cassecouilles

Thanks for the tips so far! I am hoping that my having worked for the US department of State in Belgium will help some... I DO have american supervisors that can give me references. So far I've signed up with indeed.com, Linkedin and Careerbuilder.com

The only thing with temp agencies is that I would have to sign my son up for daycare, and I'd have to pay for it even when I'm in between jobs. Daycare here in San Diego county is insanely expensive... or at least it seems that way to me :-)

What to answer to that dreaded how much did you earn at your previous job and how much would you like to make now? I made a pretty decent living in Belgium, but I know you can't compare salaries from different countries.

I got my employment authorization card in the mail two days ago. I was so happy I cried. I've always worked, even after having my little boy. I had my car, a busy life outside of work, friends, etc... And then I moved to Oceanside, California with my husband and got stuck at home with a toddler and no car, every day, all day. To say that I am going crazy is the understatement of the century :-p But now I can finally start looking for jobs! I had earlier too, but quit because it was discouraging to hear companies tell me to get back to them when I was actually legally allowed to work.

So, now for the big question: have any of you guys looked for jobs through employment agencies? I signed up yesterday, and it was gratifying to have them get back to me almost right away, saying they had positions that might fit me. I have been looking for jobs on Linkedin as well. I feel like a total wuss, but the whole process of looking for a job again, starting fresh, is a bit intimidating for me :-) Thrilling, but scary at the same time.

Also, everyone mentions networking on Linkedin... any tips? I have joined a few local groups and follow a couple of companies that really interest me... aside from that I am clueless :-)

Hi guys!

Not sure if this is the right forum for this but I have a quick question. I entered the US on a K1 visa in May, got married 4 days later and filed for AOS before the end of May. Since then we've moved, which messed the whole thing up and added several weeks to the process (we had to change our biometrics appointment twice because they kept making the appointment in Michigan whereas we'd moved to California. The thing is, my K1 stamp on my passport is only valid until the 8th of August. Once we're past that, I will be out of status right?? Is there anything that I need to do? My husband would like to fly over to Arizona to visit his family in two weeks, would I be ok to travel like this or would I get in trouble at the airport? I mean, it's not that I'm trick the system or anything, we've done everything by the book so far. I actually finally have my biometrics appointment this Friday. What do you guys think? Thanks!

Kimberly

Hi guys,

Quick question. I entered the US on a K1 May 14th. We got married on May 19th. We are now getting ready to file for AOS. Do I need to file for a I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) as well, or will I be allowed to work anyway as soon as they approve the petition? And how long can that take? I want to be able to work asap.

Also, do I need to worry about the I-693 or report of medical examination and vaccination record since I had a medical done in Belgium less than two months ago? If I do have to worry about it, what exactly is a civil surgeon? :-p

I realize all this has probably already been answered somewhere on this website, but am a bit on a time constraint as we're only able to access the internet every once in a while, and for limited time slots only. Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate it!

Also, quick extra one, am I allowed to have a drivers license on a K1? I do have a social security number...

Cheers!

Hi guys,

Quick qu estion. I moved to the US on May 14th, got married on May 19th and applied for a SSN yesterday. There, they told me that I wasn't eligible for a SSN until I did my adjustment of status. Now, I know that K1 holders are eligible for a SSN, and since I didn't plan on taking my husband's name I figured it didn't matter whether or not I applied before or after the wedding. Guess I was wrong? What should I do next??? Thanks!!!

Wow guys thanks for all the wonderful tips. We had initially planned to just marry in the courthouse, but my fiance got a pretty good deal on The Little Wedding Chapel in Taylor. We're getting married at The Church by the Lake (http://www.thelittleweddingchapel.com/locations_lakefront.php)

The good thing about this is that this little church can easily accommodate 150 people.. and his mom's circle of friends is VAST :-p It's absolutely beautiful, the wedding planner herself is really nice, and it makes me feel less silly about my wedding dress. Mom went a bit over the top with that and it's a really nice dress, I'd have felt silly wearing it in a mass ceremony at the courthouse.

