SanneW

You guys wanna know some real insanity. We have been waiting since January 2015 technically due to our complicated process. All our immigration fiasco began then, we just dropped he AOS in March. Stay positive guys....I have a feeling we will see a big rush of interview letters once workers come back from the holidays

I was lucky with my AOS going quick, but my K1 took a year, no joke. I know what you guys go through and it is insanely frustrating. Tho, you are together and you get to work, that should make it a bit more positive! Cheer up and I am sure you guys will be fine! Just an annoying ### waiting game.

And to think we still have removal and naturalisation upcoming after all this...

Today I heard from lawyer that all immigration processes are in delay because of new president and consequently new policies.

personally, I am positive and I dont think these news are reliable.

I honestly don't think this is true. Trump wont be in office until january so the president didnt change yet. And even once he takes office policies and laws etc etc wont change the same night, those things take time, it can take years.

So it would be really weird if theres a hold for this reason. They might "just" be delayed because of workload etc

another tought, if he is going to be deployed for another while, i tought the tier 1 can change adress, maybe your fiance can change his mailing adress to his parents house? Never done any of it myself so you'ld have to look into that possibility

Nope, i also had a call back and my husband is in the reserves so didnt have the same situation.

Can you try calling yourself? If not, maybe he can see if there are people at his home-base that can help. I tought there are people that help you out with immigration, but i can be wrong.

Either way I really hope you can find a way, don't stress it will make you think unclear, itll all be fine in the end. Take a deep breath, do some internet research and clear your mind. You will find a solution

All I can say about the military helpline is that its just a fast way to get someone on the phone. When I used it i got someone on the phone the same as you do with the normal number, just less waiting. (Might have changed or it was just whdn i called).

Maybe a higher up can access his mail if he requests it personally? I think you will really need that letter. Tho you can try to get a tier 2 on the phone when calling and ask them, explain the situation to them, you have a bigger chance of getting an answer. They helped me out a lot

I hate seeing you all still battling the waiting game of USCIS. Especially during the holidays.

I hope you all can enjoy the holidays none the less, preferably with some good news of a set date! My wishes this season will be with you all, to finally have clarity, knowing i could have been in this position still gives me chivvers!

I guess ot depends on a lot of things. I just joined the Navy and my greencard has to be valid for over a half year from shipping date. I dont know if just a letter will do, and how it goes in other branches. You should talk to a recruiter, or even in chats on the branches website. I am sure they can let you know.

You do have to run. Everyone enlisted in the military has to do PT.

To join, obviously u gonna learn the running at bootcamp

With the conditional greencard you would be able to join (just not airforece)

I am joining the Navy myself (asvab/meps coming tuesday) and have been told 2 different stories.

One recruiter told me i can not become citizen through military and have to keep going on with the regular process (he also said i had to be able to run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes)

And the recruiter I am with now (because the first one left before i had my diploma changed) says I CAN go for citizenship right after bootcamp (and also said I do not have to run)

So I honestly cant tell you, but as I hear around me people all say that you can go for citizenship during/after bootcamp, plus comin week i will know if i have to be able to run and see who is misinforming me haha

Next week i will make my first trip with my greencard... bit nervous since i will miss my husband for 2 months! But im happy to see family again, helpout my grandma while my husband is gone for training ^^

I hope all goes well when re-entering ^^

Seeing that you are going through k-1 theres a big chance you will be approved in no-time anyways... i wanted to expedite but didnt.... got approved within 2 months... all is possible, just make sure u send everything correct and as asked for, and keep track of everything, call uscis every once in a while... i have seen lots of k1 approved within 3-4 months (ofc there are exeptions and i hope for you youre not one of those)

Hey Sara, that's good to hear!

I did open my bank account but they didn't use my Ssn number as I am not a resident yet. I took my card with me but the bank person said she wasn't able to enter the number in the system because I had to show proof of legal residency as well.

I believe you'll have no problem at all. I know Bank of America, chase and td bank are good for non residents.

Good luck and let us know how that goes

I think you can add citizens bank (i still think its funny to have a "citizens" bank account as an alien (back when i opened it) ^^) but so far so good... husband is with them, why i joined that bank

I just looked at the red flags... my husbands parents came here from Brasil, are just living fine money-wise and my husband never got a degree after highschool and hes actually 3 years younger..

I am dutch, have a highschool degree, lived in a big house and a life where i could have anything i wanted...

Those are all red flags according to that website (education, wealth, ethnics, age (the girl being older)), but we went through the process in a breeze (except the Texas backlog but everybody had that.. red flags or none lol)

Honestly things have to look real bad for it to be a problem

I think you shouldn't worry about red flags unless you think yourself that your marriage is a fraud... you just have to convince them you 2 are legit... and how easy is it to proof things that are real?

Haha it's very real... i was amazed as well, and so was the IO when i called may 18th where i was at, because my statuses never updated and things showed up in the mail I called them and spoke to tier 2...

He triple checked it but i got approved in less than 2 months, even to his surprise ><

Just thought I would share my experience here as I continue to be shocked by the lack of accountability I've encountered at all stages of this process.

