Kiwinyc

It's good to see that CSC is still taking the FIFO approach and utterly ignoring it :-) Congratulations to those that filed after me that have been approved already . I wonder if next years citizenship process will be the same....

You and I have the exact same filing and bio dates, and we got our new GC's today. Am sure your Approval will come through soon!

We received our new Greencards today. (Myself and two dependent children) Approved 11/15, cards left UCIS 11/23 and arrived this afternoon. Its also our 3 year wedding anniversary today! Time has flown by!

Green card was recieved today. 10 days after USCIS notification. Good luck to everybody, Hopefully it moves quickly for everybody.

Thanks MayMay68! I just came on to ask how long it took between UCIS notification of Approval for your Green Card to actually arrive and am glad to hear you got yours so quickly. We (me and my children) got our Approval letters this morning, dated 11/15.

Thank you, I will appreciate sharing your experience. I assume you have already came back successfully.

Hello! - Yes we returned on Tuesday night. They did ask to look at the extension letter at our departure airport (London Heathrow, BA terminal 5) and I showed it upon entry at Austin airport as I announced upon arrival at the desk that our GC's had expired and that I had an extension letter to show them. They did also look at the three stamped letters showing we had attended our Biometrics appointments but there really wasn't any doubt, they politely looked at everything I was throwing at them!

Anyway, my point is that despite my children not being listed on the extension letter (which is your concern) it was understood that as minors they were included under the same, single application number & letter and there were no problems with this. Take your biometric appointment letters along with you in addition if you want further documentation for piece of mind. .

I will update you in a few days! We're due to fly back in on Tues 8/16. Our cards expired on 7/25. I have the extension letter and the biometrics appointment letters for each of us stamped with proof of attendance that we completed our biometrics appointments back in June on me. I don't anticipate any issues and don't see why there should be any.

As you are applying with children too , I wanted to ask you did you received extension letter for your kids ? I don't and this makes me worry.

No, i only got one letter, with no mention on it about my children either. I will be travelling back from London in Aug with them after all of our GC's expire so I will be bringing that letter with us and assuming that it covers all of us because it is all one application.

Added myself to spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K2JoU_2yXD0QBBqRoM6_auTa52wY1gcMiM0YFhs6cYQ/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=0

We (myself and two children) did our biometric appts on Fri 6/10

I have myself and 2 dependent children.

I paid $505 (application fee) + 3 x $85 (biometircs fees for 3 people) = $760 in total.

Cheque was cashed last week and I got my NOA1 on Sat May 14.

It just means they haven't bothered to update the status for the i131 process.

If you have your EAD/AP then you have it and can use it.

My fiance went and did his sputum tests last week. I know that now we have to wait the 12 weeks so I've not been logging onto the forums as I've got nothing to report or research until that comes back. We're pretty sure it's not TB though he did spend a couple years in Africa a few years back so who knows? We are also afraid it could be something else. Not sure if they will test for that and my fiance doesn't really want to go to his doctor to see what it might be; he'd rather wait until he gets over here.

I am so sorry you have to deal with this alone. It's the worst kind of news to have to handle without having your fiance with you. I hope it all turns out to be negative!

I'm sorry you're stuck in this limbo. I would advise him to see his GP though - the NHS is a million times better than the morally bankrupt health care system in the US. If he needs treatment for anything it will be completely free. Here in the U.S. it can run into thousands...

And the tourists that travel to the NE especially to see the beautiful fall colors are called 'leaf peepers'! I've been one myself - it really is beautiful, i'd never seen anything like it before.

That said, most of the people I'm acquainted with here use Autumn as much as Fall, it seems interchangeable for them.

I lived in both Australia and New Zealand for over a year each and had to get Police Certificates for both countries. (I am originally a NZ citizen)

I got the fingerprint checked version for Australia - I made an appt and went down to Scotland Yard to have my fingerprints taken (which cost £70) completed the application on-line, printed it out with required ID copies and mailed it down to Canberra with a begging cover letter to please process as quickly as possible. They sent it back in about 3-4 weeks iir, it probably took a week to get there, 2 weeks for them to process it and a week to be mailed back to London.

I wasn't actually sure if I needed the fingerprint checked version but I didn't want to show up and be told otherwise so I got it to remove all doubt. They accepted it with no probs so I guess it was the right one!

You can pay for it with a UK credit card, no need for a Australian dollar bank draft.

Good luck!

Use a specialist online currency trader - you'll get a much better rate, for much less commission.

I have used (and continue to use) Transferwise for smaller amounts,. but to transfer the proceeds of my UK house sale i also used a specialist broker - in this case, World First. i tracked the rates for a couple of months and put in an order to buy US dollars when it reached the rate I wanted - i did really well out of it. Their rates were not quite as high as Transferwise but there was no commission on top so it still worked out cheaper. (Transferwise commission on the amount I wanted to transfer was a 4 figure sum)

POE Chicago, last night with my wife using her combo card. It was not "inconvenient"...we were not "caused any trouble","we had no difficulties"," we suffered no discomfort". Now "pain in the ###"...that works. 1hour and 50 minutes after an officer took my wife`s passport and combo card to the back of the waiting area, another officer came out, called her name, handed her her passport and combo card and away we went. No questions, no interview. All of us here at VJ have had to follow numerous procedures, obviously this was another one. I would recommend to anyone who`s POE is not home to plan for this, better to have a cocktail waiting for you`re connecting flight then to miss it! Thanks to Kiwinyc for the info that it is a one time occurrence!

