bobogirl

My husband already has a social security card that indicates he needs authorization to work. He is currently waiting for his EAD; it's in process. The W-4 is confusing because it mentions nonresident aliens, and I wasn't sure if that is his status until he gets the green card (as Kitkat said, he is not out of status because his I-485 was submitted before the K1 visa expires). The W-4 appears not to treat spouses that are nonresident aliens the same way as a resident spouse, so it made me confused about whether we are actually "married" in the eyes of the IRS. But anyway, once he has his EAD I guess we should both be able to claim each other on our W-4s.

My husband and I got married a few weeks ago and have submitted all his AOS paperwork. We are suddenly faced with the question of how to identify ourselves for tax status. Is he considered a "nonresident alien" until he gets his green card? There are separate instructions for nonresident aliens completing W-4s, as well as for spouses of nonresident aliens. Or, once he gets his work permit, can I claim him under the two earner/two job worksheet like any spouse?

On a different topic, will he run into problems once his K1 visa expires - if someone looks at his passport and sees that the visa is expired and doesn't know that having the application in process keeps him legal? I'm confused about his status while his application is being reviewed and processed... it feels like limbo.

These seem like silly questions, but I'm confused. Thanks for your patience.

okay, i just found out the answer to my own question from an old post. this forum is AWESOME!

for anyone else wondering about this, read http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46824

it's the red number on the visa.

you all are fantastic!

form i-485 asks for the alien's nonimmgrant visa number. can anyone tell me how to identify which number this is on the visa? there are three different numbers of varying lengths, none of which is labelled as the "nonimmigrant visa number". it's not covered in the guides how to locate this number on the visa. . . any clues??

thank you!!

You need vaccination records for MMR, Polio, Varicella, and Tetanus. They might also ask if you have had Hep A or B, but I don't think it is required. You should take the vaccination records to the Civil Surgeon. If you need one of the vaccinations, you can get it done at any clinic or even your town health dept and it will be cheaper. Just bring the records with you to the CS. You may have trouble finding a CS who will complete the vaccination paperwork without the full medical, but just keep phoning until you find one. Don't mention that you had the medical done out of country, this just makes them even more determined that they need to give you the full medical exam again. Just say that you had the medical done by another doctor and you just need the vaccination supplement. At least, that's what worked for me. It took calling about 10 differnet doctors until I found one who would do it.

Good luck!

You just need to show them vaccination records. They will have the forms at the office that need to be filled out.

Where does one find the nonimmigrant visa number on the actual visa? There's nothing that identifies a number that way, and there are about 3 or 4 different number sequences that might be it. Which one is it?

thanks!

Thank you so much YuAndDan

ok, but what do you do if you don't have the DS-3025 but did get the medical exam? in theory you should be able to get the vaccinations and the I-639A completed without the exam, as stated by USCIS on their forms. yeah right. my fiance was told at the consulate clinic that he should not get the vaccinations until reaching the US. now all the CSs won't give him the vaccinations without the medical. what a scam.

JenT, you might have already received an answer to your question, but here is my experience. I called 4 different civil surgeons in Austin where I live, and was told that they would require another complete exam before they would fill out the I-639A....blah, blah, blah.

I told all of them that that wasn't necessary, as my husband had just had his exam the month prior by a U.S. appointed civil surgeon overseas. As soon as they said he would need to schedule an appointment to come in for another exam, I said "Thank you, but no" and hung up.

I finally found a civil surgeon who actually knew what I was talking about and said they could transfer the information from the DS-3025 to the I-693A for just $10.00! I mailed in a check with the DS-3025, and they mailed the completed form to my home within a week.

Don't pay for another exam. If they're telling you that you have to, then they don't really know the protocol.

Tracy

I would love it if someone could tell me how to convine a CS to do JUST the vaccinations. Everyone I have spoken to refuses to do the vaccinations without the full medical exam, even though as you all know it says clearly on the USCIS form that people with K1 visas do not need to do the exam over again. I mean, despite the fact that the government directs us to do one thing, what choice do we have but to do the whole medical again if we can't find a CS who will cooperate???

