Landy

That's a possibility but since they have not cashed the check for the $180 fee I would like to see if I avoid paying the fee when I no longer have to. I could always have my bank cancel the check. Any way to contact them about this? Their customer service number is a nightmare... never before have I seen such a spider's web of press 1 for this, 5 for that, etc etc etc....

Thanks!

i would think you will just have to wait for it to be adjudicated, then once received shred it (that is, unless they catch the gc approval, which i doubt)

Hello all,

We just sent the EAD renewal last week (haven't received NOA yet) and today we got a great news: the Green Card is approved and mailed to us (after 6 months of FBI namecheck)!

We want to cancel the EAD application, not sure how to do that.

Please help!!!

Thanks a lot!

Landy

Our thread has been pretty quiet lately.... let me try to get things back on track (if i may)...

Lan's AOS is stuck in "FBI name check" limbo. It's been this way for about 4 months. I was told by the USCIS offier at our Infopass appointment that it might help if I showed up at the embassy in HCMC and requested the name check to prod things along. Since we're going to be in Vietnam in Feb anyway, I thought maybe we should give it a shot.

I know some of you are living in Vietnam -- do you guys think this might actually work???

And while I am at it -- for those of you in HCMC, how'd you like to meet with us on the evening of Feb 9? We were planning to have a little party at a restaurant somewhere in the city for Lan's friends and I think it would be great if some of you could make it. Please email me (rao_anand@yahoo.com) if you are interested!

I hate getting a Visa from the VN embassy/consulate because their is absolutely no consistency to the price. I have been given numbers such as $30, $45, and $65. My wife (who is VN) looked at their website in VN and she says the price for a tourist visa for foregners is $25. So I am going to send in a money order for $25 and see what happens. I am SURE that someone at the embassy is skimming the excess into their personal slush fund!

Just "checking in".... We (Lan and Andy) have been absent from VJ for awhile. We're married now, living in northern CA and doing great. Lan is working (for a competitor of where I work at!), learning to drive, and we are doing great. Still waiting on her name check so she does not have the green card yet. Anyway we made it through the k1 process because I am an engineer and you all now how detail oriented those engineers can be. Feel free to write with questions. I will try to help....

All the best to everyone.

Yesterday my wife and I went to her green card interview. We had a 12:30 pm appointment. We got there around 12 pm. You go through the metal detector and they xray all bags, etc. No computers or cell phones allowed in the building so you are better off leaving them in the car. The area for green card interviews is upstairs (room 200). We entered an empty (very drab looking!) room and deposited our green card interview appointment letter into a wooden box. We were called in pretty close to 12:30 pm.

The guy who did our interview was Chinese and had a Vietnamese wife. He has visited Asia and vietnam several times. I think this helped us! (my wife is from Vietnam). I had a boatload of documentation with me but all he asked for was:

1) both of our birth certificates

2) marriage certificate

3) passports (of course!)

4) documentation showing you have joint lives (ie bank statements, credit card statements, cell phone bill, etc)

5) wedding pictures (we have not gotten our wedding pics back from the photographer yet)

6) Letter from my employer verifying salary, employment, etc

7) paystubs (for both me and my wife)

He wasn't too concerned about the lack of pictures. I *could* have offered up a lot of other stuff but I decided to provide only what was requested. He did not ask for I-693a (vaccination supplement); however I submitted whatever documentation the San Jose Health Dept gave us when Lan got her vaccinations in our AOS package.

He talked a LOT to us about life in Vietnam, and Asia in general. We did not do much talking at all. He asked my wife some basic questions such as her address, is she working, what does she do for work, how much she earned in Vietnam and now in America (commenting on the differences in pay between the two countries), how she met me, if she has any family here in America... all basic questions. He didn't ask me much.

Overall -- it was a very friendly discussion. At the end he said everything looks good but the FBI name check has not completed yet. So we have to wait for that to come through before we get the green card.

It took about 40 minutes. Like I said -- he did 80% of the talking (he talked about himself, his wife, why he decided NOT to take a position at a foreign embassy, asian culture, life in Vietnam). I am sure they have different interview styles that they apply based on their impressions (ie. if they suspect fraud they probably conduct the interview in a more hostile tone). My guess is he took one look at our situation and could see we are a legitimate couple. The fact that Lan has visited America 3 times on a business visa didn't hurt either.

If there are any questions, send me an email and I will be happy to reply. I will ask Lan to follow up with her recollections of the interview as well (she will do so later this morning).

Tomorrow's our big day -- our green card interview is at 12:30 pm in San Jose. We owe the VJ community a lot for getting us to this point in time! I will post our experiences tomorrow night...

Yes, we got AP and EAD from last week (See our timeline)

I guess USCIS is still moving but it is really slow.

Good luck to those who are waiting for AP and EAD!

--Landy

as anyone from California got his/her EAD, AP recently?

Well, since these are processed by the NBC, I guess it doesn't matter where you're from..

Anyway, uscis' timeline is still not moving, and my VJ timeline keeps being adjusted to later dates...

Going crazy here....

Thank you all for your congrats!!!

We received AP in mail yesterday Aug 17 and EAD card today Aug 18; a bit sooner than we expect

Now it's time for real work

Good luck to you all who are waiting for AP and EAD.

--Landy

Congratulations!! Now it's time to start working and traveling!! Enjoy

Hi All,

We finally received the approval email for Advance Parole on Aug 10 and for EAD on Aug 14!!!

We are hoping to receive the cards soon!!!!

Landy

Yesterday we received the biometric appointment letter. It is scheduled for 8 am on July 1. July 1 is a Saturday. I didn't think any government offices were open on Saturdays???????????????

