HtBlack

Hello all! Bit of an unusual question, and I hope you can shed some light or at least ease some of our anxiety. 

In November of 2017, myself (permanent resident) and my USC husband left the US to go back to my home country for a few months. I had a job in the US which I kept, working from home. In June of 2018 we decided not to go back to the US, so I filed an I-407 to relinquish my GC, I quit my US job and all that was confirmed and done. 

Now that we filed our US taxes for 2018 (from my home country, we did not go back) the state is asking us for extra photo ID and I'm just worried that we did something wrong with our filing... Since all the income was earned while I was still a permanent resident, we thought we'd do a regular married-filing jointly tax return but I'm worried that we messed up. 😕 One of my husband's family members is an accountant and always does our taxes... But maybe there should have been more proof provided? 

Just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and can clarify anything for us. Family member/accountant said there's nothing to worry about... But I'm not so sure. 😥 Am I worrying ahead of time? 

Thank you all!! 

Hello VJers! I surrendered my GC in June (of this year) after coming back to my own country with my husband. My receipt (I sent a tracked delivery mail, so they give you a paper receipt that states when it was delivered) shows it was delivered on June 28. 

I will need to travel to the US (SLC) on August 20 but I haven't received back a confirmation that the surrender of the GC has been processed. How can I know if it's been completed? I'm seeing people say that they added a self-addressed envelope to their i-407 but the instructions to file on uscis.gov didn't list it, so I didn't include it.

Will I have issues when entering the US? I can't postpone the trip, but I also don't want to waste money going there if I won't be accepted.

Thank you!!

We sent our papers on May 1st, received at CSC on May 3rd. 

Check was cashed on May 10th.

NOA1 was received on May 12th.

Biometrics appointment was June 1st at 1PM, went all smooth and super quick. 

Considering how fast all this was, I'm keeping my hopes up that it will be a quicker process than expected? Too much to ask?

Good luck to everyone out there!!!

Yay !

do me a favor, would ya?

pass this url around to future SSN chasers, please?

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/405546-ssn-howto/

I read through ALL the pages of that topic yesterday and this morning read your introduction again before going in at the Social Security Administration office to make sure I knew what I was doing, it was really useful. You bet I will.

2 forms of id:

1. passport

2. visa stamp in passport, as it's the I-551 document for you, it's actually an id issued by the U.S.A. Federal Government.

tomorrow, go in to SSA office, you can get the SS number or learn of other problems.

Your reply came in together from the one of the HR lady from the company that offered me the job and you both gave me a quite welcome confirmation. (: thank you! I can't wait to start working, yay.

And I'll definitely go tomorrow, make sure everything's okay and get the SS number.

Update: I went to the Social Security Administration office this morning so leaving here what happened, it might help others.

Reminder -- I am on a CR-1 visa, so I already have work authorization. I was only missing the SSN.

I went there and explained the situation, and it was confirmed to me that there was no pending "request" for an SSN on file (whatever, man, I clicked that damn button to ask for it, RAWR), so we did a new one. Clerk told me that for I-9 purposes, having the receipt of a request for SSN works as replacement for the SSN card itself; and that is in fact confirmed in the i-9 instructions. Here:

"If an employee is unable to present a required document (or documents), the employee can present an acceptable receipt in lieu of a document from the Lists of Acceptable Documents on the last page of the form."

(page 4 of the i-9 here http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-9.pdf )

List C includes the Social Security Number Card, on page 9 of the same document.

My husband came with me at the Social Security Administration but he literally did nothing, so he could have stayed home. I provided my passport and my original birth certificate, nothing else.

Now the last doubt is whether the "two forms of ID" they want me to take on my first day of work are ones I can provide. Here's hoping it all goes well, I emailed the HR lady! (:

Sorry, yep even said it in the title.

That's really okay. Your point still stands, I probably should have mentioned it -- but I had no idea I couldn't work without a SSN. I guess the whole "your passport stamp is work authorization" misled me into thinking it was all I needed...

The OP has a CR-1 visa, so is work-authorised in the US from the day of PoE. Without a social security number though you cannot get paid, which is a bit of a drawback given the 13th Amendment.

