erzengel

On 12/27/2023 at 8:12 AM, Saman1103 said:

Almost about to be 2 years and they still haven't approved my  roc. Anyone else?

I remember we received the biometrics appointment for Sacramento like a week apart.  We never applied for the N-400, but my husband got his GC on 10/2/2023.  We were totally surprised.  No interview needed.  Hang in there.

After hearing nothing since February 2022, we got a huge surprise in the mail today.  We got the I-751 approval letter and the 10-year green card.  No interview or any RFEs needed.  Yay!  It was a total surprise, since we never saw it on the USPS Informed Delivery emails.  What a great start to October!

We will eventually file for citizenship (N400), but it's not a priority.  Good luck everyone!

8 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

 

As of today at 9:04 am I’m officially a citizen of the United States. 
It hasn’t been always easy, but for me, it was pretty fast. If you’re still waiting, stay strong, your time shall come!

 

Many blessings to you all. 

WOW!  That's awesome.  Congratulations!!!!  We're still waiting, but you're giving us hope.

8 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Had my N400 interview yesterday. It went great. Approval on the spot. Today I got the notice that my Oath ceremony will be on Sept 19th. It's hard to believe I am almost done!

That's awesome!  Congratulations!!!

After 12 months of ZERO updates, we finally got something today!  (Thank you USPS Informed Delivery.)  As soon as I saw there was a letter arriving, I logged into myUSCIS to check for the update.  But...  There wasn't an update, just the same old ones.

Anyway, the mail finally came, and we rushed to open the letter.  No update really.  It was another NOA that my husband's green card has been extended for an additional 24 months.  (48 months total now)  That's it.  I guess that's better than an RFE, so we'll take it.  

My husband just said he'd consider citizenship, so we maybe doing that in the next year or so.  It's not a priority for us.

13 hours ago, Saman1103 said:

Still no news. The wait is starting to get annoying 

Same here.  IIRC, you and I received our biometrics appointments in Sacramento a week or two apart in February.  Since then, we've heard nothing.  I'm not expecting any updates until Summer 2023.

16 hours ago, Saman1103 said:

Ah okay. Sounds like a simple process without too much stress. Thanks again for the information. My sister in law lives in Melbourne! Hopefully we can visit Australia soon.

No worries!  Melbourne is beautiful and a fun city to visit.  FYI, Australia will open its borders to fully vaccinated international travelers starting Feb 21.

16 hours ago, Sarge2155 said:

Yes that would be a good assessment! But you never know.

16 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Maybe you won’t have one!

Fingers crossed!

1 hour ago, Sarge2155 said:

You are on a roll!

Thanks!  We're pretty happy with how speedy things are moving along, but I suppose now, we're in for a long wait for the interview.

26 minutes ago, Saman1103 said:

How did it go? Quick and easy? 

Hi!  You beat me to it.  Lol 

So I think we may be the first of the January 2022 filers to do the biometrics appointment. Maybe?  I don't know.  But YES, it was quick and easy!  Our appointment was at 1pm today, and we were a Code 3.  The office in West Sac was very easy to find; lots of parking.  We saw several people going into the building, but my husband said it was very quiet inside.  Not busy at all.  He got called up right away.  He had to fill out a basic form, show his 2-year green card, took a couple photos, and then fingerprints.  The lady had to the fingerprints a couple of times, because maybe his fingers were a little sweaty (who knows - definitely no nail polish remover though).  My husband was in and out the door in about 10 minutes. He didn't have to show his drivers license or passport.

Good luck to you next week!

23 minutes ago, Sarge2155 said:

Yes, it's  painless and quick! If you live far from the center then the driving/travel would be the hardest part.

Fantastic!  We'll report back on what the experience was like next week.

13 hours ago, Saman1103 said:

Received notice for biometrics. Scheduled for 2/16 in Sacramento

We're in Sacramento too.  We got our biometrics letter last week.  No waiver.  Our appointment is on 2/8.

Just wanted to give some hope to folks still waiting for their SSN...  My husband arrived in California in March.  We had checked the box on the DS-260 for the SSN to be sent automatically.  Weeks went by, and we received nothing.  I called SSA, but they had no record of him in the system.  At the time, all the local SSA offices were closed due to COVID, so they advised us to just wait.  In July, we received his green card.  Called SSA again, still no record; offices still closed.

