Autumnal

Tell us how/when/if this works itself out. And yay for ice cream!

2008?! That's horrible!

I second Kezzie's suggestion: get an appointment with your congress(wo)man and see what can be done on that end. Compile all the information you can and maybe try calling the dis-information line again.

Bet on pictures, and hope you won't need to be in front of the camera?

Good grief, where does one get $5k each for a trip? O_o That's an awful lot!

I would look into discounts that you might get for package tours, if you're willing to consider it, and through other groups as a note. You can often get discounted rates that way.

Most popular gift in there: scissors.

Favour game in there: snip the rope on the soap...

o Find something productive to do that will have an immediate outcome: cleaning is a good one.

o Get myself out of the situation if I can.

o Surround yourself with nature. Take a walk in a park, visit a greenhouse/conservatory, or at the very least go see a nursery.

o Play music (soothing, angry, fast beat, instrumental).

o Look for the sound of falling/rushing water, like a shower, waterfall, rain. This is known to be a therapeutic effect.

o Make myself a very nice meal.

o Go shopping. But don't buy anything more than $5.

o Write. Write a letter, a poem, a diatribe.

o Read! Take refuge in someone else's world.

o Focus on what you can do productively and do that. Paying bills strangely works.

o Have a cup of tea.

o Phone a good friend. If you can, go out and do something.

o Look through a photo album. Good distraction.

o Take the dog for a walk. Feed the cat. Insert animal interaction here.

o Cry to get it out, then go do something else.

o Research! My #1 response to sheer anger is to research the problem to beat it. >_>

o Accept when there is nothing else you can do. It's hard, but sometimes admitting defeat is the most graceful response.

o Look for something positive you can do for someone else.

o Meditate.

Absolutely! Start the day over, wake up on the other side of the bed.

(old joke) why do people in quebec do it doggie style? so they can both watch the game!

New to me on the We(s)t Coast!

My husband, sadly, is larger in shoe size than the chart allows. Go outside? What's that? O:)

She's a very scary looking woman, really.

www.gofugyourself.com -> Catch that picture of her with Lindsay Lohan, another rather frightening person.

Oops! RaspberrySwirl beat me to it.

Yeah, Vegas looked a bit more romantic! I mean, it's a lovely location and it was a nice day, but we were really shunted through. You could see the other couples going through the court rooms at a fairly advanced clip, but in Dupage County, IL, they only do civil ceremonies on Fridays and it was April. What can I say, the weather was nice and people wanted to tie the knot!

*hug*

How very frustrating. A lot of the bureaucratic rigamarole and runaround can become exhausting, especially when so much of it looks to be overlap. I get to do it with immigration, and then we get to do it with a few student loans. If only I knew of a student loan forum as good as VJ!

Anyways. If you've been receiving a lot of flak from these places, give yourself some time to have a nice treat and don't give up hope. As you're in Alaska, it looks like, you're probably facing more difficulty in choices than those of us in the lower 48. They may be taking advantage of that. If nothing else, you can always try going in person.

Interesting take - flight benefits! Those are always good.

I've just found that finding a niche "in" has been hard to achieve and while I realize I'm not going to find a job right off the bat that's just what I want, I do really appreciate feedback for finding something maybe a little off the beaten path.

I've never done sales, admittedly, outside of the context of retail. And yup, I'm in the US. Good ol' Chi-town.

Getting a new passport has a few benefits you may consider beyond the annoyance of getting together some information and tossing the old one.

First, it's a sign she's a permanent resident! Well, yet another one. There's that warm glow of all that time spent waiting nervously paying off.

Second, it's another form of 'official' ID. Although not one you use very often, it's often good to have extra government ID for those times when you may need it.

I also advocate keeping all your information up to date for sheer ease (and to avoid identity theft, but hey). Your wife has changed her name, she's in a new stage of life, and if the rest of her information from here on out has her married name, passport eventually needs to join that.

Just my two bits. ^^

Congratulations and I'm sorry that wasn't the nicest experience in the world for you. But it's done!

A question for you -- did you tend to answer her questions in fair detail, or did you just provide a bit of information (IE: "We eloped to marry.") and then waited for her to ask you for more details?

I can't imagine why there'd be a delay for filing with the AOS or from filing separately. I assume they'd be about equivalent.

I was married at the county courthouse, which I swear they have down to the art of a factory processing line. Here's your number, wait over there, in you go, 10 minutes later, out you come... I hope my immigration interview's a bit like that, it was easy as pie except I was giggling madly the entire time! *^^*

I don't have many wedding pictures either, and practically none from the original ceremony. Our digital camera opted to break right before and I still don't know if our witnesses actually have their pictures.

