Del A.

Congratulations! That must have been nerve wracking, I can't even imagine.

Thank you, VJ Members! You are heroes. ❤️

Congratulations! That must have been nerve wracking, I can't even imagine.

Thank you, VJ Members! You are heroes. ❤️

I put Mary on a Capital One Venture Credit Card (25k limit) prior to marriage without her ssn. Right after marriage I was added her to a more including Chase Sapphire.  She got her SSN and applied for a Capital One card of her own and got a small limit.  She made little charges and paid everything in full when the statement came. She now has a $2500 limit.  But since I put her on the Chase (and AMEX, Target, Exxon) we noticed her score went way up.  Up to 780.  Apparently the creditors reported my payment histories as if she had been in the US for years.  In fact my Exxon went back to 1985.   I use my cards for work and travel and sometime carry a big balance.   She now makes fun of me whenever my score is less than hers.
 

Your husband adding you as an authorized user on some of his cards is the fastest way. You will build a score piggy backed onto his credit provided he has good credit. Beware though that some secured credit cards will still ask you about employment, also if you have a SSN in your maiden name you could run into problems there to trying to get approved. For now I would just have him add me to a few cards then continue to pay them on time and in no time about 3 months you'll have a score. It worked for us!

Well, from my personal experiences adding yourself as an authorized user on your husband credit card is the best way. When my wife come to USA with CR1 visa, I'm adding her as an authorized user on one of my CC, and after two month she apply and approved with Chase Freedom. Well, my jaw is actually dropping since i have to build my credit score in 2 years to get approved with Chase Freedom, and she only took 2 months. So, do yourself a favor and ask your husband add you as an authorized user on his older credit card. Also, check with your bank since they maybe require your SSN.

Your credit score is based on a number of factors.  The first and foremost factor is payment history.  Get a small credit card with a low limit to start that can be increased over time because the 2nd factor is credit utilization.  But always pay your bills on time.  Pay it off every month if you can so that you're credit utilization is at a minimum.  Meaning that if you have a $1,000 credit card and your balance is $900 your utilization is 90% which is bad but if you pay it off it's at 0% which is good.  But you have to use the card too so you're making payments.  Then it becomes length of time, credit mix and credit inquiries from lenders is a factor.  
 
It'll take time to build up a credit score so be patient.  

My fiancees interview was canceled a few hours ago. 

1. Proof of Intent to Marry:
In my case I am the beneficiary and I prepared our K1 packet. I made a "Proof of Intent to Marry" section and, in addition to Letters of Intent from both of us, I included the following:
a) Photos of my engagement ring, plus screenshots of our correspondence with the jeweler
b) Photos that other people took of my then-fiance (now husband) proposing to me
c) Screenshots of our online chat conversations where we talked about wedding plans and such (I used the "search" option and used marriage related keywords we both might have used so I got to pull up conversations from months back even). I labeled each screenshot with the corresponding date of conversation. 
d) A draft of our wedding plans - My husband and I got into it in detail, as in, itemized list of the reception menu, the wedding party, possible florists and caterers, music, etc. I also indicated a tentative wedding date of what I think would fall within the 90 days, serving as some kind of "assurance" that we intend to abide by the rules.

This photo is one page from our packet, showing item c) above:



It might seem a lot but I'm from the Philippines so I guess I can say there's a lot of fraud here, too. Hence my going the extra mile, lol.

2. Things I Learned
I can't say this is "I wish someone told me" but rather, "I wish I did it". So more like a regret, lol. I regret not making at least 2 photocopies of our entire K1 packet, including evidence documents and such, front to back. While filing for AOS I noticed the forms asked similar questions and I thought, "I wish I could refer to the K1 forms to make sure my info matched." Technically I knew how to fill out the AOS forms, but I just wanted to make absolutely certain that I wouldn't contradict anything I've previously submitted because that might come across as fraud. However, it could also be more situational in my case because 1) My husband and I have awful memory, lol and 2) Our info involves dates and years I didn't jot down (facepalm). By that I mean job history and history of residence. My husband has moved houses more than once, been through different employers, etc. And my mistake was I just asked him for the info in person, wrote it down on the form, and filed it. He didn't know it by heart either, he had to get a hold of previous employers to ask, it wasn't easy. And when we got the info, he didn't write it down anywhere else. So when we were asked again later on it was hard for us to recall. 😅

More importantly, having a duplicate copy of the K1 packet would help as your personal reference for subsequent interviews.

On another note, my husband and I chose K1 over CR1 despite all its flaws because frankly, we couldn't bear to be away from each other any longer and so to us, it was worth it. It really is case-to-case preference in my opinion, depending on how you guys weigh advantages and disadvantages. 😊

I hope this helps. Good luck on your journey!

