gsma

On 8/16/2019 at 7:46 PM, amorArgento said:

Have you received the card by chance? 

I believe the card came in last Thursday.

I also got an update on our case status. And it’s a new card being produced. :)

My petition was in pretty late in the month, so everyone’s time is almost there. WAC1822xxxxx

Been awhile since I've been here, but I recently received a letter from USCIS saying that biometrics have been requested and there is an appointment next Monday (7/15).  I had previously had a 'waived biometrics' earlier in the year.  Hopefully this means that the case is nearing completion or at least, moving on to the next step.

The application is in California, and has not had any notice stating it's been transferred.  

It's been quite some time since I've been active on this site.  However, I'm in the same line as all the California filers, and am waiting for any word.  We recently received a notice letting my wife know that her biometrics will be waived and that they are using the existing information.  Other than that, the website shows no updates.

Sitting tight.  Enjoying the ride.  Ready to jump on board the Citizenship train once this one is done.

I'm also back again.  I sent my package off to CSC on June 29th, it was received on June 30th.  Today, July 12th, the CSC processed both my checks.  (I sent two checks, because I wasn't sure I could send one combined).  

Hello and thank you in advanced.

My wife now has a green card through adjustment of status from a K1 Visa.  (Hurray).  However, we are looking to update her foreign passport to her new married name to avoid any confusion if travel is required.  Does USCIS need to be informed of this passport change?  Are there any additional steps required on the USA part of this?  We know what is required to update this in her own country, but I wanted to double check to see if there are any additional steps.

According to this, in California, for the divorce to be legal and final, two things must happen:

1. 6 months have passed since the respondent is served initial documents, or appears in court

2. The court enters a decree of dissolution.

Only after both points are completed can both parties actually receive a copy of the divorce decree.

In OP's case, again, as long as he has the divorce decree, he can file for K-1 visa, there does not appear to be a separate waiting period as in other states.

I believe this is kind of what I originally said. However, upon further reading - it indicated that one may receive an approved decree prior to this 6 months. However, it is not valid until the 6 months has passed. ie. You can be mailed back the decree, but the date it states as being valid may be in the future. I believe that if you live in an area that the courts may be busy, they may not prioritize divorces until closer to the 6 months date. (Some may process sooner, but will indicate the date the decree becomes valid)

I re-read the process and saw that I misquoted it. So I'm removing the incorrect information.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/1224.htm

Congrats on making it. If you can swing it, bring copies/originals of all documents submitted. It might be overly cautious, but it might save you some hassle. For the embassy interview and the AOS interview, we brought everything and needed far less. For the POE, we brought everything, and lo and behold, the border patrol officer noticed that one of the items in the packet wasn't there (gone missing?). Luckily we had everything in near triplicate and were able to produce it on the spot.

Last Friday, on July 22nd, we had our in person AOS interview. Our notification date for AOS was way back in December 31st; our case was on the very last day possible. For me, that gives hope to all those still waiting in California. That said, the interview was very straightforward, and we did it. The officer notified us of the acceptance at the time of the interview, and I received updates to the USCIS status site before we even got home.

The questions asked were very basic. And we had ample proof of cohabitation (leases, health insurance, bills, investments, etc). We also had hundreds of photographs.

Now on to the next bit!

Yesterday, I got a text and e-mail stating our interview was scheduled for a month out.

No word since biometrics still - though, we're patient, and will just keep going with our already wonderful lives. That aside, my state and federal tax refunds worked splendidly. I followed the advice from folks on this forum, and both returns were accepted filing married + jointly with a declaration of being treated as a resident for the 2015 tax year.

State taxes were less straight forward, as there was no special letter to write and I was told by the tax board to 'file the same as you do with the IRS.' I pressed them further about residency and they reassured me the requirements. I sent a copy of the IRS letter and instructions just in case.

All is well, and I thank all those who contribute good information on this forum.

I'd say always do some research, bring all the correct information in case you need it, and always be calm. We were traveling domestically - so we didn't expect many issues, but they do happen. I'd even call what we went through a non-issue, as it really was a case of the first point of contact person just not knowing what to do in our case. They did ask if we had any other forms of picture ID with the new name on it, but because this 'limbo' stage, we couldn't get one. We almost had to stay on the beach until it got resolved.. the horror.

Just got back from a family vacation (and no daily checking on the USCIS website). Still no updates since biometrics, so it looks like I'll be holding on a bit more. I suppose, for us, it's just waiting - and waiting we can handle.

