ohmygosh

March 15, 2013

I wanted to let those who are waiting for their AOS to be approved at NBC since August 1st,that we have been approved so maybe yours will be soon.

March 10, 2013

Hello Friends,

I have a situation. We just got approved by Vermont center after 210 days. But right now, I am out of the state on duty. Does anyone know what I should be expecting from NVC through the USPS (mail). Will they send everything via email and what are the documents I need to send to them at this stage of the process.

Thanks.

Your I129 application should be sent to the NVC within a week or so. You can call them and ask for the number they will assign your case. Then your app will be sent to the embassy and your fiance will have to follow the requirements of the embassy to get an appointment. I never received any thing from NVC. Someone else will come along with more info for you.

March 5, 2013

I think NBC should re-word the notice. Instead of saying the case is being processed at our National Benefits center location; It should say this case will now be left to sit on a desk for 9 months until someone screams and complains for us to process it....

EXACTLY!!! :thumbs: :angry:

March 4, 2013

I have been trying to track approval for AOS that were sent or held at NBD/MSC since August 1st. I have not seen even one person approved that was not transfered to a local office for an interview. Is there anyone out there who has seen or gotten approval since August 1st at MSC/NBC?

Now I see that Dream act applications are also being sent to NBC for processing. How are we ever going to get AOS approval at NBC at this rate. Very frustrating to be at the 7 month mark.

December 27, 2012

Some K-1 AOS are approved without an interview, but it seems to be random as to whether or not you get interviewed. Since August 1st the K-1 AOS are being processed at NBC,if your AOS is not transfered to you local office then you may be approved without an interview.

December 2, 2012

We are also at NBC hope they start approving AOS soon. Just getting tired of always waiting on someone else to complete the process.

I guess st least we won't have to go through an interviewed.

November 30, 2012

What website do you use for the cheapest airfares?

I found a fare for about 1/2 of what all the other sites have listed, but I'm weary of it...my "too good to be true" alarm is flashing. asaptickets.com - anyone ever heard of it or used it?

We used Vayama it was much cheaper than any if the other site and we had no problems.

November 23, 2012

Well, we just got notice yesterday that my wife's residency was approved (from K1 no interview or transfer, all processed at NBC)... Super excited to say the least. Just thought I'd share a few quick lessons from our Journey that we learned about VisaJourney and the immigration process and best wishes to all you going through this process!...

1 - Thank goodness for Visajourney!!! Use the guides, they are very helpful.

2 - Read instructions for any goverment form CAREFULLY.

3 - Follow those instructions!

4 - VisaJourney forums can be very helpful, but you have to sort through the comments. Some people like to judge, even though they have no idea whats going on, some seem like they just want to show how much (they think) they know, and others think that because they went through the process once without many hassles they are experts and you know nothing.

5 - Be organized and dont wait to take care of anything. And whatever happens, do not play around with immigration, there is little to no forgiveness.

6 - It's true, the USCIS help line knows NOTHING about immigration proceedures. If you dont talk to an officer, dont take any advice from the tier 1 people. They can put in a service request for you, but thats about it.

7 - Start researching well ahead of any form you have to send in, many times there is a lot more work to it than you realize.

Again, best wishes to all going through it or have it yet to come!

November 11, 2012

Say I am an illegal alien and I desperately want a job. So I make up a fake SSN out of the blue... 987654321. I go around and get a job pretending to be a US Citizen. I put my fake number on all my paperwork and I work and the Gov takes out taxes and all of this is recorded. The number is totally made up so I think it's not harming anyone. (And, btw, plenty of people come on this site and say they have used fake SSNs and they think it's okay). So, pretend I work for 10 years on this fake SSN. Then a real application for a new number comes up, from a legitimate person. And the number assigned to this real person is 987654321. The SSA number-generating system knows that this number has not been assigned to anyone. However, there is 10 years of work history, loans, credit cards, etc, all attached to this number somehow. There is a problem because there are two names associated with the number. The real person, unfortunately, pays the price.

