Ellinora

Congratulations to everyone who have gotten their interview scheduled! Mine's a long ways away I'm sure.

I also found this patriotism etc. conversation quite interesting as I would also like to leave and someday come back, when the atmosphere is perhaps less xenophobic. I already come from the greatest nation in the world in my book and that does not change when I get my 2nd citizenship. I have ties (both current and past) to both countries and it feels natural to be a citizen of both, especially since my child is too.  Anyways, found the conversation interesting, so thank you for that

N-400: August 2017 Applicants

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Dallas/Lewisville, Texas Lockbox
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UserName......|GC-Date.|Sent.|Cashd|NOA..|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrvw..|Oath....|Field Office.....|NBC/IOE
Ellinora......|10/01/14|08/02|08/10|08/09|09/06/17|09/11/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Baltimore, MD....|NBC
krizkroz......|--/--/--|08/03|08/08|08/08|08/28/17|08/30/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Atlanta, GA......|NBC
Maldita808....|--/--/--|08/09|08/14|08/14|09/01/17|09/07/17|10/05/17|11/06/17|--/--/--|Honolulu, HI.....|NBC
berber_wife...|10/28/14|08/10|08/15|08/15|09/11/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Ft. Myers, FL....|NBC
RRM...........|07/25/14|08/10|08/21|08/18|09/15/17|09/19/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Charlotte, NC....|NBC
althes........|05/10/76|08/14|08/16|08/16|09/12/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Boston, MA.......|NBC
hsa12390......|09/30/14|08/16|08/24|08/22|09/14/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Boston, MA.......|NBC
ask2much......|04/05/14|08/21|08/31|08/31|09/20/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Atlanta, GA......|NBC 

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Phoenix, Arizona Lockbox
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UserName......|GC-Date.|Sent.|Cashd|NOA..|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrvw..|Oath....|Field Office.....|NBC/IOE
eeosucess.....|11/04/14|08/07|08/10|08/14|09/06/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|NBC
finalleg......|10/28/12|08/07|08/11|08/11|08/28/17|10/10/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Los Angeles, CA..|NBC
Camelot13.....|10/29/14|08/08|08/11|08/11|09/08/17|10/11/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Los Angeles, CA..|NBC
Zombie69......|11/04/14|08/08|08/15|08/10|08/29/17|10/10/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Los Angeles, CA..|NBC
thunder11.....|09/03/14|08/10|08/15|08/16|09/06/17|10/10/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Denver, CO.......|NBC
AustinCanada..|11/20/14|08/22|08/24|08/24|09/22/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Seattle, WA......|NBC
ZirZai........|11/25/13|08/26|09/01|09/01|09/29/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Santa Ana, CA....|NBC

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Chicago, Illinois Lockbox
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UserName......|GC-Date.|Sent.|Cashd|NOA..|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrvw..|Oath....|Field Office.....|NBC/IOE
okininja......|--/--/--|08/07|08/14|08/14|08/29/17|09/07/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Albuquerque, NM..|NBC
Aneta73.......|11/07/12|08/09|08/15|08/14|08/28/17|10/10/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Chicago, IL......|NBC
tom.in.chi....|11/22/11|08/11|08/17|08/17|08/28/17|09/07/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Columbus, OH.....|NBC
rovers........|--/--/--|08/27|09/01|08/31|09/25/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Chicago, IL......|NBC 

