Caladan

Hello, VisaJourney! Long time no type. I think since the last time I checked in, we've had two kids and moved across the U.S.!

I'm hoping some of you can point me in the right direction. DH's Canadian passport expires within the week. He is a U.S. permanent resident.

We'd be planning to send the passport out for renewal, but his grandmother (in Canada) has fallen seriously ill. She is ninety, and he fears that the ~three weeks it would take for his passport to be renewed may be three weeks she may not have.

Is it possible to get an expedited renewal from within the U.S.? I've looked on the Internet but I'm not seeing anything helpful if one isn't in Canada. Any suggestions?

Just a point of clarifcation:

Intent to marry is not the issue. Intent to *immigrate* at the point of entry is the issue, and intent to marry is relevant insofar as it relates to intent to immigrate. Time elapsed is relevant insofar as it appears to establish intent to immigrate, but it's just a guideline and can't be given too much weight.

E.g., I know plenty of international couples who met while in grad school. They didn't cancel their student visas and run home to wait out a spousal visa process once they got engaged. As they were legitimately using their student visas (properly enrolled, etc), they just adjusted status based on their marriage. Why? Because they didn't use the student visa to immigrate or with immigrant intent. They used it to go to school; then they fell in love, got married, and then decided to immigrate. And that is completely fine by the U.S. government.

So the issue isn't the marriage. It's whether the marriage itself looks like evidence of intent to immigrate. Here, the worry would be that it really looks like you had both -- intent to marry and to stay. So the CR-1 is likely the route with the least hassle. But it is not fraud to enter without immigrant intent, marry, and then decide to stay. It's just difficult to prove that you didn't have intent, and the burden of proof is on the applicant.

A better analogy would be if you went to McDonalds one time and got a moldy hamburger and cold french fries. Would you need to know exactly how many moldy hamburgers they sold in order to recommend how they might improve their quality?

Yes, actually. I'd need to know whether it was a systemic problem, whether the problem was at the meat supplier, or at this particular franchise, or a general problem across the company, or just a problem with this shift and this shift manager, or whether there was a mold cartel that amounted for most of the mold. Just going in and saying "my solution is that we should dip all food in bleach before serving it because that kills mold! let's petition for some bleach! who cares if the food tastes bad! it will kill the mold!" would not be wise. It's really easy to figure out that cold french fries are a problem, but there are a lot of factors that make some solutions better than others, and make other solutions non-starters. Are they getting cold because they're made ahead of time? Because they are bad at estimating demand and they make too many fries that sit out? Because they are lacking warming lights and trays? &c.

E.g.,

Lie detectors for all beneficiaries? At all consulates? At what cost? Even given the well-known problems with lie detector tests, especially across cultures and language barriers? Okay.

I guess what I'm seeing with some of these proposals is a lot of stuff that will increase the burden on legitimate couples without giving more resources to the consulates that need it. You could make it so that I had to fly to Vancouver to go through an interview and a lie detector that was almost as exceedingly pointless as the one C. had to do, but I don't see how a broad regulation like that would reduce fraud if the problem is (e.g.) well-coached gold diggers from high-risk countries with corrupt bureaucracies.

So yes, I do think it matters not just that there is a problem, but what the source of the problem is.

I have to say that one thing that concerns me about this suggestion brainstorm is that as petitioners and beneficiaries, we have only a small slice of the relevant data. Here are some questions to which we'd need to know the answers before suggesting solutions:

1) What percentage of cases are fraudulent? What percentage of cases being fraudulent is within acceptable limits?

2) Of the cases that are fraudulent, how many of them are cases where the U.S. citizen is aiding and abetting the fraud? How many are cases where the U.S. citizen has been taken advantage of?

3) What is common to the fraudulent cases? (I believe that the most common use of the marriage visa is for people who actually have ties to the "home country", e.g., a first-generation American marries a girl from his parents' country of origin. Are these more or less likely to be fraudulent than the stereotypical mail-order-bride marriage?) What factors can be identified before the visa is granted?

