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Got my Green Card in the mail today! Finally all done, good for ten years, though will more than likely go for citizenship in 3. Very nice feeling. Timeline is below.

Actually this isn't that far out of place in terms of other countires... The cost to be a PR in Canada is about $1,300...

In the end it cost me roughly $1600 to get my wife PR status in Canada. That didn't even include any sort of work permit or anything else. Just me sponsoring and her applying for PR status. That's why I was so shocked when it only cost me $765 here for the process, which included a work permit. I find that to be pretty crazy.

Since EADs are a cash cow for them, though, I somehow doubt they'll waive fees for renewals.

Just thought I would update I got approval e-mails today for I-130 and I-485, so the InfoPass definitely helped.

I had my interview on the 4th and was approved right there. The interviewer said I should get my green card in a couple of weeks. Since then there weren't any updates online and nothing in the mail. To set my mind at ease I decided I might as well make an InfoPass just to ask if everything was okay.

I went in and got a very pleasant guy at the counter. I asked him simply to see everything was okay and told him I had my interview and was approved there. He looked at my file and gave a "hmmmmmmm" and told me he was going to have to talk to "somebody upstairs" about my case. Of course that made me a little uneasy and I sat down. It was taking him a while and as more time passed I became a little more nervous, of course figuring the worst 45-minutes later he came back, laughing to himself, apologized for taking so long. Took a while to find my file apparently and by the sounds of it it was sort of just "sitting there", nothing done to it. He then told me everything was okay, it has been approved, took my passport and gave me a stamp good for 1 year. He said I probably won't need it as I should get my card soon, but he still stamped it just in case.

Anyways, just sharing in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation, and to let you know an InfoPass is worth it (also helped me with my EAD)

If you marry, send in your AOS and then get fired/laid off or quit, you're fine, as your pending AOS allows you to stay in the US. If you wanted to work, though, you would have to get an EAD.

Now, if you get fired/laid off/quit before you send in your AOS you would technically then be out of status. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you would be okay if you still got married and sent in your AOS as USCIS forgives overstaying (which is what I think you'd technically be doing) as long as you're married to a US citizen. Their concern is that you entered the country legally, which you did. And again if you wanted to work bwhile your application is pending you would have to get an EAD.

Thank goodness. That's a huge relief. I thought I wasn't required to become a citizen but it never hurts to be sure. I knew that the US at one time required all citizens to renounce their native citizenship, so I imagined that there was an expectation in the case of a dual citizenship that the US citizenship would be 'primary'.

And yep, I'm in Waterloo. I came here for school, and am still gamely trying to finish a thesis while working full-time. Are you from KW itself or from the general area?

Nope, don't have to become a citizen.

There are benefits to being a citizen, though, especially since Canada allows dual-citizenship. If you decided to move back to Canada you can lose your green card if you stay out of the US for more than two years (1 year if you don't get some sort of re-entry permit), and would have to go through some trouble to get it again. If you become a citizen it's not an issue. You could live in Canada for 10 years and if you both decide to move to the States again, it wouldn't be an problem. You could move back and forth. And if your spouse got a residency card in Canada, it can be renewed, even if you aren't living in Canada, as long as the two of you are together. That's one advantage out of many. The disadvantage of course is you'd have to do your taxes in both countries while living in Canada. But hey, you'd have two passports

The whole "renouncing" citizenship isn't real in the sense that that's it once you're sworn in. When you become a citizen in the US they do more or less make you say you renounce your citizenship to other countries in an oath (I can't remember the wording) and this isn't actually the case. What it is is the American government won't recognize your Canadian citizenship (or at least won't acknowledge it). As far as they're concerned you're an American. Canada recognizes both, which is all that matters. The only way you could truly lose your Canadian citizenship is if Canada takes it away from you (which they won't) or if you renounce it officially (which I think requires a bit of paperwork.)

Anyways, I didn't live in KW (I worked there, though) but lived outside Stratford. But it's close enough. Nice to see someone else from there on here.

