greg&dawn

My husband is Canadian and we just received his permanent green card in April. We would like for him to have dual citizenship & just want to make sure we plan appropriately as the years move forward. We had no issues during any of the K1 process without using an attorney. Looking for advice, similar stories, etc. 

On 4/12/2019 at 10:19 PM, Michael_88 said:

Hi Visa Journey!

 

So long story short  my Conditional Green card expired back in 05/22/18. I sent out form I-751 before my Green card  expired and was given an extension letter  valid for 18 months from the expiration of my Green Card. I received a letter from my employer a few days ago stating that my "Green Card and extension letter are not valid to extend my employment". Correct me if I'm wrong but if my extension letter was issued on 06/11/18 and my Green card that expired  became void on 05/22/18  wouldn't I technically have between now and  until 11/22/2019  to work and travel legally? Especially seeing how the government issued my extension letter for 18 months? I'm really confused and stressed at the moment. I also received this notice below when I went to check the status my application? Should I be alarmed? Answers would be great thanks!

 

 

 

"On March 19, 2019, we transferred your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, Receipt Number XXXXXXXX, to another USCIS office. That office now has jurisdiction over your case. We sent you a notice that explains why we moved your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you do not receive your notice by April 18, 2019, please go to www.uscis.gov/e-request to request a copy of the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address."

Just a note of encouragement....our timeline looks similar to yours and we received the extension letters and the transfer letter. Today, we just received our approval for lifting of conditions with no interview needed.  So, fingers crossed, you approval will come soon. 

Virtually all of us (Canadians) have had the NOA2 extended prior to our K1 interviews, in particular through Montreal since things can be slow...once you have the VISA in hand and that is all you show at the border along with your package.

Many of us have stressed about it but I hope that puts your mind at ease. Is there a particular reason you're uneasy about it?

Hi there,

Greg and I have not been concerned about his process because there is nothing unusual about our situation or anything that would be questioned. We have looked at the interview process and our approval as the final step; we could finally take a breather. After his interview and we were approved, I started reading forums about the POE and what to expect. I read things like creating a checklist of everything you have packed, being prepared for them to unpack everything, understanding that you may just end up with someone on a power trip that will make things more difficult than they should be, and then I read posts about expired NOA2 dates and border officials denying you access if that was the case. These people were devastated and when they attempted to explain, the officer was defensive and wouldn't listen. One of the moderators on here suggested that they ask to speak to the supervisor because they cannot do that. I agree and understand all of that....however, if a simple extension would bypass the risk of that happening, and apparently, getting it extended is something easily done, then why not just get it extended to be safe?

That was my only motivation here. We have a couple of months before he moves over so since we had the time, I just thought we could cover that detail just in case.

Perhaps no one can tell you how to contact because it is not a very common issue to occure, and the right people have yet to see this thread (the ones with experiences at POE who have been wrongly denied for the NOA2 being expired). Generally, as I know you know, this isn't something that happens so most people won't know who to contact since it doesn't come up. Maybe you could try contacting Montreal again and only ask how to extend your NOA2 and don't mention POE so that the person replying won't give you the same generic response? The person at Montreal who responded probably was doing the same thing we were and overlooking what you really asked because they were caught up on the POE part of it.

At the end of the day, please try not to stress and please maybe reconsider your feelings that we were all responding to you negatively. Some inflictions over text can be inconsistent with what the poster was truly trying to say. Of course it is understandable that you want to be prepared, but since I'm not sure there is anyone else you can contact about the extention you may need to prepare yourself that there's nothing you can do about the possibility of the officials at your POE being difficult and this may not be a base that you can cover.

Another thought actually, is maybe try contacting the NVC about extending? There should be a 1-800 phone number on one of your NOA's that is for Customer Service.. maybe they can help in some way? I'm not entirely sure, but it may be worth a shot if you continue to get no useful information from Montreal.

I hope you have a smooth POE and (like most things with this whole crazy process) all of this stress ends up being for nothing at all. I wish you luck, and I'm sorry there aren't any helpful answers to ease this process for you.

Thank you very much... They are good suggestions and your understanding is appreciated. This journey is actually what I'm holding onto for strength. I just don't know what I'd do if we got down to that day, and we end up being the rarity I've read about. I just wanted to cover any reason that might come up so he'll be by my side when we cross the border. Thanks again.

Just per your question as to who extends the NOA2, the US Embassy in your country does.

I understand your worries since there was recently an actual case of anomaly.

Thank you and I'll reach out to them tomorrow.

