Ohana2020

27 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

 

you wrote in May 2021 u still did not have your green card

and earlier in May said u would travel on the endorsement of the visa  

 

u are not eligible for citizenship 

it is based on 3 years (minus 90 days ) of the green card date plus marriage to USC

Thank you. I may be eligible under 319(b). But to find that out I need to submit my forms first. 

Hi everyone. I am at the stage of filing for N400. I decided to use my husband's USCIS account since he already opened one when filing for i-130. I started out by putting my basic information and when it came to DOB it says "this account has already been verified with a different date of birth". Note, this was not on the form, but before I opened the form the system asked for basic info and that it would then make it easier to fill out N400. Does it mean I have to open my own account to fill out the form? I usually triple-check documents. Thank you for your time.

Can someone help me to " read' these bulletins, please? 

On 3/17/2021 at 8:26 PM, Lil bear said:

I had a similar issue though I was able to resolve it quicker .. apparently the fingerprints they took on my entry weren’t working on printing .. but they just kept trying to use them and one ever thought to get me to do another bio .. stupidity huh !!! Once I got that across and the new prints were fine .. well,  look at that ! They no longer got the error message when trying to produce the card ! 3 weeks later I had it in hand. Took me 7 months all together and way tooooo many phone calls to Tier 1 operators who knew nothing and Tier 2 officers who know marginally more but remained ineffective ! Good luck ! 

Just wanted to write an update about my case- still no word about my green card. I was able to call and talk to an agent (no idea Tierr 1 or 2?!). She did not say anything about the status, she said I will receive an email within the next 30 days saying if I need to do anything further or give an updade about my green card status. Is this a joke? Why is it so hard to look it up in their system and see that the case is either stuck or is in process and it takes 6 months to print out a plastic card. If I'am waiting for a whole month to hear back then I may as well just 2 more years without it.

On 3/15/2021 at 3:41 PM, Maxwell Shaw said:

So if the box is checked does it come automatically? And u know how long it take?

Couple of weeks on average. Mine took that long, came in mail to the address mentioned on DS260. 

Different people report different times, hope it all works out fine for you.

9 hours ago, Inita said:

Hi all,

 

I have been in the US on an IR1 visa since July last year and have still not received my green card in the mail. Whenever I try calling USCIS all I get is the automated messaging saying that all agents are busy. I have opened various tickets on the USCIS my status page but keep receiving the same answer, that my visa was granted last year. Does or did anyone experience the same issue? I don't know who to contact to report this. There is a page on the USCIS site where you can report a card missing but the options are not for IR1. Any ideas?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

This thread should help. I just called, and turns out I need a bio-metrics appointment that nobody has told me about or notified though the uscis account. So, I was just waiting thinking all is fine. 

God bless you! It worked like magic, wait time was abut 2 minutes 🙂 

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

What visa do you have?  Personally, unless an emergency, I would wait for the GC to arrive as the issue is not leaving the country, but getting back in.

 

Good Luck!

I am on CR1. The visa does say that upon endorsement serves as a temporary resident card, so I guess it means it's basically functioning as a green card right now.

Technically I know it should be fine, because spousal visas don't require a parole, but things change and I wanted to make sure.

Hi everyone. I am a conditional resident and have not yet received my green card (technically should come in a week but with covid who knows).

Can I leave the country for a week without the green card? I believe my visa should be good enough, as well as I should not need an advance parole. Is that correct?

I have not yet read the whole thread, but so far I agree with the topic starter here. "Just suck it up" is not a good attitude in life period, so trying to do something about it is a great start. I am not criticizing the current government, I think it takes time to do things and they will eventually get to this. The author is simply trying to reunite with his family, they both have a right for that. And I can only imagine how hard this is. Just because I did not go through this I can't just say "dude, just wait" and go on without realizing the financial and mental consequences of this time apart for families. 

As a norm, embassy workers have access to more facilities and day care/childcare/schools than regular citizens of that particular country. That is a token to brave ones who leave their comfort behind and go around the world to do what most of us could not or would not do. But even if someone does not have a place to drop off their kids they won't come to work is not a good excuse. Job is a job and needs to be done. If there is really an emergency, there is always more than 1 officer and a few back ups to do the job. So I think, the interviews are not slowed down because the employees don't have anywhere to take their children and show up to work... They live their lives, go out to eat, drink, hang out with friends, take local or international trips...

