haiku

Just for an update now that I've landed in the USA: One week after entering on my CR1, I went down to my nearest SSA office and update my status, pre-filling my data online. I also had to update my name as the Bern Embassy used the German spelling of my surname. I took my passport with the I555 stamp, birth certificate and my old social security card. I had to wait about 90 minutes (expected wait time was 160 minutes, but I got through faster) and the guy at the counter was super helpful. All in all, a very pain free process!

Thanks for sharing your experience, much appreciated!

Thanks to everyone for their responses - I'll give it a few days after arriving, and then check with my local SSO.

Hi Everyone, I have a SSN from 2005 when I was on a J-1 visa (working a winter season as a student). We used this SSN on my visa application. I will be entering on my CR1 visa in February and I am not sure what needs to happen with my SSN (the guy at the embassy couldn't tell me either). Is the most sensible answer just to call the SSO when I'm in the USA? Or do I need to just change my work status (https://faq.ssa.gov/en-US/Topic/article/KA-01436)? Or has anyone dealt with this situation and is aware of the steps that I need to take? Happy Holidays to all and many thanks in advance! Heike

Hello! I've been struggling with the police certificate since October last year They rejected me twice...I am Australian but currently residing in Switzerland, so had my interview here in Bern.

My addition neither invalidates nor contradicts contributions already made Just gives the OP additional information, hopefully helpful to them.

I am Australian and had my interview in Switzerland. At some stage in the process I did provide evidence of my right to stay, live, work in Switzerland.

It is very straightforward to get the Police Certificate from Australia, so you may as well get it. That being said, I was asked to provide police certificates from countries where I had spent less than 6 months in - I scanned the USCIS guidance and wrote a note about my travel dates into and out of the country. This was accepted and I did not have to provide these police certificates. I did not go to the effort to get police certificates as it was very hard to do when not applying in person.

Our RFEs: - Australian police certificate - CHECK the code. And I suggest to just to do the fingerprint ones, even though USCIS says this is optional. - birth certificate - LONG FORM is needed - W2 - if you do not have a W2 because you are working abroad, write a letter explaining why you do not have a W2 - sign everything by hand, even the electronic forms. Print, sign scan - electronic signatures will be rejected

Hi Ozzac! We got an RFE for the W2s as well, even though my husband was clearly not receiving W2s as he was employed in Switzerland. We called NVC and they advised to write a letter stating why he had no W2s. He also attached his and my Swiss payslips. I had no issue with the Swiss Police Certificate, but we had a whole saga about my Australian one I am really sorry, but yes, we went back into the queue and our documents were reviewed around 2.5-3 months later...

Just for a final bit of feedback from me - I had my interview on Tuesday and my visa in hand on Thursday. They are definitely very fast

Hi Mebus and all, I ended up getting the fingerprint check done, as well as the name check putting both the Australian and German Spelling of my name. Finally got approved when I brought it to the interview. We called NVC several times and they could not tell us why they were wrong. I think we were just unlucky, which set us back almost 6 months... When the consular official looked at them during the interview there was no problem at all and both were accepted. Good Luck! Heike

Hi Chanel, unfortunately they never responded to my review. I called back after 6 weeks and that was actually when they had closed their phone line due to high volume of work. I wrote in an email and never got a response. In the end we put in for an expedite request which was accepted. My case is now with the embassy in Bern and I will bring in my certificates to the interview. I requested two new certificates - one the same as above but with the German spelling of my name (with an umlaut), and I did another one with fingerprints. If I figure out what went wrong, I will let you know!

Congrats! It was a matter of days for us, I am sure you will hear soon. We got an appointment one month later, but actually had to change it, so then we got an appointment 2 months later.

Hi Ozzac, we have been at NVC since August 2021. Several documents had to be fixed in the first round of feedback (Jan 22) and then one last document was rejected (again) in the April 2022 feedback. We called NVC 3 times to understand why it was rejected, and the officers on the phone could not tell us. They put the document in for a review, which was supposed to take 4 to 6 weeks. We heard no news after 6 weeks, so ended up putting in an expedite request (totally separate reason, but we were waiting to see if we had to use it or not). Our expedite request got approved on 10th and I'll have an interview in mid-July! All the best to you, I know the waiting and uncertainty is REALLY stressful.