kiwi5050

YES, YOU CAN TRAVEL WITH THE STAMP AND YOU SHOULD REQUEST IT!!

at our interview i asked for the officer to stamp my husband's passport because he clearly wasn't planning on it giving it to us. he said "we don't really do that anymore... do you really need it? i mean it's only good for 1 month." i said that yes, we would really like it if it was possible. so he gave it to us.

we went to mexico this weekend and my husband didn't have any problems crossing the border. he was very happy to be a free man again!

good luck!

the green card arrived today !! i wanted to thank everyone on this board for all of their help. i know that i didn't post a lot, but i'm pretty sure that i read every word that other people posted.

now that i have an idea of how this process works, i'd be happy to help anyone else who needs it. i don't know if ours was a uscis record, but it's pretty close. the green card arrived less than 3 months after we sent the aos package. 80 days to be exact (71 after we got the first NOA). it looks like now i'll have to take back all those horrible thoughts i've had towards uscis in the past months!

now my husband and i can start our *real* life together, knowing that no one can send him away because we filled out the wrong form, or didn't have a big wedding ceremony, or didn't have enough financial proof that we are a couple (it's had to have financial proof that you're a couple when neither person has money!! that doesn't mean we're not a real couple; it means that we're broke! being a student tends to have that effect.), or any of the other stupid things that i've worried about that could have prevented my husband from staying here with me. now we can both work and travel and live in peace! i wish everyone else here the same.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

i'm SOOOOOO jealous of your nice immigration officer! i would have given anything to get a smile out of our officer yesterday. but i knew that if he didn't smile at the offer of the kitten's birth certificate that there was no hope for him. luckily his bad attitude didn't prevent him from approving us!

again, congratulations, and i'm sure we'll see each other here in 2 years when it's time to remove conditions!

thanks everyone! and good luck to jayjay tomorrow and to everyone else who has an upcoming interview.

i am about to enjoy a bottle of champagne to celebrate and relax. luckily this week is spring break for me, so i get to sleep in tomorrow!

my husband and i had our (successful!!) interview this morning in san diego. here is our experience for those of you who are interested, but beware, it's a long post:

it went well in that we were approved, but it was quite stressful! because the man did not smile once during the entire interview. most of time we just sat there while he looked through our file. he asked questions about the affidavit of support and asked if we had our 2005 taxes. we don't, but we had the 2005 w-2s and paystubs and new employment letters. he only wanted to see the new w-2s. my father is our co-sponsor, and he was looking at the 2004 taxes and wanted to know why his total income added up to more than his two w-2s. uh, i don't know, i obviously didn't fill out my father's taxes! i said, that he is also self employed, so that's probably not included on the w-2s. the officer said "no, that's not it. that income should be included." that didn't sound right, but i didn't want to argue with him, and i said "well sir, i'm very sorry, but i didn't fill out the forms and i don't have any idea." he said "well, does your mother work" and i said that she did. he said "well, that's probably it, let me see her w-2s." i said that i didn't have them because my father's salary puts them well above the poverty line, and we were under the impression that if his salary was sufficient, that we didn't need to include hers (and my mother works part time anyway). he was not happy with that response, but i couldn't really do anything about it. i asked my mother later and she told me that the difference between the total taxes for my father and his w-2s WAS because of his self-employment income. the officer was wrong and mean. grrrrr.

sorry, i had to vent a bit.

then he asked to see what proof we had that we were a couple. we showed him envelopes addressed to both of us, car insurance in both names, credit cards in both names, our kitten's birth certificate (no, i'm not joking). we don't have a joint bank account. he asked, and we said that we didn't have one. he asked if we had rings and i said that we didn't (we're poor!). he asked if we had a wedding reception and if he could see pictures. i said that we did have pictures of the ceremony, but that we didn't have a reception, because my husband had just arrived in the US about 3 weeks before the wedding, and i had just moved across the country, so i didn't know anyone here. at this point, i thought he was gonna kick us out. he took my photo album and got up and left the room without saying anything. that was pretty strange. he came back and had photocopied some of the pictures. i told him that he could take some of the originals if he wanted, but he didn't. the pictures showed us with my family at christmas, and i personally believe that that is what convinced him that we have a real relationship. (my huband playing ping pong with my mother, all of us at christmas dinner, etc)

then he said (without smiling) that we were approved and explained that in 2 years we have to apply to remove conditions. i asked if we could have a stamp in his passport, and he said that they didn't give stamps anymore, but that if we REALLY wanted one that he guessed he could give us one. i said that we did (because my husband needs it to work). so he gave us the stamp and showed us the door.

honestly, most of the questions were focused on the taxes. very few relationship questions. the ones he did ask were: "what is your mother in law's name?" "how do you spell it?" "have you met your in-laws?" "when did you and your wife meet?" "describe that meeting."

nothing like the ones i've read about on this board like "who cooks dinner?" or "what color are the curtains." basically, if you have a real relationship, it will be stressful but fine.

hi,

my husband had the same question. we went to bank of america so that he could open a bank account and asked if he could get a credit card so he could start building credit. they said that if he didn't yet have a green card, he could get a "secured credit card" (http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/index.cfm?template=cc_secured#top). basically, he has to deposit money into an account, and the amount that he deposits will be his credit limit. it sucks if you need that money, because you can't touch it while it's there, but it works for building credit.

i'm sure they have similar things at other banks. i've also heard that you can apply for credit cards at department stores or target or walmart. they have lower standards than regular credit cards.

hope this helps!

thanks for your help! i'll call them tomorrow. i think we can handle $25!

