alizon

I don't have any information for you, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope all works out for you.

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Rather than printing pages and pages of separate e-mail messages, would it be worthwhile to print a listing of all the emails (dates included) under his filter in my gmail inbox, then print a some sample e-mails?

Yeah, that kind of summary will work. We did that with our text messages. We used google voice to text each other, so I had records of all the thousands of texts we had sent each other, but I basically just did screen shots that showed the date and the number of texts on that date. They don't need to read all of your personal conversations.

Thank you for posting those articles Alizon. I wasn't aware that an authorized user of a credit card would have their credit affected by being on that account, in fact I was informed to the contrary by two of my credit card companies, one being Bank Of America and the other is Chase. What I don't understand is how they can report the authorized user to the credit bureau, when the credit card companies don't or didn't take the authorized users social security number at the time of adding them to the account, this was the case on every card I added my wife too.

This site says it's up to individual banks whether they want to report the authorized user to the credit bureaus or not, but they don't seem to need the user's social security number to do so. Looks like it's kind of a black box for us. Only the individual banks, credit bureaus, and credit score companies (some other than FICO never used authorized users in calculating scores) know when it will be reported. Maybe Bank of America and Chase only report them when they have a certain amount of information.

First, it's up to individual banks to choose whether to report authorized account information to the credit bureaus. "While most do, lenders decide whether to report authorized user accounts based on their own policies," says Rod Griffin, director of public education for credit bureau Experian. Call your bank directly to find out about its policy. Second, even if the bank does report, it's possible an error somewhere along the way could prevent the account from showing up on his reports. That's more likely if the bank only provides your son's name, since more personal information makes mistakes less likely.

The more information your bank supplies, the better for the bureaus. According to Griffin, the bureaus rely on a borrower's name, address, previous addresses, birthday, Social Security number and any other identifying information supplied by the lender. "Experian utilizes every piece of identifying information provided to help ensure the individual is matched correctly to their credit history," he says. At a minimum, Griffin says bureaus need a full name and address -- which, in this case, may be the same address the bank already has on file for you -- to list authorized account information on credit reports. "However, we strongly encourage people to provide full identifying information in their application, including their Social Security number, because it helps ensure we provide an accurate, complete credit history," he says. While you can't control what information the bank supplies to the credit bureaus, your son can make sure that account appears on his credit reports.

I just hope my husband will manage to get some of his own credit soon!

careerbuilder.com and LinkedIn are also good websites to sign up for. Maybe check temp agencies? That's usually a good way to get generic office jobs.

Totally awesome.....can only hope mine shows up in 3 days....Burlington eh, that's mine too! Wondering if Burlington has dibs on fast delivery???

Ours was ready the next day at Dorval!

Congrats!! Glad to see another July filer finishing up! My husband checked the box asking for a social security number (though it was on the DS-260 for us), and he got it about a week from POE.

Congrats!

Hi Flames. A person must be added as a "co-applicant" on their spouses credit card, not an "authorized user", in order for it to get reported to the credit bureau, I'm in the process of doing this now with my wife, I just sent in the form to Bank Of America with her SSN and employment info. I'm not sure if she will get the "co-applicant" title as I requested or not, supposedly it requires some sort of credit history to do so. She is already an authorized user, all I did was make a phone call for that because I am still solely responsible for the payments. I have excellent credit and I'm hoping that will come into play with this, if not we'll have to go the Capital One route.

From what I've read, banks automatically report authorized users to credit bureaus. In the past FICO tried to drop authorized user accounts from being included in credit scores, but there were complaints from legitimate authorized users (stay at home parents who have no other access to good credit, for example), and FICO changed back to allowing real authorized use to affect both people's credit score, while weeding out random piggybackers (people who get access to good credit by buying a spot as an authorized user on someone's card).

http://www.fico.com/en/company/news/pages/07-31-2008.aspx

http://www.credit.com/blog/2011/10/piggybacking-to-boost-fico-scores-does-it-still-work/

And this is just anecdotal, but I added my husband as an authorized user to my credit card last month, and my credit score dropped 40 points (!!!). There was absolutely no other change in my credit situation, so all I can figure is that his lack of credit and being an authorized user dragged me down.

You won't be overdoing it if you include a paragraph or two statement explaining why you were living apart for that period of time, but your joint lease and joint bank account will likely make up for that separation anyway. You've mingled your financial resources, which is a good sign of a legitimate relationship. Canadian cases seem to/probably get easier treatment when it comes to relationship evidence.

As for the emails and skype logs, you don't need to send every piece of contact you've had with each other. Usually people just send a sample of emails/skype logs that show sustained communication over a period of time (especially over the period you were apart). We labeled our photos with the date, place, and who was in it.

The second week thing isn't always accurate, as our interview was assigned the last day of January. Your case won't leave the NVC until you have an interview date assigned, and getting that assigned depends on whether your checklist documents have been reviewed and you've gotten a case complete. After case complete, we got our interview date in just a week, but I've seen Canadians who recently waited two or three weeks for an assignment.

