J+J

Wow, thanks for the link.  As I suspected, once again the SSN staff do not know their own policies.  Will call again and ask for a supervisor, thank you.

The saga continues.  We are now trying to change my spouse's name on SSN card after marriage.

We are being told that we need to mail to the office all original documents, including foreign passport.  I told the woman at the office no way can we mail a foreign passport because if that gets lost it is irreplaceable.  She wouldn't budge.   Also told us that we cannot prove lawful presence with an AOS NOA1 (I-797), that we would need to mail the original EAD card when it arrives.  Refused to make an appointment for us to bring those docs in person, due to COVID.

So it's basically impossible to change the name on an SSN card at the moment without risking losing all original documents of my spouse in the mail.  Am I once again being misled by the SSN office?

I realize this is an old thread but we just received the same RFE for a birth certificate that was submitted in the original AOS application.  How did everybody here get there RFE resolved?

Finally we have received our SSN card.  I believe I had to call the office over fifty times - I was probably hung up on about 40 times which was infuriating.  Anyways, here is how we got the card for the next people getting ready for the battle:

1. We mailed our SS-5 application a few days after my fiance's arrival. 
2. After two weeks we called to set up an appointment and were told that K-1 is not eligible for an SSN because they can't work.  Knowing this wasn't true we said as much and were told to call back the next day for a supervisor.
3. The next day a supervisor told us that K-1 is "not a priority" for SSN's at the moment.  I insisted that we are eligible for a card, and they ultimately gave us an appointment.
4. Showed up for the appointment - they didn't have us on the schedule.  Not only that, "they had never received" (read: lost) our application!  Fortunately we brought copies, and gave handed off all the copies to a polite employee who said he would send the application that day
5. One week later we call to check and are told that because we have already filed for EAD (Employment Authorization) there was a "conflict" and we were no longer eligible for a number.  Were transferred to supervisor who never picked up the phone.
6. The next day received a voicemail from a new person that wanted to schedule our appointment, which had already happened.  Called and confusion all around.
7. Finally, exactly two weeks after our appointment, our case showed up in SAVE.  We called and were told the card was approved and would be received in 3-5 business days.
8. Received the card 5 business days later.

This whole process took two full months.  If we had not relentlessly called and hounded the office, we would not have gotten a number in time before our I-94 expired.  Everything I read on VJ was true - the SS office has no idea what they are doing when it comes to immigration.  

Update.  We are now being told that because we applied for EAD (employment authorization) prior to the SSN application going through, that there is now a “conflict” with the dept of state and they can’t issue a number.  they said we should have waited to get the SSN card before applying for EAD. That sounds wrong but I don’t know how to argue with that.  They just are saying the system won’t let them approve it.  Any more advice on this?

22 minutes ago, Bob in Boston said:

Thats what we used and solved all problems, Used for banking, insurance and taxes. Not needed for credit as you have no work history or job yet. Slim chance for a credit card at that point. I did add her to a few of my credit cards to get her name in the system.

I think it would be correct to argue at our appointment that because we are, at this moment in time, eligible for an SSN, we are NOT eligible for an ITIN (I have read this elsewhere).  If however I-94 expires and we are no longer eligible for SSN until EAD is approved, then we could pursue an ITIN.

From below IRS:  "You are not eligible for an ITIN if you are eligible to get an SSN".

21 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

USCIS instructions say you can apply for one with the first 90 days using I 94 and advising people to do just that 

any chance you have a link to these instructions?

1 hour ago, Letspaintcookies said:

So you already applied for a SSN but they didn't bothered going forward with it? What did they do? Trashed your application after you walked out the door? Did you checked the status of your application  https://www.uscis.gov/save/save-casecheck ?

Define "applied"...we mailed in our application but I do not believe the office has done anything with it yet other than schedule the in person interview.

Thanks for the link - I checked our info and we have no records in SAVE yet, should we expect to have something come up after being in the country for over a month?  If nothing comes up does that mean the SS office is also going to have a problem verifying us and will need to do the "manual verification" step?

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

your choice on the name part

but SS officer actually said 'don't need it as she cant work"

what about filing tax returns and having it to open checking account and establishing credit and getting health insurance

Are they kidding ??

even a new baby gets a SS #   and they don't work

I mentioned these things - the woman said that for those needs, an ITIN number would suffice.  She said that my spouse is not "priority" for an SSN, reading between the lines it sounded like the office is swamped and they are trying to save themselves some effort.

Hi everybody

My now-spouse arrived on a K-1 visa about a month ago.  We applied for an SSN via mail a week after he arrived, afterwards we married and filed for AOS.  After 3 weeks of calling the local SS office, we finally reached a person about the status of our application.  Over the course of 20 minutes it was explained to us that K-1 visa holders aren't authorized to work, don't need an SSN, etc. - all things that I know are not true.   Reluctantly, they scheduled an interview for us to see if "it will work".