4) What percentage of removal of conditions are granted via a) VAWA or b) self-petition? (No need to close down this option and make life more difficult for legitimate immigrants if it's not a source of fraud.)

5) How many of the fraudulent cases required co-sponsors?

Here I think most of us are at sea with no data. It'd be like trying to make recommendations on how to make McDonald's more profitable when all you know is that you ate a Big Mac once and really like the fries.

I have to say in general I'm wary of anything that ups the costs on someone who already is here with conditional residency. First is the potential for abuse of the immigrant who finds him or herself in a bad situation, and I don't think that can be discounted (especially since VAWA isnt' the cakewalk some believe). Second, I suspect that in an open society like we have, anything that happens after the person is here is disproportionately likely to be a huge pain in the #### for those doing it legitimately (it makes me sick to think that under these brainstormed proposals, I would have a whole 'nother year to prove that my relationship is legitimate) without actually reducing fraud.

Honestly, I think that what would probably help is more funding. More funding = more time to be spent with each petition, more ability to do home visits, &c in the places that are high fraud, more review. I'd rather see that before a more onerous process.

So, we're thinking of buying a house. We bought a car two years ago, so C. has a short but good U.S. credit history. My credit is excellent; when we pulled his a year ago it was excellent but obviously short.

Does anyone have a sense or recent experience with mortgage loans and short credit history? I know they can pull his Canadian history but I'd prefer that they didn't (he doesn't have any active accounts there beyond a bank account, so it won't help our case.)

One thing to keep in mind is that people tend to be circumspect when they run into problems, so I wouldn't take absence of threads about it as proof of anything. (How many people come back to post just that, e.g., their marriage fell apart, or that they had a problem later on?) In any case, I found this board back in 2006, before we were engaged, from hearing on another board from a Canadian woman who used to be a member here. Her story was this: married, baby, and said once, on the spur of the moment, that she was an American citizen when crossing the border, just hoping they'd get through faster. Unfortunately, this little lie meant for no purpose counted as a serious material misrepresentation, and it took them a long time to sort it all out, and "sorting it out" meant she moved back to Canada with a ban.

I have no doubt that there are people who have done it, but it's very much against the rules, and we're presently in an immigration climate where people are more likely to be hardasses. And any chance that you have to interact with the authorities is a chance for you to say something that will come back to haunt you later. You're in a good position now. You can file the paperwork and keep visiting like you've been visiting. It's mostly hands-off once the paperwork is sent in, in any case.

The greencard is hers, not yours. Read this slowly because you seem to be a little bit confused. It's not your property any more than her driver's license would be. Do you think you can make it so that she doesn't have a driver's license by taking it away and cutting it up? Then why on earth would you think it would work for a green card?

You're setting yourself up nicely for an abuse case. Theft, fraud, abandonment, and deception. Man, what attorney wouldn't want her case! All because you're scared of the affidavit of support. Sunshine, those like you are the reason that there is an affidavit of support.

Be a man. File for divorce if it's not working out, and let her handle her own affairs from there.

C. was able to get a credit card from Bank of America right away, but after about a year and half, when we went to buy a car, while his credit payments had always been on time and in full, his check came back as "insufficient information." We were able to purchase the car anyway based on my credit, but at least in our case, it took a major purchase to establish a solid credit history for him.

Okay, a couple of things I've noticed:

1) You talk about her like she's a child. Not just that she's acting childish, but that your expectations seem to take for granted that she's a child. E.g., if my husband and I were to fight over money, and he responded by saying "no computer for you as punishment", I'd probably wonder why on earth he thought it was appropriate to treat me like I was his teenaged daughter and ground me from the computer. It would make matters worse if he decided that he had sole control over my paycheck, or thought that he should take away the keys to teach me a lesson.

I'm saying you need to treat her like an adult. She has absolutely no incentive not to act like a spoiled teenager. Why not wheedle? You're just going to ground her, Daddy.

