valentinanola

Hello everyone! 
 
I haven’t posted on this forum for a while, so I will do a little recap of my situation.
 
In 2016 I obtained a K-1 Visa while living in London (I’m an Italian citizen) to marry my now husband who lived in NYC. I moved to NYC in January 2017 and got married, we then had our first baby in August 2018 and in August 2019 we decided to go to Italy for about 6 months to allow my family to spend some time with our baby. While there, I got pregnant with my second baby and the pandemic hit, both our jobs laid off most of their staff and we found ourselves without a job to go back to, so we stayed in Italy.
 
We are now ready to go back to the US but I am confused on the best way forward. Some people said I should enter on an ESTA and then adjust my status there, but I do not want to do that. Others have said that I should formally renounce my green card and start the process from scratch (with an I-130), others have suggested I file a DS-117 (application to determine returning resident status), but I’m afraid that won’t be applicable since my green card only had a 2 year validity.
 
I would appreciate any input you may have, thank you everyone in advance for your help! 

Hello everyone! 
 
I haven’t posted on this forum for a while, so I will do a little recap of my situation.
 
In 2016 I obtained a K-1 Visa while living in London (I’m an Italian citizen) to marry my now husband who lived in NYC. I moved to NYC in January 2017 and got married, we then had our first baby in August 2018 and in August 2019 we decided to go to Italy for about 6 months to allow my family to spend some time with our baby. While there, I got pregnant with my second baby and the pandemic hit, both our jobs laid off most of their staff and we found ourselves without a job to go back to, so we stayed in Italy.
 
We are now ready to go back to the US but I am confused on the best way forward. Some people said I should enter on an ESTA and then adjust my status there, but I do not want to do that. Others have said that I should formally renounce my green card and start the process from scratch (with an I-130), others have suggested I file a DS-117 (application to determine returning resident status), but I’m afraid that won’t be applicable since my green card only had a 2 year validity.
 
I would appreciate any input you may have, thank you everyone in advance for your help! 

We both work at a communication agency. We’ve always worked in the fashion industry. I’m a marketing and communication specialist/project manager and he is an art director and graphic designer.
 
This is all very helpful! Thank you! 

Same for us!

Hi, we were approved with no interview. I was waiting for an interview appointment but we just received a letter saying we were approved and my Green Card was enclosed.
 
Sorry I can't help!

My Green Card was approved without interview on 12/14 and I received it in the post on 12/21. Glad to be done with USCIS for a couple of years!

My EAD was finally approved on the 20th and mailed to me on the 23rd!

Hiiiii! Flying out on Wednesday the 11th from Gatwick to JFK

Hi, I live in London. The Tube is your best option, get the Piccadilly line (westbound) all the way to Knightsbridge and the clinic is just a short walk from the station, Knightsbridge has a few exits, the most convenient for you would be the Sloane Street one.
Keep in mind as of the past couple of weeks Transport for London has been experiencing issues on a number of lines so I would recommend leaving well before your appointment time, if you get there too early there are loads of cafes and shops to go to while you wait, and you also have Harrods

Hi guys,
This is just a post to thank you all for your help.
We started this journey in June and we thought it was going to be long and painful, but it turned out to be easier than we expected. We finally got my visa and passport back and we have booked my flight to New York on the 27th of January, we will be spending Christmas in Italy with my parents and I'll take a month to get ready and leave my house in London before I enter the US.
Thank you soooooo much to each one of you that helped and made this much easier for me and us, we are so happy and we can't wait to be together!
To all the new starters, YOU'LL BE FINE, especially if you're part of this community. Good luck everyone, I wish you all the best
P.S.: I updated my timeline every step of the way and also left an embassy review, so please feel free to have a look at them if you need to

Hi guys,
This is just a post to thank you all for your help.
We started this journey in June and we thought it was going to be long and painful, but it turned out to be easier than we expected. We finally got my visa and passport back and we have booked my flight to New York on the 27th of January, we will be spending Christmas in Italy with my parents and I'll take a month to get ready and leave my house in London before I enter the US.
Thank you soooooo much to each one of you that helped and made this much easier for me and us, we are so happy and we can't wait to be together!
To all the new starters, YOU'LL BE FINE, especially if you're part of this community. Good luck everyone, I wish you all the best
P.S.: I updated my timeline every step of the way and also left an embassy review, so please feel free to have a look at them if you need to

Hi guys,
This is just a post to thank you all for your help.
We started this journey in June and we thought it was going to be long and painful, but it turned out to be easier than we expected. We finally got my visa and passport back and we have booked my flight to New York on the 27th of January, we will be spending Christmas in Italy with my parents and I'll take a month to get ready and leave my house in London before I enter the US.
Thank you soooooo much to each one of you that helped and made this much easier for me and us, we are so happy and we can't wait to be together!
To all the new starters, YOU'LL BE FINE, especially if you're part of this community. Good luck everyone, I wish you all the best
P.S.: I updated my timeline every step of the way and also left an embassy review, so please feel free to have a look at them if you need to

VISA AND BBE RECEIVED

I wanted to say that, but I thought it wasn't worth it because people might take it the wrong way and I'm not trying to start an argument.
But I 100% agree with you, this is a forum where we are free to open topics if we have inquiries, if the admins don't think they're relevant they can let us know and delete or close them. I said that some information are dated, as you can see that the topic's date and replies are from 5-6 even 10 years ago and even if I don't know if those rules have changed, I WANT and HAVE to make sure because this is a complicated process and we should be here to help each other, not to point out silly things like reading the guides, which I'm sure everyone does (considering the guides are the reason I found out about this forum).
Please do try to be helpful and understanding because we're all on the same boat and we are all entitled to ask clarification where needed without other users stating the obvious and making us feel like we're asking stupid or obvious questions.
Also, not everyone is in their 30s-40s and this might be their first experience with this amount of bureaucracy and paperwork (like myself, given I'm 24 and I never had to deal with this much hassle) so it can definitely be an overwhelming experience and support is always appreciated, regardless of where is coming from.
Have a lovely day everyone!

