Autumnal

I sympathise with how utterly frustrating this must be. It's like staring in the dark, trying to determine what the landscape looks like... anything could be out there!

What I encourage you is to try to keep an eye on your account when your cheques are cashed, and faithfully watch the mailbox. There's not too much else you can do, though if you're really concerned about a delay, schedule an InfoPass appointment. It might not help overly much, especially if you are within the allotted window for EAD/AP, but at the very least, it might give you some insight.

Congratulations!

One year, or until your GC arrives (if that comes sooner than one year from the date of filing). Having your green card negates the need for the employment authorization document.

Congratulations! I am happy to hear your experience was so straightforward.

You don't need a work authorization document or a student visa, for that matter, once you have your green card. Residency = no need for that stuff.

And if you need to get a copy because you don't have it on hand for whatever reason, the IRS hotline is very useful... or your local IRS office. We had some issues with filing with my husband living outside the US (and Canada has a reciprocal tax treaty with the US, where if you make under a certain amount and pay income tax in Canada, you don't pay anything in the US) and the IRS had those tax return copies whipped out within 5-10 minutes.

The way I look at it: why put off tomorrow what you can do today?

If you are going to file your tax returns for 2005 shortly and you've already got it planned, go ahead and bring that extra documentation. If you use H&R Block or Jackson-Hewitt or whatever have you, ask for an extra copy of the tax return and W2s. You're going to have them on hand anyways, right? (Or, in this case, if your co-sponsor has already done them or is planning to do them...)

If you haven't put together that package for income taxes and it's going to be a bit more stress you just don't need, then hey, don't worry.

Congratulations and thanks for posting the questions! As another Illinois...ian? (Illini? Illinoiser?) that will be interviewing in the next two months, such experiences are very much appreciated. I hope mine is as easy as yours was!

*laugh*

Thanks, Mand, on the instructions. As for the rest, well, randomly picking a date works.

Here's plenty of warm, fuzzy thoughts and best wishes.

Good luck to you -- here's hoping you'll hear something soon!

It's probably a shot in the dark -- guessing this is not going to be easy. To be honest, you might be better off searching for people that also filed through the Newark office to see when their petitions were processed.

I'm sorry about the delay on the name check -- how frustrating! But congratulations on the rest!

I'm not at all familiar with DORA, I'm afraid, but if you're really concerned you could always make an InfoPass appointment. My EAD and AP showed up roughly three weeks after my biometrics appointment. Yours might be delayed a little, but around a month seems to be about right.

The run up to the interview date has me harried, too.

From one AOS interviewee to another, it helps to put yourself to something constructive. Maybe assembling some photos into a small album, which means looking through all your pictures and thinking back on all the places you've been and seen! Once everything is done, congratulate yourself on a very good job.

Sometimes you need to distract yourself, but as good advice was given to me: try to relax and take a deep breath. Many people experienced very easy interviews that lasted no more than 20-30 minutes. With your husband at your side and your complete package together, you'll be just fine.

Good luck.

They are definitely out here. There's at least one or two. You should be able to search by what they filed for, but I'm afraid I'm not very certain on how to do that. ^^;

<3

Thank you so very much, you guys are such a comfort. VJers all deserve a virtual bouquet of fresh daffodils and tulips for their helpfulness!

I have pictures of us, usually with my husband partially obscured in there somewhere, if he's in it at all. We've joked he is a master of evading camera shots, even official ones! Cameras malfunction, they ghost him... his driver's license took three times to work right because the first time the computer wouldn't register the image, the second time the flash didn't go off, and therefore he showed up like a ghost.

I think we'll go out and get a few snaps of us together today while the weather's in flux, since it will give us a nice variation on this midwestern sky.

Thanks again and until next crisis! *grin*

Congratulations!

Yup, send in a certified, real copy that you get from your county clerk. Usually copies are not too expensive; mine were $10, but I live in a large city.

I'll ring in with the answer I've always been given: when in doubt of whom to address officially (IE: you do not have a name, or you don't know who will personally handle a matter), using 'To whom it may concern' for any official correspondence is considered to be good etiquette. There's certainly nothing amiss in it.

One of those little questions that blindsides you when you're thinking about other things... Ah, for my poor sanity!

My husband and I had a fairly impromptu wedding, a civil ceremony that wasn't very long. We had friends for witnesses and there weren't a great many photographs taken. Our county courthouse sorta processes you through in ten minutes, they're very thorough. We have a few pictures from before, before our digital camera decided to stop operating, and our witnesses took a few pictures after. I think, however, we've got at the most 5-7. We were always intending to save the photography and formal photos for the family wedding later on, since there wasn't enough time (and nor are we quite in the shape or season we wanted for those photos!).

Is this going to be an issue come the interview? Or is it okay just to explain if asked?

I suppose I should stop worrying, but getting an interview and compiling all sorts of documentation to convince the immigration officer that our relationship is indeed bonafide is a bit of a headache when I realize so many of our pictures involve only one of us (the other takes the pictures) or only a few at the most. ^^; We're sometimes bad about taking snaps on vacation.

Green power!

A very thorough list, good luck!

Please tell us how it goes. Yes, I'd make a copy.

Wow! Lucky!

How very nice! Congrats!

Clmarsh, you make a very good point: Applying for AOS under the VAWA is a very serious thing, and it's not there for just anyone who wishes to divorce and self-petition.

Seriously, rereading this post, the VAWA might apply if the Canadian wife was subject to being beaten, abused and verbally assaulted when her husband stumbled through the door drunk. But if he chooses to sleep in another person's bed, that's not extreme cruelty. Yes, we would all agree it is a terrible situation but not one that may equal the level of physical violence.