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Online Filing
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UserName......|GC-Date.|Sent.|Cashd|NOA..|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrvw..|Oath....|Field Office.....|NBC/IOE
Ken Adems.....|10/27/14|08/01|08/01|08/02|08/22/17|08/22/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Charlotte, NC....|IOE
Chicagocbd....|09/26/14|08/01|08/04|08/01|09/01/17|09/06/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Chicago,IL.......|IOE
aphrodite.....|05/30/06|08/02|08/03|08/03|08/23/17|08/23/17|08/25/17|10/10/17|--/--/--|Tampa, FL........|IOE
NaturalizeHope|11/05/12|08/07|08/07|08/07|08/15/17|08/30/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Seattle, WA......|IOE 
waiting_for_ao|11/05/12|08/07|08/07|08/08|08/28/17|08/30/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Oklahoma City, OK|IOE
Pinkrlion.....|10/16/14|08/08|08/08|08/08|08/28/17|08/31/17|10/06/17|11/13/17|--/--/--|Kansas City, MO..|IOE
John Go.......|09/12/14|08/09|08/09|08/11|08/30/17|08/31/17|--/--/--|10/11/17|--/--/--|Albuquerque, NM..|IOE
Darkchile.....|08/13/14|08/14|08/15|08/15|08/31/17|08/31/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Orlando, FL......|IOE
YashMin.......|10/18/14|08/15|08/15|08/15|08/25/17|08/30/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|New York City, NY|IOE
IPv6Freely....|09/11/12|08/15|08/15|08/15|08/28/17|10/06/17|10/07/17|11/14/17|--/--/--|San Diego, CA....|IOE
qaszxc1234....|09/11/14|08/15|08/15|08/16|08/28/17|09/06/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
cj777.........|08/30/12|08/22|08/22|08/22|08/30/17|08/31/17|--/--/--|10/05/17|--/--/--|Dallas, TX.......|IOE
H'rrekkah.....|10/02/14|08/22|08/22|08/22|09/06/17|09/06/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Washington, DC...|IOE
Air_Borne.....|11/12/14|08/23|08/23|08/23|08/30/17|09/07/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Washington, DC...|IOE
GCholder222...|08/09/06|08/23|08/23|08/23|09/21/17|09/22/17|10/10/17|11/16/17|--/--/--|Philadelphia, PA |IOE
BigK..........|06/02/09|08/23|08/23|08/23|09/19/17|09/20/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Houston, TX......|IOE
leswede.......|11/20/14|08/24|08/24|08/24|09/05/17|09/15/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Diego, CA....|IOE
MRainier......|11/01/08|08/25|08/25|08/25|09/08/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Seattle, WA......|IOE
punter13......|11/24/14|08/26|08/26|08/26|09/07/17|09/14/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX.......|IOE
r060106.......|09/23/16|08/28|08/28|08/29|09/22/17|09/22/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Milwaukee, WI....|IOE  
altito........|11/29/14|08/31|08/31|08/31|09/18/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE

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Legend: 
GC-Date: The 'Resident Since' Date located on your first green card.
Sent: Date N-400 was mailed to USCIS.
Cashd: Date your check was cashed / credit card was charged by USCIS.
NOA: Receipt Notice Date Printed on your official I-797 notification.
Fprints:  Date assigned for fingerprinting (Bio-metrics). If you do your biometrics via walk-in prior to your scheduled appointment, please enter the date in bold blue.
In Line: Date you received e-notification about the start of your interview scheduling.
Int Ltr: Date you received the official letter in the mail regarding interview.
Interview: Date of your interview.
Oath: Date Oath taken.

Field Office: Your local USCIS office where you will have the N-400 interview.

On 9/21/2017 at 10:45 AM, IPv6Freely said:

Could be months. Doesn’t mean much

Sure doesn't for some, but I believe most of us would appreciate a swift process.

It's been over 2 weeks since my biometrics, still not in-line

Just now, IPv6Freely said:

Probably to some degree. I wouldn't imagine it would be a significant delay though. 

One can only hope. I'm preparing myself for a long process anyways, since IR1 took so long.

Had my biometrics appointment and as I feared, they could not get my fingerprints with the machine and had to use ink instead. 

Anyone know if this will delay my process?

Well shucks, I can't do this right. Tried to update my info as such:

Ellinora......|10/01/14|08/02|08/09|08/10|09/06/17|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Baltimore, MD|NBC

Random question, but does anyone else ever have any trouble getting fingerprinted? They always seem to struggle getting my fingerprints and at my work they even gave up, since they couldn't get any for my background check. I was told my fingerprints are so worn they can't get them (don't know how they'd be so worn, I'm not very elderly, in my 30s, and it's not like I've had the kind of job that would cause this). I wonder if this will be a problem at biometrics again and is there something I can do about it?