2) On the "contribute to the budget" thing. My dad was primary breadwinner and my mom had a small part-time job & was a stay-at-home mom. It would have been beyond weird if once she had that little library job, he demanded her paycheck so he could deduct her share of the mortgage. The money all comes out of the same place eventually; it was sensible to let her spend that on us kids for presents and keep the cash in her envelope. I wonder, since her income is not substantial, if it might work better to say that instead of her paying 10% of the bills that she can manage her discretionary spending and you won't contribute to her family beyond that. She's pulling in what, $10K per year?

What if you said, okay, here's how we can work this. I'll pay all the bills, but the only spending money you get is what you earn; you can spend that on your family or on yourself (including monthly car insurance); you're a grown-up, so decide what you want to do. She doesn't get access to the main account; your budget is secure. She learns to budget on her own. If you can work out issues, you can work them out without fighting over money.

3) I hesitate to recommend divorce because we're only hearing one side of it. But I do know that in some cultures more than others, you marry the whole family, and the amount of pressure they can put on her is crazy. Both you and she need to set boundaries, and it may help to think of you (even if she's not) as a unit against them.

Good to know, thanks. I was worried about a case of "unknown unknowns"; immigration has made me paranoid!

Hey everyone,

C. and I are going to drive to Edmonton this summer (cheaper than plane tickets, plus, woo! road trip), and we can get a proof of insurance from GEICO that suffices for driving in Canada.

Is there anything else that would be good to have with us regarding the vehicle paperwork like loan information? I figured there were enough cross border drivers here that this would be the place to ask.

What you're saying makes sense, but it probably wasn't visible to the officer. I'm guessing you filed as "married filing separately", and then she had no (or not a lot of) income to report? That might have struck the officer as unreasonable in general given the other lack of mingling (usually the tax benefit is better if you file jointly) even though it's reasonable in your specific circumstances. Think of it from his perspective; all he sees is a couple who isn't showing him evidence of being mingled financially. Even if you have good reasons for all of it, taken together it may look suspicious.

I'd talk to a lawyer, but if it were me, I'd write a letter explaining the outlines of the financial situation (maybe one from the CPA), and then try to build a trail of co-mingled financial life. E.g., money from your paycheck goes into her account and pays your and her bills. Anything else you can think of where you represented yourself to a neutral third party (like an insurance agency) as financially tied together.

C. worked out of town and out of the country on and off over the two years, usually for two or three months at a time, while he was a conditional permanent resident. He was always a resident of the same place that I was; we treated it like an extended business trip, and nothing in our removal of conditions directly addressed that. We filed taxes as residents of the same state. We put down two residences, one for our old place in CT and one for our new place, and we didn't mention the times he was out of town because he was still residing with me even though he was gone a lot with work.

They may see that she's working in Cali (don't lie on your taxes to try to hide this!), but if she's filing as a resident of the state where she legally resides (Nevada, right?), it wouldn't matter. I don't know how Nevada works it, but usually a state has a provision for income earned while a resident, even if that income was earned elsewhere. C.'s federal return included income from Wyoming, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas and Canada while we were living in Connecticut! The company he works for is registered in Colorado, I think, where he's never been.

We did highlight places in our joint account that showed our paychecks being deposited electronically (to show basically that even though he was working out of town, he was still giving me his money...), but nothing ever came up. Just show that her residence is in Nevada, with bills & driver's licenses & bank accounts, and don't worry so much. She is residing with you; she's just traveling for work; and you're not the first couple to have been in this situation.

It makes me sick to see people denied on the basis of "canned" scripted criteria

rather than a balanced view of whether they are compatible and can prove cohabitation

and family ties, etc.

The presence or absence of joint accounts should be struck from the list of requirements in my opinion.

If one partner is not "monied" the fact that the one with more money puts some in a joint account is meaningless.

The one with more money brings financial stability to the relationship and the one with no money will bring

many other things that are equally valuable.

My wife worked for 25 years in her home country but her financial worth is only a fraction of mine.

If somehow we would fail the AOS interview I would be devastated because she does so many

caring and supportive things for me and my aged mom that are priceless.

