Yunie

To answer some questions:

• I need photos for a NEW Canadian passport, since the one I entered the US with is now expired, and had my maiden name on it (I changed to my name when we got married)
• I am a Legal Resident but not a USC at this time
• I'm in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area of VA
• No, I cannot go to a drug store/post office/use an app because the photos must be taken by an actual photographer, who then writes their info on the back.

I did find a place local to me that should work.  I will follow up with results when things happen

My Canadian passport has expired, and I'm trying to renew it. Actually, I need a completely new one, since I changed my name when I got married.  

The biggest roadblock I'm hitting is getting new passport photos taken. When I lived in Canada, I could just go to a Walmart Photo Center, but the ones local to me do not have regular on-site photographers.  Also, US passport requirements are different than those for Canadian passports. 

Any suggestions on how to solve this?

I need to get it done soon, as I might need to fly home in the near future for a funeral 

i have an alternative for you.

do this tomorrow:

1. call into USCIS. get a human.

2. asked to be transferred to an ISO

3. Once you have an ISO, ask - do you have any returned postal pieces on me?

--if yes - find out what they are and

--go over the updated address with the ISO and

--ask the ISO to send them out again to the updated address.

Try that, first. Report back, when yer able.

When I called the first time, they gave me the tracking number for my card, and when I checked the USPS website, it said delivered.

I found the answer to my question without having to call - turns out the category code was on my I-797 that I received as my approval notice.

Notice Type: Welcome notice

Section:

COA: this is your category code which is also listed on your green card

Just in case anyone in the future wanted to know where to find that code if they don't have their card

My AOS was APPROVED Sept. 16, but I I moved while it was being processed. I tried to file a change of address, but the online form kept giving me errors. I ended up getting side-tracked until my approval notice arrived (forwarded from previous address), and tried calling USCIS. They told me to fill out the online form. Still didn't work, waited the three weeks to see if the card would also get forwarded from our old address, but no luck. Called USCIS again, told them the online form kept giving me errors, where is my card? The guy I talked to changed my address, but I still need to file the AR-11 form by mail (no indication on the site that you can do this, especially if you've been told to just do it electronically ???)

Turns out my card had gotten delivered by USPS, and I have to file I-90 for a replacement card.

SO

All that story leads to my actual question:

To fill out the I-90, I need to know my Category Code, that is only listed on my card, which I never received.

I entered on a K-1 Visa, got married to my US Citizen husband within the 90 days.

Does anyone know what code I should have?

I really don't want to spend more time on the phone with people who seem confused about my problem ):

We went all out, basically, and had a "real" wedding. Mostly for personal and family reasons.

I guess I'll pass on using photos from this, since like many mentioned, it is a very double edged sword. After a year, I don't really feel like being delayed any more.

Thank you everyone.

I'm filing for a K-1 visa in Montreal, Canada.

My fiance and I started this journey in January 2011 and my interview is in a couple weeks!

However, we thought this process would take much less time than it has thanks to confusing terms and such, and because of this we had a small wedding with family and friends in May 2011. We did NOT get LEGALLY MARRIED at this time. We knew if we did, we would have to start all over again with a different type of visa.

I was wondering if pictures from this would be a good idea to use as "proof of relationship"? Having a ceremony showing our commitment infront of god and family is pretty binding in our eyes, but I worry that it would raise suspicions that we are lying?

Also should I provide more information (on the back of photos, eg) for what I do end up providing? Such as date and location?

Thank you in advance

Turns out the answer was on the example the whole time, I just couldn't see it.

For the record, the format is "Day Month Year (of arrival), length of stay"

What format should I use for listing my additional visits to the US?

It asks for most recent as Day/Month/Year, and then asks for how long.

Right now I have my 6 most recent visits (these were all within the span of my relationship, I've been two other times when I was little with my family) and I formatted them "month year - month year"

The example form on VJ has no listed visits other than most recent, so I'm not sure ?

Thanks for your help everyone.

There are some questions that I'm not sure how to answer?

DS-156 is for a non-immigrant visa, but the K1 is an immigrant visa.

The questions I'm having the most trouble with are

"How long do you intend to stay?"

"When do you intend to arrive?"

"What is the purpose of your trip?"

questions about studying/employment while I'm there (I would like to get a job and/or go back to school, but I don;t have anything lined up at the moment, and they ask for specifics? Should I just answer No on those?)

Does my fiance filing the K1 count as "Has Anyone Ever Filed an Immigrant Visa Petition on Your Behalf?"

I know I have alot of questions, and I would really appreciate any help.

I just don't want to get anything wrong and delay this process more than it gets naturally!

- I am filing my Package 3 at the Montreal Consulate in Canada, if that helps any

It has now been exactly 5 month since we filed for our k-1 fiancé visa. Every day it says it's in the initial stages on the web site, and when I call it says the same thing. I guess there are just some days when I get so irritated that it takes so much time to do this, not irritated at my fiancé or our relationship, just at the process.

I was told by our lawyer that this process would take about 9 months total, but at this rate I don't see it happening anytime soon. I real don't want to be a pessimist, because that not how I am at all, but there are some days when I just want to cry! I just want wait to be his wife and for us to start our life together.

Does anyone else feel like there life is kind of on hold right now? Like you are waiting for it to start kind of?

This is how I feel right now.

We filed in January, and haven't heard ANYTHING since then. I check my status pretty much every day with no change.

Fortuantely, as a Canadian, I can stay in the US (where my fiance is) for 6 months of the year. I've been here since May when we had a wedding ceremony (we're not legally married, but we decided to have a ceremony for family and friends, assuming that the "5 months" was a fairly certain amount of time for the visa to go through). I'm not looking forward to having to leave him in October if my visa still hasn't gone through ):