Can anyone recommend a good (and by "good" I actually mean "cheap") civil surgeon in San Diego? My husband needs to get his I-693A vaccination supplement done before the AOS interview. We just sent the vaccination thing from his K1 medical exam with the AOS (we did not receive an RFE, and our interview is already scheduled), but now I'm scared that they will want the actual I-693A during the interview. In the interest of getting this done as soon as possible, it's probably a good idea to just go to the dr and pay them to fill out the stupid form.

So if anyone knows of the cheapest one on the list (I already checked the list on USCIS website, and there are about 30 names), I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

I was/am in a similar situation. I (USC) am also a student, but we don't live with my parents. I asked our lawyer, and he said to fill out the I-864 just like we did the I-134. I was the sponsor (even though I am WELL below the poverty line!), and my parents are the co-sponsors. We submitted those forms with the AOS, and we have our interview scheduled for March 28.

If you want to be sure, I would have your husband fill out an I-864 as the sponsor (with 0s where necessary, and if he didn't file taxes, you just need to submit a letter explaining why. I had to do that). His father should fill out the I-864 as the co-sponsor. I would get them filled out before the interview and get everything notarized just to be safe, and take them with you.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your interview!

when i was abroad and applying for the k1, the only place i could get something notarized in english was the US embassy/consulate. her parents could probably get it notarized there. your profile says that your fiancee is from armenia. if that's where here parents live, look at this link for notary services at that consulate: http://www.usa.am/consular.html#ns

(even if a non-consulate foreign notary would notarize it in english, it is likely that the US gov wouldn't accept it. that's what i was told anyway.)

good luck!

I don't know about not living together after arriving in the US. You might have problems with AOS. Unless you are planning on living together as soon as you get married, or something like that. USCIS might see it as proving that you don't have a legitimate marriage. I'm not saying that, but who knows what they would think!)

Moving isn't a problem after arriving in the US. I moved after the K1 process, but before my fiance arrived. We applied for AOS from our new location (different state, service center, etc). I think moving DURING either process might be a bit complicated, but between the processes is fine.

Hope this helps.

According to my lawyer, you should put your last address in the US. I had the same issue as you. I was living in Chile when we applied for the K-1. I put my parents' address in the US. I believe that you do need to fill out the I-134 for yourself, even if you don't make enough money (I certainly didn't!). My parents were the co-sponsors, but the lawyer told me to fill out the I-134 as well.

I also wanted to mention that you can put your last address in the US even if you don't wind up living there when you return from abroad. I returned to my old address for about 2 weeks after coming back to the US, and then moved to a different state. I've applied for the adjustment of status from here (new address).

My husband is also from Brazil and went through the Rio consulate. He didn't have any problems. I hope it all goes well for you too. Good luck!

i don't think you'll have any problems. i wasn't employed when my husband and i applied for the K-1, but my co-sponsors made more than enough. just make sure that your co-sponsors exceed the requirement, so that there's no question. we didn't have any difficulty with the visa process, and as you can see in my timeline, we got it pretty fast.

good luck!

i had the same problem. we got the NOA for AOS and EAD on Jan 25, and our case wasn't available online until yesterday, the day after biometrics.

when we went in for biometrics, i asked the nice lady there why i couldn't check the status online and she said that there are multiple uscis systems and they aren't connected. she kind of laughed and said "i know it doesn't make sense. i'm sorry! but it should be up there soon, so just keep checking."

hmmmmm, different systems that aren't connected.... that would explain a lot of uscis behavior. well, except WHY they have multiple systems that aren't connected!

just keep checking, it will come when you least expect it.

I have just got back from having my Biometrics done in San Marcos. They did them for both the work permit and the green card. I was just wondering whether the FBI name check gets done for the work permit too? And also, how long do you think it will take now to get the work permit through?

hi,

i can't tell you the answer, but i can tell you that my husband got his biometrics taken the day before you in san marcos (15 feb). i asked the woman who worked there and she said that "aos for k1s are being processed very quickly in san diego, within 6 months" she also said that the ead should arrive within "a few weeks." i hope she's right for both of us! keep me posted on how your process is going. i'm glad to have someone else in san diego who is at the same stage as us!

-molly