You can apply outland from within Canada. The file gets sent to the consulate of your country (in our case to Buffalo) and it processed there. You may have to travel back to the US for an interview if it is required, but I think you have a choice of 4 or 5 cities to do your interview at.

Inland does take A LOT longer and IMO when it you are so close to the US it would not be worth it. You also get no right of appeal when you apply inland.

Oh, great! I didn't know that you could do that. Thanks for the info!

A quick google map of the Montreal consulate seems to say that the place on Union is pretty much as close as you can get. http://g.co/maps/fwxq3 Maybe St. Catherine and Bleury is closer.

But STM will cost you less.

Nevermind, he finally got someone on the phone who could help him (he had to put Ontario as his province rather than Quebec for some reason...). Still weird that he never got a response from the voicemail messages though. Oh well.

There is a similar board called Road to Canada www.roadtocanada.com but it is a pretty slow board compared to VJ. There are some very helpful people on there though.

We have not actually started the process. Canada allows your spouse to stay with you while are are going through the process, so we will apply once we arrive. From what I understand the paperwork is a bit more work at the very beginning, but you send everything in all at once and then you wait for approval. Not like the US where you have several stages. You do the police check and medical right at the beginning and send that in with your sponsorship application and PR application. Currently it seems it is taking about 8-9 months for everything to be completed for a straight forward case.

I will definitely be back and keep you all updated on the process!

I thought I had read that applying for permanent residency from within Canada actually takes longer than doing it from outside? This link says inland can take 1-2 years: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html;wap2=

Hi everyone,

My husband is having trouble logging into Service Canada to check on the status of his EI claim. He called their helpline, was given the number that connects you directly to voicemail, and has subsequently left three separate messages on the voicemail without getting any response. Any idea what to do?

I just wanted to add my voice to the choir of people interested in how the immigration process goes for your husband. Hopefully we'll be doing the same in 2-3 years.

Good luck with your travels! Keep us updated!

I've actually begun wedding planning for a wedding near the end of the year, which is definitely risky, but the way I look at it, the fun wedding is most likely going to be for show no matter what. Either my fiance will be approved beforehand and we'll have a courthouse wedding before the fun wedding to make it official and legal, or he won't be approved yet and he'll visit here for a non-legal wedding ceremony with a courthouse wedding to follow after he is approved. Stupid? Maybe. Am I having fun planning a wedding? Absolutely!

Be careful with that...reports around VJ say that K-1 visas have been denied at interviews for merely appearing to be married (like having photos of an engagement party, religious wedding, or "pre-wedding" wedding on facebook or referring to each other as husband and wife even without a legal marriage). If that happens, you'll have to start all over with a CR-1.

The conversation ended with me asking him if he wanted a divorce or not. At the end, he said it would be in both our best interests.... Guess I'm getting divorced then....

Damn. So sorry.

Saylin, I'm so sorry to read this. He is being completely selfish and immature to string you along like this (I don't love you, but I'm going to continue accepting sex from you? Total and utter BS!). I think my advice is coming out of a place of anger on your behalf but here it is anyway:

Tell the girl you know and blow their relationship up. You don't seem like someone who has a hot temper, but try to fake it toward her. Or, if you think you can be cool and rational and get the same result (breaking them up), then you're a better person than me. This might sound reactionary, but I think it's actually necessary for one reason: he is relying on the support/attention of this other woman (frankly, I think it seems like it's just a source of entertainment for him) to feel good about himself and justify his distance from you. If you do want to have any hope in marriage counseling and/or of him growing up and no longer being completely self-centered, you have to take away his external ally.

YEEEHAW!!!!! I'm so excited

feeling a little giddy in fact!

Why do they have to use such vague wording. Would it kill them to just say - Your case is complete with us. We are now forwarding all materials to the Montreal Embassy. You will receive a notice directly from them with the details of your Consulate Interview dates and required documentation. All the best!

Well, they won't be forwarding your case to Montreal until you've been assigned an interview date.

Yup! Congrats!

Exactly, it's not like I'm going to get in trouble for being there early, haha. I'll show up for 7 and see how it goes.

Definitely go as early as you want...I'd be shocked if you were turned away for being too early to an 8:30am appointment when they open the doors around 7:30. Ours was for 8:00am and we were the first ones let it (we were there around 6:45 and other people started showing up around 7).

Good luck!

Well, productive day! Medical is officially May 9th in Toronto...when I get home, gotta book flights and hotel for Montreal. What a WONDERFUL day!

MASSIVE congrats on the interview date!!

Really, then what can i do? do i have to ask our joint sponsor to go all over again to IRS local office to get these papers and mail them to my wife so she can send them to my house in Haiti for the interview?

By the way NVC accepted my wife employment letter copy

They only need original signatures (your wife's signature and the cosponsor's signature) on the I-864 forms themselves. The IRS has nothing to do with that.

Is Montreal not affixing the visa into the passport anymore?

Yeah, they do.