nra19

Hello all.

I recently arrived in the States and was wondering how people obtained credit. I have got my SSN, started work, opended a bank account with First Federal and got a Visa Debit card. I now want to slowly get my credit up as I'm starting afresh. I don't want to go in too heavy and apply for Visa or Mastercards as I will more and likely get refused. Can anyone give me advice on how to build my credit history up as I am considering going onto a phone plan with Altel?

Thanks

Alltel will require a deposit (Verizon charges $400, refundable after a year) and so using their phone plan and paying promptly will help you develop a credit rating. Meanwhile, after a few months you can apply for a credit card thru your bank with a very small credit limit ($500 perhaps). In view of the amount of credit fraud in the US, it is not easy for someone from overseas to establish a positive credit rating. A friend, a clergyman, had an excellent record with a Master Card in the Philippines but could not qualify in the U.S.

Phone companies do not report to credit rating agencies every month - so a cell phone wont build credit.

It can, however, ruin your credit. They only report if you run up charges and do not pay for them. Then it will go on as a negative item your report.

Hi ,

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. My husband was going thhrough jobs here in usa . In the website Federal Jobs he found this position.

"Contract Specialist, GS-1102-07

SALARY RANGE: 32,534.00 - 42,290.00 USD per year OPEN PERIOD: Monday, March 24, 2008

to Monday, March 23, 2009

SERIES & GRADE: GS-1102-07 POSITION INFORMATION: Full Time Career/Career Conditional

PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 14 DUTY LOCATIONS: Many vacancies - Throughout The Nation, US

WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED: US Citizens and Status Candidates

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

U.S. Citizenship

Background Security Investigation

Residency in the U.S. for the last 3 years (see explanation) "

what does Status Candidates mean ? does it mean he can apply with his 2 yr conditional green card ? I may be asking something really silly. But we just wanted to be sure. Thanks

A Status candidate is a person who has completed the probationary period under the career-conditional employment system, also known as an employee with competitive status.

Competitive status is a person's basic eligibility for assignment (e.g., by transfer, promotion, reassignment, demotion, or reinstatement) to a position in the competitive service without having to compete with members of the general public in an open competitive examination. When a vacancy announcement indicates that status candidates are eligible to apply, career employees and career-conditional employees who have served at least 90 days after competitive appointment may apply. Once acquired, status belongs to the individual, not to a position.

Thanks ..... but as you say "A Status candidate is a person who has completed the probationary period under the career-conditional employment system, also known as an employee with competitive status. " BUt who can complete the probationary period ? can condiitonal GC holders do it ? so what he has to do ? any guesses ? any exam to appear in ? dont know if i understood you right or not ... Thanks

Federal jobs are only open to US Citizens.

great post!

I HATE SAYING THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN; BUT HERE IT GOES:

The temp EAD stamp is NOT USELESS!!!!!

Especially for people who already lived in the US for a while and have their SSN already it can be VERY usefull!

If your MAIN PRIORITY is working, than it is well worth it!

I got it, and it took me 5 weeks to find a job, and we filed for AOS 10 days after I arrived here.

If your main priority is working, get hitched right after arrival and file for AOS right away.

BUT PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT IT IS USELESS JUST BECAUSE YOUR SPOUSE NEEDED TIME TO ADJUST OR DOESN't PLAN ON WORKING AT ALL!!!!!!!

spouses who didn't live in the US before and who are having language problems might need time to adjust.

but if somebody already lived in the US, has a SSN and wants to work right away IT CAN ME WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it ist just a conscious decision: I wanted to work right away so we got hitched after work in the courthouse and filed for AOS 4 days later. If working is priority B or C or there is no plan to ever work, then please don't tell me it's worthless.

dang!

I agree with you 100%!! My husband got the temp EAD and started working 3 weeks after arriving. definitely USEFUL!

His SS card should say "VALID WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION", most k-1 do since the K1 visa in itself is not a work authorization. If it does say that, I believe that you can go to SSA and get a card with no restrictions now that you have the EAD, but I'm not 100% sure, so don't just take my word for it.

If there is no restriction on his card, you don't have to do anything.

