NatO23

4 hours ago, Ben&Zian said:

Unless expecting something terrible to happen, you can look into a type of temporary insurance; but even for us, I have good health/dental/vision and all through my company as well, soon as we married I added him. We didn't stress the couple months in between honestly. There is no more penalty for not having insurance so.

 

Yep, I agree with this. I didn't have insurance for 9 months. I had to self-pay a couple of doctors visits, but I didn't get any kind of penalty. My wife's insurance sucks so we just waited for me to get a job with decent insurance. 

14 hours ago, Betcy said:

I was gonna do that but filling the form has been really comfused to us. Some question that do not apply we don’t really know how to answer them. We are not sure if we should pit NA or just leave them blank 

As a few people have said, you'll get a lot of help from people and previous posts (and the guides) on this forum. It's also worth searching YouTube for video help - I found quite a few videos of people talking through how to fill in certain forms. Just be VERY CAREFUL that you're following a video for the right version/edition of the forms you'll be filing! 

1 hour ago, minemar said:

That's terrible!  Just for the record,  what's the real type of card we should receive? 

It should be a 2 year conditional card. Then you go through the process (more paperwork!) of filing to remove the conditions after 18-20 months. There's a very specific timeframe in which you have to file that, and you can't do it too early or too late. I'd recommend reading up on that on here, as it's potentially a little confusing if you're blindsided by it! At THAT point, once removal of conditions is done, you should get a 10 year unconditional card. Then you can go for naturalization as the next step if you choose to.

59 minutes ago, minemar said:

Hi guys! 

 

Everything looks quiet here. I am wondering if anyone has done their interview recently?  My service office is in CT and the website says they're working currently in files of February 1st. So long wait for me (August filer). I would love to hear good news from you. I am also wondering if the interview is gonna be hard or what should I prepare (documents) for it? 

 

 

I got my green card, which is great! But the bad news is that they gave me the wrong type of green card. I ended up with a 10 year IR1 card, and had to get an info pass appointment to confirm that this was inaccurate (keeping it would have potentially put me out of status when I applied for citizenship, and gotten me in huge trouble) and update my file. So I have to send that one back and wait for a new one... which will take "several months". Highly annoying, as it was a USCIS error and it would make sense to me that they would expedite the production of the new card. But oh well - I'm used to waiting by now! 

I concur - the short answer is yes. If you haven't already booked your ticket, hold off for now. You may get lucky and have your passport and visa in hand after 8 days like I did, but there's never any kind of guarantee with this process. Unfortunately, there's a reason why they keep telling you every step of the way... don't make any bookings or reservations until you have everything you need and have made sure it's all correct.

I just wanted to let everyone know what happened with this. I went to the infopass appointment, and they confirmed what we all suspected - the 10 year card had been given in error. I have to wait for 30 days before I file the form and return the card, because apparently they have to update their systems and if I send it back too early, it may get rejected. I got my passport stamped with 1 year validity on it, as it's going to take several months for the mistake to be corrected and the right card to be delivered. That's the most annoying part, really! 

Anyway, thank you for all of your advice on this. I hope this thread will help someone else in the future.

2 minutes ago, Dutchster said:

^ Correct. My GC also says category CF1.

OP, you got some great advise, please listen wisely. However, since your marriage was under the 2 year mark of the I-485, you are not eligible for a ten year green card. There is no such thing as an officer approving that green card for ten years.

I'm definitely going to listen to everyone here, and hopefully have my passport stamped and I-90 filed by the end of the week. I don't know how people figure this kind of issue out without Visa Journey, honestly. If I didn't have this resource, I'd probably just have kept the card and not known any better. Which is pretty dangerous!

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Also, the greencard you receive should have category "CF1" not "IR1", as you didn't enter the country as a spouse, but as a fiancée.

 

CF1: Alien whose record of admission is created upon the conclusion of a valid marriage contract after entering as a fiance or fiancee of a U.S. citizen - conditional.

 

So USCIS got it very wrong.

That was what I thought - I was confused when I got the paper notice, and even more confused when I got the card. 

First they lost my medical results, now this. Great job, USCIS!

1 minute ago, Scandi said:

If you don't file th i-90 to get it corrected you won't be able to file for ROC later, they will just reject your application and return it to you. If you don't file for ROC you will lose your status in the US and will be deportable.

 

So never just keep a 10 year greencard that were given to you in error, you will end up in a lot of trouble if you do. Get it fixed asap.