It's unfortunate that our lives are in the hands of bureaucrats during this process.

There's no rule that there has to be a joint account, just that assets have to be co-mingled; a joint account is simply a very easy way to show that, especially for a couple that doesn't own a home or a car. And it's not about a judgment as to who is more valuable, because they don't care about how much money they have or who puts it in; it's just a reliable metric that separates fraudsters (who are unlikely to want to commit their money to what is otherwise just having a roommate) from legitimate couples. Striking co-mingling of assets from the rules will make it much easier for charlatans, and will increase the scrutiny on legitimate couples.

OP, I definitely agree with the consensus that you need an attorney. But something else occurred to me: does your wife have a credit card? Even if it's in her name, you've been paying the bills, right, since she just got her EAD? Here's my thinking. You could look at her credit card receipts and find your bill payments to that account. It's not great financial evidence, but showing some kind of financial connection is better than what you have now.

The way we put ours together was to think of ways that we could show that we'd been living as husband and wife and representing ourselves to third parties as such in our daily lives. I mention this because we didn't add C. to the lease as someone responsible for the rent at either of our places (the first because the landlord wouldn't while he was on a K-1; the second because I'm renting from the college where I work so again, he's just an approved occupant.), and none of our utility bills are joint. This meant showing that we shared money, and showing that we had showed other people that we shared a residence.

What things went in the first category?

Tax transcripts

Joint bank account statements (2 3-month periods), including deposits made by both of our jobs.

C. being on my health insurance & his spousal card for the college where I work.

Joint responsibility for the car, insurance for that car, and previous joint insurance on the old car that was in his name. (Our new car was purchased in 3/09, and we filed in 08/09, and it surely wasn't a problem that we bought a new car only months before filing.)

What things went in the second category?

The leases, even though he was listed just as an approved occupant.

Bills that were in his name.

Bills that were in my name.

Photocopies of driver's licenses.

Affidavits from friends.

I don't think we sent photos. If we did, it wasn't more than one or two.

Like I said, think of things that you have that are somewhat official that show that you've been representing yourself as living at a certain address to other somewhat official entities.

At the border the guy told C. that he should apply for a re-entry permit if he planned to spend more than six months per year abroad. "It'll be denied because you won't need it if you're living in the U.S., but that way it will show up that you've applied and were denied because you don't need it."

I'm not planning on filing for a re-entry permit for him but it's like a game of count the bad information.

In any case, he had no problems entering but if this is a trend that continues it might be worth knowing for people to plan extra time at the airport.

C. was taken aside into secondary inspection, where they pulled up his file and checked to see that he'd been approved. Having the expired card and the letter wasn't enough on its own. They were very polite about everything and he didn't miss his flight.

He'll clear customs/immigration in Edmonton, so unfortunately I won't be able to show it to them. I did send him a scan of the approval letter and the face of the new card, in case he needs it.

All your husband has to show is his GC plus the NOA1 (extension letter). He will be let into the country without issues. Lots of people traveled like this and haven't had issues.

Best of luck.

Thanks. As you can imagine this close to his return I'm a little nuts.

C. has been out of the country since 12/30/09, and he's due to get back here next Wednesday after a season of work. He left with his expired greencard & re-entry permit which is good until 11/10. In the meantime, conditions have been removed successfully; I received his permanent green card back in February. It's sitting here in the desk.

I haven't put his greencard in the mail because I didn't really want it to sit at his mother's house for six weeks where it's likely that my toddler nephews would gnaw on it. But now I'm wondering whether his re-entry permit is still good, or whether it expires with his approval.

Has anyone ever traveled post-filing to remove conditions and had the petition approved while overseas, and successfully returned? I can't see why it would be a problem but common sense doesn't often apply with immigration.