And don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is that the results of the medical exam at the foreign consulate are not shared with the applicant. You have a right to know the results of your own medical and blood exams, even if you get the "A-OK" approval from the consulate clinic.

my fiance is from mexico and is about to apply for an SSN number with the K1 visa. we are wondering about what order we should use for his names and wonder what others from mexico have done. in mexico, the mothers name is placed last and the fathers name first, opposite from the way we do it in the US. ie given name, fathers name, mothers name. on all the applications, they ask for last name and middle name. if we put his mothers name as the middle name (ie the american system), it will be different on his SS card than on his passport. on the K1 forms, we did this since it seemed the only way but now i don't know if it will cause problems in the future. thoughts?

thanks!

i know the VJ guides say to apply for an SSN two weeks+ after entering the US. but i spoke to a lawyer who said that the SSN number comes with the EAD after we submit the AOS application. is there any reason to wait? what's the benefit of applying for the SSN early? if we don't apply for the SSN first, do they just send a number in the mail with the EAD?

thanks for the help...

my fiance entered the US on a K1 and we are now preparing paperwork for the adjustment of status. he had the full medical at the foriegn consulate-designated medical clinic prior to the K1 interview but was told he did not need vaccinations until after he entered the US. now we are trying to get the vaccinations but we have called several doctors on the USCIS list, and they all say that they need to do the entire medical exam over again - they can't just complete the vaccination supplement. it says on the form 485 instructions that fiances can just submit the vaccination supplement, and i've read that here on VJ too, but the doctors offices say otherwise. how have others of you gotten around this?

thanks.

i'm also curious about this part of the process. i have heard that it can take several hours in immigration, that the immigration officers might ask some questions pertaining to the visa (beyond the typical customs questions), and that you may have to pay (for what, i don't know). can anyone who has been through it confirm?

i've also heard conflicting information about work permits at POEs. i've read here on VJ that JFK in new york is currently the only POE that gives temporary work permits upon entry, but i've read conflicting information elsewhere. thoughts, anyone??

thanks

do any of the juarez veterans have an idea about how sticky they are on the financial support piece? i know they don't require the I-134, just documentation of employment or sufficient assets. i have a letter of employment with income well above the poverty level. i also have three bank accounts, one of which has most of my money, the other two each having a couple thousand dollars.

the problem is that the letters from the two smaller bank accounts have been lost in the mail, and i have been told that copies will not be accepted. my fiance is ready to go for the interview. do i request new letters from my banks, and endure the delay it will cause, or just forget about them? not sure how much a few thousand dollars in the bank will make in the scheme of things for the financial support picture. how picky are they about it?

Just another little tidbit to add to this thread... I had emailed CDJ over three weeks ago about the status of my case (before I received the packet in the mail), and they never replied. Today I got a reply from them stating that the packet was sent to me in the US as well as my fiance on August 15, and that he was free to come for an interview at any time. A bit strange since the letter I received was dated August 21, and then I had that crazy conversation with someone at CDJ who didn't know what he was talking about, but oh well. I guess their computer system finally caught up with their mailroom. And it seems they do sometimes reply to emails, it just takes them several weeks. CDJNIVS@state.gov

PLEASE IGNORE, I posted this in the wrong forum by accident. SORRY everyone!!

There were some posts on here a few days ago about a mysterious "second packet" that CDJ had told me to wait for until heading to the interview. I had received a packet of information for the interview in the US but when I called was told that this wasn't actually the packet my fiance needs, and that we might have to wait 5-8 mths for the REAL packet. This seemed crazy.

I just spoke to a different operator at CDJ who told me that as long as my fiance has the packet that includes information about the medical exam, the forms, info about the $100 fee payment, etc. he can go to CDJ at any time for the interview. This is what I had thought all along based on reading VJ posts!

Apparently for some reason their computer system does not indicate that they have sent me the packet, but I was assured that even so, my fiance will be allowed in for the medical and interview as long as he has the packet from CDJ.

So it seems like what we thought - that packet=you can go for the interview - is right, and the first time I called CDJ I just happened to speak with someone who likes to ruin peoples days by saying they have to wait 5-8 months more. (I spent several days in angst about this possibility.)

So I guess the gist of it is, if you call CDJ and they say they have/haven't sent the packet yet, that it with a grain of salt because the computer system isn't always telling the truth. They may have sent it but someone forgot to put the info into the computer. If you have the packet in hand, seems like you're golden to go to the interview. (Just like all those VJers have done in the past.)

There's a new adventure around every corner of this process!

There were some posts on here a few days ago about a mysterious "second packet" that CDJ had told me to wait for until heading to the interview. I had received a packet of information for the interview in the US but when I called was told that this wasn't actually the packet my fiance needs, and that we might have to wait 5-8 mths for the REAL packet. This seemed crazy.

I just spoke to a different operator at CDJ who told me that as long as my fiance has the packet that includes information about the medical exam, the forms, info about the $100 fee payment, etc. he can go to CDJ at any time for the interview. This is what I had thought all along based on reading VJ posts!