Thanks for the information. Makes sense. I did dome research and was duptized ti find that SS admin will hold money for social security numbers they know are not valid. WOW.

I don't know if this happened to the OP. To be honest, his English is confusing and it is hard to understand what has happened, and I think many of the details are missing from the story (I think as a new immigrant he might have not gotten all of the clues). But, I think this idea is something he should look into to make sure it didn't happen to him. I think he should make sure his SSN is blank and there is no history on it.

November 11, 2012

I must confess I am ignorant as to who or where the information is being stored for numbers that are not valid or not issued to someone by the Social Security Administration? How would an employeer or anyone else associate a name with a number that has not been issued? I must be missing something.

November 11, 2012

I am curious as I have never given my SSN for the I-9 form but instead have always used my US passport. What happens if you give them just your GC as that is a LIST A document like the US passport. Then there is no SSN to verify. Then you give them your SSN for tax purposes, but not for completing the I-9 form. WIll they still try to verify the SSN?

Thanks,

Dave

I do not have my greencard yet. The problem is they have to verify the SS # belongs to me, and the systems they use will not recognize or find the new SS #'s assigned after June of 2011.

November 11, 2012

It is possible that someone has been using your SSN number for years. A person might have made up a number years ago, a number that wasn't issued yet, and now it ends up being your number. This happened to JimvaPhuong's wife, I believe.

I would first get a free credit report or go to the SSA and ask for a report on that number. If there is old activity on the number, ask for a new number. It will take some finagling but it is a new number and should have zero activity on it - you don't want credit or identity theft problems haunting you throughout your life here because someone has been using your number before it was even issued.

A SSN is a unique number that is yours forever, not only throughout life but after your death too. That is your number and only for you.

This is not the case the problem is with the new way SS admin assigns SS #'s Read this information: Everyone who is assigned a ss# after June 2011 is affected. This is really only Immigrants and babies and the babies aren't looking for a job.

Important to: employers, property managers, non-profit organizations and financial institutions.

As of June 25th, 2011...

Newly issued Social Security numbers, (assigned primarily to newborns and new U.S. Citizens), received an extra layer of protection from identity theft. That's good.

The Social Security Administration gained a more expansive pool of Social Security numbers to assign to individuals. Also good.

Employers, property managers, and non-profits inadvertently received a new headache as a once straightforward method of verifying identity through Social Security numbers just became more difficult and more expensive. Not so good.

What changed?

Social Security number randomization went into effect on June 25th, 2011. This means that any Social Security number issued after June 25th, 2011 will be issued by lottery from a "pool" of all available remaining Social Security numbers, excluding a few blocks of numbers. Prior to June 25th, 2011, all the way back to 1936, Social Security numbers were issued based on a formula that included a geographic indicator or "area number" (the first three digits) and a "group number" (the fourth and fifth digits). The last four digits were known as the "serial number".

Randomization was deemed necessary for two reasons.

1) Population growth: In several areas of the United States, population growth has resulted in a shortage of available numbers based on the original formula. The new random pool will evenly distribute all available numbers to the areas that need them. Think of it as switching to a family plan on your mobile phones which allows unused minutes from one person to be used by another person that went over their limit.

2) Identity theft: With the explosive growth of the Internet and information access that goes with it, identity theft has run rampant in the past decade. Using the Social Security Administration's own "data issuance tables" along with death indexes, birth announcements and other public data sources, identity thieves can literally construct Social Security numbers that will pass basic SSN Verifications, which simply report if a number has been issued by the Social Security Administration, along with the state and year of issuance. Randomization removes these tools from identity thieves for newly issued SSN's.

How does this effect employers, leasing companies and non-profit organizations?

Virtually every employer, volunteer organization or landlord that utilizes background checks to screen their applicants has a Social Security Verification (often known as a "SSN Trace" or "Address History Verification") built in to their background screening package. It is a valuable tool used by background screening companies that validates an applicant's Social Security number through a multi-step process. This process involves...