Today I took me and my wife (she entered the country on a K1 visa and we have filed our AOS paperwork) went to the California DMV to get her driver's permit.

My wife's K1 visa has an expiration date of July 30. Because of this, the lady at the DMV said that the driver's license would also have an expiration date of July 30. This is pretty useless! She said we needed to show some sort of documentation that the via had been "extended" for a longer period of time.

Has anybody had a similar situation happen? As I understand it, USCIS does not issue any documents that demonstrate an "extension" of the K1 visa after it has expired. What I am looking for is some document that shows that my wife is in the country legally after the K1 expires. Such a document does not seem to exist! Do we need to wait until she gets her green card before she can get a driver's license?

This premium processing sounds interesting....

I was searching USCIS's site for information on this topic today and all I discovered is that premium processing is only good for an I-129F form and only for certain types of visas.

I would love it if we could get my K1 fiance's EAD accelerated by getting an employer to initiate premium processing. Not sure if this is possible or not based on the immigration laws?

I sent in a single check to cover the I-485, I-765 (EAD), and I-131 (AP). It just got cashed and we received the NOA letter in the mail yesterday.

I had the same dilemma; I just approximated the date. I think that should be sufficient. If you want you can indicate that this is an approximate date on the form.

Tomorrow, I am going to submit all the AOS paperwork for my wife (she came into the country on a K1 visa). I think the AOS process is easier than the K1 process! (at least it seemed that way for me). I thought I'd show the list of documents I am going to submit for AOS. If I have forgotten anything or anybody has any additional suggestions, please let me know. I hope this helps some of you that are working on AOS right now as I type this!

And now, the list of AOS documents:

· Fees

· I-485 form

· Certified copy of non US citizen spouse's birth certificate

· Complete copy of non US citizen spouse's passport

· Copy of the non US citizen spouse's I-94 (front and back)

· Marriage certificate (certified copy)

· A copy of the non US citizen's immunization records

· Copy of the I-129F form (Petition for Alien Fiance)

· Copy of the I-797 letter (Notice of Action)

· G-325A form

· Two photographs of the non US citizen spouse

· I-864 form (notarized)

· Verification of employment letter for the US citizen

· Copy of the US citizen's 2005 federal tax return and W2 forms

· Copy of the US citizen's 2004 federal tax transcript and W2 forms

· Copy of the US citizen's 2003 federal tax transcript and W2 forms

· I-765 form (Application for Employment Authorization)

· I-131 form (Application for Travel Document)

Are we REQUIRED to get the vaccinations from a civil surgeon, or can any doctor give my fiance the required shots???

You need to find a civil surgeon in your area from the USCIS website and then they can do the vaccinations or accept them if you get them done from your doctor etc. They will fill out a vaccination supplement I693a (I think.) That's what you will need to submit with the AOS application. Good Luck

Yeah you need the Vaccination Supplment. Its important that you do it, otherwise you will get a RFE down the road

Good luck!!

Maria

My fiance has entered America on a K1 visa. I am filling out the AOS paperwork right now.

Because she entered on a K1 visa she has already had the medical exam (this was done in her home country). We did not have time for her to get all the vaccinations before she came to America.

Do we have to have all the vaccinations completed BEFORE I can submit the AOS forms to USCIS???

I hope to hear some good news about your visa!

I have seen several people on VJ go above and beyond the requirements to demonstrate that the sponsor (I-864) has adaqute financial means. If someone is earning good money (6 figures), 3 years of income tax returns and a letter from an employer should be more than sufficient to satisfy USCIS.

I guess the question I am asking is do I really need to bother to document 12 months of bank statements, savings account statements, brokerage statements, 401k, IRA, etc etc etc.

I wasn't sure where is the best place to post this; this does not fit cleanly into any of the forums!

I found a really useful utility called Cute PDF. It allows you to save a PDF file after you have filled out all the fillable fields. Once you save the file you cannot edit it, so it's only good for keeping the "final copy" in soft (ie electronic) form. Here's the website (it's free!)

http://www.cutepdf.com/

I got the answer to my own question (by doing a google search on some other immigration-related boards).

Class of Admission means how the immigrant entered America. So in my case I simply write "K1 (AOS pending)".

I am filing out the I-131 (Advanced Parole) document for my fiance who is currently in the USA on a K1 visa. On part 1, question 3 of the I-131, it asks for a "Class of Admission". What are they talking about? Their instructions don't mention this at all!

Thanks in advance!

I am filling out my fiance's application for a social security card and I have a question. My fiance entered the country on a K1 visa. In box 3 of the application they ask you for her citizenship status (US citizen, legal alien allowed to work, legal alien not allowedto work, or other).

Should I check legal alien allowed to work????? She does not yet have her EAD yet, but her K1 visa is good until July 30.

Thanks!

I have heard "here and there" on VJ about this. There seem to be scattered reports that if you try to get a SS card AFTER your K1 fiance and the USC get married, the Social Security Administration has denied the request and told some people to come back after they file AOS.

Makes no sense to me and I do not think this is official policy, but it does seem to have happened.

I think the safest thing when you apply for a SS card is to just present your passports and don't mention if you have gotten married yet.

Wow you guys are lucky they even gave you the SSN. I went there with our marriage certificate, SS-5 form and passport with K1 visa and the woman said "Sorry, because you are married now your K1 visa is useless and you are out of status. If you had come here before you got married I could have given you the card, but now you have to wait to get your EAD."

It really sucks because I cant take my driving test, get loans etc without the SSN. They just seem so inconsistent to give some people SSN's after marriage and make others wait for the EAD. Oh well...such is the USCIS!!!