1. Proof of Intent to Marry:
In my case I am the beneficiary and I prepared our K1 packet. I made a "Proof of Intent to Marry" section and, in addition to Letters of Intent from both of us, I included the following:
a) Photos of my engagement ring, plus screenshots of our correspondence with the jeweler
b) Photos that other people took of my then-fiance (now husband) proposing to me
c) Screenshots of our online chat conversations where we talked about wedding plans and such (I used the "search" option and used marriage related keywords we both might have used so I got to pull up conversations from months back even). I labeled each screenshot with the corresponding date of conversation. 
d) A draft of our wedding plans - My husband and I got into it in detail, as in, itemized list of the reception menu, the wedding party, possible florists and caterers, music, etc. I also indicated a tentative wedding date of what I think would fall within the 90 days, serving as some kind of "assurance" that we intend to abide by the rules.

This photo is one page from our packet, showing item c) above:



It might seem a lot but I'm from the Philippines so I guess I can say there's a lot of fraud here, too. Hence my going the extra mile, lol.

2. Things I Learned
I can't say this is "I wish someone told me" but rather, "I wish I did it". So more like a regret, lol. I regret not making at least 2 photocopies of our entire K1 packet, including evidence documents and such, front to back. While filing for AOS I noticed the forms asked similar questions and I thought, "I wish I could refer to the K1 forms to make sure my info matched." Technically I knew how to fill out the AOS forms, but I just wanted to make absolutely certain that I wouldn't contradict anything I've previously submitted because that might come across as fraud. However, it could also be more situational in my case because 1) My husband and I have awful memory, lol and 2) Our info involves dates and years I didn't jot down (facepalm). By that I mean job history and history of residence. My husband has moved houses more than once, been through different employers, etc. And my mistake was I just asked him for the info in person, wrote it down on the form, and filed it. He didn't know it by heart either, he had to get a hold of previous employers to ask, it wasn't easy. And when we got the info, he didn't write it down anywhere else. So when we were asked again later on it was hard for us to recall. 😅

More importantly, having a duplicate copy of the K1 packet would help as your personal reference for subsequent interviews.

On another note, my husband and I chose K1 over CR1 despite all its flaws because frankly, we couldn't bear to be away from each other any longer and so to us, it was worth it. It really is case-to-case preference in my opinion, depending on how you guys weigh advantages and disadvantages. 😊

I hope this helps. Good luck on your journey!

My timeline so far:

January 24, Friday - AOS package shipped via UPS
January 27, Monday - UPS tracking indicated delivered and signed
February 4, Tuesday - Received 3 text messages at half past midnight
February 6, Thursday - Received 3 letters in the mail
February 13, Thursday - Received Biometrics Appointment letter
February 26, Wednesday - Biometrics Appointment

*** Thread lock for TOS violations: Condoning, advocating, or soliciting illegal or fraudulent activity. VisaJourney is NOT the place to even "entertain" the idea of frauding US immigration. This thread is not to be restarted.
 
VJ Moderation

The terms of service here state that it we can not "Condone or instruct, either directly or indirectly, others on how to commit fraudulent or illegal immigration activities in any way, shape, manner or method."
 

We’ve seen lots of bad lawyer advise here on VJ, hence many people decide to file on their own. VJ is a DIY forum with many very experienced users.
You asked if we see potential issues and we replied with the potential issues we see. It’s up to you if you want to take our advise or not. All can go well, or all can go bad because it can very well look like you’re trying to take the short cut.

Here is a pretty good explanation:
 
https://www.murthy.com/2018/12/17/differences-between-lawful-status-period-of-authorized-stay-unlawful-presence-2/

Personally I'd wait for either the EAD card or the green card.  The green card you get to remove the "valid only with dhs etc...." line too

Happened to us too.  Courthouse rushed us through the marriage paperwork (they wanted to go home early they said.... 😕 ) so we weren't able to change her name at the time.  Did a court order, got her name changed, went back to SSA.  Five weeks later they tell us too bad we're past the 90 days come back with a green card and then they will change the name on her social security card.  Got her combo card a while ago, but haven't needed to work or travel, so just kinda didn't get back to change it. 

Or the EAD whichever comes earlier.

Ugh, sorry to hear about that delay... Can't think of why that should happen.

Good luck on your interview!

We went on January 7 to correct my wife’s name and guess what still no card. We have our interview tomorrow. So once we are approved and my wife has her green card we will be going back to social security to update again. 

You can go and take your marriage certificate to the SSA in order to change the name on the social security card 

My timeline so far:

January 24, Friday - AOS package shipped via UPS
January 27, Monday - UPS tracking indicated delivered and signed
February 4, Tuesday - Received 3 text messages at half past midnight
February 6, Thursday - Received 3 letters in the mail
February 13, Thursday - Received Biometrics Appointment letter
February 26, Wednesday - Biometrics Appointment

Thank you, Bere. But actually I just got the 3 text messages after midnight, so I spoke too soon indeed. 😊

When I check the status online, it only says "Case Received" (EAD and AP) and "Fingerprint Fee Received" (AOS). I thought I'd already see if it any of the 3 were approved?

The same thing happened to me. I called early yesterday and then received the three messages after midnight. 
 
Mine says the same thing. That means they received the cases and will start processing them. It takes a couple of months for them to make a decision 

it can take a while depending on your case. folks get receipts/texts in 2 days to 40 days. Every case is unique 

You can call the USCIS call center to verify if they received your case. This is what I did