mico1989Athens

Hello, we entered with cr1 visa this week. We are told to wait to recieve green card and ssn in mail in couple of months.

Please help me with 2 questions:

1 - While waiting is there anything we have to submit or do (time sensitive)? for example; submitting our address to uscis or any other place?

2 - Can my spouse get a drivers licence or credit card or bank account without ssn? should we wait for ssn first?

thank you in advance.

On 6/12/2025 at 3:32 PM, appleblossom said:

 

Congrats! If you've paid the green card fee, then yes, it will come within approx 90 days - you can track it using the receipt number.

 

SSN's used to be mailed automatically within 2 weeks if you selected that option on the DS-260. But I think that's changed, give it a couple of weeks and see if it arrives, if not then s/he'll need to go to a SSA office and apply in person.

 

Follow the links at the bottom of the page here for more info - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/step-12-after-the-interview.html

thank you, i reviewed it and i am aware of green card and ssn process but i am wondering if there is any other action we need to take

for example; submitting an address to uscis?

or any time sensitive action?

On 6/12/2025 at 11:07 PM, JeanneAdil said:

As of early 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) have stopped automatically communicating about Social Security Numbers (SSNs). This means that USCIS no longer automatically sends applicants' information to the SSA after approving employment authorization documents (EADs) or naturalization. As a result, applicants will need to take additional steps to obtain an SSN or update their citizenship status: 

 

made appointment as nearest SS office and apply (form is online to do ahead of appointment)

thank you for information. can she go to the ss office with just a passport and apply?

does it have to be specific ss office or any ss office is fine?

hello and i want to say thank you to all for support during this process. i wish everyone to success and hapiness. 

my spouse entered the usa with cr1 visa today.

i want to know what we need to do at this point?

we were told we will get green card in mail in 3 months.

do we need to apply for social security card? or is it going to be mailed automatically?

please share if we need to notify any office or place for my spouse after entering the country.

thank you.

Hello I paid $235 for my spouse before he travels to usa.

i only got a confirmation page that says "you paid your fee" message.

Should I verify that payment is accepted? 

What can be the next step/requirement until we travel to usa?

thank you in advance.

Hello community, my spouse has cr1 visa and we will be flying into miami airport next week.

I will be flying with my spouse. I'm not sure if I need to research what to expect at the border.

My questions are:

1 - Do I (us citizen) wait in the line with my foreign spouse? Can we both go in US CITIZENS line? She has Greek and Albanian passport.

2 - Is everyone going into secondary inspection? Do I (Us citizen) go into inspection with my spouse?

3 - Are we going to be questioned by border agents again? 

I don't need to worry about anything but I am type of person who just want to know what to expect in general.

If anyone provides info from experience, i would appreciate thank you.

38 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Both numbers are on the visa itself:

A Number = Registration Number

DOS Case number is 3 letters and following numbers (NVC Case #)

thank you, so DOS Case number is same as NVC case # right?

Hello community, my i just got my passport with my cr1 visa. I will travel to usa soon.

I need to pay my immigrant fee here:https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-fees/uscis-immigrant-fee

It says "need your Alien Number (A-Number) and Department of State (DOS) Case ID."

What is the DOS case ID? is it the visa number or my NVC case number?

Anyone knows?

Much thanks

hello, i was previously heard that embassy must give a sealed envelope to bring with us to the us border, however my spouse was told visa was approved but no folder or document (even a single page) was given. is this normal?

our doctor also didn't give us anything after medical exam.

On 3/28/2025 at 12:54 PM, OldUser said:

You need to enter the US before your spouse. I'd go to the window together.

You can pay it before or after. The sooner you pay, the quicker your wife will receive GC.

thank you, how do we pay this? can you please explain? do we need her passport to be delivered before paying? are we paying it online with credit card?

On 3/28/2025 at 7:18 PM, pushbrk said:

Pay the fee online ASAP.  Ask when you get to the POE, but stay together, so it is clear she is not entering before you.

my spouse didn't get the passport from embassy yet, can we still pay? 

where do we pay it? is it online?

thank you!!

hello dear community we are close to the finish line and i hope everyone gets good news.

can you please clarify my doubts about arriving to usa with my spouse who has cr1 visa on passport?

1 - i am us citizen, do i need to wait with her in the non-us citizen lane at the airport?

2 - besides the passport with cr1 visa, do we need to have any other documents ready? 

3 - we don't have any medical reports, it was sent to embassy online, do we need to have them to enter to usa?

4 - i hear there is a uscis fee to pay, do we pay it before arriving to the usa?

thank you in advance for anyone who can help with these questions

We are in same sitaution, why is this happening? did anyone find out??

I uploaded my naturalization certificate as proof of my citizenship

also i uploaded my car registration as proof of my domice.

they are both accepted by nvc and now we have interview date.

do i have to mail originals of my naturalization and car registration to my wife for her to bring it to interview?

Do we need to mail originals of documents like this (passport, naturlization, drivers licence etc)? 

i keep getting mixed replies when i posted this under a post under cr1 forum, just want to make sure i'm not making a mistake.

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Yes

thank you for reply, just to clarify: do you also suggest I should refile I864 and upload it to NVC before interview?

It seems like they just updated the form. 

I will need to fill it with a new date and mail to my spouse, but I'm wondering if it is mandatory.

Thanks to all suggestions from other members.

I am just hearing mixed answers about this subject so wanted to ask again, sorry if i am asking again..

I uploaded a scan of my car registration and house bills as proof of my domicile and it was accepted.

On the embassy website, they say bring ORIGINALS of documents we uploaded nvc, does that mean, i need to mail my original car registration to my spouse so we can bring it to interview? 

