Star561

5 hours ago, Anjuschaaa said:

August/September filer as well. Literally got the same message about a case transfer yesterday. I wonder if my interview will be soon? My husband is getting orders for an unaccompanied tour with the army soon and leaving in August. I want to call on Monday and hopefully speed up the process, otherwise I will have to go to the interview myself 😕

 

I also just tried calling and asking about the status to see where it was transferred. With the receipt number it told me i didn’t enter enough digits. How did you guys find out where it was transferred? Did you have to talk to someone?

No I didn’t need to talk to someone, just the automated system.

You need to include the letters at the beginning as numbers. For example WAC will be 922.

On 6/4/2019 at 11:08 AM, stfiii said:

September filer here. Just to give a quick recap. We filed in September, received our extension letters in December and we did not have to do Biometrics. Today June 4th 2019 I received a text message and logged into my uscis account to get the following message. (see image) 

 

I'm assuming this is the case being transferred to the nearest USCIS office in California. Anyone else have insights into this? 

We are August filers (from CA and sent to California Service Center) and we got the same notification on June 4th. There are a few June/July/ August filers that have been transferred to other service centers recently. One August filer mentioned that they knew they had been transferred to Nebraska from California this week as the automated phone system told them as they haven’t received the letter yet.

We haven’t received the letter yet from CSC , so we phoned and the automated case status checker told us we’ve also been transferred to the Nebraska service center. 

21 hours ago, r_swift said:

 

Thank you for sharing! I do not have a connecting flight, but will be taking the train after landing in Canada. I will make sure to have a good couple hours in between. Thanks!

 

You’ll be fine on the way there. This is just on your way back to the states that you will need a bit more time. (When you so pre-clearance in Toronto on the way back).

Just to add to the other replies. 

Depending which Canadian airport you are traveling through on your way back you will clear customs and immigration there before you board the flight to the US. If you will clear in an airport that you have a layover in, you might want to make sure you don’t have a quick layover.

My experience is based on Vancouver but I would give yourself extra time at the airport as each time I travelled with the combo card I had to go to the back room to process the AP which added 30-45 mins each time depending on how busy they were that day. But the extra time varies from person to person and airport to airport. (I was also traveling at non peak times on weekdays on purpose).

You can ask for your passport back. I think there was a box I checked on the online application. You fill this out and  pay online. They you ship them the old passport, new photos, printout sheet from online application and any required documents. I recommend you send it registered delivery, ups was the cheapest when I looked at all the options.   It was super simple. They ship it back via dhl with any documents you submitted and your new one comes in a separate shipment. And I just did my U.K. one and had the new one back in my hands in under 2 weeks. I'm happy and impressed.

If you are planning to get married in Los Angeles County. Be aware of the wait time   to receive the certificate after your marriage, which is normally 6-8 weeks.

If you are wanting it quicker, take a look at the below thread, as other people have found ways to minimize the time.

Yes. Just make sure you take with you the other documents they require, as they changed their requirements last year and now require what they call residency documents (lease, cell phone bill etc.) Take a look at the link below, for examples.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/dl_info#two500

Also be prepared to take the written test the day you go in. There are sample tests on the dmv website that are very helpful.

Once you pass, you can book the in car driving test for a future date.

Ok so I'm guessing you mean the ds-160 when you say website questionnaire.

Follow the instructions on the link that user janandmatt just provided you. It gives the email address and the three things you need to email them.

Yes I went to the one in Stanton with no appointment and it was no problem at all. The DLPC are the ones they encourage you to go for license renewals or new licenses If you have no appointment. And in the case of Stanton compared to my local DMV, there was more desks and the wait was always less.

I have no idea on whether the EAD would be valid, but you could ask at your interview tomorrow. Good luck!!

They won't take your passport. But take your tickets with you and if you get approved on the spot, you can ask for a I-551 stamp that will enable you to be readmitted before you receive the physical green card. But have a back up plan for your travel plans, in case you don't get approved on the spot.

Good luck!

You need a SSN before you can get a DL.

You can ask for an I-551 stamp but you may be refused without travel plans, but you can always ask.

According to the SSN website they will accept the stamp, but I don't know from experience.

Best case you will get SSN within 2 weeks, if for some reason they need to confirm something with immigration it could take up to 4 weeks (even though I had my EAD in hand they still had confirm as I wasn't showing in their database yet).

I'm not sure of a way to get the number before it arrives in the mail.

Do you live near a DLPC, it's a DMV that only does licenses (no in car tests) and there is one north of LA in Granada Hills. I found this was a quicker way to get a license without an appointment personally and I could check the waiting time online before I went, which was a lot less waiting time than my other local DMV.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551080-immunizations-ds-3025-or-i-693/

Take a look at this thread, it's really handy for this question.

If you open one up in Canada, it'll probably still be a Canadian account that's in US Dollars. I recommend you wait until you're in Boston so you can open up a US account that'll link to your Canadian one. They won't force you to close them, but the credit card itself will have no effect on your credit score in the U.S., but you might be able to get a credit recommendation by sticking with the same bank and you might be able to get a U.S. credit card with a higher limit based on your pre-existing Canadian credit score.

You might want to check with TD. I know in terms of RBC their US bank is based in the US, so you are able to get setup with a debit and credit card (based on Canadian credit history) before you move. Once you move and get an SSN you can add it in order to build your credit history. Their cross border transfers are simple and happen instantly, and you can just do it online yourself(which is handy if you qualify for Ei and need to transfer). So you might want to see if TD is similar.

Take a look at this

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/dl_info#two500

Click on how to apply for a drivers license if you are over 18. After all of the requirements, it does say if you pass all the requirements including the written test, and if you have never been licensed before you will be issued a permit.

