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BlueRaiderUK

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Posts posted by BlueRaiderUK

    Evidence for I-751

    in Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi All,

    I just wanted to find out if this would be enough evidence within our packet that will be sent in a few weeks:

    1) Many utility bills addressed to both of us at the 3 addresses we have lived at since Conditional Residence

    2) Car Insurance in both names

    3) Confirmation of Life Insurance from employer showing my spouse and children as beneficiaries

    4) Joint Bank Account

    5) Copy of Joint Tax Returns for 2007 (and 2008 if we file in time)

    6) Copy of Birth Certificate of our Son (they already have the one for our daughter from the Interview for Conditional GC)

    7) Birthday and Xmas Cards from Family back in the UK

    8) Pictures taken together, with family

    9) Flight itineraries for my Parents Visit to Phoenix in 2007

    10) lease Agreements for previous 2 Residences showing both names

    11) 401K Beneficiary listed as my spouse

    I was also considering adding our car loan and mortgage loan paperwork that has myself and my father-in-law listed (he's the co-sponsor on my I-864 also). Would that be a good idea, or leave that out?

    driving licence test

    in Working & Traveling During US Immigration

    Posted

    Hi, i am planning to take driving test here in Arizona, anyone from Arizona in here to tell me how is the road test? i mean what they ask you to do in the time of road test ?

    I took my test in Mesa, AZ last year. I had to do a 3 point turn, and then drive onto a main road, make 4 right turns (with stop signs) and then drive back into the DMV. Took about 5-10 minutes...

    AOS interview successful, but waiting for FBI name check

    in Adjustment of Status (Green Card) from K1 and K3 Family Based Visas

    Posted

    You filed in early November and interviewed late December, correct?

    You're really early into this. With any luck you'll come out ok.

    I don't know what the processing times are for your local office. And yes I realize those times may be for employment based I485 but hey what else are we gonna use. Wait till 30 days after that.

    Well I do realize it can take several months or years, however the Officer who interviewed me said it should take 3-6 months to complete, and those 3 months start in a couple of days.

    It's kind of annoying, because you would think that since I'm from the UK, and my family and my wife's family are the only ones in our respective countries with our last names that the processing would be quick. But I guess not. As you know Rebecca I want to begin studying, I don't want it to take any longer than the beginning of next year.

    But I saw how long yourself and others here have been waiting, so perhaps I shouldn't complain just yet.

    Michael

    Becoming a Resident Student

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    Be careful to use a good foreign credentialling/verification service. My son graduated high school in the UK in the top 25% yet when the credentialling service here looked at his certificates for equivalency they told us he didn't even have a GED equivalent which was BS!! He had only one week previously passed with very high scores a university placement test and yet according to this service he hadn't even got high enough scores to graduate high school.

    Both myself and the adviser at the University felt that it was because the credentialling service was not familiar with international exam certificates and really had no clue what they were doing, even though it was a credentialling service recommended by the university!!

    Also, the university was going to charge $485 per hour for his course whereas the community college charges $20 per unit.

    He is now going to apply to community college and see whether they have a different take on his UK exam results!

    Well I asked in advance at Educational International, which after reading other similar topics here at VJ, EI, ECE and WES seem to be most popular. They said I have a High School Diploma and college credits, just with my GCSE's and A-Levels.

    Something else to consider is that different Universities need different qualifications, just to state that looking at International Student requirements, some universities merely want 5 GCSE's, and others want 3-4 A-Level passes at A-C grade, which would suggest that they're unsure how much a GCSE or an A-Level is worth. I find it difficult to believe getting 5 C's at GCSE level is the same as a US Student receiving their high school diploma with a 3.0-4.0 average.

    Michael

    No touches since NOA1

    in Working & Traveling During US Immigration

    Posted

    I know it's not normally something to worry about, but I've had my biometrics and Interview approved pending namecheck. However my case(s) have not been touched since before I had my biometrics, is this normal? Knowing the EAD is probably going to take longer than 90 days is enough worry, but I'd at least like to know I'm getting somewhere.

    Michael

    Becoming a Resident Student

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    yes...you will be fine attending school with your exams as proof that you've finished your high school education. if you enroll in a community college, you will have to sit for their standard placement testing, to determine what level math and english classes you will be enrolled in. more amusingly, you also will most likely have to do some testing at the foreign student's office, to prove that you are a proficient english speaker. (anthony said to the girl, "Um...you've heard of ENGLAND, right?" as in, "We invented the language, you numskull!" :lol: )

    if you enroll at the university level first, you will be required to sit for the ACT or SAT test, depending on the individual university's requirements.

    as far as financial aid goes, Rebeccajo is right...you are not a conditional permanent resident at this point. you are an adjustment applicant. you are, however, an "eligible non-citizen". the way that we got anthony qualified for federal financial aid was by producing his Advance Parole, as Parolees DO qualify for Pell Grants! of course, it took some wrangling and convincing talk to get the financial aid officers at the school to actually believe us!

