taminatress

Thanks for the congrats. I really can't say how easy it will be for you. I heard from a local lawyer that people in the Arkansas office I went to were very friendly compared to many other offices, so that may have had something to do with it. As to the ethnic question, I would not be at all surprised if they were more biased towards your situation, but perhaps due to the increase of fraudulent marriages amongst mixed couples and not from a racist standpoint. Or at least I would like to hope that. I sure hope that our new president is heading us in a direction of looking beyond our differences. I wish you every success. Be prepared and try to relax.

Congrats!

Its nice to hear this story - my interview is in 3 weeks from today!! Close to the same situation. I just hope ours goes as smoothly as yours

Thanks! Good luck to you as well. The only thing I would say is that it is better to have too much info than not enough. Best wishes for your big day!

It does feel wonderful indeed and we are planning a Canada trip for this summer. My grandparents are ailing and I am so relieved to be able to see them soon.

Hello everyone,

I wanted to come on and let you know about my interview experience yesterday. Particularly for anyone on here that has overstayed as I had, this might give you some hope. I know it can be a difficult and lonely experience being outside the system. Many of us are just here to be with the people we love and sometimes end up making uninformed, bad decisions. I want to tell you that it is still possible for your dreams to come true!

I had come here on a visit and met my now husband. I visited a number of times and then on my last visit in Aug, 2005 I ended up not returning. I mostly thought I could stay due to some very bad lawyer advice, so please do your own homework too, don't just rely on what one lawyer says. There are good ones and not so good ones.

Anyhow, I ended up not returning to Canada and moved in with my sweetie. He was also Canadian. In 2006 he applied for his citizenship. He had lived here 20 years legally by then. In 2007 we were married. In Feb 2008 we filed the package for me to adjust status in the US.

My husband and I were very nervous and made sure we were well prepared before heading off that day. We brought our wedding photo album and some other random photos of us with our families showing how long we'd known each other. We had joint bank statements, house ownership papers, all the wedding cards we received and some postcards from relatives addressed to both of us as well as originals of all the document copies we had submitted.

We arrived about 45 minutes early for our 11am appointment. The waiting area was showing the inauguration as it was Jan. 20, which was great because it gave us something to focus on besides just being nervous. We got to watch Obama get sworn in, listened to his whole speech and then shortly after that a man stepped out and called my name. I was confused and said, "Just me or should my husband come too?" Thankfully, he meant for both of us to come. For a minute I thought they were going to do some weird separate interview tactic. Scary!

When we got to his office we swore to tell the truth and he had us sit down. One of his first questions was about the name on my application. I had put my maiden name on there since I was going to do the name change when I got through the immigration process. He asked if I would want that name on my card or if I were taking my husband's name because if they put the card in my name and I wanted to change it there was a $300 fee and a bunch of hassles. I couldn't believe my ears. Was he really already talking about me having a green card??!!At that moment my husband and I relaxed considerably.

Then he went through the "no" questions, but not all of them I think. He confirmed our address, my parents names and checked my passport. He then asked about my last entry into the US. I was nervous about this because I had a stamp from 2004 but my last entry was actually 2005. In Canada they rarely stamped passports when driving across the border, they would just wave you through. I explained that I had been admitted legally by an agent and he put me at ease by saying he knew about wave throughs because he used to work at the border. Oh happy day! He noted that my passport had been valid when I crossed and that was about it.

He said everything looked good and that IF he approved me that day I would get the card in about 3 weeks. Be sure to check the mail he said. He asked if we had questions and we asked a few things mostly because I think we were in shock that it was so easy. He never actually said he would for sure approve me, but he certainly hinted numerous times that he would.

The agent was friendly. He looked at pretty much nothing that we brought. He only checked my passport and our driver's licenses when we first sat down. It seemed apparent that he had decided our fate before we even showed up! So, we were ecstatic when we left because it seemed like everything was in order, but I was still reserving just a shade of doubt. Until....

Later that night I received an email saying, "card production ordered" !!!!!!!!! The email said I will get the card in the mail within 30 days. I am so freakin' happy I can't even express it!

Finally legal in AR!

Hello everyone,

I wanted to come on and let you know about my interview experience yesterday. Particularly for anyone on here that has overstayed as I had, this might give you some hope. I know it can be a difficult and lonely experience being outside the system. Many of us are just here to be with the people we love and sometimes end up making uninformed, bad decisions. I want to tell you that it is still possible for your dreams to come true!

I had come here on a visit and met my now husband. I visited a number of times and then on my last visit in Aug, 2005 I ended up not returning. I mostly thought I could stay due to some very bad lawyer advice, so please do your own homework too, don't just rely on what one lawyer says. There are good ones and not so good ones.

Anyhow, I ended up not returning to Canada and moved in with my sweetie. He was also Canadian. In 2006 he applied for his citizenship. He had lived here 20 years legally by then. In 2007 we were married. In Feb 2008 we filed the package for me to adjust status in the US.

My husband and I were very nervous and made sure we were well prepared before heading off that day. We brought our wedding photo album and some other random photos of us with our families showing how long we'd known each other. We had joint bank statements, house ownership papers, all the wedding cards we received and some postcards from relatives addressed to both of us as well as originals of all the document copies we had submitted.

