green_rabbit

Approved and GC received last Friday! 🎉 What a journey. Thanks to this group for the companionship along the way.

Thanks for the heads up! At this point, I just assume everything will be difficult and painful.
 
I was wondering about the SSN checkbox on the EAD and AP applications. We checked on both applications and we'll see what happens.

We had this problem too. Someone suggested calling up deferred inspection to find whatever error is on the record. 
i don't know if that will work, but you could try it.
 
Also, most people on the site seem to suggest going to the SSA as soon as possible to avoid cutting into your window for SSN assignment. The 14 days seems to be largely viewed as out of date with current electronic records. But who knows. From what I've read, application date doesn't seem to be related to who has problems or not. (I think that whether you go before or after the 14 days, if you have a problem, someone on this site will tell you it's your fault for not doing it the other way.)
 
We just pestered the guy at the SSA until time ran out, and nothing happened. We checked the box on EAD for a number, but didn't get one in a reasonable amount of time, so we went back to the SSA to get a number issued, and he ended up with two SSNs which freaked out the people at the SSA. So fyi, your adventures with the SSA could go on a while. It was annoying and difficult. And my credit card still won't upgrade his status on the account with his new SSN.

We ask people to post about their cases in the proper forum to avoid confusing members with different requirements that do not apply to their process.  Regarding I-693 in particular, there has been a lot of misinformation in this sub-forum due to non-K1 visa holders posting about their medical for AOS.  Misinformation can lead people to waste time and money, and add stress to an already stressful process.
 
Anyway, to those applying for AOS from K1 visa -- I-693 is NOT required from you, as long as your DS-3025 is marked "Complete" and your I-485 receipt date is within 1 year of your K1 visa medical date.
 

Filed Dec 2020, Interview got scheduled in Portland, OR Feb 2022.

I don't think it's that unusual to not have an interview yet. Looking at AOS timelines from March here, it seems that more than half of the people haven't had an interview scheduled yet. But I'm just eye-balling that -- I didn't count them. 
 
Also, looking at average processing times for USCIS offices, it looks like there are more than the few you mentioned with times over a year. I see a number of offices with 400+ day wait times, while SLC is at 392.
 
So, rest assured you are not waiting alone. 

Hello everyone,
 
a huge thank you for everyone that gave us answers to our questions!
 
we just got to the end of our first journey, i just received the green card ( valid for 2 years).
Interview Chicago office- November 15 and we applied in March 16, 2021.
 
hope everyone to get soon the good news!!!
 

There is alot going on here and some concerns.  I have lived and worked in Cambodia and also bought Cambodian citizenship about 10-11 years ago so am familiar with some of the government processes although I am a little out of date on things.  
 
The original intention on the list of requirements to get married in Cambodia was mainly drafted for foreigners who were living in Cambodia,.    At the time, the Cambodia government wasnt thinking that foreigners would fly over from their home countries and then fly back.  At the time, they had also put in an age gap restriction as well.  I dont remember what the age gap was, but these requirements must have come in place around 2015-2017 timeframe, something like this.  That explains the reason they are so generic and in some cases dont even make any sense, for example the medical certificate issued by Cambodian concerned authority.   In the past there were many foreigners living in Cambodia, getting married, and unable to support a wife, family, etc.  If you have spent any length of time in Cambodia between the late 90s through a few years ago, you will know what I am talking about. 
 
The strictest document on that list is the police certificate.  When I have had to provide this to the Khmer government, I was required to get a local (city) police clearance, have this authenticated, then sent that into the State and had them authenticate that on top, and then sent to Washington DC to have that authenticated at a national level where the State Dept put there ribbon on top.  This is what I had to do for my Khmer work visa, as well as when I eventually applied for citizenship.  I had been living for many years by that time outside of the US but they still required this from my "home country."  Therefore, the three US entities that did this was Atlanta, the state of Georgia and the US State Dept.  At a bare minimum, you will need to have an FBI background check.  You should order a few copies as well.  It will state "no arrest record" on it.  It also comes on special paper so if you photocopy it, it says "Copy" on those.
 
@SteveInBostonI130 actually has one of the better ideas which is to get married by the Utah Zoom marriage.  It would require you to fly to Cambodia to consummate the marriage, but then you could file for the CR1 and given what @Kor2USAposted, it seems like the better option given several attempts at the K1.  Which actually leads me to my bigger concern.
 
When I read this thread, the first thought that came to my mind was if you were a Khmer/American or was originally born in Cambodia and immigrated to the US.  However, reading the 1st thread that @Kor2USAattached showed these concerns I had.  It appears your fiance has her mother living in Texas as well as a number of other close family members.  There is a ton of visa fraud that comes out of Cambodia and Vietnam where family members will pay $20-30K to have certain members of the family immigrate, not just to the US, but Canada, the UK, Australia and Germany are very popular destinations.  I am not saying this is what is occuring, I only mention this as one of the roadblocks you may be facing.  This is extremely common for families in Cambodia that have relatives living overseas.  Also there is a ton of document fraud in Cambodia.  Most Khmers, at least pre-1995, never received birth certificates when they were born.  However these can be made up from the government issuing authority.  They are actually "real" documents, but the information on the document is not real.  Names are made up, birthdates, parents names, etc etc.  The US Embassy in PP is well aware of these as well but there isnt much they can do if its coming from the official source.
 
