Post Embassy Drama, UK VJer 'Life In The USA' Edition.

[Gary & Aubrey 23]

Gary's EAD was approved today. I checked his status at 7pm, nothing. Checked at 9pm, and it said his card was Ordered and will be mailed out. Yay!

He has already had a few potential employers/recruiters call him to hopefully set up interviews, so it shouldn't be long now. Then we can get our own place and start getting things settled.

[2ndMessiah 184]

2ndMessiah - is it worth changing address with USCIS for our temporary address, or shall we wait until we find/ buy the house that will become our permanent address?

I cant answer that. I don't know how long is temporary. I don't know when you plan to file AOS etc.

[-Shana- 152]

The only thing I miss is Monster Munch, stop looking for trade names of stuff and you will pretty much find what you want (except Monster Munch Lol)

Got to admit I am just crazy for ribs, only the USA does ribs this good!! Never found anywhere in the UK that came remotely close

Must admit first time OH said she loved Biscuits and Gravy I had a vision of Digestives covered in Bisto! lol

MONSTER MUNCH! Yes, I miss it too. I have a sneaking suspicion my Mum is going to mail me some.

Oh man, that's so funny what you said about biscuits and gravy, my husband and I went to breakfast on our first morning together in America and he ordered it. I was a little traumatised at what came out of the kitchen. How can they call that a biscuit?!

[2ndMessiah 184]

MONSTER MUNCH! Yes, I miss it too. I have a sneaking suspicion my Mum is going to mail me some.

Oh man, that's so funny what you said about biscuits and gravy, my husband and I went to breakfast on our first morning together in America and he ordered it. I was a little traumatized at what came out of the kitchen. How can they call that a biscuit?!

Biscuit equates to scone. Stop being traumatized and jump right in. It really is good stuff.

Please note I also corrected your spelling. Your in 'Merika' now.

Edited August 20, 2015 by 2ndMessiah

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

The BBC channels look so professional in comparison, and it's weird to see local businesses advertising on TV stations. A local car dealer who has zero presence on camera makes it look so amateurish, and some of the TV channel presenters appear very amateurish also. Still, if you look hard enough their are some good channels over here, just be sure to flick past the trash! Saying all that, I do miss the BBC, especially news and current affairs programmes. Many USA news channels are so biased, and FOX News (aka "Faux Noise"!) has to be the most biased and awful news station I've ever seen. "Impartiality" is just a lot of syllables to their presenters!

This is funny because we thought the Btitish news presenters seemed weak when we went back.

FOX news rocks! The networks are all biased liberal stuff. Just depends on which bias you align with. (I actually don't even watch the national news anymore on any network, so don't really have an opinion.)

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Thanks Nich-Nick, that's good to know. We wanted to get the SSN sorted asap but as mentioned, we were concerned about the address change. We can use the temporary address for now until we find the house we want.

2ndMessiah - is it worth changing address with USCIS for our temporary address, or shall we wait until we find/ buy the house that will become our permanent address?

By law, you have 10 days from when you move. If you are filing AOS immediately, then let that be an address change.

Do AOS papers with the place where you are living when you file. If you move, then you both do change of address forms. One as the immigrant (AR11) and the other as the sponsor of the I-864 (I-865).

http://www.uscis.gov/addresschange

Penalties for Failure to Comply

A willful failure to give written notice to the USCIS of a change of address within 10 days of moving to the new address is a misdemeanor crime. If convicted, you (or the parent or legal guardian of an alien under 14 years of age who is required to give notice) can be fined up to $200 or imprisoned up to 30 days, or both. The alien may also be subject to removal from the United States. (INA Section 266(b)). Compliance with the requirement to notify the USCIS of any address changes is also a condition of your stay in the United States. Failure to comply could also jeopardize your ability to obtain a future visa or other immigration benefit.

.

[ChasUno 101]

Thanks for that info. Nich-Nick. It's kind of confusing as I just arrived here and within days we moved from OH to FL. I'm still well within the 10 days to notify the USCIS so will fire off an address change tonight. We're renting a condo from our Realator for two months, though depending on how quickly we find a house to purchase that will affect on how soon our address has to change again. We're told that closing a house sale takes approx 6 weeks, and that could take us right to the end of our two month lease. I am planning on starting/ filing the AOS application as soon as we get a moment to breathe! We've been on the go almost constantly since I arrived here on the 10th, so it's very much a case of prioritising stuff that MUST be done asap and then dealing with the rest as soon as time allows.