Apparently for some reason their computer system does not indicate that they have sent me the packet, but I was assured that even so, my fiance will be allowed in for the medical and interview as long as he has the packet from CDJ.

So it seems like what we thought - that packet=you can go for the interview - is right, and the first time I called CDJ I just happened to speak with someone who likes to ruin peoples days by saying they have to wait 5-8 months more. (I spent several days in angst about this possibility.)

So I guess the gist of it is, if you call CDJ and they say they have/haven't sent the packet yet, that it with a grain of salt because the computer system isn't always telling the truth. They may have sent it but someone forgot to put the info into the computer. If you have the packet in hand, seems like you're golden to go to the interview. (Just like all those VJers have done in the past.)

There's a new adventure around every corner of this process!

allie&leo, what does the "appointment" letter you used to get into the medical and interview look like? i'm trying to figure out if the letter i have is THE letter or just a "interim" letter or something... the letter i have is very short with just a few lines saying that they have begun to process the case. it lists the beneficiary's name and case number. that's it.

from what lewis says, sounds like it might be the same letter lewis used. i guess i need to call CDJ again and talk to someone else who might be more helpful than the guy who kept insisting we need to wait another 5-8 months.

okay, so the same thing just happened to me: cdj received my petition august 4. last week, i (USC) received a packet with all the forms for the interview. i called CDJ to confirm that my fiance could now go to the interview, and was told that NO, he has to wait for another packet with a NEW letter that states that now they are ready for him to appear for an interview. told this could take 5-8 months, although i hate to believe that.

i have a case number and the guy on the phone said they have my case, but that it was still "in process". so i guess i wait for this letter he's talking about? why do they bother to send the first packet, then? they said nothing would be mailed to my fiance, that it would be mailed to me in the US. (yeah, that's logical.)

what email address have you used to contact CDJ for case status info? i tried emailing CDJNIVS@state.gov but never received a reply.

those of you who went to interviews after CDJ got your case, what did your letter say? was it the same letter that is posted as an example on the cDJ website? http://ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov/wwwfcdj400.pdf

because the letter i have received - although including all the forms on the website - is different. it just says that the consulate has begun to process the visa application and doesn't include the list of things to bring to the interview.

my petition for a K1 visa arrived in ciudad juarez august 4th. i just received a package of information at my address in the US with all the documents my fiance needs to prepare for the interview (packet 3, i assumed). my understanding was that, after receiving this packet, my fiance could go to ciudad juarez at any time for his interview.

HOWEVER, i just called the consulate to confirm that they were not going to send the packet to my fiance in mexico (before sending it to him myself). to my surprise, i was informed that this is only a "preparation packet" - not the actual packet that indicates that the consulate is ready to receive my fiance for an interview. i was told that we will have to wait an additional 5-8 months for the NEXT packet, which will essentially be the same as the packet i have already received from CDJ, except that it will have a letter stating that my fiance can now go to the consulate for an interview.

WHAT??? i have never heard of this, and it sounds crazy. my first instinct is just to ignore what i was told on the phone and tell my fiance to go to the interview, since everything i've read indicates that that is the procedure. but i don't want him to get there and be turned away...

HELP! has anyone else been told the same information, or confirmed the current process for K1 interviews in CDJ???

actually, i just found a lot of information on this site from past threads. sorry for the repitition. but any recent experiences would still be very helpful!

Hi,

just got my NOA 2 and am trying to get prepared for the next step. I know the application now goes to NVC, and then if there are no problems with fingerprints, it goes to CDJ.

How do I check with NVC to find out its progress, and when it has been sent to CDJ?

Once it is at CDJ, they will send "packet 3", right? But I also know we don't need an interview date, and can just show up for an interview once they have our packet. How do I check to make sure that CDJ has everything they need so that we can show up for the interview?

If someone could sort of spell out the CDJ process for me, that would be so helpful.

Thanks.

I just got my NOA 2 notification email from Vermont!!! YAY!

So they are doing something. I hope the rest of you get good news soon, too!

I just got approval from VSC yesterday, Aug 2. That was after no touches since July 14.

Good luck and support to those still waiting!

haven't been touched by VT since july 14th. i keep checking on the USCIS website every day, crossing my fingers for a change in the "last updated" date. no such luck... and i'm getting impatient!

i'm going through VSC, but am curious about the contacting congresspeople thing. when is it high time to do it? i only got my NOA1 in june, so i suppose i should just sit tight for a while, but my case hasn't been touched in two weeks. is this normal?