With COVID the embassy personnel has very minimum interaction with interviewers. Usually, those rooms have bulletproof glass windows so anyone being interviewed and the consular office are being divided by that thick glass. Also, most embassies require the interviewer to be quarantined before they show up to the interview. (I was). They are asked questions like "have you been in contact with anyone who had covid....etc. etc", and they take your temperature before you go inside. Of course, masks are mandatory at all times. And if the masks prevent from getting it or spreading it, then the situation should be a lot better than what we have. My point is measures are being taken. With all of this in place, it's not deadly to start interviewing more people than before, especially those who has been waiting forever. 

They allow tourists to come, but not the spouses of US citizens??? I do not see logic, but maybe there is someone here who has insider information, I am happy to be informed. 

Greg, I really hope for the best for you, hopefully you can contact your congressmen or someone who may take this up. I know of a case when this helped (before covid). 

I thought with work, student and visitor visas being non essential and on hold CR/IR visas would go fast since the USCIS, NIV and embassies/consulates still had to process those. But this seems NOT to be the case when I hear people who have waited for a long time. How is this happening? 

On 11/2/2020 at 6:06 AM, DrIdu said:

Hey y'all. Hopefully this update helps someone down the line. 

 

Last week: 27 OCT 2020

DH had his interview and was approved that day. 

Interview review is here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=365540

 

The follow day his visa was issued. And arrived the next day after that: 29 OCT 2020. 

 

We promptly paid the the final USCIS fee (about $200-ish bucks). This is paid directly to USCIS (when you get to this stage the website states you should pay before entering the US, however if you don't, they will send you an invoice in the mail and it will inevitably delay your GC and SSC, if you opted to get one at the petitioning stage... we did). 

 

Booked a flight from London to Kentucky, by way of Chicago. We did this because we already know Chicago's immigration vibe, so it would be familiar for Mr. Idu. 

 

The flight was on Sunday, 01 Nov. 

London airport - bit of issue with bag weight, easily solved, they were a bit confused with what to do with visa... however it was sorted and one of the officers finally came 'round and handled it all. Please note that IR-1s (and I'm assuming CR-1s) will have two exceptions listed on your visa sticker: 1-for the travel ban on working in the US, 2-for the travel ban on immigrating. They are plainly written at the bottom of the visa entry sticker. Mr.Idu also had documentation to prove our relationship, but wasn't asked for it. London done and dusted. 

 

Chicago airport - easy peasy. Went through immigration smoothly. They stamped his passport and wrote the a-number again. 'Welcome to America'. 

 

The rest is history. We are reunited! Finally...after a delay over the summer due to covid-19. 

 

Good luck to everyone! Things moved very quickly for us in the last few days. So hopefully that same energy will be the same for y'all. 

 

Now we're just awaiting the GC and SSC. 

Glad it all went went for you!  Did you receive the invoice in mail before arriving to US?

Also,  you mentioned that they put the A- number on your spouse's stamp, I wonder why my stamp is different...There is no A# on mine.🤨

15 minutes ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Covid, because they had to shut down the embassies for nonessential services. They just now started doing interviews again for spouses and K1s with a expedite. 

You mean COVID slowed down the process? 

Spouse visas were considered 'emergency visas' and were being processed even during the COVID. F, J and B and some work visas were not being processed. Which is why I am wondering if not issuing all those visas did push some cases forward for IR, CR, K visa applicants or not.

I am not aware of the current timelines for spouse or fiance visas. Can someone please share with me why is it taking so long for some and why only a fraction of that time for others? 

Is there a difference if you file online or in papers?

Did the presidential suspension on certain types of visa speed the process of all other immigrant visa or not at all?

2 hours ago, mymarriagejourney said:

My brothers-in-law have pending F4 applications, and these are the questions I had also.  We very much want to have family around us, but how is that supposed to work if the temporary visas don't allow them to work?  If this comes to fruition, I'd love to know what this would entail.

