leighish

I filed my 751 with TSC in june 08, it was quickly transferred to VSC.

After a lot of waiting and no rumblings from the other side, I began to grow a little nervous.

My file was recently sent to CSC and I started to grow more impatient than ever!!

Today I got the approved letter in the mail!!!!

I'm so excited and relieved!!!

Congratulations!

I received a letter in the mail today confirming that my file has indeed been sent to the CSC. We filed the first week of July 08. I'm hopeful something will happen soon. I'm getting antsy! I'm coming up on having been in the US for 3 years and I would like to just get the whole thing over and done with.

When I had my first bio. appointment for my AOS file, I arrived with my passport in hand. My passport was listed in my maiden name and my application in my married so they refused to see me until it was obvious I was the same person. We called my lawyer and had them fax over a copy of the marriage license and that seemed to suffice.

My question now is will I run into a similar problem even though my green card is in my married name and my canadian passport is not?

The reason I have not changed my passport is because it does not expire until 2010 and in order to have one in my married name I would have to file for a completely new passport, and being out of Canada there is no telling how long that would actually take. Seeing as how I hope to be a US Citizen and be free of all this mess before November 2010 (however unrealistic that may be) I opted against filing for a new passport.

Should I go down to the DMV and apply for a state ID? I do not have a drivers license.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

I did not send any affidavits, however I've been told by the very helpful folks on VJ that it can absolutely be a family member. However, If you feel you have enough supporting evidence without the affidavits, you can do without them if you must.

Good luck!

I got my NOA from VSC today! I feel like i can breathe again (at least for the moment).

I don't have any travel plans in the future, but does anyone know if my employer will need to see the extension letter?

ack! why didn't I know about this! I would've sent straight to VSC! We sent our 751 on June 20th so I am also awaiting an NOA. It's keeping me up at night!

Why do they have to make it so complicated

I know our packet was delivered (delivery confirmation) but we sent a money order rather than a cheque because we did not know how long it would take and we wanted to be sure it didn't bounce.

I forgot to mention that I combed through our filing cabinet and finally found home ownership notes with BOTH NAMES on them! we sent those along too so now we wait.

you can put your name on the deed without re finance. if you know a realtor, he/she can do it for free.

really?! thanks a lot! I'll give my realtor a call first thing tomorrow. We started combing through all of our purchase documents trying to find things with both of our names on it. hehe. this will save me a little bit of a headache (though it won't spare me the rest of the headache).

We sent no affidavits with our I-751 and got approved with no problems.

The evidence you have is enough to prove a bona fide marriage. Do you have mortgage/lease documents? That would be possibly another piece of evidence you could submit.

Good luck for a speedy approval.

we bought the house before I had my GC so unfortunately no my name is not on the mortgage document HOWEVER the document does state that my husband is married. The only way we could get my name on the mortgage is to refinance and with the way things are going in the mortgage world, we don't want to go there.

My husband and I are gathering our copies and pounding our brains as to where we're going to find nearly $600 but I had a question about the Affidavits. Are they really necessary? Outside of family we have almost no one we can ask for a letter. I understand that we could get them from family members but a part of me feels like that's a little frowned on (and I don't know why). So I just would like to know if those affidavits are really important or if we can exclude them. Here is what we have so far otherwise...

copies of our credit cards (showing 2 joint accounts)

a statement from the bank showing that we have a joint account

a letter from his employer stating me as the beneficiary to his retirement fund and his life insurance

a copy of our son's birth certificate

photos of us together and with other people

copies of our 2007 and 2006 tax return

our letter from the IRS about the stimulus package (hey, it has both our names on it!)

greeting card envelopes with both of our names on them

affidavit letters? can we do without them?

thanks!

thanks you guys. I hope this didn't seem like a stupid question, I was just unsure which route to take.

I'm not really sure if this is the best place for this topic, however since it will probably concern Air Canada and customs at the Calgary airport (both ways) I thought I might get some answers here.