Not quite sure what is the most up to date version, but here's my info:

Dallas/Lewisville, Texas Lockbox
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UserName......|GC-Date.|Sent.|Cashd|NOA..|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrvw..|Oath....|Field Office.....|NBC/IOE
Ellinora......|10/01/14|08/02|08/10|08/10|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Maryland.........|NBC 

I have feeling this will take forever, hope I'm proven wrong!

17 hours ago, charmander said:

You could mail your application if everything is ready to go. Biometrics could become an issue though if you do it now, they typically schedule this within a month after your NOA date. You could potentially reschedule but perhaps you could send your application like 2-2.5 weeks before your arrival to US, that way your biometrics would happen soon after you come back.

Thank you, that sounds like a good plan!

I ended up using ECE, they suck at replying to questions, but it was otherwise a pretty effortless process.

I'm currently abroad (for a month and a half) on vacation but I could now file N400. Do I have to be physically present in the U.S when filing? I have signed all the paperwork, so it's ready to go, I'm just wondering if I can already have my spouse mail the package or should I wait until I'm physically there myself?

My other question would be, how fast does one in general get invited to biometrics? If it's pretty fast, then I would imagine I should wait to file. And yes, like everyone else, I want my my application process started as soon as possible  Many thanks for any help!

I have have to have my overseas degrees (two master's, two bachelor's) evaluated by an agency in order to teach and am looking for recent experiences in using these agencies.

If you have used any of the following, what did you think of the process, how long did it take and how much did it cost in the end (all fees included)?

Did they accept copies you made of the diplomas? I do have my transcripts in a sealed envelope just in case.

There are the accepted agencies:

• Center for Applied Research Evaluation & Education www.iescaree.com
• Foundation for International Service, Inc. www.fis-web.com
• Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.  www.ece.org
• International Consultants of Delaware, Inc. www.icdel.com
• Education Evaluators International, Inc. www.educei.com
• International Education Research Foundation www.ierf.org
• Educational Perspectives www.edperspective.org
• Institute of Foreign Credentialing Services (IFCS) info@ifcsevals.com
• Educational Records Evaluation Service www.eres.com
• Josef Silny & Associates, Inc. International Education Consultants www.jsilny.com
• Evaluation Service, Inc. www.evaluationservice.net
• Span Tran Educational Services, Inc. www.spantran-edu.org
• FACS, Inc. Foreign Academic Credentials Service www.facsusa.com
• World Education Services. Inc. www.wes.org

Googling tells me WES and ECE seem to be the most popular choices. But I'd still like your experiences from getting the most out of my credits.

I have gone through all their websites, so I'm now looking for personal experiences, comments are much appreciated, thank you!

I have heard good things about the Glen Burnie one as well. Anne Arundel county is very large and they have a good amount of population so I bet they get many of these coming through there office. The one we went too was clueless and gave us nothing but trouble.

Hope you guys have better luck next time! We first went to the Columbia office and that was a complete waste of time, the lady there was rude and didn't know what she was doing. Wish we'd just gone straight to Glen Burnie.

Wow seriously? You didn't happen to go to the Annapolis office did you? I heard they knew what they were doing and were fast. I think that is the one I will be going to next due to nothing but problems at the local one by us

It was the Glen Burnie office, they got really efficient people working there!

I have to give the SSA office some credit; I went to the office on Monday and the new card came by mail on Friday!

Thanks for the tip! We did get married in Finland and I've never had a US Social Security card, so it's good to know. We got married at the registrar office and not at a church, so our marriage certificate is pretty simple and straightforward, but it's always better to prepare! I'm dreading the whole process of getting the SS card, opening a bank account, getting my driver's license exchanged and all... and filing my taxes for the first time! I have actually filled out the forms for my husband while he's been here, but it's been easy with the foreign income exclusion. I'm usually pretty good with forms but the IRS forms (and especially the instructions!) beat me even...

Ellinora, did you get an international vaccination card for your child before moving or some kind of proof of all the shots given at neuvola? I guess the kids will also need their records for school... we'll be able to get the second set of MPR for our son before moving and then he should be eligible to sign up for school health-wise.

Yup, the amount of paperwork here is insane. My husband keeps telling me to take one step at a time haha.