While I can see why there are good reasons to deny her entry, I can see why she's feeling bad. It's a handful of days after the underwear bomber, and she's never had a problem in the past. All the articles say she's traveled regularly between the U.S. and Canada, so presumably, even though she's married to a U.S. citizen, she hasn't had issues visiting and her evidence of non-immigrant intent in the past has been sufficient. And she returned with all the information they told her to have, and they still wouldn't let her through. And no one's said to her that the problem was that they suspected her of immigrant intent -- those of you denied entry surely were told why, and that you'd have to get a fiance or spousal visa -- and it's curious that no one seems to have mentioned that to her.

In other words, it doesn't sound to me like someone whose knee jerk reaction was to cry discrimination and I'm a little surprised at the consensus developing here. I don't doubt that they pulled her aside because of the spousal thing, but I can also see why after coming back to the airport with all the documentation they asked for and still getting turned back she'd start to consider other explanations.

And we're done!

Vermont Service Center

VJName.............Date of I-751.....NOA1 Date...............Biometrics..........Approved

OTTOUNDKARIN.......08/03/09..........08/10/09................09/09/09............__/__/__

GABY$TALBERT.......08/03/09..........08/05/09................09/10/09............12/14/09

VAN2006............08/05/09..........08/11/09................09/18/09............12/07/09

MELO...............08/06/09..........08/10/09................09/04/09............12/12/09

USA-JAMAICA........08/07/09..........08/10/09................09/17/09............12/17/09

EDDIEYGABRIELA.....08/08/09..........08/11/09................09/18/09............12/19/09

DANIELLEJ006.......08/08/09..........08/21/09................09/29/09............12/07/09

CAYBEE.............08/08/09..........08/11/09................09/09/09............12/16/09

RCARS3.............08/10/09..........08/14/09................09/15/09............12/10/09

BEN&Y..............08/11/09..........08/14/09................09/18/09............12/17/09

RECARDO............08/12/09..........08/19/09................09/21/09............12/14/09

AMBIENTGIRL........08/12/09..........08/14/09................09/16/09............12/10/09

CHELSEAANDJOHN.....08/15/09..........08/18/09................09/29/09............__/__/__

WWYEF..............08/15/09..........08/19/09................09/16/09............12/02/09

AYAWDIE............08/16/09..........08/17/09................09/16/09............12/21/09

USRRB..............08/17/09..........08/19/09................09/21/09............12/15/09

PATRICKNOLIVIA.....08/17/09..........09/25/09................09/29/09............__/__/__ Early Bio 09/25/09

BRARIO28...........08/18/09..........08/21/09................09/29/09............12/10/09

TRACYTN............08/19/09..........08/24/09................09/22/09............11/19/09 No int.

BOSTONPARIS........08/19/09..........08/25/09................10/03/09............12/23/09

TONYECK............08/20/09..........08/24/09................09/25/09............11/30/09

ALLSWELL...........08/21/09..........09/10/09................09/29/09............11/30/09

CALADAN............08/21/09..........08/25/09................10/05/09............01/04/10

JESTAN01...........08/21/09..........08/31/09................09/23/09............12/11/09

PS40...............08/21/09..........08/24/09................09/24/09............12/24/09 (Biometrics re-take 10/23 - FBI was unable to process fingerprint)

WELLDONE...........08/24/09..........09/02/09................09/22/09............12/01/09

SK28...............08/24/09..........09/01/09................09/26/09............11/24/09

GL29...............08/24/09..........08/26/09................09/29/09............__/__/__

JG_AM..............08/25/09..........08/27/09................09/24/09............11/24/09

GOGAL2020..........08/26/09..........08/31/09................09/23/09............12/07/09

THEBIGMAN..........08/03/09..........08/07/09................09/12/09............__/__/__

California Service Center

GARYC..............08/03/09..........08/10/09................09/03/09............09/23/09

MRANDMRSBIRD.......08/05/09..........08/10/09................09/04/09............11/25/09

DUDEINNEED.........08/05/09..........08/12/09................09/15/09............10/07/09

IVYKRIS............08/07/09..........08/18/09................09/11/09............12/07/09 (Card ordered email received 12/07/09)

