Shal_Ohol

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies. I booked an appointment with SSA on July 7th and got my SSN a week later. On July 14th I called USCIS and raised a query and my husband wrote to his Senator 

(we are yet to hear back) now my green-card is in the mail. Just taken over 3months for everything to fall into place. I really appreciate all your advice and help - trust me when I say, I have had more help from you lot here than their govt websites.

I'll create a thread to  let people know to get to their SSA within a month if they don't get their SSN. It helps,.

As always, so grateful for your help,
Shalaka

On 6/12/2021 at 11:00 PM, chengkang said:

You might want to call the social security office to schedule an in-person appointment if this is your first SSN, or it will never arrive. That's what I was told when I called them about 2 month ago to check why my SSN hadn't arrived. I've got the card within two weeks after the in-person appointment (just filling a short form at the office).

 

And I've been checking the status page everyday as well, and seeing the same message as yours😅 Called USCIS support and they told me to wait for at least 90 days...

 

On 6/13/2021 at 3:15 PM, Mark71426 said:

i’d go to ssa as soon as possible and apply for a ssn,I arrived on 28th April and the same no ssn after three weeks called the ssa and applied for the card and currently still waiting for this after a further three weeks,due to a communication issues with ssa and dhs which appears difficult to resolve as agencies do not appear to talk to each other.

If you don’t chase them in america it appears nothing gets done.

Thanks, it's been 60 days for me here. I'll give it another week and if things don't move along, I will schedule an appointment with social security office. The wait for this is just ridiculous!!!

11 hours ago, An&Je said:

If you applied for a SSN as part of your DS-260, it 'should' arrive at some point but I've read several posts across here and FB groups where that's been done but it wasn't processed correctly so they made in-person appointments at their local Social Security office.

 

If you didn't tick the box in the DS-260, you can apply for a SSN with your visa. You'll need to book an in person appointment.

 

 

Thanks, I filled that section in when filling DS-260. I'll just wait for it to arrive in the post, if it doesn't, I'll go to the social security office after I get my green card.

On 4/28/2021 at 12:46 PM, SteveInBostonI130 said:

Used to be 6 weeks, but things have slowed down recently.  

 

Have you received your SSN?  If not, then you can call your local SSA office after 3 weeks to inquire.  If they do not have a SSN request record in their system, you can apply via an SS5 form.  The person from the SSA office can provide you with instructions.

On 4/30/2021 at 11:10 AM, KathB said:

I got to the US at the end of February 2021, and had my SS in about 1 week and my green card in about 3. I paid my $220 fee before leaving the UK. Hope you are settling in well!

Thank you so much for your replies. I paid the fees before I left UK. So far, I haven't received anything in the post, I have been checking daily. Quick question, did you have to apply for SSN or did that arrive in the post without you doing anything else after arriving in the US? When I check the status with tracking number, this is all I see.

Apologies for late question, I didn't get any notifications for this thread (my fault entirely).

It is 59th today since I arrived in the country, not that anyone is counting😋

Hi,

I arrived in America 2 weeks ago today - wondering how long does it  take to get the green card in the post?

Thank you, 

Shalaka

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

As an aside: one of our VJ members in the past tried to change her middle and last name when she applied for adjustment of status from fiancé visa. She wanted to ditch her father’s name because of a strained relationship.  USCIS rejected the middle name change. She could only change her last name to her married name with the marriage certificate as the name change document. She could get a name change through the courts first or wait until she applied for citizenship, at which time you can pick a totally new name if you wish. She got her middle name changed through the courts, then applied for her green card. 

Yea, I think I will change my last name once I get to use and deal with the middle name situation some time in the future. This is really good to know though! Other than my passport, my middle name isn't actually on anything so that makes life much easier haha! 

7 minutes ago, Charlie87 said:

When is the new appointment ready to be registered? I have just tried and it says that your case is not ready? Do you have to wait 24hrs?

Yea, I'd say wait a day. I tried on the same day but it didn't work so give it a day. 