I'm definitely going to make sure I get this straightened out one way or another - everyone's advice here has led me to know that it's NOT a good idea just to keep it and play dumb. However, as the immigration lawyer said, my case may fully reflect what the card says and I may be on a 10 year IR1 GC now for whatever reason - he said it has definitely happened that he has known of. In which case USCIS won't be expecting me to go through ROC, as my case won't require it. If it's the simple mistake of the card being printed wrong, then they'll definitely be needing my ROC paperwork and I don't want to mess that up. 

Either way, I'm absolutely going to make 100% sure that everything ends up being correct and that I'm covered.

PS - if this makes any difference at all... 3 days before the card arrived, I had a paper notice from USCIS saying 'Welcome to the United States' and telling me where to find information about immigration stuff. That notice stated that my case was IR1, as does the card. Which I wasn't expecting, I assumed it would be CR1. They don't make this stuff easy...

I have a friend from the gym who is actually an immigration lawyer... huge coincidence, and very handy for me. I spoke to him today and he told me that 10 year GCs are very rare from a K1 AOS, but they do happen. The problem is that if my case file in the USCIS system says that I'm on a 2 year conditional GC (ie, the card was printed incorrectly and doesn't match the file status), they'll be expecting to hear from me in 18 months to remove the conditions. However, if my file says that I'm on a 10 year unconditional card, then they did in fact produce the right version and I'm one of the very lucky and rare cases. 

I'm taking advice from people here though, and making sure I cover all bases. I'm going to my infopass appt on Thursday to find out what my file says, and if the card doesn't match it and I should have been given a 2 year card (which I'm 99% sure will be what they say) I'll just get my passport stamped and go ahead with the I-90 to correct everything. But maybe I'll get lucky, and they'll send me on my way with confirmation that nobody will be expecting to hear from me to remove the conditions in 2 years. 

Whatever I find out, I will share here so that others can get the information and possibly be helped if they find themselves in a similar situation.   

Just now, Dee elle said:

Hypnos is correct.... I just assumed that you did AOS immediately after marriage... so ignore my comments if you were married for more than 2 years st the approval of your I 485 

Oh no, we only got married last August and I filed the I-485 3 weeks after the wedding. So I'm sure I'll be saying goodbye to my lovely new 10 year card and getting a 2 year one instead. 

Thanks everyone - you've all been helpful and confirmed what I was fearing. I've got an infopass appt for later this week, and hopefully it will be an easy thing for them to fix. After they lost my original medical results, I thought I was done with USCIS for this part of the journey... apparently not!

4 minutes ago, Dee elle said:

They got it wrong. You need to return the card and get them to reissue it as a conditional 2 yr card. You need to be able to go Removal of Conditions and this won’t work with the issue of the 10 yr card ☹️

That's what I was afraid of. Is there any chance I've been given a 10 year unconditional card on purpose for some reason? As I understand it, I simply won't have to go through ROC with this card in my name. But obviously, I don't want to get into any trouble if this is absolutely not correct and not something that they do sometimes with K1 AOS cases.

1 minute ago, tato2017 said:

what is the validity date showing on the card itself?

It says 

Card Expires: 01/23/28

Resident Since: 01/23/18

I was expecting a 2 year card, but this has arrived instead. If this is something that happens sometimes after a K1 AOS, then I suppose it's fine. I just don't want to jeopardize anything in the future if this is not right. 

Hi everyone,

I received my green card today, after a successful AOS from my K1 visa. I was expecting to get a 2 year green card with conditions attached to it, but I have actually been given a 10 year card which says IR1 in the category space and I understand that this is unconditional. I don't want to run into any problems down the line if this has been given to me in error and I should have reported it or something... is it common to just be given a 10 year IR1 card for some reason, as opposed to the 2 year conditional one?? If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know. If it's a totally normal thing, I'll just celebrate extra hard!

Thank you.

As Wuozopo said, you can get the shot at retail stores like Boots. He may even be able to go to an NHS walk-in center, or register with a local GP to get it done. I know you said he doesn't technically have a GP due to being in the army, but is there any way he could go back to the GP he had before joining? They should have his records on file, and he'll be able to make an appointment for it there.

I know it's frustrating, and they definitely should have given him the choice to pay for it at Knightsbridge if he wanted it. But he'll be able to get it somewhere without too much trouble, so get him on the case of calling around and finding a solution fast, and then he can update Knightsbridge and get signed off.

15 hours ago, cavaliers23 said:

Thanks God that there is someone who has similar scenario as mine. Anyway, are you a Filipino? How was the interview? I am really anxious about our case because of the time that we made it official to the time that she filed. But we are pretty much confident with our evidences even if they ask for RFE because of the photos that we will be taking during her visit here this March.