So, we are preparing for the fight at the office.  We will bring a copy of: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0110211530

I worry that since the application was submitted a month ago, we have now married and filed AOS, and my spouse has changed their name.   The SSN office asked me about these things during the phone call and I answered truthfully, but I think I know now that marriage and AOS application are irrelevant and we are still eligible for an SSN.  

So what is the strategy - do we insist that we want an SSN provided in the pre-marriage name (that is, matching the I-94) of my spouse?  Or should we now be asking for an SSN in the new name changed after marriage?  What do we say when they bring up that we already applied for AOS and EAD?  In the EAD form, we did not request an SSN as we expected to have received one by now.  

Thanks...

2 hours ago, Steve and Nicha said:

Wonderful news.  When you say issued, does that mean it is on its way in the mail?  We have our interview June 7 and are curious how long the visa will come afterwards if approved.  Thanks.

Thanks.  Here is what happened for us:

May 24 interview in the morning.  Later that day, our case status in  CEAC changed to "Application Received"

May 25 case status changed to Administrative Processing (this happens to all cases for at least a brief period).  A few hours later it changed to "Issued".  That just means the visa sticker has been printed and put into the passport.  This is when you can breathe out and relax and know that the visa is fully approved.

May 26 our passport was mailed.  We expect to receive it tomorrow as my fiance is in Bangkok.

We were fortunate to have such rapid processing.  Tere are others who interviewed the same day who were not issued for a few days and probably longer.  

Now we are dealing with timing around the 72 hour COVID test requirement and the flight.  We learned today that some airlines will check for COVID test results at the layover!  Which means the COVID test must be complete 72 hours before the layover, not the first flight.  Your mileage may vary.

Very happy to say our visa was approved on Monday and was issued today!  A very long wait over.

We were asked three questions - how did you meet, where does your fiance live, and how long have you lived in Thailand (partner is Burmese).  

Apparently there were somewhere around 20 K-1 interviews that morning and most were only 5-10mins long.

Good luck to everybody else in line.

5 hours ago, Steve and Nicha said:

Our interview was cancelled for May 18 😔 due to Covid.  They opened up some interview dates and we are now scheduled June 24.  However, maybe they will wait until a week before that date and cancel it as well.

I feel that, ours was cancelled three days before the interview.  My fiance has been in a hotel in BKK since February.  Perhaps you will get lucky with finding an earlier slot; we were able to do this after a week of constant schedule checking.  

I believe the embassy cancelled some portion of interviews to reduce the staff and quantity of people in the waiting rooms - that is the explanation in the email from the embassy.  So this would hopefully mean the embassy does not intend to close.  

3 hours ago, Steve and Nicha said:

Do you have to cancel the current appointment to do this?  Or can you look for better opportunities without cancelling the earlier appointment?

It depends.  You can reschedule your appointment 2 or 3 times.  If you have not "used up" those rescheduling options, you can click "reschedule" and it will allow you to see the calendar.

If you have already rescheduled 2-3 times, you cannot see the calendar any longer, so this will force you to pay the MRV fee again.

We have done both of the above things.  Our interview has now been rescheduled five times in the past six months.

I have never heard that the Thai embassy would not allow for a joint sponsor, in fact I've never heard that any embassy wouldn't allow joint sponsors.  

Forget about borrowing money, a large single deposit into your account doesn't look good and could also look deceitful.  If you still don't feel you have a strong financial case then you should do a joint sponsor, and be fully aware of all the responsibilities and liabilities that will be imposed on the person who sponsors you.

By the way, the embassy is extremely responsive via e-mail, they might directly answer if they consider joint sponsors; though it is possible they will reply with a very generic statement such as "We recommend to follow the instructions in I-134 and cannot comment on financial situations prior to the interview" 🙄

On 5/6/2021 at 4:35 PM, Steve and Nicha said:

I assume no cancellations?  Good luck.  We have our interview on the 18th and I am hoping for the same.

I am not the person you asked, but we have an interview May 24.  I don't know of any interview cancellations.  My fiance is in a local FB group so he would know if there were cancellations.  We will have to grit our teeth and cross our fingers during this COVID surge, I hope and believe that as long as the Thai govt. doesn't impose a lockdown the embassy will remain open.  

Our interview was cancelled "due to COVID-19 concerns".  I don't fully understand that, as cases only continued to rise after our cancellation, but the embassy remained open the following two weeks.  I believe they cancelled all interviews for three days April 19-21.  Perhaps an embassy staff member was sick or had symptoms so they closed for that reason, but I am just guessing.  

BTW, after back and forth with the embassy, they are not considering any expedite requests for any reason at this time.

Regarding the possibility of the embassy closing, my understanding is that the embassy is instructed to follow local regulations.  So, if there is a lockdown we might expect the embassy to close.

