Steph and George

I have a question for anyone who has gone through this process..

Back in January I received a letter in the mail asking me to go get fingerprinted in Brooklyn, which I did and at the time my case status said:

Acceptance

On January 2, 2014, your fingerprint fee was accepted and we have mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. Your case is being processed at our NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER location. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

It is now August, I have done my fingerprinting and have not received anything else from the USCIS but my case status still reads the same message. I called once before but they said they had nothing else they could tell me. I was trying to be patient but now I'm just fed up.

Any one know what this means?

That's where my appointment is for my biometrics. Did I post in the wrong forum? My apologies.

I am going at te end of the month to the Brooklyn service center and my husband won't be able to attend with me. I dont know Brooklyn very well an am going to take a taxi there. My question is; do they have a place to put cell phones like the us consulate?! I I don't want to go to an area ii don't know very well without my phone.

Thanks

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hi everyone,

I mailed out my AOS packet in December right before the holidays, and the guy who was serving me had very poor english. He kept asking if I wanted a signature since it seemed like an important package to which I replied No, just a tracking number. He kept explaining the signature was only a dollar more and I kept saying No it's okay it's going to to a lock box where it will be safe, when I looked at the receipt later I think he may have put the signature required on the package.

Anyway so I checked the mailing status and it says it was delivered on December 27, 2013. I have not received anything from the uscis, and I filled out a receipt notice and included it in the package, I thought mostly due to the holidays, but on here people are saying they've received case numbers and other information in the last few days.

Would it be a problem if they had to sign for it? has this happened to anyone before?

My I-94 expires in the end of January, I am just worried about it all going wrong

Thanks

Hello everyone,

I am just curious whether or not I have to apply for AP? I don't plan to travel anytime soon, and If I do apply, I don't have a date in mind to put on the form?

Just wondering if this is going to affect anything in the future, or is it better to apply for AP in case it takes a while and I have to go home for some reason, or is it based solely on the date I put on the form?

Slightly confused,

Any info is great, thanks!!

You can order TAX TRANSCRIPT online,you'll get it in 5-10 days.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Order-a-Transcript

you've made my day!!!! *giant virtual hug*

second question of the day,

Every doctor i've called wants to charge for the full medical again, but i do have the vaccine list the ds-3025 or whatever it is, but it's not in a sealed envelope? what damage is this going to do? i'm getting really frustrated with this process.i have the original envelope from my doctor and the cd i can seal that envelope lol im going crazy here, please help.

I;m in a bit of a predicament here, and i'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this?

When I went for my original interview in Vancouver, the man doing my interview kept my husbands taxes. both copies. I had made a photo copy and brought the originals and came home with nothing. Now filing my AOS I wanted to include a copy and when I called the taxation department they said its takes 60-90 days to get a copy of his taxes. I asked if they could rush it for any reason and explained the situation, and they said no.

What do i do?

thanks

No, do not include them in that "optional bit." As I said, the co-sponsor fills out their own I-864. The spouse of the co-sponsor fills out I-864A related to the co-sponsor's I-864.

Current income is what counts, so if your spouse has a qualifying job, then that should be good enough. Tax returns are not the only thing used to verify income.

For the lost tax docs, they will need to order their tax information again. In the future, if you need to show originals, also bring a copy so immigration will take a copy, not originals.

Good luck.

AWESOME! thank you! So i should just include his pay stubs and maybe a letter from employer?

I can order the tax documents, they took both my original and copy lol

You've been great, thanks for your time

You don't need a co-sponsor since his income is above $25,000. But, if you want to have one, have the co-sponsor fill out a separate I-864.If the co-sponsor files married filing jointly for taxes, than the spouse of the co-sponsor fills out I-864A.

okay, thanks. I think i need to have them because he only just started his job in october and has not yet filed any taxes for it. All i would have as proof is pay stubs, and I'm not sure that will be enough.

So do i include them in his i-864 form under that optional bit i mentioned above? and do i need their taxes again because the vancouver consulate kept their originals and my copies, what do i do?

thanks again

Hi everyone!

I am trying to fill out all my AOS papers with my husband, and I'm just trying to make sure i do this right. On the Affidavit of support, my husband is obviously my sponsor but just in case he wants his mother to fill out a form as well as co-sponsor like she did for our initial petition. He was unemployed at the time but is now working full time. I'm curious on a few things,

Do we need a co-sponsor is his income is above $25,000?