 

Thanks a lot!

No, I'm from the UK. Honestly, don't worry about your timeline. As long as you're not lying and you show evidence of truly being committed to each other, they won't really be interested in how fast things moved in your relationship. As the other person said - it would be a good idea to collect other pieces of evidence for the interview. Flight receipts, letters and cards, boarding cards, hotel reservations with both names on it... anything that shows the beginnings of a life together. 

12 hours ago, cavaliers23 said:

Hi everyone!

 

Let me share my story.

 

My petitioner (female) is in the US and I am in the Philippines. We started dating when she visited her family here on May 2017 and we kept in touch since then until we decided to book a trip for two for HK on November 2017 and made it as an official relationship but we have known each other since highschool (11 years to be exact).  We have pictures, boarding passes and plane tickets during our HK trip but we dont have pictures during her May visit since we were still dating that time. She will be coming to visit me this March 2018 and we will surely take lots of pictures as a preparation also if we get an RFE and for the interview purposes as well. She already filed this month for K-1 Visa and my issues are:

 

1.) Would it be okay that we made it official on November 2017 and we finally decided to file this Jan 2018? Is the timeline okay? 

2.) Is it okay that we only submitted pictures during our HK trip? (but we submitted screenshots of facetime, call logs and texts)

3.) Though we are in a bonafide relationship, is the timeline from "relationship to engagement" okay?

4.) Is the Philippines still one of the countries with the highest approval rating?

5.) In your own honest opinion, do you think we have a strong case for approval?

 

Thank you and more power to this page!

Hi,

Your timeline is very similar to mine, just one year apart. I had known my (now) wife for around 4 years through twitter, and we were just friends for a long time. We started to get closer in 2016, and met in person for the first time that November. We got engaged in January 2017 during my second visit and filed everything a week later, so just a couple of months after meeting for the first time. Our petition packet only had photos from our original November meeting and the January meeting, and we were approved first time around with no RFE. We're married now, and I'm waiting for my green card to arrive!

I think that USCIS realizes how easy it is to maintain a long-distance relationship nowadays, with FaceTime/texting/Skype etc, and so as long as the photos and any other evidence you sent (we included cards and letters too) proves that you are in a bonafide romantic relationship, that timeline will be fine. As you said, you can take more photos and collect more evidence of your time together during her next visit in preparation for the interview, so that will help too. 

Good luck to you both, and I hope the waiting time goes by quickly for you.

So, I had some drama with my AOS, but it seems to have finally been taken care of. Long story short, they lost my medical results from the consulate in England. Not sure if it happen after my POE check, or in the field office, but it happened. So I had to get a whole new medical done per the RFE that I got after my green card interview. I did that and mailed everything to the field office, and then 24 hours later had a call from the civil surgeon... they had filled in an old edition of the I-693, which would result in a rejection. So I had to race over to the doctor and get the right paperwork, make an infopass appointment in the field office, and just hope that I had beat the mail. I guess I did, because my status updated last night to my card being in production! Such a relief, and I'm feeling very fortunate to have everything done in a relatively short space of time.

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

 

They wouldn't typically have left the vaccine page out at the embassy. It's 1 of 4 pages of the medical report. The report would have been in your white envelope turned in at POE. More often somebody fails to order it out of storage when you file AOS or it was alphabetized wrong and they didn't look very hard for it. 

 

Did they confirm that they have the other three pages of the medical file? If not, a transcription of only your immunisations won't be enough.  Did you try Knightsbridge to see if they retained a record of your full report? At one time they told me they do not keep anything, but that may have changed. They could mail a sealed envelope maybe?? 

They just said that my "medical report from the consulate was missing", so I'm not sure exactly what that entails... I'm assuming you're right about it being misplaced or alphabetized wrongly after POE. It was definitely in the sealed envelope at that point, because they let me in without any issues! Knightsbridge don't keep anything, unfortunately - looks like times haven't changed much there! 

If I can get a civil surgeon to transcribe my vaccinations and fill in the relevant parts of the I-693, that will be enough as the K1 medical I had is still 'valid' under the rules on the USCIS instruction pages. I've called a few places today, and have some more to try tomorrow. It just drives me nuts that I'm having to do all of this and spend more money to fix someone else's laziness/mistake. But I guess we're all familiar with how frustrating this process can be by now 

On 12/31/2017 at 3:49 PM, DelilahBrz said:

We submitted a copy of the vaccine records when we filed AOS. Did you not do this? 

