Kaljukotka

On 12/11/2022 at 5:04 PM, Chimdalu said:

Yes I requested for it on my ead form

Did you finally receive your SSN? I have a similar situation where I had requested it with my EAD application but it has been almost a month now since I received my EAD card in mail and no signs of SSN card. There were holidays in between so I had not been too worried but now it feels like no one is processing it. Did you have to call or go to the office for it and how did that go? Do you need to take any documents with you or will the EAD card and an ID be enough?

On 9/23/2022 at 3:54 PM, JR & RT said:

Hi,

 

You may try:

 

https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance

 

My brother (similar EAD situation different underlying petition though) got his EAD few days after writing them.

 

In order to receive help from them you must:

 

-Be outside of your normal processing time

-Have contacted UsCiS regarding your case

-Have another compelling reason (my brother used hardship)

 

When asking for assistance, try to “add drama” to the petition. Like you are in a very stressful situation by not being able to work and help the family income.

 

it is not a 100% success option but I have seen a lot of people receiving their documents/approving petitions after contacting them. I believe it is worth to try

Finally an update on my case: I never tried to expedite because I didn’t qualify. Instead, I was finally able to leave an e-inquiry for a delayed case. I had tried to do that many times before but my inquiry never went through despite the processing times webpage telling me I was allowed to leave one. Finally on November 7 my inquiry went through. Yesterday, almost exactly a month later, my EAD status changed to ”Card Is Being Produced”. My AP never had any other status than ”Case received” but it was now marked as ”case closed” and from the document tab I could see that I am receiving a combo card. 
 

Not sure if it was because of the inquiry or if they just happened to finally look at my documents. Just putting this info out in case someone is still waiting on their EAD.
 

Anyone else still waiting for their EAD? I came here with the K-1 visa, filed my AOS package in the beginning of September last year, got an RFE which we responded to in December, gave my biometrics in January of this year and since then the case ”has been actively worked on”.

I know this is something to ask from a lawyer but maybe someone here has actual information regarding this issue.

I am currently waiting for my EAD and I was contacted by a company on Instagram who wants to send me free clothes. They said they label them as gifts and don’t expect anything other in return than if I choose to wear the clothes in my own Instagram posts, they would have a permission to share my pictures on their own Instagram account. I am mostly concerned whether this could be interpreted as work since basically I would be modeling for their products and the compensation for that would be those free items, even if I would primarily just wear the clothes in my own posts that I don’t get any money from. Since the company would be sharing my pictures to promote their products there is an expectation from the company that I would be doing something in return for the items, which means that the gift is actually not a gift anymore in the eyes of the IRS.

Please note that I am not an “influencer” who would make any money with their current content. I’m just posting stuff that the company’s target audience follows so they were interested in sending me their clothes. I actually turned down their offer and said that I would contact them once I have my EAD because now it looks like we would be operating on a very grey area. I am too scared to risk anything for some free items but would like to know if someone had had first hand experience with a similar situation.

Thank you.

22 minutes ago, JCB86 said:

If I were you, I'd fly into the US then transfer, avoid any other COVID requirements which may get tacked on. I'm not sure what domestic flight requirements may be for COVID testing, but I think it's only international passengers are required. Up to you. 

 

It was ready for pickup in 2 days. But he opted to pick it up from the embassy. You can do both, you need to leave an addressed envelop with them to get it mailed to you though. 

Thank you! I will look into different flight options. One reason why I would rather transfer in Europe than in the US is that I would have to take all of my belongings throught the security again in the US and I might fly with a lot of stuff which would be difficult to collect and handle alone. But I’ll definitely think about it. 
 

I left an envelope just in case since I wasn’t sure if they allow pick-ups at this time but glad to hear the processing time was so fast!

30 minutes ago, JCB86 said:

Congrats! We flew direct with Finnair from Helsinki to JFK. I had some minor thoughts that the flight would get cancelled because not enough seats to fill, but it didn't (despite being 10 people on the whole plane). I guess to retain their gate, they have to run planes, regardless of passenger level. 

 

He said CBP was the easiest he's ever done, CBP officer was literally saying "welcome and good job" through bites of his dinner lol. 

Thanks! Good to hear you got a direct flight and everything went well! Unfortunately in my case there’s no direct flight (I’m going to Minneapolis) so I would have to fly to some other European country first. Hopefully that doesn’t bring any extra risks with it. 🤞

How long did it take for your fiancé to receive his passport after the interview? Did they send it to him in the mail or did he pick it up in person?

On 6/5/2021 at 9:12 PM, Lenny&Sanna said:

 Not to far away!!! Will be here before you know it! Let us know how it goes!!!

Approved! 🥳 They said it currently takes 2-3 weeks to process the visa but it seems I might be able to leave before the end of the month. There seems to be some flights with convenient connections available, at least for now, so let’s hope they don’t get cancelled. 

