BigBuford

@mushroomspore @luckycat  thanks so much.. this is great news.  Hopefully 1- it won't take long to get an appointment w SSA  2- won't take too long to process and receive the SSN card b/c I already filed our joint tax return for 2020 and I realized my spouse won't be getting the 3rd stimulus check b/c we used her TIN on the tax return.  So once we get her SSN card, I'm going to file an amendment with the IRS to use her SSN number on the return.  Hopefully, this will allow her to get the $1400 stimulus check.

Hey all - good news.  My spouse's green card arrived just recently in the mail.  She now needs to apply with the local social security administration office to get a green card.  Will having the SSN card/number automatically allow her to work if she wanted to?

Background

• My spouse did AOS to get her green card
• During the green card interview, the IO confirmed we wouldn't be getting an SSN card automatically as part of being approved for the green card since we never submitted an i-765 form
• I called the SSA office yesterday and spoke to an employee who took down her information and his manager will call us back to schedule an appointment.  He mentioned the purposes of having the SSN would be 1- tax related for filing joint tax returns with me  2- health insurance purposes.  This part confuses - could you have an SSN card but not be allowed to work?

Not sure what's going on with SSA and their covid protocols but I find it very efficient that I can't directly schedule an appointment with an employee and that a manager has to call us back to schedule the appointment.

Thanks @payxibka  yes.. good to not overthink it.  But I was concerned since there was another topic posted here by a Canadian who was living with his US spouse for 108 days with most of his personal belongings at her place and then he got barred from entry into the US from his latest trip to return to the US.

Hey everyone,

My spouse (an Australian citizen) and I (US citizen) are preparing for our upcoming marriage-based AOS green card interview.  I lived abroad in Australia with my spouse and our child (who is a US citizen) for a few years before returning back to the US by myself due to work.  Obviously, since my spouse is an Australian citizen, she does not need to come here on any type of visa since she can come into the US for up to 6 months in a 12 month period.  Shortly after her and our child's most recent visit to see me in the U.S., we decided to apply for the AOS process to get her green card.  My inquiries are related to interview questions surrounding immigration fraud intent and the adjustment of status process.

1- Is it common for the IO to ask us why we decided to apply for adjustment of status?

My understanding is when she and our child came to visit me in the States, it is considered immigration fraud if she had intended to to adjust her status while visiting me in the U.S.  But I understand it's very hard to prove intent.

What would be a valid response?  Could we say that being away from each other was too much of a hardship on the family and we only realized that we wanted to do AOS after she was already here visiting me?

2- Is it also common for the IO to ask if we ever considered for my wife to come visit me in the States and apply for AOS while she is here?  If so, what would a valid response be?  I mean we did discuss possible plans for her and our child to come but after I've settled into my job.. so this was never finalized as an option.

Thanks in advance for your help!

At Chase bank, my wife just needed to provide her foreign passport, her IRS issued ITIN and a utility bill that shows her current local address in the states

On a side note, if you pass the IRS physical presence test, then you are considered a resident alien for IRS tax purposes though

@Gapols  good to know thank you.  For the life of me, I've never been able to get a live agent on the uscis support phone line.. amazing  

@Cndn wow, that was quick, thanks!

Thanks @beasty very helpful

@Jujusmom  Thank you very much.  Maraming salamat ha.  Pil-am ako din  

@Jujusmom  Also, one other thing.  Did they mention to you how soon your green card would arrive in the mail?  Reason being is we want to be able to apply for an Advanced Parole Travel document renewal which will expire in mid-June since we want to visit my wife's family June/July timeframe.

But I'm worried that if we send in a renewal application for the Advanced Parole Travel document even though we're at the last stage of the approval process, someone in USCIS might think, why is this applicant applying for a travel doc renewal when they are so close to getting the green card?  Based on my experience when we first applied for AOS along with Advanced Parole at same time, we received AP travel doc within 4 months time.  I know, I'm paranoid like that

Thanks so much.  This really helps.  My wife is starting to get nervous now about the whole interview process even though we've been married for 5 years and have 2 kids lol

Hey everyone - Happy Wednesday.  New to the board here.  So great news, I got an email from USCIS yesterday that my spouse's AOS i-485 application has been moved to 'Interview was Scheduled' which I verified on the USCIS Services site.  We had been in 'Interview Ready to be Scheduled' status for about 10 1/2 months.

Once you receive the notice in the mail with the interview date/time, how far out in advance was it scheduled for?  I know this varies based on how busy each field office is.  But are we talking 2-4 weeks out?  Or 1-3 months out?  Would be great to get an idea so I can plan to take off time from work.

Thanks for all your help.

Hi Skyzee.. thank you for the quick response and great information.  I do hope things get completed soon on your end.  It's terrible being away from loved ones.  When I was first dating my wife, I tried desperately to apply for Canadian PR by myself (not spousal PR) or trying to get a job in BC going through the NAFTA route, it was very frustrating as no companies would interview and I did not quality to get into Canada via express entry.  After a year of trying my then gf and I decided we needed to get married so I can get spousal sponsored PR, which happened very quickly given how thick and detail oriented our application and documentation were.  But it took about 1 yr 8 mos of doing long distance til we were united.

I promise to keep everyone posted of what happens.. first thing's first is  1) look for a job  2) get all the paperwork lined up for the I-130

Hi Skyzee and Everyone,

I'm new to this forum.  I plan to try this approach in the next 3-6 months once I get a job offer in the States, of course.

Skyzee - quick question, for those that have DM'ed you who have previously tried DCF, did they mention how long the process took to 1) get the petition approved  2) visa issued?

Would love to know the timeline I'm dealing with.  I would hate to have to be without my Canadian spouse and our American-Canadian son for too long.

Also, I assume that with the DCF process, if I were to start a job in 4 weeks, I would assume that I'd already be in the U.S. working (with my family still in Canada) by the time the process is complete, correct?

Thanks for all this information and I will let everyone know of my outcome.

Btw, if we go the normal route of applying to the lockbox, does anyone know approximately how long it will take?  I've been seeing threads for a little over a year.. which is wayyyy too long.  I got my Canadian PR in 3-months time.