JamalNTam

Congrats!!

We put the England flag up last summer for the world cup - of the LAPD decided to investigate every incidence of inappropriate flag use those coupla weeks I would have been worried.

It was all fine until after the Portugal game when it got ripped down in disgust by a certain englishman who had too many beers for breakfast.

lol

So when applying for the marriage license, before your actually married, if you want to take your husbands name you have to put that on the actual marriage license and not your birth name? OR do you just put your new married name on the marriage certificate?

On our marriage certificate my name is listed with the name I had *before* I married my husband. I'm not aware of being able to put your new married name on the certificate...as you aren't married at the time of applying. When I changed my name (SSN, work, insurance, etc.) all I had to do was produce the certified copy of the marriage certificate to show that I had indeed married and had the right to use my husband's surname. Really very simple for something like this.

For an all out name change...one's primary name...I would think this is a legal matter.

Awww .. ok - thanks for the response! I was getting a little confused!! lol

Yey!! Congrats!!!

Good luck!!

There should not be any problem. However, do ask them about tuition payment. I wanted to start going to the UNI but when i talked to them they would charge me an International Student Tuition if I didn't have my Green Card with me. PLUS, if i wanted to pay the local citizen's tuition, I will have to wait 12 months after I get my GC until i can apply there...sux.

This is true - you can go to college, however some schools may want to charge you international fees - but as the class your taking isn't going toward any credits/degree/certificates then I dont think that it would be as big of a deal. I was lucky in the fact that my fiance is in the military, we explained the situation to the lady that enrolled me and as I will be a military spouse at the start of the fall semester, she put me down as paying in state fees. If Jamal wasnt in the military I would have either had to pay international without my greencard or out of state with it (as I havent been in AZ for more than 1 year). So the military is good for something! lol.

Cool, I wonder if the same will happen here as my husband is in the military. I should inquire.

Yea you definatly should as only some colleges have this set up with the military. You should go to the education centre on the base and they will be able to help you. We went to the centre on DM, which happens to be a branch of the community college I've enrolled with.

So when applying for the marriage license, before your actually married, if you want to take your husbands name you have to put that on the actual marriage license and not your birth name? OR do you just put your new married name on the marriage certificate?

There should not be any problem. However, do ask them about tuition payment. I wanted to start going to the UNI but when i talked to them they would charge me an International Student Tuition if I didn't have my Green Card with me. PLUS, if i wanted to pay the local citizen's tuition, I will have to wait 12 months after I get my GC until i can apply there...sux.

This is true - you can go to college, however some schools may want to charge you international fees - but as the class your taking isn't going toward any credits/degree/certificates then I dont think that it would be as big of a deal. I was lucky in the fact that my fiance is in the military, we explained the situation to the lady that enrolled me and as I will be a military spouse at the start of the fall semester, she put me down as paying in state fees. If Jamal wasnt in the military I would have either had to pay international without my greencard or out of state with it (as I havent been in AZ for more than 1 year). So the military is good for something! lol.

Be careful how you fly your UK flags. They cannot be flown without the US flag being flown. The order in which you fly them is regulated as is the relative sizes.

I got it wrong and one of the neighbors called the local PD. My RAF flag which I flew on Memorial Day was bigger than the US one.

It was all rather light hearted as my wife used to work for the local PD and we know most of them including the one that came. But I was very politely told to remove my RAF flag or fly a US flag of the same size which fortunately I did have.

http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

Who has enough time in the day to call the police over a RAF flag being bigger than the US flag??!!! Some people have way to much time on their hands!!!!!! I cant believe it!

