Canadian Bacon

Canadian Bacon, maybe it's just a coincidence for the both of us, but my status changed to optimized and to closed the day after I called them (I called them twice)...

Maybe so! Either way, it could have helped and if not - it helps psychologically to think that we have some power over what happens with this mystical process of card printing.

OMG - this is super duper new info. I'll sling it around here... Thanks for the digging, revealing the email address.

No prob, took a while to find but wasn't too hard! Hopefully it'll help someone else someday.

As for the SSN, we'll keep the topic updated next week on whether SAVE helped or not.

DMV is a lost cause at this point, haha.

Also, in the email to SAVE I provided all information that should have been on the SAVE database info. This would be needed for SAVE to contact anyone or fix anything as they'd have more information to work with. If not, they probably would have asked for it anyway.

Name

#A

DOB

place of birth

(maybe include passport # and date of POE?)

Should be enough info with the above.

Okay: update on SSA:

I sent an email last week to the SAVE database complaining about the SSA and asking for help, yesterday I received a reply back asking for the SSA representative contact information. Today, I received an email from SAVE stating:

"Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting the SAVE Team. We are happy to address your questions or concerns.

The Supervisor was contacted on 1/10/2014. The case has been completed. Please check back with SSA next week for the resolution.

We hope this information has been helpful to you. Thank you for allowing us to serve you!

Cordially,

The SAVE Team"

/end quote

They took care of it, should receive the SSN next week then but we'll see what came of it next week. Will probably call them on Wednesday to check in on the SSN.

Also, greencard is finally optimized.

For anyone reading this in the future with the same problems, SAVE can be contacted at: SAVE.Help@uscis.dhs.gov

Well, messaged USCIS the other day as mentioned above and they stated they'd have someone look into. Today it turned to optimized so I guess inquiring about it may have helped!

Wow, it seems like they're behind in printing by more than 45 days! The representative said it was 45. We POE'd on Dec. 4th and our ELIS case still shows just "accepted". :/ Thought this might be helpful, not sure if it was mentioned before but here's the page you can use to electronically contact USCIS about the ELIS system and your case: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/contactus

It's the legit form since just clicking on "contact us" doesn't usually take you there without a hassle to navigate. Had to do a google search for it last week! So much easier if you do happened to get locked out of your account permanently. They just send a reset link to your email for you a couple hours after submitting the form, since resetting the password yourself doesn't work when locked out. Just remember to mention that you're locked out and it goes way more easier than calling around!

Also, curious - does anyone know where their green cards get printed? From an email I received earlier today the Texas Service Center is in charge of printing my husband's card.

might as well purchase a 49.5 CC scooter and some cold weather gear.

Exactly what I was thinking! Except all scooters or mopeds - even 49/50cc are mandated as motorcycles in my state....if they don't have pedals. Can't afford motorcycle insurance on my husband until a couple years from now since he never had a license. I'm not driving him everywhere again - like we did in Canada.

Well here's a laugh! The woman at the DMV fought with us over him not having an I-94, stating that he NEEDED one, even though we showed her the I-551 and explained he was a legal permanent resident. It literally took her 10 minutes before she realized it was a green card and that he would never have had an I-94 to begin with(unless I'm incorrect? Cause he didn't get one and I'm pretty sure that for the K1 people).

Another thing, the trip to the DMV and stress caused by it was useless because my husband didn't bring the letters showing his proof of address like I told him to. Got back to the house to pick them up and he didn't even have two from different sources, which he said he had the night before! *sigh* This is going to take a while.

Still waiting on the SSN, going to call the office tomorrow to make sure they sent the forms to DHS.

time for a man-purse or a under-the-armpit sling.

Haha, I tried to talk him into a fanny pack last summer but he wouldn't get it!

We have to wait to go to the DMV and see if they'll have problems without the SSN and with the A# until tomorrow as the DMV was closed for some odd reason.