    You must be one of the following to receive federal

    student aid:

    • U.S. citizen

    • U.S. national (includes natives of American

    Samoa or Swain’s Island)

    • U.S. permanent resident who has an I-151,

    I-551, or I-551C (Permanent Resident Card)

    If you’re not in one of these categories, you must have

    an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from U.S. Citizenship

    and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing one of the

    following designations:

    • “Refugee”

    • “Asylum Granted”

    • “Cuban-Haitian Entrant, Status Pending”

    • “Conditional Entrant” (valid only if issued

    before April 1, 1980)

    • “Parolee” (You must be paroled into the United States

    for at least one year and you must be able to provide evi-

    dence from the USCIS that you are in the United States

    for other than a temporary purpose and that you intend

    to become a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.)

    If you have only a Notice of Approval to Apply for Permanent

    Residence (I-171 or I-464), you’re not eligible for federal student

    financial aid.

    If you’re in the United States on certain visas, including an F1

    or F2 student visa, or a J1 or J2 exchange visitor visa, you’re not

    eligible for federal student financial aid.

    now, what happened to us, however, was that the first year following anthony's application for AOS, he was approved...however, there is a provision in the law that says that you are only eligible for financial aid during the first year of parolee status, because they expect that an application for AOS should be approved and you should have the greencard in hand by that time. in our case, sadly, that was not so.

    receipt of federal funds for financial aid is not prohibited, and does not count as "public aid".

    good luck to you, and i wish you all the best!

    Thanks for clearing that up dani_christine, thank you both for the information.

    Michael

    Becoming a Resident Student

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    There's usually someone at the college or university you wish to attend who can tell you if the credentials are enough to enter into their programs.

    Your biggest problem will actually be the financial aid. You will only be eligible for certain types (remember the 'public charge' aspect of your visa) and then only for a certain length of time. Any hitch in your greencard processing could stall your education.

    I've just now looked at your timeline and see you have had your interview and are stuck in FBI namecheck. You might want to research the posts of the member dani_christine as regards to her UK hubby's US collegiate experience.

    Thanks for the reply Rebecca

    I have indeed asked admissions at a couple of colleges I am interested in. They're yet to get back to me.

    I thought that financial aid was okay, I did my own research and then reading various posts in this forum on the subject, I was under the impression that it did not interfere with the Affidavit of Support (did you mean this or the visa itself?).

    Could you expand on certain types and length of time? I checked the FAFSA worksheet and it says most aid is for US Citizens and Eligible non-citizens. It lists a conditional resident as a eligible non-citizen, and if I remember correctly a conditional resident only apply to marriage based green cards? therefore why would this appear on the worksheet, if a conditional resident wasn't eligble?

    I'm planning to start college in Spring 2008, by which time I would hope the namecheck would be complete, However I should take it with a grain of salt that my Interviewing Officer said the majority are complete within 3-6 months.

    Becoming a Resident Student

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    Hi,

    I'd like to know if anyone has experience in enrolling in community colleges or universities as a freshman with foreign credentials instead of a GED/High School Diploma.

    I have been told in advance by a Foreign Credential Evaluator that my UK GCSE/GCE's are worth at least as much as a US HSD. However, do college's accept this when applying as a Resident (in-state or US) Student? As I want to be eligible for financial aid, and not have to get the GED, if in essence I already have surpassed it.

    Thanks, Michael

    Interview in Phoenix

    in Adjustment of Status (Green Card) from K1 and K3 Family Based Visas

    Posted

    My AOS was approved just a few hours ago pending FBI namechecks, I asked why this was the case when both our last names are pretty unique. Officer Green told us that normally it takes between 3-6 months, and since we had filed on Nov 2nd, we had a little waiting to do yet. I asked him why many people go upto a year past their interview still in namecheck, and he just said it was out of their jurisdiction. Good answer.

    I spent some of the time finishing his sentences, by the end he said I seemed to know alot about the process, I told him I could have done his job (lol). He replied, well if you naturalize, you can try.

    I also asked about the stamp (even though I couldn't get it), and he said they don't do that anymore because Green Card processing is alot faster now.

    He asked us who lives in our household, asked us both our address, have I been working, my name, what part of England I was from, have I ever applied for permanent residence before. Have I been smuggling illegal drugs. He took a look at our scrapbook.

    He told us about removing of conditions.

    What was quite disappointing was the fact He only wanted a copy of our newborn daughter's birth certificate, didn't look at our marriage certificate, or anything we had in joint names at our address, or even the new affidavit from our joint sponsor (with 3 years taxes instead of the previously submitted 1), when I had spent so much time putting it all together and making copies.

    Oh well, at least the Approval sounded great.

    Michael

    Cheap phone calls

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    I may be wrong, but I don't think you'll find a much better deal than 3p per minute. I tried checking out Vonage (they have seperate services for the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom) and it's £7.99 for unlimited calling anywhere within the UK, and the Republic of Ireland. For calls to the U.S., it's 2p per minute.

    The U.S. gets a better deal with Vonage, in my opinion. For $24.99 USD a month, Americans get unlimited local and long-distance calling anywhere within the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico -- in addition to the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, and Spain. Canada gets a similar plan for $39.99 CAD a month.

    There's a feature that my dad told me about with Vonage - virtual phone numbers, for £2.99 (or $4.99 if Vonage user is in the US) a month he can get a secondary "virtual" number, so when we (in the US) call this number is re-directs to his UK number at the price of a local call from here in Arizona.

    http://www.vonage.co.uk/features.php?featu...al_phone_number

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