Troggy

Thank you again for all your support here, folks!

As Trilo said - we're home-free, and it was bewilderingly easy in the end!

Now lead us to the gin and tonic. 😈😈

17 minutes ago, geowrian said:

ICE will not show up to bust anybody (well, assuming you don’t start making threats then some sort of LEO will show up!). They have shown up at AOS appointments in the past, but this was with an existing remove order (which doesn’t apply to your case).

 

If the IO isn’t convinced with the income evidence presented, they would most likely send an RFE. You would need to respond the RFE with a satisfactory I-864 before the RFE expires. If not, they will deny the I-485. They are unlikely to issue an NTA at that point, but it is possible. Until an NTA is issued, you can refill for AOS.

 

Any old EAD or AP would be cancelled with the denied I-485, so new ones would be needed.

 

If an NTA is issued, you would still have time to challenge the removal. This buys you a bunch of time to find employment or a sponsor. Obviously you want to avoid going in front of an immigration judge, but it’s not the end of the line either. The point is you have plenty of time and steps before an actual deportation.

I don't have the energy to say anything especially worth reading right now (depressed) - except to say thank you. 

^ Thank you. I don't know what we would do without this forum. 

p-ana, thank you so much. I'm beginning to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with this now. It just was a big shock losing out livelihood out of nowhere and the worst timing. 

Does a sponsor need to be family? That's a no-no for us. But could we ask a friend? 

I keep seeing all this 'sponsor' business when googling things like ''what if no longer employed at AOS''. We just don't have anyone to ask at all to be a sponsor! Please, does anyone know what the process here is likely to be?!

As I explained above we have some income in the form of this severance package and other things that will keep us afloat for months and months. If we get quizzed about this, can we just say that we have a certain amount of income laid down and fully expect to get jobs soon? And obviously show them paperwork to back to this up. It is true, my husband is a very skilled and experienced IT consultant. 

I feel like my mind is melting with all this. I mean, what are we talking about here?! They would just send me back to the UK and not even give a sh*t? Or they can't do that? Or what? I don't know what to say to them or how to say it. We have enough on our plates losing the job anyway without all this USCIS again now. 

^ Thank you. The severance isn't a one-time, it pays our normal salary for 2 and a half months starting August 15th. The date of the AOS interview is Aug 8th. After that, unemployment will kick in in October which will go for another 6 months which is about half of what we were getting before, so that's 50,000 a year. Then we have savings of several grand that will last us a while. I have a little part time job too at the mo paying a bit but not much. 

Thanks, folks... truly. 

So, we have this severance package, I guess now we are trying to work out how this counts as income in a way that satisfies USCIS, it's quite a lot of money for quite a long time. As I said, at the time of the interview date we will still be getting paid as usual.

What we will do is take all the paperwork showing the end of employment, details of the severance package, unemployment benefits if we qualify etc, if they ask us about whether he is still employed there, have it ready. If they don't ask us, don't volunteer it. But don't lie, of course. We figured that a couple of days ago but it's good to hear people just underscore it. 

My brain is fried. After all we've been through for me to be in the States, now all this two weeks before our interview. 

If I think of more questions/parts to add, I'll come back to the thread. 

Hello, 

Can anyone that has been through the AOS interview please tell me specifically what questions you were asked? Ours will be at San Antonio.

My husband just lost his job, right before this AOS interview in a couple of weeks and we are stressed to the max.  Do you think they will ask him ''are you still employed at the same place?'' And if so, do we tell the truth and say no and will they boot me out? Or it won't matter? Or they don't even ask this question?

It says on the letter inviting us to AOS to bring the paperwork about what my husband earns only if we haven't already submitted it. Well, we did all that before, and they accepted it, he was earning a lot. We were under the impression that part had been satisfied and was over. We are hoping that they just want to see we are together to be satisfied that the relationship is real and they won't even ask about the job part. We don't have anyone to sponsor us, we have no-one to ask. 

He has a severance package that is quite generous and will last us quite a few weeks, so at the time of this interview, technically we are still earning the same as before. We can float ourselves financially for about another 7 months, he shouldn't have any problem finding a job by then.

Please, please reply - anybody!  

Thank you. 

I opened a checking account with Bank of America in Austin, TX, without an SSN shortly after getting married about 3 months ago.

The man at the bank said it was alright without SSN; they do it quite often. I showed my British passport with my K-1, proof of address and some of my USCIS paperwork. 

Got the debit card about welcome literature about 4 days later.

^  thanks!!

Ack, I just thought of something. My British passport expires next year. With Britain leaving the EU (I believe that involves everyone getting a new passport without EU on it, and blue instead of red) me changing my entire name, AOS, green cards... I need another coffee. 

Many thanks for the replies. 

I had read before we did our AOS that the time to take on your married name is at AOS, but when we sent off our AOS packet I thought then that I was going to keep my original name forever - I had some feminist notion that I shouldn't change my identity just because I've married a man.  But lately I've realized that I do want the same name as my husband, plus I suddenly thought I could change my whole name at the same time and ditch my granny first name I've always hated. Feminist ideals gone out the window at the prospect of having a fresh start with a prettier name  

So let me try and get this straight in my mind. It's too late now to change to my married name through AOS, I should have done it before. So I wait for my green card to come. Then look into how to legally change my name in Texas (I just looked online, it seems easy enough). Go to the courthouse and do a legal change of name, they'll give me paperwork showing I did it and then I get the I-90 from USCIS, send that with my proof of legal name change and USCIS will send me a replacement green card with the name I want. Suck up the fees this incurs for not doing my homework sooner. Am I on the right lines? 

My adjustment of status is pending, I did K-1.

I want to change my surname to match my husband's, but I also want to do a switcheroo and ditch my first name and use my middle name instead. I simply don't like my current first name, and prefer my middle, plus want to take my husband's name.

Can anyone offer any advice on which point in time would be best to do this? Hold off and do it when the green card comes? Also, will it look bad, will they think I'm doing something dodgy with my identity? Will they even care so long as the paperwork is correct and in place?

And then, how do I do it? Have any of you here done the same?

Many thanks!