LindseyJohnnyK

So, in Amsterdam, my husband got his medical and received his K1 visa, back in Dec.

Fast forward to Friday, when we received and RFE saying the USCIS has not received his DS-2053, DS-3024 or his DS-3026. He also went to a civil surgeon here to get the proper paperwork sent in. My question is HOW could he even receive his K1 if they didn't have all that in the first place? It was required before his consulate interview!

We called the USCIS and they told us to contact the consulate in Amsterdam to see if they could fax or email us the missing paperwork, and/or the doctor if they won't. I am concerned about the time frame it will take the consulate or doctor as we only have until Nov 14th to respond. I am also concerned that they won't send it for some reason.

Any ideas, suggestions or words of encouragement???

Thanks,

-Blu-

How was he able to get the RFE in the first place if he is living in America with you now? Did it come from USCIS here where he sent his AOS? That is beyond strange that you are just now getting an RFE for paperwork that should have been looked over and accepted before he even received his fiance visa! Honestly, I don't know of this ever happening to anyone else so I can't really give you advice on the situation at hand. All I can say is that since this is obviously a mistake on Amsterdam's part, it would be in their best interest to send you the missing paperwork right away. Maybe it would benefit you to contact both the doctor and the consulate, one is bound to reply faster than the other and it certainly will not hurt you to have two different sources with the same information.

Good luck!! I'd say you are fine on time as long as you do it now and as long as you can have the papers faxed, e-mailed, or even expedited to you. This is a very strange occurrence indeed.

Haha I know it took forever but, congratulations on his approval!!! Now you two can finally be together!

Hi Liz, and everyone,

I received today by mail a NOA the case tupe is I-485 "request for applicant to appear for interview". I was actually waiting for my green card to arrive soon but this confuses me a bit, why do some people need to go to a second itnerview when we already went for and interview in Amsterdam? anyway, I guess its different for everybody. They do not request any different documents from the ones we already sent in our initial package, they do ask to bring along the EAD which I got some weeks ago.

I wonder now how much time will it take after the interview to get the green card.... BTW my interview has been scheduled on October 28.

Hope you are all doing great,

Adje

It's really "luck of the draw" I suppose, there isn't a set reason as to why some do not get an interview before getting their green cards and why some do. I've heard that the interview isn't that bad though, as long as everything is indeed legit and you know at least the basics about one another things are pretty smooth sailing. I read this article online with some questions that they use for these types of interviews, some are pretty straight forward whereas others are kind of weird like "If you are standing facing your kitchen sink, where in the kitchen is your microwave located?". If I still had that article saved I would send you the link, some of the questions are quite funny.

I'd assume, that if everything goes well during the interview, the green card should be in the mail sometimes shortly after. Sadly, I don't think anyone on this particular forum has had a second interview so I can only speculate. I wish you and your husband the best of luck though, I'm sure everything will go great!!

INTERVIEW DATE SEPT 30TH AT 1:30!

sooooo happy. Bout time

Congratulations!! Took them long enough!!! The government sure does know how to drag their feet! Haha I hope everything goes very smoothly and that he is here in the US with you in no time!!!

Why oh why can't the Dutch manage to deliver a letter? Should it really take more then 5 days to deliver a letter within a country that's the same size of the island I live?

Sounds like someone told Mark anything he wanted to hear when they said it was in the mail. 5 days is ridiculous, unless of course some holiday has been going on all week long without you or Marks knowing. =]

I'd say bug them some more, but usually that doesn't really help. Hope he gets it soon though, 5 days of being "in the mail" is crazy!

Mark has not gotten his interview yet but was assured it's 'in the mail' yadda yadda. I wish he would just let me call the state department and be done with it!

In happier news, today I got a full time biology teacher/research assistant job in an awesome high school. I'm super excited about it. Finally, I will have something to think about besides this immigration stuff!

Crossing my fingers for you!

Aw that's great news!! Congratulations on the teaching job, that's great!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH! CONGRATS!

Thank you! We're pretty excited! All day today Johnny has randomly pulled it out of his wallet to look at it; he's so cute.

Has Mark gotten an interview date yet?