You've told me what I've meant, what my worries are, and what was in my email - and it didn't cost me a dime - just time I could've been sleeping. I know you'll get your last word in, but you'll have to find a new target....I'm going to bed. It's been a pleasure.

The only question I've asked is who extends NOA2s. That's it. I've admitted the information is unreliable and I simply wanted to know who to contact to confirm. So imagine my frustration when I reach out to a forum of 'like' individuals and not only do i get one condescending response about who to contact but multiple replies insinuating I'm just not bright enough to follow simple dialogue to understand that my question was answered multiple times, when in fact, everything but my question was answered (with the exception of 'obviously the embassy...thanks). I've never responded to threads in this way....you just never know what people are dealing with day-to-day. Can't wait to wake up in four hours to read all the other understanding replies.

Well, I did...I guess I'll try to verify the info through them. But sense I already emailed them (since I thought it was obvious too), and they pretty much said yeah, it's not right but if they say it, you do it....I just thought I'd plan ahead. But thanks for being so empathetic and understanding....we all know this process isn't one bit stressful, and being addressed with condescension will surely help.

Not my biggest worry by far....and not what Montreal meant....at least in the reply I read. Would someone that's been through an extension just tell me who to contact?

Extended for an interview....some consulates have notoriously long waits for interview dates that's why they automatically extend. Manila will automatically extend for a year. It is not for POE. You are trying to do the impossible. That is the petition expiration date. What do you need the petition for now? He has a visa.

Montreal told you that not because of the noa 2 expiration, but because cbp does have final say.

You are worrying about nothing.....but if that's your biggest worry than life is good for you.[/quote

I truly appreciate you taking the time to reply, but you're giving me answers that I know. The embassy even wrote me and said that the valid K1 is all you need BUT the CBP can decide at their own descretion if they have questions about any of it. I'm still hoping someone tells me who to contact for an extension. I'd rather worry about it now and at the very least have something official in writing just in case we get someone that's having a bad day, than not be prepared and get delayed. It wasn't one post I saw...I read several.

What were your experiences like at POE?

The NOA 2 is not used for anything at the border. The NOA 2 is good for four months and the visa six.....what the heck sense would it make to go off of the NOA 2 when the visa is still valid. Even if you wanted to you can't get the noa 2 extended as that's just for your interview.

I saw the thread you are talking about and if you read it all everyone said the cbp was completely wrong and made a mistake.

There was someone on here a few weeks ago that was turned away because of the noa 2 thing, but it was completely wrong, an anomaly, and ill informed agent who doesn't know their job.

I agree with the replies, as stated in my first post. I do realize it is wrong and I saw those threads...however, they turned the people away. I've also seen quite a bit of information on here where others have stated that the NOA2 is automatically extended in 4 mth increments up to a year. But, sometimes they just don't do it for whatever reason.

I'm hoping someone knows for sure and can tell me if I was to ask about an extension, who do I contact so I can be proactive. What they are doing can be wrong, and I could possibly demand to speak to a supervisor and get it worked out...or it could be a huge pain and added costs (not likely but not certain either). I am just trying to avoid it if I can.

Hi everyone,

I've really spent so much time looking for this answer, and I've written the Montreal consulate. I started looking because I read a thread on VJ where people said they were turned away at the POE because their NOA 2 date was expired. Well, we all know that the K1 Visa date is really the only thing that matters and the NOA 2 date applies to the deadline for the interview, medical, and police records. HOWEVER....because there may be a chance we will get turned away for this, I want to get an extension. We have time since he is not moving here until the second week of December.

I wrote the embassy in Montreal and they replied with a standard 'you should be able to get in since the K1 Visa is what they go by, BUT it is up to the CBP to decide because it is their final decision." That's what I am afraid of. I just want to cover all the bases I have control of.

So the question.... how do I get it extended? Who do I contact and has anyone else done this? Others have said that it is automatically extended but we won't know until tomorrow when he picks up the packet mailed to him with his Visa. I know we leave the main envelope sealed but I've read that some people can verify the extension within a document that was mailed to them.

So with all of that info, can someone help us?

Thank you so much,

dawn

Flint? I suggest contacting any of the union halls around there, asking them if they will have big new years eve parties on the 31st,

and offering

to clean up the morning of the 1st, in exchange for using the hall the afternoon of the 1st. Tell the caterers for the 31st party to leave all of the leftovers (food, drinks, gear, alcohol) and you'll clean it up for them.

