SachaAndIain

I went to fill out my postal vote tonight and discovered they want an Australian witness to the signature. The nearest Australian I know is in Connecticut. Apparently you can sign a letter to explain why you couldn't get a witness, but I figured I'd ask here on the off chance there's someone nearby in the same boat. If there is, it's my shout.

Mine changed to "card being produced" too. No text or email, and this is the first change since "we received your application". My application was approved on the 10th, so 15 days from approval to card production.

Just drove out to Buffalo for an infopass appointment. Very easy process, apart from the drive. I was in and out in 15 minutes. Turns out I got approved on the 10th, letter is on it's way.

Couple of important data points: because I'm already approved, they won't issue the stamp unless my extension has already expired, or I need to travel immediately. This may affect other people going to get a stamp. 

Also he confirmed what we were talking about earlier - the one year extension is to the date on your GC, not the date on your NOA. 

How many of us are coming seriously close to the 12 month extension? I know most people applied the instant they were able to, but I didn't have time until the last couple of weeks of my temporary GC. So the date on my letter is the 4/14, and the date on my GC is 4/19. I've got an infopass appointment on Wednesday.

I have no idea why there are so many people in this thread saying that getting added as an authorized user/additional cardholder is a bad idea, or that it is less effective than getting a secured credit card. That's complete bunk. Credit card piggybacking is very well established and (provided it's legitimate) will get you a seriously high credit score in about six months. When I moved here, my wife had a good credit score (from being an authorized user on her parents cards). She opened credit cards with me as an additional cardholder with Amex and CapitalOne. We used the amex for gas and groceries (3%cashback) and the capitalone for everything else (1.5% cashback). We pump all our purchases through the cards, and always pay them off in time, so there's never any interest charged. Within six months we were both up over 750 credit scores.

Meanwhile, open a http://CreditKarma.com account. Look at your report regularly and learn what the markers are - age of credit, credit utilisation, number of accounts, total credit, etc. Work on improving each of these numbers. For us, opening another couple of cards would have probably helped, but I can't be arsed keeping track of that many accounts to pay off.

https://www.thebalance.com/credit-card-piggybacking-and-impact-to-credit-scores-960197

On 3/23/2017 at 9:12 PM, fania&nelson said:

Just got my approval letter in the mail! It is dated 3/20/17!!!! No longer an outlaw (my husband calls me that now LOL). Funnily I just checked my case online and stills shows the same "Case Received" status.

Anyway. I have the letter and I'm now waiting for the card.

 

Just updated the spreadsheet.

 

Hoping that everyone else gets a letter in the mail very very very soon!

huh...didn't know you could apply 90 days before 3yrs of GC. If you're applying right now, do you need to have filed your 2016 taxes first?

Great, but the OP's partner is in the UK, not Australia...

Yes, hence our advice that the OP get married post haste and do a DCF. The Australia discussion was tangential.

Also SachaAndlain, you always had to do the chicago lockbox route. There is no DCF in Oz.

Information I can find right now varies, but at the time it appeared to be possible. this page says they do it. Maybe they did and now don't?

Hi,

I'm just curious about the $3K you quoted for getting your son his Australian citizenship, I thought the current application cost is AUD230 for Form 118? https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/pathways-processes/Application-fees-forms-and-appeals

Thanks

Huh. No idea where I pulled that number from, but it's been a while since I looked at it. Possibly confused how much it would cost us to migrate my wife to Australia? Although looking now it looks more like 7k for that.

Anyway, hooray for $230!

Not anymore.

We no longer have jus soli in the UK. One of your parents has to be a UK citizen or permanently settled in the UK for a baby born in the UK to be British.

OP's baby will qualify as the mother is a British citizen but visitors who have babies here have no claim to citizenship.

Yeah, that's what I meant, just talking about the difference when born outside the UK to a UK-citizen-parent. As N-o-l-a has pointed out, I was wrong on that score, but the kid still needs to be born in the UK to pass on their UK citizenship to their own kids.

I don't know what your work situation is, or how easy it would be for you to get another short term visa to live/work in the UK for six months. Assuming you can do all of that (it's really not that hard, way easier than getting any of the immigrant visas to the US), DO IT!!!. Do it now, or at least start the process now so that you're there and set up long before the baby is born. You'll want to be with them when the baby is born and for the first few months anyway. The earlier the better, because as I'm about to explain, you''ll want to be there for at least six months.

