JonSeattle

My son is a USC, so he was in-state. The case I was referring to was someone from my alma-mater who had to withdraw for academic reasons, and  later he re-applied and was re-accepted. In-spite of that, and it being a top ranked university, he was not able to get a student visa to resume his studies because he was considered to not have sufficient ties. I don't know if someone from the UK would face that.

Hello All!
 
I have a few questions! My husband has arrived here in the US on an IR1 visa. 
 
1. When is he able to work? 
1a. If he is able to work now, how is that possible when most places of employment require a social security card?
 
2. How long does it normally take to get his social security card?
 
3. What is normal delivery time for his green card? I know the paperwork says 120 days.
 
4. Can he get a driver's license now?
4a. If so, how do we do that?
 
I have so many questions! I appreciate your advice! If someone has already asked these things, can you please post a link to the answers and I am happy to read on my own!

Thanks so much!
 
Lindsay 

Greetings to all
We just wanted to thank everyone for all the support we have received throughout our journey. We had our interview today and was approved for a 10 year GC. We are beyond excited.😄
JVG

And if that doesn't work, call 911 and ask to speak to the manager.

Just an update for everyone...we were just approved for my wife's green card after our short and easy interview today! We had no separation and no Stokes interview. We actually didn't even need an interpreter. And thankfully, my wife didn't go into labor throughout our entire trip!

And if that doesn't work, call 911 and ask to speak to the manager.

Alien means foreigner. It didn't start meaning creature from another planet until the SciFi movies of the 50s. Why not petition hollywood to stop using the word?
 

Alien means foreigner. It didn't start meaning creature from another planet until the SciFi movies of the 50s. Why not petition hollywood to stop using the word?
 

I love the idea that the USCIS staff is focused like lasers processing cases that applicants paid for, not re-writing and changing words in countless volumes of regulations, manuals, and documents.  
 
They’re self-funded by fees.  I’m not paying a dime for a single moment of activity that doesn’t involve case processing.  
 
You want this?  Pony up the funds for it yourself.

Just wanted to update - had my green card interview yesterday, medical/vaccinations wasn't even MENTIONED - got approved 👍
 
Another warning to anyone in my situation - don't bother paying for another medical/civil surgeon unless you're 100% sure you need to complete the I-693, because i didn't have to. 

My wife USC is 19 years older than me. (both female) 
She is Asian , I am white. 
I am Muslim, she is not. 
She is beyond child-bearing age, I am from a culture where having children is seen as a priority in life and where being gay is not right.
We met online, dated for 6 months then she came to visit, been together for 2 weeks only, got engaged then and applied for k1. Only met once. 

So that's an answer. 
Age gap is NOT an issue as long as you have enough proof of genuine relationship. 

Last year my fiance got a 221(g) for a couple items (from the Manila embassy), and one was for evidence of an ongoing relationship. We sent a sample page of facebook chat messages for each month since the submission of the I-129F. I got them by using the facebook feature of saving a conversation history to a file and I printed some pages from that.

Sorry to hear of your terrible loss. The lawyers over at avvo.com say just write a letter to withdraw the application and possibly include a copy of the I-797C.
 
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/how-to-withdraw-i-485-and-i-130-2325927.html
 

"Hey <nickname>, I would feel less stressed out if we signed a pre-nup. Is that OK with you?"
 

"Hey <nickname>, I would feel less stressed out if we signed a pre-nup. Is that OK with you?"
 

Thanks so much.  This really helps.  My wife is starting to get nervous now about the whole interview process even though we've been married for 5 years and have 2 kids lol

That interviewers remark was definitely absurd. The wait time for him to be able to work is a bit long. I just dont want to marry overseas again. I want to have it here and that's why we are going the k1 route. The issues with my family wouldn't happen again because I have my own place now..my family I was living with have moved out of state since, in recent years 

I filed a I-129F just a few months after my divorce was final. According to my then fiance, the interviewer at the embassy made some remark warning her I might leave her too, which seemed absurd to me given the totally of the circumstances. Overall no real problem. One thing you might consider is doing a CR-1 instead of a K-1 because of the delay in your new spouse being able to work after he arrives. Even if it is not a problem financially for you, that might seem like too much deja vu because of what happened in your first marriage. You didn't say what happened between your first husband and your family, so that leaves me to wonder if another problem could develop between them and your new husband.

