ALittleBritish

On 6/23/2020 at 1:30 PM, peachouille said:

 Having your green card expire and no NOA does NOT mean you need a stamp to continue working. It just means you don't have proof of status, but your status is still valid.

 

If you still have the same job and you presented your conditional green card when you got hired, they are not allowed to ask to reverify your status:

 

If you have a new job, you don't need to ever present the green card. A state ID/license and an unrestricted social security card together are proof of eligibility, see acceptable documents. They are not allowed to demand a specific type of document to prove your status:

 

 

The problem arises for people who either don't have an unrestricted SS card because they didn't change it after AOS, or have their license expire with the green card.

 

From what I've seen lately, USCIS has not been very cooperative with people about scheduling an appointment to get a stamp, requiring them to wait until the last minute or send proof that they need it for employment.

 

Hope this helps!

Thanks @peachouille, that was really helpful!  I appreciate it. 

22 minutes ago, DILAW said:

Why not call the USCIS and ask them when you can schedule an appointment?  You can't schedule an appointent online like we used to be able to, so I would say call them to get the best answer

Yep, I will be doing that. I just wanted to see if anyone has any personal experience with it, especially since information can vary from officer to officer. 

I imagine someone has asked this before, and forgive me if the answer should be obvious, but if we don't receive our first NOA before our green card expires, we need the I-551 stamp in our passport to continue working, is this correct? I see on the USCIS website that we have to call the contact center to get an appointment at a local office, so I'm wondering if anyone knows how quickly they are setting these appointments up? I'm a little concerned as I just looked at the May filers and many of them still haven't received their NOA's... 

34 minutes ago, doggieandsam said:

thanks for sharing!

Happy to! I'm glad we have a place we can come and compare notes!

1 hour ago, kendraf said:

<3<3 I am sure it's something to do with which pile you end up in. I won't complain too much tho..my 1-130 was processed quicker than some and I am with my hubby and that's all that matters right now. 

Very true! At least this time we don't have to be apart from our husbands  

1 hour ago, doggieandsam said:

i had wondered the same thing. specifically if it's happening more when sending to the PO Box (through USPS) vs the actual address (though FedEx / UPS / DHL). the other is there is a difference between sending to Phoenix vs Texas. @kendraf and @ALittleBritish - how and where did you send in your packages?

 

The other thing I think is, with the pandemic still going on, there might be some steps in the process with no manpower available. For example, some service centers might be in an area which is harder hit by the virus and therefore have a lesser workforce than other centers which are not as affected. 

@doggieandsam @kendraf we sent ours to the Phoenix lockbox via USPS. I did registered mail so I could track it and see when it got there. 

1 hour ago, peachouille said:

Pleasantly surprised that they applied fingerprints for CR-1!

Me too! Makes for one less appointment  

4 minutes ago, kendraf said:

I was just checking your time line! Super depressed now for us but happy for you of course. We sent to same lockbox and got the MSC assign too. Rec'd 5/12 and we have our # (via phone call to them) and they cashed our cheque but we didn't get the text even though we had filled out that form and no letter that was supposed to arrive in 30 days. Sent in a request for follow up re: the letter and the only note online says that request isn't assigned yet.

 

IUGIDFGKDJLKSA.

 

 *BREATHE*

I'm sorry @kendraf that's super frustrating! Fingers crossed they send you your letter very soon! We haven't received the NOA yet but I will keep you updated when they do. So weird how inconsistent it is, I wonder if some people are working on cases faster than others?

Hi All, 

Just sharing my info: 

June 1st - sent in I-751 package 

June 5th - Received by Phoenix lockbox 

June 10th - received text message & cheque cashed - Case number starting MSC (national benefits center)

June 16th - Received update that fingerprints have been reviewed and they are moving onto the next step. 

Hoping the process goes quickly and smoothly for us all! 

20 hours ago, Mme ab said:

I'm very confused because someone at the embassy told me not to come to the interview without the result of medical exam

Hmm, I suggest you call them again and see if you receive the same answer. Were you not able to get a medical appointment in time? 

1 minute ago, Mme ab said:

Hi, plz is it tue that most consulate don't let us do the interview before medical?

You can do the interview without having done the medical first BUT your medical results are required and they won't issue a visa until they receive them, provided everything is in order. 

6 minutes ago, Tea Rose said:

I found it. Thank you so much! 🙂

 

They only asked for a few documents. I thought they were gonna ask everything on the checklist posted on the embassy website. 