39 minutes ago, Reagan & Vish said:

Just checked again and we were Issued!!! 

Same!!!  I am so excited!

Congratulations!!!!!! 

17 minutes ago, Reagan & Vish said:

Any updates from March 8/9 interviews? Has anyone else been issued yet? We switched to AP this morning! Hoping that means not too much longer! 

Just checked mine and status is still AP - last updated says 9th March, so no changes there. 

On 3/12/2021 at 11:50 PM, Wuozopo said:

You can use the married name any time you want in the US. The marriage certificate is a name change document. Tell the bank, tell the neighbors that’s your name. Your green card will be issued in the visa name. That will cost you $540 to get the name changed on it. Social Security will change your name for free and issue a new card, but they have to find your name in the USCIS SAVE database. Since you will enter using your maiden name, that’s the only name they can use from my experience. It gets complicated. You can try Social Security with you marriage certificate for a name change once your initial card arrives. They do all kinds of different things depending on what office and how well trained they are...or in most cases aren’t trained well. In person visits are still limited. Some get appointments saying they need it to file taxes. 
 

A new passport with name change prior to interview would have been ideal because they could have issued your visa in the new name which would have sorted the other issues. I am not sure if getting a new passport prior to US entry will do any good. You might get more replies in a general forum because this would apply to anybody, not just UK. 

I don't think changing my name on passport before travel is a good idea at all, since my visa is going to be on the maiden name passport. I was thinking of changing name my name on my passport after going to US, then inform USCIS about the name change, and so on and so forth.

The main reason for me to not change my name immediately after marriage was also because I wanted to change my middle name too. Traditionally, our middle name is our Dad's first name growing up and after marriage, we take our husband's first name to be our middle name. We don't have to do it, but I wanted to do that but seeing the hassle coming with it, I might just be sticking to taking my husband's last name

Thanks for your response on how much it will cost, helps weigh in the options  

Has anyone changed their name, after moving to US, after getting married? I have intended to change my name but as we didn't want to delay the process of getting the visa, I decided to hang on to my maternal name until I move. Now that the time of moving is getting closer (hopefully), thought I'd start looking into this. How does this affect greencard and SSN?

Any help is greatly appreciated. 

57 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

 

The status can jump back and forth. Ready, AP, issued.  Or Ready, AP, Ready, Issued. 
You might miss the changes unless you checked at just the right time.

 

Your visa is not approved until it says Issued, no matter what you are told at the interview. There are final security checks in a database (or extra databases for some) during that Administrative Processing. That can last a couple of hours, to two weeks, to a year. All those scenarios have been played out in this UK forum for London visas.

Thnaks for that - It makes sense, different scenarios for different individuals I suppose. I'll update once I get my passport back. 

50 minutes ago, Reagan & Vish said:

I think it’s the other way around! Mine has been “Ready” for a month or so, but last updated during the interview yesterday. Several people have said it can switch from AP to Issued within a few hours! Hopefully you will have yours very soon! 

Oh really? I obviously don't mean to give you the wrong information - I only checked the status yesterday and then today, both days it said AP. 

9 minutes ago, Reagan & Vish said:

How soon after did yours switch to AP? Mine is still “Ready.” 

I think 'Ready' is the status after 'Administrative processing'. So you should be getting your passport soon  

Stop worrying me haha! I've just resigned from my job. 

27 minutes ago, kjmaiwen said:

I can't believe I'm writing this BUT...I've just received my passport!! So interview Monday morning, passport received Wednesday morning. Unbelievable turnaround.

 

It doesn't include a social security number. Does anyone know if/when you get that? 

 

It also says it expires on 30 June 2021. Is anyone aware what that means should I need to come in and out of the US if you don't have a physical Green Card, which apparently can take up to six months to arrive?

 

Still in shock that it's here! 

 

AMAZING!!!! Congratulations!!!

Mine still says 'administrative processing' when I check the status. 

1 hour ago, Amanda Hunt said:

Hello everyone! 