58 minutes ago, JCB86 said:

He said for the medical, he had the Finnish passport size. And apparently they only needed 1 picture at the embassy for the interview, too. 

Thanks! I just got 10 US size pictures so I wonder if I should go and get the Finnish size now 🤦🏻‍♀️ I wish someone at the hospital would have been able to tell.

1 hour ago, JCB86 said:

Congrats on interview. Helsinki is chugging along. 

Thank you! And congrats for the approval! 🥳

I have an interview scheduled for July 1! 🤩  They would have given a time for June 10 but my medical is booked on June 14 so I asked for a later date.

4 minutes ago, JCB86 said:

It's 6 for medical. 

Thanks, that part was clear but I was wondering about the photo size. I guess he took the US size and not the Finnish size pictures to the medical? The lady who scheduled my appointment for the medical was assuming that the pictures should be in Finnish passport size but I don't want to take any risks. Maybe I would have to bring both sizes, just to be sure.

If you get a chance to ask him what type of passport photos he had to take to the medical that would be very helpful! I am talking about the 6 color photos for the medical appointment. When I booked the time the lady didn't know at all and when I asked the embassy about it they just answered that they require the 3 + 1 US sized photos, which I would have to take with me to the interview. 

13 minutes ago, JCB86 said:

We never were contact by them, I always contacted them. During the shutdown, I'd email just about monthly regarding K1s. If the case status is ready, I would follow up asap. Get medical, vaccines, police certifications in the mean time, at least.

Thank you so much! This part has been the most unclear so far. Even my friend who received instructions from the embassy couple of years ago couldn't remember whether she was contacted first or if she had been proactive in this step. I just didn't want to proceed with medical/interview booking if there are special instructions I am supposed to receive and documents that I need to gather that I am not yet aware of. For example, in the instructions she sent me they said that you would need 6 passport pictures for the medical appointment but I am not sure what the amount of pictures is nowadays. I also don't know if that is supposed to be American or Finnish sized photos etc... 😓 In any case, I have now contacted the embassy and asked what my next steps should be. Thanks for your reply, I have been very stressed out about this step because most embassies send a packet 3 to the applicants once they receive the case from NVC.

Are there any other Finns who have received their NOA2 this year and are waiting for the interview? I wonder how fast the embassy would be contacting the applicants once they receive the case from NVC. Tomorrow it will be a week since the case got there and the case status has been "Ready" since Tuesday. I know that in the past people have been contacted quite soon so I wonder what the backlog is like now... 👀

On 5/19/2021 at 8:21 AM, JFH said:

A job for a year is acceptable. The main thing is that he has proof of current income or enough liquid assets by the time you have your interview. 

Thank you! He was studying here in Finland for 3 years and graduated last December. He didn't have US income during that time so now that he started working he only has couple of paycheck deposits on his new bank account. He hadn't filed for taxes either last year (also it is still unclear if he needs to submit that information for the embassy interview. Different embassies have different requirements, I guess) so all he would have to show is the employer's statement and couple of paychecks. I believe all of his savings were used for his living here in Finland and moving back to US so all he currently has is the money from his paychecks.

Rationally thinking this should be enough but since this is the last step of the K1 visa process, we don't want to risk anything. Would there be any downsides if we asked his mother to sponsor as well? She gets $100,000 alimony a year and she would have documentations to prove it.

Hi all,

I am going through the supporting evidence requirements for the Affidavit of Support and one of them is a letter from the employer stating whether the work is temporary or permanent.

My US fiancé started working at the end of March for a company that hired him through a contracting company. His work contract says it is "contract to hire", which means that for now the contract is for a one year of employment but they usually end up hiring the person as a permanent employee after that one year. He would be making $111,000 in a year, maybe a bit less during this year since he only started but still way more than what the minimum requirement for the sponsors are.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and could tell us if the embassy would for some reason not accept him as a sponsor because the work contact doesn't say permanent? 

Also, is the tax refund info required only for self-employed sponsors? So in my fiancés case he would only need to submit his bank statements and a letter from his employer as evidence?

Thank you!

1 minute ago, JCB86 said:

That is true. Valid K1 holders are granted an automatic NIE. CBP should be able to roll with it. You might have some push back at airports, so print out and have everything you can have. 

Thank you so much! That makes this process a bit easier! 😅

2 hours ago, JCB86 said:

In my experience Helsinki is very responsive. I'd get emails back sometimes 10 minutes after sending them lol. 

I had sent them an email earlier asking about something and they responded the same day. However, I had another question which they then did not answer to but maybe you guys here know. So do I understand correctly that K1 visa holders are allowed to enter the US from Schengen Area without having to spend the 14 days somewhere else where there are no travel restrictions to the US? 

12 hours ago, JCB86 said:

Not sure if we ever received the letter, tbh. We got a few emails but everything was contingent upon Covid. 

