hilkka28586

I finally went to DMV office today and passed written test. But I was given not Learning Permit but Temporary Driver License - they said it was because I had the valid DL from my country. But I still need to take the driving test though... This temporary DL is valid for only 2 months (while Permit is good for a year, if I'm not mistaken)... So, if I don't take my driving test within these 2 months (we have the long lines here) - will I need to take the written test again???

One more thing: they seemed pretty unsure if they could accept my EAD as a prove of immigration status... They finally did but on my temporary DL it says: Not a Verified ID - and this a kind of bothers me... Tried to make an appointment for driving test online but the system says that I am ineligible... #######? Going to call them tomorrow and try to find out... Did anybody have the same thing?

JulianDavid, I had a similar experience except the DMV flat out refused to take my EAD as proof of legal status. They let me take the written test but said I would have to bring my green card in order to get my learner's permit. While I can see why an EAD isn't proof of immigration status (since obtaining EAD does not guarantee permanent residency), I don't see why it isn't a verified ID since it is US government issued in the first place

It just amazes me how many hoops they make you jump through for the simplest things! I got my permit at 16 years old and I have renewed my license several times since then. All they asked me for was my letter listing my tax id number (TIN) and a certified birth certificate that's it! I don't understand why they make so hard sometimes. Hopefully you can get things sorted out sooner than later and get out on the road =)

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got my SS card today in the mail and my interview letter. My interview is scheduled for June 8, 2009. Hopefully it all goes according to plan!

kcoyclay1: I'm sorry to read about the hard time you received! Hopefully they send you a welcome letter soon.

To everyone else who got good news the past couple days, CONGRATULATIONS!!

Went and applied for my social security today and the process was very simple. They didn't even ask to see our marriage certificate just my drivers license, passport, and EAD. She told me that I would have it in 10 days and if it hadn't gotten it in 2 weeks then I had to go back in and talk to someone. I'm so excited I even updated my resume and started looking for position openings this afternoon. Now I'm just waiting on some news of my green card **fingers crossed**

Congratulations to everyone who go some news this week!!

I received my EAD in the mail this afternoon =) :dance:

Going to apply for my SSN tomorrow =)

Hoping to get a letter some time soon for my interview.

Planning a trip home in July since I can travel on my K-3 visa, don't want it to cause problems with an interview.

For those who are considering naturalization they can apply for citizenship three years after they were initially granted their GC. According to the website, for those who apply for removal of conditions and received the permanent residency card through adjustment of Status due to marriage to a CITIZEN, you can apply for citizenship one year later which is a total of three years after being granted legal residency. The rule is simply three years after initial approval. Those who adjusted through marriage to a permanent resident will have to wait for 5 years to naturalize.

So it doesn't matter if you got a conditional GC or a ten year GC you have to wait 3 years to file for naturalization? I thought you only had to wait if you had a conditional GC.

hilkka28586, yes you have to wait 3 full years after receiving your first legal status.

hahaha sorry now i'm even more confused what do you mean by first legal status? because technically my first legal status would have been my k-3 visa, not so.

For those who are considering naturalization they can apply for citizenship three years after they were initially granted their GC. According to the website, for those who apply for removal of conditions and received the permanent residency card through adjustment of Status due to marriage to a CITIZEN, you can apply for citizenship one year later which is a total of three years after being granted legal residency. The rule is simply three years after initial approval. Those who adjusted through marriage to a permanent resident will have to wait for 5 years to naturalize.

So it doesn't matter if you got a conditional GC or a ten year GC you have to wait 3 years to file for naturalization? I thought you only had to wait if you had a conditional GC.

WOW i am soo happy for Hilkka, Hopefully Mine will come in soon as well. Its been over 95 Days!!, what kind of questions did they ask you? Also do you remember what options you selected to get through to a agent? Everytime i call i can never get directly to a agent.

Thanks.

I would definitely call and speak to an agent! dbears is correct, I just called the national number and as soon as the recorded voice came on I hit 123. An agent came right on (no wait time) and asked me if my case was pending and if it was based off someone in the military. She asked for my last name, first name, case number and alien number. She looked it up and I told her I wanted to file for a service request and she asked simple questions. Address, phone number (needed two), email address, date of receipt and that was basically it. She said that someone would pull my case and look into it and if they needed more information they would call me. If I hadnt heard from them via phone, email or mail in 45 days I needed to call back with the reference number she gave me. Luckily for me my cards production was ordered shortly after so I'm not thinking I will need to call again. I hope this is helpful for you and that you get yours soon too!!