Next step: get married. Doesn't matter if you do it before the baby is born or after, but you'll need to do that before you file anything. The reason you want to do that before you apply is twofold. First, I130 is cheaper and faster than a K1. If you do a K1, you've got to wait at least six months, mine took nine. then, after she moves here, you've got to apply for adjustment of status, and pay another huge amount. You've got to get married within 90 days, then she can't work or do much of anything until the AOS clears and she becomes a permanent resident. My AOS took six months, and I basically sat on my ####### the whole time, very depressing. Second reason is you can do a direct consular filing. DCF for I130 will cost you about half as much as the full K1 process, and take as little as 6 weeks (versus the nearly 18 months total it took me to get my PR). She'll become a permanent resident immediately, and you won't have to deal with the US service centers, only the consulate in London.

The requirements for a DCF are that you must already be married and you must both be living in the UK for 6 months before filing. I found out about this option the day I put my then fiancee (now wife) on a plane back to the US from Sydney to wait out our K1. If I'd learned this 24 hours earlier, I'd have had her stay and do it this way, and if I'd known the K1 and AOS would take as long as they did, I'd have told her to come back. If you were hoping to have a US wedding, have a small ceremony in both countries.

As far as the baby is concerned, you definitely want the kid born in the UK. I think the UK is like Australia, in that if you're born there you're automatically a citizen, if you're born elsewhere you have to do a full immigration application. It's gonna cost us about 3k to get our son his Australian citizenship, but if he'd been born in Australia it would just be a cheap registration of foreign birth to get him US citizenship. Then, as everyone else has pointed out, the NHS is a million times better than having a baby in the US without health cover.

In short, go be with your partner and baby in the UK right now, and then bring them here with a DCF for her and a US passport for the bub.

Wow - they made you go to secondary? Good to know. We'll probably have three border entries before the 10-year card arrives. The first one will be at the Canadian border in October....then two at JFK during the spring.

Now I'm wondering if my spouse will have trouble getting INTO Canada. She's an Australian citizen, and normally would need an eTA if flying, but since she's an LPR (albeit with an expired Green Card), she is supposedly able to enter Canada on her Green Card alone....

I'm not worried about her re-entry into the US - but hope the Canadian Border Patrol knows what they are doing!

Sukie in NY

Should be fine with the passport. I went to Niagara with my parents last month and we were going to walk over for an hour or so, but I forgot my passport. Internet research said should've been fine with the GC and letter, but I only had the photocopy in my wallet, not the original. Decided not to chance it. Passport + expired GC + original letter and you'll have no problems.

Walgreens had a hard time doing Australian format, you'd probably be better off going to a proper photo shop

Probably will, Albany has a big area to cover

Just had my biometrics done at the Boston ASC. What an unmitigated clusterfuck! Appointment was for 11, but apparently that's a loosely applied term. Everyone gets the same time and it's first come first served. Staff were professional, but pathetically understaffed, and using totally inefficient processes. Waited over two hours past the scheduled time, all the while worried Sacha would go into labor at any minute.

Guy running the show occasionally called out random numbers, presumably because of problems with their paperwork. At one point he shouts "stick to your appointments, people, time and date are very important". All I could do was laugh. I've been here an hour and a half, mate, how about YOU clowns stick to your appointments.

If you're going to Boston or any other major city, I'd advise getting there about an hour early to get as high up in the queue as you can. And bring a good book.

Nobody?

Every other Vbulletin forum I've used has the option to set the number of posts visible per page. I've looked pretty hard and searched, but I can't seem to find that option here. 15ppp is a pain in the ####### when you're up over 600 posts in a thread, as many threads are.

While we're on the subject, the mobile view doesn't have a "jump to end" or "jump to page" option, so you can only skip through it three pages at a time.

Got my bio appointment today for 6/3, updated the sheet. Are we the first ones for VSC since they stalled?

The results we've all been seeing highlight the number one rule when dealing with USCIS - Don't Panic! The waiting game is difficult, but there's nothing you can do about it until they make a move or the 30 days have passed. But you're fine, you've done everything right, you've got the receipt from the USPS to show you sent it and it got delivered. Even if your packet got lost entirely (which really doesn't happen often), you'll be able to reapply with proof that you applied in time the first time, with no penalties. They're not going to penalize you for their own screw up, and no judge is going to deport you without getting all the facts first. Most likely they'll get to it and send your NOA before the 30 days are up, otherwise you can call them then and have them look into it further.

In the meantime, it shouldn't affect your life at all unless you urgently need to travel (in which case, make an appointment and go get a stamp). Remember the last time we went through this? For most of us, our partners were here while we were in our home countries, waiting desperately for the I129F or I130 to bring us back together. That really sucked. This time around, we're already here, living our lives, partners beside us. Let USCIS take their time, deal with things when they happen, and don't worry about it until you have to.