A few tips for you:

1. Look through the list of residency requirements, this is a new requirement as of July 1, make sure you take this stuff with you.

2. Just so you are aware they may not let you get a permit until you get your EAD, there are a bunch of threads here on this..

3. There are sample written tests on their website, as well as there is a free app of practice questions, both were really helpful to pass the written test.

Take a look at this thread, it's from 2014, but may be useful.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/500917-drivers-license-in-illinois-with-a-k-1-while-waiting-ead-and-green-card/

As Georgia said, you can get SSN after arriving.

When you can get added to your fiance's health insurance depends on her policy. Some are after marriage, some can be up to 30 days ahead. I could only be added after marriage so I bought a interim policy meant for incoming immigrants in order to bridge that period.

In terms of Canada specific advice, if you want banking to use before you get your ssn, look into RBC or td cross borde banking. It allowed me to get a us credit card before I left as it was based on my Canadian credit history. Which was super useful until I got an ssn.

This is Canada specific, but the only thing I would add is to give yourself at least two hours to clear secondary and security preflight in Canada , particularly if it's the busy holiday season.

In Vancouver I was in secondary, and they told me every time I used it to give two hours at least and to not take how empty it was that day for granted. I said I had done so, and I got told "awesome, good for you!"

I have used it twice now, and both times I've been in secondary for 25 mins and 45 mins, and it wasn't busy on either day.

It will be in Toronto, as you do preclearance there for the US, and then nothing when he lands in Phoenix. So make sure his layover is long enough.

Yeah, a lot of people now are getting that kind of update. I hope someone here has an explanation of what that entails. Maybe someone who had that same update and learned from USCIS that their application moved to the field office or something. While that update doesn't say much, it's probably a sign that our applications are moving forward. It'd be nice to know what's going on behind the scenes and what kind of progress that is specifically.

My guess is that they seem to have done a database refresh in order to get rid of all the validation errors.. So when they refreshed, if something was showing originally it just got refreshed and the date was updated, if it wasn't showing up, it got updated with the status that should have been there all the way along. For example, my EAD and AP got updated to the date they were received when they were originally validation errors, and the i-485 ready for interview just had the date updated, but the status remained the same.

If you look at all of the other months of filers that filed later than us, they all experienced the same thing and the updates started with the most recent receipts and worked their way back in receipt numbers, hence our group of filers experienced this a few days after the more recent filers.

Then after that refresh happened. 12 hours later i got my EAD approved, finally after 99 days .

I am currently at 98 days on my EAD. We had no rfe's.

I filed a SR at 76 days, we recieved it back and it said we were still pending, which is what we were expecting. At 96 days I filed another service request for being over 90 days and we recieved an email back saying they had recieved my expedite request and it was under review.

I know the key to this process is being patient, but I'm just stuck on knowing at what point of waiting is cause for further action and what that action should be?

Is anyone else at this point of waiting too?

Still can't check any receipt numbers. Husband called on 7/15 and I don't think he understood what he was asking for OR what they told him. All he remembers is that something is "ready" and that it won't arrive until the end of August. So what that is, who knows. He thinks maybe it was EAD approved-- but it would have arrived by now. Is it lost in the mail? Was it GC "ready for interview" he doesn't know. He called again today. He believed them when Tier 1 said Tier 2 was having a busy day and call back tomorrow. This is insanity.

My suggestion would be to get him to call when they open. As this is what tier one told me to do as they had stopped transferring calls within three hours the other day.

Have you requested to file a service request? You can do online or with tier 2. Tier one said they can't file them for people who don't have receipt numbers showing up as they can't see them either. But you should file a service request as it is now considered out of processing time guidelines. I was told it would be answered within 5 days, fingers crossed.

They do seem to be doing a mass update of receipt numbers but I think they've only reached end of April/beginning of May ( they are working from most recent) so hopefully we will see statuses soon.

Our EAD and AP numbers are still not working after 95 days.

I-485 was not working and updated after 43 days to ready to be scheduled for interview.

I was told by tier 1 last week that they have thousands and thousands of receipt numbers not working. So we are not alone in this issue at all.

Ok Tier 2 told us today that we are still pending , and we are not approved yet even though we were told so last week. They also said that filing the service request may have delayed the case.

I was also told there is nothing I can do and to hold tight for another 30 days.

We are at day 95. Has anyone filed another service request after the first one comes back and says it's still pending?

Ok, I am so confused. When I called on day 90, they said I was approved July 18 day 88. And I would be receiving mail dated July 18 that I was approved. We finally received something today but it was a response to the service request from day 75 (letter dated July 18) saying it was still pending. Tried calling this morning but by 11am they were no longer transferring to tier 2, and I still have a validation error online.

Back to waiting.. Day 92...

Anyone else had this happen?

I received the notice with my interview scheduled to August 3rd. I was so excited, but when I checked the time it said 2:15AM

I called to said that had a mistake, and now I have to wait 30 MORE DAYS to receive a new letter with a new day.

I am so frustrated...

Oh I'm sorry, that's so frustrating! Hopefully your EAD comes in meantime, and that your new letter comes soon!

I am glad to see letters coming for Santa Ana though as it says online as of May 31, they are still processing October.

I called today as we are at day 90, and we'd had no service request response, apparently EAD got approved a couple of days ago, but still isn't updated online. Has anyone else had this issue? She said to just start checking my mailbox.

I don't know who you banked with in Canada. But have you looked into RBC Or TD USD credit cards. I went in and talked to RBC and I can get a card based on my Canadian credit history and then when I get a SSN, they will add it to my account to build US credit history. I haven't added my SSN yet so I can't comment on the last part yet but at least I could get a USD credit card before I left Canada.