vince88

On 2/4/2020 at 9:22 PM, PeterL said:

yes, waiting is the only thing we can do. My online status shows "immigration fee received". How about yours?

My status just changed to produced since Friday and yesterday have received 1 of 3 green cards. Hope to received the rest on Monday

you better wait until you get your case number as you'll need to include it in the form. Only took me 1-2 working days for them to process the vetting though.

22 hours ago, PeterL said:

I heard a big number of people are in the same boat as you. I am sure it will come. Good Luck!

yes, have tried to contact USCIS but all thehy say is just to wait until it pass outside of normal processing times which is 120 days before contacting them again.

Guess just wait patiently and use the temporary i-551 when needed.

On 1/29/2020 at 8:40 AM, PeterL said:

Hi Vince, please let me know if your green card arrives, I have been waiting almost 1 month. Thanks

sure, I've been waiting for over 2 months now and yet still to receive it

9 hours ago, PeterL said:

Have you tried to create an account to track it?

no, you can track it using your IOE number on USCIS website

On 1/16/2020 at 2:33 PM, PeterL said:

Hi, Vince, how long it took you to receive your green card after your came to US?

been almost 2 months and yet to receive mine.... they work so slow just to print the green card 😓

Thanks for the suggestion, I know it's a bit tricky to get in straight in mid or higher position while you're very new to the country itself. I guess just need to take a step down and start from beginning again is the most logical thing.

33 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Despite all the encouragement to make an appointment by the CA DMV, you can just walk in and wait to get a driver's license, learner's permit, or state ID (you need an appointment for the road test, though). Though you'll probably have to wait around for over an hour at the DMV.

 

I don't know if your area is any different than around here, but the next available appointments at nearby offices for us weren't for months, so I just ended up going to an office open on Saturday and waiting around when I got a RealID (and tried to get a learner's permit for my wife, but it turned out we needed to update her SS card with her married name first; that's done now, so trying again this weekend).

that's good to know. I might just walking in if unable to make an appointment and hopefully they'll allow me to take the written test first so as soon as I received my SS card I can book the driving test.

Will update how it goes.

Luckily, they do the SS thingy electronically now so one doesn't need to visit SSA office if they opt to do so when filling the DS260 form.

33 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

OP,  to be safe, I would recommend just waiting until your SS card arrives, assuming you applied for it shortly after POE?   I am not sure of the process for acquiring an SSN for your visa type.  

 

We live in Washington, and my husband drove using his NZ license for the first month he was here, without an issue.  

I might contact them directly when I arrived because it can take around 2-3 weeks to receive SSN and in California we can only use foreign license for 10 days after being a resident while in Washington it'll be valid for 30 days.

Been trying to find something on CA DMV web but seems like there're no info regarding my question. I just want to know if I can make an appointment for applying a DL application and taking the written test first while waiting for my SS card to arrive. However, seems like I'll need to wait for my SS card first before I can make any move.

Is it possible to apply a DL in CA straight away while waiting for a SSN card to arrive after POE? or do we need to get the SS card first to apply for a DL?

any advice will be appreciated.

I wonder how employers in the US look at highly qualified new residents without any US job experience. Will it hard to get recruited without this?

39 minutes ago, HannahSF said:

Woohoo! You flying out soon? I think I'm going to book my flights for two weeks after my interview 

I'm flying there late november just before thanksgiving. Still got some work to finish down here

just received our passports with visa labels yesterday, they sent it on Friday. I think it took them about 2-3 working days to issued the visa and another 1-2 days to send it back to us.

from what I know if it changed to ready means they're on the final process to issue the visa and all the main admin processing has been done. At least that's what the officer told me on my interview last time that they'll need at least a couple more days to print the visa after  approval.

So I guess just wait couple more days and hopefully it'll change to issued soon!!

got my visa issued today

now just awaiting to get our passports back

1 hour ago, HannahSF said:

Hey @vince88 another thing I was wondering do we need the US passport sized photos or NZ sized? On my emails from the consulate they ask for NZ sized but from the NVC and here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/ACK-Auckland.html it asks for the American ones 

It can be either. I used nz sized in my case though. 

But tbh, they don't need the photos since we've uploaded it in our ceac portal. They just returned my photos last time. All we need is just 5 photos for the medicals.

6 minutes ago, PeterL said:

Good to know. Thank you!

i guess the request will be coming from Local Consulate? email notice?

yes, they'll send you all the details with the medical forms after you've been appointed the interview date.

10 minutes ago, PeterL said:

Oh, I did not know 2 weeks before interview, I need to upload docs again. So basically, I will upload all the docs again? (same docs when I first time uploaded to CEAC, before DQ?)

no, you'll need to send all the original and copies of the required docs to the Consulate. You can do this either drop it there or courier it.

3 minutes ago, PeterL said:

Thanks Vince!!! Congratulations and hope you will get the visa back soon.

 

You noted " the status went to AP straight after the interview". What is this status, and where to check? Seems they did not check any documents? Thanks again

you can check your status on CEAC website and 2 weeks prior to your interview you'll be asked to send all the required docs to them so they can preview it and tell you if they need additional docs. On the interview day it seems they didn't check any of my docs anymore and just returned the original to me. 

16 hours ago, HannahSF said:

Got all my things from the consulate! How did your interview go?

I think it went quite well and now just waiting for the visa but not sure how long they gonna processed it. The officer said she wants to approved it straight away but there's some error on their system and she can't review it at that time, other than that everything is okay and they keep our passports.

Guess I can only wait and hoping not gonna be long. My status went to AP straight after the interview.

Hope the best for you as well!!

4 hours ago, PeterL said:

Hi, Vince88, mine is also F4, how was the interview? What kind of questions they asked? Thanks

the interview only lasted less than 5 mins and only 2 questions asked. She asked how my sister (the petitioner) come to the US the first time and when's the last time I met her and that's it. 

1 hour ago, HannahSF said:

Ok perfect! I'll contact them next week if I haven't heard anything

as soon as your case status is "Ready" on CEAC then you can e-mail them and ask to send the forms to you.

4 hours ago, Ramar1 said:

I understand but the second time a document is submitted should take less time to check, not longer lol. I just double checked my husband's passport, his image isn't facing straight, it's facing to the right side... So yup.. I'm guessing I'll be asked to rotate 😕

I think it's better if you upload the correct one again asap and put some notes on the comment box rather than waiting for them to review first.

1 hour ago, HannahSF said:

I got my interview date! Oct 17th, super happy. Question, when did you get the medical forms from the consulate? My interview letter told me to book the appointment but the doctors office said I should receive some forms from the consulate first?

That's awesome!! Congratulations for getting it...

Last time I emailed the consulate to send the forms but you need to check the status of your case first. They need to received the case from the NVC before they can send the forms. Normally it takes 1-2 days for the NVC to send the case to the consulate.