Russ&Caro

Secondary inspection happens to many of us, including US citizens. When I went to visit my now-wife for the first time in Colombia, 15 yrs ago, I wasn't very smooth in answering the questions about the purpose of my visit at the initial passport inspection. Off they sent me to secondary inspection to ask me many more questions. 

I would guess that the info they put into the system about your uncle, etc., was at the discretion of the officer asking the questions. I wouldn't worry about the time differences as related to your answers. CBP handles international time discrepancies every minute of their jobs.

I would never call secondary inspections pleasant but based on what you're telling us I would guess that you're fine.

1 hour ago, SAT said:

Stopped by the office. Everyone wishes the former bosses were back. 

No one enjoys going to work there now. 

So you sold the business? I was under the impression that you and your partners had dissolved it. If you sold it you should send out drink coupons to all participants in this thread. Obviously you're rolling in the dough.

Seems like you should probably call the local office, i.e. Pittsburgh. Generally customer service at the local offices are hit or miss and sometimes one gets the run around. Gotta be patient. Just keep calling back until you get someone who can tell you when the next oath ceremony will take place. Honestly, I wouldn't take much stock in the online completion dates that are projected on the site. As I recall, these dates fluctuated some for my wife a couple of years ago before she finally had her ceremony. Good luck.

I can't wait for retirement. I'm not going to sleep 12 hours but 8 would be nice. I might get 8 once a month these days.

Got new specs myself yesterday. I remember being impressed by the return of the thick black plastic frames trend (think Clark Kent) of 4 or 5 years ago and sampled a few pairs back then but demurred thinking it was too radical a change for me. My tombstone epitaph should probably read: Dreamed of being a Non-conformist.

In my defense, after re-watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on a streaming channel the other night, I recalled that I read the book at the ripe age of 13, two years before Jack Nicholson made the story famous. It would be cool to see the old library card from which I borrowed the book from a small town library in Wyoming. For those who never experienced it, some libraries kept an index card within a pocket taped on the inside cover of each book. The card contained the last or current borrower's name at the end of a list of previous borrowers' names. In this age of HIPAA, PII, PHI, etc., not sure if such a system would survive today.

3 hours ago, SAT said:

I better get to BJs before the crowd hits it tomorrow...

Albertsons, every first Weds of the month, 10% off entire grocery bill for being over 55. Alcohol purchases, sadly excepted.

4 minutes ago, SAT said:

 

Now I didn't notice this back in the summer, but a junkie rifled through the Yukon overt the summer, I thought he only took the change, but he took my light hunting boots man! I just recently remembered leaving them in there. And, it's hunting time!

 

Niki get me a pair of these? Size 10W. Thanks babe...

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-axis-gore-tex-insulated-hunting-boots-for-men

Almost nailed the cost. Before I clicked on the link I thought to myself, I bet these cost $150 a pair.

I dealt with some thievery of my automobiles some years ago. Wasn't pleasant. In one case, instead of thieves taking things from my car, a prostitute was using it as some sort of staging area for a week as I found dirty lingerie, condoms, makeup #######, etc., in the trunk and backseat. The cops who found it refused to meet me at the car. They just told me the address of where to pick it up. Nice. I was thankful I wasn't mugged as I retrieved my own car.

By the way, is any other city divided into "boroughs"? Why does NYC get an entire word of the English language all to itself for describing a neighborhood or group of neighborhoods?

2 hours ago, SAT said:

Dumb and Dumber just closed the schools again. 

I heard a rumor that Max Rose might run for Mayor of NYC. That might be fun. He swears a lot as I hear most Staten Islanders do.

15 hours ago, SAT said:

Like new Goodyear 

10 bucks or best offer....

You gonna press for any kind of claim against Goodyear? Free tire and other goodies?

Good job... again.

Isn't this the exact plot of the old movie Green Card with Andie McDowell and Gerard Depardieu?

49 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

The Hillbilly just got an email from his HR. Seems someone just applied for unemployment with his name. Time to make lots of calls. 

Damn! That's some expert level UI fraud.

On 9/16/2020 at 7:37 AM, NikLR said:

I can read the guage and get gas when I need it or am about to go on a drive for fun (something I understand no one else in this thread does.)

La Colombiana takes the car for a spin for no reason on occasion, especially when she can't sleep. I, of course, go for spins for fun on my motorcycle because why wouldn't I.

22 hours ago, SAT said:

Darklars wife's parents sold her to Darklar...

I knew if I hung out on this forum long enough I'd learn some juicy gossip.

Response to original post:

I would highly suggest you watch at least one debate and decide for yourself.

That's two stories now, one from Maine and one from California where dead chicks were found that were being shipped and had incurred USPS mail delivery delay. I didn't even know shipping live chicks was a thing? Does Ontarkie engage in this activity?

