rjm_cmyk

On 3/10/2017 at 6:23 PM, Raph3876 said:

@rjm_cmyk Did ever receive your DL? I am going through that process right now and the guys at the Daly City DMV where a bit clueless with the I-751 Extension letter...so had to explain...

 

Sorry - missed this. Yes it was surprisingly easy - even got a DL for longer than the validity of the I-751 - got a couple of years out of them which was a surprise.  Got my GC now and going for citizenship so will probably wait on that before renewing again.

I used highlighter on my documents but not the official forms. I figured they'd appreciate me pointing out the relevant entries on say a bank statement rather than them having to spend ages going through it line by line. 

Sounds to me like you have plenty of good quality evidence. In my case mortgage was in wife's name. We don't have any joint credit cards, loans or leases either.  And we have no joint utility bills My only advice would be explain clearly why you don't have things you think they might like to see. Keep it simple and to the point too. Oh and demonstrate it over the full two years. In the case of bank accounts I *really* didn't think they wanted to read two years of bank account but did send quarterly summaries so they could see the accounts being active over the entire two year period.

Best of luck - especially with your medical problems 

7 hours ago, Eks1022 said:

What is last date of may approved on this forum , so that we can figured out where they reached ....

The last date on the spreadsheet (of someone who has been approved) is the 27th May but that doesn't really mean anything. I was approved yesterday and I was one of the first in May to apply. If there is any logic to processing it's not based on date.

Some might disagree but there is no "perfect" set of documents. They're looking for evidence of co-mingling of life and use financial arrangements as one of the key indicators.  It's not always that easy and you can't always show the usual evidence they suggest.

• We don't have any joint loans.
• We don't have a joint mortgage (it's in my wife's name)
• We don't have any car leases as we own our cars.
• Most of our regular bills are in my wife's name because things like utilities are too brain dead to be able to add another name to a bill.
• We don't have any join credit cards 

We got approved (yesterday as it happens) without an interview or an RFE

Throughout this entire and lengthy immigration process I have not been a kitchen sink kinda guy and have always felt that quality obviates the need for quantity. You worry about bank statements. I was never going to send them (as some do) every bank statement we had (and we do have one joint account). I sent them quarterly statements with specific transactions highlighted e.g money out of my account into joint account and the mortgage payment out of the joint account. 

I explained why there were no joint loan agreements / car leases /mortgage. Explained the same for the utility bills. If you're missing stuff - explain why. Don't (IMHO) bomb them with low grade stuff like photos together and affidavits which both parties know can be whipped up on a whim the day before the application goes in. Focus on a getting good quality proof with a cogent story to go with it.

I did send medical insurance statements. Beneficiary statements from various accounts. I also sent them specific portions (not all of it) of our will / trust / enduring power of attorney details. If you put someone as beneficiary if you die must count as pretty good proof you're still together.

You've got a year - plenty of time to get this stuff together but don't wait too long :-)

Yayyy - finally. Status update changed this afternoon. Really wondered if I had to go to citizenship to get it moving.

No RFE or interview.

I was one of the first to submit at the beginning of May so if they're supposed to be doing them in order it's a very funny order...

See you all in the citizenship forum soon I guess. I'm going to have a USCIS pause as I have a trip to the UK in March and will wait till after then.

Good luck to those still waiting especially VSC !

Yeh - I can apply for citizenship at the end of this month should I wish to get my ROC moving but I'm travelling to the UK in March on my extension letter which expires sometime in May. So I'll just wait till I get back from the trip. Who knows my ROC might have been done by then. Having been so calm about it I'm starting to get a bit bugged by the time they're taking (see my sig).

Went to UK back in November. No problems leaving. Check-in staff were fine with the extension letter once I pointed out the relevant section. I took the original (+copy in my bag and on my phone) and my expired GC. No problem at US immigration here in SF. Going again next month by which time I will either have my GC or will be applying for citizenship at this rate.

6 hours ago, Alexs said:

I will do the same thing too . they received my application early May when do yoy thing i should be able to file for citizenship?

If you're getting your GC through marriage to a USC you can become a citizen three years from the date on your conditional green card. You can submit your application 90 days before that 3 year date. Mine is sometime in May so I can apply three months earlier i.e. late Feb.

1 hour ago, Alexs said:

I wonder if the uscis on break right now because i dont see anymore approvals

Certainly feels like it. I'm early May and got the usual fob off response. Ho-Hum. I'll start citizenship in March anyway which should kick it up a notch. That's assuming there are no more EO dictats.

11 hours ago, Gabby88 said:

I got married September of 2013, when can i put in my paperwork for citizenship? 

90 days prior  to three years from the "resident since" date on the CGC you got when you completed AOS.

California calling in.