You can only get the "valid with dhs authorization" removed once you get the GREENCARD!

Our case was approved Sep 9th. We received the welcome letter last week, which stated that the card should be arriving within three weeks of the letter. No card yet.

I don't think you have anything to worry about... just be patient.

hello i got a letter for USCIS for an interview schedule and it will be on Nov 4, 2008 at 1pm at the local office here in Oregon.

I hope everything will turn out well.

bluebelle

Isn't that election day? Good day to get a GC approval!

Yeah that is election day... I am surprised that a Federal agency would be open on that date. I am a municipal employee and we have the day off. Are you sure the interview is on the 4th???

I received my rfe yesterday. They said my husband's medical is lost. They said it was not in the file which he crossed the border with. He said the border official opened the envelope had a checklist and stated everything was in order so it has been lost in the rigamarow. I called USCIS and asked if we could get the other medical from his doctor in Egypt and they said absolutely not. That he is now in the US, the medical should have been here and he has to go and have it redone, the entire medical check not just transferring the immunizations. We have only until 10/6 to do this. So, we made the appointment for next Tuesday. It will cost a minimum of 200.00. I am so upset because we just paid to have this done in February.

If you can get a copy of the medical from Egypt, do it and send it in response to the RFE.

I got the same RFE. I sent in a copy of the medical from DR and the receipts from the medical - the case was approved.

OR you can take it up with your congressman. They can contact USCIS on your behalf. You already paid for the medical exam and its not your fault that USCIS lost it...

I contacted my senators office and they stated that we should go ahead and get the physical redone. They have seen this before and most of the time it can not be relocated. It makes me crazy knowing it was lost and there is a trend of this starting.

Argh! I'm Sorry!

We were able to get the SSN after we got married (entered on K1). We brought the marriage certificate to show proof of name change and had SSN issued in new name. All before we had filed for AOS.

Same here. Got social after marriage... no problems.

I received my rfe yesterday. They said my husband's medical is lost. They said it was not in the file which he crossed the border with. He said the border official opened the envelope had a checklist and stated everything was in order so it has been lost in the rigamarow. I called USCIS and asked if we could get the other medical from his doctor in Egypt and they said absolutely not. That he is now in the US, the medical should have been here and he has to go and have it redone, the entire medical check not just transferring the immunizations. We have only until 10/6 to do this. So, we made the appointment for next Tuesday. It will cost a minimum of 200.00. I am so upset because we just paid to have this done in February.

If you can get a copy of the medical from Egypt, do it and send it in response to the RFE.

I got the same RFE. I sent in a copy of the medical from DR and the receipts from the medical - the case was approved.

OR you can take it up with your congressman. They can contact USCIS on your behalf. You already paid for the medical exam and its not your fault that USCIS lost it...

I sent paperwork on 6/16/08 I got an RFE 8/22/08.

You can definitely still get an RFE after the first month. Several people in the June filers group - including myself, received RFEs AFTER their paperwork had been transferred to Cali.

Hi everyone,

I hope I'm posting this in the right section. Please move it if it's not.

I am the USC who petitioned my K1 visa fiance. He arrived on Aug 27. He will turn 26 in November. After getting married (this wk), we're going to start the Adjustment of Status.

So when does he register for the Selective Service? If he receives his LPR before he turns 26, is that when he registers? Or does he do it now even though his status is still K1?

Thanks,

nm

My husband entered on a K1 in June. We didn't fill out any paperwork for selective service. His proof of registration for selective service just came automatically. It arrived about a month ago.

So, do not worry about it. It will be done for you with you having to lift a finger...

:dance: SOOO EXCITED!!!

I got an email this morning stating that USCIS received the RFE info and that the case had resumed.

I just checked my mail when i got home and .....

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

YAY!!!

I am so glad to be done with immigration for the next couple of years!!!!

Congrats! What was the RFE for? Transferred to CSC July 31st and still nothing here???? Maybe some touch or approval manana

The RFE requested that a Medical exam and vaccinations be performed because there was no record of neither in my husband's immigration file. I was rather angry when I got the RFE because he obviously got the medical - the consulate wouldn't issue a k1 visa without one... AND we paid an extra $98 on top of the medical exam fee to get all vaccines done while he was at the clinic to get the medical.