Free venue, free food, free drinks, free electricity - but it takes a bit o time to get the union officers to agree to yer bacchanalia. If'n it was me, and I was in yer exact shoes, this is the exact path I'd be chasing.

[even if it sounds absurd!]

I think all of those sound like a fantastic idea!! I think we may ambush a Starbucks and get married on New Year's Day (the whole, new year, new life thing). Cakes pops for all and a big "I love you a LATTE" to wrap up the day!! We decided quirky was cheap and who knows...we might even have our 15 minutes of youtube fame....not that it has ever been a desire of either of us. LOL Thank you for all the Comments!! xoxo

Well let's look at it this way, by civil ceremony do you mean at a courthouse? My sister got married at one and it was sort of like in a back closet and an afterthought. No way to personalize anything. She could of worn a dress I suppose if she'd wanted to.

Now.. if you take our reception venue out of the equation and other extras we have going... technically we're having a civil ceremony. We hired an officiant and the location is a park rented from the town, but she'd of married us in the back yard if we asked her to. The officiant costs $150 and the town rental is $200. So all in all if you shop around you could have a more personalized wedding for not too horrible a price. An officiant will give you a civil ceremony just about anywhere of your choosing and most will work with you to personalize your vows, not something you'd get at a justice of the peace.

Yes...that's probably more on the line of what I'm thinking. We thought it would be nice to have a January 1st wedding date because it's symbolic of a new year, new life, etc. Plus, we would always be off work on our anniversary. But, the courthouse will be closed that day. So we did think of having it at a friend's house with them serving as witnesses, go as far as just exchanging vows and then have a reception type celebration later and possibly leave for our honeymoon at that time. Thank you for your response!

Some people have no problem with two kinds of ceremony when going through this process.

But for us, we just couldn't put ourselves through that. The day we say I do, is the day we say I do.. and there just can't be any more special of a day.

Consider an elopement ceremony at a B&B or renting from a local park or club. They are often much cheaper and tailored towards tiny romantic ceremonies with between 2-10 persons. In our case, we're keeping to a strict budget, used a lot of diy, carefully chose what to spend the most money on that mattered to us. If you have a lot of people that might attend, see if anyone can pitch in to help with chairs/tables or even potluck food. We didn't want a do-over, so our ceremony is it, and we worked on this for over a year - with all of our vendors being locked in within the last month. If he's planning on arriving in December, you have some months to plan something out possibly if you knew how much you could afford. I know MI is very cold those months though. Have a look over at http://www.intimateweddings.com/venue-search/?venue-type=&country=264&state=1122&city=1620 there could be some options for you. Think about things that make the wedding special for just you two, and not everyone else there. Do you *need* dancing or music? Do you *need* real flowers?

At the end of it, it's about what you want. How does the fiancé feel about it? How about the family?

We are both on the same page and just want each other. I have an extremely small family and his is as well - in regards to those that are close enough to travel to a ceremony. A get-together afterwards is an option but during the ceremony, we really will be strapped. There are preparations I'm making for him to feel at home here, and considering all other aspects of the visa, such as plane tickets, moving costs, etc., vendors are not even in the conversation. We just don't want to add budget strains to the acclimation of a new country and leaving a place he's lived for so many years. We are both on board with that. I was wondering what extras people included within a civil ceremony that made it more personal. I do agree with you though, I don't think I will see the necessity of having two ceremonies.

Hello everyone,

My fiance is from Canada and our interview date is September 25th. Everything has went fairly smoothly for us. His date of moving into the U.S is approximately December 11th. This is both of our second marriages and we are both in our late 40's - so all expenses from A-Z come from our own pockets (in addition to our current life expenses). Our initial plan was to have a civil ceremony on January 1st, file for the AOS so he could start the necessary wait time to begin working, etc. and then have a romantic ceremony in the spring with just the two of us and also celebrate with a honeymoon at that time.

As time continues to get closer, I know me well enough to know that the emotional impact of legally becoming married with have a very deep and personal meaning for us both and now I'm unsure if we should go ahead and put a little bit of sentiment into the January 1st civil ceremony. I just think we will always consider that to be our anniversary date - whereas some other forums have suggested not considering it the anniversary date but rather the romantic ceremony...I just don't think neither one of us will be able to do that.

So is there anyone that has went through this type of decision? We don't have the extra funds to do anything extravagant on January 1st - especially after paying that large AOS fee, but did you find ways to make it intimate for it being a civil ceremony. I really don't want to walk away regretting not putting anything personal and romantic into it. Would love some ideas if you've went through this dilemma.