ANJAANDHENRY.......08/10/09..........08/28/09................09/11/09............__/__/__

IYA................08/10/09..........08/12/09................09/18/09............10/01/09

CHERYLANDMIKE......08/10/09..........08/11/09................09/04/09............09/18/09

SIRLANCELOT........08/13/09..........08/17/09................09/16/09............12/15/09

SPRINTSCORER.......08/13/09..........08/24/09................08/31/09............09/25/09 Early bio

KOBEYA20...........08/13/09..........08/24/09................09/17/08............10/02/09

SKEETER211.........08/14/09..........08/24/09................09/16/09............10/20/09

ZQT3344............08/18/09..........08/21/09................10/05/09............12/11/09 Early Bio 09/21/09

PERSEVERANCE.......08/18/09..........08/19/09................09/29/09............10/13/09

SILAS..............08/19/09..........08/21/09................09/25/09............10/14/09

CHOX99.............08/24/09..........08/25/09................10/05/09............10/13/09

BBZHEL.............08/24/09..........08/26/09................09/26/09............10/02/09

ISIS...............08/26/09..........08/31/09................10/06/09............10/29/09

CARDAMOM...........08/27/09..........09/01/09................09/25/09............10/01/09

SpiralShape........08/31/09..........09/08/09................10/06/09............__/__/__ (Biometrics re-take 11/02/09 - FBI was unable to process fingerprint)

IMPORTANT!

*Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.

*Go to the MOST RECENTLY POSTED VERSION of this list (go to the last post and

scroll UP) and "Reply" to it, deleting the "quote" tags in your reply.

* Please DO NOT change the font, font size, add colors, stuff like that.

* Please PREVIEW before posting to make sure it is properly formatted.

Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application

NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter

Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment

Approved = The Date your case was approved

*Please Capitalize your VJ Name when adding it to the list*

**When you're on this list, please come back to update your information accordingly**

By the way there's been no movement at all on the online system.

Friggin' long wait for biometrics.... Ah well, at least we know when it is!

Updated list

VJName.............I-751.............NOA1 Receipt............Biometrics..........Approved

VSC

OTTOUNDKARIN.......08/03/09..........08/10/09................09/09/09............__/__/__

GABY$TALBERT.......08/03/09..........08/05/09................09/10/09............__/__/__

VAN2006............08/05/09..........08/11/09................09/18/09............__/__/__

MELO...............08/06/09..........08/10/09................09/04/09............__/__/__

EDDIEYGABRIELA.....08/08/09..........08/11/09................09/18/09............__/__/__

DANIELLEJ006.......08/08/09..........08/21/09................09/29/09............__/__/__

CAYBEE.............08/08/09..........08/11/09................09/09/09............__/__/__

RCARS3.............08/10/09..........08/14/09................09/15/09............__/__/__

BEN&Y..............08/11/09..........08/14/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

AMBIENTGIRL........08/12/09..........08/14/09................09/16/09............__/__/__

CHELSEAANDJOHN.....08/15/09..........08/18/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

PILOTINSKY.........08/17/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__

PATRICKNOLIVIA.....08/17/09..........__/__/__................09/29/09............__/__/__

BRARIO28...........08/18/09..........08/21/09................09/29/09............__/__/__

TRACYTN............08/19/09..........08/24/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

BOSTONPARIS........08/19/09..........08/25/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

TONYECK............08/20/09..........08/24/09................09/25/09............__/__/__

CALADAN............08/21/09..........08/25/09................10/05/09............__/__/__

JESTAN01...........08/21/09..........08/31/09................09/23/09............__/__/__

JG_AM..............08/25/09..........08/27/09................09/24/09............__/__/__

GOGAL2020..........08/26/09..........08/31/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

CSC

GARYC..............08/03/09..........08/10/09................09/03/09............__/__/__

MRANDMRSBIRD.......08/05/09..........08/10/09................09/04/09............__/__/__

DUDEINNEED.........08/05/09..........08/12/09................09/15/09............__/__/__

USA-JAMAICA........08/07/09..........08/10/09................09/17/09............__/__/__

ANJAANDHENRY.......08/10/09..........08/28/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

