half-pint

Hey Half-pint,

Nice to hear from you. I can't help with the questions im kinda out of touch with immigration these days, but just wanted to say hi!

Blast from the past!

I have a 10 year green card and have lived in the US for 6 years. I was divorced earlier this year based on one year of separation in NC, I retained my maiden name and all my documentation is in my maiden name. I just got married a week ago and when I went to the SS office to apply for a name change on my SSN card she said it might not go through because I had to tell INS first. Do I need to report my marriage to INS and can I do so without getting a name change green card?

I'm going to England in Dec and don't want to change all my travel documentation prior to the trip, from what I understand I can use my GC with the maiden name, and my passport and carry a copy of my marriage certificate. It turned out my SS card went through smoothly so I can do to the DMV and get my license.

I hope this makes sense. I am tired from work! =) I know this could go in the travel forum too but it is more to do with my marital status and reporting it. =)

Hi,

I am hoping someone out there may be able to shed some light on this situation.

A friend of mine has lived in the US since they were 3, they have a permanent resident number and had a greencard. Their mother took care of all of this but has since passed and now his grandmother is ill and he wants to be able to go and see her. He isn't sure of his status, he doesn;t remember anything about renewal and always took it for granted he was a PR.

He has a SSN and also served in the US marine Corps for 8 years where they issued him with a waiver. He made an appointment to go and see an immigration lawyer to find out more about his situation.

I know this is a very general description but if any of you have any help/advice to offer it would be appreciated.

Update: I sent the RFE off on May 7th.

My green card arrived in the mail this morning! I didn't hear anything from them, just sent off my extra evidence and then my application was approved on the 18th (well that's the date on my card).

I have a RFE for my I-751. I received an orange/yellow colored piece of paper asking for more evidence proving a bona fide marriage. Mine does not list any particular documentation, so I guess they just want more evidence covering our marriage.

When I submit it all I have to do is attach the colored paper to the top of it.

Hey Half-Pint

Sorry to hear that you have been having some problems and I hope you can work them out. I don't have much to offer in terms of advice for removing conditions as fortunately I did not have to do it.

Just gather together all you have got as that is all that you can do.

Broma

Hey there Broma!

Long time!

Yeah you know I missed my 10 yr card by 5 weeks....kind of wish I'd stayed in the UK for those 5 extra weeks!

Hopefully things will sort themselves out, I am off to go and stay with him in 3 weeks time, so we'll see how it goes. I'm really just stuck down here because of my teaching job, which runs out in Summer, although I can renew my contract if I want to.

Take care!

Thanks Guys.

I went for my biometrics back in October 2006.

I can tell you that I almost missed my I-751 filing date so my application was very rushed. Initially I sent the following:

• Joint Electricity bill 2005-2006
  
• Health Insurance Documents
  
• Life Insurance listing my husband as the beneficiary
  
• Joint Gym memberships 2004-2006
  
• Copy of my personal work file from my first job which lists my husband as spouse and benefciary for their insurance.
  
• Couple of copies of family greeting cards.
  
• Couple of photos of us both
  
• Letters from ex-colleague inviting us to both come and stay at their house.
  
• Car Insurance with both our names on it
  
• Tax returns
  

I guess I kind of knew it wouldn't be enough, so now I am about to send the following:

• My macys account, although primarily in my name my husband has a card and the numbers match, so I will scan the cards.
  
• Further electricity bills
  
• Copy of new rental lease which lists husband
  
• Letter from my employer
  
• 2 letters of support from ex-colleagues who knew us both personally (my husband took me to and picked me up from work everyday).
  
• A written statement from my husband and I regarding the lack of "joint" documents.
  
• New car insurance documents.
  
• Further greetings cards from family members
  
• Christmas 2006, my mum came out so I have full family photos.
  
• Any extra photos I can find; luckily my husband changes his hair often!
  
• Letter from old next door neighbor which verifies we lived together at same address.
  
• 2006 Tax return
  
• Dept of Treasury letter which notifies of me having to file for "injured spouse" because of my husband's student loans.
  
• Bank accounts - we both had bank accounts at the same branch albeit it seperate, but they both list the same home address.
  

