doodly

woohoo! just got a letter in the mail (dated 06/01/13) saying my request for removal of conditions has been approved! so relieved! hopefully i get the card before i move to a new house in 2 months!

why is the california service center taking so long? i'm moving in july, and was hoping to get my GC before that. now i'm worried that it'll get lost in the mail! argh.

hi guys,

turns out i was freaking out way too early. i just got the biometrics appointment letter in the mail. but as expected, the date is Dec 28, and i will be out of town for the holidays. i don't have air tickets or any other proof, since we're just going on a road trip. i'm planning to do a walk-in this thursday -- do you guys have any tips on what i should bring (besides my green card and drivers license)? has anyone on VJ been refused at the indianapolis asc before? it's a 70 min drive from where i live, so i might just reschedule instead, but i don't want my application to get delayed because of the rescheduling. and i guess i could do the driving.

Woohoo! I just got my biometrics appointment letter. They set the date for 28 Dec, in the middle of the holidays, and I'm not going to be in town. So I'm going to try and do a walk-in later this week. Hopefully it works. If not, I'll have to reschedule. Do you guys have any tips on what to bring for the walk-in? I don't have air tickets or anything, we're just driving up to Michigan to visit family, and will be there for 2-3 weeks.

You need someone you trust to be checking your mail for you in case the letter arrives while you're gone. In my case my letter gave an appointment a month from when I received the letter (and my office is 3 hours away so I didn't want to bother risking a walk-in).

If you miss your biometrics appointment, it depends on the office what happens. in some peoples cases they deny you immediately. In other cases the offices are a bit slow about doing the paperwork for who went to the appointment and who missed them and those people were able to do a late walk-in biometrics and were fine.

It's better not to risk it though. Have someone checking your mail.

When I was filing my earlier paperwork to get the green card 2 years ago, it was with the Detroit Field Office, and they gave me a month's notice. I'm not sure what the Indianapolis Field Office is like. I've been looking at timelines for earlier I751 filers, and it seems like some of them only got 2 weeks notice. This would be a major problem for me. I don't really have anyone to check my mailbox for me. We live in a college town, and our friends all go to school, and will be out of town for the Christmas break. Argh. I should have checked all this beforehand and sent my package in one month later! I'm an idiot.

does anyone know what will happen if you miss your biometrics appointment because you were out of town? my NOA was dated dec 3, and i'm still waiting for the biometrics letter, but i'll be out of town from dec 14 to jan 6. and i'm worried about missing my biometrics appointment, coz i won't see the letter till it's too late to reschedule. assuming i won't get it before dec 14.

I just got my NOA in the mail today, it was dated 3 Dec. Does anyone know how long it will take to receive the biometrics letter? I'm going out of town next week, and won't be home till Jan 7. Worried that I might miss the biometrics. Do they give you enough notice?

I sent in my package on 29 Nov to the California Service Center, it was received there on 3 Dec, and my check just got cashed on 5 Dec. Any idea when I'll receive my NOA? Nervous! Does the NOA contain the biometrics appointment date as well? I'm going to be out of town for a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Year, and I'm worried about missing my mail and/or appointment.

You need to put the address you will be at because you will get your mail at it and you will have your biometrics taken at your local office and any interview will happen at your local office.

If you put his address all mail will go to him not you - you will have to drive 4 hours for a biometric appointment and for an interview if you have one.

Yes, but is it okay to just put my address on the I-751 form? Do you guys recommend explaining all of this to them in a letter, or letting USCIS call us up for an interview if necessary? I mean, my husband plans to visit me every weekend.. we'll just be living apart weekdays so that he can work, and I can go to school. And this is only temporary.. for about a year. Also, there is a separate blank for my husband's address -- should I just put my Illinois address there since he will be here weekends anyway?

Yes, you still file the AR-11 and your sponsor files the I-865.

Has anyone filed this late? Would it be okay if I file the AR-11 and my husband files the I-865 now? We moved last July. I didn't know I had to file these forms until I started reading through this forum!

By law, you must notify the USCIS of address changes.

I lived in Michigan when I received my conditional green card in Feb 2011. I moved to Illinois in July 2011. Do I have to notify USCIS of the address change? Even though I have nothing pending with them at this point? I will only be required to file I-751 to remove conditions in Nov 2012.

Hi all,

My husband and I are currently living together in Illinois, but we will be moving to Michigan in July for my husband to complete a year of training there. In August, I will be moving back to Illinois for grad school for two years. After his training ends in June 2013, my husband will move back to Illinois. In the meantime, he will drive 4 hours to see me during weekends, and I will drive to Michigan during my longer breaks to be with him.

I got my conditional green card in Feb 2011, and will be required to file I-751 in November this year. My concern is this: should I enter different addresses for the both of us? Or pick one and stick with it? We will be leasing in both places, and will hopefully have both our names on both leases. Has anyone ever encountered a situation like this? I feel like entering two different addresses will raise red flags.. I notice that on the I-751, there is a blank to enter an address for the spouse, and another blank for myself separately. I'm not sure what to do.. any advice will be much appreciated.

congratulations!

Hi all,

I just got my green card in the mail today!

I have a social security card which has my married name on it. I applied for it after I received my EAD. Now, do I have to change my social security card or inform the Social Security Administration of my permanent residence status? (Since my social security card says I can only work with DHS authorization, which should no longer be the case now, right?) How do I go about doing this? Do I just go to a social security office with my green card? Or is there an easier way to do this?

Thanks!