You should go to your nearest Social Security Administration office and ask about your social security number. If you asked for it to be automatically processed on your immigration application then has around a 50-50 chance of showing up by itself; since you have a job offer then I wouldn't wait.

An endorsed CR-1 visa is acceptable proof of employment authorisation for I-9 purposes, but it's unlikely they company will actually let you start until you've been issued with a social security number, since technically you cannot be paid without one.

I did ask for it to be automatically processed. I'll go there first thing tomorrow - wow there's even one like five blocks from me - and find out; thank you for the advice on that. I hope it works out, it would be a shame...

Hi all! I finally arrived in the States on my CR-1 visa a few weeks ago, May 22nd and recently started looking for a job because I'm going crazy, staying at home all the time. I found one that felt like a perfect fit, and they interviewed me today and I got the job! They were asking for bilingual English/Italian people, so fantastic for me...

When they called to offer me the job, I got an email from them detailing that when I'll start training (June 29th) I will need to bring in two valid forms of ID. Quoting from the email... "Please bring 2 forms of ID or a US Passport with you on your first day, you cannot start without these. (2 forms of ID: photo ID with social security card/birth certificate)"

When I was interviewed, they made me fill out a form in which I detailed my recent addresses and work experience and they could clearly tell I have lived in Italy all my life until a month ago. They still offered me the job, so I guessed all information was okay for them. But I haven't received my physical Green Card or SSN yet, and I want to let them know about this before the 29th of course. I do know that with my visa I have immediate authorization to work, but how does it work and how can I talk to them about this? Do they look into it themselves, does their HR department...?

I really hope I don't miss the opportunity. :/ it's good money, too and the people seem great!

Thank you in advance for the help. <3

AnnaMaria, thanks. It might sound weird coming from the person who wrote the thread above, but I have great self-confidence in my regular life here in Italy - I just feel like a newborn, coming to a completely new country, so I guess that's getting to me a little.

But that's great, I hope I have similar luck too! thanks again, really.

yes, I'm glad they aren't!

Thank yooou. The long flights are so boring. I'm taking with me my poetry notesbook so I can edit some of the things I wrote for National Poetry Writing Month, maybe that will help pass the time - I can't sleep on planes.

Oooooh really?! I booked it all together, of course. But thank you mallafri76 for specifying that it's only if I buy them together, it's an interesting detail. Like Morgan said it would be weird to buy them separately, but I can see it happening under certain conditions so it's good to know.

Thanks a lot to both of you, it makes me feel lots better to know that I won't need to dish out another 400$ if I miss my connecting flight because of busy customs or delays. I thought customs problems would be my own issue and wouldn't be considered enough to give me a spot on another flight for free.

I have left my luggage in POE and went on and caught the next flight before, They just shipped my luggage to my final destination......

Oh, that's great, how does that work?

I'm so happy I'm not the only worrywart. I worry about the exact same things as you do, I think it's only natural in our situation. After all, we are giving up our family, our job, our friends, our home and moving half way around the world to a place very different from where we come from and where we don't really know people or have a support group.

Have you read the POE reviews for JFK. I was also super worried about POE but reading the reviews for Newark, which will be my POE, actually helped me quite a bit.

About the job situation. Have you worked on your CV and had a look around for jobs? Setting up an appointment with a recruiter or with a job center might help you understand how job hunting works where you will be moving to. For waitress jobs, the best idea is usually to walk around to restaurants and handing in your CV and putting yourself out there. Also remember that many hotels have restaurants and there, speaking several languages is a HUGE plus. I used to recruit for the hotel industry and we didn't even call in people for interviews unless they spoke a minimum of two languages, so you are way ahead there with your four languages.

If you feel like you're getting close to your connecting flight time and you are still queuing up for customs, talk to a representative and explain your situation. I have seen many at the border being put at the front of the line because they were running out of time for their connection. People are quite understanding about that.

Good luck!

I'm generally not a worrywart, but I can't help it right now! It's good for me also to know that i'm not alone in this. Most of the POE reviews are very reassuring, and you're right, I can ask to be seen first if I notice I might not make it in time... <3

Since I planned on looking for work as a waitress and my husband, like you, said it's better to go around in person I haven't done much online yet - I've looked but haven't found much waitressing jobs for our area. Your idea about hotels is awesome! I hadn't even thought about it, so thanks for that. (:

THANKS, and to you also!

