Starflyer 59

I hope it comes soon!

Thank you. And congratulations on yours!

Wow, 195 days for our k-1 petition also. Not gonna happen for our AOS though.

As others have said, don't put too much stock in the online status system. My wife filed in January and our case still doesn't even show up on the USCIS site. I know it's proceeding though because the biometrics came to pass, and she received EAD/AP back in March. We'll just continue waiting.

1) Early morning at Alona Beach, Bohol, Philippines:

2) Atop the Taoist Temple, Cebu, Philippines:

I filed my wife's AOS petition on 01/28/2013 and 6 months later the case is still not available online.

We are in the same boat. My wife is a January filer and her case is still not found online. I know that everything is in order because of the biometrics, receipt of the EAD/AP card, etc... We will probably be waiting a while longer for an interview-waived approval though.

"I clearly asked for a large de-caf mocha frappuccino! Hellooooooo!"

"This would never have happened if we could just bathe in our tub like NORMAL PEOPLE do!"

Hi Starflyer 59! Sorry you are still waiting, but at least we're not alone in this. Crazy how long even this process takes for some. At least we don't have to wait separated this time.

Exactly! The wait together is much more bearable than the wait for the initial visa was. It hasn't seemed like more than 5 months has already gone by since we applied for AOS. Good luck to you all.

Hello all... Just found this thread. We're also in the eternally waiting stack....

Hi Tigerflower, we are right there with you in the "waived interview" endless pile. Looks like our timelines are still very similar, ever since back in the March filer days. Our spouses will probably get their GC right about the same time as well. :-) Hope you all are doing well.

As Stevephoto mentioned, 1040 is a good idea. As an alternative, you can send a pay stub from your work if it shows "single" as the tax filing status. That's what I sent my fiancee (now wife) because I wanted to send something that didn't have my SSN on it. The CFO office in Cebu accepted it. If you do use the 1040, I would redact the SSN.

I called SSA yesterday afternoon and got the exact reply that I anticipated. They said, "Well, everything looks fine on our end." She suggested that I call the embassy, which makes no sense to me because they shouldn't have anything to do with how SSA and IRS communicate with each other. I can picture myself calling the embassy, fighting phone menus, waiting on hold, finally getting an operator, explaining our situation, and then a blank pause followed by, "Well, there's nothing I can do about it." Haha.

The good news is that while I was speaking with the IRS office about our refund the lady just asked me to verify my wife's social, and then said she would go ahead and process my return. So maybe that is enough to get the SSN into "their" system (whatever that may be) and hopefully we will not have this hang-up next year.

LSnBigBear, about the utilities - I agree. I think that some of the companies that service my area are using some severely outdated lists.

Thanks for your all's responses.

I think I'll call SSA, but I have a feeling they will just confirm to me that it is a valid number, since it has already been accepted some places.

I filed a paper return this year.

Hi all,

My wife came here on a K-1 visa in November 2012 and received her SSN card within two weeks of her arrival. We were married in December and then had her name changed on the SSN card. We had no problem adding her to my bank accounts with this SSN shortly thereafter. At about the four month mark of her having this SSN, I tried to add her to many of my utility bills (for AOS evidence purposes) and the number was kicked back as invalid. I was aware that some places use the outdated lists or verification systems, so I didn't worry too much about it.

Fast forwad to today: I have been waiting over 13 weeks for my state income tax refund so I decided to call the IRS to see what the hold-up is. They told me that my submission is on hold because my wife's SSN can not be verified! Now I'm getting a bit concerned. It's been six months since she was issued this number and the IRS still cannot verify it.

For what it's worth, I received the Federal tax refund quite promptly and it was filed jointly with her SSN just as the state was.

I understand that it takes some time to get into "the system", but this seems ridiculous.

Anyone else have this happen? What gives?

Hi Starflyer59, at least your wife got her EAD/AP, I got nothing and heard nothing since my biometrics in feb 4th.

Ah, I see. Sorry to hear that. Keep us posted if you do call USCIS. I always dread the thought of trying to get anywhere on the phone with them.

Hi guys, just discovered the group.

Nice job!

I'm a january 2013 AOS filer too. it has been 7 weeks since I had my biometrics, but heard nothing about it, my case number is not even available in USCIS website since I received my NOA1. I wonder if someone is in the same situation?

