JACo

The thing with multicultural families, especially multilingual families, is that if you want your children to be fluent in both/all languages, the native speaker of said language basically has to speak that language to the child and with the child. I don't see this as being a disrespectful thing. This is a thing where your wife probably feels very strongly about her own language and wants to pass that language to her child as well, as part of an identity. Language in itself is not just what is spoken, it's also connected to your thought processes, feelings and an understanding of the world. The thing is, if an english speaking parent demands that both parents speak english to the child, in an english speaking environment, the second language will never be strong enough where that language becomes a part of the person's identity. Read about how to raise children to become bilingual and you'll understand.

As to you never being part of the conversation, I would talk to your wife and see if she would be willing to translate at least aome of the conversation. I also feel like you could take this as an opportunity to learn her language, at least a little bit, where you can follow what's being said. Even if you never become fluent enough to be comfortable in speaking it, at least you would understand what is being said. That would also show your wife that you respect her heritage and her culture, and maybe she would be willing to meet you half way so that you don't feel completely left out.

I started working with EAD, once that expired I had my green card. They didn't even want to see that. I asked twice whether or not I should fill in a new I9 since my status had changed and on both occasions they told me no. They just asked me something along the lines "so you do have it?" But didn't want to see it.

I have to add to my previous list

Plastic bags in the grocery store. They're just such poor quality and way too small. Then you can only fill them up 1/3 full and even then they might break. In Finland you have to pay for the plastic bag in the grocery store, but they're thicker and a bit bigger. In states, a week's worth of groceries need like ten bags, in Finland you only need two. Needless to say, we tend to use reusable bags. Also saves the nature.

And I completely agree with the sales tax. I have no problem with the tax itself, I just can't understand why it's not already included in the price that's on the tag. I feel like they're cheating when I buy something that costs 39,99 and end up paying over $40 for it

Yeah, I know, technically they are homemade.. It's just when somebody invites us over for a supper and tell me that there's going to be a homemade dessert, I keep thinking about goodies made from scratch and used to get really disappointed.. I think I've gotten used to it now though, but it still drives me a little nuts

The amount of artificial stuff in things... If I want to eat strawberry whatever, I want REAL strawberry flavor, not artificial stuff!

Cool whip. I cannot understand why anybody buys that stuff... You want whipped cream and you eat vegetable oil that tastes horrible?!

How tv is full of joint lawsuits and you need to hurry up, because "offer ends soon".... "Victims of mesothelioma or their loved ones, call now!" Been going on for at least a year and it drives me nuts.

How tv is full of medicine commercials that can save your life, but oh wait, we gota tell you that this and that and these could be side effects, and you could actually also die if you take this.. Plus, on a small print that stays on the screen for a split second it reads that none of the claims are FDA approved. Can't belive they're alowed to sell all this stuff... And I also find it strange that they suggest that you as a patient should ask your doctor if you could benefit from this medicine. Where I com from, I go to the doctor and the doctor will tell me my options

How when watching tv, you have to turn up the volume to hear anything of the actual show, but then jump a foot in the air and get a mini heart attack every time the show goes on commercial break, bcause the commercials are significantly louder than the show.

How some people think brang is an actual word.

That pople call it homemade and baking when they bought a cake mix, added water and put it in the oven.

That people LIKE these "homemade" cakes

That Fanta doesn't taste the same, because it doesn't have real sugar in it.

Bill O'Reilly, but let's not go there...

I wouldn't think they'd just completely reject it. In any case, if they find the application incomplete, they will either return the whole package (along with the check you wrote, I suppose) or send you an RFE, or a letter of intent to deny. In all these cases you can then just go ahead and see a civil surgeon because you know why they couldn't process the application. Even if you get a letter of intent to deny, it is my understanding that you still have 60 days to send them what they need. They won't just throw it away without giving you a chance to correct your mistakes. So no worries.

