Swissmiss82

3 hours ago, Shoegum said:

hmm that's weird I only got the 2 receipt numbers. Are all 3 of your Receipt numbers one after another? Increment by 1?

yes correct, i have 3 receipt numbers, first is I-485, second 765 and last I-131... that's the order...

Btw - this is my experience today:

walked in (4 others had an appt at 8am), waited in line to sign in, officer 1 at that desk:

him: your passport is not matching the name on this invitation

me: yes sir, we got married on a k1, that's why i'm here

him: i need your marriage certificate

me: handing him the certificate (IT WAS NOT REQUIRMENT ON THE INVITE, but something told me to bring it....)

him: please have a seat in front of office xy

i walked over, 2 min later the lady asked me to get inside, she verified all documents, stamped it, sent me back to officer

officer gave me a form to fill out and return to him, then sent me to wait in the other area

10 min later a FRIENDLY (yaaaaaay) lady called me up for the picture (new: you are allowed to smile hahaha) and the fingerprints.

she apologised that i had to drive so far and that there isn't an office closer to us! 

as i wanted to know more about my driving licence (that is currently temporary due to my status) and i wanted to know something about

the travel outside country - timing, we were sent back to office xy to talk to the same lady.

thankfully my husband is a funny easy going man so he made her smile a little and she "tried" to help me!

so what she said, completely shocked me:

she said that the SSN and Driving licence should not be issued until work permit is through!!!!! 

i handed her my temporary DL and the ss copy i have in my wallet. she was surprised and said they should have never

done this, this is not allowed blabla! :S

i think these people are not well trained, especially seeing how "busy" they are >>> she literally copied in front of us while waiting for fingerprints,

and it was her crossword book to make copies of them! when she ordered us back in her office, she had these copies on her desk and turned them away once we asked our question!!!  

anyways - the best part: she said "oh you guys filed for travel and work too? well you'll have to come back for fingerprints then..."

HUUUUH????? i hope this isn't true, but it would be ridiculous since i just gave my fingerprints and took a picture right now?! 

good thing of the entire experience: we were out in 25 minutes! now let's see what comes next....

56 minutes ago, Shoegum said:

Same here, however i only got two texts, did you get a receipt # for all 3?

 

I got two cases numbers for following forms, missing the travel I-131

On June 23, 2018, we accepted the fingerprint fee for your Form I-485, Application 

On June 8, 2018, we received your Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization

you should get 3 receipt numbers for each one.

My fingerprint fee shows june 6,

and i-131 and i-765 shows now june 1... they changed it, cos initially it all showed june 6... hmmmmmm

has anyone had their fingerprint appointment yet?

i am heading there this wednesday and now i am a bit nervous cos i don't really know what to expect haha

i know the letter said bring passport and the invitation letter, but is that really it???? 

46 minutes ago, Cm6307 said:

I also got a request for initial evidence last Thursday, so bummed out. My application was received on May 31st. Fingers crossed to get the letter soon and that it's a quick fix. 

RFE at this stage can also be a missing piece such as a passport photo, or not filled the paperwork properly or an old form etc.

It sure should be a quick fix

Happy Monday to everyone!

23 hours ago, Alabamak1 said:

So, we just came back from the SSA office. This is frustrating to say the least. The nice person at the SSA office told us they sent the required documentation to DHS. DHS has not verified the documentation still, after 3 weeks!!! The SSA is still waiting for them to respond to verify documents the DHS already has. I can only say we drew the short stick on manual verification + snail mailing it in. Hope everyone else doesn't have this kinda delays. This means, no nothing for my wife so far. No signing up for language school, or anything. So mad right now. EAD is required for DL in Alabama. 

 

Good luck to ya'll

don't get frustrated! that's what happens to all of us....

aren't there some free classes that she can take?

I know we don't have them here where I am, but when I used to live in Los Angeles, there were a gazillion classes for people that

could just show up whenever they could and they also paid only what they were able to pay.

Not sure what the classes were called or so, as I never took them, but I remember they exist.

Just now, Alabamak1 said:

I read Savannah, GA. i was thinking your local biometrics was in Atlanta. Anyways have fun.

yeah lucky us, i think for once, they did think this process through and went logical by zip code and put you to the closest one!

if you are unsure about your location, you can put in your zip code here and see:

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices

1 minute ago, Alabamak1 said:

I definitely recommend CityPass if you do Atlanta tour. Coco Cola, Aquarium, CNN and others i forgot. Sorry for the non-AOS comment

oooh mine is in Charleston, not Atlanta.

Atlanta would be like 4-5 hours away... At least this is an advantage, and seems the processing time in Charleston is a loooot

quicker than ATL too. But Charleston is one of the prettiest cities on the east coast so I'll find things to do for sure  

And Non-AOS Comments are fine too Don't apologize for that! 