Wow, completely unprofessional.

I hope you have kept the emails, i would consider filing a formal complaint.

you should be able to file a complaint with the state bar association.. maybe that will help retrieve some of the fees you've paid him? make sure you keep all of his unprofessional emails.

A status like that for AOS means a green card is on the way! Congrats!

My status just changed to Card/Document production too! I'm so glad.. Finally!

I have a related question. Do you have to sign up somewhere for email updates? I just checked the USCIS website and my case status was just changed to "Card/Document Production". But I did not receive any emails, and have never received any emails providing updates. How does this work? Thanks!

Also, what does "touch" in everyone's timelines mean?

My wife (Vilma) and I went to her permanent residence interview (green card) on 11 Jan. of this year. We answered all their questions and the officer told us that the card would be issued to Vilma in "a few weeks". It has been almost 2 months and we have not received any notice of action. The USCIS website doesn't give much info other than the same story, it is being processed.

Is this normal to wait for several months? Where can I go to get more specific information on the hold-up for her green card? We've already paid the fees and sent in all the paperwork they asked for. My wife already has been issued her work permit from DHS, which is valid for one year.

Something similar happened to me. I was told that I would get my card in a few weeks. After two months, I still hadn't received anything. So I called up the supervisory adjudications officer at the field office where we were interviewed. (At the end of my interview, I was given a piece of paper with contact details, in case I received no news after 60 days.) At this point, I was told that my K1 visa packet was missing, and that they would be sending me an RFE to re-do my medical examination. I strongly recommend that you find a way to speak to someone at your field office where you were interviewed. In my case, they were simply sitting on my file for 2 months until I pressed for information! Also, do you know the full name of the officer who interviewed you? The email addresses for them are usually in this format - firstname.lastname@dhs.gov - I ended up having to pester my interview officer via email for weeks to get my file processed.

Actually always a two year card even if married longer than two years when AOS is approved, this is because K1 AOS results in a conditional status.

i have a related question -- does a IR1/CR1 give you a 10 year green card then?

So I ditched today (48 hrs) for the reading, but the doctor had the nerve to call me at exactly 48 hours, and asked me to come by. I said I can't today, and told her that the officer didn't need anymore info anyway. but she eagerly begged I come by tomorrow. But I feel so cheated because she knew well that I had completed my medical, she herself transcribed my vaccine correctly, but then made me take a skin test yesterday (20$) which I'm sure she knew was going to be reactive (BCG vaccine history)and will be charging me another $40 for the reading tomorrow which of course may produce a whole bunch of other costly procedures (further x-ray, possibly unnecessary treatment etc)

my CS told me that if the skin test reading came back positive for TB, he would have to refer me to a pulmonologist, who'd then have to do a whole load of other tests. i can't imagine this would be cheap. i had my BCG vaccine too, but luckily i didn't have any reaction, except for erythema (redness of skin) which doesn't count. if i were you, i'd probably go to another CS, or stand your ground and insist that you don't need the skin test read, and ask for the rest of the completed I-693. good luck!

i had to get flu, hepatitis A and meningococcal in the US in addition the shots i already had (from my k1 visa medical exam). good thing that my insurance covered all of these shots, new rules effective 2011.

I cannot believe this is happening again. I got the medical exam done again, and sent the doctor's report to the Detroit field office by Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. My package was confirmed delivered on 16 Feb 2011, and the officer handling our file still hasn't received it! These morons have lost my stuff yet again! I am so pissed! Has anyone had a similar bad experience with the Detroit field office? This is so annoying.. I hope they find it soon, else I'm going to have to go to the doctor and get another copy of the report. Does anyone know if they let you hand-deliver the I-693 to the relevant officer, or do you need to make an Infopass appointment for this? I don't know why they keep losing my stuff!

my husband has the same last name as my dad. in my community, it is sometimes common to give your kids a shortened last name, so my last name is not the same as my dad's. after marriage, i took my husband's last name, which is the same as my dad's last name.. and the only time i was questioned about this was when i was applying for my social security card. so far, i haven't had a problem with USCIS yet.. the officer didn't ask me anything about my last names at the interview. but i think you should be able to explain this if necessary, maybe with a signed affidavit explaining the family tree?

Your right Darnell sounds promising now hey it was lucky I could get medical copy and I found my results here that I had. SO now I wait and trust me you will know when I am approved lol for GC LMAO :PB-)

you're so lucky! the clinic i went to in singapore refused to send me copies of the DS forms that they filled out when i was applying for my K1 visa. they insisted it was property of USCIS, and that only the US Consulate in Singapore could request those documents.. so I ended up having to do my medical all over again. sighs. still waiting for lab results on the syphilis test, and i'm going to get my tuberculin skin test read tomorrow.. hopefully there aren't any other problems, and the CS can get my report done this week.. we didn't pay much coz the CS was nice enough to put everything on our insurance.. but if i actually had to pay for all those tests again, i would've been much more annoyed!

Hi again,

I have another related question. The civil surgeon that we spoke to on the phone looked at my vaccination records, and said that I need to take blood tests to confirm that I have all those vaccinations that are stated on my DS3025 and personal medical records. (Which sucks!) Also, I wasn't required to take shots for Hepatitis A and Meningococcal in Singapore; the doctor stated it was age inappropriate (I'm 26). The local civil surgeon says that I need these shots.. So I guess my question really is that what vaccinations are necessary? Has anyone faced a situation where you needed additional shots when repeating the medical exam in the US?

Thanks!