Im not directing the following comment at either one of you guys- Im just shocked that people have this attitude. I understand where it comes from. Theres a general concept in law that illegal contracts are not enforced by courts (example I pay my drug dealer for 10lbs of cocaine and he only gives me 7. I can not sue him for the 3lbs he owes me. I cant call the cops and file a report about it.) Its that general concept that causes many immigrants to fail to report crimes. They mistakenly believe that since they are illegal/undocumented that means they are committing a crime so they are precluded from using courts or reporting things to the police or appropriate agencies.  Thats not accurate and is why many unscrupulous individuals take advantage of immigrants or target them in crimes...
 
Employment laws apply to everyone equally. You cant run a sweatshop and have it be OK because the workers are undocumented. You cant exploit people simply because they are undocumented. An undocumented worker has the same rights to safe working conditions and fair pay as a documented worker. Various federal and state laws outline such in more details and while the specifics may vary in different jurisdictions NO WHERE is it allowed to exploit workers for any reason- especially because they are undocumented. So yes, while it is true that someone who works w/o auth and the person who hires them are violating the laws but the concept that "I guess since we are both violating the law no one will help and the employer can treat me in any manner" does not apply
 
I am not an employment attny nor an immigration attny. If I was I suppose I could quote you more specific terminology then the quoted links from above. A quick (and often free) consult with an attny or even an anon call to the labor board will confirm such and they can probably quote you the applicable statutes that apply where you live. 
 
All this talk about the immigrant not being able to sue or report this or the logical thing to do is to just let it go is IMO wrong. First the employer can not deport her. If any law suit is filed (and it should be filed by the immigrant) the court will most likely rule the immigrant is entitled to pay regardless of her work authorization status. Penalties can be imposed on the employer who hires someone w/o auth. The penalties for one working w/o auth are mainly related to immigration and taxes and as mentioned as the spouse of a USC working w/o auth is not a bar to adjusting status. It can trickle into other issues- like have you paid taxes on the income you earned? IRS does not care if you earned the money illegally, you still need to pay taxes on it. I believe there is actually a line on the 1040 directing you to list any illicit income. Im not sure if the 1500 owed to the immigrant is the total amount earned or if amounts were paid and that is simply the balance due. The OP may also want to speak to a CPA about such and how to make sure its all reported correctly on their tax returns because again as said USCIS is not going to have issue with the unauth work as a spouse of a USC but will want to see taxes were paid.  Here is another link (also from CA) about how the same legal rights apply to undocumented workers - https://legalaidatwork.org/factsheet/undocumented-workers-employment-rights/
 
This particular situation is a bit more complicated then someone who takes a job w/o auth cleaning off tables at a diner or packing boxes in a large factory because its a nanny/babysitting job for an individual and as the OP already seems to have researched there are various issues with how that type of employee is to be classified and the tax obligations (for reporting/paying/withholdings) required by the employer in such situations.Here is a general link about nanny taxes - https://www.care.com/homepay/nanny-tax-guide  and also https://www.care.com/homepay/1099-vs-employee-why-the-difference-matters-when-you-hire-a-caregiver-1212110431
 
. Im not exactly sure what happened when the wife was hired (if work auth was ever asked for) but it seems presently the employer has spoken to their tax preparer and discovered the best thing for them (to avoid issues with improperly hiring someone and failing to follow the proper tax withholding requirements ) is to now attempt to correct it by getting the proper documents in an effort to 'backdate' it and conceal what actually occurred- which is the woman hired a worker and either failed to verify her work auth and/or collect the required documentation of her work auth. That is the employers problem.
 
