rupa

Got my card in the mail on the 17th.

Wooo Hooooo!!!!!

Got the approval letter in the mail today! It was dated 01/09/2012. Now just waiting for the card.

I think I'm gonna get the citizen ship packet together now and just be done with this.

Good luck to all those who are waiting, it won't be long now!!

If it helps, My husband and I did our honeymoon in Puerto Rico and had a wonderful time. We left the day after the wedding and all I had was a marriage certificate, and my K1 visa in my passport and a Canadian Drivers Licence for ID. I am a Canadian citizen and had absolutely no problems getting there or even back into the U.S. It's just like flying from one state to another, you don't need a passport just photo id. You are not entering or leaving the US so even a drivers licence from another country would work, though I did show them my K1 visa just to be safe. They are familiar with K1 honeymooners and just flagged me through. My advice would be don't let people here scare you away from having the honeymoon of your dreams, it is a part of your life that you will remember forever, just be smart about it, stay in U.S. territory and make some wonderful memories.

got my boimetrics appointment it's 07/11/2011

Yikes! Thanks again!

Thanks so much!!

Received NOA today, it is dated 5/23/11, the day after they received it. Is that a new record for VSC?!?!?!? I see the same for Princess_Maricar, go VSC!

Anyway, it says that they received the amount of 590.00 but the check has not been cashed yet. Oh well, at least I got the letter.

Could someone update the table for me. I don't want to mess it up.

My husband and I would like to apply for Canadian passports for our two children who were born in the USA after our marriage. I am Canadian, he's American. We would like our kids to have dual citizenship just for the flexibility and for them to have the opportunity to work or live in either country in the future without hassle.

Does anyone out there have experience doing this, any advice or pointers?

Thanks

They received ours at VSC on a Saturday, although I don't think they have anyone actively processing them on the weekends. Congrats with being done!

Thanks, I decided to overnight it, so they can receive it tomorrow (saturday) and it will be ready and waiting for someone on Monday. I also overnighted the form to update our mailing address and the sponsors address. Oops, should have done that like 6 months ago hope they don't get upset with that.

I don't want to mess the table up but could someone add me, package sent on May 20 to Vermont.

O.K. It's 1:10am and I just finished putting the packet together. I'm going to mail it first thing when the post office opens today, probably send it next day delivery. But do they receive packages on a Saturday? It's headed to VSC, good luck everyone and nice to see some familiar names.

Thanks so much everyone, I appreciate the info!!

Hi there VJ'ers,

Long time no see. I'm starting to think about the removal of conditions/10 year GC process even though it is still about 4 months away for me. I have kind of a dumb question though and have not been able to come across the answer yet...

Do you have to do removal of conditions/apply for 10 year GC first or can you go straight to applying for citizenship? I went through the K1 process and will have been married three years this July. I thought I remember reading somewhere that if you had been married 3 years to a service member (husband is Navy) that you can apply for citizenship after 3 years. I am definitely on the citizenship path as I have two little ones born here in the past two years that are American Citizens and as their Mommy I do not want to risk any possibility of immigration issues that may separate me from them, especially if/when husband is deployed. We travel a lot between Canada and US and I'm always nervous that for some stupid reason the border guards will let my babies in but not me.

So I guess in essence my question is what is the quickest path to citizenship?

It also seems like a waste of money and time to have to get the 10 year GC first if I'll be applying for Citizenship only a few months after......

Thanks to anyone who has a comment.

Wow thanks guys,

I appreciate all the help. I will definitely try to get the expedited passport for myself while in Canada. I read up on all the links people posted and called a few of the numbers and you definitely need a passport to re-enter the US when flying even for a newborn. I think you can still get in with a birth certificate if you are under 16 and crossing by land. Anyway, I talked it over with Hubby and we're going to try to get a passport for the little one to avoid any hassle at the border on either side.

We are going to be in Seattle for a few days before flying to Canada. The lady I talked to at the passport office told me about their regional offices scattered around the country. There are several regional passport offices around the US where you can get a passport in as little as a day and there is one in Seattle thankfully. I guess so long as your your travel date is within two weeks you can apply in person for a rush passport. It will cost 85$ plus another 60$ for the rush, but at least we'll have it. Apparently it is tricky to get an appointment in Seattle, you have to book by an automated phone system no sooner than two weeks from your departure date, but we're going to try our best. I know it's pushing it, my own dumb fault for not realizing we needed it earlier, if the rush passport thing doesn't work out, I guess we drive across and catch a flight home on the state side.

Thanks everyone for the links and the help.

Rupa

Hi VJers Hope everyone is well.

I hope there is someone out there with some recent experience with this. My husband and I will be flying into Canada together with our 5 month old. It's the first time I will have been back to Canada since leaving on my K1 Visa to get married a year and a half ago. I have a green card and military ID (my passport is about to expire) My husband has a US passport. My husband and I are traveling together.

The question I have......

1) Is a birth certificate for my baby enough to get her into Canada when traveling by air. We have no photo ID for her yet and she is not on either of our passports yet.

2) Is a birth certificate sufficient to get our baby back into the US.

My biggest concern is the recent requirement for passports for all travelers to the US. Does that apply to babies as well? I've read all the customs and TSA sites and they contradict each other so I am confused.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

HOLY #######!!!!!

Just for the heck of it I logged onto USCIS right after I posted and BAM!!!