Sorry for the late reply. I did, but I have recently found out that the problem is with the consulate... USCIS are saying that they never received my medical results from the consulate in London. So it would appear that the original has gone missing somewhere along the way, and all I'm left with is the photocopy that the office gave me, and USCIS won't accept this. Not really great news - I'm struggling to find a doctor who will transcribe the copy, so I may have to get a whole new one done and pay hundreds of dollars for their error!

2 hours ago, LionessDeon said:

As long as the complete box is checked and the medical exam is within one year you shouldn't need the I-693.  The letter with the instructions quoted is good.  Other options would be an infopass appointment or contacting your congressman, as previously stated.    I hope you get it all resolved.

 

When yo get a chance update your profile to filing for: Adjustment of Status.  Good Luck!

Oops, I forgot to do that a long time ago! Thanks for the heads up - I'll update it now.

On 12/23/2017 at 2:22 PM, yuna628 said:

OP: Do you have your DS3025 that you received from Knightsbridge? If yes, does it have two pages?

 

Does the letter you received basically imply they have lost the entire medical, or simply that they require the vaccination portion? Likely it is the vaccination portion they will want... and while yes they may have lost something, or the officer reviewing the case may be stupid about the requirements, the third possibility is that Knightsbridge screwed up the vaccination sheet to begin with. Kind of lengthy to explain, but some people used to not have a box ticked ''complete''... even if they went and argued with them until they were blue in the face.  Following a lot of yelling, they eventually started giving out a second page with language stating ''person is complete for immigration purpose'' (why I don't know.. would have saved more trees just to tick the dang box!) BUT the staff at Knightsbridge have a habit of 'forgetting' to give people the second page. The fourth possibility is, did you send a DS3025 copy along with your AOS package to sort of 'remind' them to go looking for the original? Longshot and may not have helped if you did anyway.

 

If you have your DS3025 you can go to a US Civil Surgeon, have it recertified/transcribed onto a portion of the I-693 and send it as your reply, with a strongly worded letter about the requirements. You can respond with that and a strongly worded letter quoting the policy manual requirements as listed above and also the requirements/instructions for K1s on the I-693 itself which absolves you of a new medical. Finding a US Civil surgeon to comply with your request and only fill out the vaccination transcription may take some calling and inquiry. Ours did it for about $30.

Hi!

Yes, I do have the DS3025, and both pages are there. One has the box checked, and the other has that line you mentioned about "complete for immigration purpose" on there along with a date stamp that has the Knightsbridge address on it. I sent a copy of this with the packet, with a note attached to it saying that it was in lieu of the I-693. The letter that I got back from USCIS after my interview stated that I didn't submit the I-693 (which is true, because I sent a copy of the DS3025 instead of seeing a civil surgeon as the instructions said I was allowed to do) and that my vaccinations were incomplete. My vaccinations were definitely complete, as I had a whole new set done at Knightsbridge and got the form signed/checked/stamped etc to prove it.

I think my next step will be to write that letter and quote the instructions, and send another copy of my DS3025. While I wait to hear a response on that, I'll start making some calls to find a civil surgeon will to transcribe everything as people have suggested. 

Thanks for your help - I really appreciate it.

2 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

 

I would write back to the address they have asked you to submit the additional document and explain everything and ask for clarification. Quote them the bit you put in italics. State the date of you medical exam in London. Submit another photocopy of your DS-3025 shot record asking them to review it because all shots needed for adjustment of status are on it. Tell them that the panel physician in London has been instructed to leave the "results" section blank, but they have noted on page two that you have completed all shot requirements. 

 

Also there this you might can use: 

USCIS POLICY MANUAL

Volume 7 – Adjustment of Status, Part A – Adjustment of Status Policies and Procedures

A.  Initial Evidence

Chapter 4 – Documentation

Form I-693 is required for adjustment of status applicants who either did not receive a medical examination prior to their admission to the United States or who do not have evidence of an overseas medical examination in their file. A medical examination and vaccination record must be documented for most adjustment of status applications and completed as closely as possible to submission of the adjustment application. [8] If not completed overseas, the medical examination must be completed by a designated civil surgeon in the United States and documented on this form. [9]

 

Further information https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume8-PartB-Chapter4.html

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume8-PartB-Chapter3.html

 

Basically ask them to clarify if they have no medical exam from London in the A-file or if there is a specific shot that is not documented and signed off that you must get.

This is so helpful, thank you! I definitely have everything done and up to date as far as the vaccinations go, and the form is filled in properly - your advice about the letter and what to reference is perfect. I'll give that a try, and see where it gets me. Thanks again!