1. Determining the State of Issuance via the area number.

2. Determining the approximate time of issuance via the group number.

3. Revealing a history of name, date of birth and address history associations via several proprietary databases.

With randomization now in effect, step one and two are undeterminable on NEW Social Security numbers as the "area" and "group" numbers are no longer coded in to the SSN. Step three will still be applicable in determining the history of an active Social Security number once history of credit exists for the individual. (Note: Credit history is a major source of data for Social Security number verifications conducted by screening companies)

Of course, the vast majority of new randomized Social Security numbers will be issued to newborns and children, thus postponing the effect these numbers will have on employers/ leasors/ non-profits until today's children enter the workforce years down the road. However, employers that frequently hire immigrants that have newly issued Social Security numbers will immediately notice that they're suddenly unable to verify identity in the pre-employment background check stage of hiring. While tools such as eVerify and SSNVS (Social Security Number Verification System) are viable post employment solutions, it is ILLEGAL to use either of these options in the pre-employment stage. Unfortunately, the result of proper usage of these alternatives (post employment) is an abundance of red-tape and time between the time of hiring and proper dismissal when a Social Security number appears to be invalid.

The Solution (Consent Based Social Security Number Verification System)

The only current solution to verifying that an individual's name and date of birth match the Social Security number provided during an applicant background check, is to ask your applicant screening provider to utilize the Consent Based Social Security Verification System. Known as "CBSV", this system represents the first time the Social Security Administration has granted access directly to pre-employment background screening providers. This relatively new (new in the sense that it is finally cost effective and easily accessible) system is also the only method to verify that a new Social Security number belongs to an applicant before you hire them. Once again, other methods such as SSNVS and eVerify are only legally accessible after the applicant has been hired.

Is it Free?

Like most things in life, no. The Social Security Administration invested a great deal of tax payer money into creating this new service, and they have established a structured fee schedule to access the information. Exact costs depend on the service you use to connect with the system. Expect to pay fees between 7 and 15 dollars per search.

While the CBSV will slightly raise the cost of background screening across the board, the ability to determine a false identity before an applicant is brought on-board FAR outweighs the alternative. Discovering an employee's Social Security number is false through eVerify or SSNVS once they're employed can results in a labyrinth of procedures and red-tape, which equals time and money. Spending a few extra few dollars on the front end will save you a bundle on the bottom line.

For questions or pricing in regards to CBSV, SSNVS, eVerify or other acronyms that effect your applicant screening processes, please email contact@safescreener.com or call 888.578.8600 x113.

November 11, 2012

The problem is that the companies that do background checks are no longer able to verify Social Security numbers in the manner they use to have their systems set up for verification. In June of 2011 Social Security administration change the way they assign SS#'s. Instead of having the first 3 numbers verify the part of the U.S. you are from and the numeric sequence use prior, they now assign all numbers randomly and the systems at the background check companies have updated there software to verity these new numbers. This is only affecting people who are new to the country since the only others besides immigrants being assigned new SS#'s in the U.S. are babies and those babies are not looking for jobs. That is why they are saying your SS# does not match you age. Go to Social Security Administration to see the details on the Social Security Randomization program. The SS admin says it has a free site for employers to verity SS#'s but good luck getting a large corporation to so this for an individual,they will find it easier to move to the next canidate rather then take extra time or effort for one person. I have had the same difficulty do not know how to solve the problem other than to take the information from the Social Security Admin site to employeers prior to the background check so they are aware of the problem when the background check comes back incomplete. Hopefully some one else has an idea.

November 11, 2012

There have been some glitches. Most likely software needs to be updated. I have run across this personally with socials that begin with 888.

It doesn't seem right (or legal) for them to just turn you down instead of doing the extra verifications, though.