Word of the wise, DO NOT HAND OVER YOUR FOREIGN DRIVERS LICENCE TO THE DMV. I had read here a couple times that they have no right to it being a document issued by a foreign government but when I went to get my Florida drivers licence yesterday they told me I had to surrender it in order to get an 8 year Florida licence. I was weary, but fine, what could go wrong?

Today I received a message on Instagram from a stranger with a picture of my Canadians drivers licence saying he picked up my fully intact licence out of the garbage in a near by city. My husband and I had no idea if this was just a good samaritan trying to do the right thing by returning it, or if he's trying to exploit this some how. So we were cautious in what information we gave and asked if it could be sent to the address on the licence.

I feel dumb for believing that the DMV would actually take the time to destroy or at least invalidate a private document (that doesn't expire for another 8 months I might add) and I am fuming. It makes me wonder what else is tossed out so carelessly!

Wow cant believe they did this!!! I never even had to show my drivers license... yet they gave me a learners permit with no supervision needed... guess they just believed me lol...

I dont know how it goes in your case but its a bit odd that they do that... :/

Can you get a rental for the day? Or, maybe call the local driving schools and see if they allow usage of their vehicles for the test, if you've not taken lessons with them?

Rentals are not allowed n u have to have x-hours driving experience in the car... tho if i can use one from a friend nobody will find out lol

I got the information from the Nevada DMV. So try your state's DMV - if not on the website just hassle them through appropriate channels (email / chat / phone etc.)

If you have a licence from your home country you can hire a car and drive - so makes sense you can use it to legally operate a vehicle. BUT... I think each state has its own rules in terms of how long you can maintain legal status without doing the test and getting the USA licence.

Also - when I was first in the USA with my fiance we just telephoned the insurance company and added me to the insurance - they told us my UK licence was fine - they just put the number in the section that was entitled "international licence"

I never found any clear information on the site so i desided to just go to the place..

Online you have the info that you can drive on a foreign license for a year since entering BUT it also said that once you are a RI resident you have to get a RI license....

So i asked at the place and they said a year since entering usa eventho i got greencard now i can still drive until december (and she also said...if i leave and comeback it gets a reset tho im not rlly sure about that...lol)

Anyways since i was there anyways i was like F it ill give the test a try and passed for my learners permit (with no need of supervision yey)

Now i only have to find a car for the road test...since my husbands car is registerd in mass and not rhode island... such drama!!!

New DL is a good idea (however I know my UK licence would have been valid to use here for up to 12 months)

How do you know that? I have tried to find out all this for ages but i couldnt find any clear information! So i desided to just get the DL again here... would have been nice to be able to rude coming 2 weeks as my husband is on base so if you got some link that is clear where i can find info...i might be still lucky lol

Ty and all the rules etc and paperwork are getting to me... I don't know anymore what I MUST do or what I CAN do..

I know I need a new DL

I know I need to file ROC 02/13/18

And filing taxes

I just really wasnt sure if I MUST change my SSC straight away or that I COULD haha

So thanks for clearing it up... I really can barely think straight atm...

Maybe a bit of a dumb question i dont know...

So i got my SSC on my K1, so it has the "only for work with..."

So to get that removed now that i have my greencard, will i have to return my old card?

And if i have to give them the SSC, can i still start a job with just having the number?

Because i want to get a job asap, so i need to know if i can change my card now, or i have to wait until i started working

We have gone through the same, we even wanted to break up plenty of times because of all the heartbroken and stress we had in the distance... But somehow we stayed strong eventho our relationship was going downhill... But I also have to add that the fact we were in the Texas backlog didn't help at all. Our K1 took a year, which is ridiculously long for a K1. But we gone through it, stayed strong, stayed together. We kept telling eachother "once we are together it will be better" and it is. I used to cry every night back when we were still on distance, because I couldn't take it anymore!

Now, after living together since December, everything is going better than ever. I am so happy we stayed strong and pulled through, because it really is worth it in the end.

I hope this will help you a bit knowing that things can change when being together. Tho keep in mind, there is always a chance it goes the other way, but you can always move back if you have to, if you're not happy.

My EAD was approved on 05/04, mailed on 06/08, received on 06/11.

My GC was approved on 05/14, mailed on 06/10, received on 06/13.

Maybe this helps some of you with an estimated time...

Ive got my gc today, so i hope you did as well

I just want to let you know, my EAD card, the one that was send the 8th, was delivered today. I expect my GC (same date of being mailed) monday or tuesday. I will post here once I have my greencard, hoping you have yours as well =) Then there's no need to drag along the approval haha

my cases only updated like this:

AOS: received -> approved -> card mailed

EAD: received -> approved -> card mailed -> card delivered

AP: received -> approved

Received updated very late, the approval notices of each came more than a week after they actually aproved it (the online update came after the hardcopy came in mail)

Only the dates that the card was mailed and the delivery update were accurate

edit: but i've seen people that had no updates since received and had the card ending up in the mailbox out of nowere....