MlovesW

As I understand it, the AP is issued for a maximum of two years. Any stay over that time is considered abandoning your LPR status and could result in denial of re-entry. I have been doing research as my husband and I are considering spending a year or two in his country with his elderly parents to help out. I could be wrong, just what I have found on the USCIS website.

We have considered citizenship as well, then go as it will alleviate many issues. However I am a little concerned about the dual taxation if he maintains dual citizenship.. Every government really wants to have their hands in your wallet...

For me I have to have the GC in my own hands before I truly believed its approved

Ours went from approved and then back to decision and stayed that way for a couple of days, it was nerve racking to say the least. Our time was short compared to yours so I understand your concern. I agree with all on the board, you should have your card in your hands very very soon..

That's cool! You got your EAD a long time ago, you're lucky! haha.. well I'm glad we got our interview dates My interview is at 1:30pm.. what time is yours?

Good luck in Sacramento. Ours was fine in that office, we got approval in the spot. Just be prepared for parking, I think the mall parking is the best option. We tried to find closer but ended up at mall with me stressing out.. Haha

Good luck in Sacramento. Ours was fine in that office, we got approval in the spot. Just be prepared for parking, I think the mall parking is the best option. We tried to find closer but ended up at mall with me stressing out.. Haha

Oh, and don't take cell phones in building at all.. Leave them at home or in car.. They absolutely will not allow them in!!

Late but good luck.. Everything will go great!!

Then, I beg you to please enlighten me regarding the purpose of the "I-94 stamp" that is placed in the K-1 Visa holder's passport when they enter the USA!

Sid

My husband came into the USA on a B3 visitor visa and was given an I-94 which is an entry page, it does not allow for work authorization. You cannot obtain a work SS# with an I94.

Congrats to all the new approvals and keep faith for those still waiting. It will all happen soon enough...

Happy Halloween all. We luckily got my husbands green card on Monday in the US mail. So thankful that it is all over (for at least 1 year 9 months). We went to SS office in Sacramento on Tuesday (in and out in 30 mins) and now awaiting his SS so we can get his drivers license. Everything is moving along swimmingly..

Keeping my fingers crossed for all those still waiting. It happens, Sandy will likely slow things down a bit but keep faith..

Just received my second EAD text update. How many more before it ships?

Honestly I cannot remember how many updates I got for EAD or green card. There was way more than five for each. It seemed I would get a txt every 15 mins each day any was sent.. It's crazy

It seems to do that. We were approved on Oct 22, got the letter at the interview. Status changed to approved online that day. The following day went back to testing and interview. Got message Oct 26 saying in production (again). We got the I-797 today in snail mail.

Question!

Are EAD and AP useless if we get the GC 1-2weeks later?

What is their use then?

As far as I understand EAD is to work when you are not a resident. But once you have GC, you don't need EAD.

Should I give my employer the new EAD number, and then in 2 weeks the GC number?

At least I didn't pay for this one, and I didn't apply for AP, since I thought it was useless. Am I wrong?

What do you think? I guess most of you applied/paid $400 for travel doc?

does it say that in the little ext below the "initial review, decision, etc..." labels?

I have never seen that :/

Maybe tomorrow it will change to "production". It is common that it goes back and forward between labels. happened to me last year with EAD

There is no additional fee for EAD and AP if filing with I485. We did because if for any reason our case took longer we would have the freedom to travel. I have seen AOS cases taking months to go through..

So an update from our neck of the woods. We finally got our card production txt today (after it switched back the day after interview).. We also found out we got our house, hopefully moving in the next two weeks to our little piece of heaven and my hubbies new full time job (home updates and 2 acres to care for). He is also happy to get his classic cars here and in his garage to start his rebuilds. Happy hubby = happier wife!!

Hopefully I can make the trip back down under in January with my husband to help him finalize everything.. I miss him when we are apart..

I am glad to see everyone moving right along and so many approvals. I am thankful that the stressful USCIS is done for now and now I can focus on my husband, new home, upcoming test and runs!!!

Soooo, lots going on!! It's exciting to see movement for almost everyone. For those who are still waiting, just know it's coming soon!!!

As for us, lots going on. Gesi got a job IN FLORIDA!! lol I got off work last night at 2am, came home, booked his last minute flight for 9:30 this morning. Took him to DCA and dropped him off, got home around 7am and went to sleep! lol So he is officially in Florida now (thanks to his uncle down there coming through for us). I guess everyone knew a move was coming, we just didn't know when and where (Texas or Florida).