On 2/8/2025 at 11:27 AM, nelmagriffin said:

You must always download any documents before the interview. At CEAC you just add another document and put the title to it just like how download the rest of the documents.

Ty. NG

On 2/8/2025 at 10:28 AM, lilsweetie said:

You can upload docs up to the interview and also bring it in person of course. We had an updated doc and brought it in person. They asked us to also upload it after the interview, should have done it before.

thank you i will upload more documents. can you help me understand one last question:

i uploaded my car registration as proof of my domicile and it was accepted.

now they say bring ORIGINALS of documents we uploaded nvc, does that mean, i need to mail my original car registration to my spouse so we can bring it to interview? 

On 2/8/2025 at 8:51 PM, pushbrk said:

If you can, yes.  Where is the document you scanned.  Where is the PDF you printed before your signed and scanned?  Did you lose those?

i have a copy of it, but can my spouse print it and bring?

i just filled it on paper, scanned and uploaded to nvc. i have a scanned copy of it.

can we just re-print it for interview?

On 1/30/2025 at 10:50 PM, Edward and Jaycel said:

Yes and the supporting documents that go with it.

Hello, my spouse needs to bring  I-864 affidavit of support that I(petitioner) signed and uploaded to NVC.

Is it okay if we just download and print and bring it to interview? I don't have the original form that i filled last year to upload CEAC.

Is there an "original" version of this form or will it be fine if we just bring what we uploaded to NVC?

thanks.

On 2/5/2025 at 3:48 PM, Lil bear said:

Petitioners original documents are not required. Originals of  beneficiary’s  documents uploaded into CEAC are required. Plus hard  copies of financial documents used for meeting the financial support requirements 

thank you, for financial document you mentioned....

one other document they asked us to bring is I864 affidavit of support which I filled for my spouse and uploaded to NVC portal.

Do I simply download it and print it to bring to interview? I don't have a hard copy of it (I previously printed, signed and scaned to upload)

Is it okay if we just download what is in CEAC and bring it to interview?

On 2/5/2025 at 9:55 PM, pushbrk said:

Correct.  There is no practical difference between a photocopy and a scanned, emailed, and locally printed document.  That's because a "photocopier" simply scans and prints as a single function, instead of two functions in two locations the other way.

hi again and thank you for reply.

one other document they asked us to bring is I864 affidavit of support which I filled for my spouse and uploaded to NVC portal.

Do I simply download it and print it to bring to interview? I don't have a hard copy of it (I previously printed, signed and scaned to upload)

Is it okay if we just download what is in CEAC and bring it to interview?

Hello, my spouse has an upcoming interview at the embassy.

I read that I should upload if any document is new to CEAC before the interview.

Only new document we have is police clearance because it is now 7 months old.

I can't find an upload button on CEAC, do we have to upload this to CEAC/NVC portal before interview?

Is updating/uploading a document going to cause any issue if we are not supposed to touch there?

Is it okay if we just bring this paper to interview but not upload? 

thank you.

Hello, I have the same issue. Only document we had to get "new" is police clearance because it was 7 months old when we uploaded.

Do we need to upload it to CEAC before interview? 

4 hours ago, pushbrk said:

What people are calling "originals" are for applicant documents.  You are the petitioner.  Any kind of copy of your documents would be fine for your spouse to carry to the interview.  So, no need to "mail" YOUR divorce decree.

thank you so much, so original post is the beneficiary/applicant? posts like this made me confuse, that's why i asked.

32 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

Different type of case - the OP’s was spousal. If yours had been, a copy wouldn’t have sufficed either (unless certfied as said above). https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html#pre_interview_checklist

17 hours ago, Ryanmaria2018 said:

It might be different from embassies to embassies. My step daughter had her interview last month at the US embassy in Manila and I sent copies of my divorce papers from a previous marriage. There were no issues with having copies. 

On 1/23/2025 at 1:33 PM, OldUser said:

That's pretty bad. Looks like your lawyer isn't fully competent...

On 1/3/2025 at 8:09 PM, pushbrk said:

There are three kinds of copies of "divorce papers".  A copy your lawyer gave you, a certified copy from the court or state records, and a photocopy of a certified copy.  Any of the three can confuse certain individuals. I was adding to what you said, not correcting you.

 

For my latest divorce, the court requested me to provide four originals.  On the spot, the judge signed all four.  The court kept one and the clerks certified the other three to give to me.  It can be done any way the local court decides to do it.  If a person doesn't know the difference, there's room for error.

This is my biggest fear  i'm just confused about it. sorry i have asked it before and still not clear.

I (US CITIZEN) have my certified divorce degree in paper and in pdf, they are both sealed and signed and in color.

I uploaded this to NVC before interview scheduled. Also, we sent this to USCIS when filed I130.

I got the same document (with seal, color, signature) in pdf from my city office.

Is it okay if i forward it to my spouse abroad to bring to interview?

ONLY difference is, paper version has raised signature, and everything else is the same.

Both PDF and Paper says "certified divorce decree"

Do i have to pyhsically mail the paper with raised signature? 

Some people said, only beneficiary spouse's documents must be in original. 

If anyone can clear my doubt, i will appreciate. 

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

For applicant divorce decrees, the original "certified copy" is required.  For the petitioner a copy of a certified copy is ok.  Note that scan, email, and print, is the same as a "photocopy".

hi pushbrk, thank you,

my spouse (beneficiary) needs to bring originals of HER documents.

i think i am(US citizen) is the petitioner and if i scan(photocopy) my documents (certified divorce, financial etc) and send it to my wife, it will be fine right?

i mean, if we scan, email and print my(petitioner) documents, it will be fine.

just wanted to confirm.