kooliz

Great! thank-you everyone.

I was in the exact same boat as you (including the government job, NEXUS, and unsureness of what I wanted to do) but follow my timeline and let me know if you have any questions!

K

I still don't have an interview date. Does that seem normal to you guys? Regardless, I applied for a SSN and it seemed like a very straight forward process.

To answer my own question - I went into SSN office this afternoon and applied for a social. They mentioned I should have it within 4-8 weeks. With my EAD and passport, I was able to apply for a social and am able to work without one. I cannot, however, open a bank account etc.

Congratulations bro.... go go go...

Thanks!

Just received my EAD card. Light at the end of the tunnel! :)

If I were you, I would use the K-1 (fiancee) route as it would make your life much simpler and easier when adjusting status. You would also enter on the RIGHT type of visa with USCIS not being able to doubt anything about your declaration. Do it right, this is your life and hers.

Your workplace can hire you if you have your EAD already and you are just waiting for your SSN card to arrive. That is not the same thing, as trying to work without SSN in a way that the person is not even entitled to it...you are entitled to it and as soon as you get your EAD, submit your SSN application and if you tell your employer that you are just waiting for it in the mail, you should be fine. All the best! And congratulations behing halfway done with your AOS.

Thank you! Half-wait is much better than the whole thing appreciate your input!

Thanks for this everyone. I'll contact my work as soon as I get my EAD in hand.

What visa did you enter the U.S. on?

For the Social Security card, you will have to go to your local SSA office with the necessary documents, then they will mail you the card.

When my wife went to our local office and they processed her name change (she already had a Social Security card), they gave her a printout with a website or phone number (I forget which) that employers can use to verify your SSN before it arrives in the mail.

That's a great point. Thank you and I will keep that in mind. I entered on a B-2. In the middle of processing my AOS. Just hoping I don't lose the job offer because of the delay in getting a SSN.

Hey guys - on Monday my EAD card was put into production and today I received a job offer with a question about being legally entitled to work in the United States. Since the card is in production, I should have it by next week and a social the week following? Is that a realistic timeline? Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks!

Kooliz

APPROVED ON THE SPOT!

GOT THE LETTER AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

The interview took around 90 minutes (!), but it was very nice, casual talk, mostly about food, cooking, where we would like to spend vacations etc. A lot of jokes and we didn;t even really feel that was "official"!

Our IO was extremely nice and at the end she said "welcome to America!" and gave us some info how to apply for the second GC in 2 years to avoid the interview and just be approved only by sending the documents.

West Palm Beach office rulez!

Congratulations big time Tormentis! That's amazing news. You can finally breathe easy

To continue on with some big news - My EAD status has changed to document/card production! I guess I didn't even need to send in an expedite request. Phew.

Looking forward to reading your report.

Congrats everyone on their EAD card! I'm hoping to get a job offer on Tuesday and then try and expedite my EAD. New York is running extremely slow it seems.

Tormentis - good luck on your interview tomorrow! Please post a review if you can.

YES YES YES !!!!!

Got my Advance Parole and EAD card today ......

And here you were so worried about your timeline! you are way ahead of us! Good work.

Same interview date as yours!

Congrats to you and Excitedtimes. I feel like we have the same timeline but New York seems to be moving so much slower =(

My status moved to "testing and interview" on 8/26, so just 3 days ago. I know that my local field office (New York City) is always very busy, but I'm still hoping I get my interview date quickly like you did!

Same boat as you! or 3 weeks ahead and still in testing and interview stage. Let's hope we get a sign sometime this week!

Congrats!

Unfortunately, they will send you a notification only if you started your own account on USCIS website and turned on the notifications (yes, again).

What would I do without VJ? Thanks for this - I had no idea it needed to be done!

Phew.

Something strange just happened - without any notifications at all - I just typed in my case number on the USCIS website and my I-485 has been moved to Testing and Interview. I wonder why I'm not getting any SMS/e-mail notifications. hmmm..

Oh well! Yay!

hi kooliz, I actually started sending out my resumes the moment I received my NOA1s for my I-485 and I-765 as I figured it would take me at least 2 months to land an interview.