Today we went to the SSA to get me a SSN. The guy serving us was pretty good and mostly clued up, so there was no issues with him telling us that a K1 visa holder was not eligible for a SSN. He did question why I wanted one, and as we'd already been to the bank to try and get my name on my partner's checking account I'd already been asked to supply a SSN, which I couldn't as I didn't have one. He seemed happy with that and went ahead with the process. I only needed to give him the completed application form, my passport and visa and my I-94 record. Then he mentioned that I needed to wait 10 days from POE before I could apply, and today was day 9! #######. However, he said he could put all the information in the system and then submit it tomorrow (or Monday if the system wouldn't take it tomorrow). He had to ask a couple of superiors to clarify certain aspects of the application, otherwise it went smoothly. He said it should take approx. 2 weeks to get my SSN card mailed to me.

Here's a weird thing though. Upon looking up my details on their system, he said that I am authorised to work? I've never had a work visa (never had any previous visa full stop), so I can't understand why it says this when I haven't even applied for the EAD yet. Or does it mean I'm authorised to work BUT must also get the EAD as well? I've never heard of anyone else getting work authorisation straight away, and obviously I want to make absolutely sure that I am legally eligible to work before taking on any employment.

Has anyone else been told they were eligible to work when they applied for their SSN?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

To UNO--

Every K1 is "legal alien allowed to work" (or whatever that tickbox says on the application form). That's why you can get a card immediately. But it is not in any way work authorization from USCIS. I'm not even going to try to explain it. You can't work until your EAD is approved by USCIS.

The ten day thing is kinda old news. That was to allowed your I-94 entry card filled out on the plane to be collected and manually entered by a data entry clerk into the system to show you legally arrived on a K1 visa. With the paperless I-94, that all happens like magic when your passport is scanned. Your name should have been found in the SAVE database they access without waiting exactly 10 days. Oh well, hope he remembers to do it. The cards come quickly.

Don't freak out over the change of address. Nobody remembers to do it. We didn't get around to it and I knew about it. I kinda ended up in the hospital for a week and missed moving day. And who has time when they just moved??? Priorities. I never heard of anybody who didn't meet the 10 day rule get in trouble.

Most K1s who end up at a different address than they said on the visa application just cover it with the new AOS forms.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Nich-Nick

[ChasUno 101]

Thanks as always Nich-Nick for the info. I updated my address using the online link to the USCIS form, so that brings me up to date with them. When we file the AOS paperwork, we can either use that address for now, or hopefully, we are looking at some very promising houses today so who know, later this afternoon we might finally have a permanent address!

[-Shana- 152]

Biscuit equates to scone. Stop being traumatized and jump right in. It really is good stuff.

Please note I also corrected your spelling. Your in 'Merika' now.

I'll stop when they fix their insane idea of calling whatever that was a biscuit. I say good day to you, sir.

[2ndMessiah 184]

I'll stop when they fix their insane idea of calling whatever that was a biscuit. I say good day to you, sir.

Please don't take offense... It was just a poor attempt at humor from a fellow ex-pat.

[2ndMessiah 184]

This is funny because we thought the Btitish news presenters seemed weak when we went back.

Weak? Unbiased, so they probably didn't come across as opinionated with no agenda to push other that report the news.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Weak? Unbiased, so they probably didn't come across as opinionated with no agenda to push other that report the news.

Nothing to do with what they were reporting, saying, reading. The persons, sets, graphics...don't remember now. Just an opinion we commented on. Actually it was the Brit half who said it. Nothing to debate here.

[2ndMessiah 184]

Nothing to do with what they were reporting, saying, reading. The persons, sets, graphics...don't remember now. Just an opinion we commented on. Actually it was the Brit half who said it. Nothing to debate here.

like yourself, just an opinion/observation.

[-Shana- 152]

I don't follow the news that much, but from what I've seen of Fox news I can say I would never sit down to watch it. What a joke! Maybe it's a particular segment of the show that I've seen that causes the rage to build in me.

The mother in law watches a lot of local news, which she loves to rip apart yet watches it on a daily basis. Really don't understand that!

I agree with Messiah on British news, it feels a lot less about pushing an opinion from a political party, but rather showing world events. It's all still created in a way to push fear onto the viewers, which is why I avoid the news for the most part.