This, by the way, is the worst possible way to keep an updated, shared record. It's error prone, badly formatted, impossible to maintain and update. There are many ways to have shared access to a document, like a google docs spreadsheet, or even the wiki which is already built in to VJ.

haven't heard them called posties for a while, mate

It would look like this. Please don't copy this one unless we've got some kinda consensus.


California Service Center (28 applicants, 0 approved - 0%)


VJName............Date of I-751....NOA1 Date.......NOA1 Delivered..Biometrics....Approved
M AND C.............04/01/16.......04/05/16........--/--/--........04/27/16......--/--/--
SHIHOON.............04/02/16.......04/04/16........--/--/--........04/28/16......--/--/--
GF1804..............04/04/16.......04/07/16........--/--/--........05/05/16......--/--/--
SNIDE707............04/04/16.......04/14/16........--/--/--........05/06/16......--/--/--
HOLLYDAY............04/06/16.......04/11/16........--/--/--........05/06/16......--/--/--
AYUMI_HAMASAKI......04/06/16.......04/08/16........--/--/--........05/04/16......--/--/--
SAMISEN.............04/08/16.......04/11/16........--/--/--........05/03/16......--/--/--
JACINTO72...........04/11/16.......04/19/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
DSC83...............04/11/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........05/03/16......--/--/--
RKAT................04/12/16.......04/22/16........--/--/--........05/10/16......--/--/--
CLIFFLIZ............04/13/16.......04/26/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
THEBEAT4C...........04/14/16.......04/30/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
THEAMERICANS........04/14/16.......04/18/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
DUST BUNNIES........04/15/16.......04/30/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
MISUZU..............04/16/16.......04/18/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
PEDPED..............04/16/16.......04/19/16........--/--/--........05/20/16......--/--/--
TICHI&RACHEL........04/18/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
EM&SID..............04/19/16.......05/02/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
SHEINA3.............04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
SEER8...............04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
LESLIEANDGARRETT....04/23/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
GCAJWN..............04/25/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
LMIHLER.............04/25/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
ILLIRIA.............04/26/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
BKGHOSH.............04/26/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
LUISRX11............04/27/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
BOOKWORM123.........04/29/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
JOLYN69.............04/29/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
BRYNEFF.............04/29/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--


Vermont Service Center (35 applicants, 0 approved - 0%)

VJName............Date of I-751....NOA1 Date.......NOA1 Delivered..Biometrics....Approved
MARIE&CURT..........04/01/16.......04/05/16........--/--/--........05/03/16......--/--/--
FANIA&NELSON........04/04/16.......04/06/16........--/--/--........05/06/16......--/--/--
PSV57...............04/06/16.......04/11/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
BOS_LHR.............04/06/16.......04/07/16........--/--/--........05/16/16......--/--/--
NOBBIE..............04/07/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
SCOFF...............04/08/16.......04/11/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
VTJOSEPH............04/08/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
AZABU234............04/08/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
MCUZIN1985..........04/09/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
COWFACE.............04/09/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
JSC n GOM...........04/11/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
SACHAANDIAIN........04/11/16.......04/14/16........05/06/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
THE_WAITING_GAME....04/11/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
J86SCHROEDER........04/11/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
RAJ101..............04/11/16.......04/12/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
MYRNA87.............04/12/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
FODU................04/12/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
SHARONGILMORE.......04/12/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
BALMORAL............04/12/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
REMOTECONTROL.......04/13/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
MIKE ESP............04/14/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
KTERO...............04/15/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
MYHEARTWILLGOON93...04/18/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
NAN2................04/19/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
GITSIE..............04/20/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
TKDWLS0131..........04/20/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
KAWAIIAKUREI06......04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
ANGELBIJOI..........04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
PiLi................04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
SUKIE...............04/22/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
TALHA_MK............04/22/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
NYC-AND-INDIA.......04/25/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
LAIECAROL...........04/25/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
HONEYPIE84..........04/26/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--
LUCYBELLE...........04/27/16.......--/--/16........--/--/--........--/--/16......--/--/--



IMPORTANT!

* Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.
* Go to the MOST RECENTLY POSTED VERSION of this list (go to the last post and scroll UP) and "Reply" to it, deleting the "quote" tags in your reply.
* Please DO NOT change the font, font size, add colors, stuff like that.
* Please PREVIEW before posting to make sure it is properly formatted.
* Please check that you have not deleted anyone's NAME & DATA.

Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application.
NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter.
Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment.
Approved = The Date your case was approved.