I have a very niche job scope, so I only looked for jobs that were a fit for my skills, qualifications & experience. I used jobsites like Indeed.com and Monster.com and also subscribed to email alerts whenever similiar new jobs is posted. I don't drive, so I made sure that the positions I applied for are within walking distance or somewhere i can take public transport to.

It also helps to have a solid resume & cover letter...I had to tweak my resume so that it's more American-style, and also made it a very visual infographic style resume. I also indicated very clearly in my resume & cover letter that I am in process of filing amy marriage-based Green Card and that I do not require any U.S. company sponsorship and I am anticipating receiving legal work authorization by the month of MM, YYYY.

Hope this helps!

This is amazing and super incredible. Thank you so much for writing a detailed response!

Good luck guys! I am part of the July filers and just a month ahead of you - hopefully my timeline serves as hope that things do move along despite little mistakes!

I will be shortly, got a job offer and just waiting for the formal letter to come through.

Congrats on the job offers for the both of you!!! I know how excited and happy you must feel! I'm now waiting for the official letter to come through before i start the expedite process.

Just wanted to find out if both of you are involving your local congressman in the process? I plan to contact my local congressman and send him the relevant information so that he can reach out to USCIS on my behalf. Or should I put in the request to USCIS first before reaching out to my congressman?

My first expedite EAD got denied because the agent didn't include any information why I wanted to expedite. Filed a new one and got an email to fax offer letter. Called yesterday because I haven't heard a thing in 10 days - they told me to sit tight..

Can you guys give some details on what type of job offers you've received? I think I should start applying to get this going! Also - keep us updated on how the expedite process goes with some details - it would be extremely helpful to the rest of us. Cheers guys and good luck!

Yes yes yes!

We got the interview date!

September 15th It goes fast

Congrats! Huge news =)

whew.... finally - got my biometric appointment in mail ---

scheduled for August 22, Friday- - hmmm, contemplating of doing a walk -in on wednesday ...

@kooliz - how was your walk-in today bro?

Walk-in was a breeze as well. Went to the Varick Street building in NYC. Took about 45 mins - no questions asked and I was in and out the door. Congrats on your biometrics appointment. No need for drugs - just patience!

absolutely agree with this! I wish i did my walk-in earlier.. My appointment was scheduled for 5 August but I decided to do a walk-in on 1 August as my husband wasn't available on 5 Aug.

My office is in Tukwila, Washington. I arrived at 8am and the security check was a breeze, I just told them that I was doing a walk-in for my biometrics due to my husband's work schedule. The whole process took an hour as the walk-ins had to wait for the scheduled folks to finish their turn. There were at least 5 other people who were also doing a walk-in biometrics..

Is anyone expediting their EAD?? I just got a job offer and would love to try and get my expedited EAD by the end of this month..

Congrats on the job offer. I'm going to start applying for work so I can work through the process. If I get a job offer - I may also need to expedite EAD. Let me know if you end up doing it and how it goes! Cheers!

You can buy most iPhones from the Apple Store at full price as unlocked phones. Make sure they are not CDMA. Most GSM phones are easier to use abroad.

I would not recommend the 4. The 4S makes sense if it's for basic things.

[Creating this thread for benefit of others who will do a search about this topic]

Biometrics appointment update - July 15, 2014:

Just came from a successful walk-in at New York - Varick Street office. My original appointment was set for July 23.

It was a good tip to go in the afternoon, there were barely a handful of people in the place. I arrived at 1:30 pm. There was no queue for me, my prints and photo were taken as soon as I finished filling up their form (for the usual personal information). I was there maybe 10 minutes total.

Three (3) people checked my appointment letter, the last guy even drew a circle around the appointment date and time. No one questioned why I was there 1 week ahead of schedule.

Thanks for this post - I am about to do it early tomorrow (5 days in advance) and I hope it goes well.

Just checked my mail - Nothing yet ... ;( crossing my fingers..

let me know kooliz if you have any news ?

Got my Biometrics appointment. It's set for 08/15 but I'm going to walk-in tomorrow. It arrived on 08/03 but I haven't been home for the last two weeks! Ah. Anyone else walk-in at Varick street in New York? Fairly simple?

I won't be home until Sunday so I'll know then! Phew.