fjxs

I received a letter on January 21 saying that my Biometrics appointment was for February 8th. They only sent the letter to me – my son, who was on the same application, did not get one. I ended up having to cancel the appointment because I got sick. So now I am in the reschedule queue, and have no idea how long that will take. 

I sent in my I-751 for myself and my 20 year old son in December 2022. We both got separate extension letters in separate envelopes the mail. His was addressed to him. They arrived the same day, but it’s possible your son’s is just delayed in the mail. 

On 1/4/2023 at 9:17 AM, fjxs said:

I received the text message that they got it early this morning (Jan 4th, 5:17am pacific). No email (I checked my junk folder) and the check hasn't been cashed yet. 

I just got my NOA in the mail today, from the National Benefits Center. So my timeline is: 

12/23/2022: package mailed to Phoenix lockbox

12/29/2022: package received (in the morning)

01/04/2023: received text message

01/05/2023: check cashed

01/09/2023: NOA received in mail (Notice Date 01/04/2023) 

Also I sent my package in USPS Priority Mail Express. They delivered it 2 days late, so I requested a refund, and the check for that came in the mail today too! It was really easy to request the refund online, so I recommend doing that if you get Priority Express and they deliver late. 

13 hours ago, Jujusmom said:

I sent my ROC yesterday 1/3 (so not a December filer) through USPS Priority Express Mail 1 Day guaranteed delivery and it’s not delivered today 1/4 and still says arrived at distribution center and hasn’t moved since 11:39 pm when it says it arrived there. I know I’m just overthinking and it might arrive tomorrow but with how unreliable USPS sometimes is, I just kept thinking on the worst case scenario. 

I sent mine on Dec 23rd with Priority Mail Express guaranteed 2 day delivery. It was supposed to arrive the 27th (because of the holidays), but arrived on the 29th.

I requested a refund through USPS - it was a really easy form, you  just put in the tracking number, and they approved it right  away. It wasn’t great to wait for it to arrive, but the bonus is I got free shipping

On 12/30/2022 at 3:16 PM, fjxs said:

Hi everyone! I mailed my package out December 23rd, and it arrived on December 29th.

I received the text message that they got it early this morning (Jan 4th, 5:17am pacific). No email (I checked my junk folder) and the check hasn't been cashed yet. 

Hi everyone! I mailed my package out December 23rd, and it arrived on December 29th. (I mailed USPS Priority Mail Express, and it was supposed to arrive the 27th, so I requested a refund for the shipping fees.) I am very close to my deadline: Green Card expires January 1, so now I am just nervously waiting for the letter so that I can cross the border again! I was having a lot of trouble figuring out what to include in the package, but finally decided I needed to just SEND it, and I would rather get RFE than send it any later! 

On 2/23/2021 at 5:19 PM, eketros said:

We had both checked the box on the DS-260 to receive the SSN. I received my social security card Jan 11th, but my son never received one. We called the local social security office (found here: https://www.ssa.gov/locator/) about my son's SSN, and they said he will have to apply for one. 

 

Since my son is over 12, he has to attend an in-person interview, and since he is 18 he has to talk to them himself & fill everything out himself & also go to the appointment alone (I can't go inside at all because of covid). He has to fill out the SS-5 form (available online), bring ID, proof of immigration status, his birth certificate, plus documents to "prove" that he wouldn't already have an SSN - one per decade he has been alive, showing that he was residing outside of the US. (This seems silly to me - he has a Canadian birth certificate & JUST immigrated to the US less than 2 months ago. Why does he need to prove foreign residence?) The person on the phone said that school records will work for that. Once he has filled out the form and gathered all the documents, he has to call back to make an appointment. (Also, because of covid, you can't have been outside of the country in the 14 days before your appointment.) 

Just wanted to update on this, incase anyone else goes through it. After digging through all my files looking for documents to prove my son was residing outside of the US (which was difficult for us, since he was a child, so doesn't have any official documents, and we don't have any school documents), we called in and spoke to someone else to make the appointment for him to go in. It turns out that the first person was mistaken, and those documents were NOT required. They are only required if you a US citizen who grew up outside of the US. All he needed was: birth certificate, Canadian passport, and his green card (or the temporary I-551 stamp in his passport). 

It took a lot to get through to the local social security office (had to call 4 times to even get in the hold queue), but the hold time was only around 15 minutes. They took his information then someone called us back the next day and were able to give him a same day appointment. He had to go in alone, but it was only about 5 minutes - she just took his documents, photocopied them, and gave them back. She said we should receive a receipt in the mail in a few days, and the card within 2 weeks. 

