mimiye

Thanks to everyone for their great advice and support!!

As of TODAY, I am a GERMANICAN .....SO happy to have both citizenships!!!

Best

Mimi

Congrats to your husband!

I will be done next Monday as well! Finally. I am so happy to be able to have dual citizenship .....

Best

Mimi

Great news!

I guess if the process wasn't that fast, you had to postpone the oath again! But you are good to go!

My husband just took his oath on 06/08. He is done!

Sometimes we need to learn the hard way and it will cause some grey hair!

Viel Spass!

Sib

Congrats to your husband!

I will be done next Monday as well! Finally. I am so happy to be able to have dual citizenship .....

Best

Mimi

hey everyone!

I have great news! I picked up my Beibehaltungsurkunde from the German consulate TODAY! I am so happy. Finally! So now I can finally take my oath ceremony!

In terms of USCIS, I have to tell you that they totally ingnored my request for a longer postponment. I asked them to schedule my oath to August and they did not care. They sent me a new appointment for June 18th, which is totally crazy. I do not know what I would have done if the German consulate had not called to tell me I can finally pick it up. I was calling a lot last week, asking them to notify me ASAP and they did.

Wow.....what a process! I really learned a lot through this and I made many mistakes but I am glad and blessed to be able to keep my German citizenship and become a US citizen in a few weeks.

Thanks to everyone for the great support and advice!!!

Mimi

Mimi,

when you wired the money did you make sure to tell BOA that all fees associated with this transaction should come out of your account? Typically, fees are assessed twice: once on your end and once on the recipient's end for international wires (typically another Euro 20-25). I knew that when I made my wire but in addition to having had all fees come out of my account I also wired more because the bank wasn't sure if it would work (I'm in the midwest. Not many international wires going on here)...So I ended up slightly overpaying and of course didn't get anything back...Oh well. Just make sure that they receive the amount they need and that you won't have to add another Euro 20 in exchange for another $35.

I just recently went through the BBG process myself and am currently undergoing the US naturalization process. I submitted my BBG request mid December and got approved in February. Then I had to wire the money, hear back from the consulate, get the BBG to the nearest consulate representative and pick it up...So I finally got it last week. It all takes some time and the consulate isn't too quick in forwarding things. Meanwhile...I started the US process in March when I knew that they allowed me the BBG. Because that isn't a sure thing either so you must have been pretty sure that you would get permission and it sounds like everything worked out on that end.

Anyways...best of luck through the rest of the process.

Hi Panterchen,

so I went to a major Bank of America branch in the city and the branch manager did the wire transfer and fees come out of my account. He has done those before many times he claims but he did not mention fees associated with the German bank. You think I should call Mrs. Charon in Germany directly to check if they received the entire amount or call the branch manager of Bank of America??

Congrats you got the BBG already!! Hope the US process is going well also!

Thanks for the wishes! I will keep you updated!

Best

Mimi

Hi Mimiye,

My husband and I still have a bank account in Germany that we use for transactions like that.

But if you go to groups.yahoo.com/group/zweipaesse/ they have a special forum (in German) where they discuss BBG and I remember a post about transferring money from US to Germany. Just search the posts for Geld von USA nach Deutschland or so. There were a lot of interesting posts.

I am glad Mrs. Charon expedited your case. I was hoping she would, she is helpful.

I would wait the timeframe she gave you and then I would contact the embassy. Try to get the money part done asap.

Did you already contact USCIS?

Sib

Hi Sib

thanks for the info. I just used BoA and that worked. They transferred the money without an issue but with a fee of $35.

As far as the German consulate, I already contacted them to inform them about the BBG coming and that they need to call me ASAP. I will follow up in 2 weeks again. I just mistrust them after they created so much headache and stress for me.

I already sent off my request for postponement with USCIS. Let's see.

Thanks for all your support!

Will keep you updated.

Mimi

Congratulations on getting the BBG - I'm not very much looking forward to going through this process in a few years myself...