On 6/15/2018 at 11:10 PM, LizM said:

Yay! I got my biometrics appointment too, for just the day after you on 6/28  That's also the day my sister gets here so I'm stoked!

 

Happy weekend 

oooh that's so cool

i just realized mine is about 2 hours away, traffic not included, and i have to be there at 8am.

so i'll leave at 5am just to be safe hahaha but will do a lil day trip in the city there and enjoy the day there

just got the letter for fingerprints for 6/27!!!

Wow this is happening fast now I LIKE! 

btw - i passed the driving test and have officially a georgia licence wohooo

happy weekend everyone

ahhh my boo just confirmed that USCIS is coming in the mail today

thank god for informed delivery! i will sure be home at 3:30 - 4:30 when the maillady comes again hahaha

and PS: 

thanks a lot for that link - i just saw they sent a reply to DMV (they never contacted me or my husband though)

so i will go to the DMV tomorrow for sure and check what's going on... thanks for sharing that link

34 minutes ago, Kswtangel said:

Yes!!  I literally hung up with him like 10 minutes ago as his plane was starting to taxi!  I’m so excited that he’ll be here in like 10 hours!!  Can’t wait! 

ahhhhh I'll be with you from my end and hope you'll enjoy that happy moment! what a great monday  

On 6/8/2018 at 2:44 PM, LizM said:

 

Thank you guys!

 

Unfortunately, no luck at the SSA - still in manual verification jungle - however, I'm very happy to say that I was able to get a bank account today 

 

I spontaneously went over to TD Bank because a Google search made it seem they accepted customers without SSNs. And it was true, they only needed two forms of identification - however, they also need proof of a US address... So I disappointedly left because I have no such thing, no state ID (because that requires proof of address too ), no utility bills, no bank statements addressed to my home (obviously). But as I was walking back I realized that my US address is on my marriage certificate. Which I had in my bag. So I went back and they accepted it! To everyone who feels stuck because they don't have their SSN yet, you are not screwed! And the best part is now I have additional proof of address to bring with me when I try to get a State ID at the DMV next week  I am strong without an SSN! Hehe.

 

FYI, the TD checking account + debit card is free if you keep a minimum of $100 in it. They wanted me to deposit $25 while I opened it and there was a $3 fee to withdraw those $25 but I can live with that. I had wanted to become a customer in my husband's bank to open a joint account with him, but his bank will not accept no SSN or ITIN, so this is absolutely fine for now, just happy that I could do something.

ooooh you had a great successful day! I know it's sometimes frustrating (I experienced it firsthand hahaha) but, we are all getting steps

closer to the easy part now so let's just hope!!!

I plan on going back to DMV tomorrow and hopefully I can get my driving test done and out the way! 

I am assuming with a SS Card on hand now, the status has changed with them also and I can finally do that test! lets' hope!!!

Hoping to get NOA1's in the mail today  

By the way - does anybody else have a blog about their new life/move/K1 or something? If so - I'd love to read a bit or browse (with so much 

time on my hands hahahaha)

2 hours ago, LizM said:

I hope so too 

 

My husband just went to work but we're going to try and see if we can get out of the city and do some hiking this weekend. But before that I have another trip to the SSA planned, I want to nag them about finding me in the SAVE database... Wish me luck 

yes he just replied, they got the money this morning  woopwoop! (well technically i should cry cos it's so much hahaha)

oooh good luck with the SS place! i cross all fingers that it works good  just bring the marriage licence with you and i also brought NOA2

so they see what's going on  but NY will be a lot easier i think than here hahahaha 

17 minutes ago, LizM said:

Yay! Have they cashed the check yet?  We used the new credit card payment and they reserved an amount so I am hopeful it worked! I was just a bit nervous since it was relatively new. 

oh i haven't even checked that with my boo. we sent a check, didn't even see the creditcard thing

i hope you hear back soon also! bam bam bammmm!

Happy Friday everyone, hope you have great weekend plans ahead of you!

yaaaay we got the notification overnight with all 3 case numbers

now let the fun begin again with the waiting time! hahaha

oh and btw, it says "received, June 1st..." but we did not get the notifcation until yesterday, 7th. 

the email says the NOA1 will arrive in within 7-10 days, so let's see  

1 hour ago, LizM said:

Pretty sure you don't have to wait for EAD. If you have the marriage certificate, then you can just take it and go to the SSA. I believe that's what @Swissmiss82 did?

@apinchofstella yes, @LizM is right.

I was an aupair too, had a SSN and i just went to the office, gave them my old name with passport, so they found me in the system.

