BS1982

Nebraska 

My wife received her 10 year green card yesterday! We are finally nearing the real finish line of this incredibly grueling process...

11 hours ago, Bill & Sine said:

Received NOA with 18 month extension today. Submitted I-751 on 08/23, notice date 10/20.

 

 

We mailed I-751 to California Service Center, NOA came from Lincoln Nebraska. 

Received NOA with 18 month extension today. Submitted I-751 on 08/23, notice date 10/20.

 

 

Yes, my wife received her green card Nov 18, 2016

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10 hours ago, bokins said:

Any news about that?

We made an easy pass appointment, but the didn't provide any useful information. We then filed for a new combo card since we had a trip to Thailand planned and the original combo card would be expired, and we also made another infopass appointment. On the morning of our infopass appointment (Nov 8), the status on the green card changed to approved, and on Nov 18th we received the green card. We just returned from Thailand and clearing immigration at LAX was easy with the green card. On our previous trip, it took 5 HOURS for my wife to clear immigration at LAX with her AP card.  

My wife and I had our AOS interview at the Denver office on August 2nd, and the officer said we were apprroved pending receipt of 2 affidavits of sworn statements from people that have known both of before and after marriage affirming our marriage is bona fide. The officer told us that once he received these documents, he only had to hit one key on the computer and the green card would be printed in Ohio and mailed to us in 1-2 weeks. We were both very happy that the interview went well and excited to finally reach the green card milestone.

We submitted two affidavits that were delivered on August 4th. It is now more than a month later and our case status still shows as "Interview Scheduled". We scheduled an infopass appointment for Aug 31, but the lady could not (would not?) provide any information. She just said to keep checking our mailbox. My wife's EAD expires in December, and the USCIS lady said she did not know if the green card would arrive before Dec, so we should file for an extension for the EAD. We are very frustrated at this point.

Up to this point, we haven't had any problems and the process (while lengthy and bureaucratic) has been predictible. Any ideas what we should do next?

My wife and I had our AOS interview at the Denver office on August 2nd, and the officer said we were apprroved pending receipt of 2 affidavits of sworn statements from people that have known both of before and after marriage affirming our marriage is bona fide. The officer told us that once he received these documents, he only had to hit one button on the computer, the green card would be printed in Ohio and mailed to us in 1-2 weeks. We were both very happy that the interview went well and excited to finally reach the green card milestone.

We submitted two affidavits that were delivered on August 4th. Almost a month later our case status still shows as "Interview Scheduled". We scheduled an infopass appointment that we attended today, but the lady could not (would not) provide any information. She just said to keep checking our mailbox. My wife's EAD expires in December, and the USCIS lady said did not know if the green card would arrive before Dec, so we should file for an extension for the EAD. We are very frustrated at this point. Anyone else run into delays due to "affidavits of sworn statements"?

We received an RFE for one of our AOS documents for the same reason - claiming an original signature was a copy. My recommendation is to sign all forms in blue ink.

What is the OPs state of residence?

Get married in Colorado, it is incredible easy and Colorado is a beautiful place for your honeymoon:

http://www.bouldercounty.org/records/licenses/pages/obtainmarriagelicense.aspx

In Colorado you don't need a judge, minister or any type of ceremony. You can apply in person, fill out the paperwork and walk out legally married. Since your fiancée is under 18, you will need a signed and notarized copy of this form http://www.bouldercounty.org/doc/clerk/marriage-parental%20consent%20form.pdf , but I bet your current parental consent document would be fine as a substitute.

Good luck!

My opinion is that ALL visas to the US are going to be more difficult moving forward, especially K1 visa from countries with any Radical Islamic Terrorist connections or activity. I think this is true even if no immigration laws are changed.

Think of the many, many government bureaucrats involved in the visa process. Given the recent mass killings in Paris and San Bernardino, is a government bureaucrat going to be more or less attentive to every detail on the visa application? Are they more likely to get fired for rejecting a visa applicant that should have been admitted, or accepting an applicant that should not have been admitted? How would you like to be in the shoes of any of the bureaucrats that had anything to do with approving Tashfeen Malik's visa?

I think the best case is that visas will take longer to process, and the worst case is that many people who would have received visas before will be rejected with the increased scrutiny.

My wife entered the country on a K1 visa a little over three months ago, and I am very thankful. My heart goes out to the people currently in the process, and the people that start the process in the future. It is frustrating and difficult enough without terrorists making it even more difficult. I wish all the best of luck.

Too many people are overthinking this. I met my wife on eharmony and we sailed through the K1 process. We checked NOT an IMB. EHarmomy, asiadating.com, match.com and other online dating sites are not IMBs. We had screen shots of our initial meeting on EH, but for the OP I would simply explain how you met, explain why you don't have documentation and provide info showing that it is an online dating site. Simple as that.

