blehhhh

So last year my wife and I went through the K-1 nightmare, finally got our K-1 visa last year and had our 90 second civil wedding ceremony in the courthouse in New York.

However, now we're planning to have a church ceremony with family, friends, the whole deal in Ireland where her family is. The plan is to just have a convalidation of the marriage or "church blessing" since we are already civilly married. However the parish priest insists that we go through all the diocese paperwork necessary for a first time marriage.

We have no problem doing this, however, I believe I read somewhere (maybe on this forum) that a church ceremony in Ireland is considered legally binding and would be considered being married twice.

Does anyone know if this is really the case? And if it is, what are the consequences of us doing this?

Our original plan was to just have a church blessing of the wedding with no paperwork filed, but the parish priest has said he will not allow the ceremony if we do not file the papers.

We already have the EAD and AP. The EAD has a misprint.

The green card has yet to arrive, but it's on its way.

Assuming the green card has all the right info, is there any need to pursue the correction of the EAD?

So we just got our approval for my wife's greencard yesterday. It should be arriving soon. Woohoo.

Does this mean that we will no longer need our AP or EAD documents? I'm pretty sure they are obsolete once we receive the green card, but is there any reason to retain these?

There is also a misprint on one of those documents (date of birth). Do we need to even bother to get this corrected (assuming the green card arrives with all the correct info)?

Holy #######, we haven't even gotten an EAD yet.

Oh well, guess we don't need it.

Finally.

Today, my wife received an email saying that a "welcome notice" had been sent out regarding her AOS application from a K-1.

What is this exactly? Does this mean approval? We haven't even had an interview yet. Should we be happy? If this is approval, when does the actual greencard arrive?

My wife's AOS application was sent to CSC for some reason. We have no idea why. We live in NYC.

Important question: Are they gonna make you pay ANOTHER fee along with the additional I-765?

The thing is: The immigration lawyer working for the hospital says, it's okay for her to keep working during "the gap." No change in pay, employee status, benefits, etc. Work as usual until June 1, after which they will need to see other evidence of work authorization.

Is this really legal or is the hospital lawyer saying this because they are short-staffed? As far as we're concerned we're following what the lawyer says. However, if he happens to be wrong (and I don't understand why he's right), could this affect our AOS in the future?

Hmm, so okay, here's what happened. My wife went to HR at the hospital and they got one of their in-house immigration attorneys to look into the issue.

He came back and said that she'd be okay to work until June 1 (day 90 from NOA1 of the EAD application). How convenient, because on June 2, she'd be eligible for an interim EAD through Infopass since that would be Day 91. Therefore, any chance of a gap is now gone.

I wanted to ask about the legal reasoning behind this, but hesitated because it might just be a wink, wink, situation and didn't want to shake things up.

I'd be curious if anyone knows if this is really legal and why. Also, should my wife challenge the decision based on our understanding (or mis-understanding) of the law in order prevent any trouble in the future? It might cost a few weeks in missed pay, but it would be better to lose that than risk the greencard.

Already went for an Infopass yesterday to express concern and ask for advice. The response to all the questions we had was "You have to wait 90 days before we'll give you an interim EAD." and "You can't work without an EAD." Like a parrot, these were repeated no matter what the question was, finally concluded with "NEXT!"

Of course, these are true statements, but we already knew this, and they weren't very helpful or friendly. So it was pretty much a waste of time.

Yes, they have brought this issue up with her a couple of weeks ago. She responded by saying that she still had some hope that it would arrive in the mail before May 9. Now, that chance is getting slimmer and we need to assume it won't arrive in time and prepare accordingly. She spoke with HR yesterday, and they said they would get back to her, as it seems that they are unsure of what to do as well.

They are desperate to keep her on staff, as there is a shortage of qualified chemotherapy nurses, but being a hospital, I'm sure they will never do anything to bend or break the law.

Moving this to a new thread, as this became a seperate, more interesting topic:

My wife and I are chasing the mailman down every day in hopes for her EAD. Her biometrics were way back on 3/27, but we've heard nothing. The case status hasn't changed online.

Unfortunately, we got caught in that trap of the 90 day EAD they give out at JFK (the one that will almost ALWAYS leave a gap in your work authorization). And unfortunately, she happened to find a great job during those 90 days where she had to start right away. So we gambled, and it looks like we're losing. Her 90 day EAD expires in a week, and so will our health insurance. We'll have to go around wearing helmets and pads everywhere we go.

The gap can be anywhere from 1 day (if we get the EAD on May 10, which is still possible) to 3 weeks (if we get an interim one via Infopass on Day 91 from receipt of I-765)

The question is: What's possible during this EAD gap? Can you remain on the payroll and take "vacation" time? Can you show up to work still and just not be paid? Can you still receive benefits? Can you ignore it and pray for the best? What has anyone experienced if you've been caught in this trap?

Thanks for the reply. That brings about another question: Assuming we don't get the EAD in time, does anyone out there know what the options might be (legally) if there is going to be a gap of a few weeks in EAD? Can someone remain on payroll and just take some "vacation" time?

As far as "volunteering," since she is a chemo nurse, I doubt they'd let her be on-site administering chemo when she's not officially on the payroll.

My wife is bringing up the topic today with HR, but I wanted to see if there are any ideas out there or anyone who's experienced this gap.

My wife and I are chasing the mailman down every day in hopes for her EAD. Her biometrics were way back on 3/27, but we've heard nothing. The case status hasn't changed online.

Unfortunately, we got caught in that trap of the 90 day EAD they give out at JFK (the one that will almost ALWAYS leave a gap in your work authorization). And unfortunately, she happened to find a great job during those 90 days where she had to start right away. So we gambled, and it looks like we're losing. Her 90 day EAD expires in a week, and so will our health insurance. We'll have to go around wearing helmets and pads everywhere we go.

In any case, are there others who have received their EAD in the mail even though their case status hasn't changed online? I don't know how accurate this online system is. My original I-129F still says it's pending online.

Hi,

My wife just went to the NY DMV yesterday and was able to get a non-driver's State ID (which has the same ID requirements as driver's license). She brought her passport with her K-1 visa page, I-94, and our marriage certificate.

I'm not sure why exaclty they gave it to her (not sure of the laws behind it). Honestly, I wasn't sure if they would. But I told her that if they didn't give it to her, that she should demand to see a supervisor. So initially, they wouldn't. A supervisor was requested, and he allowed her to get a State ID. I'm assuming that because you entered on a fiance visa and now you're married that that's proof enough that you intend and are allowed to remain the US for a long period.

In any case, they let her have it. This was at the Brooklyn DMV.

My wife recently went to the DMV here in New York and was denied a non-driver's state ID. They said they could not give it to her because she needed a visa that was valid for at least 1 year. The K-1 is only valid for 3 months. She already has her SS card.

Now, because she can't get a state issued ID, the banks won't let her open an account. Has anyone on a K-1 been able to get a state ID from New York? Any advice here?

There is a field on the application asking for a US SSN. Is it a requirement to obtain a SSN before applying for adjustment of status?