Well, Johnny got his green card in the mail yesterday! It's valid until 8/6/2012. That will almost be long enough that pretty soon after he can apply for citizenship. =]

Random question:

Do they deliver mail on Saturdays in the Netherlands? My fiancé whom has lived there for 25 years has no clue. :/ MEN!

I want to say yes. Johnny is telling me he thinks they did, so I'm going to go with yes.

I read it was possible to get the SS number from the moment of my arrival, but I needed to have a good reason to ask for it before getting your EAD. Now I have the EAD and I can ask for the SSN. I also read its possible to update your information at any time, for example if your name changes, which Im planning to do when I get the resident card and you do not have to pay for it.

You can get one when you arrive on a fiance visa, but you have to do it after you are married, you can't do it before and I would suggest not waiting long after getting married because they will only allow you to get one within the three month period your visa is valid for. Also, on a fiance visa you do not have to have a good reason to ask for a SSN as it is implied that you plan on adjusting your status and becoming a permanent resident. And yeah, it is possible to update the information at any given time because no matter what, the number they give you will stay the same. Johnny's SSN says for "work purposes only" right now because he applied when he had his EAD so he will have to have his updated once he gets his green card in the mail.

I'm not sure what you mean by "do not have to pay for it" because Johnny never had to pay for his and he applied first during the fiance visa period but they took too long and because his visa was about to expire they denied it, and then he applied again when he got his EAD and now has a SSN. I'm pretty sure they are free because you pretty much are required to have a SSN if you plan on being able to do anything here.

Well....Pat's going to call USCIS today. It's been 6 months since we filed and according to the USCIS website the current processing time is 4 months as of June 30, 2010....so we are WAY past that. We'll see what they say in a bit!

It's been 7 months for Johnny.

Calling them won't do anything for you, they told us there was no time line for Family Based [i.E. marriage] adjustments of status when we called them, they also said that because there is no time line it could take up to a year or longer and that there is no way to speed up the process by claiming you have been waiting for an x amount of time. I'm sure Pat's is going to be on its way soon though, I mean you guys only applied a month after us.

Good to hear! I got mine already! I received the same e-mail where it said it could take up to 30 days and it took only 5 days! so just keep on checking your mailbox this week, you might get it soon.

Anyone knows what do we need to do to apply for a Social Security number? do I need to wait to get the resident card or I can already apply for it if I got the employment card? Im trying to look for information on this but its hard!

Yeah we are definitely checking every day now. We just got the actual letter [saying the same thing as the e-mail] in the mail yesterday.

Johnny has had his social for some time now. He was able to get it with his work authorization card, but he has to get it updated because it says for "work purposes only" so once we get his green card we will go back to the social security office to have it updated.

WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S GREAT!!!!!!!!! :dance: :dance:

Also, Mark found out from the embassy that our case has been updated but they either can't see, or are not allowed to tell him the interview date over the phone. What's up with that???? He was told he has to wait for the letter to come.

My birthday is Monday and the interview date would be the greatest birthday gift ever!

Yeah we are pretty excited. Also today we got something in the mail from them.... our marriage certificate. We have NO idea why they sent it back to us, other than the possibility that they thought it was the actual certificate and we needed it back. There was no explanation on their part as to why we got it back. Haha

Yay congratulations! Crossing my fingers that he gets his interview date soon!

They hardly disclose any information over the phone. Johnny tried to call them about his interview date as well and the lady on the phone was not nice to him at all.

So, good news everyone! Johnny received an email yesterday from USCIS saying that the production of his card was ordered August 10 and that he should be receiving it in the mail within 30 days!!!

Thanks for making me feel better. I actually did take a look at your time line the other day and saw how long it took Johnny to get his visa! I hope he gets his green card soon. Does him not having his green card prevent him from doing anything? He has his EAD so he can work right? ....I may as well learn the ins and outs now

I have to really thank you. I've felt so crappy lately and just to remember that there's other people who have and are going through the same thing really helps. I know this website is full of them, but China and The Netherlands are different places. Again, thanks so much.

Yes, it took much longer than expected. It was very awful. We were planning on having me move there and then changed our plans, so when it took so long we were wondering if we made the right decision.