We're still looking for a hall to rent. We had thought to have a BBQ, but I guess you can't be completely sure of the weather in the middle of May so we'd rather play it safe. If we find a nice rental hall to accommodate 70-something people and hopefully a dance floor, we're good to go. His mom said she'd cook (no idea how she'll manage for that many people but she says it's a mexican thing) so we're saving tons of money on that too. A caterer is really expensive.

I'm just happy my fiance has taken an active interest in the planning of it. Initially he hadn't, not at all, and though I didn't want to come right out and say it, that was hurting my feelings. It was making me feel like he couldn't care less about the marriage, our marriage. In the mids of trying to plan my departure from Belgium and feeling sad for leaving my family that was not a good feeling. Now suddenly he has taken an interest, and it's so much more fun to plan this together :-)

Your wedding did sound lovely :-) I was looking at venues and since, to me, something on the waterfront seemed amazing I start doing research for something along those lines. Boy, some places (not even the most fancy ones) charge up to 1200 USD... just for the ceremony :-) That doesn't include the reception, wedding cake ( I hadn't even thought about the wedding cake until it was mentioned that they provided someone to cut it for you :-p), food, drinks,... I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all to be honest. Now I understand why some people claim they need months and months to organize a wedding!

I guess I'd like to do something along the lines of what you had. Something fun, original, small and lovely :-) I don't mind if it's a casual affair as long as I get to wear the wedding dress my mom got me and and my fiance wears either his uniform or a suit (if I let him pick I just know he'll show up in shorts and flip flops :-p)

I don't even know where I'll get my make up done or my hair because I don't know any good places in the Detroit area and if I have to do it myself I'll slather so much mascara on my wimpers they'll get stuck together as soon as I dare blink :-D I know that is the least of my worries but in times of stress I start nitpicking at everything :-p

Wow, EminTX, I had no idea thanks for the tips! My fiance just told me to go ahead and plan a wedding ceremony and reception for the weekend of May 18. He wants to have no part in organizing it but will deign to show up, seeing as he's the groom :-p

This is complicated stuff. In the US you can get married just about anywhere? In the city hall, town hall, church, on the beach, by a notary... it's insane. In Belgium you first have to get married legally in the cityhall and afterwards if you want to do the religious thing you can get married in a church. So now I'm frantically searching the internet for an affordable wedding venue on really short notice and in a city I know nothing about :-p

I don't suppose any of you guys have any ideas for the Detroit area? :-p

Hahahaha!

I am guilty of this. Oh but not the biting! in fact, it's the opposite... Nuninuninoooo

I always remind my husband to clip his nails. Even set the nail clipper on the sink before he goes to shower.

Oddest thing I've seen my USC spouse do... Grind his teeth while he sleeps. And running away when a roach happens to skedaddle across the floor (right before I slap a wad of paper on it like a boss!)

Like a boss!! Haha. The one thing that I find funny about my fiance is that he persists in wearing what I term the "typical american jeans", baggy and loose. They make it seem like his butt is a lot lower than it actually is, and way BIGGER. No offense to american jeans. It could also just be his total unapologetic lack of fashion sense. In the beginning it horrified me. I remember one day we were going out exploring downtown and he arrived at my apartment wearing really classic (something my grandfather would wear) beige shorts, a tucked in blue polo shirt, "old man" sandals and... wait for it... black socks! The horror :-p I think I spent the first month of our relationship sneaking up behind him, untucking his shirts. Now I just look at him, shrug, smile and think to myself: "God I love this man".

You will not have any of those things.

The only thing you will have to provide is your passport.

I just looked and you need to read in the "Foreign person" section. It says you need to show one of these things:

FOREIGN BORN (All Documents MUST be originals)

Valid Passport, in English or with certified and notarized English translation. Passport must have full date of birth (day, month and year).

Certified birth certificate, in English or with certified and notarized English translation. Certificate must contain full date of birth (day, month and year)

Valid I-94card attached to your passport. For person with refugee status, you must have the letter from your spouse that brought you into the U.S.

Valid Resident Alien Card / Valid Green Card.

Valid Work Authorization Card.

U.S. Naturalization Papers or Valid U.S. Passport, signed by holder.