Regarding making a bank transfer you could try http://www.xe.com/xetrade/ - I've used them fairly regularly for the past 6 years when I needed to transfer money to Germany from England and once from US to Germany. HOWEVER if you want to do this I would recommend not doing the transfer option but the "bankeinzug" - direct debit kinda thing as the recipient account - in USD - is headquartered in Canada and at least Bank of America didn't let us do an easy wire transfer.

Good luck!

N&S

Thanks for the ideas on how to transfer money!

Since you still have a few years ahead, I hope you will not make the same mistakes as I did. .....It was a true learning experience for me, though some of it was also bad luck ( local consulate being a headache and adding to huge delays). Perhaps German law will have changed by then and you will not have to go through the process.

I will keep you all updated on my process!

Thanks for all your help and suggestions! Everybody here rocks!

Best

MIMI

I am glad you were able to contact her. If she said she will process it in that timeframe, she will. The problem seems to be your consulate. You have to pick up the BBG personally. Hopefully they inform you immediately when they get it, so you can go and pick it up. Maybe you can email the consulate, tell them you spoke to Mrs. Charon and that she told you it will be processed in the next 6 weeks. Also tell them about the rescheduled oath ceremony and that it would be really accomodating if you can pick it up as soon as they get the BBG.

There are a lot of countries were you don't need to apply for BBG if you get that citizenship (EU, Switzerland, e.g.) so Germany already allows dual citizenship without BBG in these cases. Maybe US will be one day part of that ...

Reschedule USCIS to August or even September.

Wishing you luck.

Sib

Hi Sib,

even better news! So I received an email today from Mrs. Charon that my application was accelerated and that she sent out the Beibehaltungsurkunde per curier and that the Atlanta consulate should receive it within 3 weeks. But she also stated I should not contact the consulate until then. Now, I know that the German consulate has been the bottleneck in my case and as you clearly stated I do not want my certificate to "hang around" there forever but be able to pick it up immediately. Time is really not on my side right now. She also attached a letter to the email for fee processing requesting to transfer Euro 255 to some German bank and show proof of that in the Atlanta consulate when I go pick up the document. Any idea, how to transfer 255 Euro to the indicated German bank account?? And do you think I still should call and/or email the consulate now to notify I want to be able to pick up immediately??

Thanks for all your help!!!

Best

Mimi

Please let us know how it goes with your BBG.

Heard from my relatives in Germany that a strong movement is building up to convince the German government to allow dual-citizenship automatically without this bureaucratic non-sense. Hope this BBG thing will belong to the past soon.

Best of luck!

--

Hi,

thanks so much for your concern! I finally talked to Mrs. Charon today. She looked at my file and she said that had I not called today, my application would have not been touched for another 3 months or so! She then told me that the German consulate forwarded my January application in March and that she will process it now within the next 6 weeks because I already received a 2nd oath ceremony invitation. She said I should get the BBG document in 6 weeks or so but need to tell USCIS to postpone the oath for another 6-8 weeks to be on the safe side. I hope she will really do as she said.

I hardly believe the German goverment will allow dual citizenship. I just talked to my cousin in Germany and she also has little hope things will change soon.

I will keep you guys posted! Hope this process ends soon!

Mimi

You can email to Mrs. Charon at the BVA in Koeln (Charon, Doris (III B 2) [Doris.Charon@bva.bund.de]) and ask about the status of your application.

You can also ask her whether there would be a possibility to expedite your application because of the dilemma of your scheduled oath ceremony and that you miscalculated the time frames needed for both applications (N400 and BBG). You have to have the BBG in your hand and you need to pick it up at the consulate before you can take the oath.

I don't think you will be able to take the oath end of May.

When you have the information from Mrs. Charon when your application might be done (she is very quick in responding the emails!) then write a nice letter to USCIS that unfortunately you can not attend the scheduled oath ceremony due to a personal conflict in schedule and you would like to take the oath in July/August/September depending on the information you get from Mrs. Charon.

