lueds

We married Friday <3 2 days before Valentines, so should be an easy anniversary for me to remember... Waiting for the certificate and then starting the next part of the process...

We married Friday <3 2 days before Valentines, so should be an easy anniversary for me to remember... Waiting for the certificate and then starting the next part of the process...

Jason,
From my reading of Yuri's case yes it can take 2 months to get your SSN,
BUT... If you get your interview mid Jan (Can't try to schedule it earlier?), you should receive your visa, usually within 1-2 weeks, (Yuri was on AR until health report came through, so be sure to be organised in that dept prior to interview).
You need to schedule your fiance's CFO Seminar asap.
As soon as the above are sorted, with Visa in hand, she can enter USA.
I can't find any requirement in CA for notification of pending marriage (Where I am going to we have to notify County Clerk 72hrs prior to marrying), so you could get married within a day or so and file immediately for SSN... So if you can get interview over mid Jan, immediately do CFO whilst waiting for Visa to arrive, you could be married Mid Feb at latest and SSN should be approved before baby is due.
Now, I am not sure if I have the process for Philippines correct or not (please correct me if I am wrong), BUT you need to make sure you have absolutely EVERY detail checked and double checked before you go to interview so you don't get any delays. Use the guides in the VJ forum, look at what other Philippino's are saying has happened to them and prepare, prepare, prepare.
All the best mate

Oops, phone playing up
I meant to quote and say thanks for sharing your experience and trying to help others, we need all the assistance we can get in this process, no judgement.

Your partner is a US citizen, not a permanent resident, right?
USCIS is required to complete processing of an EAD application within 90 days of receipt of the application. It typically takes 60-90 days. Mine, for example, was approved 70 days after the the receipt date for my AOS package.
You can't file the AOS application until after your marriage, and shouldn't count on being able to file it immediately after the wedding either It will take you some time to collect all the necessary documents, gather proof that you have a bona fide relationship and marriage, and assemble the AOS package for mailing to USCIS. Rushing the process at this stage will inevitably mean delays further down the line, because if you forget to answer a question, sign a form or include a necessary document, USCIS will mail you a notice requesting the missing answer/evidence, and will pause processing on all parts of your application until they receive a satisfactory response from you. If that happens before your EAD has been issued, the 90-day processing period is extended by the number of days between USCIS mailing the request and receiving your response.
My honest opinion is that trying to arrange a wedding (even a small courthouse wedding) and assemble an AOS application package in a single month, while not impossible, is stretching too thin especially if you'll both be working full-time as well. Also, one of the required documents for the AOS package is a certified copy of your marriage certificate, which may not be available until a few weeks after your wedding. If you don't have a certified copy of your birth certificate, you're going to have to request one from your home country and that may also take several weeks.
The VJ guide to adjustment of status is here, and might help you figure out how long it's likely to take for you to get the application together.
One more thing to consider is that as your sponsor, your fiance will need to be able to prove that his/her income is at least 125% of the poverty level, which is roughly $20,000 for a household of two people. If he/she is unable to do that, you'll need to find a joint sponsor.
I'm sorry if all this sounds discouraging. I'm not trying to dissuade you from marrying your partner, if the two of you genuinely want to be together, but the immigration process requires patience and attention to detail, and it isn't something that can or should be rushed.

Hi all, I don't know how many of you followed us through our journey, but I still get messages from time to time. I decided to do an update for anyone and hopefully give some good information to those possibly going through a similar situation or who might end up going through this.
Our story in a nutshell:
We filed our petition and got fast tracked basically the whole way through, so much that our interview was scheduled before we could get medical done or the police check back. After my fiance's interview, we knew there would be an extended amount of time for processing of all of his papers. We were shocked to get a status update of refused a month after his interview. We spent hours searching for possible reasons and basically figured out it had to be something with his court records from when he was a teenager. We freaked, as anyone would and wanted answers. We tried calling the embassy, knowing they wouldn't give us answers and they didn't. We also emailed them, however they did not respond. My fiance and I decided something must be up as it had been nearly a month since the status changed and we hadn't heard a word about it from the embassy. He finally sent another email the other day stating that he hadn't heard a word since our status change and he was trying to make plans for travel to visit during the holidays. He had no idea how to go about doing this as he didn't know where our status stood or how to get his passport back.
Today he received an email from the embassy finally telling us that we were in fact refused but that we do qualify for a waiver. It was in fact due to something in his court records, but it is able to be bipassed with some more money and patience. We are okay with this and actually relieved to finally have answers. He should have his passport back within a week along with further instructions on what to do and more details on exactly what the waiver is needed for. We were also informed that he can no longer travel on a visa waiver but he is allowed to apply for a visitor's visa with sufficient proof that he will return to his home country as he is an intending immigrant.
Here is what I want to share:
*If your visa is refused on ceac, you have to get the word from the embassy to know what is going on. It may take them quite a bit of time.
*If you think you will get red flagged for your court records, be up-front about them (He was).
*Bring adequate proof including your federal police check and your court records, not one or the other. He also submitted both, making the processing times shorter.
*Be honest, it gets you somewhere!
*Don't stress until you know what is going on with your case (Easier said than done!)
*Remember once you are refused a visa for immigration purposes, you will not be able to travel on a waiver again (usually)
*Be prepared for a longer journey and remember you are together for a reason- work together, not against one another. You are your biggest support network through this.
We have worked together through all of this and stayed strong through days of the unknowing. We are going to be going through the waivers now, which I believe take a lot of time. From here on out, I will be a part of the waiver forum but I am open to messages if anyone else needs answers on further information that is similar to our story. Sorry for such a long post, but I know there were a few people out there wondering.

G'day there,
They state that they require birth certificates from All parties, so petitioner, beneficiary and any children under 21 years of age, Even if the the children are Not coming with beneficiary to the USA
As for evidence, they will be looking for more recent additional evidence of ongoing relationship. I have my interview 20 November and I will be taking the evidence that I have already submitted, plus additional of more recent nature: correspondence in form of cards/letters/emails/phone logs etc
The original copies of divorce decree needs to be brought to interview.
Mate, your questions are Not stupid, we need to get this right so as not to delay being able to get together with our partners, Not asking, and then getting an Administrative Delay due to that is stupid imho.
All the best in your journey brother

I got our case number 45 days after approval.. It seems getting slower now. But you can call USCIS and let them connect you to Tier 2 agent, they are the one that can look up your case specifically. If they won't connect you hang up and call again until you find an agent that will connect you to Tier 2..