Can assure you I went through secondary processing only the one and first time using my EAD/AP combo card.

The second time I went straight through without a hitch. The only 'inconvenience' to this was that my husband assumed it would take longer and left late so I had to wait 15 mins until he got to the airport to pick me up!

I don't understand what your problem is. Your experience was different than mine. I'm just sharing my opinion. Please do not tell me whether I how I feel is right or wrong.

in·con·ven·ient

adjective

causing trouble, difficulties, or discomfort

Everything that my wife went through can be described with those adjectives.

The way you are expressing your 'opinion' makes it seem like AP is not worth using. Which is not at all the case - without it, your wife would not have been able to return at all.

THAT would be inconvenient.

Whats convenient about secondary inspection for an hour? This is pretty stressful for anyone with a connecting flight.

I don't think you understand what 'convenient' or 'inconvenient' mean.

Secondary processing the first time you come in part of the process. Its not repeated in subsequent trips. Not leaving enough of a connection time to make this stressful doesn't make having permission to get back into the country inconvenient. What is inconvenient is the situation that you / your wife created for yourself. It doesn't mean that other people will experience the same 'stress'.

name on air ticket must always match name on passport.

The green card is in the mail, and expected to arrive within a few weeks. Do I have to wait for the green card to arrive before I leave the country?

Currently, I have an Employment Authorization Card, and at the bottom it says "also serves as I-512", which is advance parole.

Is it true that since the green card is on the way, my I-512 is now invalid? So I have to actually wait to receive the green card before I leave the country, or else they will not let me back into the country?

I read some posts about I-551, but my passport does not have an I-551.

Any thoughts?

The i512 remains valid until the expiry date. If your Greencard doesn't arrive before you have to travel, come back on your EAD/AP card. Next time, take your Green Card as this does supercede (but does not invalidate) your AP.

Both my children received their GC's while they were out of the country and they returned instead on their AP documents with no problems last month.

Yes my wife was taken into secondary inspection traveling with AP card. The "interview" was more involved than both the k-1 visa interview and the GC interview. Its definitely not very convenient to travel with the AP card and if your GC is expected to come along soon then I would wait until getting that.

There is nothing 'inconvenient' about travelling on AP - you go into secondary processing the first time you return with it but subsequent visits I went straight through, no additional processing, it works exactly the same as a GC (which I have also returned on now)

i've used my unlocked UK Iphone 4S (bought from Apple in the UK) in the US with a AT&T 'go phone' sim for the last 3 years. No problems with network compatibility. Depending on how much data you want tariffs start from $25 a month.

There have been a couple of posts debating about whether or not AP is 'cancelled' when AOS has been approved and a GC issued. In my case the query was whether if someone was out of the country when their GC was approved and issued, if they needed the the GC's sent to them in order to get back into the U.S.

The answer for my two children is no, they re-entered successfully yesterday in Austin, TX with AP (second time it was used) despite their GC's having been received by me at the beginning of the month.

Had they had their GC's in possession they would have used those but I didn't bother sending them to while they were away, figuring their AP was still valid until the date stated and it is. CBP were not aware that their AOS had been approved or had any GC's issued and they were not asked for them.

Therefore, if you are traveling on AP during AOS and your AOS is approved while you are still overseas you don't have to worry about somehow getting hold of your GC in order to get back in, you can re-enter using AP and start using your GC next time.

Hope this helps for anybody else in this situation.

All my stuff in the UK (bank accounts, pension, credit card, UK Drivers License ) are in my previous name, so is my passport. My greencard has both as I've simply added my married name and have two surnames here. I'll update my passport to say the same when I renew it in 2017. Its not illegal, just confusing.

Here in TX you need EAD. I drove for the 5 mths it took to receive that on my UK license and then too the (pitifully easy) test(s). I was covered by my husbands car insurance before and after getting the TX license. (In TX the car is insured if the driver has been given permission by the owner to drive it, doesn't matter what license you have.)

Thank you.

I do have a job offer. They need me to start before September 3rd.

I thought you had to have financial hardship evidence together with your job offer to be able to expedite.

Should I request an expedite before my biometrics appointment? Is it better to seek for assistance from a local congressman or do it on my own?

YOu can request an expedite on the basis of just a job offer - get the relevant documentation (official job offer letter) and its easy enough to do it on your own.

The tickets I have. But the ticket just shows you bought a ticket, not that you actually got on the plane. The boarding pass shows you checked in (and one would normally assume you subsequently boarded the flight although that's not always the case) and is the closest to proof that you actually travelled, apart from getting hold of the flight manifest.

Frequent Flier records would show you traveled on the dates you said you did? Can you print those out? We used my Frequent Flier records to show dates of visits as evidence of meeting for our i-129f.