JackLuminous

OMG! My wife just got her new card yesterday! Wow! Based on info we saw here back in Feb, we were figuring it wouldn't be done for another year or so it's done! Not sure what happened at VSC but thankyouthankyou!

Another Feb filer here. We mailed our stuff in on Feb 2nd 2009. No interview and card ordered.

Woo hoo!!! We got an approval letter this week! OMG...like everyone else, we were prepared for the long haul....I was hoping it wouldn't take a year since we have no prior marriages, no kiddies, etc. Plain application.

1000000 Thanks to everyone on this board for assisting us with kind words of encouragement as well as relaying their own experiences!!

W00t! Check cashed in about 2 business days. Got our receipt notice on Feb 3rd. Wife able to get her VA license updated with just the receipt (previously she had to bring all this identity info)

W00hoo! This is a TINY progress in light of the impending year-long wait for VSC but i'll take it :-P

Thanks guys! Also, we just got the actual card in the mail today! W00t! W00t!

Thanks guys :-). FOr the record, my wife (immigratin') was the calm and cool one. I was stressin :-). She said after the Montreal (5+ hour drive from where she lived) this one would be a piece of cake.

Oh, almost forgot, they did ask if we had any children or any previous marriages. Looking back, our case was pretty straightforward...

Thanks again, guys! Good luck to anyone still pending. I've updated our timeline for others to get an idea of how long it took in VA.

Congrats! Did you interview at the Norfolk office?

No, the Fairfax office off not far from Dunn Loring Metro

Hey, all, my wife got approved at her 8:15AM interview in VA. :-). Man, I was seriously stressing about it. I was worried that I didn't have enough 'official documents'. Since I do insurance and banking online, I just printed my statements, policy etc from there. Someone mentioned copying credit cards (she's authorized on one of mine) so I did that. The interviewer was nice enough (not the warm and friendly "nice" but the pleasant 'on the surface' kinda 'nice') and asked how we met, where my wife worked, if I still worked at the same place then she took a copy of our taxes as well as the relationship documents. SHe didn't ask for or look at our pics. As she asked questions she was checking off items in our file. There was a minor question about my wife's certificate but after seeing the original she was satisfied.

During all this she mentioned how it was a good thing we didn't go yesterday because nobody got approved yesterday...(!??)..dang nice thing to say...ANyways, she took the AP documents (both copies) and my wife's EAD then gave us a stamp in her passport. THis whole thing took 15 minutes if that. When we first got there, we went through their security goons then some desk, handed over our appt notice then waited for about 5-10 minutes before we called.

Thanks to everyone on here for your support and info. :-). My nerves are still frayed and, after all the stressing, the process felt...oddly anti-climactic :-P.

Next stop: New SSN card to remove the "without DHS authorization". Someone point me in the right direction ?

Okay your local office time line goes as far back as April 2006 so it looks like they are getting close. Seems like they are very busy or slow. I know patience is hard but it pays.I got my letter when I least expected it. No touches at all just my interview letter. Good luck

Wouldn't you know it: as soon as I start worrying and post on VJ.com something new happens. My wife just checked thee mail and there was an inteview letter for April 26th! Dang, I feel so foolish. THe same thing happened with the AP and EAD. It was taking longer than the norm and, right after I posted here, the bloody things showed up in the mail that day.....

anyways, time to search forums for all people's interview experiences.

Wow..great topic! I was just about to ask a similar questions. Is there anything else I would have to do to file jointly? My wife has been here since last July so (I think) for tax purposes she's considered a resident (?). This is a dumb question, I know, but will IRS raise an issue if they see no W2 for my wife? She hasn't found a job yet.

Also, mucking around with Turbo Tax, it gives me the 3300 personal exemption/deduction as well as for my wife (she has SSN) for a total of 6600...wasn't sure if this was right.

We are not in 09/08/2007 yet so yeah u r overeating a little bit. Have u been checking if your case has been touched? Did u get any NOAs yet??? so we can see every little detail it helps.

WOops....c'mon, I meant 9/08/2006 ..sheesh , our time line is filled in....

We filed in 9/8/2007, bio appt around 10/3. So far nothing yet.....am I overreacting? As I read about some people getting approved so quickly it just makes me nervous. My wife's case is pretty run-of-the-mill so I can't see what could be taking so long. Anyone is same boat...? 3/8/2007 makes it 6 months....5 months since bio were done..

