colin57

Thanks, the interview reviews for the Milwaukee office seem ok.  I found the VJ time line about right for the EAD & Advance Parole, hopefully your time line will be about right too.

I will share our experience, if you haven't had your biometrics yet I found the people in the MKE department very nice and friendly, as I said I was shocked, maybe even disbelieve that we might be one month away from me becoming a permeant resident, as with almost everyone it has been a long, almost 2 years since we started getting the paper work together.

Hi Everyone,
Just to keep people informed as to how the USCIS are working though the files,  A letter arrived today informing us that my AOS interview has been scheduled for April 16, 2019 in downtown Milwaukee, it was quite a shock to say the least as I only got my EAD card about 4 weeks ago and wasn't really expecting the interview before May since it is 174 days since we sent the paper work off and the average time is 256 days in MKE. hopefully everything will go ok. 

Hi everyone.
Just and update and to let everyone know how the USCIS are doing,  in the mail today was a letter informing us that my AOS interview has been scheduled for April 16, 2019 in downtown Milwaukee. It was a bit of a surprise since I only got my EAD card a month ago and I wasn't really expecting this until May at the earliest. Hopefully everything will go ok.

I am so pleased the EAD card arrived and Alex has a job so fast. Over the last couple of years we have found the VJ site is very helpful and useful, but the one down side, and the hardest part, is when you see others moving forward and you still waiting.
Again congratulations. 

Alex received his EAD card this past Monday! We're thrilled. He already had an interview and was hired on the spot at Costco, which is a dream for us. 

Now to wait on our scheduling for the green card. We didn't apply for AP because we have no funds for him to leave the country right now anyway.

Yesss yess yessssssss yes 
Card is in production! Yes!

Update:  We got 3 x NOA1's covering all 3 parts of the AOS and a biometrics appointment on Oct 10 at 11am about 20 minutes away downtown in Milwaukee. Another step along the way!

So just copy over whatever required.  you do wonder why we have to send everything again when really all the USCIS need to see is the marriage certificate , but that's the civil service the world over it just loves paperwork I guess. I don't miss drama at all, I am getting to old for drama, I want a nice quite life  that's why you won't catch me watching 90 day fiancé ….. I have a strong urge to kick the tv screen in! 
It seems that we have 4 envelopes coming in todays mail from the USCIS...… they look the same as the ones people have scanned on the VJ pages....  it's going to be a long wait till 4 or 5 pm when the mail guy gets here...…..

I kinda like that it's quieter and less hectic on this side of the fence. The scans (thanks @Naes!) were great for keeping our hopes high, but after we got our NOA2 the shine of the conversation kinda wore off and it started to feel like an odd blend of an emotional support group and an IT help desk in there. So I stopped reading. But after your standard Chinese-American wedding at a Greek restaurant in Tennessee, it's now back for the AOS fun!
 
I have to say that the paperwork for the AOS was a lot less effort than I thought it was going to be.I did no research and for some reason was thinking I'd had to send all the photos and stuff again, so I was relieved to see that's for the I-130 folks' AOS applications and not those of us who have been down the K-1 route already. So that was a pleasant surprise. Plus all of the important research was already done, so just copy over whatever is required.
 
The wife is keeping busy learning how to cook western stuff, which she is amazingly good at. I took her along on one business trip to Miami, and we have another trip planned in a month - to SF, LA, Phoenix, and Miami (ugh) again. I used to live in California and loved it, moved back to the South to spend quality time with my parents and siblings, and am starting to think this is too close! Cali is more home than anywhere else.
 
If you miss the drama of the K-1 threads, I recommend 90 Day Fiance. I avoided this show until now and thought I'd hate it but it's hilarious. Does it paint us in a bad light? Yeah, probably. Is it completely Hollywoodized? Could be. But it's nice to watch these (mostly) morons and have my wife cuddled up next to me knowing we're living in a completely different situation.
 
Biometric appointment coming in the mail today... woohoo
 
 
 
 

Hi, I am in Milwaukee, WI and I got my SS card without problem after we were married, but I had read that some SSA officers were saying the same as you found, it seems that many officers don't know that because we are here on a K1 and a current I94 we can apply for a SS card, I only took the application, my passport and I94, plus document RM 10211.530 (see the link below) which I didn't need, and was very carful what information I volunteered, the guy never asked if I was married and I 'forgot' to mention it, I was there 20 minutes while he entered the info and he said the card would be with me within four weeks and it arrived in three.
This is where I got my info from:  http://www.visajourney.com/content/ssn     You could go back to the SSA with the RM form and see what they say or try another office and hope nothing is in the system,  any VJ's have any idea's? 

@Naes Yaaaay! Good to see you again! My new husband and I filed our AOS package on Friday so still waiting for NOA1 over here!  Don't really care about the timeline this time around, just enjoying wedded bliss and going through the process ❤️Good luck and congrats everyone!

We have our marriage license and have arranged a time for the Mayor.  We are getting married at City Hall on Monday morning at 10:00 am followed by a feast and eventually a few drinks (damn, thats early).  A local BBQ restaurant will give us a private room and we can bring in our own lechon for no additional cost.  They will have all the rest of the buffet meal.  
 