Shouldnt be any problem at all! I've just enrolled into college to start in the fall as a full time student for a certificate to direct employment as a Dental Assistant and i havent even got married or started AOS yet!!! So I'm sure you'll be fine! Go for it

I applied for my SSN 8 days after arriving in the states, received it 10 days later, the day after went to the DMV to get my driving permit, want to test for my licence within the next 2 weeks, get married on the 12th July, apply for AOS the day after the marriage, change my name with SSN couple days after marriage, change my name with DMV couple days after changing it with SSN, take my NOA1 from AOS to DMV to get my license extended (I should get it before my actual I-94 expires) and then sit back and wait!! Ive heard that it takes longer to get a ssn after getting married and also it can cause some problems at the DMV. The Arizona DMV told me that the ID that is provided for the license needs to be in the name the license will be insued and may cause problems if you want to get the license in the married name when your passport/visa is in the unmarried name. Hope that makes sense!!!!

ok - just spoke to DMV again - the test centre i'm going to doesnt do parallel parking! phew! lol - they said its a 3 mile radius and I'll be doing left/right turns, changing lanes and a 3 point turn. I guess as long as I do everything by the book it shouldnt be that bad. Is there a best time to do the test as no appointment is needed and I can turn up to do it whenever??

Well Ive been driving EVERYWHERE! i want to test for my license asap and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how it goes? In the uk the testers are out to fail as many people as possible! Is that the case here? I get really nervous at exams and worrying that that will fail me! lol! I know that I just need to pay the $25 and I can have 3 attemps before I need to pay another $25 for another 3 attempts and so on. I've already done the written part of the test so just got the actual driving part to do! Any info, especially from people with Arizona licenses would be apprecitated! Thanks.

Heya Tam,

No AZ license but I watched someone take the driving part of the test in WA and I really don't think you have anything to worry about when you have taken a UK test before - the only thing I was concerned with was the fact they want you to parallel park between some cones, and the only car I have for the test is the Mustang which to me is huge (I am perfectly happy with my Ka here in Germany!) so I will be practising a lot before the test! It is nothing like the test in the UK, the girl just drove around the car park, parked between these cones, did a reverse and that was it - it literally took about 5 minutes.

Good luck!!

Candace xx

Thanks girl I didnt actually drive in the uk so I never did take the test before! I really worried about parallel parking! When I called the Tucson DMV they said there are 2 test centres, one where you need to parallel park, and the other where you just do the 3 point turn. Now on Yahoo answers (for the same question) someone said you need to do parallel parking regardless! There is NOWHERE at all in Tucson to Parallel park so I dont know how to even practice if I do need to parallel!! I'm gonna call DMV again today because I was hoping to take the test sometime this week!! (trying to get everything done before I get married!!)

Well Ive been driving EVERYWHERE! i want to test for my license asap and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how it goes? In the uk the testers are out to fail as many people as possible! Is that the case here? I get really nervous at exams and worrying that that will fail me! lol! I know that I just need to pay the $25 and I can have 3 attemps before I need to pay another $25 for another 3 attempts and so on. I've already done the written part of the test so just got the actual driving part to do! Any info, especially from people with Arizona licenses would be apprecitated! Thanks.

I met Jamal while he was stationed in the uk with the airforce. We'd been dating for just over a year and we were on vacaction in Philly visiting his family when he asked me to move in with him. Although noone actually propsed, we both knew that we were going to get married! I lived with him for just under a year when his deployment to the UK ended and he was stationed in Arizona. I went out and stayed in Tucson for 2 months with him, 1 month after he left and thats when we started the K1 visa application. Had we not been in the transatlantic situation I know that we would not have married this early, but why wait? It was gonna happen in the end so in just over a month, I will be his wife and I couldnt be happier

What would happen if I applied for AOS without applying for the EAD? Once I get the greencard will I still need to apply for an EAD to work or does the greencard a work authorized document? The reason I ask is because as I'll be going to college for at least the next year, I will not need to work. I'm aware that the greencard can sometimes take years to get, however, i'm trying to be positive and i'm sure that I will get it within at least 3 months of applying (average time here in Tucson) - my name is very unusual and I would be EXTREMLEY surprised if I have problems with the FBI name check!! Thanks.

Unusual names are subject to long namechecks just as well as common names. My husband's last name is common where he lives, but unusual here. We were in namecheck 9 months. JMHO though. EAD is like insurance...there when you need it.

If it takes too long i guess we could always apply for EAD later down the line - the fee for it will have increased a little but it'll give us time to get the money together, afterall I wont need it for at least another year since I'm going to be going to college.