Also, do the border people always take your fingerprints and a photo when they process your AP document??

Thanks to everyone here who posted their experiences. I'll add ours.

My wife and I drove up to Ontario from the VA area and on the way back there was a backup at the Peace Bridge, Buffalo. The officer was not very friendly and, when we handed the AP doc, she asked what that was. SHe was surprised that we had 2 copies (I thought we had to present both copies?? Someone explain?). Anyway we had to go inside for processing and that took 1.5 hours due to the amount of people there. INside, the officer doing the paperwok asked what the emergency was. My wife said truthfully that there was no emergency; we wanted to visit family for the holidays. THat's exactly what we wrote down on an additional piece of paper. The officer seemed somewhat skeptical that AP was issued for that reason. Anyways, he gave her a new I-94 then stamped the passport and ONE copy of the AP document.

Questions:

1. Does it really have to be an emergency? DHS issued the AP so why the raised eyebrows from field officers? Anyone traveling on AP for non-emergency reasons?

2. The next time we go through do we show the stamped copy of the AP or the un-stamped copy of the AP?

3. Does it make things go faster if we present the already stamped copy of the AP doc?

Thanks a great deal for everyone who replied to my post. I thought it only right to post my own experiences as well :-)

For the

Thanks! I was thinking that we had to do show stuff to a US official on the way OUT also. I'm just nervous, here :-). We're going to go use the Peace Bridge since we've used that before when I would fly into Buffalo.

Hi, my wife, a Canadian citizen, and I (US Citizen) are going to visit her family in Ontario. Are there US immigration people at the border who will process Advance Parole documents? I have no clue how this all works driving across the border into Ontario...anyone with experience in this?

Thanks!

I used my AP twice as well - I was pulled in on both occasions, first time was a 5 minute wait and the second time was a hour and a half wait. Both times was at Newark. I was just asked a couple of simple questions. I also took a copy of my marriage licence with me because my passport had my old name on it.

But all in all, it was nothing to worry about

Pauline

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Hi, Cassie,

thanks for the feedback. Did you ever drive into Canada with AP?

I used my AP twice as well - I was pulled in on both occasions, first time was a 5 minute wait and the second time was a hour and a half wait. Both times was at Newark. I was just asked a couple of simple questions. I also took a copy of my marriage licence with me because my passport had my old name on it.

But all in all, it was nothing to worry about

Pauline

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

We just got my wife's AP in the mail today but it in there somewhere it gives the impression that the border person can just yank you if they want to...the wording makes me uneasy about us going to Canada for the holidays...

That is certainly weird. I assume they decided that you needed to go for interview after all.

...checked online and it said the same thing "MISSOURI SERVICE CENTER" for my wife's EAD........

OMG..I am such a dee dee dee. My wife and I went out for a walk and checked the mailbox again. Whadyaknow 3 NOAs for EAD/AP/AOS... ...pardon me while I hang my head

Took 12 days to get a NOA from date of receipt at Chicago. Relax and give it a bit longer. Waiting's the majority of the AOS game.

Thanks, guys. I was fearing things got jacked somewhere between a S. MArtinez signing for it and now...I'll delay the nail-biting till 2 more weeks.

Hi, we sent out our AOS app overnight to the Chicago Lockbox last week and so far we have no idea if they are doing anything to/with it. It's been over a week and we haven't received any notices or anything. I don't even see the checks being cashed on my bank account yet. I am more than a little nervous...I would have expected the checks to be cashed right away like when I sent in the I-129F. Does it take more than a week before you see anything happening?

Did I read this wrong? The photos for the Advanced Parole document need to be the old-style 3/4 view of the right side of your face?? Is this true?

As a K-1 she was issued the right type of SSN card. Once she has permanent resident status she can apply to be issued an unrestricted SSN card. The restriction only means she can't use the SSN card as work authorization. It does not otherwise affect the validity of the card or number. Until she has an unrestricted SSN card she will need to provide an EAD card for work authorization for the form I-9 to be hired.

Okie dokie! Thanks for clearing that up for us, MDYoung. My apologies for not going through the forum/search sooner. I guess I keep expecting things to get screwed up somewhere in the big Gov machine.....