Thank you,

Dawn

Awesome! We just sent ours this morning! Eeee makes me anxious!! hopefully we get the Packet 4 soon!!!

Is this where you registered for the interview setup? https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-CA/iv/signup/iv

And I know there's something to be paid but when is it for Canada? Thanks!!

Yes...that link is correct. I have found out some things that finally make sense. You will have to pay the 265 USD before picking out an interview date. The email they send you will say if you haven't yet paid, pay the day of the interview but you cannot schedule until you pay. Another VJ member said that they think it applies to the ones they schedule from the Consulate...those applicants would pay the day of the interview. Hope that helps.

We are very excited too! Good luck!

No one is going to check when you make an accusation of fraud without proof. You don't get this or will not accept this. No proof from you = no go.

Sounds like eye for an eye. Stay out of it. Let it work itself out. If you are not involved, then why would you want to be...just let them move forward and quit associating yourself with them. If they are in the wrong, those things will work themselves out.

You can go ahead and send packet 3 and yes, you can check off things that you don't actually have right now. They don't know you don't have it, but you HAVE to have it by your interview. At the moment it looks like October is the earlier for Vancouver and September is the earlier for Montreal, so you have roughly a month and a half to two months to get all the papers together.

You can not schedule anything until you have premission though, so you need to send packet 3 to them. They will e-mail you back with Packet 4 and the approval to schedule the interview.

Either way, myself and a few others recently did as it says to do in this: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/canada/303578/montreal/Packet3-K1-MTL.pdf

Others who have followed the above Packet 3 info have successfully gotten Packet 4 and scheduled their appointments.

This is unrelated but how do you get that timeline to show up on your responses??

Hi there! I'm in a similar situation to you! The crazy thing is that the CEAC status said ready today! It wasn't even pulling anything yesterday and when I called NVC last night, they said that our file had been sent to Montreal yesterday. So I'm really rubbing my eyes that our file is already at the consulate?

I have our packet 3 ready to go.. Just wondering if you did send the packet 3 without receiving packet 3 and if you've heard anything back yet?

Thanks!!

We did move forward and sent the three documents mentioned here: http://photos.state....ket3-K1-MTL.pdf on Sunday night. By Monday we got our email to schedule our interview. It was very quick. I'm glad we went forward with it.

Good luck to you!!

I had to pay it while scheduling the interview. keep in mind these forms are pretty generic and I believe you only bring cash if the embassy scheduled your interview itself, if not you pay while scheduling.

Yeah...we have sort of determined that. We are just going to pay it and move forward. I love this site for the quick answers. Thank you again.

It is perfectly legal and legit. When you apply for the marriage license, you choose Religious ceremony, judicial ceremony, or self-solemnization. I forget the exact wording, but I hope you get the picture. Then you can take your marriage license to the top of a mountain, declare yourselves married, and return it to the courthouse to get the marriage registered. At the same time, you can get multiple certified copies of your marriage license to send one in for AOS.

"Then you can take your marriage license to the top of a mountain, declare yourselves married," LOL....so funny!! Loved it!! I will have to look more closely into this. I should have reviewed the website I posted a little more closely. I normally do...my apologies.

I live in Oklahoma but my fiancé and I are considering marrying in Colorado. I contacted the county clerk office and she told me about a law in Colorado where you can perform your own marriage with no officiant and no witnesses. This is the most romantic thing we have found and want to do.

Does anyone know the specifics of a K1 visa holder marrying in a self solemnization marriage? Also, does anyone know if this is recognized in other states as we will live in Oklahoma. The law states in Colorado it is a valid marriage if you self solemnize the marriage.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!

I think that is a beautiful idea but when I did a search, I came up with this link and didn't see anything that supported it. I would love more information if you have it.

http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/officiants_requirements/

Okay...weird thing. We got our letter from the consulate to schedule our interview and if the fees have not yet been paid, the letter said to pay them the day of the interview...BUT....we are unable to schedule the interview until we pay. Anyone have any thoughts about this??? Or tricks??

I never did a 156 either. I gathered the packet 3 docs and faced it back. Almost immediately they gave me next step. My experience was same as chalandraae.

I had my interview July 8, was approved and now just waiting for the passport.

Thank you so much and congratulations!!!

Hey there, we have the same NOA2 date! I got my packet 3 in the mail on Friday and sent it back to the Vancouver Consulate on Friday. I did wait for the physical one but I'm pretty sure they mailed it to me on the 10th since that is the date that the letter was dated.

So good to know! Thank you!