cloudy

"Permanent Resident" means she would HAVE her green card and live in the US. This post is so incorrect. Why would she not tell CBP that she lives in the US? That's the whole point of having a green card! So you can live in the US and come and go freely.
How does it raise flags for the CBP? She would be doing it by the book exactly as she's supposed to. And they absolutely 100% keep records of "visitors" who come and go. Go enter your passport number in the USCIS electronic I-94 website. It has all your travel as a visitor.
"need to do all this"? All of what? Carry your green card as well as your passport? That's pretty much all you have to do is just carry the extra card when you go on a trip. It is LESS problematic because you're legally allowed to be in the US.
iammrhappy - just have your fiance apply for her greencard after you two are married (and AP at the same time) and make sure she doesn't leave the US until she has at least AP. In the future when she has her green card, if she wants to spend more than 6 months back in Canada, be sure to apply for a re-entry permit to get back into the US without a problem. Any more than that, she may want to consider citizenship but it's not something she NEEDS if you 2 only plan to reside in the US. Whether either of you has business interests in Canada, it really doesn't matter as long as you both reside in and spend most of your time in the US.
Another thing to consider if you 2 ever plan on maybe moving to Canada sometime down the road - once you are a US citizen you have tax obligations to the US for the rest of your life**. If she never gets citizenship and forfeits her green card by moving back to Canada, her tax obligations would end, but if she had already became a US citizen and then moves back to Canada she (like you) would be on the hook for US taxes on top of Canadian taxes. (Granted this only comes into play with income over a certain threshold, but it's important to know)
**renouncing citizenship would also be an option too i suppose but i think that's a somewhat difficult and expensive process

"Permanent Resident" means she would HAVE her green card and live in the US. This post is so incorrect. Why would she not tell CBP that she lives in the US? That's the whole point of having a green card! So you can live in the US and come and go freely.
How does it raise flags for the CBP? She would be doing it by the book exactly as she's supposed to. And they absolutely 100% keep records of "visitors" who come and go. Go enter your passport number in the USCIS electronic I-94 website. It has all your travel as a visitor.
"need to do all this"? All of what? Carry your green card as well as your passport? That's pretty much all you have to do is just carry the extra card when you go on a trip. It is LESS problematic because you're legally allowed to be in the US.
iammrhappy - just have your fiance apply for her greencard after you two are married (and AP at the same time) and make sure she doesn't leave the US until she has at least AP. In the future when she has her green card, if she wants to spend more than 6 months back in Canada, be sure to apply for a re-entry permit to get back into the US without a problem. Any more than that, she may want to consider citizenship but it's not something she NEEDS if you 2 only plan to reside in the US. Whether either of you has business interests in Canada, it really doesn't matter as long as you both reside in and spend most of your time in the US.
Another thing to consider if you 2 ever plan on maybe moving to Canada sometime down the road - once you are a US citizen you have tax obligations to the US for the rest of your life**. If she never gets citizenship and forfeits her green card by moving back to Canada, her tax obligations would end, but if she had already became a US citizen and then moves back to Canada she (like you) would be on the hook for US taxes on top of Canadian taxes. (Granted this only comes into play with income over a certain threshold, but it's important to know)
**renouncing citizenship would also be an option too i suppose but i think that's a somewhat difficult and expensive process

Just introducing myself to my fellow January AOS filers. Sent in my AOS/AP/EAD on Jan 20, NOA from Jan 26, and got my biometrics notice last week. I go for biometrics in downtown Boston on Feb 19th ...fingers crossed there are no more snow storms between now and then so I will be able to get there.

America is in the process of abandoning the Rule of Law. Without the Rule of Law, first world countries would not be...wait for it...first world countries.



If abandoning the Rule of Law was such a fantastic idea, why aren't tens of millions of immigrants trying to move to Syria, Haiti, El Salvador, North Korea, and Nigeria, to name but a few developing countries?

Don't wait for Packet 3! Use the link in the post above and email them what they ask for in the instructions. In the email, request they send you packet 4 by email. You could waste weeks waiting for it, or just send it in now. (...if timeliness is important to you. i know some people have situations where they aren't in a rush and if that's the case, then you could just wait)
I emailed mine 2 days after the consulate received it (once CEAC said "ready") and got my packet 4 three weeks later. And most people have been getting packet 4 even quicker.
Don't schedule the interview till you receive Packet 4 though.