And you're from Waterloo? Cool, I come from the same area

A green card just makes you a resident NOT a citizen. You don't have to become a citizen. If you wanted to you could become a citizen eventually after getting your residency (green card) but you have to wait 3 years (5 if you're not married to an American) after getting your green card.

As well, you can become an American citizen and keep your Canadian citizenship as Canada allows you to do this. In the eyes of Canada you would be both an American and a Canadian. In the eyes of the USA, though, my understanding is you would be considered an American first and I'm not sure if they would recognize your Canadian citizenship, but Canada does recognize both.

Oh wait a sec, was that form you signed the one you're supposed to sign acknowledging that you are aware that you have to remove conditions in 2 years? Or was it for something else?

Wait, is their some form that needs to be signed?? This wasn't mentioned to me. I was told I was approved and sent on my merry way.

I received my RFE about a week after I got the e-mail. The most common RFE is for I-864 stuff. That's what I got (tax return stuff) and it was for stuff I already sent. I just sent it in again and they accepted it. If you're positive you sent in everything, that's probably what they sent you.

It's usually forgiven if the applicant is married to a US citizen. Otherwise it is grounds for denial.

Great, now I'm all nervous. I figured that my online status would be updated or something, but a week later there's nothing, not even a touch. After the interview does the online status usually change? Or does it take a while?

Congrats , I sure hope my interview will go that smooth

I was stressed about mine, gave myself a headache before hand. But it was surprisingly simple. I think he knew our marriage was real, he just seemed to be going through the motions and really just wanted to get through it quickly. He didn't seem to concerned about looking through the evidence I brought, he just wanted stuff that had our address on it. He just grabbed a few things and threw them in with my file (which was huge! They added a lot of stuff to it over the course of processing it.) He didn't really look at anything else. As long as your marriage is real it should be fine.

I remember on my letter it said I could also go in and get my biometrics done any Wednesday up until a certain date (sometime in October) I also remember when I went in for mine someone ahead of me was in a situation similar to yours (they missed their appointment) and they let them in. It's worth going to your local office and giving it a shot.

congratulations!

so how long it toke you to get his interviewed I am a bit confused.

Do you mean how long did the interview take or how long before the interview? The interview happened 170 days after I sent in all the stuff. The interview itself was only 20 minutes.

They didn't take my EAD card either, but they did ask for my I-94 and attached it to my file. Same for my K-2 daughter. We're from Canada and went through the Seattle office as well.

I guess it depends on the interviewer. He didn't seem too concerned about the I-94, but took it anyways. He just mentioned that Canadians don't always require one (but I always assumed that was just visitors) so they weren't too concerned. I guess each interviewer makes up their own rules. I gave it to him just because I didn't want a problem in the future.

Went to the interview today and I was approved right there.

The interview was quite painless. We went with a big box of stuff (A LOT OF STUFF) and he didn't really look at much.

Anyways, we got there a half hour early and were called in 5 minutes early. He made us swear in and all that then started asking my wife questions. He was actually much harder with the questions on my wife. He asked her when my birthday was, when we met, how we met and other questions about our history. He asked about her job, then my job and how much we made. That was pretty much it for the questions for me, other than he asked for my address (I'm guessing to make sure it's the same as my wife's).

He then looked through our wedding photos. We brought a lot and he went through them all. He asked us to identify various people, asked us about the wedding, where it was, how many people and so on. He looked through them for a bit.

He then went through our evidence. He took our lease agreement, insurance forms and such just to add to the file. He then started asking me the standard questions ("You ever been arrested?" "You ever been in jail?" "Are you a terrorist?" etc.) He then went through the forms and made notes. He then mentioned he was going to check my background check. Then it was silent for a bit as he looked through my file. Then he said he was going to approve my application and mentioned since I've been married more than 3 years I wouldn't be getting a conditional card and can expect the card in two weeks. We shook hands and that was it. If it was 20-minutes I'd be surprised.

The interviewer was nice. He had a sense of humour, and smiled when he asked me the "Are you a terrorist?" question. He didn't take my EAD or my I-94, but I asked him if he needed it back. He told me with Canadians they don't usually care but took the I-94 back from me anyways and stapled it to my file.