I was offered a position at the company after all but it is not the position I originally wanted and it is for less hours and less money. I have seen posts from others that have had difficulty as well. It seems the department store orginizations are using a company for their back ground checks service that is not able to verify the SS#'s. I do know there is a Social Security administration site that can verify the SS#s, but I doubt an individual will be able to convince a large corporation to do a separate check for verification, out side of the company they are using. It is difficult enough for immigrants to get employment for a job above minimum wage without this obstacle as well.

November 10, 2012

The employer just needs to update the software they are using. My SSN was rejected the first time my employer tried to do a background check but I printed off the info about randomization from the SS website and showed it to them and they sorted it.

I now have the information from the SS Administration site, however this came a bit late as the position Iwas originally offered is now filled by the next person in line. I just wish I had known this could create problems for me since I have now received 4 letters from employeers running background checks with the same results. "This SS# maybe part of the randomization program please provide additional documentation/verification. As stated in preveious response employeers do not want to make extra effort and time when they do not need to.

I would think that in over a years time the background check company's/software should have been updated to accomodate these SS#'s?

November 10, 2012

There is no problem... Have you encountered one? They can use e-verify and see that the number is good. Are you sure they aren't doing a credit check on the number? That will show up as "no data."

Depending on the source or software the employeer uses to do their back ground checks, they are unable to verify SS#'s numbers in the manner they use for SS#'s issued prior to randomization. I was offered a job but and once the background check came back as "This SS# may be part of the randomnization program please provide additional documentaion/verification", the offer was no longer available to me as employeers do not want or need to go through additional steps to hire when there are so many candidates for positions that do requrie any additional time or effort.

Per background checks.com they are unable to verify randomized SS#'s and thus send a request to the employeer to work with the candidate to validate authenticity. How are we able to validate authenticity?

November 10, 2012

Because the SS administration has started issuing SS# randomly since June 2011 companies that do employment background checks are not able to verify SS#'s Which creates employment difficulty for immigrants applying for work even with EAD. How do we over come this problem

Dustin and Janen · November 8, 2012

I got married two weeks ago after arriving in the US in late Sep through K1. Apart from doing AOS preparation this period, today i went to apply for the SSN. So, I put my husband surname on the form and the staff said the respective depart/office doesn't know I am married. So I passed her a certified copy of my marriage license.

I thought I should put my new surname name on the form( as I have a new legal name after married). The staff made a photocopy copy for my marriage license certified copy and said they would need to verify my marital status with respective dept. before confirming my SSN application.

I feel regret - i should have just used my name at birth on this form. Hopefully, my application would still be successful becoz my certified copy of marriage license is a strong evidence.

I posting the response I receive from the Social Security Office when we had a similar problem with the local SS office. Many of the local offices' are not informed that they should issue you a SS number in your new married name after marriage on a K1 Visa. For some reason they think because the names do not match they have to verify the name with DHS, however DHS will state the names do not match. "Because they don't"!! The marriage license is the documentation for the name change. Also many offices tell you that your Visa is no longer valid since you got married??? The visa was no longer valid once you entered the US! It is a one time entry visa and you fulfilled the requirement of the Visa once you were married within 90 days. They seem to be very confused about all of this. Attached is the response I received from SS administration. After many conversations and and trips to the local office, once I supplied this response from SS administration to my locat office they issued the ss# in married name without any problems.

received the following information from the district Social Security office, I forwarded it to our locat office and my fiance received her SS# in the mail. Do not accept the information of your SS administrator if they tell you, you can not get a SS# if you are married on a K-1 Visa and that you have to wait until your AOS. They are not properly trained in many offices.

Thank you for contacting the Social Security Administration.

We suggest that individuals that have entered the United States with non-immigrant status wait at least 10 calendar days before submitting a Social Security number (SSN) application to allow the Department of Homeland Security time to record entry into their database.

An individual that entered the United States with K-1 status applying for a work-authorized SSN must present evidence at one of our offices to establish his or her age, identity, and current lawful employment authorized status.

An individual needs to provide at least two documents as evidence to establish age, identity, and current lawful employment authorized status.