Lucky for us, when we entered the US I had asked the officer at POE for a copy of the Medical Report and he made a copy for us - he just went to ask his supervisor if it was ok and came back a few minutes later and told us that he had permission to make the copies. I also had 2 separate receipts from the clinic the embassy uses for immigration medical exams - 1 for the medical exam and 1`for the vaccinations required for an immigrant .

In response to the RFE I sent a letter explaining that the medical and vaccines were completed in the Dominican Republic within the past year, and attached a copy of the medical exam, the receipts, and English translation of the receipts.

If I hadn't asked for the copies we would have had to dish out MORE money for an exam and vaccines that we had already paid for. OR tried to fight USCIS through my congressman. Either way, I would NOT have been very happy....

I am definitely glad its done with!

:dance: SOOO EXCITED!!!

I got an email this morning stating that USCIS received the RFE info and that the case had resumed.

I just checked my mail when i got home and .....

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

YAY!!!

I am so glad to be done with immigration for the next couple of years!!!!

Congrats! I got another email today too saying I485 is approved. Thanks God!

YAY!! congrats to you too!!!

:dance: SOOO EXCITED!!!

I got an email this morning stating that USCIS received the RFE info and that the case had resumed.

I just checked my mail when i got home and .....

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

YAY!!!

I am so glad to be done with immigration for the next couple of years!!!!

Anybody else from the June filers receive an RFE at any point? I saw one poster did and he/she just received approval for his/her EAD a couple days ago. I assume that poster hasn't heard anything about the AP, which is what my wife is really interested in. It sounds like it is still going to take forever. We've had no approvals for anything.

How long is it taking for the EAD and AP to arrive in the mail after approval?

We got an RFE and have received EAD and AP

We received the RFE. Apparently USCIS lost the medical exam documentation cause they are asking for a medical exam and vaccine documentation.. I'm so pissed! How did they loose DOCUMENTS??!!!

Anyways I asked for a copy of the exam at POE when my husband entered the US. so at least I can send that to them and avoid dishing out more money for an exam that was already done. I also have the receipts for the money that we paid the doctor in the Dominican Republic for the exam and the vaccines.

ARRRGH!!!!

i am just mad cause we are being delayed for a mistake that USCIS has made!

Our application got action today again.. but for an RFE I guess I will have to be patient and see it is that they want

An RFE from CSC? Well at least you have your EAD approved already!!!

Thats true...

Our application got action today again.. but for an RFE I guess I will have to be patient and see it is that they want

I just wanted to encourage all the foreign fiancees and spouses to learn English in your country before coming to the US. The English courses in the US are very expensive. There are free courses offered by the government in some cities but for the most part you have to pay. And it's usually much cheaper in your home countries. With all the costs involved in bringing a person over, you don't need the added expense for an English course. But it's not just about the money. In your home country the teachers usually speak your language, so they can explain complex things better than here.

My wife could have taken classes back home for $40/month and the teacher spoke Spanish so he could've explained things clearly. She chose not to for various reasons. And now she's struggling with it. She has improved a lot since coming here in late May, but it's not easy. Here, a class in a community college costs about $1,000 for about 6-8 weeks. The "better" (more popular) private ESL schools charge over $2,000. My wife is taking a class now where the majority of the class is struggling to keep up. I'm teaching her at home as much as I can, but I thought I wouldn't need to if she took a class.

Bottom line: if your English is weak, study before coming to the US. It will save you stress, time, and money.

Why are you paying so much for English classes for your wife?? You live in NYC - there are TOOOONS of organizations that offer free English classes....

We got a touch today as well... How weird is it that sooo many cases in Cali got touched today.

YAY!!!!

Application Type: I765 , APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION

Current Status: Card production ordered.

WOW! THATS SUPER FAST!! congrats!!!!!

Thanks.

I'll probably end up getting a bulk discount at Walgreens for passport photos before my process is done....

Funny thing is that the picture on the EAD is the one they take at the biometrics appointment.

That's true . I wonder what they did on the pictures I inlcuded in my EAD application

THe pics you send get stapled to you application and stay in your file.