bloopygirl

Guys I think I'm getting used to living in NJ finally. I went to visit my parents a couple weeks ago and I didn't even crave tim hortons lol. I just missed wawa and having someone pump my gas for me. hahahaha

Current U. S immigration laws states that for a person to qualify for a visit visa to the U. S such a person must have strong ties that will compel them to return back to their home country after the duration of their stay. Such a requirement is a little bit hard to meet for majority of the visa applicants and in return they are refused visas.
How are strong ties to home country being unreasonable here?
What do you propose to ensure that people would not overstay their tourist visa?
Also, with the immigrant visa applicants, they are made to undertake medicals, get police clearances all without any assurance of being issued with a visa.
There is NO such thing as guaranteed visa here.
Potential immigrant is required to do medical (to ensure one does not have infectious disease .. etc, in good health), get police records (to make sure you are not a criminal).
I consider these are bare minimum immigration hurdles that MOST countries should have for immigration purposes.
Immigrant visa applicants pay huge sums of money to undertake these medicals and police clearances and in the long run can't be promised if the visa will be issued or not.
Also, consular officers should not be given the sole power of issuing U. S visas.
Most at times that power is abused.
If you feel that CO is abusing power, you can go report them.
Otherwise, you sound like another disgruntled rejected visa interviewee because you can't get your visa.

Hey I saw maltesers at Wegman's on the weekend

Driving for 2 years in CA with a Canadian license when you are a resident of California is actually against California law which requires new state residents to get a state driver's license within 10 days of establishing residence.

one post removed for tos violation
Condone or instruct, either directly or indirectly, others on how to commit fraudulent or illegal immigration activities in any way, shape, manner or method.

one post removed for quoting that tos violation

26 days from EAD/AP approval and card is still not in production! This is after w service requests filed....however last night we got text that greencard is being produced!!! Guess we can stop worrying about EAD lol

Kix are closer to Canadian corn pops.

. Thank you! So you think the card wont come before biometrics???

It is possible to transfer your International driving record for insurance purposes. My wife had a perfect driving record in Canada, we got a copy of her driving record from the Ontario Ministry Of Transportation and we used it to get a lower rate with Metropolitan Insurance Co.

My homesickness has actually happened a bit backwards. When I first got here, I was perfectly okay. Mind you I was able to take a couple visits home and have my family come down here all within the first few months. Additionally, it was also summer when I moved and the misery of winter has definitely taken its own toll. It wasn't until I sent in my AOS and realized I didn't have the option of visiting home for a while that it all sunk in. Like many of you, I also moved from a big city (Toronto) to Suburbia in New Jersey. I hate the fact that I can't walk anywhere because it's all so far. I was in NYC this past weekend and realized how much happier I am when I can walk out the door and only be steps away from anything I might possibly need. So that's probably the biggest adjustment. Of course, not having many friends (besides mutual friends with the husband) also makes it difficult. Never mind that because my husband is really the only person I have available to vent to in person, we end up getting into stupid petty fights that would have never happened had I the option to have a proper girls night, etc.
On the upside, I did just receive two costco size bottles of clamato juice and a huge jar of pickled beans so that has put a pretty big smile on my face. Now, if I could just get my hands on some ketchup chips, we'd be set.

Congratulation to all the approvals! I swear there is no logic in how it works
It's like did you land on a fast desk or a slow desk
Out of the blue today we just got our green card approved.
No rfe no interview and straight into production
Maybe a little bit of good karma from how long we had to wait with the k1 visa ?
So excited though and hope it's one of many to come from today! Good luck to everyone waiting
It'll happen when you least expect it! So don't give up hope

I don't think I ever saw anything in Canada walking around other than ducks, black squirrels and the neighborhood cats. Since I've moved to the US in the 90's I've seen a whole world of wildlife I never would have thought. Not only locally, but on my road trips out of state too. Just in the city of Denver since I've been living here since the mid 2000's I've seen wild turkeys, elk, rattlesnakes, coyotes packs, tons of rabbits, eagles and that's in the city (not the suburbs).
So from what I've seen, I love hiking and walking around here a hell of a lot more than I did when I lived in Ontario where all there was, was the same types of trees and the same boring animals. Instead I get treelines, cactus, yucca plants, evergreen forests, great plains, mountain tundra, desert red rocks just within an hour of my place. And that's here in Denver. Anytime I go see family or friends in Florida or Texas or Arizona, there's a whole other world there which I've just never found anywhere I've been to in Canada when it comes to the outdoors...