I'm looking to go back to canada by myself for a week in september. I have NOT purchased my tickets yet. I was going to send my passport to Quebec to have my married name added to my passport seeing as how it is STILL in my maiden name and my green card is in my MARRIED name. Today, I find out that they don't do that anymore and that I have to apply for an entirely new passport. Which I would never ever get by September 18th. My current passport is valid for another 3 years, it's just not in my married name.

So, My question is ultimately, which name should I book my airline tickets in? and will a difference of either cause a problem? I travelled to canada for christmas last year (with my husband) and I had the same problem, however we brought our marriage certificate and that seemed to appease everyone (customs and the airline). But since the passport laws have changed and I'm going to be by myself, I'm not so sure.

help!!!

me!

I'm so excited it will be my first trip back to canada since my AOS approval!!

congratulations!!

we had our interview in Houston as well, we got lost too!

i had been losing sleep over the whole thing but during the interview I was amazingly relaxed and calm. It helped that the interviewer noted right off the bat that we looked like we are really in love. I guess body language says a lot!!! This was July, as of saturday it's been four months since I recieved my AOS.

are you from the Houston area?

Good luck! I'm sure it's going to go great! Can't wait to hear the details!

Good luck!!

how long are you going to be there for? If you're there for 2 weeks or so, you can just go into any passport office and hand over your passport, birth certificate and marriage certificate and they'll amend with your married name. You could have it back in 7 to 10 business days if you go back and pick it up.

only for a week

Oh well.

For the record, I would need to send my passport to Quebec! ridiculous!

Oh for goodness' sake. QUEBEC?!!! Sigh. Is it 20 business days from when you send the passport till when you receive it back?

oh I don't know, probably. I asked in my email if there was any fee to speed up the process but apparently there isn't. So we're just gonna have to grit our teeth and get through it. I don't know if it will be a huge deal in customs if I have all the documents, but I think the ticket booth might be the biggest hassle.

Well it would take 20 business days to add the name to my passport and I just don't have that time. So we called Air Canada and she made a note of my maiden name in the file, and she insists we'll be alright if we bring a copy of our marriage license. I NEED that passport because it's the only proof I have of my visa right now, so I guess we'll have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.

For the record, I would need to send my passport to Quebec! ridiculous!

Congratulations!!!!!

happy birthday!

good luck!!!

[snip]

I'm going to Canada for Christmas, if I do not recieve my correct green card, this stamp in my passport should still be valid, right?!?! I didn't think much of it but after buying non-refundable plane tickets I'm starting to wonder....

[snip]

Also, does anyone know offhand if the Canadian Consulate in Houston (or anywhere, but houston specifically) would be able to attach my married name to my passport? I'm thinking it should be on there officially

Going to Canada for Christmas, huh? I'm from Houston and I'm traveling to Canada for Christmas as well! Where are you headed? For all we know, we might be on the same flight!

Now...as far as the Canadian Consulate in Houston goes, I don't know if they can do that or not. Your best bet is to call them, e-mail them, or drive there and ask in person. Whichever you feel most comfortable with and you feel would get the best results.

For all the necessary info on the Houston Canadian Consulate, click here and that should take you to the right spot.

I've read the passport and consulate websites until I went cross-eyed and as near as I can tell it should be a simple procedure. I'm going on December 19th on Air Canada flying to Saskatoon via Calgary it'll be an early morning but I'm looking so forward to it.

born and raised in Saskatchewan!

am now living in Texas.

Not that much different so far

Thank you both very much!

oh my god why did I not discover this part of the forum sooner!??!?!!

I miss calling my hooded sweaters "bunnyhugs" and not having people look at me like I'm totally nuts!

(I think bunnyhugs are primarily a saskatchewan/alberta thing...I could be mistaken!)

I still take off my shoes when I go to someones house and people think I'm totally nuts.

I'm sick of people thinking I'm totally nuts!

My best friend came to visit me and brought me Saskatoon Berry Jam, A box of Fudgeo cookies, and a million boxes of smarties and a ton of coffee crisp chocolate bars.

I'm finally getting a chance to visit next month and the first thing I'll do is go to Tim Hortons!