databit

Hi, 

Applying for disability and actually getting it are 2 different things. Most cases are denied at first. The national average of initial denials is about 66%: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/2011/sect04.html

Most people then get an attorney and appeal. However, the time to see a judge about the denial can be very long, in Phoenix, AZ looks to be about 17 months: https://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/01_NetStat_Report.html

And there is no guarantee he will end up winning his case. If it is for a psych disability, be aware that those cases are very difficult to prove.

Also, if you and your husband get support from his family or live with them, or if you decide to become employed, his disability payments can be substantially reduced. https://az.db101.org/az/programs/income_support/ssi/program2a.htm

Therefore, the co-sponsor's assets will be the most important.

Congratulations!

If driving, please factor in the extra time to navigate the huge (5,600 car capacity) and very confusing parking complex at the Convention Center, and also add the time to get from your car to where you belong inside. This can easily add up to 20 minutes, depending on what other events are happening at the Center. Personally, on such an important day, I'd go for the hotel.

Here's the site pages devoted just for the parking: http://www.lacclink.com/attendees/parking

A "common law marriage" actually has legal weight in some states.

States That Recognize Common Law Marriage

Only a few states recognize common law marriages, and each has specific stipulations as to what relationships are included:

• Alabama
• Colorado
• District of Columbia
• Georgia (if created before 1/1/97)
• Idaho (if created before 1/1/96)
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Montana
• New Hampshire (for inheritance purposes only)
• Ohio (if created before 10/10/91)
• Oklahoma (possibly only if created before 11/1/98. Oklahoma’s laws and court decisions may be in conflict about whether common law marriages formed in that state after 11/1/98 will be recognized.)
• Pennsylvania (if created before 1/1/05)
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Utah

On January 4, 2017 at 3:09 AM, millefleur said:

I'm an American myself ...You can use sites like Meetup.com 

 

 

I'm American too, and I second the idea to check out Meetup.com to find other people who share your interests or hobbies. They also have socialization meetups to just hang out. You can set it to search by miles of radius from your home. I have made a number of new friends this way. 

12 hours ago, llchun87 said:

Ash.1101 thanks for the link. Boiler, he lives in Suriname and medical treatment has much lower quality than here in the states, that's the main reason. I'm aware now that he will have to pay for his treatment out of pocket, which he should be able to afford..

Hope he is very wealthy! Just as an example of the extreme costs that are possible, a family member was in an intensive care unit this September (in California) for 11 days, and then in the regular unit of the hospital for 2 more days. Total billed cost: $344,375.00. And he did NOT have any surgery.

He is fine now, by the way.

Is your college allowing you to pay resident tuition? 

If you'd like an all-inclusive plan in Maryland, you might want to look into Kaiser Permanente. You must exclusively use their providers and services, as it's an HMO, but it's a one-stop-shop plan. They offer the bronze, silver or gold plans per the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

https://my.kp.org/maryland/

3 hours ago, Avia said:

 If i quit this place after getting a full time job somewhere else, is it ok? Can they sue me or give bad records about me to others?

No, they cannot sue you, and they are only legally allowed to say if they would rehire you. On an application for another job, when it asks why you want to quit, you say, "Want a full-time position." 

3 hours ago, kareelina said:

Hi VJ members

We are relocating within 3 weeks from now , and I want to enroll my 2 kids 16 and 13 in Schools in California , I need to know what documents needed from their schools here  to be submitted to the school there in California. 

Here's an example of a California school's requirements for enrollment: http://www.lvusd.org/domain/66

Your school may be different, but you could start assembling documents.