Me too! When I lived with my parents we lived outside of a city in southern Ontario, right on a hiking trail. It was so nice. I would see deer, beavers, muskrats, coyotes, foxes, shrews, all sorts of cool little animals.. when I lived in Thunder Bay, same story, lots of trails and not far from many excellent provincial parks. I saw a wolf on the campus once, people have seen lynx too, and you'd see bear's claw marks on the trees. Here we go to the pine barrens in the summer and go hiking for 5 hours sometimes and camping too and we don't see a single animal! It's so weird! It's nice not having to worry about bears, though. Although I have noticed there are lots of beautiful birds around here that I'm not used to seeing.

No problem Glad to help if I can!
so are you paying off the loan? I would sell the car and leave it in Canada and get a new one in the U.S. So much cheaper to buy cars here anyway. If you're able to pay it off in order to have the lien released then that might be a smarter path to take.
I don't know what you are asking about how much do Rls charge to inspect the vehicle?

Think ours is the same, interview last week Friday, and today EAD mailed. I assume we will get our GC the same time. haha

OMG, yeah, I can't wait to visit my parents and eat a delicious quarter chicken dinner from swiss chalet. Remember when they used to have the roasted veggie side? Those were the best.
I also miss Value Village! Goodwill in my town sucks. Half my clothes are from VV... no way I am paying twenty or thirty dollars for a skirt at a real store

The issue is people lie to get into the country just to skip the K1 or CR1 process. The issue is people who adjust status from visitor, student, and non-dual intent work visas make it HARDER for people in those countries to get visitor, work, and student visas.
Is it legal? Yes. Can you do it? Yes. Should you? That's up to you. It's a moral question at that point.

M-ah-zda and m-aw-ada, p-ah-sta and p-aw-sta, zee zed... I'm living through that too. When I see the mazda commercials it weirds me out lol. I remember one time I was giving my postal code to a store and said zed they were like ??? Lol so I said zee.(I'm a newbie conditional res, in nj now for 4 days. I am now one of yous! I've been lurking on this thread since I was in Canada lol.)

In related news, i thought I'd check the USCIS website... and they are producing my EAD card! (It says they are producing a 'new' one which is curious as I never had an old one nor reported one lost but there we are haha)

Yes it's not fun! oh my goodness. I've decided to just drive my vehicle back to canada and sell it. If anyone else has their vehicle in their parents' name, make sure you transfer it to your own name BEFORE you drive to the US. Otherwise it just gets way too complicated! We were so excited to get married and have me drive down right away after waiting so long for the visa, we really didn't plan things out properly. The foibles of being young and impatient.

I mean I lived in Calgary without a car but generally we could borrow a friend's for grocery trips as we all could drive. (Our truck was broken.)
I bet going home with groceries on a bus in a blizzard had to suck!

I called USCIS earlier today because I was losing my patience and they told me I had to wait until 90 days had passed (which would be this upcoming Sunday). I logged on just now to USCIS and my EAD is in production on Feb 6th!! Yay! My AP says an RFE was mailed on Feb. 6th now so I wonder what that's about...

Omg! My I-485 just got approved. Does it mean i skip the interview process?

Being nervous won't change things Positive thinking attracts positive things.. With this moto we were going trough all process and thanks God we were blessed. So stay positive, and everything will be ok

Omg literally this minute I got the message that my EAD/AP is in production!!!!! Literally this minute!!!!