If I do, when it says on question 7 (OPTIONAL: If you have siblings, parents, or
adult children with the same principal
residence who are combining their income
with yours by submitting Form I-864A, enter
the number here.)

should I be entering 2? his parents file their taxes and such together, so i handed that all in at the interview in Vancouver but they never gave it back, they kept the copies and the originals

thanks for the help

Stephanie and George

When I left Vancouver last time, a few years ago, I actually cleared US customs at the Vancouver Airport. Here is a list of airports that do 'pre clearances', and there is a phone number you can call.

Winnipeg is at the bottom of the Canadian section.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/preclearance/preclear_locations.xml

Thank you so much I called them and they said I pre-clear an go through my connecting flight as a domestic flight Thank goodness !!!

_{I hope you're not flying into O'Hare, LaGuardia , or JFK for your POE. POE is the first place you land in the US and with just a 45 minute layover that seems kinda risky especially considering you have to go through immigration and the lines..... Are you able to make changes to your ticket and maybe take a later flight from there that will for sure give you enough time? Hope everything turns out well in your travels.}

So I don't go through it at customs in canada leaving then?

Okay, okay, okay So i'm reading about people who are going through their POE in between flights? I'm from Winnipeg, and I'm flying out of winnipeg into the states. Do I go through my POE when I leave winnipeg or do I go through it in the states when I land? I've booked my flight and I only have a 45 minute layover.

thanks everyone

Congratulations! I'll be doing the same later this month so thanks for the insight. I have been pretty spaztastic ever since getting the interview date so it's awesome to hear about the experience before hand.I hope you get your visa back right away!

Fingers crossed for ya!

Cheers!

Ya don't worry too much I completely stressed for nothing! My Visa came Yesterday and was only delayed because of thanksgiving. Good luck on your interview! and Thank you

Hello all!!

This morning I finally got my approval for our visa! I'm so happy and excited and I cannot wait to move home to be with my man! Now for any of you who are going through vancouver any time in the next little while, let me tell you how this happened!!

First, the medical with Dr. Cheema was a very pleasant appointment, and probably the most comfortable dr's appointment I've ever had. I'm no skinny mini (though not obese) so i get told to lose a little bit 90% of the time. Dr. Cheema, on the other hand, told me i was strong and healthy and had nothing to worry about. His nurse weighed me and checked my height, he took my blood pressure, checked my throat, asked me a bunch of personal questions (drugs history, medical history, std check and all that fun stuff), then he has to check the girly bits but don't be afraid, he brought in his nurse and its just the upper outer pelvic area, its not a full on gyno-related check.

Then i was sent down the street to get my blood taken and xray done. I went upstairs first and got the blood work done which is a single vile and then downstairs to get the xray. they were very quick and efficient and i was out of there in 15 minutes (i messed up the first xray with a sneeze that made my innards fuzzy lmao!!)

For your medical make sure you bring your letter with the VAC number on it, your pictures, and vaccinations, you also need your health card (from whichever province you're from).

Now for the interview.

I was freaking out, literally, and I got there REALLY early despite my appointment being at 10. big mistake. They now longer allow you to wait in line that long, so you get sent away and are asked to come back 15-20 minutes ahead of your scheduled appointment. Do not arrive an hour and a half early or you will be sitting your butt in the starbucks like i did!

So once in line they send you through security, and confiscate any and all electronic items and then send you up stairs to go through a metal detector. Do not being birthday cards that sing, they will make you gut them, my hoops and yoyo card is no longer a singing card. i had to rip out the voice box to be permitted into the building, and go through security a second time.

After that they send you up to the 20th floor and over to window B, you flip a switch and a short time later they come with a piece of paper and ask you to take out your documents in order (passport, pictures, ds-156 x2, ds-156k, police certificates, marriage and divorce certs, ds-230 and medical) and they give you a number and send you back to the waiting room.

when your number is called you head over to the window and the person there makes you sit down as they go over your file, and then call you up by name. When you finally get up there, it's not so scary.

they take your fingerprints and then start in on the questioning;

How did you meet your fiance?

How often do you see eachother?

what do you do for a living?

what does he do for a living?

Where does he live?

Do your parents like him?"

Does his parents like you?