On immigration CA DMV will give you a temporary DL valid only for the duration of your current immigration status document as long as there's more than 60 days on it. I entered on a K1 (so valid for the 90 days allowed to get married) but left it too late. So drove on my UK DL until I did my AOS/EAD etc  The legality of which is arguable (under CA rules) but probably not with a CHP officer so a low profile is recommended if you do this.

Got a two year DL once I got my CGC. Once that expired and I had the 1 year CGC extension while doing ROC the DMV extended my licence for five years (go figure).

The DMV is an enigmatic creature....

Dunno about everyone else but I'm really not sweating this part of the process. I'd actually be quite pleased (not really tempting fate here) to get called in for an interview in lieu of a RFE which would be a pain.

I will be applying for citizenship in March anyway which should circumvent the delay or am I unusual in this and is everyone else going to take a rest from USCIS - I can understand that :-)

I've flown to the UK with the letter. No problem leaving. Had to explain to check in staff at airport flying back what document they were looking at and pointed out the extension bit. Arriving in US no problem at all. Take original. Not worth risking it. Also took copy and kept separate. Oh and yes - take expired GC !!!

1 hour ago, R.Ny said:

Would it cause problem my gc is expiring on the day m entering USA ? Even though it's risky.

Hopefully your flight won't get delayed....

You will have received your NOA1 from your ROC submission which extends your GC  by that point. You have submitted your ROC ? 

Once you've submitted your ROC and got that first response back your GC (potentially expired) is effectively your immigration status document. I'm not saying don't carry an expired GC but that's what it is - expired. The one that matters to immigration is the extension.

I would certainly not fly anywhere if my GC was expiring and I didn't have that extension letter.

Personally I wouldn't (and haven't risked it). I even have copies with me and back at home in the US but I do take the original. The problem will be coming back to the US both at your departure airport and at immigration in the US. I prefer not to have any risk with the IO at all. They really don't have any sense of humour. I do it by the book.

19 hours ago, Nanz13 said:

Anyone receives the same message here?

Yep - just turned up this morning. I'm first week in May so getting close to 8 months (exact in my sig below) from bios. So six months is out of the window even from date of bio.

So they just have a boilerplate response to any enquiries. Did think it would be a waste of time  I can start the citizenship application in 8 week so ho-hum.

On 1/13/2017 at 2:00 PM, ArroyM said:

Conditional Green Card expires Jan 28, 2017.  We filed I-751 for my wife on December 6, 2016, it was received December 12, 2016.  Today January 13, 2017 had appointment for Biometrics.  When will USCIS send "Extension Letter" so we may travel out of the county?

The first letter you get from them after you've submitted is the extension letter which will have a heading of I-797 Notice of Action. The one that tells you , you will be getting subsequent letter about the biometrics. That very first response is the extension letter. Hope you've still got it. If you never got it (and just got the biometrics appt letter) then you need to call them.

I traveled via Heathrow with an ROC extension letter. No problems at all although I had to point out the extension bit in the letter to the checkin person who had probably not seen one before. I also had my expired GC.

Boo-Hoo - not only have I not been approved yet but I've been deleted from the spreadsheet. Woe is me. And as someone was asking - I was start of May...

Wondering if I'll be doing Citizenship first now.

Sent quarterly statements with certain transactions highlighted to demonstrate co-mingling e.g both parties transferring money into a joint account with mortgage and other bills going out. The statements were over the whole period so they can see it from admission to US to submission of ROC. I know others adopt the kitchen sink approach to all stages of the immigration process but I've always tried to make it as easy as possible for IOs to get what they need from my docs. Seems to have worked thus far.

The mortgage is in my USC wife's name and we own both cars outright. Having very few joint financial instruments apart from the bank accounts and a few utility bills (as not all will allow the addition of a second name) we're expecting the trusts/POA/will etc to count . It's very specific and certainly legally binding. I'd recommend having them anyway (pretty much a requirement here in CA) as they seem to be strong evidence of co-mingling when you list each other as beneficiaries.

They are however things to be done properly and not in haste...

I was looking forward to a break between ROC and Citizenship - looking like it will be a short one ....

You'd think the USCIS would remember it's Christmas in a few days wouldn't you ? Or is the office party season well under way ? I'd really like a happy flipping holiday but it's looking unlikely now

I wonder what's their criteria for approving some cases way before the others.

Probably totally random.

But as I've seen people who moved too many times end up having interviews, maybe the number of addresses you lived in plays a role into the quickier approvals too.

I've always imagined our files as like a giant pile of Jenga bricks. Or more likely just a pile. They reach across the desk and grab one. Any one. At each stage of this process responses, approvals, RFEs have always seemed completely random. Judging by the sequence of approvals the months get mixed up to. There is certainly no appearance of a system based on FIFO. It's not like there's even some appearance of selection based on "difficulty".

I could imagine a scoring system whereby they could "risk code" our applications and rip through the "low risk" ones to get them off the pile. A system ? what am I smoking...