On 1/31/2021 at 10:47 AM, CGs_Mother said:

Question for people who have gone through the CR2/IR2 process, specifically interviews with your children. I notice Montreal leaves you to wait for a while once you arrive for your interview. If you come with your child/children, do they make you wait as long? My son is autistic and waiting is going to be an issue if they don't allow for electronics in the waiting area, but if I know ahead of time, I can prepare my son for this. Given the current schedule and barring any further delays, my son will also be 15 by the time of the interview. Will we be interviewed at the same time, or will they interview him separately? If our interview takes place while my son is still 14, will that change anything? I have not had to declare anything about my son's autism in any of the paperwork (though it's mentioned in the custody agreement), and I don't believe the medical checks for such conditions, but can I/should I let them know prior to the interview about my son's autism and the issue with waiting times? If anyone here has interviewed with small children or with autistic children, I'd appreciate any information or suggestions you might have. Thanks. 

I interviewed with my 18 year old son and we were both interviewed together. The guy asked me most of the questions, asked a couple questions directly to my son, and was OK with me answering for my son (after my son wasn't really sure how to answer). 

You should probably talk to a lawyer about whether or not you are supposed to disclose an autism diagnosis during the medical interview. They don't directly ask about autism, but the instructions I received for my medical interview said that you are supposed to bring documentation for any chronic illness or disease, or any mental illnesses you "suffer from" or have been "treated" for. These are quotes from Dr Cheema's website (https://www.drgulzarcheema.com/index-3.html). Other doctors may have different instructions: 

"If you have any chronic illness or disease, have undergone hospitalization or major surgery, or suffer from a mental illness or physical disability, you must bring past history, current condition documentation and medical records regarding the issue, as well as, a list of names of any medications and/or treatment you have been prescribed.  Please provide a note from your family doctor giving regarding your treatment and prognosis."

and:

"Applicants who have been treated or hospitalized for psychiatric or mental illness or alcohol or drug abuse must present written certification which includes the diagnosis, duration of treatment rendered, and prognosis."

Note that having that stuff does *not* make you inadmissible. If you have something you are supposed to disclose, it is just better to know ahead of time, and to have a lawyers advice. You don't have to bring full medical records - you only need a letter from a doctor, which you could get a lawyer to look over beforehand. 

Edit: also, I just want to say that I don't mean to imply anything about whether autism *is* a disease, mental or psychiatric illness, disability, etc. I don't know how the US government looks at it, but I do know it is in the DSM (for mental disorders). So that's why I would recommend talking to a lawyer! Just to make sure you properly disclose it if you are supposed to. 

I activated my visa & entered the US on January 1st, and just got my SSN in the mail today. (I had requested on the DS-260 that they send me one.) My son hasn't gotten his yet, but hopefully it's coming soon! 

If anyone is interested in the actual crossing - I crossed at a land border with a Uhaul truck, with my son & my US Citizen husband. I went through the truck/RV lane, and told them I had an immigrant visa. They asked for my license plate number, which I wasn't prepared for, so I didn't have it ready. We had to wait in the truck for maybe 10-15 minutes while he did some stuff in the computer. Then we had to park and all go sit inside while they processed us. They asked the address where I would be living, and didn't ask much else. They didn't take the list I had prepared of truck contents, just verified that it was only household goods I was bringing across. They also made sure to double check my marriage date, to make sure I was getting the correct visa type (I am CR1, and they wanted to make sure to put it through properly if I was eligible for IR1, which I am not - if I could have waited 2 more months I would be!). Overall it took just under an hour total. 

18 hours ago, M Brown said:

I have my interview coming up on Jan 20.  Can anyone tell me what type of IRS transcript I need to get, for which tax years and how to get it?  My wife is the US citizen so she needs to do it on her end and send it to me.  The tax returns and transcripts are the last documents on my list.  Thanks. 

You can get the tax transcripts here, either online or by mail: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript 

The transcript type you want is called "Return Transcript" on the download page.

You need the most recent tax year. You have the option to submit the most recent 3 years of tax info with the I-864 (Affidavit of Support). People usually choose to do this if their income is close to the cutoff and the previous years show higher income or at least income that is consistently above the cutoff amount. So in that case you could bring the last 3 years of info. 

3 minutes ago, State and Maine said:

Perfect! Good to know. I was DQ on sept 27 but haven’t heard anything since. Thanks for the info

DQ is called "Case Completed at NVC" in the visa journey timelines, so make sure you fill that out too  

15 hours ago, Stylereveal said:

do you remember the time they gave you to leave Canada is it 6 months from the date of your interview approval or from your medical date? 

The visa to enter the US is good until 6 months from the date of the medical. 

13 minutes ago, State and Maine said:

Sorry, new here... what’s the dq date mean?

DQ means "documentarily qualified". It is the date that the NVC accepts the documents you submitted (with the DS-260). The interviews in Montreal are scheduled after you get DQ, basically in order of DQ date. 

