Ariel & Claus

Hi y'all

So I just made it into the US for the first time as a LPR (with my CR-1) and is reunited with my wife after 9 months of living apart. Awesome!

Now - some practical issues arise.

What do I do while I wait for my Green Card and my Social Security Card? Like how do I apply for a driver's license, get auto-insurance, how do I sign up for a phone subscription, how do I sign up for a bank account? Is the only way just to wait for those cards to arrive or can I do any of these things before that? I was warned that it's gonna take 90-180 days before I receive my GC and my SSC..

Hope you can help out.

Thanks, Claus

Hi fellow Dane. Replying in English so others can read it as well.

When I got my NOA2 via e-mail I went straight ahead and paid the fees for the next steps online (Me = Visa application, My wife = Affidavit of Support). I then started to wait for them to instruct me on what to do next in the mail. I never got any instructions so after a month I called them and apparently they were waiting for us to send in the visa application and the AOS. So they told me that in the online payment system, once the payment is approved after a could of days, there will be a link to the cover sheets and to where you can find the application forms online. I didn't realise this so I wasted a month waiting in vain to hear from them.

I JUST had my embassy interview so I recently went through all of the steps after the NOA2 so feel free to contact me about anything you need help with.

Claus

Thanks y'all. I think I'm gonna take my chances in the probably shorter USC/LPR line. I have a 7 hour layover so I should have time for f***in' up a couple of times.

Hi.

It seems there are a bunch of forum topics about this but I can't find a clear answer so I will try with this post.

I just got my CR-1 visa in the mail (the added page in my passport and the mysterious "do not open" envelope) and will be arriving in the US, specifically Sea-Tac on June 1 2013. My question is: On this FIRST arrival which line should I go in at the port of entry? The visitors line or the line for citizens/residents? On the one hand I'm technically not a resident yet, just a CR-1 visa holder, but on the other hand I am not just a visitor either. So are there any official guidelines on what to specifically do this FIRST entry after you get the visa?

After my first entry I will hopefully get that stamp - I forget the code for it - and fairly soon after I will hopefully get my GC in the mail. So obviously after this I will go in the line for permanent residents, but my question is concerning that very first time.

Hope you can help.

Thanks.

That's a good idea! Thanks.

I'm reading on the Oregon DMV website about the drive test. It says they want proof of insurance before I can take the drive test. It's like a catch 22. "Get driver's license to get cheap insurance. Get insurance to get driver's license." Haha. Do you have any experience with this?

Hi.

I have a few contacts back in Denmark that would still like to use my services as a programmer/datamanager so they plan to pay me by the hour or per job completed. I assume I will have to register a small business somehow and do business tax returns etc. I know a little bit about this in Denmark but nothing about the US laws and procedures. Is there any place that's good to go for learning more about this? Anyone have experience with anything like this?

Kind regards, Claus

Thanks everyone for your answers! Will definitely get the driver's license taken care of first!

I dont know if this is the right place to post this.

I have my consulate interview tomorrow and hopefully everything will work out fine. I then plan to arrive in the US on June 1 and one of the first things I plan to do is to buy a car. Is there anything I need to know?

I know my Danish driver's licence makes it legal for me to drive a car in the US - but do I need to get a US driver's licence before I can buy one? How about insurance? Etc.

So I guess my question is: Where do I start if I want to buy a car?

Ps. It's of course always an option just buying it in my wife's name, but I wanna be all manly and get it in my name. Hehe. :-)

Thanks a lot for your responses.

On May 8 I have my interview and if all goes to plan I will enter the US on June 2 with my VISA in my passport and the packet the embassy will give me to bring. I am a musician and have a lot of summer shows back in Denmark though so I was planning to leave the US on June 20 already (18 days after my first arrival), come back to the US in mid July, leave the US again in early August and come back to the US FOR GOOD in September. But then it struck me - will this be a problem? Will the US authorities have a problem with me travelling back and forth so much right after I get my VISA?

Help please!

On the G-325A there is a question "This form is submitted in connection with an application for". My wife and I are filing a I-130 to apply for residency for me.

I found on this other site (link here) that my wife (the petitioner) should check "Other (Specify)" and write "In support of spouse's I-130" and that I (the beneficiary) should check "Status as permanent resident".

I wanna ask VJ though: What do you think of this advice?

