Alex13

Update: today I received mail notification from Radio Shack that 'due to the results of the background check conducted by LexisNexis' they are unable to offer me employment at this time.

Absolutely inept.

Not to mention demoralising; how many other potential employers use this joke of a company? And how many other potential employers use a company with a similar system?

I live in a relatively small-town in Texas (about 13'000 population) so it's not as if job opportunities are rife. Especially since I'm not a teacher or a nurse!

Thanks for your help guys. I'll get in touch with my SS office to get hold of some verification letter.

Totally bizarre to me that LexisNexis' 'state of the art' background checks are apparently so rudimentary!

I'l tell ya why. Because some of us here including myself find the homosexual lifestyle sick and repulsive and we don't want our children thinking it's the norm. Next up will be people marrying their pets.

Marriage is between a man and a woman.

That is mental.

Hey folks!

I've ran into a problem. I got my SSN at the beginning of November and began applying for jobs, etc. I heard back from ONE (out of about 15) and went for an interview (it was for a Radio Shack store) and the interview went great. They really liked me, she asked if I could sign all these forms etc and scanned my Social Security card and Green Card, and that she'd be in touch after background checks etc to schedule me in to work...

So anyway, last week she called to say my background check came up as NEGATIVE. Bizarre, since there's no reason at all why I shouldn't pass a background check. She said the company (LexisNexis) would mail me a letter with their findings, etc.

She told me to call back once I got the letter to see if they could work it out...

So anyway, I got the letter and it says 'INVALID SSN OR SSN WAS ISSUED AFTER JUNE 2011' - well, obviously it's a valid SSN and it WAS issued in November 2011. So basically, they have a really old system or something...

As it stands, the Radio Shack lady said she'd speak to her administrator on Monday, but I honestly am not expecting much at this stage - seeing as they can't background check me because of 'invalid or new SSN'.

What's the deal with that? Has anyone else experienced this? Surely it's not customary to get your SSN and just 'wait 6 months' before you can get a job!?

Or is it this particular company (LexisNexis) with a poor system?

Genuinely upsetting since it's right before Christmas and it was a job I was particularly excited about. Not to mention it's the only damn place that's got back to me in the 3-4 weeks since I started applying at places!

My overstay was about 2.5 years - never came up at all for me.

Awesome, congratulations! I was approved last Friday and got my GC in the mail today.

Isn't it nice coming on here and also seeing all your USCIS docs/forms on your computer and knowing you're DONE! Such a nice feeling!

Wow, vital and extensive information! Totally agree about not being intimidated by I.O, maintain cool heads and it'll be fine. Infact, even if you come across slightly flustered, as long as you're genuine you'll be okay!

Glad your Stokes interview went well, so pleased for you both!

yay! wooohooo! :D

Awesome!! Congratulations!

Thanks guys!

I'm certainly going to stick around on here and hopefully I'll be able to help others the same way I was helped. Pay it forward!

Fingers crossed for you Pupsik and Zebraden. Just keep your heads and it will all go fine! If we could make it through that I.O, I'm sure you guys will be fine!

Another thing, I received no stamp in passport and I still have my I-94 (he gave them both back to me, which I thought really was a BAD sign) - does this mean anything significant or is it a non-issue?

Thanks! Haha, yeah it was pretty intense. I can't really describe it.

My wife filed her tax return as 'Single' - only because the Married Filing Separately thing asked for a SSN which I didn't have, and it said 'filing status' as opposed to 'marital status' so we chose 'Single' - LUCKILY we amended the tax return a few months ago when we realized it was wrong when we were filling out college financial aid forms for my wife, and LUCKILY I brought it with me.

As soon as we were sworn in he asked 'so.. when did you get married?' and so I answered 'Feb 5th 2009'. And he's like 'hmm... so can you tell me why you filed SINGLE on your tax return?' and it was downhill from there, or so we thought! Luckily I had the amended tax return and he seemed satisfied with that.

He also, when studying my wife's drivers license, noted that she had an old address on there, and proceeded to tell her it's highly illegal etc. (note to anyone that didn't know this!)

Afterwards, my wife told me that she saw him stamp 'APPROVED' on a document about halfway through the interview, but she didn't know if that just meant that a particular page was approved, or whatever, since the interview was going so strangely! She thinks maybe he was just toying with us after about halfway through. It WAS odd how quickly he was all smiles etc after he approved us!

Hey folks! Thought I'd do a separate post detailing my interview experience in Dallas.

We got there about 12.45 and my appointment was at 1. We got called in at probably around 1.10pm, our I.O made no eye contact whatsoever, he was an older white man probably around 70 years old. Real old school, looked like an ex-cop. I thought 'man, this isn't what I was hoping for..' and I was (sort of) right!

He swore us in and began grilling us fairly quickly. Finding any small discrepancy in our application, there's a bit where it LOOKED like it asked us to list any kids from our relationship, so we didn't list any. My wife has kids, my step-kids, but we genuinely thought it was asking for children of this marriage. So he really looked us over on that one.