As of right now, it isn't hurting us, but come next fall if he STILL does not have it-god forbid-, it will hurt his ability to get several grants for University. He has his EAD but is not working due to going full time to community college. I will say that the EAD has helped us though! Without it, he would not have been able to get a social security card and he also would not have been able to get a drivers license or be allowed on the bank account. [They make things so difficult] It is possible to get a social security card with the fiance visa, but you have to do it almost immediately after getting married. We were not able to do that because by the time we applied, they dragged their feet so much that they denied us because his visa was about to expire. I would definitely suggest applying for the EAD, I mean you pay for it either way as it's a part of that $1010 you send in and you never know how long it will take to get the green card [as we are finding out].

You are very welcome! If you are ever feeling down in the dumps again, you can always shoot me a message. =]

WOW! It seems like there are a lot of new people here! WELCOME NEW PEOPLE!

I got back from the Netherlands a week and half ago and still no interview date .... Mark called the embassy last Monday and requested to speak with someone who could give him more information, as he had done before, but this time they actually did. The man on the phone was sincerely apologetic and told Mark that half this time was way longer then setting an interview date is supposed to take. He 'flagged our file' and assured Mark we would have our interview date in two weeks. Unfortunately Mark forgot to get the man's name. This is the second week and I'm hoping all he told Mark is true. We were among the first of Feb filers to get their NOA2 and we'll be the last to get an interview date.

Oh, I was one of the randomly searched people at Schipohl. That combined with my inconsolable crying really let me make a scene in the airport. Not fun. I can't say good bye anymore

So sorry to hear Mark still does not have an interview date! That's crazy how long it is taking them! I believe, however, that it took this long if not a month longer for Johnny to get his for the fiance visa. [We seem to have terrible luck with this whole visa thing as we are STILL waiting on his green card to arrive after filing in March] I hope they get everything sorted out for you though, I'm sure it is very tough on the both of you.

I always had a very hard time saying goodbye to Johnny every time I left the Netherlands to come back home; and I always felt sorry for the unlucky person who had to sit beside me and listen to me sniffle and cry through at least half the flight. Haha That sucks that you were searched!! I have never been searched, but the people here at the Orlando airport made me get out of line [and made me cry] because I was texting Johnny while waiting in line to hand them my passport. [i had just landed from visiting him] Anyway, I'm sure everything will be fine and you will be with Mark soon enough. Good luck!

Hello Everyone! I'm new here and I'm grateful to have found this thread. My FH is Dutch and I am American. We're in the process of sending in our paperwork. Exciting and nervous all at one. We've been curious about the processing times. We plan to wed in France September 2011. We're hoping it gets approved by then and we can apply for the Advanced Parole. Any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and good luck to everyone!

It took almost eight months I believe for Johnny's [my husband]fiance visa to be approved and for him to be able to come over here to the US. We applied March 11th 2009 and he was not approved until November 2009 and we got married December 13th 2009. As for the green card, we applied January 13th and are still waiting to hear back from them.

It is very touch and go with USCIS, some get through very quickly, whereas others like us have to wait a very long time. To give you a little example, Johnny's brother also applied for a fiance's visa towards the end of 2009 [maybe even January 2010] and he was over here by February. On top of that, he did not even apply for his green card until March and he already has his, we applied two months prior to him and are still waiting. USICIS doesn't really seem to care about having a time line. That all being said, it's possible you will hear back from them quickly and it's also very possible it will take longer than expected.

Still nothing here on the Green Card front, that's what I'm going to start calling it, it's rather annoying really. We got a touch sometime in May I think but Johnny and I are convinced they accidentally knocked it off the desk and had to scan it before picking it up again. Haha Suppose you have to have a sense of humor when you've been waiting since January right?

Hi Everyone! It its indeed very sad that The Netherlands lost yesterday I was pretty sure they would win and actually made a couple of bets!! My husband supported Spain, just because he wanted to give me a hard time hahaha....

I got to tell you I am a bit nrevous since tomorrow I have a job interview and I am still waiting for my green card! I didn't want to wait anymore to start looking for a job so when I saw a good opportunity I sent my CV and after a phone interview that went well I have a real interview tomorrow! Im very exctited and happy that this is going well, but I just hope that my green card gets here soon!...

I know I don't write much in this forum, but I do look for info once in a while and I love to see how people keep on updating their cases even after they get the K1 approved...