I think I have read on here about a couple cases, where the beneficiary had lost that same sheet and they sent their aos without it, but it was not a problem. As mentiond, they should have it in their files, unless the whole medical was lost. And I don't think that is a very common problem either. What's more common is they require a new medical, because they took so long to process the application that it is no longer valid. The medical done in the bnficiary's home country expires after a year. Sometimes though they don't ask for a new on in this case ether, so it all seems to depnd on whether the peraon looking at your file woke up in a good mood or not.

Usually the doctor should give you your own copy of the vaccination worksheet, at least if you request it. They should know it will be needed. However, in op's case, I would just go ahead and send in the AOS application without the ds 3025, like other posts you have read have said, that sheet, along with the full medical record, was in the sealed envelope that was taken from you at the POE. If you get n RFE, then you get an RFE and then you do what you must. But for right now, don't worry and just send all the other stuff you have. Maybe you can write a letter stating that you don't have your own copy, but it shouldn't matter, because the information can be found in the full medical report.. That's if you felt like explaining to them why it's missing. And personally, I wouldn't bother going to see another civil surgeon unless I got an RFE (just a waste of money, because it might not be needed.) if you do get an RFE for the vaccinations, then you just take all the records you have to a civil surgeon, I'm absolutely certain that they can work out your vaccination history even if you cannot provide the ds3025 to them. Best of luck to you!

CG&LGG: I am fairly certain that you will be in trouble later on with adjustment of status, bcause vaccinations definitely are a requirement and they need to be completed at the time of aos, unless you get a waiver. So if the medical done at your fiancees home country shows a vaccination report that is blank, you will more than likely get an rfe when you file for aos and your fiancee will need to go see a civil surgeon in the states and get a bunch of vaccinations unless he can somehow prove that he doesn't need certain vaccinations or that he has already had them

Well I realy can't believe it, but my case status updated yesterday saying they ordered my new card and today saying that welcome notice was mailed and to expect my green card in mail by November 20th. for real, I just got the NPIW letter last week! But, sure, I'll take it

I received the NPIW letter yesterday, dated Sep 9. I'm a January filer, and quite frankly I would've expected this stupid letter to arrive sooner. My medical also already expired in the end of August, so I guess next I'll be hearing from them is an RFE, unless I'm extremely lucky... I guess I just have to keep my fingers crossed... That whole thing about them requiring a new medical is just ridiculous. I mean, if I already cleared once, then what do they think I caught while I was already in the states..? that they're going to somehow miraculously find something in my health that makes me inapplicable? Good grief

Well, I finally got something from the USCIS - notice of potential interview waiver letter came in the mail yesterday, it was dated September 9. So I guess now I go back to waiting and in December I need to send in a renewal of my EAD.. Seriously doubt that they'll approve me by then...

Me too. Still waiting. My case status still says "fingerprint fee received" and hasn't been touched since Jan 27, the day it was received. I got my EAD and AP in March, but nothing since then.

A few weeks ago I went to the social security office to change my SSN name to my married name. They said they couldn't change it because USCIS hadn't updated their records to reflect my new married name. But I already have an EAD card in that name! How can their records still have the old name when they sent me something with my new name on it? So frustrating.

I had the same issue when going to get a driver license with EAD.. They just had to make a manual inquiry to DHS, to see if the EAD that I showed was really in their SAVE database. Not sure if SSA will do this kind of checking, but DMV did, and gave me a case number that I could check online to see when it got through, so I knew to go back to the DMV for another try. Apparently for some reason or another they just sometimes don't update their systems, and the government and state offices will check those databases and can't find you, so you can't get done whatever it is you needed to get done (in your case, name change), although you technically do have everything they need. Sucks.

Edit. Although reading your comment again, I'm not sure if it was an issue of your info not showing in the database, or it being there, but just in the wrong name... Can't you use your marriage certificate for proof of legal name change?

I'm joining this thread late too, but better late than never

Congratulations to everyone already approved! Wish my case would move along too, though... Been waiting since Jan 8th, case status still says "on January 8th we received the fingerprint fee for your case". Other than that, nothing. Well, I did get my EAD and AP approved in less than 60 days, but I want that green card too! as I'm sure a lot of people do. No idea where my file is at, if it's even left NBC to our field office or not...