My wife and I are in the same situation. She had her biometrics Feb 21, got the EAD/AP card almost a week ago, but still no word of an interview. Case status does not show up on the USCIS site. We are beginning to think that we may not be getting an interview and might have to wait a bit longer than those that do.

Is there anyone around here that does not see their numbers in the system?

Add me to that list. I can't see any of my three cases online. My wife had her biometrics taken over two weeks ago.

It took out nearly 3 weeks to get an update

Ah, thanks for the info Mr. Smiley. Hopefully they will input our case into the USCIS online system soon - otherwise we may get an interview letter without ever being acknowledged by their website. Haha. I've heard of that happening before.

We filed in late January and my wife had her biometrics taken two weeks ago - yet our three case numbers still turn up nothing on the USCIS site.

That's good news about the 8 hour layover. At least she can take her time and not be stressed out during all the wickets one has to go through in that airport.

I booked my flight through Orbitz, but didn't use the internet. I called them to speak to a representative because I was buying a one way ticket for me and then two return one way tickets for me and my fiancee. I did get to go through my favorite route (Korea) on the way there, but for the two return tickets to come back that way it was going to be four times the price as the China path!?!? So I gave in when the rep suggested going through China.

She'll do just fine. Best of luck to you all.

Very true, Hank! Very true!

My wife (at the time fiancee) and I just recently took these exact return flights (Philippine Airlines to Shanghai - American Airlines to Chicago) and here was our experience:

In China, they DID force us to claim all of our bags on arrival and then re-check them at the American Airlines desk. I don't know what the luggage tag said for that first leg of the trip, but I do remember that after re-checking the bags the American Airlines agent gave us new tags with the final destination on them (I remember her asking me to confirm our final destination before she applied the tags).

We were surprised by this because, as the posters above stated, they don't usually make you do this for a simple layover. But China (and/or Philippine Airlines) sure did it to us. I don't know why because I've switched airlines internationally several times before, with several different combinations of airlines, and have never had to do this.

It was kind of a hassle because you arrive/claim bags on the gound floor and have to go up to the second floor to check-in/depart, so we had to fight to push our baggage cart into one of only two elevators they had, and it was very crowded in that area as everybody was attempting to do the exact same thing.

Also, at the Shanghai airport, you have to go through immigration to arrive, and again to depart - even just for a connecting flight. Be sure to have the arrival/departure cards filled out, even though the answer to most of the questions on the arrival card will be "none" or "N/A" for someone who is just connecting. They won't let you pass to your connection without filling them out. I found that out the hard way by only filling out a departure card at first, thinking they wouldn't require the arrival card from someone that was just passing through - I was wrong and had to step to the side at the booth to complete it. [On the arrival card for the question "At what address will you be staying in China?" I was tempted to put "Gate D19" Hahaha!]

It took us every bit of our three hour layover to do all of this and when we finally approached the gate of the American flight it was already boarding.

It's not my intention to scare or worry you, I just want to let you know what happened to us back in November. Mentally, be ready for this. If I had known to expect all of that, it would have been a lot easier to figure out what I needed to do, where I needed to go next, etc...

Good luck to you!

[side note: After that last trip, we decided that next time we would go through Incheon airport in Korea again. It's way smoother! You can get to the gate of your connecting flight in about 20 minutes there - no baggage claim - no immigration lines - just a security checkpoint that has always moved quickly in the previous three times I've been through there. The only reason we went through China last time was because the price was much cheaper].

This sounds delicious and I'm going to have to try it! I found a recipe for it online which sounds super easy. It appears we also have all the ingredients it calls for except for the pork. The USC husband seems slightly dubious about the recipe but we'll see. We already do a chicken adobo that we both enjoy so maybe he'll come around! I'll report back if and when we end up doing it.

Awesome, I hope you all like it! The brown sugar and bay leaf combination makes a sauce like no other! Mmmm. :-)

Lots of great suggestions so far! One of my personal favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet (unless I just missed it) is humba. I fell in love with it the first time I went to the phils, and when my wife (at that time fiancee) told me she knew how to make it, I was ecstatic. She makes it pretty regularly.

We mailed our packet yesterday, so hopefully we'll get the receipt notification soon. It sure is nice to have that bunch of paperwork finished. Good luck to all of you!