And i handed them the marriage cert, so they asked a few security questions (name of parents etc) and that was it

i'm sure you'll get it immediately too!

ahhhhh @Shoegum is a june filer too  yaaaay! so happy we are in the same boat! 

why did i know that @Naes will be a superhero forever!!!! <3 

for everyone still waiting: stay motivated and focused. i know it's not a big help, but i can tell you it's worth it! 

the patience, the tears, the long lonely nights, .... but soon enough you'll be with your one and only and won't have to 

fall asleep again alone <3 

gosh i feel like i let you guys down by disappearing!  

i just spent a while reading all the updates and am sooo sooo happy to see how far everyone came

tschakkaaaaaaaaa to that journey!!!!

i hope everyone that is still back "home" will enjoy the time being, as i start missing certain things and people from "home".

i can't wait to get more pix like @Thelucybelle's and her boo's arrival.. or yet: YOUR WEDDING PIX can't wait!!!!!

19 hours ago, Tomalley said:

How long did you wait? I have waited three weeks and nothing come yet. They told me it would up to six weeks 

well i went there 2 days after my arrival, and 2.5 weeks later we got married so i went back to the office which is now

exactly 2 weeks. so basically 4 weeks total

PS: manual verification I am assuming is a letter/confirmation of your request at the SS office 

ahhhh to make this even better: i received today my SS card with my new last name on it!!!

i am sooo happyyyyyy

On 6/2/2018 at 9:45 AM, LizM said:

Gotcha, thank you, that's how I interpreted the instructions too!

 

Yes sure, I'll pm you this weekend. Thank you! I don't mind control freaking, this is important stuff  I have actually filled out all the forms, and husband filled out the I-864, so we're almost good to go. I have all the evidence but just printing/copying and making everything orderly will probably take some time too. Plan to have it sent out Monday morning.

 

By the way, did you have the copy of your marriage certificate certified? If you did, how was it certified? And did you send in anything to prove you already had the medical?

yes i have a certified copy from them (when i dropped off our marriage licence, they had me wait 5 min and gave me all copies and certified right there) so i just had to copy it a bit funny as the paper is about 3 inches longer than normal paper haha

and i also added the medical paper of the vacc's that my doctor sent me when i got their package in the mail. 

that's proof enough in my opinion, so hopefully that is good.

sounds good, will send you via email what i promised

yaaay to june filers! 

PS: my file got there june 1st, so hope i get my noa1 next week or so  

19 minutes ago, LizM said:

Welcome!!  Glad to have you back! I agree it's definitely easier now, but I have also only been here about a week... Might be climbing the walls in a few months without work authorization, who knows  

 

Question about the AOS package - did you submit one set of evidence per form (so two photos for I-485, two for I-131, two for I-765), or just one set? Also, for the I-131 they ask for "USCIS receipt of present status in the United States" (I assume I-94 will suffice) and "copy of receipt that AOS is filed for" (I assume when filing concurrently, this is not needed). Is this how you did it, too?

yes, i have sent 3 set of 2 pix for each request (I-485,  I-131, I-765) to assure they won't RFE us lol

yes, i have printed the I-94 online, as some people seem to get it when they enter the country, others get it online.

so i had to print it out and just sent that copy with it. 

if you want, you can send me your email and i will send you the cover letter i have used (sorry i'm a control freak hahaha) 

to remember every single paper and copy that they need.

i also picked up at the 99 cent store a pack of little folders (this pack had 3 in it so yaaay), and i 

basically put the cover letter with the check in the front, and each of these 3 folders have the I-485,  I-131, I-765 separate in one of them.

just made it look a bit organized and easier for whoever is going through paperwork

have you filled out all the forms yet? 

1 minute ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Keep us in the loop if you figure out how to get around the SSN/DL issue.

I've never read ppl getting into this kind of problem so this is strange.

i am sure it's a GA thing! everything is more complicated here as it seems..... lol 

i am working on the paperwork to file for AOS, so should be sending out these days and will give u updates once things change

5 hours ago, Christy&J said:

Guys, I need some information.

 

I know it's still little time ahead but I just want be prepared and don't wanna be caught off guard.

 

once VOH what step do we have to do ?

my researched :

 

2 weeks upon arrival SSN

after got SSN get married - AOS - AP and then GC

 

Please anyone can inform and confirm ? maybe @Naes @Swissmiss82 @Greenbaum

So dear Christy - I don't talk for all states, but here in GA i just had a bit of an experience!

I went to the SS office 2 days after I got here, I was able to "renew" the number I had from 10 years ago...

some safety questions on my "profile" and that was it. now that we are married, i went back yesterday (so 2.5 weeks after i got here)

and immigration's status is not updated. the guy at the place said that he gives me a confirmation letter that they will change my

last name as soon as the immigration status is updated. 

buttttt as far as i understood and learned now, they won't update until you file for AOS.

also - i tried to get my driving licence and same thing. AFTER taking the test and all that they said they can't do anything at this point,

as i'm not registered yet! so there i got a confirmation too!

and PS: if someone tries to purchase a car - make sure your fiancee/husband takes the title for you!!!! 

in GA we can't get a title with no DL, and no DL until stuff is adjusted. so.... after running around for 4 days,

we were able to get the title on my husbands name now so we're good (and insured and all).

maybe this info will help others too