Aubrey

The interview went fine. We sat around for over an hour past our scheduled interview time, with almost nobody else left, starting to wonder if we'd been skipped. It lasted 15 minutes and would have been faster if the guy wasn't interrupted by phone calls.

Some questions he asked:

How did we meet?

What is "Guild Wars?" (asked many specifics about how the game operates and such)

When was that?

When did we marry?

Do you have photos of the occasion?

Who are these people in the pictures?

Am I working? Is he working? What did he do in Germany?

Were either of you married before?

Any children?

Did you have any more vaccinations since you entered the U.S./ did he still need any?

Where are you living?

Who lives with you?

Where did he learn to speak English?

Approval, green card in 2-4 weeks. Glad we're done with this #######.

Grats on the card, sorry about the promotion. That's a bummer. Not sure what job you have, but think carefully before you jump ship in this economy!

No word still from the UTEP job. Losing hope, but I should hear something either way, one would think. It's very depressing.

I'd think not hearing something right away could be a good sign. It seems like people who don't qualify or aren't wanted usually find out pretty fast.

If I bailed on my job it would be because I have another full time one waiting or some stipend set-up for grad school. I'm worried about staying in one position too long and then having to explain why that happened in the future. I have a science based degree.

How many years have you been in your position? To an extent, it can be a positive (showing loyalty, for example). You can also explain such long durations by family necessity and (now) a ####### economy. Does your job offer tuition reimbursement?

That might be about the job, but I'm not sure. The man who interviewed me said he would call Friday or Monday (last Friday, not yesterday's Friday), so I wonder. At the same time, they've been amazingly slow through out this entire process (taking a month after portfolios were submitted, for example), so it's possible. It's so hard though waiting around and wondering; this seems like the perfect job for me!

Green Card production ordered 12/9. Got a small bonus for Christmas. On the lame side, came in second for promotion which = SOL.

Time to move or get a graduate degree I guess. Or both...

Grats on the card, sorry about the promotion. That's a bummer. Not sure what job you have, but think carefully before you jump ship in this economy!

No word still from the UTEP job. Losing hope, but I should hear something either way, one would think. It's very depressing.

For our AOS interview upcoming, it says we need originals and copies of all the documents submitted, and a completed Aff. of S. unless already submitted. Now, I don't want to be unprepared, so... I'll ask.

Do I need to bring additional evidence related to the Affidavit or Support (e.g. most current pay stubs from myself and out joint sponsor)? Is this something that can be asked for? It is problematic for me to bring this, since our joint sponsor lives in another state, and I have a different job than I did when we applied (and this one is temporary).

Also, for eligibility proof: is a joint lease, bank account, our marriage certificate, and wedding album sufficient?

Hi Aubrey - We had our interview on 30 November 2009 in Centennial (Denver), CO. And wow, it was far less involved than it could have been. Like you, we wanted to be fullly prepared, so we went armed with hundreds of photocopied docs (everything that we had previously submitted, plus copies of all recently obtained documents - EAD, Social Security Card, Driving Licence etc).

But the immigration officer simply looked at my passport, took my original I-94 and then took the copies I made of my EAD, Advanced Parole, Driver's Licence and Social Security card.

He checked a few basic details - names, address, dates of birth, date and port of entry, date of marriage, names of parents - but that was it. No in depth questions about our relationship.

He then asked to see evidence of our relationship - we gave him A FEW copies (really just a few) of our wedding photos, then copies of our joint bank statements and the jointly named car insurance certificate and he was happy. Based on that, it would seem your lease, bank account and wedding photos should do just fine.

We had some of Annette's recent pay slips, but he really wasn't interested - he was happy with the original affadavit and the supporting documentation that we filed in August.

He thanked us and told us that the Green Card was approved and I'd receive it within 30 days. That was it.

Good luck!

Thank you, that eases my mind!

The unemployment rate nationwide is now 10% (down from 10.2%). The Obama administration is considering using TARP money that has been repaid by banks to spur job creation.

Some more info available here:

Repaid Bailout Money May Go to Jobless Benefits by Jackie Calmes, NYTimes.com

and

Dems push TARP money for jobs bill, Politico.com

My spouse is unemployed, and I could only find a temp job that I'm about to finish and be unemployed again. Still, I think that the government needs to stop this excessive spending, because it's my belief that it will only lead to another recession in the future, due to the high national debt we're adding to. I think the economy is probably getting better, slowly, but job growth will be minimal for the next year unless something drastic happens.

What are your thoughts?