True. I hope they will have a well-thought mechanism for implementation of this plan, and not merely taking fro the 'rich' and feeding the 'poor'.

It creates more questions than answers.

1.Will the temporary visas allow those family members to work? 

2.If not, who is going to pay them to rent a house, buy food/clothes?

3. If the sponsoring person is supposed to pay for it all, most likely he/she won't even agree to bring them all over to America, because unless you are a millionaire you can't afford it. Thus, this temporary visa is a useless thing?

4. If the "government" is going to pay them to stay here until the CG is available (which may still take years), then who exactly is paying for all of this, again and can you imagine what your streets will look like in a couple years? Etc. etc...

19 hours ago, JFH said:

You must have misunderstood. K-1 applicants pay a MRV fee (visa fee) at the embassy. But CR-1 applicants pay their visa fee to the NVC as part of that step. If you asked about the visa fee, they correctly told you that it has already been paid.

 

The green card fee is another fee to cover the cost of making and sending the plastic green card. It cannot be paid before the visa is issued because until the visa is issued you are not approved for immigration. A green card is an extremely valuable and much-desired document as it enables the person to live and work permanently in the US. People in some countries will go to extraordinary lengths to get their hands on one - even illegal lengths. Therefore the invoice is only generated once the person has been approved to immigrate and the card is only manufactured once the fee has been paid and the person has actually arrived within the timeframe specified on the visa. It's all part of the process to make sure that people are fully vetted before they immigrate and have complied with all requirements before a GC is issued. 

Thank you very much for laying out the details, JFH. I definitely did not confuse it with the K visa or the visa application fee, because if I did not pay the visa application fee I would not have been able to get an appointment for the interview in the first place. I knew there is a fee I have to pay, and some sources I read said that you either pay it at the relevant Embassy or when you enter the country. I asked at the Embassy and they said " it's been paid", I asked the officer upon entering the states and they said no need to pay here  Hence is the confusion. 

I guess there is actually a problem with my registration # or the DOS case ID because when I tried to pay online yesterday I received an error message.

19 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

According to your own posts here,  the fee has already been paid from  someone in Amercia

That is not possible as nobody in the US could pay for me  (my spouse was with me outside of the US), and nobody knows my A # or DOS ID etc. 

The person who said this was a local staff member at the embassy, and I guess he meant " you will pay it in America" not " it's been paid in America". Which, either way it is not completely the case.

7 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

It does not have to be paid before entry.  The only penalty will be receiving the green card later.

Phew, that's good to know!

5 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

A number and DOS case can be found on your visa. You need to start archiving your important papers, documents...

Thanks, I know, and the instructions from the embassy say put letter "A" in front of the reg. number, but it did not work that way. 

Thank you! Turns out I missed that part from the e-mail that was sent to me after I received my visa. I do remember that after the visa interview when I asked about the fee, they said you won't have to pay it here, it has already been paid in America... 

And thank you for providing the link, I read a lot of things but could not find info on late payments. They all mention that the fee must be paid before entering, but obviously, in my case I am late for that. Does anybody know the complications/penalties for paying after you arrive? 

I could not pay it online either right now, it says they can't find the A number and/or the DOS case ID, so I sent an email to USCIS about it. 

Mine arrived in 12 days.

Hi everyone, I am uber confused about GC processes for CR1 visa holders, and would really appreciate if you help me sort it out. I entered on October 15th 2020 on CR1. Received my SSN on Oct 27th, and then I could not remember how to apply/receive a green card. 

Question #1 Green card

I was reading a separate thread on this forum, and it sounded like other CR1 holders receive their green cards in mail just like the SSN. So, if I understood correctly, then I don't have to file a separate form " adjustment of status" (at least not now, but 90 days before our 2 year anniversary) in order to receive my first green card, because it will come in mail in some 120 days? 

Question #2 immigration fee

Also, I can't remember what date we paid the immigration fee, but I wanna say it was at the same time with the visa application form (on USCIS account) after my I-130 was approved (late May -early June). I can't access those records right now to see how much it was or when it was paid, is there a way to find that out? Is this immigration fee for the green card? 

Thanks!