AlissaCarly

Kia ora, welcome fellow Kiwi! (Okay, I moved to the US from Holland, but that's just a technicality )

How has your visa process been going so far? I went through it a year ago and it was awful, so if you ever want to talk or anything, feel free to PM me

Welcome You'll find a lot of useful information here, I don't know how I would've made it without VJ! Been here a year now and obviously went through the whole mess, so if you ever need to talk or have questions, I'd be happy to help! (as I'm sure everyone here would be )

I filed in November on a K1 visa and I still don't have mine either.. I received a message from them two months ago that due to backlog it was going to take an extra 6 months!

Haha probably! As much as I whine about being at home so long, I will miss it when I'm slammed with work

Wow, good for you! That's really quick!

Got a mall with an USPS tracking number, says I should get my EAD tomorrow!

So, as for the AOS which I completely forgot existed. I sent what they asked for in their RFE a while ago. I decided to check on that case and it says they received the additional documents and

"We will mail you a decision or notify you if we need something from you. You should receive a decision or case update by June 21, 2015,"

Is that in any way accurate? That would mean I'd have an answer within 4 months of filing for AOS. I'm thinking that's just a standard date they put on there from when they recevived my RFE documents. I won't get my hopes up and actually expect them to get back to me by then, but if they do that would be incredible.

Also, congratulations Angel! You deserve it after that long wait!

I think it's a standard date they just pick out.. Mine still says the decision will be made by the 29th of April

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Oooh good news by the way, I got my EAD and updated SSC and I start working in two weeks! I got a job offer from the NJ office of the company I worked for back in NL I'm so happy! I've been sitting at home for 8 months

Welkom op het forum

We didn't meet through video games exactly, but through the gaming industry still, we're both in the gambling/gaming business. Testing video games for casinos and websites. I just moved to the US 7 months ago. Hope your process goes smoothly

Haere mai!

Nice to see a fellow Kiwi I'm from Auckland and just moved to the US 7 months ago.

Hope you have a quick and easy visa process. If you have any K1 questions, you can always PM me if you want, I still have all the forms and stuff I used

Oooh you guys are lucky! I sent mine in in December and am still waiting for EAD. They keep screwing up my biometrics appts.. So sick of it! Just wanna work

Good luck with everything!! It's so exciting to send the package out. I hope you have a quick visa process

Hi there! That is indeed what I did for my RFE. Copy the letter for yourself and place the original as first page in the package. I had a cover letter behind that with all my info, husband's info, alien reg nr, receipt nr and the reason for the package (for example: response to Request for Additional Information concerning Adjustment of Status), then a bulleted list of the contents of the package and then I signed and dated at the bottom. Just stuck the requested stuff right behind that with paper clips. And I also wrote again on the envelope that the package was in (the internal one, not the post envelope) my name, alien reg, receipt nr and reason for the package.

I married a month after POE and we're doing the big wedding this July, plenty of time! For the first one I bought a very cheap but gorgeous sales rack wedding dress, we got the food from the delicatessen department of our Shop Rite, which was actually delicious! We had the wedding at his mother's church, very cheap, we only got flowers for ourselves, and we just had family take the pictures. It was still a great day, and very cost efficient!

Same as me, 12 boxes with clothes and personal belongings and some game consoles. Cost 500 euros from Holland and was delivered 4 days later, no security checks or anything! As long as you make a detailed list of what is in each box and the value of each item etc.

Hi there! Are you shipping small boxes or furniture too? I used UPS for my 12 boxes and they were great

Good luck I guess it depends on what you're moving, furniture or small stuff.. I had a great experience just doing it myself. But I had no couches or anything

Yes it was indeed for the EAD. The RFE said there were contradicting mentions of my last name, which I think is because my passport is in my maiden name and I filed with my married name. They wanted the affidavit along with another marriage certificate (I guess since I sent in only one for the whole package). A lot of people don't get an RFE for that though, maybe I was just the unfortunate one I hope nobody else gets that! However, for charmed2006 and viraj1303, here is the sworn affidavit I sent in:

SWORN AFFIDAVIT

FULL LEGAL NAME

COUNTRY: United States of America

STATE OF: {Insert State}

CITY OF: {Insert City}

I, the undersigned, MARRIED LAST NAME, First name, Middle Name, aged XX years, presently residing at {Full Address}, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare on oath that:

1. I was born MAIDEN NAME, First Name, Middle Name on my birthday, {Month} XX^th, 19XX.

2. I was married to LAST NAME (spouse), First Name (spouse), Middle Name (spouse) on {Month} XX^th, 201X.

3. At the time of my marriage I took my husband’s last name, SPOUSE’S LAST NAME, which made my full legal name MARRIED LAST NAME, First Name, Middle Name.