Normally I wouldn't make cost a factor in a decision to apply for citizenship but the huge rise in fees starting October 2nd would probably force me to reconsider. The bottom line for me would be if me or my spouse had an opportunity to work abroad for several years, in which case she would have to give up her green card and we would have to go through the entire process again if some years later it was our desire to move back to the US. To avoid that situation, we went ahead and filed N400 for her at the earliest possible time. Good luck with your decision.

I feel for everyone who is still in the middle of immigration processes. These are very stiff increases on the most common immigration applications, i.e. AOC, ROC and Citizenship. The decision between marriage or fiancee visa is now heavily weighted towards marriage. I agree with others that the steep price of N400 is not really fair with the huge variations in pending times across the US in different offices.

Speaking of something that sounds shady but actually isn't...

Just had our Flexible Savings Account through my wife's employer reimburse us for the cost of new AC equipment for the home. So it was kind of nice covering the cost with pre-tax dollars. AC equipment is a qualified expense for those with severe allergies and a letter of medical necessity. Honestly, I think La Colombiana's summer time allergies will die down some with all the windows closed and fans shut off, so it really is legit. I was just surprised seeing this as a qualified FSA expense when I was scrolling down the list last Fall when we made our election. It'll also be nice having AC in the house - maybe tonight if the contractor gets his work completed. Lotta houses in Santa Fe aren't built with AC but it seems the summers are getting hotter every year.

Pro-tip: many people don't bother with making FSA elections but it's really worthwhile to scroll through the list of qualified expenses because once you see all of the things you can make a claim for, it can really add up. We've been putting $1,000 to $1,500 per year in it, and upped it to $2,500 this year. Need to be cautious, though, because FSA's (unlike HSA's) are use it or lose it so you really have to underestimate your expenses to make sure you don't lose any of the money at the end of the year.

3 hours ago, SAT said:

 

 

Here's the tricky part. 

How to meticulously scrape off the Honda sticker from the Lexus, and put it back on the Honda.....

 

Sounds shady. Just sayin'

Others with more knowledge will likely chime in but based on my 6 year history reading stories and posts on here, this is what I would guess be the answers.

His tourist visa will probably be revoked due to the overstay. If he overstays less than 6 months then I don't believe there will be a ban, which means he can re-apply at some point in the future.

I haven't heard that USCIS is accepting Covid as a reason for overstay, yet.

If he doesn't pay his hospital bill, or whatever bill is remaining after emergency medical assistance/hospital charity program, then he'll have problems with future immigration applications. Those problems might (emphasis on "might") be lessened if he pays the bill at a later date.

26 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

What is your plan if the waiver is not approved?   My advice:  Just get the vaccines.......otherwise, you put yourself and others at risk......just my opinion.

One alternative if the waiver is not approved would be to abandon AOS and return to one's home country.

29 minutes ago, WantABetterLife said:

This is a common misconception about H1B spread by anti immigrant groups. I’m surprised to find this rhetoric here in a forum that helps immigrants. There are two types of H1Bs, highly skilled with masters or PHD from an American university. Go to any top STEM school, you will find majority of students to be international. These students later convert from OPT to H1B.
 

These jobs typically require graduate level degree, which is hard to find among Americans. The other kind of H1B is from consulting companies, typically from outsourcing companies bringing their employees on board. If you abolish H1B, these jobs will simply be outsourced. Companies will loose talent on important projects. The H1B median wage is $80k. So forget taxes. Most of these jobs will be simply moved to Canada or India. The 3 million unemployed are mostly from restaurants and other low wage workers completely unrelated to H1B. All this potential EO does is to get some brownie points among his xenophobic anti immigrant base who doesn’t want high skilled brown immigrants in this country.
 

I myself have a masters degree from a top US university and working on H1B and earn a salary of $110k plus bonuses. I didn’t steal anyone’s job. In fact the very first requirement of getting a H1B is to prove to USCIS that you can’t find any American to fill the job. They have gotten pretty strict about it recently. I was hired solely because my knowledge in my field. All my friends in H1B have a similar story.

Many state and federal agencies don't allow their contractors to use off shore resources, so it's not as simple as moving them off shore. Some private companies have similar restrictions. Wal-Mart used probably a thousand h1b employees/contractors in their IT department. That was back in 2008, so probably more now.

As Lucky Cat says, RFE's can happen any time for just about any reason. Most petitioners have stable employment to be able to assist the beneficiary in covering the many expenses of immigration. Those applications that fall outside of the norms, such as petitioners who haven't filed tax returns, are just naturally going to receive a lot more attention from USCIS and NVC. Good luck.