That's kind of what I'm stuck on, part of me wants to just finish the quickest bachelors I can manage so that my 4 years at university weren't pointless but it'd be a history degree which I don't know what I'd use for. I'm stuck as I don't know what I even want to do as a career and I'm 27 it's not like I'm 18 and have the time to take some classes and figure it out

If you just want to complete your degree, you could try here: http://www.excelsior.edu

They have been in existence since 1971 (they used to do correspondence, now online), are fully regionally accredited, you can test out of a lot of classes, they offer online classes to fulfill the degree requirements, they will bend over backwards to accept your past college work from anywhere, and you can do it online (except for testing, but there are centers for this locally). You might even be able to finesse credits toward a Business degree, since you are interested in management.

...i finally qualify for resident Tuition fees here in California so wanted people's opinions on how I should approach completing a degree...

What subject do you want for your Bachelor's degree? Do you just want to finish or do you want it to apply toward a specific career?

You don't get to claim credits from both . Also social security is based on your years averaged over your highest 35 years of work and a 0 is averaged in for every year that you have no earnings. So even if your parents work for 10 years they will have 25 years of 0 in their average. Meaning they would get very small checks.

The way I read it, apparently you DO get to claim credits from both. The immigrant needs to work in the US, but only 6 quarters instead of the usual 40. Not a route to SS available to everyone, but maybe for some. And a small check is better than none.

"Under a Totalization agreement, if a worker has some U.S. coverage but not enough to qualify for benefits, SSA will count periods of coverage that the worker has earned under the Social Security program of an agreement country. In the same way, a country party to an agreement with the United States will take into account a worker's coverage under the U.S. program if it is needed to qualify for that country's Social Security benefits. If the combined credits in the two countries enable the worker to meet the eligibility requirements, a partial benefit can then be paid, which is based on the proportion of the worker's total career completed in the paying country.

Are your in-laws from a country in Western Europe? Some countries there participate in shared Social Security programs with the US based on their work history abroad:

https://www.ssa.gov/international/agreements_overview.html#&a0=9

From the FedGov:

If your parents file their own joint taxes, to receive an ACA subsidy their income must be a minimum of $22,108, up to a maximum of $40,050 for 2017 for 2 married people in Illinois.

If they file as zero income, they will not qualify for ACA, which was designed for working people. Plus you will lose your potential tax deduction for them. But on the other hand, if you make them part of your household, thus placing them in your income bracket, they may not qualify for Medicaid.

https://www.healthcare.gov/lower-costs/qualifying-for-lower-costs/

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you everyone for the kind welcome!

... He can't come to her in Sweden ...

Being a little suspicious here perhaps, but your friend might also ask him if his passport has been denied or suspended, which can happen if he owes back child support of $2,500+ to the mom of his child or to the state (if welfare/ADC was used for the child), even if he has custody now. Also owing back income taxes to the IRS can trigger passport denial or suspension.

Hello all,

I know I don't fit the usual poster profile here, as I am US born and raised. Nobody in my family or friends are recent or even potential immigrants. Before I began to follow this forum I had no knowledge of immigration. I wanted to learn.

But every so often on this site there would be a question I could actually answer about the American end of things. So, I now join here to provide any "data bits" I can. Just want the opportunity to be helpful to newcomers!

It is my opinion that immigrants from all corners of the world are the key to making America better and better, and I welcome all who work so hard to take the Visa Journey to get here!

Thank you

Hi. I am currently looking for a job as Patient care technician/ CNA. In my resume can i add my previous work experience from my home country? Though it is not related to same field should i still mention it?

If the level of education or status is similar, for example as a secretary, to add it would show you have a history of good employment. But if you were for example a doctor in your home country but are seeking work as a CNA (a much lower skill level), the employer would probably think you were overqualified.

@ yuna628

Thanks so much for that information. So I guess my fiance's research into the Ryan White Programme was correct.

Be aware that the Ryan White program is federally funded, and its funding must be appropriated by Congress each year. In 2017 Congress will be dominated by the same political party as the new President, so who knows what will happen.

An alternate source for medications is from the pharmaceutical companies themselves. You can check for the availability of the specific meds you take on needymeds.org, a free site that gathers all the Patient Assistance Programs together.