Fast forward to end of September, I call SSA again, and they tell me offices are accepting limited in-person appointments, but only for persons with a dire need, i.e. you have a job offer letter in hand or require a SSN for health insurance.  Since we didn't have a dire need, we couldn't make an appointment. We accepted that we just had to wait longer.  

Then this Tuesday, completely out of the blue, my husband received his SSN!  We couldn't believe it.  The issue date was October 1, 2020.  After so many months and multiple calls to SSA, we finally got it.  Perhaps we should have called USCIS, but we just didn't think to contact them.  We're just so relieved to have his SSN.  We can now move on with getting his driver's license and getting ready for filing taxes, etc.

I've been dealing with this issue since my husband arrived in California in March.  We checked the auto-deliver-my-SSN box on our IV application, but his info was never in the system.  Over 6 months after he arrived, he still doesn't have a SSN, and local SSA offices are still closed with no ETA for reopening.  I call in every 3 weeks or so to check for updates.  Recently, the automatic phone message states that our local SSA office is now accepting limited in-person appointments.  However, when I speak to an agent, they inform me that they will only schedule an in-person meeting if the applicant has a "dire need" and needs a SSN now.  This requires having a job offer in hand or documentation from a health insurance provider requiring a SSN.

When I asked about the tax implications of not having a SSN, the agent informed me that SSA has been working with the IRS to allow new immigrants to apply for ITINs.  I called the IRS right after, and the person I spoke with confirmed that new immigrants like my husband would not normally be eligible to apply for an ITIN (because he qualifies for a SSN); however, these are uncommon times, and the rules can't cover every scenario.  He advised me to go ahead and apply for an ITIN.  There are IRS TACs supposedly accepting appointments to process ITINs.  My next step is to make an appointment.

ETA:  New issue SSNs require an in-person appointment.  We were told we could not mail in our original documents.

ETA Part 2:  New immigrants in California can apply for a DL without a SSN.  You just need to provide proof of legal status, proof of residence, etc...

2 hours ago, landy88 said:

Hey, has your husband received his SSN card? My husband has not.

Nope, and I don't expect it to come automatically anymore.  We called the local SSA office.  My husband is not in the system.  We have to apply in-person; not even mailed-in original passports are allowed.  In California, there is no tentative date for the SSA offices reopening, so we have no choice but to wait.

On 6/26/2020 at 3:31 PM, Sarge2155 said:

When your names don't match on your documents i.e., green card or EAD and your SS card it can be a real problem doing anything as your names MUST match all your IDs (at least in my state), coupled with the virus situation and all the SSA offices being closed it forces us to do things we would NOT normally do. I also sent my wife's original documents GC SS card and marriage license to our LOCAL SSA office via USPS we sent it certified registered return receipt mail.

 

As our local office is just around the corner the documents got there within a day or so. Keep in mind that some local SSA offices might have certain days when they will receive mail our office was Monday, Wednesday and Friday ( I did not know this before hand) needless to say the documents arrived and processed and as the local SSA office said they did return the documents to us safe and sound, but they did not use any form of tracking or certified mail. Had I known that it might of changed our minds about sending the documents. We were on pins and needles until the documents were returned ( we did not have to submit a passport though only the GC, SS card SS card application and the marriage license to verify the name change.

 

Some offices in some states are doing limited special face to face appointments, some like my office is closed tighter than a drum. No telling when the offices might open for regular face to face business again and we could not just sit back and wait so we went for it. It worked out fine. This will be a decision best made by you I can only give you our experience. Were we leery, yes very, were we scared YESSSS very scared, but we chose to suck it up and go for it, as you will have to decide. It's a gamble yes of course it is!!!!

Thank you for this info.  I'm confident I can track and confirm the delivery of our original docs, but it's the not knowing how they'll be returning that's causing me stress.  We might have to bite the bullett, because we're just on hold here in California.

My husband arrived on March 21, 2020.  We also checked the box for the SSN card to be mailed automatically.  3+ months later...  No SSN card.  California SSA offices are still closed, but I learned his GC is arriving today.

I want to get his SSN, but it's so risky sending his original passport by mail.  