Example: If the immigration document, for example, Form I-94, Form I-551, or Form I-766, is used to establish work authorization and identity, the alien must provide another document to establish age.

We will not assign an SSN or issue a card to an individual who is within 14 days of his or her alien status expiring. Until the 76th day after entry, an individual with K-1 status only needs to provide an unexpired I-94 showing current K-1 status to establish employment authorized status for SSN purposes.

Once an individual who entered the United States with K-1 status has been in the United States 76 days, he or she will need another document, for example, Form I-551, or Form I-766 to establish employment authorized status for SSN purposes.

If a foreign-born person has the foreign birth certificate in his/her possession or can easily obtain a copy, he or she must submit it as proof of age. In some situations, we can accept alternative evidence of age. The alternative evidence of age may be less than a year old, for example, a foreign passport.

The documents acceptable as evidence of identity are based on three factors: (1) the applicant’s age, (2) the applicant’s citizenship/alien status, and (3) the relative value of documents.

Primary Identity Evidence for an alien:

-- Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (includes temporary I-551 Stamp in combination with an unexpired foreign passport when the I-551 Permanent Resident Card has not yet been issued)

-- Form I-94, Arrival/departure Record in combination with an unexpired foreign passport

-- Form I-766, Employment Authorization card in combination with an unexpired foreign passport

Note: Document must be unexpired

Secondary Identity Evidence for an alien:

-- Unexpired valid U.S. driver’s license (excludes licenses known to be suspended or revoked)

-- U.S. State issued non-driver identity card (issued by the same State agency which issues driver’s licenses/State-level agency with issuing authority over the State’s identity card and not expired)

-- Marriage document showing in addition to the applicant’s name either the applicant’s date of birth (DOB) or age

-- Certified copy of medical record (clinic, doctor, or hospital) or letter providing extract data from the medical record showing in addition to the applicant’s name, the applicant’s DOB, or age

-- Health insurance or Medicaid card showing, in addition to the person’s name, either a photograph of the person or his/her DOB

-- School identity card or record (for current school year) showing, in addition to the applicant’s name, a photograph of the applicant or the applicant’s DOB

-- Life insurance policy for the person showing his/her age or DOB.

Note: Marriage does not affect an individual with K-1 status’s eligibility to be assigned an SSN, or issued a card.

We suggest that individuals with K-1 status apply for a corrected replacement SSN after marriage to update the SSN record to reflect the married name.

We accept all marriage documents issued within the 50 United States, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

We can accept a name change document based on marriage as evidence of the new name to be shown on the card, if the new name can be derived from the marriage document.

Any of the following changes to the last name, using the names shown on the evidence, are permitted:

-- bride takes the groom’s last name;

-- groom takes bride’s last name;

-- spouse takes the other parties’ last name;

-- spouse takes one part of the other parties’ compound surname;

-- compound name (with or without hyphen) of each spouse’s original surname for either or both parties

Example:

Lisa Foster submits evidence of the name change event, her U.S. ceremonial marriage to Bryan Lee-Walsh. She wants to change her surname to a compound surname, Foster Lee, with only part of Bryan’s surname. Since this new name can be derived from the prior names shown on the marriage document, the marriage document is acceptable evidence of the new name. We may also change Lisa’s surname to one of the following if she requests it:

-- WALSH,

-- LEE-WALSH (or reverse, with or without space or hyphen),

-- LEE FOSTER (with or without space or hyphen, Foster Lee could also have a hyphen or not have a space)

-- FOSTER WALSH (or reverse, with or without space or hyphen)

-- FOSTER LEE WALSH (in any order, with or without spaces or hyphens)

The marriage document can also be used as acceptable evidence of identity if it shows Lisa’s prior name (Lisa Foster) and either her age, birth date, or parents’ names, and matches the data on the SSN record, and the marriage took place within the prior two years.

This is in addition to proof of current lawful employment authorized status.

All documents must be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency. We cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies as evidence because we cannot verify their authenticity. The custodian of the record must certify any copies.