You will not be denied because of rescheduling the oath ceremony twice!

Wishing you luck.

Sib

Das kann alles geregelt werden, kein Grund zum verzweifeln!

Hi Sib,

thank you for your detailed feedback! I really appreciate it. I will call Mrs Charon this Monday and see if she can expedite my application given the circumstances and then write a letter to USCIS. I just did not know whether USCIS would regard my 2nd postponement as lack of interest or even neglect so I appreciate your insights!

I found a similar discussion from, I guess, a few months ago, but they were lucky to get their BBG process approved immediately. They had not even submitted a BBG application and had received an oath ceremony invite, only to discover that hubby would lose German citizenship at that point. So they took action and submitted a BBG application. Mine is just taking forever and so I am frustrated. I do not want to lose my German citizenship nor reapply for N-400 so this is stressful to me.

But thanks again!

Ich versuche ruhig zu bleiben und hoffentlich klappt es irgendwie!

Mimiye

Hey guys

So I am writing today because I am in a dilemma regarding the status of my BBG process versus the US naturalization process.

Initially, I was not aware that it was better to do the German process first as I learnt that it takes so long. I submitted both applications end of January but have received my first oath ceremony invite a few weeks ago, asking me to show up May 7th!

I contacted a German lawyer and she told me that the BBG process USUALLY takes 4 months, and that my actions were not wise because I should have done the N 400 later.

So, I had my original ceremony May 7th which I postponed saying there was a family emergency. Literally, the next day USCIS sent out another note, which I received May 11th, asking me to show up to May 30th oath ceremony. Less than a month between the two!

So I called the German consulate in Atlanta. The guy today told me that it takes 6-9 months processing time.!!! He said that the German consulate forwarded my application to Bundesverwaltungsamt in Koeln March 1st.

I did some online research and found the phone number of the Koeln authorities. I am inclined to call but do not know if I should tell them to about my N-400.

Or should I tell USCIS the truth and try to get an oath ceremony postponement to much later? I am afraid they may reject my entire case, however.

Headaches!!!!

Thank you for your advice in advance!!

Best wishes

Mimiye

I'm to shaky to handle the instructions for updating the VSC list right now.... if somebody in a better frame of mind can do it I will appreciate it...

Thanks, Jema

Congrats, Jema! Thats a awesome gift! I received the same email today! I've just opened my email and received the "approval notice sent" notification! I am too excited.........

Merry Christmas

Carl,

I think you should seek an immigration lawyer to guide you through this. You dont wan't to make a mistake as you are also going through divorce and that affects your immigration status.

The lawyer will tell you what to do and how to navigate through this! My bet is that you get a few more affidavits from the grandparents stating that they took care of both of you, get divorced ASAP, and submit a hardship waiver based on divorce.

You are not at a loss as long you prove that you entered the marriage in good faith and you did so. Collect everything possible with both your names and get statements (affidavits) from friends and family.

Good luck

Hi,

I am not a lawyer but I think you have two options here:

IF your wife will really help you to get your 10 year green card, then I would reply to the RFE with the same evidence you sent in with your JOINT petition for removal of conditions, and add more recent evidence, such as joint bills, etc, to show proof of marriage. USCIS might then just approve you upon review of the evidence. OR USCIS may call you for an interiew, and then she will need to be present with you because it is a joint petition. In this case, I would advise NOT to get divorced before approval of the 10 year, but make the divorce final AFTER the approval.

If your wife, however, won't help you, I would go ahead and send in the requested evidence and accelerate the divorce, just in case they call you for an interview. Because then at least, you could reschedule the interview appointment, indicating that you are divorcing right now. Then, when you do have the divorce decree, you can file for a hardship waiver and go to the interview by yourself because the joint petition doesn't count any longer.

I don't know how far you are in your divorce process, and don't know your wife, but you need to weigh out those options, and maybe seek a one time counseling with an immigration lawyer....

Other members may have good advise as well.