I was sent there by the driver's license office (you can't get a driver's licence here from a regular dmv, it has to be from a certain one. PITA) So I went in and waited in line and gave a girl a piece of paper, made sure my name was correct and 5 weeks later got a letter saying I could go to the driver license office. I tried to go when the SAVE db said I was verified but apparently I had to have this notation in my file, which is why going to the CBP for me wouldn't have worked. Even when I did finally get it it was still telling the lady that I needed to go verify something and she just ignored the computer. LOL (I was so happy about that.) I mean I wanted my driver's license so I wasn't carting around my green card or passport. I know you're supposed to have it with you but I'm deathly afraid of someone stealing it and paying the $450 for a new one.

Wow, that's something. Well, we'll go see about his drivers' lic. tomorrow and see what comes of that.

I understand about the fee, it's so costly to replace! My husband is the worst person to give stuff to, he literally leaves his billfold on counters and walks out, if I don't constantly ask him if he has everything - he'd lose it all the time. So I'm not worried about anyone stealing it, he's more likely to just lose it in public areas on his own.

so, which do you think it is?

Mis-spelled name?

or digits transposed on the A# ?

SSA is supposed to use one or the other, or both, when looking him up in SAVE.

Honestly, I think they only looked him up in both(name and A# at the same time). Then again, they mentioned trying everything - could it be both that are incorrect? He checks out on the info when I give it to DOS, ect. and everything is spelt correctly everywhere - his name is complicated so I was OCD on his name with every form. Is it the POE officer's job to fill out the SAVE db info? 'cause if so he mostly likely messed up somewhere. He was so rude and seemed to hate his job/be half asleep/just lazy.

For my driver's license I ended up going to the Department of Revenue (it's the overall leader of the DMV here in Colorado) for them to verify and correct my SAVE db. (I didn't have any issues with the SSN however) Darnell suggested I go to the CBP but it turned out later I couldn't get my driver's license until there was a special note put on my DMV file saying I had checked out so going to the CBP wouldn't actually have helped me in the long run. I think the SSA office did the DHS verification with me and honestly I got the SSN a week later so it must have worked out. I had planned on asking at the SSA office about the SAVE db but forgot after waiting there 1/2 a day.

Interesting, how did you contact them?(department of revenue) Phone, email, ect.? The woman said she was using the SAVE database and that it didn't go through on the initial search. Hopefully his SSN is like yours and goes quick! I just read of some people on VJ that were stuck in limbo for weeks because the people at their SSA office didn't send stuff or forgot to ask for certain things like a second ID. I think the guy at ICE could help correct his SAVE data if it comes up wrong...maybe haha, just heard of ICE last week but it seems to have enough power to do that sort of thing.

ya, without successful SAVE db lookup at the SSA office,

you should have simply left and then gone to CBP office to check things there.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/405546-ssn-howto/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/405546-ssn-howto/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/405546-ssn-howto/

IMO, DHS verification is the kiss of death. IMO, that office needs special retraining. You can facilitate that, with several phone calls into the national IRS call center, getting the right person...

Wow, well I hope everything goes through....Either way it's all messed up - there's never been a time in our case that something wasn't messed up because of system errors/translations/etc. I called around to other CBP offices but they won't answer anything about that. If anything, we'll have to drive the 4+ hours to Omaha's office when it warms up. Does the CBP office have to be on the border or is any state good?

Kind of pissy right now because USCIS finally reset our ELIS account to check the GC status and they haven't done jack with it since the 29th of November. Could this be part of the problem? It's just in "accepted" not "optimized" - as if we never even POE'd. D:

Hopefully it'll be fine once we need to file taxes - if not well, I guess it's a good thing I didn't make any $$$ anywhere and that it's just a report of what my husband made in Canada... no tax needed paid to either parties so they should accept it with "immigrant, SSN pending" and a letter. It's annoying because the DMV won't give him a driver's license with out a SSN or DHS verification and he can't file the FAFSA. :/

Last visit I had to our local SS office, the guy at the counter was a certified idiot, had to politely ask to speak to his supervisor, at least she had some brains.

Bush wanted the SS to keep track of immigration, SS told him where to jump. But Obama got the SS involved by giving them a 100 million bucks. Unfortunately, even with all that money, they still don't know anything about immigration.

