Scandi

So happy to see that one of all world leaders is finally taking the genocide in South Africa seriously. It's been going on for far too long, and they have never received any kind of help from anywhere in the world before. 

7 hours ago, Cw1977 said:

hi

 

hopefully it will all be fine for you and her, but don’t forget she might not be admitted for 85 days. They make the decision when she arrives and it’s possible they only allow her to stay for a few wks or so. She should be ready to deal with this and how she would deal with the flight home, especially as you say it is non changeable. How would she buy a flight home after a month, for example?

 

would be good for her to be ready for these types of challenges just in case, as well. 
 

 

With the ESTA (NOT a visa) you get the full 90 days or nothing at all. Only with visas do CBP decide how long you actually get to stay. 

Copies of the credit cards showing that both you and your spouse's cards have the same number (ie you're sharing the account). 

Many people travel abroad with their greencards AND foreign passports, even if they're not in the same last name. Have her bring her marriage certificate as proof of her name change. 

So yes, IF her AOS is approved AND she receives her greencard before your trip, she can travel with you. She needs her foreign passport and greencard (and marriage certificate just in case). 

She still has a few years until she can get a US passport, as a passport requires citizenship, not just legal permanent residency. 

Count on it taking 2 months, be happy if it comes faster. You don't need that letter for now, all you need to know is that your case has been received and accepted. You now have a long wait ahead where nothing much will happen at all. 

16 minutes ago, hplusj said:

I really don't know how you guys do it, packing your entire lives to switch countries.  My husband doing it marvels me.  There was a lot going on and somehow in all of it, he managed to sell all the essentials, store the rest, and move with just a couple bags.  Mindboggling.

 

Truly happy to see movement for you!

It was surprisingly easy to sell the condo, the car and get rid of everything else. In fact, it was the best feeling, I felt so free not having a bunch of stuff anymore, I only brought what I could fit in 3 suitcases and got rid of everything else (I had no reason to store anything, I wasn't going to move back). Felt absolutely amazing. 

I waited until I had the visa package in hand, would never book tickets before that.

Norwegian was by far the cheapest option back then, I always flew with them, and one-way tickets were half the price compared to a roundtrip.

With most airlines, roundtrip is cheaper than a one-way ticket (you just cancel the return ticket once you have landed). 

Norse would 100% have been my option today if I had to do it all over again, they appear to be Norwegian 2.0. 
ALL flights during June-August are going to be expensive, no matter what airline you choose. I moved in October and the flights with Norwegian were dirt cheap. 

12 hours ago, Level-With-Me said:

He earned all his foreign income in Jersey, however since we're filing married jointly, all his income counts as joint income since when you file a joint as married, all your income even if it was earned in a different country counts as joint income since they look at you as a full year resident. I'm not sure why this is, but according to the IRS if you were here for one month or 11 months you're considered as a full year resident. 

Up to you, but we didn't mention my income from my home country when we filed jointly. Our tax guy just put $0 on me. He also listed me as a "non-resident" (or however to explain it) for the health insurance penalty thingy so we wouldn't get a fine for me not having health insurance yet. I "technically" wasn't a resident yet, I had only arrived in a K-1 a few months earlier and didn't have any status in the US.

No issues. 

5 hours ago, MTGentleman said:

I had the same incompetent idiot as last time, who was adamant there was a freeze on all new SSNs. We stood our ground, and he argued back explaining that I'd just have to wait for my green card to get my alien number to come back for them to expedite things. I showed him all my info, and explained that he was wrong because I have my details on my visa itself. He then argued back again stating that he'd worked there for 2 years and we were just like "well I'm not leaving until I get something". The incredibly rude clerk then stated that he could put me in a "worse state" by putting in my registration number on my visa and it would be flagged for 4 weeks while it is verified - absolute... Yeah! 

Anyway, in the end I didn't stand down at all and he typed information into his computer, then walked away with my passport. A few minutes later, he came back looking and sounding very sheepish, didn't say sorry, and just handed me a formal letter which says my SSN is being processed and will be sent out to me in the post - he, himself, just said that: "Your card will arrive in 5-14 business days" - he knew he'd messed up and was in the wrong! Finally getting somewhere! He didn't even ask for my birth certificate like he should have haha. I could have sworn at the guy I saw today, absolute...

That's unfortunately the "welcome" many legal immigrants get at the SSA, and most applicants probably give up thinking what they've been told is true. SSA has way too many employees not knowing what they're doing. It's probably not their fault that their management isn't keeping them up to date with new laws and regulations, but they can at least stop it with the attitude and go ask a manager or supervisor first before turning someone down. 

Today you taught this employee a lesson, and he will know better next time someone in your exact situation comes in for a SSN. Well done. 

On 4/11/2025 at 10:37 AM, mam521 said:

In the article, it states it won't mail them to "newly naturalized citizens"...uh, I dunno about anyone else here, but I had to make an appointment and march my happy behind into a SSA office to show them my Certificate of Naturalization, proving I was now a citizen.  I've never heard of them sending new SSN's to newly naturalized citizens.  

 

Anyone else get a new SSN upon naturalization previously?  I'm curious now!

Not new SSNs, but new cards. I got my new card mailed to me after I naturalized (same SSN of course), but I definitely had to go in person first to show my documents. But this was also during the pandemic, right when the SSA offices started opening up to in-person services again. 