Have a great week everyone! it is extremely hot in Miami... oohhh my mother in law is coming for a visit this thursday (from San Antonio) I really like her!

Did you also file for the work authorization card or just the green card? I'm curious about your job interview and how that went! Keep us posted! My husband is also still waiting on his green card and he filed back in January!

I bet you guys were surrounded by Spain supporters down in Miami! We went to an Irish pub for the game here just so that way the crowd would be mainly Dutch supporters! haha

Hi all,

I haven't posted in awhile. John and I have been busy getting all moved into our house in Tx. We finally have it looking like a home and had our good friends Liz and Pat (yes from here, lol) over for a 4th of July bbq. Currently, we are back in California getting the rest of our stuff to move back to the new house. There is still LOTS to do at the new property, but we are making progress. We have about 7 acres that needs mowing, some fencing that needs to be put up, horse stalls and some sort of arena for the horses. John also needs transportation, so we are going to get a truck once I have a job. I have been looking a lot, but there hasn't been much out there so far. Hope that will change once we get back home.

We are so happy to be living a normal married life instead of a Skype life lol. We have our minor annoyances, of course, but for the most part, life has been great.

I read through these forums a lot about couples who have fought so hard through the USCIS to be together, only to find out their spouse isn't who they thought they were, and how unhappy their married life is. It is so sad, but serves to remind me just how incredibly lucky I am to have a husband who loves and respects me and, btw, is an amazing cook. lol.

Anyway...just wanted to share my thoughts on this Tuesday morning with y'all (I am learning Texan, hehehe), and to say hi!

-Blu-

I've read about that as well here on the forums, but I believe the people in those cases were more often than not being scammed from the very beginning.

Good luck on finding a job and settling into your new home in Texas!

Sad the Netherlands lost the world cup!!! They were so close!!

We went to go watch the game at an Irish pub in Orlando, all dressed up in Orange and everything!

Heading to the Netherlands tomorrow for 3 weeks. No interview date yet but being apart for 6 months has driven me crazy. I'll arrive on Mark's birthday. (it will be the first of his birthdays we spend together)

OH! And a Happy belated 4th of July!!! Hope everyone had something fun to do!

Have a fun and safe trip! I hope Mark gets his interview date while you are there!!

Agreed, getting a move on would be nice.

It's especially frustrating having Johnny's brother in the house knowing he has his green card already and he filed AFTER Johnny. Oh and he went to the DMV yesterday and the woman made his drivers license valid until 2018!!!! That's longer than his green card is valid for!!! I do not understand how someone could make a mistake like that... although this is the same place that gave a man his drivers license knowing he was completely blind in his left eye. Crazy.

No news here either Liz, we are still waiting as well. I think the California Service Center has decided to take a permanent vacation from their jobs. However, Johnny looked online a while back, and it said they touched our case towards the end of May -probably just to move it to another pile where it will sit there forever.

Yeah. I've been putting off visiting until we have the date so I can be sure I'm there. I know it's not mandatory but I love being in the Netherlands there. I have my friends there and Mark's family and I know it's going to be a while before we will be able to go back, so I figure I might as well go there while I have the chance. I also plan on bringing some of Mark's stuff back for him. He doesn't have much he wants to bring with him so paying the $50 for an extra suitcase is much more reasonable then standard shipping charges.

Well that's nice. Good idea about the extra suitcase, it's a lot cheaper than trying to ship anything from there on top of having to deal with customs snooping through your stuff. Johnny knew someone that worked on the American Air force Base close by so he shipped his stuff from there which was nice because it was like shipping things from state to state instead of country to country.

How long do you plan on visiting and when does Mark plan on moving once he gets his visa?

I wanted to be there for Johnny's interview, but it never really worked out and then he booked his flight here for three weeks our from his interview date so there wasn't really a point in me heading there when he was going to turn around and come here.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my visits to the Netherlands, it's been great and sometimes I miss it, but maybe sometime soon Johnny and I can take a little vacation back there again.

How is everyone? It's been awfully quiet here!

As far as visa stuff goes, Mark is STILL waiting to hear about the interview date. They received his packet 3 about 3 weeks ago. He called the embassy the other day and they said they've received it, but they are apparently backlogged. ARG! I just want the date so bad so I can book my flight! I need a vacation

Do you plan on being there for the interview?