Here are some additional links- https://immigrantsrising.org/wp-content/uploads/Immigrants-Rising_Working-for-Yourself-Guide.pdf
 
 
https://www.legacytaxresolutionservices.com/blog/i-have-an-independent-contractor-who-refuses-to-provide-a-form-w-9-what-do-i-do/164031
 
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/complying-with-i9-and-everify-requirements-in-the-united-states.aspx
 
https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/tax-reporting-options.pdf
 
From the second link 
What Should You Do If an Independent Contractor is Refusing To Provide Their Social Security Numbers/EIN or Complete the Form W-9?
We always recommended clients get a W-9 completed and signed prior to any payments.  
If the payment has been made and the Independent Contractor is refusing to complete the Form W-9, take the following steps:
Attempt to contact the Independent Contractor by phone and inform them  they are required to provide the ID number or be subject to a $50 penalty for failure to furnish a TIN.  Inform the Independent  Contractor  it is your policy to file the Form 1099 with “refused” listed in the field for the EIN and SSN.
If no response, mail the partially completed Form W-9 with a return receipt requested.
If still no response, mail the Independent Contractor the Form 1099-MISC with "refused" for the EIN or SSN tax ID number.
If still no response, file Forms 1099-MISC with IRS .with "refused" for the EIN or SSN tax ID number.
 
Providing the job was actually something that should have been classified as an independent contractor there is a 50$ penalty and the employer needs to file the 1099 with refused listed as the EIN/SSN. Obviously the employer does not want to do this as doing so shows they hired someone w/o checking their work auth status or collecting the proper info at the start of employment. But again thats not the OPs problem. 
 
Personally I would not 'let this go'. The woman is looking for a way to avoid penalties due to mistakes she made in the hiring process and/or paying what is owed. I would encourage the OP to speak to an employment lawyer and/or a CPA about the matter and the best way to resolve it. An immigration attny can also be consulted but I dont believe they would have much to contribute besides confirming whats already been posted that working w/o auth is not a bar to adjustment as the spouse of a USC and the importance of the immigrant filing tax returns for any and all income received regardless of work auth. 
 

The interviewer asked if I was still married to my petitioner, I said no, he moved on. I had my marriage/divorce/marriage certificate (I've since remarried) and that was the end of that.

I would like to inform everyone here that we had our interview and my wife was approved for a green card. Phone interpreter was my brother (family).  Woohoo
 

On your timeline it says that you have not filed for AOS yet. If that is correct, then I think the warning about the delay with the green card is not applicable to you. That is because if you get a court ordered name middle change after marriage, but before sending in the AOS paperwork, then your new middle and last names will already be on there.
 
A court-ordered name change for an adult in King County can be completed in one day. Ours took longer because the judge had questions about the name change for my step-daughter, and we had to reschedule so there would be a court-provided interpreter for my wife.

It's not hard to get a court order to change your middle name, and then you don't have to worry about.
 
https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/records-licensing/recorders-office/marriage-licensing/faq.aspx

You can't submit the AOS until you have the marriage certificate. But you can start using your married name now, at least anywhere where no proof is needed. You can fill out the AOS using your married name, and send it in with the marriage cert once you get it.

I’m sorry, this is why there is so much skepticism here about lawyers. 
 
By the way: my understanding of why you got to interview is this: (1) i130 was approved because the basis of the petition was valid - that’s all they look for (2) now I stand corrected on this but on my understanding lockbox can only reject i485 for a technical factor (wrong fee, not signed, outdated form etc), and a decision to deny a petition or adjustment application can only be made by a qualified immigration official. They could have done that at a later stage without you coming in for interview, but, it sounds to me like the guy wanted to check that your wife had not become a citizen in the interim, which would have allowed you to adjust. In other words, they didn’t want to reject you before being sure there was no alternative. This view is backed up by what you say the guy said yo you at the end. So rather than being angry, maybe rather look at it from  the perspective of a guy who was really trying to help you get there.
 
Hopefully your wife can naturalize relatively quickly and you can file i485 again. Good luck.