Even though we are temporarily seperated my husband is ready, willing and able to support me through this. As is his family. I know the proof is about entering into a "bona fide" marriage. I don;t know whether to send copies of the evidence we used whilst living in England also, he had a settlement visa there and was one year away from gaining citizenship. I still have copies of those documents.

Anyways thanks for your help everyone. It is much appreciated

Hi,

I just received a letter from the INS requesting that we send further evidence. I did wonder if this would happen as we dont have a lot of joint accounts. Basically my husband had horrible credit, was in debt due to student loans and we thought it would be a good idea for one of us to have good credit. We lived with his parents for the first year so we dont really have any joint accounts apart from gym mebership, health and life insurance which I already sent copies off. When we relocated to NC the lease was set up in my name as the landlord did a credit check but we have his name on a couple of things.

So right now I am busy finding anything and everything I can find, family greetings cards, letters of support from friends and family members.

We've also been going through some very rough times as a married couple the last 3 months, and we decided to seperate last week. He went back to his parental home in Cincinnati to find work and re-establish himself. My teaching contract runs out in NC in the Summer so I am stuck down here until then. We're still deciding what future we have and don't want to rush into anything. I'll be going up there durng Spring Break to talk further.

We got this letter from the INS the day after he went to Cincinnati, technically we still have a bona fide marriage albeit we have decided upon a trial seperation. Do I list this in my cover letter to the INS? Please advise.

half-pint,

could u please let us know when u submitted ur i-751 (ur receipt date. i guess u applied through NSC). i was curious about the time line. regrading further evidence, dont mention anything about ur seperation in the cover letter as u guys weren't sure at this time point and things might work out. jus gather some more photos, any hotel stays, travel itineraries u have and any gift receipts that u guys bought each other etc.. also affidavits from ur close friends and relatives will also help.

Hi,

I went through TSC as we moved to NC in 2005. I submitted my application on the 4th September 2006 and got my receipt a few weeks later. I only just got the request for further info. Hope that helps.

Hi,

I just received a letter from the INS requesting that we send further evidence. I did wonder if this would happen as we dont have a lot of joint accounts. Basically my husband had horrible credit, was in debt due to student loans and we thought it would be a good idea for one of us to have good credit. We lived with his parents for the first year so we dont really have any joint accounts apart from gym mebership, health and life insurance which I already sent copies off. When we relocated to NC the lease was set up in my name as the landlord did a credit check but we have his name on a couple of things.

So right now I am busy finding anything and everything I can find, family greetings cards, letters of support from friends and family members.

We've also been going through some very rough times as a married couple the last 3 months, and we decided to seperate last week. He went back to his parental home in Cincinnati to find work and re-establish himself. My teaching contract runs out in NC in the Summer so I am stuck down here until then. We're still deciding what future we have and don't want to rush into anything. I'll be going up there durng Spring Break to talk further.

We got this letter from the INS the day after he went to Cincinnati, technically we still have a bona fide marriage albeit we have decided upon a trial seperation. Do I list this in my cover letter to the INS? Please advise.

Just a quick question about thte further process.

I received my greencard in Novenmber '05. It is valid for 2 yrs. So what do I apply for when my current permanent resident card expires?

Thanks

Kat

You will complete the I-751 form to have the conditions removed from your greencard. You do this up to 90 days before your current card expires. So you will file around August/September 2007.

Top 10 for me...nice

I wouldn't bother with the university of phoenix if I were you, unless a company is paying for you to go there. There's a reason why it's easier to get into than other universities.

I agree. I thought I'd do an online course, just for sure ease. I'm a teacher, and at that time was looking to do an MEd. Ohio dept of education won't even recognize their masters program.

I don't know!

I thought I'd post here though. I also have to have my condtions lifted. My CR-1 expires on 09/05/2006. I have a limited amount of evidence to send in as my husband does not have great credit so i really didn't want to get into the joint bank accounts etc. (he is the US citizen), likewise we rent a home so I put it through in my name. Prior to that we lived with his Mom for a year so we hardly have any bills.

I have the following:

Joint Federal Tax returns from 2004 and 2005

Joint electricty bill

Insurance policies that show husband as beneficiary

Gym memberships from 2004 - 2006

Affidavits from his Mom and Step-Dad

Copy of lease which mentions husband as occupant.

I think that will be enough...well I hope so it's all I have.