MrsNotBonJovi

UPDATE: Happy to report that I was able to get the NABC, without paying any bribe. It took several phone calls to journalist colleagues back in Chennai and some severe rapping-on-the-knuckles for the officer who had demanded the bribe. But the story doesn't here: am planning on going ahead with a complaint to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, apart from seeking information under the RTI act as to exactly how many NABCs were issued in the last three years to applicants from the US and within how much time. I am sure the shorter the window, the greater must have been the probability of a bribe having been paid. Should result in some very interesting data. Will keep you guys posted.

I fully well intend to file a report with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption when I visit India later this year. The normal thinking among such crooks seems to be that a person who lives in the US will not personally go to the extent of reporting them in India and so they can get away with it. I brainstormed with a few friends and family members who suggested that I just pay up and get it over with and not try to be 'holier-than-thou'. It was a tough decision to make,but I am glad I refused to.

Dear all,
For those of you who have had to put yourself through the nightmare of obtaining an official document from an Indian government office, here is my experience. I am right now adjusting status from within the US after my husband became a USC in February. We had been to India in December last year and succeeded in getting a marriage certificate, one of the primary documents needed for the AOS.
But then, as is common with many Indians, I do not have an official birth certificate for the simple reason that my birth was not registered (registration was not compulsory in my case). So, the alternative was to get a non-availability certificate for my birth record. I personally visited my local municipal office while I was in India and made enquiries and was told that I would not need to be present in person to either apply for or collect the non-availability certificate. I was told I could authorize a family member to do it on my behalf.
Fast forward to March 2012, when I filed my papers with USCIS after sending in sufficient secondary evidence (affdiavits of birth, school records etc) in lieu of my birth certificate. I did not want to delay filing the paperwork and had planned to get the non-availability certificate when the application was being processed.
After the paperwork was filed, here is what I did to get the required document.
1) Approached the Indian consulate in New York and was told they did not have the required records for that period (their records start only a year later)
2) I made several overseas calls to my local municipality and spoke to the same person who had told me to authorize someone else to collect the document on my behalf. He confirmed it could be done.
3) I mailed all the relevant documents to my brother-in-law who lives in Chennai so that he could present them during the application process. All documents were notarized copies. I also sent my BIL an authorization letter.
4) When he arrived at the municipal office (after an exhaustingly long overnight drive), he was given the classic run-around, i.e, he was made to run from person to person even to get started on the application process. Since they knew he was doing it on behalf of someone who lived in the US, the assumption seems to have been that any amount of money would have been coughed up to get the document done.
5) He was first told it would take anything from six months till one year and then was given a very broad hint that expedition was "possible" if certain terms were met. While the document itself costs only INR 15 to be issued, they asked for a cash sum of Rs 20,000 for just the 'initial processing' and said that the sum could be adjusted towards later sums as and when needed. The meaning is inescapable.
In all, he was given an 'estimate' of INR 27,000-30,000. He was even told "it is only a small amount for someone who is living in the US"
6) Since my BIL was unsure of how to proceed, he returned to Chennai without paying anything.
Now, here is the ethical issue: As a journalist working in India before I moved to the US for my studies, I have been a strong campaigner against corruption in government offices. I have witnessed first hand what a plague it is on the system. I strongly believe in the Indian legal system which says the giving and taking of bribes is illegal and that the person giving a bribe is as much to blame as the person demanding it. I do not want to be a party to this scamming. As a result, I now have to look for other options to get the required document, with the very likelihood that I may never be able to get it. That is a risk I am prepared to take, for I do not want to do anything illegal.
What has been your experience? Anyone else in my situation?

No.
Immigration should NEVER be a system where the people who can afford to pay more get better service.

This is incorrect and far too sweeping a generalisation.
I personally know at least three people whose fiance visas got okayed in the past ten or so months.
I am guessing the OP's problem is that his/her visa was put under AP since he/she likely has a name that has raised some red flag (happens to applicants from certain faiths).
OP, please do not spread misinformation. If you are still under AP and have not been denied, then there is still hope. Getting married in Mauritius etc. will only complicate things further. All the best!
Yes, quite a few.

This is incorrect and far too sweeping a generalisation.
I personally know at least three people whose fiance visas got okayed in the past ten or so months.
I am guessing the OP's problem is that his/her visa was put under AP since he/she likely has a name that has raised some red flag (happens to applicants from certain faiths).
OP, please do not spread misinformation. If you are still under AP and have not been denied, then there is still hope. Getting married in Mauritius etc. will only complicate things further. All the best!
Yes, quite a few.

Elsewhere on this board, the OP has said it was she using the SSN which indicates awareness and accountability.
I can only speak for myself when I say hurting the OP's happiness over a successful AOS is not the intention,but just to deter others who may want to follow the example into believing their own processes would be easier too if they did similar things.
That the OP confessed her mistake on her paperwork may actually work in her favor since she has been honest but what worked for her may not work for others. I would hate to see anybody hurt for taking the kind of risk that she did.