Try to explain to an idiot what a USCIS one year extension notice is on an expired conditional green card to an idiot that never even heard of the USCIS! Too many agencies, too many idiots. Worse yet is trying to explain an I-551 stamp in a foreign passport book.

Haha I know!

Ugh, my husband threw a hissy fit when I told him we were going to an SSA office 2 1/2 hours away, last night, until I gave in and prepared instructions for the SSA office people at our local office. I can't believe I let him talk me into going there again.

Anyway, I brought our whole case file with everything in huge folders, along with papers and Loomis envelope. Mike(the "manager") saw me and the papers and ran and hid in the back rooms until we were gone! He made the woman that was handling us have to go back and find him to ask him on the DHS verification proceedures - although I already had a 50 page stack of highlighted print outs explaining the SAVE database, the verification process, the time it takes before immigrants should go to the SSA office, an explaination from USCIS and DHS showing that a I-551 IS a greencard foil, ect. Luckily the woman in the office was familiar with immigrants because of her extended family. Plus it helped when he handed her the passport at the page the visa is printed on and told her it WAS a greencard. :/

They still couldn't find him in the SAVE database, I sent an email to them last Friday to make sure they have his record right. She did the second proceedure DHS verification process without telling us until right before we left - but I just left it. At least this way, she actually accepted the application and we'd get his number eventually!!????? FUUUUUU D:

The "manager" said his name was miss spelt last time he went but I've checked with everyone, DHS, USCIS, DOS, consulate, ect. and they all say his name is correct so the manager doesn't know jack. Haha, I can't believe he ran like a coward to the back room with his coffee and donuts! Pretty sure he even spilt some coffee on the carpet.

So, following other instructions based on the SAVE database, was it a good idea to have DHS verification or did we mess up? I read somewhere(can't find the link) that that would be the easiest. Since we won't be getting the PR card for around another 2 weeks(printed), that should be long enough for his SSN to be issued around that time.

-Crystal

Go to another office. Most of those SSA people in those Midwestern states not trained at all. I would also e-mail the main SSA website and state what happened. Give them the date, time, the people your husband and Father interacted with and also tell them of being called an illegal alien. You should get an e-mail from the main office that will instruct the local office on the proper procedures for an IR-1/CR-1 visa. Yes, you will have to educate them. After getting the SSC, I would go back to that local office and show them just to be a PITA assuming I had the time .

Good luck,

Dave

P.S. If your brother can look him up and get a print out to give to you that would be great. At least have him verify the information in the database is correct.

Good idea, I'll send them an email. We're going to go to a different one on Monday and if they can't do it, it's only an hour some drive to the next office and they have to know how to do something - it's the state capitol! Haha, in the mean time, my brother's going to have a friend from ICE check his documents to make sure the border patrol and everyone did their job.

Luck(or not), we do get to go back after he gets his card because I'm in the middle of changing my last name.

I called around today and all I had was problems, the people we're supposed to call to fix ELIS accounts have to transfer you to officers because they're too new to have those priviledges. Waited 40+minutes for a call back only for the phone I had borrowed to have weird chirping sounds on the officers end so go no there with trying to see if the greencard had been issued. The old MSC reciept number had been changed since yesterday so hopfully that may mean they're doing something with the case at USCIS(printing the greencard).

-Crystal

Well the local CBP won't help, they say they only do I-94 and customs stuff.... They said to talk to USCIS but they won't do anything for us when I call. They say just to "wait".

all registration numbers for the recent CR1 are 8 digits. They need to add a 0 after A to get 9 digits.

Example:

see how the registration number is 8 digits? The A# is A00000473

Also see the line at the bottom.. are they too stupid to read?

Thank you guys for the replies! My brother is a cop and I was thinking about having him look up my husband in the SAVE database - he knows how to do it. The closest CBP office on the other side of the state, about 4 hours drive - ironically where we're thinking on moving to in the next month or so.