And that was that.

Make an Infopass. They'll make a call for you to tell them to get going on your EAD. I did the same and a week later my EAD was approved and a week after that it was in the mail.

I'd also double check at the Infopass they have your correct address.

Exact thing happened to me. Just send it all in AGAIN. I sent the exact same stuff I sent in before and what-do-ya-know, they took it this time.

While you're technically supposed to wait 90 days AFTER they received your RFE, I'd still make an Infopass. I also received an RFE and sent it back in September. I still made an infopass after my 90 days were up from the original NOA date. At first they gave me a hard time because I was supposed to wait until 90 days after they received my RFE (which would have been Dec 10 or so), but they took pity on me and made a call to the MSC. A week later my EAD was approved.

They might not do anything for you, but it definitely doesn't hurt to still go in.

Oh yeah, and mention that the RFE was for stuff you already sent in. The same thing happened to me (tax stuff I had already included with the original app) and I told the officer this and she thankfully believed it (apparently it happens a lot with I-864 stuff) and I think that helped me in getting my EAD.

Mine is the same. It was approved on the 6th but it's dated from Nov 1st 2006 to Oct 31, 2007.

My EAD was touched a couple of times over a period of a few days before it was approved, so getting a bunch of touches is good sign.

#######, they're still touching the thing. I got the card in the mail the other day and I've had a bunch of touches since then

Basically I divided into sections for each form and accompanying evidence and gave a cover sheet for each thing, explaining the contents and giving an extra explanation if needed (for example my wife didn't have W2s since she didn't work in the USA last year but instead worked in Canada, so I included her Canadian T4s and gave an explanation) Each "section" was then held together with paper clips (no stapling) Sections went like this in this order:

- I-485 with $395 cheque and photos in an envelope

- Certified copy of birth certificate

- I-864 with required evidence (Tax forms, T4s instead of W2s, letter from employer)

- I-864 for Joint sponsor with same type of evidence (just in case they didn't like her working in Canada for a year, for whatever reason)

- Sealed medical (I-693)

- Copies of forms proving current status, including Passport (ID page and pages with entry stamps) and front and back of I-94

- I-130 with $190 cheque, photos in envelope

- Wife's (US Citizen's) birth certificate

- Certified copy of Ontario Marriage Licence

- G-325A for me

- G-325A for my wife

- I-764 with $180 cheque and required evidence

A lot of people use the tabs at the top, but I didn't. Just paper clips for each section of the application.

I know a few people who have done so, family and employment based. I'm assuming you're doing family based. It's quite simple and can be done relatively quickly as long as you don't hit any bumps (like requests for evidence) As long as your H1 is good during the process you can continue to work and travel (since it is dual-intent) on it so you don't need an EAD or AP.

The averages are pretty much the same as anyone else filing family based, which ranges from anywhere between 3 and 6 months. This also depends on your local DO, and also on the dreaded name check, and of course, as mentioned before, requests for evidence. Despite what some people believe Status' don't really matter for determining the amount of time (though lately the people on K visas have been getting their green cards VERY quickly) so your H1 isn't going to be any quicker, but it won't neccessarily take any longer than somebody under another status/visa.

If she entered the country legally (which it sounds like, since you say she had a visa) then it's not too big a deal, as USCIS forgives overstays where marriage to a US citizen is involved. As well, they will also forgive working illegally, though there's a chance the employer could get in trouble and you may have the IRS coming after you sometime down the road (can't tell you for sure, though.) But they won't deny a green card on those conditions alone.

I'd still recommend an immigration attorney, though, at least a consultation. It sounds like she had a previous application (from what I can gather from your post) and I'm not sure if that's an issue, especially if it was denied (which it almost sounds like but I'm not sure.)

At any rate, to answer some other questions, she will have to be fingerprinted when she sends in all the forms. An appointment is set up and she will go in to a local office and have her prints and picture taken.

On the form, when it asks what she last entered as, you would put whatever her visa was for and the expiration date. When it asks for current status I believe you would put "Out of Status"