Called this morning and filed a service request for my EAD, the woman asked a few questions and said if we hadn't heard from them in 45 days to call again. Not half hour later I was checking the status of my green card online (daily habit) and I decided to try my case number for my EAD again (once again habit) and to my surprise not only did it show up for the first time ever in their system but it also listed my status as production ordered. I'm not sure if it was a weird coincident or my call this morning but I'm happy either way. Hopefully it won't take the full 30 days to get here, I'm dying to get my SSN and file out taxes.

Congratulations to everyone who got good news this weekend/today!!

Got the dreaded request for information. Birth date incorrect on application. Correction necessary. Anyone experience this set back to EAD? How long these tings take?

Thanks

I got a one too almost a month ago...they told me that it does put your EAD process on hold. So basically you count from the day your request was issued till the day they receive your packet. Then add that to your 90 days and you have the amount of time it could take. The good news is that you can call on your 90 days (some people say 75 but I have been told 90 several time by USCIS) and ask for a service request on your case. That's what I get to do in the morning because it is my 90 day mark. Wish us luck =) and hopefully you hear some good news soon!

Does anyone know what happened with A&N or johnichka?? Both their cases have passed the estimated 90 days for the EAD and yet nothing has appeared in lure of an update. Just wondering because my 90 day mark is coming up quickly and I'm starting to worry a little.

i dont have my ead nor ap yet.. how come...and i dont see my status online yet.. is this normal guys?

I am in the same boat as you. No news on my EAD or AOS interview. I can see my AOS online but nothing on my EAD. Have called twice about both and all I get is that things are processing and if I don't hear anything by April 10 I should call back and they will look into it. I hate this endless waiting!! I hate getting excited every time I hear the mailman at the door! I am just thankful that I am 8 days away from being able to have someone look into it...I can call and hound people and actually have a reason. I hope and pray it doesn't come to that but at least its getting closer if I do.

We are in the same situation, I am waiting for either my EAD to come or an ITIN number so we can file our joint tax return. The local IRS office sent our Federal tax return to Texas along with the W-7 form (ITIN application) weeks ago and we have heard absolutely nothing! We are beginning to think that we may have to ask for an extension on the state tax return because we were told we could not file it until the ITIN number has been received.

Just want to warm you in you are filing taxes with a tax id number (ITIN) that you won't as much back in your returns compared to filing with a SSN. The difference for us would be just over $2,000 so we are waiting for my papers and have filed an extension till then. HR Block forgot to explain that to us last year and it really messed things up.

So I called the National Center yesterday and talked to a very nice operator then a horrible immigration officer. Both told me about 2-4% of cases never make it online. He also told me that the 90 day rule goes out the door on your EAD if you get any kind of request on your 485. He said to count the days from the date the request was mailed till they received the evidence, then to add another 5 days and add that to the 90 days. Part of me believes him and yet part of me doubts it cause I have seen some of your time lines where you have both (requests and approvals) in less than 90 days. Maybe I'm just destined to have the hard abnormal case because my I-130 and K-3 approval were so smooth.

Congratulations to all those who have received I-485 NOA2's and their EAD/AP's. I had my biometrics on March 13th and so far have no news from USCIS. As far as my I-485 application is concerned, it is non-existent online. Would anybody know how much time does it take to receive the SSN once applied after the EAD is issued. My understanding was that one receives it in 10 days or so, but somebody told me, now it takes more than 6-8 weeks. I hope I hear about my EAD/AP without RFE's

When we applied for my daughters SSN (shes a citizen) they told us the average for a brand new number was two weeks but it could take up to eight. We got her's in eight days so it just depends. My guess would be to plan on two weeks but it could take longer if they have some kind of issue. I understand the feeling about not hearing anything...my AOS finally came online but nothing about the EAD. Hopefully this week will bring good news for us all!!

Congratulations to everyone who got their EAD approvals.

We also filed in January and then were transferred to CSC. I have a question: I still couldn't figure out how to check if my application was checked/touched, etc on the USCIS website. Can anybody tell me exactly where I should look cause I'm confused.

Thanks a lot

Basically what someone means when they say their case was touched was that in their portfolio (where it tracks their applications on the uscis website) that the last updated date has changed. Theoretically it is supposed to change every time someone looks at your case or does something with it...however it doesn't always work that way. Does that make things a little easier to understand?