Canadian citizens ONLY may use card sized birth certificates.

http://www.co.wayne.mi.us/clerk_srvcs_marriagelic.htm

Basically you will show your passport. The site says non-residents can get married there as long as they get the license and do the marriage in that county. You do not need a SSN to get married either, if you don't have one.

Thanks! For some reason I misread it and thought you needed ALL those things

Ok guys,

My fiance and I are getting married in Detroit before moving down to San Diego, Cali. I was looking at the Wayne County website for some info about how it works and to see if I could maybe get an idea of when we'd be able to get married. My mom wants to attend and the sooner she can book a ticket the less expensive it will be.

I was reading the requierements and boy I think this might be more complicated than I thought :-p

1: Every person must present a valid drivers license or valid State Identification as proof of residency.

-> I'm not sure, will I have this State Identification right away? Rudy and I are looking to get married within our first week in Detroit.

2: Valid Work Authorization Card.

-> Will I have this at that point?

3: Valid Resident Alien Card / Valid Green Card.

-> Is this that all important stamp that you get at your POE?

They're just little things, I was just a bit nonplussed as I was reading them. What is your experience? Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the tips everyone! Actually, we went to plently of stores but I guess I wasn't in Detroit for long enough to actually get a feel of the whole city and figure out all the different brands and everything. For me, even just the fact that I don't know all the names in English gets confusing, if on top of that the brands I'm used to aren't sold in the states, or they stack it in a different product aisle than they do in Belgium I'm completely lost. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it once I get settled in. It might be little, but just being able to make your own "comfort food" that you're used to and have it taste the same as always can be pretty awesome when you're feeling a bit homesick :-)

I can understand the ketchup thing I guess, I tend to put mayonaise on everything. French fries, sandwiches, chicken, ... I guess mayo is our ketchup here in Belgium :-p

It was disgusting Even the raccoon who always rooted around in his trash wouldn't have it :-p I don't know in Belgium we have these little bottles of "creme fraiche" or cream that we can use and just add seasoning as you see fit. When I make that sauce I usually use that cream, salt, pepper, white wine, chicken stock (I think that's how you say it)and oregano. Among other stuff. It doesn't taste right with Alfredo. You can also use that same cream for desserts. Some people use it in soup.

Rudy eats everything with ketchup. I even saw him eat smoked salmon with it once. He also drinks milk with every mail. I think the worst thing I've ever seen him do though was dip a french fry in vanilla ice cream. The horror

Hi guys,

I have a Food question :-p My fiance loves the italian pasta dishes I make. Last time we traveled to Detroit I couldn't find all the ingredients I am used to and when I tried to make my usual Shrimp and Mushroom pasta it was so bad I was embarrassed. He still ate it, and raved about it to my dad on skype (I loved him for that) but considering how much ketchup he dumped on it I wasn't fooled :-p

When you guys make a pasta dish with a white cream sauce, what do you use to make the sauce? I asked around in the grocery store but everyone was just: oh, you mean Alfredo sauce? I don't think that's it because that has a cheese taste to it, right?

Also, what do you guys use for Passata or tomato puree? Me, and my fiance's stomach, would be grateful for any tips you'd like to share

Hi Cassecouilles!

I've been to San Diego and that is around 3 hours away from Encino. Nice place! However feel free to message me and, if you wish, we can speak via phone!

When are you leaving Belgium?

Redflame

Thanks! I should be leaving Belgium on the 15th of May... dang it's getting close. I haven't even begun to give away/ sell stuff or do anything to plan my move except for stressing about finding a job once there :-p It just seems so weird that I'll arrive there with literally only the clothes on my back and what little savings I have left.

Great idea! And really good tips. I will be in the San Diego area, that's a good two hours away I think? To me that seems far because in Belgium if you drive for two hours in any given direction you're no longer in Belgium :-p But I guess in the US distance is measured differently.

If his father is a US Citizen, then the child born of him do not need to wait for a visa.....they are immediately eligible for CRBA at the Embassy and receive his US Passport. Do this if it applies and send him to CA now.

She probably doesn't want to leave her son behind, neither would I. I say try it. They approved our request to expedite and we had much less pressing reasons (just financial ones). You don't have anything to lose and you won't know unless you try.