I've tried walking them through it but I think part of the problem is, is that he's not a citizen. There were other permanent residents in the office the couple itmes we went and it seemed they always turned them away too! They say the I-551 is no good without the endorsement but it is endorsed! There's a US border patrol stamp with the CR1 endorsment and date written on it. = _ = I can't believe the manager can't firgure this out. He wanted to send a form to USCIS to request proff and that takes weeks, where all they have to do it look properly...

So, unfortunate we moved to a deep red state where the social security administration doesn't know how to do their jobs and border on harrasment and discrimniation charges (Nebraska). We waited the 12 days as others on this forum have recommended and went to our local SSA office to see if my husband (legal PR) had a number assigned or if he was in the SAVE system. They couldn't bring him up so we left and decided to wait until the next week, we went again and the same thing - we were told to wait a couple more days. My father brought him back a couple days later(mistake) the manager was called to try to look him up and from what I've been told and heard on the phone, called him an illegal alien and printed papers on how to apply for a CR-1. You can imagine how much this must have pissed both of us off. After all the work and delays we went through just to be treated like skum under a "managers" shoe! I tore the papers up when I saw them. We have our CR-1 visa.

We haven't gone back since, we called but they refused to help us and would not accept our application stating that we don't have a green card even though we showed them his passport with his temporary green card, I-551 stamp, and other USCIS/NVC acceptance comfirmation letters, ect. They stated the Alien number was fake, which all immigration government organizations stated was real and valid. The problem is, is that it's an 8 number instead of the usual 9 number ID code....which will be hilarious when we should them the greencard and it has the same number! Having the greencard changes nothing about the format.

I got paranoid and called DOS, NVC and USCIS/ELIS to see if everything was okay. It was all supposedly fine. We're still waiting on the greencard to be printed, I paid it roughly 40 days ago and I think it's still in "Optimized" - I can't see the status and haven't had any more emails on it because ELIS locked me out. I'm goig to call back on Monday to see what's going on with them printing it. The thec. lady at ELIS said my husband wouldn't be in the SAVE database because the greencard has to be printed first but this information doesn't seem right...

What do we do? We want to file taxes soon and my husband needs to use the fafsa to get scholarships/loans for university this Fall.

Obviously we'll wait until we receive the greencard to go back again but my question is, should we try a different administration office? I'm not sure if we can do that when applying for a SSN but it's only 90 miles away and I'll need to go to the town it's in to activate our new phones anyway.

Any help or advice is appreciated!

-Crystal

The others I haven't heard of, but I like Republik Wireless's idea. The reason I didn't go with them though is because if you are on a WIFI signal, and you move out of range of the WIFI, the call is dropped. So once you take a call, you basically can't move:(

I will let you know how Ting turns out!

Mark

Sorry for the late reply. Republic Wireless fixed that problem. Their new Moto X phone has perfect wifi to tower call transitioning now. Unless you get the $5/month plan - you have unlimited access to tower calling as well with no hang up/redail when moving out of and to wifi range.

Paying bills in your own name, renting, etc.. all builds credit in Canada, abet at a smaller rate than a credit card or loan would. Your credit in Canada does not follow you to the USA and vice versa. Basically this form says that you are a tax paying member of the USA. The SSN gives you social security (it's the exact same as a SIN in Canada... needed to work and pay taxes) but doesn't help build your credit at all. If he doesn't have much of a credit rating in Canada it's mostly because he hasn't had a lot of bills, hasn't rented or owned a home or had credit cards. Student loans can help start building people's credit in Canada at least. I know my went to collections in Canada but I eventually worked out a deal and paid them off so they ended up reflecting better on my credit vs negatively.

Because I opened this account without an SSN is why I needed to send them the W9 form. If you guys don't have a US account yet, you probably don't need to worry about it.

Oh, okay. Thanks for clarifying that!

It's strange, everyone I've talked to said he literally cannot build credit before being 21 in Canada....If that's not true then he must have decent credit by now since we've rented, had credit cards, school loans, tons of other bills, etc. since being in Canada.

I was told by RBC today, when I applied for a credit card, to submit to them a w9 so that the IRS can start my credit rating. Just thought other people should know this and check with their banks to see if they need to submit a w9 with their SSN. I couldn't even get a phone contract... /facepalm

RBC did approve me based off of my Canadian credit. It was pretty awesome that I don't have to start completely from the bottom.