So I will start submitting my resume to hospitals down there. Not sure when I will move as I will have to give notice of course when we figure it all out. But goodness my head is spinning and I miss him already so much! He's called 21 times already today, haha. He is soooo excited and proud right now. It's a good time for the Valmera family

On another note, looks like I am going to have to deal with Hurricane Sandy coming up and possibly taking a turn into the mid Atlantic coast. Not fun!

Congrats to you both.. You deserve it!! CA pays much better for nursing!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/August-fillers/520187674660829?fref=ts

FACEBOOK PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JOIN ME!!!!!

Joined...

Thank you all. Now to wait for the card. It seems the site is being fubky

False. Why would it be worse when you file married but seperate? That makes no sense .... They are just telling the truth. If there's no reason to file jointly then song do it .... But filing as single is a BIG FAT LIE when you're married. And he can get a penalty for that.

Slow down AF wife, maybe I didn't clarify my response enough. I meant to the IRS and taxation the status "married filing seperate" is worse than "single" in regards to amounts owed. If the OP (non USC) did not file her own return they should amend to "married filing jointly" and they may see some money returned vs owing money. I am not a tax professional but worked in a tax department for many years. I know the IRS publications and I understand tax law pretty well. If one files "married but seperate" IRS gives a lower deduction, this is to avoid tax evasion, ie ( I make 150k a year, spouse makes 150k a year. We file together our combined income is 300k putting us in a higher tax bracket. I we filed seperate we are in lower bracket and pay less, IRS isn't stupid and does not allow this without making it more complicated). That is what I meant. I am sure USCiS could care less which "married" status you use as long as your not misrepresenting by filing Single..

okay so he should amend as 'married but filing separately' right?

Thank you again for your assistance in this matter;)

I would talk to a tax professional (not HR Block). Usually married filing seperate is worse than single. I would say married filin jointly is better..

Congrats to everyone on approvals, interview dates, and EAD's

I woke up this morning to check my uscis and nothing new, so I decided to call and see what info I could get about my EAD since my interview is only 2weeks away, only to be told im still within the 3month time frame and to wait

I took a small nap, woke-up and checked again....EAD in production!

Im ecstatic! Ill run to the mailbox for the next couple of days. Although its on its way, I dont think I'll have enough time to do anything with it for the interview. What do you guys think? Should I wait for an approval until after my interview to head over to the SS with hopefully a GC on hand, or should I just go right as soon as my ead gets here?

Im asking because im not sure what the difference will be with an ead issued ss# card, and a GC issued ss#. I guess its my ocd kicking in.... I rather have a normal ss# card than the ss# card stamped with the "for work only" I think id find myself right back at the office after receiving the GC

We waited for interview to get SS. You would have to go back and visits to the SS office are not my favorite. Plus my hubby got his EAD Thursday with our interview the following Monday...

No, not pregnant, lol I think it was the stress of it all. Not upset about it, we aren't prepared for a baby. lol

Awesome! Congrats on your approval!!!

Thank you. I was relieved to check VJ and note yours was approved as well. Love shines through all the doubt they look for..

Happened to me too. We got married 4 weeks after I came to the US under VWP. I don't believe there's a timeframe, that you have to wait until you get married to look better in the eyes of USCIS. If he didn't misrepresented himself at the point of entry, there shouldn't be so much to worry about.

Thank you AF wife. From some of the senior members I have seen reports that the "wait a set period of time before marrying and filing AOS" is a wives tale that is false. I guess you have to do what you feel is right. We married and filed the same day..

Plus if you wait to long you incur overstay which could also cause problems should the AOS not go through.. Just another thought

If you two have been married for 10 years, he needs to amend all of them. He should have been filing married filing separate if not married jointly. That seems like a big problem..

Dont get marry too soon, best is to wait 3-4 months then get marry. He can stay there and do the AOS after marriage, but it still depend on the immigration officer. If you marry too soon, they might think you are visa fruad, so good luck.

This is not entirely true. My husband and I married one month and four days after his entry on a B2. We had our interview yesterday and time frame never came up. We were approved on the spot..

I posted our interview experience. All in all it's done, we were approved, thankfully!!

Well it is all over and finished (for now). We had our interview at the Sacramento, CA office today and we were APPROVED!! So here is our interview experience for those of you that are interested..