When I moved here on my K-1 I went to three different offices before I got a hold of someone who knew what they were doing. Had the SS card in the mail 4 weeks later. 

9 hours ago, Nywoek said:

To answer my own question, I got the FTP letter 4 days after it reached the embassy. 😃

Now I am wondering if anyone have any experience with how long it takes to schedule the interview? I have been logging in a few times a day to the scheduling website, and when i talked to someone who got an appointment recently she said she got it april 1st and there were only 2 dates in may available. X_X

I'd keep checking daily, people do cancel or reschedule their appointments at times, you might be lucky to get one of those. 

Always "over send" if you're confused. Send everything. 

26 minutes ago, Pticakiwi said:

You also mentioned that they wanted your newest passport. I don't have that. What did they want the newest passport for?

She looked at it because I had it. You don't have one, so there's nothing to look at other than the expired you one you'll bring. She looked at my newest passport likely because that was the only passport I had actually used for travelling after moving to the US. 

1 hour ago, Pticakiwi said:

The problem is that I don't have a current passport, only expired one. I'm waiting for the embassy to have an appointment slot, and then it's up to 3 months to get a passport.

And I'm wondering if it's going to be an issue during N-400 interview that I don't have a current unexpired passport from my country of origin (which I was advised above shouldn't be an issue).

Like I wrote, "doesn't matter if they're valid or expired". 

You should bring all your passports, doesn't matter if they're valid or expired. I brought three passports, the IO only wanted to see the one with my K-1 visa in it, and the newest passport. 

It was hit or miss if the agencies used my middle names or not on my different documents (often they didn't because I had two middle names and they just wouldn't fit, the US isn't made for more than one middle name). Didn't matter for the N-400, didn't matter what the documents showed, I just put my entire name with middle names and all. The IO changed several things on my form at the interview, but I don't remember her changing anything in regards to my names. 

Either way, it can all be changed at the interview if they IO feels that it should. What you put in the form is a non-issue. 

You're still married, so legally he has the right to be in the house too, yes. Changing the locks and not giving him the key will be illegal, don't give him any reasons to sue you. 

As for USCIS, no you won't face any issues if you don't let him move back in. But there is no "let him", as per law he has the right to be in your martial home, unless you have court documents showing otherwise (like restraining order etc). 

55 minutes ago, MrsAb2021 said:

Thanks, I didn’t use it. It was screenshotted and posted here for me. Wasn’t aware the calculator existed until yesterday. Learning as we go.

Okay, you write in the very first sentence in your first post that you used the calculator tool, hence my reply. 

Either way, definitely file online. Much easier and "safer" than filing on paper. You don't have to worry about your application disappearing in the mail, you don't have to wait to get your acceptance letter (NOA1), you get all of your documents straight in your online account etc. You can also upload documents as you go, the entire time your application is pending, as you gather more evidence each month. The online form is also a lot less confusing than the paper form. 

8 hours ago, MrsAb2021 said:

Yes thankfully it wasn’t. That’s great that can apply before the actual anniversary, I had no idea. 

It specifically says this exact thing in the uscis EARLY filing calculator that you used.

Nobody but citizens are guaranteed entry into the US. It has always been like that, nothing has changed. 

You have the exact same chances of being let into the US now as you did in March of last year. The reason you hear about denials in media now is because it wasn't news worthy until January 20, even if it happened at the exact same rate. Nothing has changed for you, it's all still the same. 

I don't see anything in your post that would cause you any problems. You might get asked questions, which is normal, but I don't see any issues. 

14 hours ago, hplusj said:

So many congratulations for you!  The NVC stage is pretty arduous because you really can't see much of what's going on.

Just FYI there isn't really a way to see the backlog per se but you can see the workload for each embassy through the Department of State, using the monthly visa issuance statistics here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-nonimmigrant-visa-issuances.html

 

Stockholm apparently doesn't process many K1s, which either means they go rather slowly or they just don't have many.  December '24 saw 6 K1s processed in Stockholm, and only one in January.  But there's a little bit of data for you!

Back in 2016 when I applied for my K-1, the embassy only had K-1 interviews on Thursdays, and only 2 applicants per Thursday. So about ~8 K-1 visa interviews a month. It wasn't difficult getting an appointment either, so I'm assuming there isn't a big interest for K-1s in Scandinavia. 

2 hours ago, Cat And Litty said:

Hello everyone. 

I have read every single reply, thank you so much. 
I just got off the phone with my fiancé, and he has signed up for Informed Delivery now. I do feel a lot better having so many of you take time to reply. 

It is a stressful time. Not only with the K1 visa, but also everything that I expect is to come. Saying goodbye to my own country, family. I have to eventually sell my house here too. The embassy interview being in another country than my own for whatever reason. The medical exam. It is just so many things, my head and my thoughts are a mess. I feel completely overwhelmed, which causes me to worry. 
I am scared to do something wrong. But I assume I am not the only overwhelmed person going through this haha. 

 

We've all been there. And afterwards I bet the majority of us were like "What did I even stress so much about? This wasn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined.". 

I almost had to travel to another country for my interview, going from Skåne to Sweden... 😆 
And just four days before my interview they emailed me from the embassy and asked if I could do my interview three days earlier than expected since they were going to be closed on the day of my original appointment. So I had to buy new train tickets (and the first ones were obviously non-refundable) and book a different night at the hotel. It worked out in the end, but any change is stressful, especially when it comes to the interview itself.