Congratulations to everyone who has recently been approved  

Can I ask where people had their passport photos done? (Especially those who did so during pandemic/lockdown) I had mine done in a photo-me photo booth and chose US visa photos. I also had my husband print out some that I took using an online app and print them at Walgreens and send them to me. They are slightly different in size! So now I’m paranoid about it. We all know how everything must be correct and no room for error. Any advice would be appreciated. 
 

Thanks 😊 

I had 2 from Walgreens when I was in the US and I also had one done from local shop in Manchester where they print 2, but I had to ask they to cut it and they give an URL too. 

Just FYI, they also have a photo booth like thing at the London embassy.

18 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

No matter if people say how easy it is 100 times, the ones going to interview are always panicked before hand. If you will copy what you wrote and put it in the review place, it will help others. Nobody wades through this entire thread or it’s predecessor to read what people said. They just ask again, over and over.

1. Copy your review.
2. Go to your timeline and find “Submit Review” with the yellow exclamation point.
3. Paste your review. . 

People always want to know what documents you had to present, so you might want to name them instead of saying civil documents.

 

ALSO Update your timeline with Approved on “Interview Result” and again with the date you get the visa back and the date you enter the US.

 

Congratulations on today.

Yea, I realised that. Reading the reviews made me feel better but I was still nervous but being there and going through it made me feel fine. 

I've submitted the review and updated the timeline now - it was on my to-do list but I was so knackered last night that I really needed to sleep. Now that I have rested, its all done. Now just waiting for my passport  I'll be sure to keep everything updated as things move along as well. 

3 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

There’s a bunch of visa interview reviews to read. Find the menu item “Office Reviews and Info” then  drill down to find London.

Thank you!!!! I've read through a few now and feel bit better about tomorrow. Really appreciate this. 

17 hours ago, Sm4598 said:

I also got that email. By confirm “your appointment date and time,” I’m almost positive they mean “click here to make sure you know your appointment date and time.”

 

As in, go to their website to confirm the date and time of your appointment so that you arrive at the right time. 

 

The link just takes you to the website. It’s not like a “check in” situation. 

Oh right! That makes sense! 

For people who have had their interview, how long does it take and is it smooth process. I don't know why but I am really nervous about this. 

12 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

I see it’s just the ais site and the link is to non-immigrant visas. Did you switch to the immigrant version (green one). https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/iv  I thought it may be something local to London to confirm because they’ve had a problem with no-shows. Doesn’t seem to be the case. 

Yup, I did when I registered for it. 

When I login this is what I see, nothing to say confirm appointment. Seems like its already confirmed from the time I registered and confirmed all the details I think. 

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

 

If they sent an email with a specific link to go to and confirm, why wouldn’t you do it?

What is the link? Can you post it?

Oh it's not that I don't  want to, I clicked on the link in the email, but it shows nothing once you login. I tried a couple of times but there's actually nowhere to confirm the appointment.  Not sure the image will get uploaded but this is the text from the email "Appointment date and time: Please confirm the date and time of your appointment at https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/."

I might give them a call on Monday morning. 

23 hours ago, kjmaiwen said:

Did anyone receive an email from the US Embassy with information about their upcoming interview? There's a link that says you need to confirm the date and time of the appointment but I'm not sure if we need to do this as it's asking for lots of information that's already been provided, so not sure if this is a necessary step?

 

Thanks in advance for any help! 

I got an email on Friday fro my appointment on Monday. I went on the website but there is nothing I can confirm my appointment on. I am just turning up for my appointment. 

Happy to see if others have any more information. 

6 minutes ago, MaccaWilliams said:

I live very local to the Embassy. I park in that Waitrose all the time, it should work perfectly?

I went on the website and it said they're only doing longterm parking, nothing for short term. I've managed to book something at Bonnington Square. It's a 20mins walk to the embassy, but that's alright for me.

I guess I just don't want to risk finding out on the day that the parking is closed or doesn't allow me in. I'll be a bag of nerves already, don't want the parking situation stressing me out haha! 

Thank you though.