We arrived about 45 minutes early for our 11am appointment. The waiting area was showing the inauguration as it was Jan. 20, which was great because it gave us something to focus on besides just being nervous. We got to watch Obama get sworn in, listened to his whole speech and then shortly after that a man stepped out and called my name. I was confused and said, "Just me or should my husband come too?" Thankfully, he meant for both of us to come. For a minute I thought they were going to do some weird separate interview tactic. Scary!

When we got to his office we swore to tell the truth and he had us sit down. One of his first questions was about the name on my application. I had put my maiden name on there since I was going to do the name change when I got through the immigration process. He asked if I would want that name on my card or if I were taking my husband's name because if they put the card in my name and I wanted to change it there was a $300 fee and a bunch of hassles. I couldn't believe my ears. Was he really already talking about me having a green card??!!At that moment my husband and I relaxed considerably.

Then he went through the "no" questions, but not all of them I think. He confirmed our address, my parents names and checked my passport. He then asked about my last entry into the US. I was nervous about this because I had a stamp from 2004 but my last entry was actually 2005. In Canada they rarely stamped passports when driving across the border, they would just wave you through. I explained that I had been admitted legally by an agent and he put me at ease by saying he knew about wave throughs because he used to work at the border. Oh happy day! He noted that my passport had been valid when I crossed and that was about it.

He said everything looked good and that IF he approved me that day I would get the card in about 3 weeks. Be sure to check the mail he said. He asked if we had questions and we asked a few things mostly because I think we were in shock that it was so easy. He never actually said he would for sure approve me, but he certainly hinted numerous times that he would.

The agent was friendly. He looked at pretty much nothing that we brought. He only checked my passport and our driver's licenses when we first sat down. It seemed apparent that he had decided our fate before we even showed up! So, we were ecstatic when we left because it seemed like everything was in order, but I was still reserving just a shade of doubt. Until....

Later that night I received an email saying, "card production ordered" !!!!!!!!! The email said I will get the card in the mail within 30 days. I am so freakin' happy I can't even express it!

Finally legal in AR!

Wow, thanks for the speedy response guys! Glad to know I have options.

I have an appointment with a civil surgeon here in Fayetteville, AR tomorrow and don't know how much it will cost. If it turns out to be very expensive can I then get whatever shots and tests I need elsewhere and use a civil surgeon just for the paperwork? Also, can I use any civil surgeon? I have seen on here that there is someone in TX that will do the paperwork through the mail for #10. Could I use that CS though I live in AR? Thanks.

I'm in Arkansas and have seen two lawyers about my case. The first gave me not one, but two free consultations and gave me completely bogus information that could have lost me valuable time and lots of money trying for applications that would have untimately been denied. I could not find any evidence to support what the first lawyer was proposing for me so I wanted a second opinion.

The second lawyer charged a nominal fee ($75 for an hour) but knew her stuff and gave me excellent advice. Much information can be found online if you do some research and if you get advice that seems too good to be true try to verify it for yourself or get a second legal opinion. That would be my advice and for goodness sake, as everyone is telling you, get some kind of legal advice!

FBI name check comes back to USCIS looking like this:

[ ] EVIL

[X] NOT EVIL

That cracked me up!!!

Hopefully my name is unique enough to not get confused with any evildoers. It sounds like the process is a bit of a mess. I hope my name doesn't get stuck like so many people here. Thanks to all for your replies!

I am wondering if anyone knows what information comes from the FBI name check if the applicant has no criminal background.

Does the INS adjuster get a history of all previous addresses to compare with the addresses the applicant supplied on the G-325A biographic information form?

Is that part of the purpose of the FBI check or is it strictly to weed out the criminals?

Just curious...thanks!

I entered the US legally from Canada four years ago. My mom filed an I-130 for me in 2003 but I now find out that because I overstayed I could be up for the 10 year bar when that application becomes current. I am living with my LPR boyfriend and we want to get married. We hadn't gotten married because I didn't want my application time to be even longer as the married child of a citizen wait times are much longer.

I just found out that my boyfriend is now willing to get his citizenship in order for us to be together. Should we marry AFTER he gets naturalized or before? If I don't leave the country while waiting for all the paperwork to go through does that mean I can't be barred? And lastly, once our turn comes up and he is a citizen and we are married, should I tell INS the truth about overstaying? Could I be deported at that time, or denied status? Or would the marriage make it all forgiven as I have heard.

We are seeking a lawyer, but any info would be helpful....thanks!

Thanks again....you have been most helpful. This whole immigration thing can be a bit of a nightmare!

Tam

I like the easier questions, glad to give you a quick answer.

While you're here...do you know what the procedure is once my visa becomes available? I am a Canadian and my mother is American...she applied for me. Will my mother be informed first? Will I be contacted in Canada? Will we both be contacted? Will it be by mail? What happens next? Anything you could tell me would be great!

Thanks again,

Tam

Look at CSC, Cases from TSC, and NSC are being forwarded to CSC, have been for months.

Thank you so much...that really helps me out. I had no idea.

Tam

Does anyone know what the deal is with the Texas Service Center processing times for family immigration I-130 forms? I have been monitoring the wait times for months now and suddenly they aren't even showing any wait times for I-130 applications...What gives?!

The other service centers show processing dates, but not Texas...the one that has the application I am concerned about of course. Are there any other people that have been processed through the Texas office on an I-130 application lately? I am curious to know what dates they might be working on. The last time I saw dates they were for 2001. Any help would be great.

Tam