I met my now wife in May of 2014 through eHarmony. We first met in person when I flew to Thailand in October 2014. In our I129f application I included a timeline summary and detailed documentation of our initial meeting on eHarmony, our subsequent communication via Skype, Line and email, and our meetings in person in Thailand. I think a summary timeline listing key milestones in your relationship that tells your complete relationship history is the way to go. I believe that if you make their jobs easy by providing good, detailed documentation of your relationship, your interview will be much easier. We "front loaded" our I129f, read everything we could find on VJ, paid attention to details and sailed easily through the process

Having said that, you definitely don't want to provide extraneous and irrelevant documentation. A "quit smoking" web site is clearly not an IMB, and you have met in person several times. As others have already pointed out, there is no need to include any IMB info. I think it only leads to confusion.

You should also be very careful and precise with your wording. Your original post confused many people (including me) by stating "because we still haven't meet in person yet" Making statements like that in your application or supporting documents will at best cause confusion and at worst cause a denial.

-Bill-

ps. When Boiler asked if you have "given up", I'm pretty sure he meant "Have you given up smoking?". Once again, pay attention to details.

You should also check on your auto insurance. You may not be covered by your husbands auto insurance unless you have a US driver's license.

I've used Western Union a number of times to send money to Thailand, and I am now looking for a better alternative. The fees initially look OK, but when you factor in the poor exchange rate Western Union gives, it really isn't a very good deal. XE is a good app for checking exchange rates, and when I factor in Western Unions poor exchange rates, the cost for me to exchange US Dollars to Thai Baht has been around 5%. Also, if you do bank account to bank account transfers is can take a very long time.

In the guide for applying for the social security number it says wait 2 weeks after entry. Yet in some posts I keep seeing people say you can do it right after entering because everything is electronic.

We applied for a SSN 2 days after entry into the US with no problem, and we updated my wife's name on her social security card 2 days after our marriage with no problem. Just fill out the SSN application ahead of time and show up with your I-94 and passport with the K1 visa for the initial card. After your marriage if your spouse is changing his name, return to the social security office with a new SSN application and a copy of the marriage certificate.

I use to live in Denver. A friend that i worked with there is from Thailand . He owns a Thai restaurant with his wife in Denver name Tommys. If you have not taken your wife there you should. The food is really good and I am sure your wife will meet other Thai wonan there

Thank you very much! We will definitely check out Tommys Thai Restaurant.

Hi, My wife recently entered the US on a K1 visa from Thailand and we married on September 7th. She would like to meet other Thai women in the Denver Metro area. Send us a private message if you would like to chat and possibly meet for lunch.

Thx

As others have said, no need to wait to get the SSN. We filed two days after entry with no problem and received the card in 1 week via US mail. Also, we did a name change for the social security card 2 days after our wedding. The SSN is needed for many things like insurance and bank accounts, so it makes sense to get it as soon as possible.

If an Amazon employee is unhappy working at Amazon - QUIT!

We are fortunate to live in a free country where we are free to choose our employer. I didn't like my last employer, so I quit and started my own company.

Sometimes work is hard. That why it's called "work" and not "fun".

Your plan of attack is exactly what I would recommend to all travelers. Really the best of all worlds.

For those that in the rush rush mode I personally think they are foolish. 99% work out with no change in plans, but if you are in that 1% group you're screwed financially as well as emotionally.

As long as the risks are understood and acceptable, how is that foolish? In 2 days I will be with my fiancée instead of waiting another 2 months. If there had been a problem with her visa, $600 in change fees wouldn't have "screwed" me financially or emotionally.

My initial post was to simply illustrate that there is not a "one size fits all" answer as to when to buy tickets. My method isn't for everyone, but it may very well be a good choice for some. Waiting another 2 months and paying high season airfare was not the best of both worlds for me and my fiancée, and I don't think I am foolish.

Google is your friend

Searching for : K1 visa packet 3 Bangkok

Leads you here:

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/thailand/591452/iv/k_instruction_packet_3.pdf

The standard response always seems to be "never book until the visa is in hand", but I don't think the answer is that simple. Last minute tickets can be VERY expensive, and some tickets allow changes for a fee. For my fiancée and I, we followed similar timelines to ours very closely to get a good idea how long the process would take. We also researched airline ticket prices. Tickets booked a couple of months in advance could be as cheap as $2,000 for both of us (me flying round trip from Denver to Bangkok and her flying one way from Bangkok to Denver). Last minute tickets were priced around $6,000! The change fee was $300 per ticket.

Once the U.S. Embassy had our documents in June of 2015, we book our tickets for 2 moths later in August. Maybe we just got lucky, but my fiancee's visa was issued with a couple of weeks to spare. Worst case, we would have been out $600 in change fees, much better than being out $2,000 to $4,000 by waiting until after the visa was issued.

My recommendation is to do the math and evaluate your specific situation. Sometimes buying the tickets early makes good sense.