Good luck and GOD bless

Hello,

So yesterday I recieved the dreaded RFE letter from the Vermont Service requesting that I submit more documents that provides evidence that my wife and I have joint ownership etc of various things. Now, heres the problem, although we entered the marriage with the greatest will to make everything work, to cut a long story short last November we decided to seperate. My American citizen wife, said she would still help me through the Visa process and so last January I filed my "removal of conditions" with the VSC. We have filed for divorce and we will be divorced in just less than 3 months, bearing this in mind what do I do? Obviously I have no more evidence of joint ownership etc so am uncertain of what to do? Do I refile and have heard a "waivor" get mentioned a few times, I assume I need a immigration lawyer?

Like I said we entered the marriage in good faith but it just didnt work out and now feel rather confused as what to do now,

I would really appreciate any help/info,

thanks

Carl

Hello all,

I need all the help I can get from you. I'm in deep trouble

My 2yr green card expired the same day as my driver's license Feb21, 08. I went to get my D/L renewed at the DMV on Feb22 but they needed proof of residency since both my green card and D/L expired. I explained to them at the DMV that I already filed for removal of conditions on Dec 16, 07 and that I received the biometrics appointment letter and did the biometrics. They told me I need to show them the approval letter. I still haven't received that! I understand it takes 5-6 months for the removal of conditions to be processed (formI-751), how am I supposed to drive in the meantime? Please help! What do I do? Any suggestions?! I'm usually good and on time at submitting my applications, but ever since my husband went to Iraq, I have not been the same. I also live and take care of his mentally retarded brother, and I'm just loosing my mind over this D/L renewal issue. I haven't heard from my husband in a week and I'm already going nuts! I don't know what I'm going to do. Please let me hear your suggestions, or if anyone knows someone in my shoes, please direct me to a solution to this mess.

Dec 16, 2007 - Filed for I-751 removal of condition at VSC

Jan 26, 2008 - Biometrics Appointment

Waiting for approval

did you take your Extension letter with you? you should have the INS extension letter already since you even took your bio. All they need to see is the extension letter. If they do not accept it at the DMV, then schedule an info pass, go to the INS and get a stamp into your passport-they will stamp it I-551. That will be accepted by the DMV. Then take your extension letter, your ID, perhaps your leasing agreement, your passport with the I-551 stamp, and your expired drivers license.

That hopefully works for you. I went 4 days before my drivers license and green card expired, and didnt have my passport with the INS stamp. just took the extension letter with me, but I understand that yours expired. good luck!

Hey all-

I just want to share my experience with all fo you residing in the Atlanta area as to the renewal of the georgia drivers license.

My hubby and I now live in Georgia. and we applied for removal of conditions beggining of this month. I received my one-year extension letter (NOA) two weeks later and took that to the DMV with with my green card, expiring on the 30th of January 2008.

I don' have the I-551 stamp in my passport because I do not feel like making an Infopass with USCIS. Just took my drivers license, the extension letter and my green card to the DMV and paid 20 dollars for a one-year removal of the license.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

Good luck and God Bless!

I'm in the same boat too. My drivers license expires on Feb.8 and my green card expires on may 8,2008 but i'm going to renew my drivers license on Jan.22 lets see what's gonna happen ok! By the way guys, how can i apply for extension letter just incase my gc will not arrive early after applying for new one before the exp. date?

Any reply is highly appreciated! Good luck and hope&pray everything will be fine in our I-751.

Which extension letter are you asking about?

You should get a NOA for your I-751. This NOA extends the validity of your gc by another year.

Carrdddddd productionn orderreedddddd, i checked my case online yesterday in the morning it said case received and pending...i checked it again in the afternoon, guess what..? i found card production ordered....wowww it`s a big reliefe...

my time line

9/20/07 sent the package

9/25/07 TSC got it

10/23/07 check cashed

10/28/07 noa received

11/10/07 bio appoi letter

12/6/07 bio taken

1/10/07 card prod ordered

they said it takes 30 days to receive the GC on the mail..

thank u guys for the helps and supports....good to everybody

wow! you have an incredibly short timeline! Congrats!