That then begs the question, will the Thai government impose a lock down?  My (uneducated) opinion is that they won't.  I have heard that if a "lockdown" is implemented, that obligates the government to provide financial support to businesses that are forced to close.  Rather than take that path they will do everything they can other than lockdown to flatten the curve.  Those things being quarantine requirements for interprovincial travel, closing businesses early, banning alcohol sales, mask mandaets, etc. - just yesterday they removed the waiver for tourists to quarantine for only 7 days if vaccinated.  

I'd love to hear if anybody who knows better than I do has an opinion on this.

I suppose all we can do is keep our fingers cross that the surge drops, I think that it will and fairly quickly.

Just to close on this for anybody else in a similar situation, we took the gamble and cancelled our interview and then immediately paid the fee again.  The next day we were able to re-book our original appointment, with two options to reschedule in the bank.  Now we are hoping for an earlier appointment to become available.  So...it is possible to do this but it is of course risky.

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Seems like a big gamble to risk that date.

I am trying to see if there is a way to do this without gambling the date we already have.  From further reading on this forum, it would look like the answer is "no" and you have to cancel the interview you have in order to book a new one, but I hope somebody tells me otherwise.

Hello everybody,

Our K-1 interview yesterday was cancelled due to COVID, so we quickly grabbed the next available on June 15.  Afterwards we realized this date will not work due to medical exam timing and a few other factors. 

So, we want to try to get an earlier interview date, but we have used up all our cancellations already so we cannot see the schedule any longer (previously we could see "Next Available Appt. Date".  We are willing to pay the visa fee again in order to be able to monitor the schedule, and we hope we could do this WITHOUT cancelling our interview June 15.   Ideally we can keep June 15, and if something becomes available in May we grab it.   I have no idea if any of what I just said is possible in the US Travel Docs system.

We have called the embassy multiple times and they just tell us they recommend we keep June 15.  Unclear if we pay the fee, that automatically cancels our interview.  Confusion over CGI number, Virtual Account Number, etc...Emails are replied with copy/paste nonsense.  I did not post this in the Thailand forum as it is pretty dead over there; I imagine the online system is the same across all embassies.

Thanks...

2 minutes ago, NandV said:

Is the 90 days specific to your embassy? I thought it was valid for 6 months?

For certain medical conditions the exam is only valid for 90 days.  This can also be couple with a tuberculosis test which takes two months to obtain results...so timing because extremely difficult.

I think we are going to re-do the medical now, and either the results are ready for the interview, or a week or two after the interview.  If it is the latter, I believe we can provide the updated medical to the embassy at which point they can issue the visa.

9 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Visa expiration is tied to the medical at time of visa ISSUANCE not interview.   If you interview and you determine that there isn't enough time to issue the visa and enter the usa, then you get a new medical which provides a new expiration date. The visa wouldn't be issued until you provided a new medical reports. 

 

Right, issuance not interview.  But...I am not the one to determine if there is enough time to issue the Visa and enter the USA, the embassy is - would they consider this when issuing a K-1 visa with say one week validity?

49 minutes ago, payxibka said:

If if it was me, I would be talking to the consulate.  In the mean time,  I would try to move the interview forward.  If I can't change the schedule,  then I would go to the interview and then get a new medical after 

Thanks for the reply, could you please elaborate on what you mean by "get new medical after" the interview?  The visa expiration date would be tied to my medical expiration at the time of interview, so a medical after the fact doesn't help (is my understanding)

Hi everybody.  For the life of me I cannot figure out how to handle our current K-1 situation around timing of the visa interview and medical exams. I am the USC.

Our visa interview was supposed to be today but was cancelled due to COVID.  We rescheduled for the next available date, June 15.  Here is the problem: the medical exam will expire on June 23, so that will may not be enough time for my fiance (the beneficiary) to get the passport/visa and travel to the USA.   My understanding in this scenario is that the K-1 visa itself expires, and we'd have to hope the embassy re-issues it (is this true?)...not something we want to risk.

Here are our choices as I see it:

Option 1:  Request an expedited interview or cancel June 15 and try to grab an earlier interview if one opens up.  Total gamble.  

Option 2:  Do another medical exam immediately - the problem is, we have to do a tuberculosis sputum test which takes up to 60 days to receive results, so the results may not be available for the interview.  

Option 3:  Postpone the interview date into July, and do another medical exam immediately to try to time the results to be available well before the interview as well as the exam expiration date well after the interview.  Pushing back the interview will get us dangerously close to some critical documents expiring so we hate to consider this but it may be the safest bet.

It's a ridiculous situation.  Our medical results are only valid for 90 days, and each time we do the medical there is a 60 day sputum test.  Juggle all that with interview cancellations due to COVID and pending document expirations.  Our NOA2 was one year ago

Very much hoping somebody on here might have a really nice Option 4 for us...appreciate the read.