured out! We're still waiting for an update. we're hopeful that Johan and his son will have their green cards inside of a year of filing, but that's less likely these days.

Robynne,

She is GORGEOUS! Congratulations!!!

Sorry I have been MIA everyone. Things have been busy. Andre is working full time and he seems to enjoy it. He is adapting very well from going from the big city to a small little country town haha. I am a little over 30 weeks pregnant now and his family will be coming for the birth in July so that will be nice to see them again. We haven't seen them since our wedding in October. Still at a stand still with the Green card, but the way that looks, it will be awhile before he gets that...which totally stinks because we don't want to travel outside the U.S. until he has that and we are itching for a Canada trip! I hope everyone is doing well. Its crazy how time seemed to crawl until we were with our spouses and now time is flying!

30 weeks?!?! Agreed, time is flying! And just a little over a year ago, we were just starting the process and all separated from our loved ones. IDK about you guys, but I'd wait years for a green card as long as I could be with Johan. Although, sometimes I wonder if the spousal visa might have been the way to go.

[byrd_75 9]

Robynne,

She is GORGEOUS! Congratulations!!!

Sorry I have been MIA everyone. Things have been busy. Andre is working full time and he seems to enjoy it. He is adapting very well from going from the big city to a small little country town haha. I am a little over 30 weeks pregnant now and his family will be coming for the birth in July so that will be nice to see them again. We haven't seen them since our wedding in October. Still at a stand still with the Green card, but the way that looks, it will be awhile before he gets that...which totally stinks because we don't want to travel outside the U.S. until he has that and we are itching for a Canada trip! I hope everyone is doing well. Its crazy how time seemed to crawl until we were with our spouses and now time is flying!

It's always something, isn't it? I'm so glad you got your stuff fixed and figured out! We're still waiting for an update. we're hopeful that Johan and his son will have their green cards inside of a year of filing, but that's less likely these days.

30 weeks?!?! Agreed, time is flying! And just a little over a year ago, we were just starting the process and all separated from our loved ones. IDK about you guys, but I'd wait years for a green card as long as I could be with Johan. Although, sometimes I wonder if the spousal visa might have been the way to go.

Noah and I were just talking about how the past year has been a blur.....so much has happened. Lol and yes. If i had to do over again, i wonder if just getting married first would change anything.....be any easier.....oh well. We are all here now!!!!

We will be travelling back to Toronto for the summer....we booked as soon as i had my green card in my hands....lol....i didnt believe it until i could actually see it.....now we have our daughters passport and we are ready to go visit my family!!! I am so excited!!! We will be renewing our vows in my parents backyard.....so exciting!!!!

30 weeks!! Congrats!!! I miss being pregnant...... lol. Although i dont miss labor lol. Its amazing what can happen in a year!!!

Here is a pic of my lil princess....she will be 4 months on the 28th ❤

[msdynamite 57]

It's always something, isn't it? I'm so glad you got your stuff fixed and figured out! We're still waiting for an update. we're hopeful that Johan and his son will have their green cards inside of a year of filing, but that's less likely these days. .

yes it's always something. Even though I realize I'm one of the more lucky ones by having the greencard already. I wouldn't have minded not doing an interview though. i wish all of you guys luck with receiving it soon! And congratulations on baby's and pregnancies!!

We are so busy with work lately that indeed time seems to fly! We are going to Germany end of August for 10 days. I can't wait to see everyone! Time can't fly fast enough till then

[MichelleRenee 14]

Finally got Richard's green card! No email, no USCIS update.. one day it just showed up! I was surprised it was approved without RFE because his medical was expired. But woohoo! Of course now our plans have changed and we're thinking of moving to the UK next year.. haha we must be crazy to go through the paperwork again!! Any updates from anyone else?

[Tina and Johan 206]

Finally got Richard's green card! No email, no USCIS update.. one day it just showed up! I was surprised it was approved without RFE because his medical was expired. But woohoo! Of course now our plans have changed and we're thinking of moving to the UK next year.. haha we must be crazy to go through the paperwork again!! Any updates from anyone else?

Congratulations!! We weren't that lucky. RFE's for 2 expired medicals. Medicals done in Ireland: may 14, 2014. Expired notice: June 15, 2015. Why some people can have 2013 medicals and no RFE is beyond me. I have grown to really loathe the USCIS. Happily, both were done this week and we're just waiting to pick up Johan's, then it's in the mail. We leave for Europe Thursday, so they'll be traveling with AP instead of green cards. You'd think a year would be time enough, but nope. Jerks.

About relocation: might as well! You're young and able to travel around. Better now than when you're tied down with kids and with a job you don't feel you can leave. We've talked about doing the same, but our timing will have to wait at least 5 years. It's a nice perk to be married to an EU citizen. We can go pretty much anywhere. Keep us posted on your decisions. Happy Friday!!

[Tina and Johan 206]

yes it's always something. Even though I realize I'm one of the more lucky ones by having the greencard already. I wouldn't have minded not doing an interview though. i wish all of you guys luck with receiving it soon! And congratulations on baby's and pregnancies!!

We are so busy with work lately that indeed time seems to fly! We are going to Germany end of August for 10 days. I can't wait to see everyone! Time can't fly fast enough till then

We will be in Germany week after next! How fun would it have been to meet up for, what else, beer?

[msdynamite 57]

We will be in Germany week after next! How fun would it have been to meet up for, what else, beer?

Tina!!! When will you be where?

We we be close to Munich from the 30th to the 7th of septet actually. It would be great to meet someone for real that has been thru the same process. So sorry to hear about all your struggles. I hope the rest of the journey is going to be easier for you guys!

[MichelleRenee 14]

Seriously.. USCIS needs to get their together! Haha it makes no sense that we wouldn't get RFE for expired medical but you guys would. I'm glad I won't be dealing with them again for a while and hope you will be in the same boat soon as well!

Thanks for your support, I know some of our friends and family think we're crazy for wanting to move already after we worked so hard to get Rich here. But we just had all of Rich's family and friends over for our reception in May and I think it made him really miss home. We are going to spend another year here and tick things off our US bucket list as well as see my family as much as possible, then I think we'll be off! I am so excited to live in a place where you can drive or fly for a few hours and be in another country. I think we will have a lot of fun there - get some traveling out of the way and then settle down and have kids! It's very exciting. Can't believe we're already coming up on our one year wedding anniversary- the time has flown!

Hope you all have fun on your trip!!

Congratulations!! We weren't that lucky. RFE's for 2 expired medicals. Medicals done in Ireland: may 14, 2014. Expired notice: June 15, 2015. Why some people can have 2013 medicals and no RFE is beyond me. I have grown to really loathe the USCIS. Happily, both were done this week and we're just waiting to pick up Johan's, then it's in the mail. We leave for Europe Thursday, so they'll be traveling with AP instead of green cards. You'd think a year would be time enough, but nope. Jerks.

About relocation: might as well! You're young and able to travel around. Better now than when you're tied down with kids and with a job you don't feel you can leave. We've talked about doing the same, but our timing will have to wait at least 5 years. It's a nice perk to be married to an EU citizen. We can go pretty much anywhere. Keep us posted on your decisions. Happy Friday!!