Jokalu: Cool. No news here.

Shan: What happened to the Vikings? That was a nice throw from Favre to Harvin at the end of the game.

Aubrey: Are you a Texan yet?

I haven't gotten a call back yet. It's worrisome, but not hopeless. They have been amazingly slow this entire time, so there's no telling what the delay is about this time. Hopefully there will still be good news to come. Only time will tell.

okay so we're not at the AOS stage but preparing for the I134/I864s and need advice on what we can do to meet the criteria

OUR STATUS:

My fiance (the USC) has not earned enough to file federal tax returns for several years and is currently not working at all. A lot of the work he has done this year has been 'cash in hand' and as such is very difficult to account for. To further complicate things, although they have not been a couple in over 10 years, my fiance shared a bank account with the mother of his children until earlier on this year ( I know, I know - WHY???).

I (the intending immigrant) have savings/assets equal to 3 x 125% poverty line for our household based on the current UK housing market and exchange rate and will have this formally documented in time for filing.

The ONLY person we know willing to be a joint sponsor is retired and receives a pension which is below the poverty line for the household size. He owns his home but I don't think this could be counted as an asset as it would likely cause "considerable hardship" if it were sold. His other assets (excluding his home) would not be enough to meet the criteria. (I don't want to ask this person to risk anything for me anyway unless there is absolutely no other way.)

OUR INTENTIONS:

My fiance (the USC) is trying to get a job before I-134/I-864 filing but is unlikely to get one that will be above 125% of the poverty line for the household size.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Has anyone on VJ had a similarly bleak outlook for the affidavits of support and gotten approved?

Why is it that people feel like because they don't make a certain amount they don't need to file taxes???? EVERYONE has to file taxes...or an exception but you still have to FILE. You may not owe anything at all but you still have to file!

Actually, that isn't true... if you make below a certain amount (it changes each year, but in the range of a few thousand dollars) you don't have to file. I had several years when I was in school that it was the case.

If your fiance did not file taxes and he was supposed to, I suggest he see a tax accountant (CPA) and file them late and take what ever penalties. If he was not required to file, you must provide evidence to USCIS that you were not required to file and a letter explaining why your transcripts aren't available for that tax year.

Bumping this... please folks, I could really use some help!

I (USC) have two BAs -- History and Art. I consider returning for an MFA, which is the final degree available in a creative field.

My husband has a Vordiplom (intermediate diploma) in Computer Science, and wants to return to complete a Bachelor's equivalent (another year) plus possibly a Master's.

For our AOS interview upcoming, it says we need originals and copies of all the documents submitted, and a completed Aff. of S. unless already submitted. Now, I don't want to be unprepared, so... I'll ask.

Do I need to bring additional evidence related to the Affidavit or Support (e.g. most current pay stubs from myself and out joint sponsor)? Is this something that can be asked for? It is problematic for me to bring this, since our joint sponsor lives in another state, and I have a different job than I did when we applied (and this one is temporary).

Also, for eligibility proof: is a joint lease, bank account, our marriage certificate, and wedding album sufficient?

I also said no. I think 90 days is a bit short for planning (think of the foreigners' family wanting to see the wedding, too?), but 365 is far too long. I think 6 months would be better. Then again, I couldn't have waited 6 months, because that's 6 months more of no EAD. (blech)

I CANT BELIEVE THIS GUYS!!!!! WE ARE DONE

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

On November 30, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we had registered this customer's new permanent resident status. Please follow any instructions on the notice. Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before receiving your card, please call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov under Check My Case Status and Check Processing Times.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

BTW congrats for new pregnancy Shannon & Nick

Congrats! I'm sure it's a great relief to you and your husband. I know we will be relieved when we reach that stage, but our interview isn't for another week + 1/2.

For updates... My phone interview was delayed till today (apparently El Paso was snowed in Tuesday), and I think it went very well. Turns out there are currently 8 of us applicants left out of over 100 that applied, and it has to be narrowed to 3 for in-person interviews, which I'll hear back on either Friday or Monday. The interviewer (who would be my boss if I get the job) seemed to be implying I'd make it to the next phase, so I hope it's true. We really need this job!

Andy is still having no luck finding a job, and I'm not getting any other calls either. I left my temp job early yesterday since they ran out of stuff for me until more could be entered, so it's any day now unless the manager buys the company sooner than later. He wants to keep me on permanently, but until he buys the company from the two brothers (who do almost nothing but take home big pay, taking the company into the red) they can't afford to. It's a so-so job, as it's well below my qualifications and has 0 benefits, but better than no job at all.