We didn't get our lil one an international vaccination card, but you can ask your local health center (terveyskeskus) to print out a more official looking paper that has all the vaccinations given to a child. The local pediatrician here accepted that one and just typed the information into their system and then gave me a print out to take to the school. There's a lot more vaccinations in the program here, so he had to get 4 more for school sign up, poor thing

No news here yet, we're still working on the AOS package. This domicile requirement is a little tricky for us, since we've both lived in Finland for the last eight years and my husband was only a student when he moved here, so he doesn't really own anything in the US (nor can we afford to purchase anything like a house or have any assets to transfer to his US account), only a bank account. But we're hoping the proof we have will be enough. We do have a co-sponsor so sponsorship is not an issue. We were also waiting for my husbands tax transcripts for a LONG time, but finally received them two weeks ago.

I'm hoping we can send our AOS & IV packages on Monday to our co-sponsor, who will then add her AOS stuff and send the whole package to NVC. So I guess it'll be many months yet until our process moves forward, NVC processing time is currently at 60 days.

Thanks for the medical check-up info, Ellinora and Lenny&Sanna! I thought it would not make any sense having to go twice, but then again, this process doesn't really fit with what one would see as rational and reasonable anyway... Overall, however, our process has been really smooth so far and none of the documents have caused any headache yet. Again I am thankful for the very functional and organised Finnish society and authorities!

Sounds like you have everything under control, hoping for a smooth rest of the process for you guys!

You are so right about the "rational and reasonable process" Today I went to get a new social security card (I had one with my maiden name) at one of the SSA offices and the lady at the first one sent me to the court house to get some sort of certification on my marriage certificate. I tried to explain her that this is what USCIS accepted and you guys should accept it as well. No can do she said and told us to head to the court house. So we went to the court house only to find out they don't do such certifications, just certified copies...

Husband and I decided to head to another SSA office to see if we could convince the representative there to do their job and surprisingly enough they took care of the stuff without asking for any certifications. So we drove all around the state for something we could have gotten done in an hour, if we had just gone to the other SSA office...

Anyways, I don't know if you guys got married in Finland or if you already have a social security card in your current name, but if you do need a new card, I would recommend getting an extra vaestorekisteriote from the magistrate with the words marriage certificate added to it and have them add an apostille just in case. Would maybe save you guys the gas money we spent on driving around

There is really no reason for you to file anything for 2014 unless it it a tax advantage to be added as a joint filer on your husband's return. Normally joint always turns out better, but I am thinking in his situation of only a month of US income for him, his taxable income will probably be zero unless he earned more than the standard deduction of $6200 in that one month. Filing with you and getting a $12,400 standard deduction is still going to be zero taxable income and extra paper work for no tax advantage. You can't go lower than zero. If he had earned $30,000 and you nothing in US income, you can see the advantage of reducing $30,000 income by $12,400 instead of $6,200.

You may file jointly in the future or switch back and forth. There are some regulations about if one files separately, the other has to do similar things. Example, if one itemizes deductions, the other must itemize also instead of taking the standard deduction. But there is no regulation that locks you into a filing status year after year.

Thank you so very much for your help, I really appreciate it!

You had no US income so you are not required to file. Your husband can file married filing separately and report all of his income earned in 2014. That includes US and foreign Income.

You can also file jointly and your husband will probably have less tax obligation, however only working in the US for a month, it is probably not going to be that significant either way. It is a more significan difference when the US person has a high income and gets to take the extra exemption and standard deduction for a spouse.Your foreign income from Jan1 to Dec 31 would have to be reported of you file jointly.

The thing you may not know about is Form 2555 or the easier 2555EZ which allows you the foreign income exclusion. Each of you could do the form to exclude your foreign incomes. Or he could do it on a married filing separately return.

All the worldwide income on a joint return will be on Form 1040's Line 7....his, yours, foreign and US. The foreign exclusion will be on Line 21 as a negative number, and subtracted out before Lime 22 Total Income.

Work the tax returns both ways-- Him married Filimg Separately or both Married Filing Jointly. Go with the one that has less taxes.