IYA................08/10/09..........08/12/09................09/18/09............__/__/__

CHERYLANDMIKE......08/10/09..........08/11/09................09/04/09............__/__/__

SPRINTSCORER.......08/13/09..........08/24/09................08/31/09............__/__/__ early bio

KOBEYA20...........08/13/09..........08/24/09................09/17/08............__/__/__

SKEETER211.........08/14/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__

ZQT3344............08/18/09..........08/21/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

PERSEVERANCE.......08/18/09..........08/19/09................09/29/09............__/__/__

CHOX99.............08/24/09..........08/25/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

BBZHEL.............08/24/09..........08/26/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

CARDAMOM...........08/27/09..........09/01/09................__/__/__............__/__/__

IMPORTANT!*Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.

*Go to the MOST RECENTLY POSTED VERSION of this list (go to the last post and

scroll UP) and "Reply" to it, deleting the "quote" tags in your reply.

* Please DO NOT change the font, font size, add colors, stuff like that.

* Please PREVIEW before posting to make sure it is properly formatted.

Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application

NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter

Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment

Approved = The Date your case was approved

*Please Capitalize your VJ Name when adding it to the list*

**When you're on this list, please come back to update your information accordingly**

Pregnancy is definitely a pre-existing condition on the individual market (as a 30-year-old non-pregnant woman, I can't find a plan that will *cover* pregnancy), and emergency plans that have pregnancy riders often don't cover much. Worth looking into, but might not be the best option given the timeframe.

This may be a very dumb question, but have you talked to anyone from the Medicaid office in your specific state? The I-864 only excludes means-tested benefits of a certain kind (it depends on the income requirements among other things), and the laws and programs available do vary by the state. I'm sure the woman at the hospital means well, but I'd be willing to bet that she doesn't understand the I-864 in its entirety, nor the position that someone in the middle of AOS is in. Best of luck.

Off we go.......

VJName...............I-751.........NOA1 Receipt............Biometrics...........Approved........Center....... Walk-In Biometric

OTTOUNDKARIN.......08/03/09..........08/10/09................09/09/09............__/__/__.........VSC

GARYC..............08/03/09..........08/10/09................09/03/09............__/__/__.........CSC

GABY$TALBERT.......08/03/09..........08/05/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

MRANDMRSBIRD.......08/05/09..........08/10/09................09/04/09............__/__/__.........CSC

DUDEINNEED.........08/05/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

VAN2006............08/05/09..........08/11/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

MELO...............08/06/09..........08/10/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

USA-JAMAICA........08/07/09..........08/10/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

EDDIEYGABRIELA.....08/08/09..........08/11/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

DANIELLEJ006.......08/08/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

ANJAANDHENRY.......08/10/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

RCARS3.............08/10/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

IYA................08/10/09..........08/12/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

MIKEANDCHERYL......08/10/09..........08/11/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

BEN&Y..............08/11/09..........08/14/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

AMBIENTGIRL........08/12/09..........08/14/09................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

SPRINTSCORER.......08/13/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

CHELSEAANDJOHN.....08/15/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

PILOTINSKY.........08/17/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

PATRICKNOLIVIA.....08/17/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........

ZQT3344............08/18/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

PERSEVERANCE.......08/18/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........CSC

TRACYTN............08/19/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

BOSTONPARIS........08/19/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

TONYECK............08/20/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

CALADAN............08/21/09..........__/__/__................__/__/__............__/__/__.........VSC

IMPORTANT!*Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.

*Go to the MOST RECENTLY POSTED VERSION of this list (go to the last post and

scroll UP) and "Reply" to it, deleting the "quote" tags in your reply.

* Please DO NOT change the font, font size, add colors, stuff like that.

* Please PREVIEW before posting to make sure it is properly formatted.

Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application

NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter

Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment

Approved = The Date your case was approved

*Please Capitalize your VJ Name when adding it to the list*

**When you're on this list, please come back to update your information accordingly**