Hi Guys,

I just made an appointment for the medical exam. I haven't received my NOA2 yet but I'm optimistically expecting it soon. Since I have a large workshop coming up at work I wanted to be sure I could fit it in. Hopefully they is okay and they won't say anything about me maybe having done the medical BEFORE I got my embassy packet.

Also.... daaaaaang but 115 EUR, give or take a few depending of what vaccinations you need? If I hadn't been sitting I'd have toppled over :-p

Anyway, what I was wondering is this: what happens if they find something? I mean, what would it take for them to hold you back from traveling? As far as I know I am in complete health, but I do have a rather severe case of psoriasis on my hands, probably brought on by stress. You guys don't think that'd work against me, right?

Just want to get reassured I guess :-)Thanks!

And here I was happy that they had agreed to expedite our case and promised a reply within 7 to 10 days. I guess it doesn't mean all that much, huh? I'll sure be glad when this process is over, it's annoying not being able to plan anything at all :-)

I was looking into that too, but unfortunately it seems like most of the postings of online positions are scams :-s

When did you file? and what sc?

We filed on Oct 1st and our petition was sent to CSC. The reasons we cited are financial hardship. I have to give two months' notice at work, they're NOT understanding about this process and I have to be gone by the 15th of May, period. Same goes with daycare. Around the 15th of May I'll be out of a job and without daycare for our little boy. I realise that to most of you these might not seem like pressing reasons, but being without an income until god knows when CSC would have gotten around to approving our petition would have had devasting consequences for me. I can't move in with anybody in the meantime either. Also my fiance is military and shortly after we arrived in Detroit were supposed to move to Cali for his last year but as long as we're not married he cannot request housing for us so we'd have to go to the expense of moving everything twice.

Am I the only who thinks it's meanspirited to let the person go without any reassurance at all? Even if it's just to say, we will let you know asap, we might need more information or even just to give an outright refusal. That would seem so much better to me than to be left to wonder.

My fiance put in a service request to have our case expedited and we received an e-mail the same evening saying that our request had been approved. They also said we would hear about their decision (NOA2, RFE, etc.) within 7 to 10 days.

Under your circumstances, you should have filed the I-129F petition earlier because, even if you had received a much earlier approval than expected, you could have delayed your Embassy interview and your visa issuance by having the Embassy revalidate your USCIS-approved I-129F petition for another four months. The Embassy routinely revalidates petitions every four months for up to a year. To revalidate the petition, the petitioner simply emails the Embassy and asks them to do so. Then, when the timing was right, you could have set your Embassy interview appointment on a convenient date without having to worry about whether your visa would expire before you were ready to move.

See, that's the kind of stuff i wish they HAD told me at the embassy, or that I'd read on this website before filing

I got my NOA1 on the 25th October. Have we been hearing of any NOA2s for early October yet? I'm with Vermont Service Centre.

We haven't heard anything yet either, NOA1 date is October 2nd. I just wished we had filed sooner. We waited till October because we had a pretty important timing issue and my fiance was deployed abroad and could not return to the US before May. We could also not risk my visa expiring before we could actually get married (legally he can't yet, he's married to the marine corps). So, when I called the consular section and asked when I should apply they said: oh, it takes about 4 months, apply in October and that should give you plenty of time. Yeah right :-p

I will sheepishly admit this: my fiance called today to put in request to have it expedited. They wrote down his reasons for it and said they would contact us within the next five days to let us know whether the expedite request would be accepted. I really hope it does, yet at the same time realize there are others out there also waiting their turn. For me, the main reason is that my boss needs a 2 month notice, and he already told me today that he had found me a replacement and strongly hinted that I wasn't exactly welcome anymore after the end of April. Same with daycare for our one year old son. Under those circumstances it would be incredibly hard to stay after that if I lose my income. Also, as long as we're not married my fiance cannot request housing for us, so we'd lose a lot of money having to move twice, once for him from his home to the base where he'll be stationed, and then again for me to that same base. We don't know if any of those reasons will be sufficient to have our petition expedited, will be sure to let you guys know!