It can be possible if your quick about it, if you do not make your flight the airline will book you for the next available one that's all .

Yeah, but I'd feel terrible about wasting money for another ticket just because I missed my flight by, say, an hour. :/

I got my CR1 visa at the end of February through DCF, but since my husband lost his job right after that, we had to wait until he was settled again to reunite. And he's finally working again, and we have an apartment, so I'll be travelling on May 22nd... and although I've been to the US before, for "longer" periods of time, it's worrying nonetheless.

I'm sure I'll like the country and handle the distance with my family/friends well enough. I guess I'm mostly worried about finding a decent job, and about the POE. Regarding the job, I have a high school diploma in chemistry (it was a pretty good school here in Italy but I know diplomas don't really matter a lot in the US) and I've worked for seven years as a waitress... I'm born in Argentina, so I speak both Spanish and Italian in addition to English, with a sprinkle of German if it's restaurant vocabulary. I'd be fine working as a waitress in the US, at the same time I'm afraid to not be adequate; where I worked here in Italy, although I loved the place because I felt "safe" there, it has been noted to me that I'm a slow worker (#######, I have a blind eye and another one that isn't perfect anymore, would it be weird if I was?) but since it's been the only place I've worked at because I had a good contract and all of that, I don't know if their opinion is true or not and if it were true, I hope it doesn't impact my ability to keep a job in the US when I find one.

And about the POE... I'm flying on a Friday, POE is JFK and I get there at around four thirty PM; I have a three-hour layover, but it's Memorial Day weekend, what if it's full of people at Customs, what if I don't make it in time to my connecting flight considering I have two suitcases I need to re-check after I'm done at Customs, and then I need to get back in, find my gate. Doing this all on my own is stressful. I travelled on my own multiple times since 18 and before then, we travelled as a family to Argentina pretty often so I'm not afraid of airports at all - but immigration is another thing.

I should have chosen a different flight, but there were too many things to take into consideration and we were forced to take this one because of the departure/arrival time. AAA ALL THE WORRIES.

Sorry about the rant, I needed to voice the worries with someone who could understand. <3 I can't wait until Saturday, really!

I can't say for sure on the income, but I think you're fine.

I can say for sure the 2013 W2 is OK because they just accepted mine last week. I told my wife that if they asked for 2014 just to tell them the truth .. I hadn't received it yet. I did the I 864 EZ and submitted my tax returns for 2011, 2012, and 2013 along with the 2013 W2 which is the only one I had.

Thanks for replying, I hope someone else chimes in to confirm this! I do have his employer's letter signed on December 2014 detailing his hours and how much he's paid per hour of work, so I hope that in case the 2013 W2 isn't enough, that can serve as an estimate...

If something was wrong with the I-864 would my visa be denied, or would I simply get an RFE and have to mail them a correct version of it, do you know?

I'm worrying that my husband made a mistake when compiling my father-in-law's Affidavit, so if you could help me clarify this thing it would be great, because I have no one that understands this kind of things. :/

My father-in-law files his taxes jointly with his wife, but since his income is enough on its own to support me as joint sponsor, we're only using his income. So on the Total Income for the three previous tax years, I told my husband to put the total incomes from his father-in-law and his wife's taxes which are all around $100.000 . It says total income, after all.

On the individual current annual income, he used my father-in-law's W2 from 2013 and put in the amount listed in line 3, "social security wages", which is around $67.000. But in line one, "wages, tips and other compensation", the amount is around $62.000 .Should he have used that number, which looks like his income AFTER social security taxes? I tried reading up other threads, but since I am Italian and have never dealt with US taxes I have no idea how this works, and my husband is useless with numbers. I thought this was okay, but now I'm not so sure... there's also the question of whether he should he have put an estimate for 2014, instead of 2013's W2.

Thanks for the help... <3 I can't wait to be done with all this.