* Please Capitalize your VJ Name when adding it to the list.
* When you're on this list, please come back to update your information accordingly.
* If you cannot add your information yourself, please ask another VJ member to help you do

Finally got our NOA1 today, as expected with the check cashing yesterday. All is right with the world.

Can I suggest that we update this table with the date we actually got our NOAs, as well as the date on the NOA? it's more relevant information, especially for everyone still waiting.

California Service Center (28 applicants, 0 approved - 0%)


VJName............Date of I-751....NOA1 Date.......Biometrics....Approved
M AND C.............04/01/16.......04/05/16........04/27/16......--/--/--
SHIHOON.............04/02/16.......04/04/16........04/28/16......--/--/--
GF1804..............04/04/16.......04/07/16........05/05/16......--/--/--
SNIDE707............04/04/16.......04/14/16........05/06/16......--/--/--
HOLLYDAY............04/06/16.......04/11/16........05/06/16......--/--/--
AYUMI_HAMASAKI......04/06/16.......04/08/16........05/04/16......--/--/--
SAMISEN.............04/08/16.......04/11/16........05/03/16......--/--/--
JACINTO72...........04/11/16.......04/19/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
DSC83...............04/11/16.......--/--/16........05/03/16......--/--/--
RKAT................04/12/16.......04/22/16........05/10/16......--/--/--
CLIFFLIZ............04/13/16.......04/26/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
THEBEAT4C...........04/14/16.......04/30/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
THEAMERICANS........04/14/16.......04/18/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
DUST BUNNIES........04/15/16.......04/30/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
MISUZU..............04/16/16.......04/18/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
PEDPED..............04/16/16.......04/19/16........05/20/16......--/--/--
TICHI&RACHEL........04/18/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
EM&SID..............04/19/16.......05/02/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
SHEINA3.............04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
SEER8...............04/21/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
LESLIEANDGARRETT....04/23/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
GCAJWN..............04/25/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
LMIHLER.............04/25/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
ILLIRIA.............04/26/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
BKGHOSH.............04/26/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
LUISRX11............04/27/16.......--/--/16........--/--/16......--/--/--
BOOKWORM123.........04/29/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
JOLYN69.............04/29/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
BRYNEFF.............04/29/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--


Vermont Service Center (35 applicants, 0 approved - 0%)

VJName............Date of I-751....NOA1 Date........Biometrics....Approved
MARIE&CURT..........04/01/16.......04/05/16.........05/03/16......--/--/--
FANIA&NELSON........04/04/16.......04/06/16.........05/06/16......--/--/--
PSV57...............04/06/16.......04/11/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
BOS_LHR.............04/06/16.......04/07/16.........05/16/16......--/--/--
NOBBIE..............04/07/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
SCOFF...............04/08/16.......04/11/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
VTJOSEPH............04/08/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
AZABU234............04/08/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
MCUZIN1985..........04/09/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
COWFACE.............04/09/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
JSC n GOM...........04/11/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
SACHAANDIAIN........04/11/16.......04/14/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
THE_WAITING_GAME....04/11/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
J86SCHROEDER........04/11/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
RAJ101..............04/11/16.......04/12/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
MYRNA87.............04/12/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
FODU................04/12/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
SHARONGILMORE.......04/12/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
BALMORAL............04/12/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
REMOTECONTROL.......04/13/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
MIKE ESP............04/14/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
KTERO...............04/15/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
MYHEARTWILLGOON93...04/18/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
NAN2................04/19/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
GITSIE..............04/20/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
TKDWLS0131..........04/20/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
KAWAIIAKUREI06......04/21/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
ANGELBIJOI..........04/21/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
PiLi................04/21/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
SUKIE...............04/22/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
TALHA_MK............04/22/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
NYC-AND-INDIA.......04/25/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
LAIECAROL...........04/25/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
HONEYPIE84..........04/26/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--
LUCYBELLE...........04/27/16.......--/--/16.........--/--/16......--/--/--



IMPORTANT!

* Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.
* Go to the MOST RECENTLY POSTED VERSION of this list (go to the last post and scroll UP) and "Reply" to it, deleting the "quote" tags in your reply.
* Please DO NOT change the font, font size, add colors, stuff like that.
* Please PREVIEW before posting to make sure it is properly formatted.
* Please check that you have not deleted anyone's NAME & DATA.

Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application.
NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter.
Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment.
Approved = The Date your case was approved.

* Please Capitalize your VJ Name when adding it to the list.
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Finally received our NOA from the VSC center, pretty much a month after mailing the I-751 package.

Side note, our receipt number is not working on the USCIS case status online yet...