I know how it is in texas. I lived there myself. its a great taste but at first there are many hurdles in the job-hunting for foreigners. been through all that myself-to the point that I developed depression. good you guys have better opportunities in miami!

congrats

she could come as a K1 fiance, for example, and receive EAD at JFK airport. but then she is assumed to get married within the 90 days window given for K1 fiancees...

not as visitor, though

Hi, we applied from the state where our main residence (permanent address) was (i.e., in Massachusetts, and not Califronia where my husband was going to school only temporarily). I say the permanent address because most of our bills, joint banking account statements were still being sent to our address in MA.

There is a question on the I-&%! form that asks whether you (the immigrant petitioner) has lived at different(s) address(es) since he/she became a green card holder. If you say yes to that question, you are supposed to attach a separate sheet with a list of the different addresses, so we added the explanation to living apart right there (we didn't write much, just a basic explanation why he was there and why I could not go at the time).

Good luck!

thank you, I will say yes to that question and then add that sheet with the addresses. I saw that question. I appreciate your input as it related exactly to my current situation!

hope all goes well.

thanks guys.

We were in the exact same situation as yours until six months before applying for the removal of conditions.

My husband was living in California attending school for one year, and I could not telecommute, so I remained in Massachusetts.

we called a few lawyers before the application was sent, and some of them gave us a hard time because we were living apart... We decided to apply on our own (without a lawyer). We sent lots of financial documents showing shared accounts, joint tax returns, copies of itineraries of visits to one another during the time we were away, and pics from travel to different places and with family members. We also wrote an explanation letter for living at different address, and included the transcripts from school for my husband.

Our petition was approved without an RFE or an interview two weeks ago!!

Don't worry: if you have docs to prove your ongoing relationship, you should be fine!

Good luck!

Newbie,

thanks for sharing your experience. So I guess you experienced something similar with the lawyers. One question: Did yo u file from the state you mainly resided or where your hubby was going to school? I was going to write a letter, too, and then add his school transcript.

thank you!

Hi ALL-

I guess, we all had to make our sacrifices....

I couldnt find a job for 10 months even though I do have a university degree from germany..so I went to a temp agency and started as marketing analyst for a six month assignment . In Germany I was working in brand marketing at Kimberly-Clark and here I couldnt find an equally good job

Luckily, after heavy networking I found another contract opportunity with an agency for the Coca COla Company and they pay contractors pretty well. so I have been back in my brand marketing career but as a contractor.

even though, I do not want to do that, I will go back or lets say, I plan to go back to school to get an MBA. that way, employers will feel good about their american credentials. thats they only way, I will be able to succeed in my career.

thank you all for sharing your expierences....its great to read them

Working for a University has spoiled me I can't stand my job, but I love the benefits, so I'm only applying for jobs at other universities or with the local government - they have the same level of benefits.

I just got an offer from the University I want to work for on Friday, but they had the guts to offer me a temp job with no benefits. I'm gonna turn it down and continue applying

Hi Alex-

dont let ignoran't people fool or discourage you

when you come into a new environment and people notice that you are a foreigner, you will have to face hurdles, challenges. As others posted, it will take some time until you find a company that appreciates your foreign credentials and degrees.

Just continue what you have been doing, go to job fairs, look online, magazines, network!!, and try temp agencies at first

After 10 months of extreme job-hunting and almost developing depression, I finally broke the ice through an agency and actually was very very lucky to find outstanding job opportunities here in the US because I sold my German degrees and credentials as equally good as american ones.

good luck!

Hi Alex,

That's not okay what she did and I would call them again and inquire to talk to the department head of their HR Dep. That is discrimination because based on if you are a citizen or a green card holder they cannot say we won't employ you unless it is a government job. The girl probably did not know what a green card is and thought you had some sort of work visa that might elapse. Every legally employable person in this country has a valid social sec number and hence is insurable through employer sponsored health insurance - so she had no idea what she was talking about or just didn't like the fact that you don't have an American passport.