Hi everyone, and thank you for all the help you've given me and keep giving me! Me and my husband (the USC) are getting things ready for the interview. We got our email notification with the documents we need, and he's getting ready his I-864 and his stepfather's.

Question 1 is, husband started working on January 5th. For the previous two years he hasn't worked so he doesn't really have any income from then to show, so we definitely need his stepfather to joint sponsor, right? Even if he was hired full-time by this company, and he will make more than 125% of the poverty guideline for our household of two, because he has just started working.

If it helps his case, we could ask for a letter from his employer? He works for a big company but maybe his supervisor or someone can help.

Then... his stepfather files taxes jointly with his wife, USC's mother; but she's not cosponsoring because stepfather makes enough on his own. So as far as I understood, we have to request the tax account transcripts from the IRS, but also submit stepfather's W2s because they display his personal income, whereas in the IRS transcripts there will be both's income accounted for. So question 2 is, is all this right? Apart from the transcripts and W2 (and if any, the other papers he submitted), does he need to mail me anything else? Do I need proof of his US citizenship, birth certificate copy or something? This is all so confusing.

And question 3... in our instructions they say not to mail them anything. I thought we were supposed to send them the I-864 and supporting documents! Do we just show them at the interview? It just says to do the online form, collect documents and notify them so we can schedule an interview. Also, can any of you share when you were given an interview, after you requested it? I would just like to know if we'll have to wait a month, or a week, or longer. I'm so nervous!

<3 thank you in advance!

Hi there, I filied my I-130 on November 19th, the day before you.

I just received my Approval Notice today and my wife received her packet of papers today on the same day. So my guess for you is that it should come very very soon!? Keep your eye on the mail.

Good luck!

I actually thought I had updated here on the thread, as well as on my timeline. On the 30th December, my husband got an email with all packet instructions! We are just waiting for the police certificates and for my father-in-law to compile his affidavit of support so they can mail them over. Once I have everything I will notify the embassy that I'm ready.

It's all so exciting! Good luck to you also.

That's so lovely! CONGRATULATIONS <3

I will bring all medical history regarding my eyes, then, Thank you, it's really a relief to hear this.

Hi everyone! Today we received the email with the packet 3 instructions, WEE.

But there's bad news, of course... a few days ago I started seeing blurry, and since I have a blind eye and have had problems to the other one two years ago, we're always on the lookout.

Today I went to see my specialist, and I have the beginning of a cataract, and the retina infection to my healthy eye has flared up again. Last time this happened, my treatment lasted a few months, and I had eye injections three times a week so my eye was blood-red for ages so it's not like I could hide I have a medical problem... we caught it sooner this time so I might not need those, but I don't know how long the treatment will be. If I go to the medical while being treated for this, will I pass the exam or not? Will my visa be delayed?

Thank you all for your help. <3

Haha, good point! And there's no way of knowing, sadly.

Wow, that's really lucky. But still, the interview is the very last step, if I had to wait a week or two for my passport back with the visa I wouldn't mind as much because, of course, we're approved so that's what would matter. Even though I had read that for some people, they handed them the passport back even the same day, or they could go pick it up the following day at the consulate. Maybe I have read so many things lately that my brain is melting!!

I will, thanks for the support. <3 I'm sure it won't take too long at all, and hopefully everything goes smoothly.

Yes, I read about that and they were SO quick. Germans do have a reputation for being pretty efficient, in general, though - I can't say the same for Italians! XD

I can understand why it would freak you out. the I-864 is probably the part that worries EVERYONE the most, eh? :/

Thanks to both of you, and Stressed Out - I was really impressed about your case, having read around the topics it just sounded like it was so quick! I really hope ours is similar. <3 can't wait to get it over with.

Hahaha, you know, that's exactly what I was thinking as I typed my reply. I'm afraid I'm the kind of person who doesn't think others would exploit it, since I wouldn't. Pregnancy doesn't attract me very much just yet...

(Granted, I'm sure a lot of people would be happy because, you know, they wanted a child anyway and if a pregnancy could expedite the AP they would be happy to think about it, I'm not saying everyone would do it simply to beat the system.)

That sucks, I thought that maybe considering she's pregnant they might do something about it. :/ sorry for the silly suggestion!