The other mistake I see in that thread is you should always have an interpreter for these type of interviews where the applicants first language is not English.  It doesnt matter how good you think there English is.  I have seen many people who are fluent in English as a second language, completely misinterpret questions that are being asked of them.  Was her interview in English or Khmer?  Previously, K1s and CR1s (believe they were K3s at the time but dont remember) were conducted at the US Embassy in BKK and not in Cambodia.  This changed awhile ago, but some of the FSO's hired by State could speak fluent Khmer.  
 
Have you posted your questions in Khmer440 about getting married in Cambodia?  That would most likely be a better board than this one to get more detailed information on a non-US process.  I also have some US friends who live and work in Cambodia for the past 25 years and they can get through any government red tape, however given your situation, the Zoom marriage just makes much more sense.  Plus in everything that I know, her having so many immediate family members in the US is a huge red flag.  Something that I am concerned on subjecting them to in this case, although I will ask them if there is a good source to understand the current marriage process and can have this sent to you.
 
 
 
 

Okay, cool, thank you. We have waited this long so it is no big deal to wait more, as long as my work will put him on my health insurance...

It took a little while (a few weeks I think) for my SSN to be in any of these systems. If you are not in a big hurry, I would just wait a week or so and try again. Otherwise, your credit card company may have a different process for someone with a new SSN to be added, so I would reach out to them.

^^^  Great advice^^^^^^

Sounds normal.  It sometimes takes a few months for records to migrate.  Contact the credit card company.

per https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_number numbers between 900–xx-xxxx and 999-xx-xxxc are  not available for assignment.  

I got a notification this morning that a new card is being produced for EAD but AP still just says case received. Anyone else like this?

AP will change next day.you  should receive combo card..

I hope, when you get the notice in the mail, the interview date will not be before your two-year anniversary.

Questions were checking things from the I-485 form and about where we live, moved, etc. US Citizen work.  How we met.  Who we've met in each other's lives.
 
Documents:
 
1. I-797C Notice (to get in the door)
2. Government issued ID for immigrant and citizen
3. Immigrant's passport and previous passport (valid at time of entry and AOS application)
4. Certified copy of marriage document (she made sure it matched the one in the AOS file she already had)
5. Immigrant's birth certificate (declined translation as she already had it, but she also already had the birth certificate...)
6. US citizen's passport
7. Joint bank account statements (only took most recent month)
8. Copies of our joint credit cards. I gave her photocopies of the front and back of credit cards where we have the same numbers.
9. Credit card statements from our 3 main credit cards (only took most recent month for each). I also included letters from the bank saying he was an authorized user on each one and she said that was good.
10. 401(k) beneficiary statement indicating immigrant spouse as beneficiary
11. Roth IRA beneficiary statement indicating immigrant spouse as beneficiary
12. US Citizen's 2020 tax transcript
13. US Citizen's 2020 W-2
14. US Citizen's latest paystubs (she asked for 2-3 so I gave her 3)
15. Renter's insurance proof and statement, showing both of our names
16. Health insurance and other benefit statement from work
17. Life insurance proof with immigrant spouse as beneficiary
18. Car insurance showing both of us as drivers
19. Sales agreement for purchase of a house
20. Photograph of him meeting my family. That was from my initial I-129F petition so I'm glad I brought a copy of that!
 
She did not look at any other photos and didn't ask for any details about the wedding.

Not yet I'm building a portfolio from scratch. MY previous works were from my home country and won't fit the US standard. I'm doing a photoshoot with some models this Saturday so my portfolio would be up soon. I will keep you updated

Oh mine is portland office. 
Submitted packet March 3rd and got receipt via text March 30th, a week later I got the 3 letters in the mail showing receipt numbers.
October 4th I did biometric 
6th October interview is ready to be scheduled. 

OK just did
 

Yes! You're good to go.

I’m sorry that with your own case you faced a lot of difficulty. However, I think it’s unfair to just make a blanket statement that implies that your particular situation will somehow be predictive of all other cases where the beneficiary is African.
 
My husband is not Ukrainian, he is actually African, from Zimbabwe. I was informed that usually countries with high marriage fraud rates also have high B2 visa refusal rates; I believe Zimbabwe’s visa refusal rate is at 26%, which doesn’t seem all that bad to me. Ukraine’s is even higher. My lawyer also reassured us that this should not be an issue at all.
 
Everyone’s case is different. While it’s important to know the pros and the cons of a situation, and to also face reality, a little hope goes a long way too. 

For a K1 there is nothing to upload. You fill out the DS160 form on the site I linked above before you can schedule an interview.
You bring the required documents along with the i-134 from the US citizen for financial support with you to the interview, where they will look at them during/after the interview.
 
The fees must be paid in person at an EcoBank branch, along with a print-out of the receipt that you'll get from the interview-scheduling site. There is at least one money transfer app (Xoom) which allows pick-up at EcoBank, if you're not comfortable carrying that much cash around. 
 
Also, it helps others on the site give you advice if you fill out your timeline. That also helps others know when they might expect their own approval to come. 

Yeah, no . I'm not an infant. But I didn't think about it at the time, and what's done is done.

Interesting......How do they communicate?   That could be a question during the adjustment interview.....that could raise some serious questions ...