Don't wait for Packet 3! Use the link in the post above and email them what they ask for in the instructions. In the email, request they send you packet 4 by email. You could waste weeks waiting for it, or just send it in now. (...if timeliness is important to you. i know some people have situations where they aren't in a rush and if that's the case, then you could just wait)
I emailed mine 2 days after the consulate received it (once CEAC said "ready") and got my packet 4 three weeks later. And most people have been getting packet 4 even quicker.
Don't schedule the interview till you receive Packet 4 though.

Congrats!! My NOA1 date is one day before yours. This gives me so much hope.

Hmm, apparently I'm not allowed to upload word docs. Well, here's a long post of it! I added extra info because while some things don't apply to me, they might apply to you
TA-DA! A checklist of documents for the Petitioner to gather to send to the Beneficiary.
The Petitioner needs to mail these items to the Beneficiary if they aren’t going to the interview with them:
A new letter of intent written within 30 days of the interview. I typed up a draft and put a reminder to update it when the interview is confirmed. Form I-134, aside from the physical form: A letter from your bank, typed on official bank stationary or with the company letterhead. This letter needs: The date your bank account was opened. The total amount of money deposited in the account within the past year (i.e. if today is 7/22/14, ask the bank for total deposited between 7/22/13-7/22/14). The current balance of all your accounts. For me, this letter took 2 days to arrive in the mail. A letter from your employer on official company stationary or with the company letterhead. This letter needs: The date you were hired, and your job title/what you do. Your annual salary, plus any bonuses if applicable. If your position is temporary or permanent. My boss had me type mine up and he signed it. **This step only applies if you are self-employed, however I had to include the bolded item because the Montreal Consulate wants it for “Proof of Domicile”. It couldn’t hurt to have these handy anyway, you can never have too much proof of income!** A copy of your last income tax return (I included two copies actually). I have copies of my W-2s, but I also went to http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript. This is the official IRS website where you can get FREE copies of your Tax Transcript. Apparently W-2s are easy to manipulate but a Tax Transcript is an official document. You can print or have them mailed, I had mine mailed. It took 3 days to arrive. “Report of commercial rating concern”. A list containing serial numbers and denominations of bonds and name of record owner(s). I Included: Savings bonds – I made copies of these and included the date purchased, the date of maturity, and the current worth of each bond. Proof of 401K showing current amount. Company stock options showing current investment amount. (This helps with proof of income too!) Proof of the petitioner living in the United States/being a US citizen. I included: A copy of my lease (Mine is 20 pages, lucky for me they gave me 3 copies when I moved in. You might be able to request a copy from your landlord if your lease is huge and you don’t want to scan 20+ pages) Copies of my last two tax returns, included W-2s and Tax Transcripts. Scanned copy of my driver’s license. Scanned copy of birth certificate. Scanned copy of the biographical info in my passport, even though they should have a copy already (never hurts to be extra prepared!) Proof of ongoing relationship between Petitioner and Beneficiary. I included: Copies of plane tickets (my fiancé visited 3 times since I filed). Copies of my credit card bill showing that I paid for those tickets. Text message logs dating back to the date I filed the petition. If you have Verizon these are available online but they only go back 4 months. I DID NOT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS, BUT YOU SHOULD INCLUDE THESE IF YOU HAVE THEM. Photos (we’re just not “picture people”). Chat logs from Skype or whatever mode of communication is used (we just use video so I don’t have this available but I know lots of other people do). Get them starting from the date you filed the petition until present time. Snail mail letters between the two of you, if you have them! Engagement ring receipt – if available, optional: I would’ve included it but I’ll be present at the interview so they’ll see it. Wedding plans (don’t have a date set in stone on this proof, just show the plans!). If you don’t have a set plan, just write up a draft of whatever you’re imagining for the wedding. Apparently you should send an entire copy of the I-129F package with all the proof that you sent to USCIS to your fiancé(e), if you made a copy before you sent it. Don’t worry if you didn’t because the embassy will have it. I made copies but I’m not going to bother including them personally. If you have it, it couldn’t hurt to include it. The following red text does not apply to me, but it might be good for your fiancé(e) to have these documents in case they are asked about these during the interview: If you were married, make copies of the divorce papers and include them! If you were ever convicted of a crime, include copies of the related paperwork (citations, court records, etc). THIS ONLY APPLIES IF YOU ARE ATTENDING THE INTERVIEW WITH YOUR FIANCE(E): I am bringing original documents of all the copies I made, EVERYTHING. All of it. ALL THE THINGS. I am keeping the original documents in a separate binder so I don’t accidentally hand them off with the copies. Sometimes the consular officer will request to see the original documents. ..aaand I included a picture of how much this stuff weighs, cause I'm a putz! It will be twice that amount with the original docs included