I have another question too: Since our marriage is less than two years old it will automatically be a CR-1 (conditional residency) I will get. This means that it's actually not application for "Status as permanent resident" I'm filing the G-325A in connection with, but application for "Status as conditional resident". What do you think? What should I (the beneficiary) check in this case?

Thanks!

Hi.

Can the US citizen (who is the one filing the I-130 petition) move during the process? The I-130 asks for an address of the petitioner but what if he/she moves between NOA1 and NOA2 for instance?

If that is possible, how does one go about doing that, in terms of letting the USCIS know and hopefully not slow down the process doing so?

Hope you can help

Thank you everybody. We are now on the right track and we will be applying for the CR-1 only.

Thanks Andrea and Henry, I think this other topic is answering our questions: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/369751-k3-visa/

To quote a user on this topic:

"I'm sorry but this is very misleading.

The K-3 exists only on paper. Not in reality. It was made for a time when the CR-1 process took years to complete. Recent processing times for CR-1 visas have made the K-3 worthless as the I-129f and I-130 are processed at roughly the same time.

OP: If you applied for a K-3, there would also be an I-130 in your petition package. What will happen is that the I-130 petition (CR-1) and I-129f (K-3) are approved at the same time. Since CR-1 is a superior visa to the K-3, the K-3 will be administratively closed by NVC, and your case will be handled as CR-1. You won't have to do anything but wait for both petitions to be approved at the same, and the K-3 automatically be administratively closed."

On another note, I don't know why they don't just throw the whole k3 out if it doesn't exist!

K3 doesnt exist anymore.

If the K3 doesn't exist anymore I don't understand why I can find up-to-date timelines on it, guides to applying for them, etc here on visajourney? uscis.gov still has a page for it here and so does travel.state.gov here.

On travel.state.gov there is this notice:

"Effective February 1st, 2010, when both petitions have been approved by USCIS and sent to the NVC or when USCIS approves the I-130 before the I-129F, the availability of, as well as the need for, a nonimmigrant K-3 visa ends. If the NVC receives both an approved I-130 petition and an approved I-129F petition."

The way I understand this, the end of the K3 is only when I-130 is approved before or the same time as I-129F. What about the cases where the I-129F is approved before the I-130?

Can someone please confirm whether the K3 still excists or not and maybe link to some official statement about this?

I've tried to find the best answer to this on the forums but either the threads are old or people's priorities are different than ours. Therefore I will ask it myself:

The main priority is speed. We want the time from we file the I-130 petition till I (the non US-citizen) can enter the US legally the shortest possible. The speed at which I will obtain a permission to work is secondary and the cost of the application process is irrelevant.

So with these priorities: K3 or CR-1? (the marriage is younger than two years)

Another way to ask: With the priorities above (speed!), should we (a) just file the I-130 and let that play out or should we file the I-129F when we get the I-130 NOA1?

Thank you!

What other forms have you filled out? Was it for immigration?

Anyways, you can see this thread too http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/330833-i-130-21-last-address-at-which-you-lived-together/

I'm not sure. It might have been for a Danish form when we were considering settling down here. I just remember this is something I've wondered a couple of times. We have a name sign on the door with both our names. My wife has received mail here. All of her things are here. We were intending to live here after her Danish residency would have been approved. In other words she really did LIVE here. I'm just wondering if she in the eyes of the USCIS didn't officially live here cause she wasn't a resident, but only a tourist. She still maintained a mailing address in the US at her parents house.

Another way of putting the question is: If I put down a danish address as the last place we've lived together and it's for a period of 6 months will the USCIS be like "How were they doing that? Was she a resident in Denmark?"

Would you guys advise for "We have not yet lived together" or putting down the Danish address for those 6 months?

Hi.

My wife (American) and I (Danish) are about to begin the process of getting me to the states. First the I-130, then the I-129F, etc. On the I-130 it asks for the last address at which we have lived together. Here's the thing. My wife has been living with me in Denmark for the past 6 months (except for a couple weeks in June) but only on a tourist visa. In the eyes of USCIS have we "lived together" or has she technically just been on a very long visit?

I can't remember where but I feel like I've been asked "Have you and your spouse lived together?" on another form somewhere. So this is a type of general question as well.

I hope you can help.

Claus and Ariel