Congratulations, I've approved this visa, please sign the oath stating everything you have written and said today is true and correct. Go back to window B

She explains about loomis and sends you on your way with another hearty congrats!

Good luck everyone!

Hope this helps some of you who are freaking out like i was!!

How bout DS157 ?

Where did it ever say I needed that? It's not on my checklist?! What is it for?

Hello all, this will be my last post as an applicant, in 15 hours I will be CONFIDENTLY (not), walking through the doors of the vancouver consulate and hopefully being told the news we have all been wanting desperately to hear "Your application has been approved".

so basically I'm sitting here looking at a pile of paper and freaking the ####### out.

I have in 3 seperate folders;

1) forms needed including; affidavit of support, co sponsor affidavit, deposit history, tax transcripts, birth certificates, and letters of employment. ds 156, ds 156 K, ds 230, passport, photos, medical package, letters of intent.

2) proof of relationship including; letters, emails, cards, chat records (skype, facebook), ring receipt, pictures, wedding plans, itineraries and other flight documents, ticket stubs from plays and movies we've seen.

3) original package i-129f sent to texas lockbox back in january.

I also have all the letters we have received from nvc, embassy, uscis.

Do I have enough? am i missing anything?

You guys have been amazing, will post the outcome tomorrow

I have the same question because my fiancé is a bit nervous about me taking her original birth certificate and other docs. They surely won't keep our original birth certificates will they? Or should I take the original AND copies to the interview so they can keep the copies but still see the original?

I'm bringing copies because my fiances birth certificate is his original from 84' lol. he's kept it this long i would hate to lose it

I am tired of reading hundreds or even thousands of old yahoo...FB...MSN...Whatsapp chat logs from when I first started talking to my fiancee in 2010/2011. If I were to print alllllll those chat logs to choose which ones to send in from 2010 to present, I'd kill about 10 trees....its just too much and I am overwhelmed as to what I should do. I want to send a couple pages each year to span through out those years to show progression of our relationship but I cant take reading all that anymore....Im even at a state of crying Im so freakin overwhelmed with all this...I want everything to be perfect...I dont want any RFE and I want it to go smoothly....Im sorry I just needed to vent but also still at a loss as how much is too much bc Im becoming OCD about this...HELP!!!!

Honestly, not knowing myself how much to take, I highlighted the whole conversation, took it down to 7 point and put it in 4 columns across the page and printed double sided. it ended up being a lot less paper and now I have everything and I highlighted the times we started talking and some inbetween till now. My interview is on wednesday I keep fighting back and forth in my head "am I bringing too much? or am I bringing too little" the big answer is, you never know. It depends on each interviewer from what I have read so far.

Relax, do what you feel is necessary, but it's always better to have too much than too little, you don't have to submit it all, just what they ask for.

Good luck!

Good morning everyone!

I'm getting ready to take my trip to vancouver for my interview in just a few days and i'm just finishing up what I need to bring with me. I have more paperwork and proof than i thought lol, my question is: what does the officer keep?

I know he/she will obviously keep the required i-134, ds-156/156k...etc but do they keep my fiances tax records/transcripts, or bank receipts? I know it can all be replaced, it's just all stuff that he keeps on file and I want to know if i should make copies?

Thanks everyone!

I am so happy for all the January filers that have been approved.

I'd like to ask for some advice on what to do at this point.Next week it will be 2 months since my RFE was sent. I still have not reveived it. I don't understand what is going on.

I have an info pass on the 3rd (a day after the date they told me to wait) . Can anyone tell me if I have any hope of receiving a hard copy there ?

We have started considering just getting married and starting a whole new process

I cannot believe it took that long jsut to get you an RFE! Glad it was easy to take care of, good luck in the rest of your process!

Don't worry mine stayed there for a day before heading to the consulate. You're almost there! Congrats on the approval!!!

Will this senate strike/ shutdown of the government stop the processing of our visas? My interview is on Wednesday the 9th and now im so scared i won't get a chance to go to it. Does anyone know whats going to happen?

Hello everyone,

For the proof of ongoing relationship i'm currently trying to extract my skype records, and I'm curious;

do i need all my history or talking to him at this stage or just since we've applied? I have over 300 pages of skype records and i'm not sure exactly how to whittle it all down and if i only have to start from december that would make it muuuuuch easier lmao

same with phone records, i have from 2010 till now and i don't know how much to bring!

Thanks everyone!