What would happen if I applied for AOS without applying for the EAD? Once I get the greencard will I still need to apply for an EAD to work or does the greencard a work authorized document? The reason I ask is because as I'll be going to college for at least the next year, I will not need to work. I'm aware that the greencard can sometimes take years to get, however, i'm trying to be positive and i'm sure that I will get it within at least 3 months of applying (average time here in Tucson) - my name is very unusual and I would be EXTREMLEY surprised if I have problems with the FBI name check!! Thanks.

Hi,

Cut a long story short I left the UK and moved to the US to get married in Feb 2006. I had credit card debt which I continued to pay until June 2006. The money ran out and I couldn't afford it. So I stopped paying.

We had to move to another state in June 2006. I didn't tell the creditors my new address (they had my old one in the first state we lived in). Now, a year later I have had a letter from a company called Bluestone wanting the money.

There is no way I can afford to pay this now. I do not have the spare cash like I did when I was single and living with my parents in the UK. Plus we have a baby on the way.

I'm scared about what they can do. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I don't know what to do. Please can someone help.

Thanks,

I've heard some stories about debts following people from the uk to the states. I'm not sure what you can do about it - but I'm sure that someone will be able to help you out and give some good advise. I actually went bankrupt back in the uk in April as I didnt want any debts to follow me and i knew that i would not be able to pay them back whilst living over here.

My fiance came in on a K1, and was able to get his learner's permit (yesterday!). Even still, it was a little bit of a challenge to convince them we had everything they needed. Because his passport was used as his "proof of birth", he needed to have something else to prove his signature. So he used his French ID card. They also required something that proved that he lives here, and fortunately we had brought our bank statement with both our names on it.

They said that if he didn't have a Social Security number, that he would have had to bring a lot more documentation (but he didn't specify - I think because he didn't know).

Most states require a ssn for a driving license/permit, however, ssn's cannot be issued to a k3 visa holder until they apply for AOS and receive the EAD.

So I enrolled into Pima college today! Did all my assesments and got 98 on my reading and 90 on my writing - which is what i need to apply for the dental assisting course! They have a problem with the school website and i cant apply for the course today, but i've been speaking to the instructor of the course who told me that she has now reserved a spot in the class for me until I can actually apply! So it looks like I'll be starting college in the fall!! Yey! I've been driving everywhere (with jamal in the car) so i just need to do my test for that, get married, send of AOS and everything will be all good

Congrats! How'd you do on the math?

Not so good on the math! lol! I guess I was ok with pre algebra but horrible at algebra! I only gave myself 1 day to study though which is not what i wanted, but i guess i can keep going and improve my math overtime!

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone

I was able to get my ssn pretty much when i got here, and have just got my driving permit (need practice before I take the test!) but I came on a K1 visa. I have a feeling that you will not be able to apply for a SSN - which is what you need to get a driving license before you have actually adjusted your status on a K3. And she definatly will not be able to work before she has her EAD. But I'm sure that someone who has a little more info will be able to explain things more for you x

My hair is naturally wavy too. Sometimes I like trying to make it really curly, but most days I straighten it. GHDS are the best straighteners out there - although they are the most expensive, they really are the best!

can we just send the letter that we used for the k1 interview? It was dated April? Seems pointless having to go to Jamals commanding offcer and asking for another letter, exactly the same!

I know! Its crazy! lol! Its been a while since ive been to school and i'm actually really looking forward to it. I'm also really happy because I'll be paying in state fees even though i've only been here for 3 weeks (soon-to-be military spouse is the reason for this)!

So I enrolled into Pima college today! Did all my assesments and got 98 on my reading and 90 on my writing - which is what i need to apply for the dental assisting course! They have a problem with the school website and i cant apply for the course today, but i've been speaking to the instructor of the course who told me that she has now reserved a spot in the class for me until I can actually apply! So it looks like I'll be starting college in the fall!! Yey! I've been driving everywhere (with jamal in the car) so i just need to do my test for that, get married, send of AOS and everything will be all good