Thank you sooo much for the answer! Do you think I should still file the Finnish foreign earned income with the 2555, if we file separately?

Can we file jointly next year, if we file separately this year? Are there any regulations on that?

So husband and I moved to the U.S last October, when I became a LPR through IR-1. We both have foreign earned income from the whole year and husband has income from the U.S as well.

We first moved to one state in October, where neither of us worked and then to Maryland in December, where husband earned income. A couple of questions:

I know my husband has to file taxes, but do I have to since I have not earned anything in the U.S since I moved here? I won't earn anything in the U.S this year either, not that that matters for this filing.

I did, however, get paid in Finland for the whole year. If I do have to file taxes, do I only mention what I've earned in Finland since October or for the whole year? I did earn way more than $3950 during those three months.

Should we file jointly or married filing separately? Husband thinks if we file jointly and then take my foreign earned income into consideration, we'll have to pay more taxes.

Any help is much appreciated! If these have been answered elsewhere, please direct me to the right thread thanks.

^ I'm also curious how everyone is doing Any news, Susan?

I've been an LPR since October and have had my 10-year green card in hand since December. But my social security card is still in my maiden name I got it back in 2005 and haven't worked in the U.S since 2010, so I haven't gotten around to change it yet, since I guess I have to personally go to an social security office to do that. I couldn't get a learner's permit from MVA without it, so now I have to somehow organize a trip to an office Sucks being car-less.

Ellinora, no we have not contacted NVC, but our case is available online and everything seems to be in order with it.

I was briefly reading about what's ahead for us, and now I have a question about the medical: Does the medical require one or two appointments at the clinic? From what I read, there are labs & x-rays, and then separately the check-up. Can all these be completed in one day? It will be a pain to arrange a visit to Helsinki on a workday even once, let alone twice...

At least at Eira they did the whole thing in one day. It was just a brief visit with Borgstrom where he asked a few questions, checked a few things, checked my vaccination records and gave me referral papers to the lab and x-ray. It was like two hours and then I was done.

I had to pick up the results myself tho two weeks later and then take them with me to the interview. I hear Helle has at least previously offered a service where he takes the papers to the embassy, but I don't know if he does that anymore.

Hello

So I moved to the U.S. a bit over a month ago. Being in a city where almost everyone is out by car (there is literally nothing in a walking distance) I wanted to know how I could find myself new hobbies and/or interact with people. I miss interacting with people and I'm home all day.. even once I'll have a car I don't know exactly where I'll go. I thought about joining a gym and taking Zumba classes and discovering the city a bit (I haven't seen much yet).

I would love to interact with people, even online but most websites are mostly about dating and I'm not interested in that, I'm happily married - newlyweds hehe.

Do you have any advices? Any is welcome.

Thank you so much !!

I don't have any advice, but I have a lot of sympathy

I also moved here a month a go. I don't have a car or even driver's license and nothing is within walking distance, except a couple of playgrounds that are completely void of people. I miss my old life where I could just walk to my neighbors house and talk to them. I tried interacting with our neighbors here but they either ignore me or in best case scenario say hi and walk away Probably think I'm a foreign weirdo Anyways, just wanted to let you know I feel your pain! Hope you get a car soon and get to explore! If you have means of transportation there are most likely a bunch of volunteer opportunities you could take part in. There is a lot going on in our town, I just can't get anywhere without a car.

Have you involved your husband's Congressman? Go to the website and prepare the "release form" in advance, and call to speak with the "immigration liaison."

This gigantic immigration-law firm* has a very reasonably priced telephone or e-mail consultation service:

http://www.fosterquan.com

Click their link for "individuals & families."

*I have no connection with them beyond having been a satisfied customer years ago. Immigration law is Federal, so they need not be in your geographical area.

Thank you for the info!

I just got a call from USCIS Baltimore and they told me they got my letter and that what USCIS customer service told me is true and that I don't have to attend the appointment.

She said that for some reason the system has been printing duplicates lately, so if someone else got a biometrics appointment letter out of the blue that might be why.

Hoping this settles it, but if not, I'll be sure to contact the congressman. Thanks again for your help and support!