Anyways, i'll keep you all updated when I hear something!

hey all!!

Just a little note to brighten the holidays.... we're expecting our next little bundle of pure joy August 6th!!!!

We're not putting anything on facebook because I'm (shan) up for a promotion at work - and there are work 'friends' on facebook and we don't want our pregnancy to affect the chances.

we are SOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!! :) :) :dance: :dance: :dance:

Congratulations and best wishes to you both!

Congrats on the social security numbers and the card productions. As well as the little one on the way, Shannon and Nick!

We had our US reception this weekend and it went off without a hitch. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Was it as much a cultural experience for your husbands/wives as it was for us? I swear, Sebastian could not eat enough stuffing!

I hope you enjoyed your reception!

Thanksgiving was definitely nice. A couple from VJ had us over (another US-German couple) and Andy definitely enjoyed eating lots and lots of turkey. I had lots of pie, and I know he enjoyed being around new friends and their kids. It was nice not to be alone for once in a long while, for me. I hope everyone else enjoyed their new Thanksgiving experiences, too!

Hi KnR,

Thank you so much for the response. I continue to tell myself to give it time, and hopefully they will respect my decisions in time but if not, I am fully prepared for that as well. They are not feeling what I am feeling, so they have no idea except for my boyfriend and I how we feel about one another.

What about work visas which will allow me to get to the US a bit quicker? I am fully prepared to wait a few months in order to be with my boyfriend, but 6-8 months seems like a really long time, and I honestly don't think I would be fully prepared to wait that amount of time for all this to fall through... meaning, I don't want to be around my family and back in my home town with all this negativity. I just simply want to be with him.. and I know it's easier said than done.

What about a visitor visa? Mind you, I wouldn't be able to work while I was on that visa.. but I am just trying to find the easiest and quickest route for all of this to happen... as I'm sure most people have thought that at one time or another.

I really appreicate your help.

Regards,

Meeah

VisaJourney is primarily a site for family-based immigration. It's unlikely you'll get a lot of knowledgeable advice here about work visas. However, I know from a family member that he was required to have a job offer already prior to receiving a work visa. In the current economic conditions, there aren't a lot of employers willing to sponsor immigrants for those visas, but perhaps you'll have luck. Who knows.

As for the visitor visa -- they are intended for visitation and return. In other words, you can't legally use a visitor visa with the intent to stay in the United States. It can land you in a lot of trouble if you do. The K-1 visa is intended for engaged couples, so if this doesn't apply to you, you shouldn't apply either. It requires an interview and proof of your status as an engaged couple.

6-8 months (it CAN take longer) seems like a lifetime, but that is what our community here on VJ is for -- supporting each other through these processes. You can visit while the visa is processing (via the Visa Waiver Program, while bringing with you lots of evidence you have continuing strong ties to your home country) up to 90 days at a time. It helps get through that waiting.

If you're really not prepared to wait, then question whether this is really as "serious" of a relationship as you claim. Immigration isn't a minor thing.

Separation of church and state, please. Is it not enough that there's still "In God We Trust" on our bills and "Under God" added to our pledge of allegiance?

Not all atheists are hateful and have "too much time on their hands." I'm very tolerant of all beliefs and I'm a very happy atheist. Why should Christianity get to be above any other religion in a country with many beliefs? Should we start to allow all religions to put up displays? That's what your church, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship is for. Mixing religious symbols with the state is asking for displays of intolerance. I think that the Founders realized that given the nature of so many immigrants to our country -- banished and unwanted in their own countries due to religious intolerance. Wise men beyond their years, I say.

My wife applied for a travel document (I-131) and recently got a notice in the mail for her biometrics appointment being scheduled this Monday in Birmingham Alabama. However, she is currently staying in the Baltimore Maryland area (the Birmingham location was the closest center to our permanent address). Anyone know if she can take the letter with her to Baltimore and get the biometrics done there or does she have to go to Birmingham? The letter says if she doesnt appear they will take it as abandoning intention blah blah. She is leaving the country next Tuesday the 8th so not much time to risk. Any advice would be much appreciated.

You can try. Otherwise you should check the box and send it back to reschedule if you can't make it. We did an INFOpass and had them reschedule and it was pretty slow in getting us a second appointment.

Met online on a game we both played. Some 2 years later we met in person after it had become more than friendship, engaged on our second meet ~3 months later (while I was in his country, the night I had to leave).