He asked for any documentation with our names on it together - we gave him our sublease agreement with our names on it as proof of residency, and a college registration form that has me listed as a spouse. We told him that was what we were able to get hold of with no SSN etc, and he very sternly said again 'is there ANYTHING else with your names on' etc.. my wife was desperately trying to hold herself together throughout all this, as was I, my mouth was so dry the whole time. I tried my best to be stoic and calm-headed and I think it worked. Legitimately explained how we met, and he very carefully and slowly looked through our photo album. He also read a couple of letters/affidavits friends had written on our behalf.

Throughout looking through all these things, he gave no indication of any emotion other than suspicion (maybe not suspicion.... careful deliberation?), didn't crack a smile after we told the funny anecdote of how we met etc.

I thought, well, we've offered explanations for everything, I think we seem genuine and honest, he noted my wife's nervousness so I guess it was clear to him that it means a lot to her to have this work out. But I thought 'he's never going to tell me today if I've been approved though', at best he'd maintain stonefaced and tell me my petition was under review etc...

Anyway, he sat there and every so often just looked at us. Then he fiddled around for ages on the computer, stapling things etc, and he casually said 'Congratulations on becoming a Permanent Resident'! I was like 'excuse me?' (wasn't being a smartass, genuinely couldn't hear him coz he was a bit old and mealy mouthed) and he repeated it. Unbelievable! Me and my wife hugged, she cried, we were ecstatic etc, he then smiled and my wife hugged him and I shook his hand (twice, I think) and we told him how ecstatic we were etc. He said the card production would take a few weeks, and gave me a piece of paper with permanent residency info on it etc.

Amazing! What a surreal, weird day. The interview experience was horrible, absolutely stomach-churning. But we got approved! So I'm ecstatic, delighted, but the experience itself was pretty grim.

I guess my advice to people going through a horrible interview experience is this - I guess some I.O's just operate that way to determine truth, don't let it shake you and you still might end up with a great result! I guess the guy did a good job, and I guess we did a good job at remaining calm and steady.

Thank you for ALL the help I've received on this board. I honestly couldn't have done it without you. I haven't been posting here long, but reading and taking in advice for a LONG time. The advice I've received here is absolutely invaluable.

Thank you!x

Thanks guys and good luck to you Zebraden for next week. I'll be back here tomorrow to report back!

Ok, so it's the big day tomorrow! I'm excited/nervous all at once.

Here's what we're bringing with us...

- my birth certificate

- my wife's birth certificate

- both our passports

- my i-94

- marriage certificate and my wife's previous divorce decree

- co-sponsor's birth certificate and pay stubs

- photo album filled with happy lovely memories

- a whole gigantic bunch of cards/letters/a spiral notepad we used to send back and forth from U.S to U.K, very embarrassing to read back on, but genuinely heartfelt haha

- a couple of signed letters/references from friends

plus copies of the original submitted forms!

Wish us luck!? I'll let you guys know how it went!

I think the more personal the better. USCIS know you are married (by the marriage cert)... what they want to know is something about you. Your friend/family member can say how often you socialize, when they met the spouse, how they heard about the spouse before they met, etc.

Great, thanks again Harpa. I was hoping that to be the case, something along the lines of 'we often go out to eat with X and have done X with X' etc, giving a little info into the kind of relationship that the friend has with us. Thanks!

I have a question about this also, if someone's writing you an affidavit letter, basically what sort of content is suitable? 'I've known X for X years, I can attest to the fact they are a real couple' - it sounds a little odd.

That's awesome! Congratulations big time! Amazing stuff! Got my interview next Friday, sort of crapping myself. The only 'hard' evidence we have is proof of residence together in the form of lease. No bank/insurance docs coz of no SSN, tons of pics and greetings cards, maybe we'll get some Affidavits?? I'm confident in that we'll come across as a genuine couple because, well, we are, and we're very much happy and in love. But it's still scary as hell!

Great to hear a good story! Love it.

Excellent!! Congratulations. Bet you're over the moon!

Lovely story, excellent news. Congrats!

It's weird that they approve AP for overstayers even though they can't actually use it. I wonder if a lot of people that didn't know better have been refused re-entry after they thought they were okay because of their Advanced Parole...

Thanks Harpa, that's cleared things up massively for me! I appreciate your patience.

They won't send you an RFE for evidence of a bona fide relationship at all - that's the point of the interview. Regarding co-sponsor's proof of employment, if there were steady taxes shown, it might not be required, or they can issue an RFE at the interview. The notice you got is for the real interview. Good luck!

Thank you! Can't believe I have an interview date that quick, wow. We sent in 2010 tax return and W2's with the co-sponsors documentation, but I guess it couldn't hurt to bring some of his pay stubs etc with us just incase!

What's the situation as far as I-485 and I-130 and their different statuses? IE: I have an interview for the I-485 but I'm aware the I-130 has a different filing status, as in it could be denied etc. Hypothetically speaking, if say I'm approved after my interview for the I-485 but my I-130 is still under review, what's the green card situation? Sorry for all the questions and I know I haven't even received the paper copy through the mail of the interview appointment yet so I'm sort of jumping the gun, just trying to gather information based on other experiences, etc!

Thanks! That's what I was thinking as well. I'm actually placing the photos in plastic bags as suggested in the checklist on this site. That should work!

Yep, you got it! I know what you mean about asking questions like this, I was the same, thinking 'this probably sounds really dumb' haha. It's always best to be 100% sure you've got the strongest petition possible!