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On July 13, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

I am FLIPPING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!!! :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Laura, I'm so happy for you!!! I've been checking back every few days to see if yours had come through yet. Congrats!!!! It took me about 2 1/2 weeks to actually get the card. But have a wonderful summer and so long USCIS for a couple years!!

Best wishes.

Rupa

Got greencard in mail yesterday. Woot woot. Laura, yours must not be too far behind. Still rooting for ya.

Got the welcome letter today. Now just waiting for the card.

Laura and Nick, hope yours is not too far behind!

I got an e-mail today - Card production ordered! I am approved! Finally! I think getting my congresswoman involved helped some. I don't think they liked getting poked with a big sharp stick.

O.K. heard back from our congress woman. Here's the down low:

I have passed the FBI's security and background checks, but for some reason, USCIS does not think that is good enough. They have placed my file on hold until they can complete their own background check. This second check will take an indefinite amount of time.

She stated that the California service center is the worst one in the country and she has encountered many problems before with her constituents in processing delays and seemingly ambiguous reasons for them. She can not get an explanation from them as to why my file was transferred there. She acknowledges that it is likely that there will be no interview but can not understand why the delays are so out of step with all the other centers and why California is so bad at processing 1-485's.

She has called them twice in one day and followed up with an e-mail, both times to the officer responsible for responding to congressional requests. The officer is REQUIRED to respond to her within 24 hours. He/She never did. She was able to find out the above from speaking with someone else. Needless to say my congress woman is as befuddled and disappointed as I am. All she was able to do was take copies of all the letters and case status reports I've received from USCIS and start her own file on me and promised that they will monitor and follow up on it along with the other complaints they have about the California service center.

So other than feeling like I've really been screwed over, it appears there is nothing to do but wait for the bureaucratic inefficiency of this process to run its course and just get on with life. I am tempted to ask our congress woman though at what point can we and others call foul and demand some accountability and efficiency in the process ?!?!?!

o.k. believe this or not, I was turned away from my infopass appointment yesterday, my husband and I made the appointment on line. When I got there, they said they had no record of the appointment booking and I'd have to go home do it again. I was pretty proud of myself for not cursing at the officer and just getting back in my car and calmly driving home.

My husband bless his heart, called our congress person yesterday after that debacle and told her about our situation and that we appear to have been left behind and are beyond reasonable processing times. She took all our information from us and said she will find out what's going on and get back to us, so here's hoping.

Just thought I'd leave a note for the Sept filers still waiting for their "standard" processing at CSC. I called the USCIS misinformation line to request another update on my file as it's been 60 days since I requested the last update and no communication from CSC since November 2008 regarding my AOS. The guy I spoke with said, "it appears that CSC does not even process these types of applications, they do not have timelines for AOS based on family immigration, so I don't see how they could have your application." At this point I wanted to scream!! The ineptitude of this organization is unbelievable.

Anyway rant over. My husband was sitting there and watched me blow my fuse and said "let me call back and see if I can get anything different." He did call and got another request for status ID reference# so they will probably just send us another letter saying that it's in standard processing. They did recommend I make an infopass appointment as at least they agreed that it has been too long. So we made one on line, it's tomorrow morning. I'm not expecting much, but I figure from now on I'm going to keep pressing them at every venue I have. Depending how the infopass appt. goes, we'll be calling our congressman or senator later this week.

I'm 5 weeks away from my due date and am starting to feel anxious about not having a green card yet. I'm worried about not having any legal status with the little one coming soon and what implications that may have. I'm a military wife so at least we get medical care through the base hospital, but it's just un nerving not having any recognized right to be here.

My husband and I just got back from a three week trip and I was anxious to check the mailbox when we got home and STILL no stinkin green card. Who else is still waiting that has their file at CSC? This is nutz, they are processing october filers like there is no tomorrow and I've never had one RFE not even a touch since being transferred. This is driving me CRAZY. USCIS sent me a letter saying that it is still in standard processing after I called to inquire. I need my green card to unlock an RRSP in Canada for a down payment among other things, not to mention the little one will be born in a few months, it would make things so much easier if it would come soon.

Congratulations to all those September filers that have received their green card.

Glyn has still not received her green card or schedule for an interview. It has been at the California Service Center since October 2008 and has not been touched since January 2009. Any thoughts or ideas about this??

I'm in a similar situation. All I can say is that I called USCIS to find out where my application was at as it appeared I had fallen outside the processing timelines. They sent me a letter about two weeks later saying that I had passed the FBI name checks etc and my file was awaiting standard processing. I guess there are a few unlucky ones like me who ended up on the bottom of the pile on someone's desk that doesn't feel inclined to get to them very soon.

I'm starting to get very frustrated, but hoping that I will see something in the next month.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.....hope GC comes soon. I called USCIS today and they filed an inquiry for me with CSC, said that I should hear in 45 days. Grrrr! . I really hope nothing is amiss at this point. I have heard nothing from them since it was transferred. I guess I'm officially outside the processing timelines now. Its annoying when they update their processing dates on line while people are still behind them.

Can you use the AP document over and over or is it a one time use thing???

Hi Laura,

I read another post somewhere where a lady used her advance parole several times. the way it works is that you get two duplicate copies. you show both to customs upon your return, they keep one and stamp the other. You can keep using the stamped one until it expires, for making multiple entries. I also saw someone give the advice of making a copy of your AP also, just so you have an extra on hand. I'm not sure what they do if they have to stamp it mltiple times for multiple visits, but hopefully the green card won't be too far behind. Hope that helps. Sorry I can't find the post I read it in.

Rupa