Just wanted to update with what I did. I turned out not to be eligible for MSH LivExpat insurance based on the fact that I would be a US resident residing in the US during the insured period. I looked at a few other Canadian travel plans that also excluded me (for example, one required that you be a Canadian Resident, which they defined as someone who had a residence in Canada that they were *returning* to after their trip.) 

I ended up getting Tugo Travel Insurance, which included an optional Covid add-on. I was eligible for it based on the fact that I was going to continue to have both my Canadian health insurance AND my Canadian home/address during the full insured period. (In BC, you can keep your health insurance for the balance of the month you move out-of-country. I am not sure if what the rules in other provinces are.) I confirmed with them on the phone that I would be eligible, and the person I spoke with wrote a note in my account as well. 

As someone else mentioned, there are US-based short term insurance options which are probably a better option for most people. But what's available is different in every state, and when I spoke with the only one available in WA State (LifeMap), they told me I wouldn't be eligible unless I had *no* other coverage at all. (So if I still had my BC MSP, I wouldn't be eligible. So I could have moved near the end of the month, then let my MSP expire on the last day of the month, and then get LifeMap on the first day of the next month, and that would have also worked.)

On 12/14/2020 at 1:06 PM, M Brown said:

I have another question for those of you who did your port of entry by car.  Does my US spouse (petitioner) need to be physically present at the border when I cross?  I was hoping to just cruise down there, get through the border to get the paperwork started (so they create and mail my green card) and then turn around and come back to my home in Canada so I can finish packing and moving/selling my house.  I've seen some conflicting info about whether my spouse needs to be there.  We have two small children and I want her to stay at home in the US and tend to them and not take the risk of traveling.  After packing and loading out my house, I was planning on driving across the border again to stay in the US permanently with my belongings in tow (moving company).  Any advice would be most welcome.  Thanks.

As someone else already answered, your US spouse doesn't need to be present at the border if they already live in the US. 

But I do just want to warn you that you may not be allowed to cross the border before you move. I know from reading other people's stories that some people have been allowed to, but some haven't. I called my own local border to ask if I could do this, and was told that I would only be allowed to activate my Visa/green card if I was actually moving to the US on that day, and I would only be allowed to cross the land border if I was actually activating my green card & moving to the US that day – I would not be allowed to activate my green card or cross the border for "non-immigration purposes". He even double checked with his supervisor for me.

I know in the past some people have been allowed to, but I decided not to try. I maybe could have said I was "moving" that day, but I wanted to be completely honest with what my plans were. My plan had been to activate my green card & cross the border, then pick up my husband and drive him back to Canada so he could help me pack my house & move. They said this would not be allowed. So instead I had my husband take a taxi to the border, walk across, and I just picked him up on the Canada side. So I still haven't crossed the border & activated the green card - still trying to get everything packed, etc!

1 hour ago, EJOyamot said:

Thinking about the interview questions around the actual wedding...

my husband and I eloped here in Canada with only my 2 best friends and the minister present.  We plan to have a bigger reception with both our friends and family in Hawaii where we will be living once we are together...

It just struck me that interviewers may not like the word/concept of elopement? Has this caused problems for anyone in the past? 
 

thank you! 

I did an elopement and didn't have any issues. I didn't ever call it that or get asked about it though. We did submit some photos from our wedding day with the I-130, and also some of the congratulations cards, etc, that we received (which shows that we did tell our family). I also submitted some pictures of us with each other's families. They are concerned with secret weddings - if you get married and don't tell anyone, none of your family knows, you've never met each other's families, etc, then that looks suspicious. 

I did have my justifications/reasons for an elopement prepared, so that if I was asked about it, I could answer the questions truthfully & reasonably without getting flustered or nervous. There are lots of legitimate reasons to do an elopement, and they are socially acceptable in many families. I did talk to a lawyer who said it's not really the government's business how you get married, and in his experience they aren't actually concerned with the details of your wedding – They are more concerned with how you present yourself to your friends and family, if you actually present yourselves as a married couple, if you are involved in each other's lives in the same way a married couple should be (e.g., you know each other's friends and families, you aren't keeping your relationship a secret, etc). 

24 minutes ago, Meghan.brooke said:

For the interview, do we need proof of your marriage besides a marriage certificate?? I saw this story that kinds freaked me out where someone got a visa denied because the officer didnt think it was a legit marriage. Is anyone bringing anything else besides the specific paperwork/items they ask for in the check list? Like pictures? 

I've heard of other people being asked for this in the past, but I don't think most of the recent interviews have mentioned being asked for that.

I brought some evidence of the marriage just incase, but I wasn't asked for it. I brought some of the same kinds of things that we submitted with the original I-130, but with some more recent examples (e.g., newer photos of us together & with our families, evidence that we have visited since the I-130, and the xmas & birthday cards his family has sent me). For me, compiling a few things made me feel a bit less stressed out, so it was worth it even though I wasn't asked for it. 