Not sure if this is state specific, but with an EAD, you should be able to renew your temporary license to another temporary license that will expire when the EAD expires. Then when you get your green card, you can go ahead and renew it again to another temporary license that will expire when your green card expires... Which you can then renew again when you get your ten year green card.

Unless, of course, your state doesn't approve EAD as a form of identification that shows immigration status. I'm not aure why they would not though. Check their web page, go to their office with the information, if they want to be difficult, prove them wrong.

I hate DMV.

Book airline tickets under the name which is written on your passport. It has to match with the name on ticket. Upon re-entering the States, show passport and green card with proof of legal name change. No problem.

just out of curiosity, do you still have one of them older ten year passports? Just seems odd that you haven't yet renewed your passport in the same name as your other docs, as you've apparently already been living in the States for about four years. Not that this has anything to do with the situatioon, like I said, i'm just curious.

And I'm not sure if Finnish embassies would grant that extra page on passport stating a different name.

I have the same experience, went to the biometrics and my name wasn't updated to married name. I had sent in all applications in my married name. It was no problem though and they did not tell me to send any explanations to anybody. She took my biometrics normally, just put it under my maiden name and added my married name on the file too. I received ead/ap combo card with married name on it without any delay.

Figatelli, did you ever get a response to your email? And did you make an appointment to the deferred inspection site in Newark, or did you just walk in?

I also sent an email explaining the situation, now debating on whether or not to make the trip to our local site without an appointment, since they do not answer the phone to make an appointment. I'm just a little worried that I might get the same treatment as JulieandDanny, and waste 8 hours of driving.. *sigh*

I have the exact same issue! I filed for AOS in the beginning of Jan, and my return ticket was for Jan 17th. We tried canceling the ticket twice actually, because the first time, it seemingly did not get cancelled, because I still received info on that flight to my email. Then my husband canceled it again, this time one day before the flight and we got a sort of a refund, it is what they call an open ended ticket that we received and supposedly I can use that against any of my future travels, if they happen within six months.. The thing is, we never got any confirmation either, other than the open ended ticket number.

I don't even know what made me check my I94, but I happened to go check it and it shows that I left the country on that date (Jan 17th), when I did no such thing. We have been trying to call around, called the airlines at least three times, and they agree that my flight was canceled and their system shows that we have a refund ticket in there, but we haven't received official confirmation on it. We've called cbp deferred inspection site, and they were helpful, but didn't do anything about the situation other than tell us to call our "local" one (it's four hours away, hardly local, heh). Well, I've tried calling that local site three times during their calling times, but they don't answer the phone.

At this stage, I literally do not know what to do. I just know that it needs to get corrected so that the official system doesn't show I left the country without AP which would lead to denial of AOS, because it would look like I abandoned the application. (There have been a few cases of this on here).

I too do not have much proof to show that I did not board the plane... I'm starting to get really nervous for this

You are right about the chocolate! I find Hershey's horrible, because I'm used to Finnish chocolates.. Luckily, my mom keeps me stocked with the good stuff, and really, nobody needs to eat chocolate after all.

It isn't very hard either to find foods that don't have too much high fructose corn suryp in them.. I mean, sure, if you drink pop, eat candies and sugary treats, but those aren't exactly healthy for you even if you would eat the European made ones that are made with actual sugar. I do find that orange fanta for example tastes weird here, for the simple reason of making it with hfcs. Nothing I can do, other than choose not to drink it.

If you are worried about the hormones in milk.. Well, do you really need to drink milk either? You can get calcium from elsewhere and milk isn't necessary in any grown adults diet, really. Plus there are options too, like almond milk. Although I am not sure how healthy that is for you either.

Yes, the US uses a lot of pesticides and fertilizes that are totally banned in e.g. the EU, for health risks. In reality though, those residues that you will get from produce are very very small and the substances mostly affect the nature and the substance handler (the farmer handles huge amounts of them). In any case you should obviously wash and possibly peal your vegetables before eating anyway. And radiation... They definitely radiate for example apples grown in Italy too.. For a longer storage life.