Thanks for the heads up! I thought credit went with the SSN though, there's a form we need to fill in order for my husband to be able to start building his US credit? Or is this so banks can see his US credit in Canada?

From what he and his bank adviser told me, he doesn't have any credit in Canada because of his age...though I think it should have started since his birthday earlier this year. Then again, we don't do much that involves credit ratings haha.

So I (petitioner) resided in Canada with my husband as a student this whole past year while we waited for him(beneficiary) to be approved for PR. I didn't make any income(illegal to work under my permit). We're going to POE next week and I was thinking on how we were going to file taxes. Has any one had any experience with this?

He was a student this past year as well, he worked part time at the beginning of the year but was laid off in Feburary and had to claim EI, his employer(s) refused to give him his income(t4?) form to file income this past year - they got in trouble. I doubt they'll give it to us for this coming tax season. After EI was up, he finally managed to find another crappy job to hold us over until we could move but they fired him after he hurt his back working there. So it's my understanding, he files taxes in Canada and then....how does the filing for US work? I doubt we'll be able to find jobs in the US in December(end of tax year) as in my town it's the firing season - everyone gets laid off and companies cut back.

So say he claims on his Canadian tax roughly 10k. We file this as soon as possible when tax season starts, right? After that we file married-jointly and state what? I had no income (father is co-sponsor), do we just put the income he made and file by hand with a copy of his canadian tax forms or?? It's my understanding they cannot tax us if the money has already been taxed.

P.S. do you know if I need to include any left over federal student loan $$? I know a get a tax break from having paid interest on it but I don't see how I'd get a tax break for $0 income haha.

So confused, thanks for your help!

-Crystal

Interview: Nov. 20

Standard AP: Nov. 20-22

Issued: Nov. 22

Shipped: Nov. 25

Ready for pick up: Nov. 26

Will be picking up on Nov. 29 due to travel/weather conditions(the Loomis location is a 2 hour transit ride and it's snowing).

Loomis Location: Lachine(Near Montreal airport YUL)

Consulate was closed the 21st and we had to wait the weekend which added a minor delay.

no no.. it's safe to get the passport!

There is a big envelope. Inside the big envelope is the passport, which is loose, and the "do not open envelope".

Haha, oh thank you so much for all of your help!

No it's one envelope that has your passport and very obviously stated "do not open envelope" but it doesn't come separately. The passport will be loose.

Okay, I was wondering because we have to fly to Vancouver and get stuff from storage before we POE and he doesn't have any other ID. It;s not safe to retrieve the passport? Do you know if it's in a see through packet so we can just show it to security without opening? I saw another users photo, it was in a clear packet with the passport open and facing out. It's confusing. D:

We're planning to go with Republic Wireless, I feel your pain as I've lived under US Cellular and Verizon! Look into RW, you have to pay for the phone up front, they just got the new Moto X and are offering it for $299 but plans start at $5/month. I recommend the $10/month if you just need unlimited talk and text, you can get data by connecting to your wifi.

With the same phone/plan, if we go with Verizon it will cost over $1400 a year, with RW and the same phone/plan - it'll only cost roughly $500/year for the first year and $120 after. (note that's just with one phone as we can't afford a second one just yet). The money really adds up with phone services. Plus if you go abroad, you can change your plan to the $5/month and not worry about roaming or anything as the phone will ride on wifi.

RW also has a 30* day back guarantee if you find that it's not working good for you.

keep on them!! I think sometimes it takes men in Canada a little longer to get their visas than women. I last saw this with BSD... I had mine next day and he was waiting a week or two.

I checked around 11 and it had been touched but nothing done to it.

Thank God! I just checked after sending a message to another VJer that was at the interview the 20th too and got this:

I was so sure they'd ask for more information, this whole process has had huge set backs the whole way. So glad it's finally over! Now, the package it comes in. It's two packages correct? One that has the passport and sealed-do-not-open envelope right? It's safe to open the outside packaging?

Thanks everyone!