My advice: see if there are workshops in your area that offer resume help. LOTS of job centers offer these workshops for free. It is a great way to both get the DOs and DON'Ts and also get a professional to review your resume. Heck, lots of USC's need these things.

I just asked him, and he can't remember either. I'm sure I had something easy to make for dinner for him that I knew he'd eat (he's picky), since the airport was 90 minutes away from "home" still, and his trip was already 20+ hours since he had a 5+ hour layover at Salt Lake City (his POE). After so many hours, take it easy on your man. Let him rest and have a real meal, and make it feel like home -- that's my advice, anyway.

cdneh and Corinthians: congrats to you both!

Thought I'd also let you know that my phone interview for the UT El Paso job was moved back to Dec 1. Crossing my fingers I get that job!! My temp job will end any day now.

Have a happy thanksgiving, everyone.

The more than $4.7 billion in costs incurred by Texas taxpayers annually result from outlays in the

following areas:

■ Education. Based on estimates of the illegal immigrant population in Texas and documented

costs of K-12 schooling, Texans spend more than $4 billion annually on education for illegal

immigrant children and for their U.S.-born siblings. About 11.9 percent of the K-12 public

school students in Texas are children of illegal aliens.

■ Health Care. Taxpayer-funded medical outlays for health care provided to the state’s illegal

alien population amount to about $520 million a year.

■ Incarceration. The uncompensated cost of incarcerating illegal aliens in Texas’s state and county

prisons amounts to about $150 million a year (not including local jail detention costs or related

law enforcement and judicial expenditures or the monetary costs of the crimes that led to

their incarceration).

State and local taxes paid by the unauthorized immigrant population go toward offsetting these costs,

but they do not come near to matching the expenses. The total of such payments can generously be

estimated at slightly less than $1 billion per year.

The fiscal costs of illegal immigration do not end with these three major cost areas. The total costs of

illegal immigration to the state’s taxpayers would be considerably higher if other cost areas such as

special English instruction, welfare programs used by the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens, or

welfare benefits for American workers displaced by illegal alien workers were also calculated.

I'll go on record to say, as a former Texas teacher, that I had my hands full with students who had little English skills (and far more with parents who had zero) and/or questionable status. Knew far too many illegals working on nearby farms and ranches. These illegals don't just suck the life out of the economy, but they also regularly fail to report crimes, even those against themselves, because they worry about being deported. So they make our streets less safe.

Unfortunately... this law won't do much because already there's not enough enforcement to pick out and deport illegals. As for the K visas... you know that your I-94 expires in 90 days. If you can't get your AOS app in before that, then you should realize you're running a risk. It's talked about plenty on VJ. I don't pity them if you get picked up accidently. You'll probably be fine and sorted out in the fray anyways. Carrying your ID and marriage certificate is a good start and your NOA1 from your AOS is the wise thing to do.

Reading the topic, somehow I first assumed that this was a questionnare about whether cranberries solved other women's UTI's, too.

This doesn't affect the debate on the legality of the service Dr. Arnold is providing. However, I would like to say one thing. My ex-husband and his family saw Dr. Arnold as their primary care physician since my ex was a child. He was not on my health plan so I never got care from him, but Dr. Arnold still provided services for my now ex and his parents. It was very common for him to prescribe drugs for common illnesses without ever seeing them in person (giving them Z-pacs, for example, when they called to say they had certain symptoms) and giving them several refills so they could self-medicate.

That having been said, he seemed like he was trying to save them the headache of coming in, basing his care on trust. I'm not judging what he did, but thought you guys should know that he may possibly be aware that it's not quite ethical.

Wow, I didn't realize so many people had soda in the morning like me! I take coffee more often now that Nik is making some for himself...

I am toying with going to Best Buy (if we don't sleep in!) because we have already done all our research on TVs and narrowed it down - maybe we'll get a smokin' deal.

Target and Walmart have $250 32" HDTV's.... too bad I'm broke and can't afford even that.

If you CAN fly to that interview, you'll be MUCH MUCH safer. Snoqualmie Pass (in Washington) alone is a freaking mess in the winter time. As a former Idaho resident, I've driven through much around Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc and there are constant signage warnings about road closures during winter storms. You're taking a big chance driving that part of the country when snow can be on the ground, I hate to tell you.

If you MUST drive it, be prepared for delays or being stuck in your car (I mean, bring an emergency kit - see WSDOT) and leave time for being several days late. You'll need traction tires for sure and a set of chains for your tires, because often they are required for the passes.

I wouldn't let a friend of mine take this sort of trip, to be honest. Best wishes if you decide to do it!