Our interview was 2pm today, we arrived at the office around 1:45pm (after finding parking, what a pain). We put our letter into the slot under the window and sat down in the incredibly hot waiting room. There was about 11 others sitting in the waiting room at the time. I couldn't tell you how long we waiting (since I am not a watch wearer and neither is my hubby) but we didn't wait too long. They called my husbands name and off we went. Our IO was a woman in her 40's, friendly but somewhat stiff. We followed to her office and before we sat down she swore us both in. We sat and she asked for our passports which I produced. The first topic was my previous marriages (yes more than one and I knew it would be a hot topic). She seemed to dwell a bit on it and asked more than once, I believe trying to elicit a response from my husband. Since he was privy to this information he supported me and didn't give her anything. She then started asking some basic questions off the I-485 which were simple. She asked him about his previous marriages and the divorce dates (which he couldn't remember both), she was a bit rude stating "this is your information you should know it, it is not my job to know it for you". We both thought this was a bit rude since she would need the information to check it right? Anyhow, moving on. She let me talk a lot about how we met (online), when/how we decided to make it a relationship, when we first met, etc. She asked me to name his mother and father and kids with birthday's, I knew all except exact dates, she seemed ok with this. She then moved on to some questions about my last birthday and what we did. My husband answered and she seemed satisfied with that. Then she moved on to this test, I thought we entered grade school again. She gave us both a sheet of paper with numbers 1-6 on it. She asked us to plug in the day in the date line and print our names and sign. She then asked us to not look onto the others paper when answering questions, that she may ask questions that seem personal but that she had the right to ask them. So first question, did we sleep in the same bed last night, we both said yes. She then said what did your spouse where to bed. She looked at his and said "I should have asked colors", but he got it right and I did somewhat (he took his tshirt off after I fell asleep, whoops). So question two, were we together last Saturday, again we both said yes. She said, where were you both at 12 (noon). My husband immediately said, "I am not sure, I don't work so my days blend together". She didn't like this answer. I tried to jog his memory and she said this makes it hard for me to approve you. So moving along she said, question three, how many bathrooms in your home. We both answered 3 on the paper and she was happy. She then asked, question four, what type of oven/range do you have in your home gas/electric, we both wrote gas and she was satisfied and done with her little test. She asked for our documents to prove bona fide marriage and I produced our most recent bank statement (account I don't use but am on) and all the documents for my 401K, Pension (beneficiary designating my hubby) and documents showing his being added to my healthcare. She kept them for her file and asked if I had our marriage certificate. I showed her the original and she asked if I had a copy as she couldn't find the one I sent in my file. I handed her my copy and she kept that and gave the original back. She asked my hubby some questions about what he did for work back home and he told her he owned a business. She asked what he planned on doing here. He said at this time not to work, she asked "Is that hard?" He answered yes, but that his work back home was dwindling (locally) and that he was on a disability pension for his back (due to a car wreck). She made a comment that he was "moving up" coming here since I make good money. That was a bit rude to us since my hubby would rather work, but there really is no reason for him to go work a 9-5 for little money being miserable when I make more than enough to be comfortable and beyond. We told her we are in contract to buy a house/land and that my husband plan is to work on our home, and land and she seemed satisfied. She had asked some questions about when my hubby proposed, and then seemed to attempt to throw him off asking why did he apply for a B2 when he was planning on marrying me, and not a K1. He came back quick with the answer that he got the B2 before we were engaged or truly planned on marrying.

Ok, so this is a bit jumbled. I am overly excited that after that grilling and hot and cold she said she was approving our application. She said he would get his greencard within 30 days and that we would have to ROC before the expiration or face issues. She kept his I-94 and printed out a paper saying approved which she signed. My hubby then said, "Im hungry" and the IO went on to start telling us nice places to eat locally. She went as far as to ask co-workers were that "good Vietnamese" place is. We said thank you and left. The IO was very hot/cold, went from friendly to somewhat cold.

Anyways, its done. And I have received the notice from USCIS that his greencard is in process. Glad we can breath again, now on to other things...

Goodluck to all those awaiting there interviews..

Congrats.. I am so very happy for you two..

Same thing happened to me. The weeks leading up to my interview i made myself sick with worry(literally) and my husband (USC) was fine. 10 minutes before we got to the USCIS office he was a wreck. When we got called in he looked pale as a ghost and sweating like he was in the desert. You need to stay calm cause like i was told the "burden of proof" is on the Non Citizen. Everything will workout. Best of luck

It must be a girl thing.. My non USC husband was fine until yesterday and I was worried.. It flipped, however we are down to the wire and I have butterflies in my tummy again.. Ugh, will be nice when this is all over.. Thank you.. Hopefully I will have good news soon..

Yes you are. Best of luck. Where is your local office

Thank you

Our local office is Sacramento, CA. My husband (non USC) began getting nervous today. I on the other hand began relaxing as my nerves had me on high the last week!! We shall see tomorrow..

Congrats.. Sounded scary at first but all worked out. I think we are next in line.. Monday!! Ugh