You're welcome! Yeah, I was surprised they didn't ask for everything. I would suggest bringing everything anyway, just in case. I had asked if they wanted to see my husband's 2017 tax return but they said no because they could see it on their screen.... which is weird, because they can see everything else there too lol. I will say though, if any of your documents change before the interview, bring photocopies.  I renewed my Canadian PR card after I gave everything to the NVC so they asked for a photocopy of my new one. 

On 8/9/2018 at 4:58 PM, Mouna24 said:

I received my passport yesterday

Montreal Embassy

CC 30 may

Interview 6 August

Congrats @Mouna24! So happy for you!

51 minutes ago, R&J said:

Hello, My husband received his passport back on Thursday as well.. His passport got home prior to him returning from Montreal, since we stayed there for few days. .. I can't wait for him to come now..

Interview date August 7th, Interview date received July 6th, CC June 20th. 

Hurray! I'm very happy for you both 😊 safe journey for your husband!! 

9 hours ago, Tea Rose said:

Big Congratulations!!!! So happy for you! Would you mind sharing the experience? My husband's interview is in two weeks.

Thank you! Very exciting for you too! I had a good experience, I wrote a fairly detailed review. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can read it here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=272431

Let me know if you have any questions after reading it 😊 

4 minutes ago, mnlvj8891 said:

How is it possible to keep track of how many times you leave the US to Canada. I live and work 10 minutes away from the US in Canada and often times I go to the US and back to Canada once a week. sometimes four times a week. This would be impossible to keep track of. 

I use Google Calendar and just track it every time I've gone down to the US & how many days. I had to do that for Canadian PR. Annoying, but not impossible. 

4 hours ago, torontoim said:

Right, I’ve read this. This would only be effective from the date I activate the green card correct? For any Canadians reading, does informing my employer that I will not be a Canadian resident once I activate the visa effectively mean I’m informing the government as well? That would seem to have implications for my Canadian benefits such as the universal healthcare access I’m currently entitled to. Do you immediately void those benefits upon activating the visa?

 

 

As far as I understand it, you need to contact CRA and let them know when you become a non-resident but I imagine you can wait to do that until you have permanently moved down. Might be a good idea to talk to an accountant. 

12 minutes ago, shan.ali2017 said:

is it happening in other embassies as well ??

In my opinion everything is going online - less paper..

this looks like paper reduction.

Islamabad embassy is PIVOT - online processing.

 

Not sure...

As far as I am aware, PIVOT cases no longer receive a physical envelope. It's all done online. I am PIVOT from Montreal and my package is electronic and will already be available to the Border agent when I get there. 

2 minutes ago, Meghan&Gene said:

Congratulations on getting your visa today! That's super exciting. 

 

Any plans on when you'll arrive in the US? 

Thank you!! I'll be very happy for you guys when you get your interview date! 

I'm moving this weekend  it has worked out really well with my employers that I could leave as soon as I received my visa and most of my stuff is in storage. Just have to go through everything and make an itemized list for going through the border. 

7 minutes ago, Meghan&Gene said:

When did they send your interview email? 

I got it on July 6th. Every time my husband called NVC up until the day before that, we were told we were on the list but nothing had been scheduled yet and then that morning i woke up at 6.30am to the interview email. All in all, I waited 37 days from CC to interview email. 

2 minutes ago, R&J said:

We were sitting right behind you. I had red top and white skirt. My husband had blue shirt and blue hat on. 

 

Thank you, 

Oh! Too bad we didn't know beforehand, we could have said hi! Best of luck to you both for the future though. I'll post again when I get my passport

6 minutes ago, R&J said:

were you wearing black floral shirt? 

 

Yes, they asked a lot of questions most of them were repetitive just wording was changed.  

Yup! That was me! Where were you guys sitting? 

Hmm, well I'm glad they approved him in the end. You'll be able to put this behind you soon enough!

Just now, R&J said:

We were there before 9am. We were #13. What was your number?

I was number 6 and was there from 7.30-9.20 ish. We were sitting in the same room and didn't even know it lol. 

Did they ask your husband a lot of questions? 

1 minute ago, Meghan&Gene said:

That seems easy enough! Thank you for the reply

You're welcome 😊 I forgot to mention, I had to go to a separate lab to get blood work and xrays done. It's very straightforward and both are in the same building, it can just be a bit of a wait.