On 4/29/2020 at 10:55 AM, saladboye said:

To provide some data point.

 

My wife immigrated 3 weeks ago on April 8, she had her SSN in the mail within 7 business days. She came on a wednesday and had the SSN following thursday in the mailbox. Fastest I think it has ever been.

 

We just selected to get it mailed on the DS-260 and did not go to any other office.

 

The name was misspelt and we have mailed in the SS-5 for correction to our local office and awaiting the new card.

 

Also already mailed in the ITIN to SSN transfer to IRS and awaiting acknowledgement on that too.

 

 

Also the SSN offices are processing forms if you send via mail. Just send the SS-5 filled form along with a copy of passport and greencard to you local office and wait. Just probably need 2 envelops and 2 stamps.

They only require copies of the passport and green card?  I read elsewhere they wanted the original passport.

On 4/10/2020 at 12:40 PM, Caresse33 said:

I have been waiting for 2 weeks for my social security number so I decided to call the office today. They couldnt find me on their system and ask me to complete a SS5 form and send along my passport. Does anyone had to post their passport to their local SSA office? 

We've been waiting for over 3 weeks now.  My husband arrived on March 21.  Nothing comes up on the SAVE Case Check website.  At this point, I think it's fruitless to call SSA.  They're all backlogged.  I'm going to wait another 2 weeks before making calls.

I wouldn't let go off my passport right now.  If you mail it in, who will receive it?  All SSA offices are closed.  It seems too risky.  I would wait until the offices reopen and apply in person if you haven't received your SSN in the meantime.

3 hours ago, adar24 said:

Hopefully it is a temporary delay due to this temporary (fingers crossed) situation. I will let you know if there is any progress on our side, will you please do the same?

Will do!  Good luck.  

We have a CR1 visa, but we're in the same boat.  My husband entered via LA on March 21, and we absolutely checked the box to have the SSN issued.  Three weeks and still no sign of receiving a SSN soon.  I've been checking the SAVE Case Check website almost every day.  His info (alien # or passport) can't even be found.  It's very concerning, but I have to trust the process will work for now, since I can't do much more at this point.  I'll wait another 2 weeks and then try calling.  I'm anxious to get his SSN, so I can file my 2019 taxes.

9 hours ago, Aiyssa said:

This is great help I appreciate the reply very much this eased my worries greatly thank you so much. 

 

I'm curious though did you already submit everything (I-864 and financial documents and IV civil documents) when you contacted NVC? 

No.  We were still very much at the NVC stage.  It was just a day after I had submitted the DS-260 when we thought we made an error.  I think at that point, we had only uploaded some financial docs.

So, it was still early in the process; no docs submitted.  To be frank, it's useless trying to get NVC to unlock the DS-260.

I tried to unlock our DS-260 to fix a minor mistake.  I sent a request through the AskNVC messaging system.  I got a response 7 weeks after I submitted the request:

Dear Sir/Madam:

We received your inquiry regarding missing, incomplete, or incorrect information on the DS-260 (Online Immigrant Visa Application and Registration Form) submitted online. Unfortunately we are unable to reopen the form for corrections at this time.

At the time of the applicant's interview, you may notify the consular officer of any information which you were unable to modify in the DS-260 form.

We didn't need to bring up the error during the interview.

16 hours ago, Duke & Marie said:

Ok.. Brand New Police Certificate just came in the mail.. I ordered it following links and every instruction from the USA Consulate website in Sydney.. it is identical to my last one..

 

now for try number 3 😭😭

 

 

 

Could it be possible that an alias used was left off?  Is a separate police cert required for the alias itself?

15 hours ago, AndyRoo6 said:

Amazing news!!!! Big congrats to you both. Remember that it may take a day or so longer because you are inter state. And I may have got super lucky too, so if it does not come in a few days don't stress. You're done and it will be in your hands very soon.

 

Good luck on the journey ahead

Thanks, Andy!  It feels pretty awesome.  Good luck to you and all the best!

15 hours ago, dwheels76 said:

Alright look at all this joy. Love it. Congratulations.

Thank you and more thanks to you for organizing these threads and spreadsheets.  They're so helpful, and I appreciate your work very much.  Happy weekend!