We will try to expedite the PSA certificate so we can file the CR-1 ASAP.

I’m so happy and relieved right now. Months of stressing and worrying are over. I’m almost speechless right now. BIG thank you to everyone on this forum who’ve helped me since we started this process. It wouldn’t have been possible without you all. 

i am about to pass out my friends!!!
i literally can't stop shaking - the embassy emailed me just now and 
confirmed the appointment:
 
THIS FRIDAY 1:30!!!!
April 20th
 
UAHHHH!!!!  

Oh sweet girl, you keep talking to her.  That’s the best thing you can do for her.  A few years ago, around Christmas, I almost lost my sister due to complications with the flu.  She spent over a month in the hospital, in a coma and on life support.  Each time we asked her doctors what her chances of recovering were, they never could give us good news.  It was complication after complication, from pneumonia to sepsis and what seemed to be everything in between.  Even still, we stayed with her, we prayed with her, we held her hand and talked to her.  On New Year’s Day, she finally opened her eyes.  By the grace of God, He had heard our prayers and she was healed despite all odds!  It was a long road to full recovery but she pulled through.  When I spoke to her about that time afterwards, she said that she could sometimes hear us talking to her and praying for her.  And when she would hear us, she would pray herself, in her heart and in her head as she wasn’t awake to use her voice.  The point I’m trying to make is that she knows you’re there, Lucy.  Keep holding her hand and talking to her.  She can hear you.  So can God. 

Been awhile since I visited all the fellow Junies. On Sunday I will be leaving Chicago to go to Manila to bring my fiance back to the US! We will both be back on US soil on April 18th!

Thanks, it is difficult to know what to do so as to get everything right the first time and satisfy the Embassy.

@Naes congratulations, it has been a long time coming, I am really please for you

It is quite possible that we know and she doesn't since it is 5.40 am in Japan, but she did have a feeling that it was coming today.

Hellooooo Berries!!!!!
 
as mentioned before, WE ARE APPROVED!!!
 
4 hours after the name updated I was woken up by lovely @Swissmiss82 (whom I swore at for a good minute as I finally fell asleep at 2:30 🤣🤣 then I saw who it was but couldn’t wake up, then she sent me a screenshot of my approval. I advise anyone to have one of these @Swissmiss82 in hand cause she knew before my email came )
 
Now about the “name was updated” as my other dear @emekus94 said, normally “name was updated” is a correction on the petition about name or address or such.  However, when they were doing May I was really in to research on some of the updates that people has no idea why. One was name was updated (never expected to get one) I confirmed this theory of name updated 99% turns to approval with quite a lot of members here so yayyyy.
 
my case only got name update on 4/5 4am but with the date of 4/4 on the new site, and the approval came on the old site.
 
wow can’t believe I’m writing this!
 
received date: Sept 15
submitted: Sept 18
noa 2: April 5
 
I deleted the app so I’m not sure but I think I’m on day 204? from the received date. 
 
And I wouldn’t do this again even if they give me a million dollars! 
 
I don’t know how everyone is doing it, but during the past week I broke up with my fiancé 10 times at least. Because I wanted to stop the pain one way or another. And I couldn’t go to work for the past 2 days.... so I understand why couples are drained and why some people are not as “strong” (actually this is the wrong word to use)
 
So many people helped me through this hell other than the chocolate puddings that I ate. 
 
Maid of horror:
@Swissmiss82
Gal pals:
@NICK & PAULA @ChuAni @Jaquelly @Thelucybelle @LizM @vocaledge (Dude just ignore the title)
 
I have many more people to thank, but If I start I can’t end. (No seriously it would be the whole page) or some of those nicknames my brain without coffee couldn’t figure out to thank to! (Yer, seriously what was your nickname??)
 
I want to give a brief summary of how this road looked like from my eyes:
-June edition:the one with most drama
-July edition: the one with the most chill
-August: the one that made me go crazy
-September : expediters 
-October : the one who always caught up in someone else’s drama
-November: all k1 goes to california 
-December: mainly validation errors
 
Thank you @Shoegum  
More than anything!!
Thank you @geowrian for the scans and informed delivery and basically saving everyone’s life! You are the anxious persons dream 😁!
 
Let’s hope I never win an oscar cause apparently that speech would not go well...
(I am extremely aware I am forgetting people to thank to....I just started but half the page became people’s names....)

It is quite possible that we know and she doesn't since it is 5.40 am in Japan, but she did have a feeling that it was coming today.

GUYS !!!! i just stalked @Naes WAC and it finally says
 
APPROVED
 
SHE IS APPROVED! RIGHT NOW WOHOOO!!! OMG OMG OMG
THE WAIT IS OVER!!!!
 
GURRRRLLLL!!!!
 
@Thelucybelle @NICK & PAULA let's sing a song for this chic!

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG 
 
NAME UPDATED!!!!! WE WILL BE APPROVED TOMORROW!!!!!!

Good morning!
I called NVC this morning, and I have wonderful news! They received my case! (NOA2 process 03/23). I am so excited and nervous at the same. This process is moving so much faster. They also said that it would not remain at NVC for much longer and that they were going to send it off to the embassy in Casablanca in the next week or so. 
I am feeling extra positive today and I am crossing my fingers for everyone else!