I had a very frustrating search myself - I was not accepted even for the smallest entry level jobs in my field, even though experts worked on my resume and I was well or over-qualified. It's tougher for a foreigner to find a job, as expected, though most people do not like to admit it.

I found a job finally in the IT industry - they so do not care where you come from and even enjoy diversity. In the end you will find something and it's going to be fine, we just have to work a tad harder in the beginning to "prove" ourselves.

Good luck!

Hi Anna,

I see you are from Germany....well, my husband WAS in the military stationed in Germany. thats how we meet.

but yes, I think you should use the time to go back to college. realistically, you wont find a job close to those bases....sorry, it doesnt look to good in those areas unless you are satisfied with any job and just want to make money to pay the bills. College will definetely move you forward in your career and once you get to a city you can compete with others.

wish you all the best

mimiye

kkg-

Sharing your experience is greatly appreciated.

I have a question: my hubby (US citizen) accepted to go to school out of state and we need to apply for removal of conditions

while I am supporting the both of us- I work full-time in a pretty good position- he is transitioning out of state.

so, today I aksed an attorney for advise and she reject the fact of temporary seperation completely and said that she was not going to assist us in removing the conditions and that I need to leave with him. We do not intend to be separated for long and I wish I could find a job there as soon as possible. But for as long as I am supporting the both of us, I am not going to quit the current job and we both struggle.

First of all, our marriage is genuine and we have all kinds of documentation, tax returns, same address, pictures, bills, car and renters insurance, bank statements...all kind of things.

What do you suggest to do? I am confused and started looking into jobs close to where he will be but haven't found anything. Plus, we do not whether to file from there (in case I will find a job there or here)

its so confusing... and we do not know what to do now

hi everyone,

my message is for everyone who are in the same situation as mine where husband and wife live apart due to work/school etc. i applied I-751 in august 2006, got interviewed in april 2007 and just received my 10 year permanant residency card in may 2007. on a different note, the NSC is a bit slower in processing than other centers. anyway, the bottom line is "DONT WORRY" that u are living apart. if ur case is genuine it will get approved. me and my wife are living apart for the past 3.5 years. in fact, i got my initial AOS approved for conditional residency in 2004 while we are still staying apart.

what we dont have

we DON'T have joint house leases/mortgages, no joint bank accounts, no joint vehicle related stuff, no joint health insurances, no joint credit cards etc..

what we submitted

travel/vacation itineraries, phone records, some photos, joint retirement plan, employer/school official letters stating our current employment positions, joint TAX returns (very important). thats it.

interview

both husband and wife must attend. took 15 minutes. took some notarized affidavits from family and friends. the officer was very nice. explained our situation. she took a note of it. no hard questions. be honest and be urself. u dont have to pretend. the officers understand that life doesn't always follow as per the USCIS guidelines. at the end of the interview, she did not tell us whether it is approved or not. however, i did a walk-in biometrics the same day. she said that i will receive the decision by mail and eventually my case was approved and got my GC.

last but not the least. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE FOLKS IN THIS FORUM INCLUDING THE MODERATOR FOR DOING SUCH A WONDERFULL JOB AND TAKING TIME OFF THEIR BUSY SCHEDULES AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS. HATS OFF TO U GUYS. U ROCK.

i will try to do my best to stay in this forum and answer any questions/clarifications/doubts to the best of my knowledge. i havent been actively involved in this forum so far because i don't know the outcome of my situatuion till now and any advice i would have given u will be without any supportive evidence. now that i have my case approved, i can provide some insights pertaining to the situation where the husband and wife live apart.

thanks again.

P.S: i also posted the same in BRITISH EXPATS. so i'll be checking both the forums

thank you, guys.

I guess I will go ahead and have the 2005 tax return amended...just in case

have a good Sunday evening

Probably no need for it but he can ammend the 2005 ITR if he wants as long as you were married any part of that year.

May get some money back also.

I just did it!