The acceptability of a document must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the applicant’s situation and exploring what evidence is available for the person.

If an acceptable evidence document is in a language other than English and no other acceptable document is available, we will have the foreign language document translated by an authorized translator.

We cannot accept an application filing receipt or notice of action as evidence of an immigration document, or an immigration document with a “valid from” date in the future.

Take the required documents to the nearest Social Security office or Card Center. Individuals age 12 or older applying for an original SSN and card must apply in person.

You can obtain the address and directions to the nearest Social Security office from the Social Security Office Locator, which is available on the Internet:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/locator

We must verify your documents with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before we issue a replacement SSN card. Most of the time, we can quickly verify your documents online with DHS. If DHS cannot verify your documents online, it may take longer to issue a card. We are working closely with DHS to minimize delays.

All cards are mailed from Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland to the postal address provided on the application.

An individual assigned an SSN based on K-1 status will be issued an SSN card with “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION,” printed on the card.

An SSN card having the legend, “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION,” only means that the number holder cannot use the SSN card as proof of authorization to work in the United States. It does not otherwise affect the validity of the card or number.

When an individual previously issued an SSN card with “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION” printed on it has been granted permanent residency, he or she can apply for a replacement SSN card that reflects the new immigration status.

An alien granted permanent residency status is eligible to be issued an unrestricted SSN card and will retain the originally assigned SSN.

When am I legally required to provide my Social Security number?

http://ssa-custhelp..../detail/a_id/78

November 2, 2012

Hey all,

My petition was approved on 0ct/03 and assigned a case number by NVC oct/10 but today when i checked the uscis website it shows that our approval date has changed to oct/29 today. I was hoping that our file is already at the embassy by now since it was received and already assigned a new case number by NVC about 2 weeks ago but now iam all confused.We neither recieved the approval hard copy nor the NVC letter yet.

Anyone had this happen to them?

Did you call the NVC to get your case number if you do not already have it. They can also tell you if your case has been sent to the Embassy. You will need to schedule your Medical appointment in Nirobi. You will have to schedule you interview on line or leave a text message for them giving the date you want for your interview. You can go on line and check available dates. We had to stay in Nairobi about 10 days to get the Medical then the interview and wait for the Visa to be issued.

November 1, 2012

Did you send the payment separate from the application? Did you send the entire application along with the supporting documents and the payment all together?

November 1, 2012

anyone that can give me advice....my application for AOS and work permit has been return to us 2x i dont know what to do anymore...is these 2x rejections would affect my next filing? my k-1 visa already expired last october and my AOS is not ok yet ang need to re-file to uscis,what will happened to me here in the US during this time that my visa expired already?can it cause me to be deported?Im already married to my us citizen husband last august....I am so worried now..

Why is your application being returned? Is it for improper payment of fees? What is the problem. How can anyone help without further information? If you are married and still living with you hustand then you most likely will not be deported. Please explain the problems you have in order to get advice.

October 19, 2012

Just trying to figure out what the processing times are for those cases that are now being processed at the NBC rather than being transfered to CSC or to the local office for interview?

October 19, 2012

I am looking for answers to why timelines for AOS for K-1 visa are so random. Some people are receiving Green cards in only a few weeks others wait months and months or even longer, Why are the time frames so varied even from the same local office.

August 12, 2012

We can not reapply, they took the application, but sent a form G_____., to Homeland security to verify her information. If they verify the information then they will issue a SS#. I am told and hope it is correct, since she filed in the time frame she should have they will issue a SS# if homeland security confirms her info. I also sent an e-mail to SSA to ask for information to educate the local office. If I get that I will post it so others will not have to go through this difficulty.

I received the following information from the district Social Security office, I forwarded it to our locat office and my fiance received her SS# in the mail. Do not accept the information of your SS administrator if they tell you, you can not get a SS# if you are married on a K-1 Visa and that you have to wait until your AOS. They are not properly trained in many offices.