I know that the online cases aren't always reliable but I'm so happy that as of today I can view my AOS status online. Nothing yet on my EAD, but I have some restored faith in my case. Hopefully some good news is going to follow soon =)

My RIE packet was delivered today! Hopefully my things can get back on track ASAP.

we mailed our rie today, never thought i would enjoy my husband working midnight-8am but he got a new letter from work and we were able to mail it off this morning. question: they asked for 6 months pay stubs and i only had a couple (which i sent copies of with the application) so i included the w-2 from last year to prove how much he made. do you think that would be okay?

We might ask for extension for tax filing. We would most likely wait for the permanent residency card before filing. Hope we all get some good news soon.

I didn't even think about doing that...the difference between us filing without my ssn and with it is almost $3,000 and after this wonderful process we could use the extra money!!

Hi everyone, I've enjoyed reading this board for a while and as a fellow Jan filer thought it was about time I contributed. I'm currently on an L-1 but have filed a spousal AOS

Here's my timeline....

Package sent 6-Jan

NOA sent 12-Jan

NOA received 17-Jan

Biometrics 12-Feb

EAD ordered 12-Mar

AP approved 12-Mar

Interview date 9-Apr

Good luck to everyone...

congratulations on your speedy process!! it certainly gives us all hope =)

Today went from great to horrible in one simple letter. When picking up the mail my heart skipped a beat in excitement when I saw the envelope from the USCIS. Eagerly I opened the envelop expecting a interview letter or an approval of my EAD but as soon as I saw the pink letter my heart broke. One month exactly after my biometrics appointment, two months after I submitted my applications I get the dreaded RIE (request for initial evidence). Apparently the letter and amount of pay stubs we submitted weren't enough. So now I have to resubmit things and wait god knows how much longer. Does anyone know if this totally ruins any hopes of my EAD being approved in the next month (the total 90 days) or if this means I have to start all over again? I'm so annoyed right now and the worst is there is nothing I can do about it!!

I am sorry you had to receive RFE. Most RFE or RIE is for the AOS so I would assume the 90 max waiting time for EAD approval would still hold true and you can still request for expedite through infopass once the 90 days pass w/o any news on EAD. Just make sure you send your RFE reply the soonest. Hold on tight, we will soon receive our EADs and green cards.

Thank you so much for the encouragement!! It has been a long and hard day for my family...hopefully we can have everything in the mail by Saturday and there by Tuesday. I can't take much more of this waiting for my EAD....I need to get back to work and not to mention the fact that we need to file our taxes soon!! lol

Today went from great to horrible in one simple letter. When picking up the mail my heart skipped a beat in excitement when I saw the envelope from the USCIS. Eagerly I opened the envelop expecting a interview letter or an approval of my EAD but as soon as I saw the pink letter my heart broke. One month exactly after my biometrics appointment, two months after I submitted my applications I get the dreaded RIE (request for initial evidence). Apparently the letter and amount of pay stubs we submitted weren't enough. So now I have to resubmit things and wait god knows how much longer. Does anyone know if this totally ruins any hopes of my EAD being approved in the next month (the total 90 days) or if this means I have to start all over again? I'm so annoyed right now and the worst is there is nothing I can do about it!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I emailed Captain Ewok, he is basically the webmaster for VJ, and I told him about the time line issue several people were having. Long story short he fixed it and it's working again =)

Congrats on all the interview dates. Levi finally got his bio appointment letter. March 17th at 1pm Hopefully we all finish up quickly. Is anyone else getting bored? Levi hasn't worked in almost 6 months and he's sooooooo ready!

I totally understand the boredom! I have been a full time student and employee since I was 16-years-old. Now I'm stuck at home and although I too am taking classes and I'm a now a full time mom it's not the same. I have my own car and drivers license but I do miss contributing to my family. Its nice to have a little extra money, that I don't need to feel guilty asking my husband for. Hopefully we'll get our paperwork soon. Has anyone found cases where the EAD takes less than 3 months? Almost every case I have seen has taken 3 months or longer which is not very uplifting.

congratulations zoharulz and everyone else who got their interview appointments or transfer letters. hope we can all be so lucky!!

Apparently our EAD main site time line is not working right, cause now mine says it should have been adjudicated on January 10,2009 which was the day they accepted my packet. WEIRD!!!