Thank you! My Finnish friend who went through the process couple of years ago said she only received emails as well. Hopefully the backlog isn’t bad and I will hear from the embassy soon!

A bit of a specific question but after the NVC has processed the case and sends it forward to the embassy, should I just wait for the packet 3 from the embassy before doing anything? I have already filed the DS-160 but I'm unsure if I have to wait for a letter from the embassy before paying the fees. 

18 hours ago, JCB86 said:

We have an interview scheduled for May 27 in Helsinki. 🤩

 

We're not plaintiffs in Milligan or otherwise, just regular folks. If there's any K1s out there waiting on Helsinki, I'd email them for confirmation and scheduling of medicals, certifications, etc. For as much headache and heartache this process has been, it seems as though actual people respond to emails with a good turnaround time, comparatively. 

 

 

Thank you for posting an update here! I found this thread by chance when I was looking into the timelines of Finnish folks and I am glad to see that people have interview times booked. So sorry you had to wait for so long. I've only been away from my fiance for 4 months and it is killing me.

Our I-129F was approved on March 30 but I guess the NOA2 got lost in the mail... In any case, we have requested a new one and our case has arrived to NVC. I don't know what day it got there, I just got the case number for it when I was changing my address through their inquiry form. Hopefully our case will be sent to the embassy soon. It seems like some people (not from Finland though) who received their NOA2 on March have already gotten their interview times booked. I should probably start gathering all the needed documents soon :D 

We got approved as well!
 

NOA1: Aug 31, 2020

NOA2: Mar 30, 2021

I have found USCIC Case Tracker app very helpful. You can see how many applications from August have been approved already by using the search function!

9 hours ago, laylalex said:

My husband is here on an L-1 and we are now adjusting. It has made our lives significantly easier, because he can work (well, duh, it's a work visa) and leave the country if he needs to while his AOS is pending, and without needing an EAD and/or AP through the AOS. It also gave us the luxury of spending time as an engaged couple to do things on our own timescale, more or less, when it came to a wedding. (We still ended up doing a tiny pandemic wedding, because we wanted to get on with being married, but at least we had months to not have USCIS breathing down our necks.) Since you can have both pending, DO IT!!! Hopefully you'll get the L1 first. Fingers crossed and best wishes!

Thank you! The L-1 visa would definitely solve all our problems! I could keep my job and not have to wait for months for an EAD without any income. If I could continue working immediately my fiancé and I could kickstart our future together immediately! I am anxiously trying to take this process forward with the parent company. Thank you all for your help, this brought me so much hope and happiness!

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

This thread may be helpful and is relatively current.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Thank you so much!

54 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Why would you withdraw your K1? You can have two visa applications going in parallel.

 

L1 is dual intent so the immigrant intent is not reason for denial.

Glad to hear that having two applications should not be a problem. Thank you!

Five months ago my fiancé and I filed for a K-1 visa me being the beneficiery. I have been discussing about the unpredictable processing times and prolonged EAD process with my boss and today she had a call with a lawyer and some people from our US parent company and they were laying out the option of applying for a L-1B visa for me.

If I would qualify and decided to let the company apply for me, what would happen to my K-1 visa application?  I was told that L-1 processing time is around 8-12 weeks, which sounds unbelievable as I am prepared to wait another 5 months for my K-1 visa to get to a point where I could move to US. The L-1 visa would seem to remove all the worries of having to wait for the EAD and not knowing when I am able to get back to work. Yet I am scared that if I withdraw my K-1 application for this and for some reason my L-1 application is denied I would have to start this process all over again.

Can I leave my K-1 as it is and withdraw it if I receive my L-1? The lawyer should be looking into this but I thought I’d ask here while I wait him to get back to us.

58 minutes ago, Greenbaum said:

The lesson learned I am sure is that in the end you really didn't have to be so concerned and frustrated as your case is still being adjudicated and everything is normal. Being engaged as you were with this process has been a good thing as you now know exactly where you are in the process. Don't be down on yourself. You are with the majority [processing normally] and not the minority [those that are getting RFE's or NOIDS's] of the applicants. 

You are right and now we don’t have to worry about it anymore! I was mainly angry with myself as I had initially typed the receipt number that I received with the NOA1 on my phone notes and every time I checked the status online I had copy/pasted that same number to the website. I had also saved that wrong number on the My USCIS account. I only happened to notice it when I tried to check the actual NOA1 date from the receipt and figure out how long it took for the mail to arrive last time and that is when I just happened to compare the receipt number with the one I had saved on my phone and realized I had typed one number wrong. It was so frustrating because I am quite neurotic about these type of things so I was surprised I had made a mistake with something as important as this.  Luckily no damage was done and hopefully we have been neurotic enough with our actual application so that we can dodge those RFEs.