Club Colombia AOS!

[paisita411 0]

Trying to schedule an INFOPASS appointment in Atlanta and this is what I got:

" At this time, there are no information appointments available for the office in your area. Please try back again later."

Go figure!

[paisita411 0]

Ok...now I really want to laugh. I called customer service again, because I can't make the damn info pass appointment. They were very polite in telling me they couldn't give me any additional infomation....but please, please call back if you have any additional questions (that we can't answer).

what a joke. I'm frustrated today.

[Mononoke28 134]

You've got to be kidding me!

Diana

[parkpapa 0]

This is pretty high on the "list of things that make you go 'hmmm'".

Hate to even suggest it, have you tried contacting the Ombudsman or your U.S. Senator's office?

[margara&john 0]

Hi everyone,

For those of you that got AP, how many copies did you get? Margarita got 2 copies of AP. Both have the embossed stamp and her photo. It seemed strange that she would have 2.

thanks

John

[Mononoke28 134]

John,

Everybody gets two copies and if she plans on using her AP, she needs to travel with both of them.

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

Hey John

Yeah we also got 2 copies. Never needed it though.

[Juan Carlos 0]

My friends, I am happy to inform you that we just received our letter for the AOS interview: March 19th is the big day!!!

For those of you still waiting, my letter came without any touches. No email, no update, nothing. The system still has the date of our biometrics appointment as the last update. Just a letter on the mail.

For the rest of you... do you have any words of wisdom? Any advice on documents to bring, tricky questions to be aware of? In general, I think we should be as prepared as we were for our interview in Bogota, but if you have any specifics you may want to share with us, I will be forever grateful for your help in this last step of our journey.

Thanks!

Juan Carlos

[paisita411 0]

This is pretty high on the "list of things that make you go 'hmmm'".

Hate to even suggest it, have you tried contacting the Ombudsman or your U.S. Senator's office?

Sent the Ombudsman a letter last week on Monday. I tried to schedule an appointment again today and got the same answer.

Congratulations Juan Carlos. Good luck to you.

[Harold08 0]

Hey guys,

well we had the first biometrics appointment on February 3rd, and then got a notice in the mail a week later, the 11th saying that we had to go back to get the biometrics taken again because the FBI was unable to process the fingerprint card. So we went March 4th and are hoping that everything goes well. I just don't understand what's so hard about taking some fingerprints and making sure they do it correctly!!??

[HAL 9000 96]

Wow... looks like previous budget cuts are forcing USCIS/FBI to use middle school students to do the fingerprints.

[Harold08 0]

Hey guys,

So i am having some trouble when trying to do my taxes. The IRS people are telling me that since my wife is eligible to get a SSN, then she cannot get an ITIN or anything like that. They are telling me to wait until i get the SSN for her and then file. The thing is i cannot do that because i need to file ASAP for medical school financial aid package and all that. DO you guys know how long it takes to get the SSN? or do you guys know from previous experience if she can file this year with an ITIN and then the year after with her SSN? My wife is on the K3 visa and all that. The first time that they took the fingerprints (Feb3) they told her that the EAD would come in 2 months. But by that time it would be too late to do my taxes to send to the med school. What do you guys think or know about this whole mess?

What i was thinking was that she can get the ITIN number for this year and then the next year she could file with me with her social.

[parkpapa 0]

Hey guys,

So i am having some trouble when trying to do my taxes. The IRS people are telling me that since my wife is eligible to get a SSN, then she cannot get an ITIN or anything like that. They are telling me to wait until i get the SSN for her and then file. The thing is i cannot do that because i need to file ASAP for medical school financial aid package and all that. DO you guys know how long it takes to get the SSN? or do you guys know from previous experience if she can file this year with an ITIN and then the year after with her SSN? My wife is on the K3 visa and all that. The first time that they took the fingerprints (Feb3) they told her that the EAD would come in 2 months. But by that time it would be too late to do my taxes to send to the med school. What do you guys think or know about this whole mess?

What i was thinking was that she can get the ITIN number for this year and then the next year she could file with me with her social.

Harold,

First off, I am NOT a tax expert, so what I tell you may or may not be 100% accurate. However, from what I understand, to answer your questions....

Avoid the ITIN thing if you can. Frankly, it will take as long or longer to get that number than it will to get a Social Security Number. We went that route the first year my wife was here and it proved to be little help and more of a pain. In hindsight I should have filed for an extension on my taxes - but we needed the refund money! So, there's always a tradeoff.

It will take at least 2 to 4 weeks to get an SSN and have the card returned by mail. The people at your local Social Security office should be able to tell you more precisely. However, after you apply, the local office may be able to tell you sooner than the 2 to 4 weeks exactly what SS number was issued. That may help with your filing issue.

Since I assume your wife hasn't worked yet, you should be able to file your taxes without her information on there and then file an amended return at a later date with her SSN info. What that means is that it's possible you might have to pay some taxes with the first submission and then get a refund when you amend the return. It would be worthwhile giving a call to the IRS on this. From my own experience, you will end up being forwarded to two or three different offices in order to get a specific answer to your question. The first person you talk to will be either rude or indifferent. The next person nicer. And the last person will act like they're thrilled to even get a call! At least that's how it worked for me.

Just be very sure to completely explain your situation to each person you talk to. At some point they will figure out that it is more detailed than they know how to answer. That's how you'll get to the person that really knows.

Best of luck!!!

Charles

Edited March 9, 2009 by parkpapa

[Harold08 0]

Charles, so my wife is eligible for a SSN as of now? We are waiting to get the EAD which will come in around mid april. I was under the notion that we needed the EAD to get the SSN since the K3 is a little different to the K1 in that regard. As far as speaking to the people in the IRS and Social Security, you are definitely right, they do not know much and I have yet to speak to the one that does lol. The only thing is that like you, we need the refund as well as the taxes filed ASAP because the financial aid packages and housing and all that stuff for medical students is basically first come first serve so have to be done with that quickly. Thanks a lot for the information.

[HAL 9000 96]

Wow Harold... quite a pickle there.

Can you file the financial aid stuff as a single tax filer?

I believe K-3 does have to wait for EAD.