GMO soy.. Well that might not be so easy to avoid, because if you pay attention to reading labels, then you will find that literally almost everything has soy in it in some form. However, I am personally not very afraid of that either, because mostly again, it is the packaged foods, and cooking most our meals from scratch, well I know exactly what's in them.

If the food here is going to kill me, then so be it. I'm going to die anyway

Food is fine, although I am weirded out by the amount of artificial flavorings they use.. but we rarely buy things that are ready-made anyway. And I'm not sure why ecerybody xomplains about the bread, at least our stores have a very big variety of what you can get.

Water.. Not so much, but we bought a filter to our faucet, because I refuse to buy bottled water. It seems to work pretty well.

They told me the same thing about the DHS verification when I went to change my name on social security card (had applied and got a number before marriage in maiden name, went back after couple days of marriage to change in married name). However I was told I don't have to report the marriage to anyone or anywhere and I even asked about it and made sure I understood correctly. i also received the same letter that you quoted on your post, about the DHS verification. I got my new ss card with my married name on it about 2 weeks after The visit to change my name. There was no problem at all.

Merry christmas everyone! congratulations to all that have gotten an approval and good luck to everyone still waiting!

HI Lenny and Sanna.. I've just gotten my visa (in Finland) so hopefully I can help. Your fiancee will not send anything back to the embassy, nothing at all... there are two things she needs to do first... complete the DS-160 and make an appointment to one of the doctors listed in the embassy letter.. have her go to ustraveldocs.com/fi and make an account there... Finland has changed to the electronic application, so it all happens online these days, therefore the instructions on this website are a little outdated. But she should make a profile on ustraveldocs.com/fi and follow the instructions there, they are pretty straightforward and easy to follow.

So...

complete DS-160 online (link can be found on ustraveldocs.com)

Make an appointment to the medical

Pay the visa fee on your account on ustraveldocs.com

Make an interview appointment on ustraveldocs.com

Good luck in your final stages, I hope it all goes well for you guys

HEi vaan kaikille / Hi everybody

Eric and Julia starts to K1 proses

Ihan aluksi haluaisin tietää mitä minun suomalaisena kihlattuna pitää lähettää sulholle usa:n joka hakee siis sitä kautta K1 minulle.

Moikka! Sun pitää lähettää sulholle petitioniin lisättäväksi allekirjoitettu "letter of intent", jossa ilmaiset, että sinulla on vakaa aikomus mennä naimisiin kyseisen sulhasen kanssa 90 päivän sisällä siitä kun saavut usaan. Myös paperi "biographic information" onkohan se joku g325 tms..? Allekirjoitettuna. Sekä sinusta otettu passityyppinen värivalokuva, jonka takana on sun nimi. Nyt ei ihan heti tule mieleen mitään muuta.. Vilkase tämän sivuston k1-guide, siinä on aika mainiosti kaikki tarvittava.

To the ones who don't speak finnish, I was just explaining what she'll need to send her fiance for him to send the USCIS with the petition. I also have good news! Our case was approved on Friday, so we are moving along It seems we really were lucky to be at CSC. I hope TSC will start moving faster too and all you guys will be approved soon too

Haha, my fiance absolutely hates salmiakki (the salty black liquorice) too! He even refuses to kiss me after I've eaten the "stinky candy"

Yes, we are lucky to be at CSC, so I guess I shouldn't really complain about how long the wait is, because for many people it's even longer. But I can't help it, it still feels like it's been forever since we got our NOA1. I live in the eastern part of Finland.. Sucks though that I'm so far away from Helsinki, not looking forward to the costs of my trips to the interview and medical...

Good luck with your process, hopefully we will both get our NOA2's soon

Hi!

We are a Finnish/American couple that's desperately waiting for NOA2 from CSC..

I am the Finnish part though. Out of the two of us, I am the one who looks into things and panics and reports to him of the things I've found out I've refrained from posting anything before, didn't feel it necessary, I guess, but since you asked...