8 minutes ago, EJOyamot said:

do we now also need to redo the i864 to reflect the 2019 tax year? Or can we bring the original one and have the tax documents that go with it plus the new 2019 documents? 

I don't know if there is an official answer to this. Personally I just brought the original form, everything I had uploaded to the CEAC, plus the new tax transcript for 2019. 

The other new things I brought were the things that actually expired: Passport photos (supposed to be within 6 months), Police certificate (only good for 1 year), and my son's passport (it had expired since I uploaded it). 

I did not upload any of this beforehand - I just brought all the old & the new documents to the interview. 

1 hour ago, EJOyamot said:

but I absolutely need to bring the 1040? Not just the tax transcripts and the W2s?

According to the instructions for the I-864 (Affidavit of Support): 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr-pc.pdf

> You must provide either an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year.

The "Federal individual income tax return" is the 1040. So you need to provide *either* the transcript or the 1040.  My understanding is that the transcript is actually preferred over the 1040 because the transcript shows that the government actually received & accepted it. (It is a bit like the Canadian Notice of Assessment). So personally we just used the transcript, not the 1040. 

1 hour ago, Magnolian said:

I have a quick question about the tax return papers. We DQd in Sep and hoping to get an interview in June

or July. Since there will be a new tax filing deadline in April, I was just wondering if I am required to bring

my husband's 2020 tax return with me to the interview.

It is always best to bring the most up to date income info that you have. 

We used 2018 taxes at the NVC stage, and by the time I had my interview we had also done the 2019 taxes. At the interview they asked if I had any updated financial info, and I was able to give them the 2019 tax transcript. 

2 hours ago, Magnolian said:

Thank you. You are so kind. I have made an appointment next week.

Do you think if it would be ok if I bring my toddler with me. I am having a hard

time to find a babysitter these days due to the new health restrictions. It seems

like a very short visit, so I thought I might bring him with me equipped with bottles and

ipad to keep him quite.

 

 

I would try to call ICBC and ask their policy. You are right, it shouldn't be a long visit. Last I went there (months ago, right after the re-opened after the COVID closure), they were having everyone wait outside and you only went in when it was actually your turn. They also were only letting in the person who had the appointment, but they might make an exception for minor children. 

1 hour ago, EzraC said:

Hello, im just completing my checklist before my interview on December 11th, but im just wondering, for my husband’s birth certificate(petitioner) does it need to be original or photocopy is fine? 

I wasn't asked for petitioner's birth certificate (Nov 9 interview), and I don't think I've seen anyone else asked for it either. 

Someone else asked the same question a few pages back, and @Hawk Riders said in the whole time they've been participating in the forum, they've never seen anyone need it: 

On 11/21/2020 at 3:52 PM, Dbrennan said:

Do I need to bring my husband (petitioners) birth certificate to the interview? Like the actual copy, not a photo copy?

14 hours ago, Hawk Riders said:

Nope.

In all the time we have been participating in this forum, nope...

40 minutes ago, Magnolian said:

Thank you so much! You are so kind and thorough. I really appreciate it.

I will find babysitter for my toddler next week so I can go get it done at local driver's license office.

Thanks again!

 

 

Thanks, I'm happy to be able to help! I know this process can be a lot, and have been really helped by this forum, so I'm glad to be able to pay it forward, so to speak

Just so you know, many of the ICBC offices are appointment only now, some have limited availability for walk-ins. You can book appointments here: 

https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/visit-dl-office/Pages/Book-a-knowledge-test-and-other-services.aspx

(And make sure to double check all the ID requirements before you go! I know that's obvious, but I've seen them be quite picky in the past, especially with people who don't have Canadian birth certificate.) 

12 minutes ago, Magnolian said:

Hi, @eketros First of all, Thank you very very much for your message.

 

I will try to get the one called Photo BC Services Card. It says that if you on a work permit longer than 6 months, then you are allowed to

get this one. I also think one of my friends who is an immigrant like myself was able to get this card recently....

 

I just want to make sure I understood it correctly. Once I get the BC Services Card, I will be able to fly back home from Montreal with no

problem, right?

 

 

Yes, the requirements for ID say: 

https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/pssngr-prtct/dcmnts-en.aspx

> one piece of photo identification issued by a Canadian federal, provincial or territorial government with your full name and date of birth

Both the Photo BC Services Card and the BCID contain photo, name, and date of birth. So either one should work as a stand-alone piece of ID to fly. 

I flew home from Montreal with a driver's license, and my son with a learner's permit, and both of those were accepted with no question - the other photo ID cards from BC look almost identical & have the same info and security features, so should be fine.