On a side note, the foreign passport + marriage certificate worked in the airport going, but we had some issues coming back. Several TSA supervisors were needed in order to approve the ticket name not matching the name on the passport. I almost thought I'd need to break out some USCIS paperwork

The last activity our case has had was the biometrics and a name change that happened at the appointment. We filed in December, but the acceptance status wasn't shown until Dec 31st. So the last day possible.

Wow. Looks like a good weekend for all. Congrats.

Our AOS was accepted the last day of December, so I'll likely be one of the latter to hear back. So far, I guess, no news is good news...

On an off topic, it was interesting trying to figure out how to file taxes for my state appropriately for the first weird year.

We had our biometrics on the 28th of January (appointment, not early walk in). Besides a name correction, it's been very quiet. This part is very weird for us because we're always commenting, "Should we be filling out some paperwork right now for the next step?"

I did some research into basic medical insurance for the 1 month duration between POE and Marriage. I'm not entirely sure how the tax penalties break down, but I don't think the 1 month would have been an issue - though, I'd rather not have any government penalties attached to my fiancees name. I suppose for a practical matter, insurance is exactly what it says. Insurance. Anything could have happened in that month, and we wanted some sort of piece of mind before my work benefits kicked in.

As for travel insurance, be sure to read the fine print. A lot of travel insurance I looked at did not cover if there is intent to immigrate or not go back.

I had jury duty last week, and my wife had her biometrics appointment. With only one of us being able to drive, that made the journey quite interesting. According to her, the biometrics went just fine - however, she mentioned they were a bit confused as to why her last name on her passport didn't match the name on her biometrics appointment letter. (She changed her last name for marriage). Luckily, she brought her marriage certificate as proof.

gsma--

... the K1 is kinda odd man out and doesn't quite fit the model.

This is us in a nutshell. We make due, and we've learned patience throughout this. Most of this is pure inconvenience.

Thank you for your encouragement.

Note: I did ring up the CA DMV, and they told me over the phone that the documents we have will work. I guess I'll know when I go down... ONCE the documents have names that are spelled correctly.

It's been awhile since I've been in this thread. For the K1, we are all well and good and waiting in the AOS queue. Hopefully that'll go well in a timely manner.

We've had a few bumps along the road, and hopefully these don't bite us later... Maybe someone can add some advice to this situation. Upon arriving and prior to marriage, my wife applied for a SSN and that went well. After marriage, we then went down, and had her name changed post marriage. That didn't go so well, as when we got the card, they incorrectly spelled her name. (Note: Her name is constantly spelled incorrectly and we've had to correct this many times with many people). We then went back to the SSN office and were informed they could not update her name because we were within the 2 week period to her I-94 expiring. I now have no clue how to update this. I'm thinking we will need to wait till post AOS.

Additionally, we'd like to get a state ID with her new name and picture on it. We previously created a joint bank account using her passport, SSN card (the one before the mistake), and the marriage certificate. About a month later, we were informed that these forms of ID do not constitute enough proof of identity and they'd be closing the joint account. From what I understand, we can try to get a state ID with the I-797 from the AOS, and then work to reopen a proper account. We haven't done this because the I-797 came back to us with her name spelled incorrectly, and we're having that changed as well. This could take a month or more.

We joke sometimes that she should have changed her first name to something simple through marriage.

I sent in my packet for AOS on Dec 14, and I received my text (Jan 3rd, 9:41pm PST) and saw the fees taken out. Glad to have that part through - I was getting a little worried

Hello

Joining everyone here in the December filer post. We filed ours on Dec 14 and are eagerly awaiting our NOA1.

It's been a busy couple weeks since my fiancee entered the US. We've been scrambling for a wedding, and today we applied for her SSN. I did as much research here on the site to figure out what we needed, but what it boiled down to was the application, I-94, Passport and her English driver's license. We were unsure what to check for the options dealing with Lawful Alien Able To Work, Lawful Alien Unable to Work and Other, but the SS person said no problem, I'll handle it. When the SS person asked us to review the details, it was Lawful Alien Able to Work and he said that was the only option he had for K1 Visas (even prior to obtaining valid work credentials). I didn't see any information on this, so I questioned him further and if we should be using Unable to Work, and he said he had no choice. Other than that: easy peasy.

Upon reading the printout given to us at the end, it said to the notion of: The SS card allows you to work WITH valid credentials from the Department of Homeland Security..

So now it makes sense

We did it! POE cleared. Target shopped at. Months of work (not over yet), but from now on we'll be doing it together.

The embassy misplaced my fiancee's birth certificate, but luckily she had originals and copies of EVERYTHING and was able to hand it over to the officer to complete his check off.