As you can see, out of four of my questions only one could've been answered by the flowchart, and even still, I wanted clarification.
Thank you for your help and wishes

With all due respect, I have read that and as it turns out, there have been changes.
This is a great place to gather infos, but some of them are not up to date. Trust me, I HAVE READ ALL THE GUIDES, I only create a topic if I need more clarification.

Hi guys,
I hope you can help me as I just need some clarifications on how to proceed once I get to the US. I am the beneficiary, my fiance is the american citizen.
I will be entering the US on 3rd February and I'm slightly confused with the chronological order of some of the things we have to file for, I'm trying to make a list of everything we need and mostly WHEN does everything have to be filed.
So below are my questions:
- When arriving to New York, do I need to apply for an SSN number before applying for a marriage licence or I can apply for an SSN after we get married?
- How long after I enter the US should I apply for an SSN? I read somewhere that it isn't advised to do so straight away, but wait a couple of weeks.
- Do I just need my passport and my i-94 form to get an SSN?
- Where do I get my i-94? Is it given to me at the POE or do I have to download from the DHS website?
These questions might be stupid to some, but I just need some help to understand this fully so I hope you can take the time to give me some answers.
Thank you

Oh no, not at all. It's perfectly within your rights to feel frustrated, I was just trying to reassure you that it will be over soon, just don't stress too much about it cause it won't do you good

Hi guys,



I hope you're all well. I'm writing this to tell you about my experience at Dublin airport when I went to visit Jonathan last week.



I purchased a ticket online via Kiwi.com (former Skypicker) with a layover to Dublin (from London) via Ryanair and then KLM (operated by Delta) to New York and vice versa on the way back.

The layover in Dublin on the way to NYC was only 2 hours, but I called the airport and made sure I had all the information I needed to be on time and pass security in the shortest possible time, I made all the arrangements and went through security at London Stansted Airport in a matter on minutes, same thing for the security check in Dublin, but I wasn't aware there was a U.S. preclearance to go through in order to get to the gate.



I basically had to do the same thing I had just done, and put my bag and belongings in a tray to be checked for the second time in the same airport, when I asked why, I was told that in Dublin you have European security and U.S. security, so it "saves time" when you get to the U.S. because you don't have to go through customs, but the whole process is done in Ireland.



I went through security very quickly and I then got to another room where I queued for about 15-20 minutes to get an officer to take my fingerprints and check my passport, when it was my turn, I was seen by the officer Mattina, who asked me why I was going to the U.S., what did my boyfriend do for work, what his address was, and why I had a boyfriend in the U.S., after asking me these questions he took my passport and asked me to follow him to another room, I sensed something was wrong and I said "Sir, I'm going to miss my flight" and his response was "I don't care, you can discuss that with your airline", he asked me to sit down and gave my documents to an officer who was sitting behind a desk.



What I'd like to say now is that these people had no sympathy or work ethic whatsoever. Many people came into the room after me and were seen way before I was, even though the officers knew my gate was about to close. When I finally got called over, I was asked these three questions: "why are you only going to the U.S. for a week and not 3 months?" (I HAVE A JOB, DUH!), "what does your boyfriend do for work?" "are you bringing any food to your boyfriend?". After I answered these question, while in tears, I said "can I understand why I'm being held? You made me miss my flight to ask these questions??" and she said to me that I wasn't gonna miss my flight as she would call the gate and ask them to hold on for me, she made me run to the gate like a mad woman only to find out that not only the gate had closed but the lady never called.



I was lucky enough to fly with KLM, which is a great company and put me on a flight the next day without asking more money from me, but I had to spend a night in a hotel in Dublin, and when I went back to the preclearance office to ask for explanation and to get my bag back (as they took it out of the aircraft to inspect it!!!!!!!!) the first lady said "oh I don't know why they held you, I don't have your file!" and she was sympathizing with me as I was crying and asking why they did all that, then a man came up and after letting me speak he started patronising me, saying I should give them at least 2 hours to clear me, I said to him mine was a layover and I only had 2 hours to change flights, I also asked him why I was seen much later than people who walked in after me and he said "they might have had an earlier flight" and I said "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? YOU TOOK ME IN AT 11.15 AND MY GATE WAS CLOSING AT 11.45!!!", at that point I was too upset and left.



They never offered to compensate me for my flight or my hotel room, they were extremely rude and the officer who held me in the first place saw me crying at the desk and walked past me with a smirk on his face. When the day after I went through security again (I was in the airport at 6.00 am even though my flight was at 11.45) a very nice officer asked me what happened and cleared me in a matter of seconds, he asked me why they hadn't offered to compensate me and that he was sorry I had missed my flight.



I want to make a complaint, my rights were violated, I was held without an explanation, my documents were taken and I was treated like (excuse the french) a piece of #### and a criminal. If you are flying through Dublin, make sure you're there very early as these instances can happen. My trip was still amazing, but I had one less day to spend with my boyfriend and that wasn't ideal.



I hope no one has to go through this, but I just thought I'd let you know my experience.