So, as I've been told by others on this lovely forum, it's more significant to demonstrate your status as a couple than it is to have a big wedding with photographers and formal stills. Can you show any proof that you and your spouse are, well, "spouse-y"? A few snaps of the two of you together with friends and family makes for a great start. Do you have a joint account, on the same insurance policies, and whatnot? Begin with things that have you listed jointly and you'll be pretty good I should think.

I did. It further cements that whole 'we're married' bit of the AOS. If you prefer your maiden name, then stick with that.

I'm so sorry you have to endure this.

Asking your parents might not be a bad idea if you think that you won't be securing a solid job offer in the next few weeks and you want to move the process along.

Somebody please tell me I'm not insane and I'm just being picky.

My husband and I have hit a point where me working would be a very good thing, especially since I've made little use of the EAD (well... most of the delay was the SSA's fault) and there are student loan bills to pay that aren't getting any smaller. So I'm off to find a job. The problems here are a few, and I'm not sure how to deal with them.

First of all, nothing posted that I could remotely qualify for looks interesting at all. Retail, receptionist, answering phones... I don't know, these just don't seem like things I'd like to do! I can't even think of halfway interesting, fairly entry-level or college-level jobs that would be fairly prevalent in a larger city.

Second, I know most of the job market is hidden. How do you network in an area when you know very few people and, worse, most of them are in a field you probably can't get into because it requires a great deal of experience?

Third, where do you go to find those interesting jobs?

I'm looking at a position that pays pretty reasonably ($11/hour + benefits) and provides training, but it's not what I'd ever consider for a career and I have the feeling in six months, I'm going to be bored out of my skull. That's part of what's making me afraid to actually get out there and say "yes!" to a position I've interviewed for.

Any suggestions for this silly Canuck?

o Got a zit? Put a dab of toothpaste on it and it'll dry out the worst of the redness.

o Kool-Aid mixed with icing/confectioner's sugar makes the best icing and it's flavoured, too! Very popular with kids.

If you've got red hair, I highly recommend finding red zinger tea and using a cup of that, lukewarm to warm.

If you're a brunette, like me, apple cider vinegar works well after shampooing -- it strips away a lot of the ucky oils, very nicely.

Blondes do best with chamomile.

Oh. And my family swears by using egg whites to get a very glossy shine.

Mmmmm, shoes!

Congrats!

How long, roughly, were your answers? Did you go into a great level of detail or not really?

Hi Everyone,

So after we were married and filed for Adjustment of Status, we used my son's income (form I-864A) for Household Member Sponsor since he still lives at home with us. But he only works part time & goes to school. So I'm worried that that his income is not enough to satisfy them. So I'm wondering if I might need to take my Mom's Affidavit of Support & tax returns with me for back-up again. Which leads to my questions:

1.) How long was her first Affidavit Of Support good for? It has been less than a years since she signed it. She signed it last June. Can I just take a copy of it or do I need to get her to sign a new I-864?

2.) Since we filed for K-1 and Adjustment Of Status in 2005 is the 2004, 2003, and 2002 tax returns all we need since 2005 taxes are not due until April 15, & our Interview is (April 11) before April 15 , do I need her 2005 tax return?

3.) With my Mother Co-Sponsoring, does her income have to be 125% for 2 or 3 people? My father has his own income.

I really wish I could answer all these questions with quotes, but these are mostly my own opinions except for 2).

1. I would assume that it would be good for a year. If she signed it last June and she hasn't lost her job, been put on disability or otherwise impacted in her ability to sponsor your husband, you should be good. I wager you can take the copy you submitted with your AOS and be perfectly fine. That said, if she has had any serious changes, I would update the I-864 and have her sign it then bring it with you to the interview.

2. This was asked in another post today, and the general answer here is no, you don't need her 2005 tax return. However! I like to say "don't put off today what you can do tomorrow". If she has already intended to file for 2005 in the next fortnight, then it can't hurt to ask for a copy of the tax return if she can obtain it. More or less, if it is convenient, go ahead and get that extra bit of paper to tuck away.

3. I don't honestly know if it has to be for 2 or 3 people! I'd assume three, the size of the household, even if your father makes his own income. If for some reason he couldn't work, then she would probably have the fiscal responsibilities of the household. This is only a guess, though. I hope someone else can answer you with more concrete knowledge.

Good luck, from another Canadian.

I definitely have to concur here - don't falsely say that you're still employed at the company when you are not. You don't want to be turned down because of that. Play it safe.

Options listed above are good ones to consider:

o Do you have other close family members or friends that might co-sponsor?

o Are you anticipating holding a new job fairly soon? If you are, wait a bit to get settled in.

o Does your profession allow for contracting? You might work with a contracting company until finding a solid position.

o Take a job that will cover the costs for the meantime if you want to submit now, and if you get a better one, submit a new I-864 when you have your interview.