Therefore, the following names refer to one and the same person:

· MAIDEN NAME, First Name, Middle Name

(Maiden name, as shown on birth certificate and passport)

· MARRIED LAST NAME, First Name, Middle Name

(Married name under which the I-765 form was filed)

I hereby solemnly affirm that the aforementioned statements are true and correct.

Witness my signature this XX^th day of {Month}, 2015.

________________________

AFFIANT

Sworn and subscribed before me this XX^th day of {Month}, 2015.

________________________________

NOTARY PUBLIC

Btw, that name format is mandatory: LAST NAME (in capitals) comma First Name comma Middle Name. And also fill in the specific date that the notary will be notarizing it. Don't sign it, it has to be signed in front of the notary. TD Bank does it for free.

I thought so too and that is what I did send first, just the marriage certificate, and I got an RFE requiring the sworn affidavit.. And lots of other people did too if you search 'RFE Legal Name' on VJ. I guess my marriage certificate wasn't enough Maybe because my passport still had my maiden name..

I sent my stuff by UPS to myself at my fiancée's address two months before I arrived, not a problem at all. I just wrote up Excel forms stating, per box:

- description of item (jeans, hat, Nintendo Gaming Console etc)

- number of items (3 pairs of socks, 4 DVDs etc

- item count (per piece, per pair, per box etc)

- material item is made of (plastic, cotton, wool, steel etc)

- country it was originally produced in

- current estimated value of the item (by now after years of use, not what I first paid for it)

And then I added to every item description: NOT FOR RESALE.

Customs never opened any of my boxes. I had 12. The more you write down, the less they are inclined to check it.

Welcome to the forum! Saw you just joined today I see your question has already been answered, but I'm from NL too and just went through the whole thing, so if you need any help or whatever, feel free to ask! I still have all my K1 stuff

Hi there! I just filed AOS and was advised to do it in my married name because then all the cards will be issued in that name. I still had SSN in my maiden name, but I sent along my marriage certificate and a sworn and notarized affidavit from me that my married name was my new legal name. My EAD has just been approved in my married name so I assume it worked! Having the EAD and Green Card in the married name is probably useful for future endeavors anyway.. If you want the affidavit I used or anything else, just let me know!

I guess that might be the case because I just received my approval notice in the post and it states that the EAD is ready and has already been posted to me separate from the approval. And then it goes on to explain the use of the EAD. I won't be 100 percent convinced until I have card in hand, but I'm just glad something is happening finally

I assume I will still get my 3rd biometrics appointment soon though.

Haha, I know right! I'm having a blast with all this

The ASC's don't publish their phone numbers unfortunately.. Like I wrote before, last time after the snow storm I called the USCIS NSC and was advised to do a walk-in at Elizabeth, after which Elizabeth told me they don't do those. So that shows how much USCIS knows about the ASC offices I called USCIS again last week and asked about doing a walk-in and they told me again I can do that. Hmmmm do I trust them and attempt a walk-in? It's a 4hr trip both ways, could get rejected again!

So I just got a 'Case Approved' message for my EAD and it's been sent to me this week apparently, but I still haven't done biometrics! How can they have approved it without that? Not to mention my third biometrics letter is probably on its way as we speak, seeing as it's been weeks since I got snowed out. Am I supposed to still go to that, even though EAD is approved?

Alissa, thanks for telling me about the different experiences you had.. I noticed in your timeline it says two congressmen inquired about your case. How did you get that to happen? It looks like the 2nd one really did the trick haha. BTW, you're the same age as Marsha!

Haha cool we have a few similarities in our cases.

As for the politicians, our realtor was friends with the congressman and my then-fiancé in contact, but the congressman also has a web form you can download, sign and fill in that gives them permission to inquire about your case at TSC. The congressman did do that but it didn't help much, so we filled in the 'problem with government agency' form on the senator's website and sent that in. His office called my fiancé back an hour later, pushed TSC to pull our file, and 5 working days later we were approved! I wouldn't recommend that particular senator anymore though, a few weeks ago he was busted for money fraud or something

Welcome Hannah! I hope you have a smooth visa journey

Hi there!

Two things I read that I've experienced differently (just to throw in my two cents):

- I got my SSN with my maiden name when I arrived in NJ, but they wouldn't let me change it to my married name until I came back with EAD. They said otherwise they'd have to give me a new card too many times.

- The NJ DMV also wouldn't let me apply for a state ID or driver's license without the EAD. But that could just be my jerk office

If you ever need advice or anything, I'm home all day and bored I'm in NJ too, from NL and just changed my last name as well.