You seem to be missing the point, working illegally and working illegally with fake documentation are not the same thing. The latter is a cognizable felony unlike the former which even the White House has shown a preparedness to accomodate. I do not think anywhere on this board anyone has ever said it is okay to work with fake documents.

You seem to be missing the point, working illegally and working illegally with fake documentation are not the same thing. The latter is a cognizable felony unlike the former which even the White House has shown a preparedness to accomodate. I do not think anywhere on this board anyone has ever said it is okay to work with fake documents.

Ten to twelve years.

To me, what is even more worrying is that the OP may be setting a wrong kind of example. Imagine a scenario where another AOS-ing couple decides to borrow from the OP's narrative and deems it okay to 'play it up' for the interview and avoid having to prep for the red flags. We are looking at a textbook case here!

OP,At the very least, stop misleading others still in the process. You make it seem as if it is okay to break a ton of laws and just 'play it up for the interview' (your words). If other hopeful AOS aspirants were to take your word, they would be in a hell of a lot of trouble. Not everyone is going to get the kind of IO you got and suggesting that 'looking good together' alone matters is a kind of dangerous suggestion.
As others have said before, overstay and intent during immigration are forgiven for the spouse of a USC, but not breaking laws. Do not try to sugarcoat this reality.

As previously mentioned, "making up a SSN" and "falsely claiming to be a USC" are not the same, one can make up a SSN and not make a false claim to be a USC.
What is important and what the OP must do is find out what category was completed and signed for on her I-9 when she started her employment. If it does indeed state that she is a USC and she signed the document, then a consultation with an AILA approved attorney is going to be necessary and I would do this sooner rather than later.
Using a false SSN carries other penalties, which if convicted of, could make her deportable.
The OP has serious legal issues and needs a competent attorney well versed in both immigration and criminal law.

LAST UPDATE: The 10-year GC arrives by mail. It is beautiful and yes, it is green!
Whoever did the post-2010 redesign has done a super job. Wish I could say the same of my pic in there too,the one taken during the biometrics. Looks like I was scared to death of the whole process
A total of 90 days from start to finish, no RFEs. Smooth, seamless and pain-free process. A lot of lessons learnt along the way, some that will last a lifetime. I now wait the completion of the three-years-of-GC mark to file for naturalization.
To all those of you still in the process: all the very best of luck. To all my other fellow March filers, it was great doing this journey with you. Am hoping we can all reband together again, sometime in the future. Happy ROC-ing!
Keeping my fingers crossed that all those of you having/waiting for interviews also reach the finish line soon. Keeping you in my thoughts.

Interesting discussion here and no, I don't think you are typecasting the US at all. I experienced far more 'racism' while I was studying in Canada than I have ever done in the US, and most of it was more out of ignorance than malice. And would you believe it, most of the racist comments came from non-Americans (like this Chinese dude I ran into at Chinatown, Toronto who told me to my face, 'oh, these bloody Indians!!) and it used to give me particular pleasure to try and 'educate' each one of them until I realised I was just bruising myself even more. It used to amuse me when some people were surprised that I could speak good English,"even though I am from India."
That said, I should also say that much of the down putting that I have experienced in the US has been, brace yourself for this, not from Americans but from certain sections of Indians themselves who cannot hide their bias for the newer immigrants. I have had a certain wealthy Gujarati neighbor often pass snide remarks about how people from the 'south of India' are swarming all over the neighborhood, yada, yada, yada. I think this stems more from having their sense of exclusivity lost, you know, like being forced to share their American pie which they thought they had monopolistic rights over.
I am also seeing that more and more Indians now are not afraid of showing their Indian accent, and are quite cool with it. I remember how an earlier generation of Indians coming to the US used to go to extra ordinary lengths to 'Americanize' their accents and often end up sounding very funny and put-on. So far the only 'adjustments' I have had to make are, like what Vanessa&Tony said, the zee/zed, check/cheque, round trip/return trip etc switch overs.

This is so NOT true, my father was a lawyer too and he was asked countless times to pay bribes to get things expedited in government offices. He gave in a couple of times, but later put his foot down. Unfortunately, most lawyers play the corruption fiddle too, so if they refused to pay up, it would be like people in glass houses throwing stones at others!

Oh, yeah. No renewals planned as of now, at least till I know about the GC, one way or the other.
That was quick enough! Congratulations!

Congratulations! That's like a double whammy

Biometrics is only for I-485 and EAD. That was what I got too. When you receive your EAD card, it will be a combo EAD-AP card. No biometrics needed separately for AP, as far as I can infer.

She's $200,000 in debt, he wants her to buy his family members a car, and you think people are being too judgmental?!?!?!
Attention people who are still wondering why the financial system and housing market in this country totally collapsed: look no further.

We mailed our paperwork on 02/24/2012, and received emails & texts for the acceptance of out I-485, I-765, I-130 on 03/02/2012.
We did not file I-131 as we are switching from F1 and my hubby was out of status.
We have not received the mailed NOA1 as of yet.
Good luck to all the March filers!!

So, for Question 22 on I-130, do you have to say Chicago Lock Box, Illinois or just Chicago, Illinois?