Gman

The biggest issue would probably be that if you became a US citizen and moved back to the UK (or anywhere else) you still have to fill out a tax return and may be liable for US taxes. Uncle Sam follows you wherever you may go!

Unfortunately, AFAIK, a resident alien is obliged to pay the same taxes as a US citizen when abroad. From IRS web site:

<<This publication discusses special tax rules for U.S. citizens and resident aliens who work abroad or who have income earned in foreign countries. As a U.S. citizen or resident alien, your worldwide income generally is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you are living. Also, you are subject to the same income tax filing requirements that apply to U.S. citizens or resident aliens living in the United States.>>

ill go dig out the list and order they gave me yesterday........Ok here we go...

....

That's definitely different from the list they gave me last year so I'll stop citing that link. Good to know.

tamarae:

That checklist that's posted is (or was) both more generic but more accurate. :-) By that I mean, there's some items on the list that clearly don't apply to K1'ers for example. However, the actual order of items reflects what they want at the interview. At least that is, when I went (back in September) and a few others, they would hand you that list and ask that packets were sorted in adherence to the list. This meant having to take neatly arrange packets apart in the waiting room.

All that said, since this was 8 months ago, maybe a more recent interviewee could clarify whether it's changed or not. jkage?

WRT G-325A passport photos... I dunno. I forgot (didn't know) to take a G-325A for my USC wife however the form does require it so I should imagine so. Maybe someone else can chip in.

jkage:

I would say that, if the interview went well, then there should be no USCIS problems. However, most of the processing delays as I understand it are due to background checks so you shouldn't assume you'll be done in 90 days. Just hope!

Thanks!

One more question...fees -

I read $325 for the I-485 and $70 for biometrics.. is that all or did I miss a fee somewhere?

Those have to be by cashiers check? And do we combine them into one check, or take 2 separate ones, or just what? How did you guys do it?

Thanks for the info, we've got our folder of paperwork all lined out

If I remember correctly it can be separate or combined - it doesn't matter. I did it separately: one for $315 (I guess it's gone up again) and another for $70.

I presume you've got everything else in the checklist? Beneficiary's birth certificate, evidence of comingling of assets etc.

That sounds about right. I assume you've seen a transcript of the required order of items posted way earlier on this thread. Also that you know you need a G-325A for the USC as well as the beneficiary.

Other than that... I brought in a few photos of the wedding day. I noticed other people carrying bags with huge wedding albums in -- perhaps a little OTT methinks.

Good luck!

Gman that's awesome you found a job!!! I just hate to hear you will be leaving Texas . You will love Denver though! It's beautiful!!!!

Thanks GL! I'll still be here for a 3 months or so. I'm kinda sad to be leaving Texas too.... I better perfect my Texan drawl before I leave.

OK... our appointment is next Tuesday for or 70 day letter... Do we go to the same place where the DORA interview was or do we go to the other place?

Hey there,

70th day place was the other location. Here's my account.

Other news from me.... I've finally found a job! Been whizzing around a bit between UK and DC for interviews and what not. Should be signing tomorrow. They want me to move to Denver eventually though. (Skiing...hurray! Moving house... booo!)

Cya,

Gman

Mrs JJ - Congratulations to ya.

Happygirl.... #######?! Sounds like a nightmare... you might wanna change your nickname. Everyone else, with a few odd exceptions, seems to have had such smooth rides -- they've lost two submissions?! I hope your congressman sorts it out and I look forward to seeing him on The Colbert Report's "Better Know a District"....

OK guys.... Our 90 days is next Tuesday... and we have had no 70 day letter... Could this be a good sign. We still have not had Stevens biometrics appt letter yet... which worries us but the info pass appt. lady told us everything look fine... I really hope since we haven't received the 70 day letter everything is moving along

Well you never know but.... it all looks pretty good doesn't it?! So a hopefully-not-premature and timid *hurray* or possibly *yippee* might be in order. The missing biometrics sounds a bit fishy to me... but, I suspect, hubby's right to work is the most important thing here. Steven can get by waiting another month or so if he has to, right? Good for you anyway!

Glad I made you laugh. And for what it's worth... I like the new avatar! Yes indeed. Ita vero.

It's really quite confusing when you change your avatar - I know it's Inlove_tx... but it feels like someone else!

You can book the appointment under your name, and if another one shows up you can book it under your spouse's name...then go back and cancel the first one!

Infopass? Mwahah [evil laughter].

This is a huge PITA -- or at least as far as I can tell. I think I've already moaned about it on the old forums.

They seem to release dates 28 days or so in advance. Unfortunately get snapped up almost immediately. I've read (on VJ... can't find the post) that this is because some unscrupulous lawyers have interns constantly monitoring the site who book up available appointments (you can book with any old random data). Thus the lawyers can pop into the DORA offices pretty much at a moment's notice.

You *can* get appointments earlier than 28 days out, sometimes even the next day -- I eventually got mine within 8 days or so. You just have to be lucky enough to log on when they're available i.e. just after someone has cancelled an appointment. (I just spotted one for tomorrow at 9.15am.)

Unfortunately for good ole Joe Public we generally book using genuine details (Name, DoB, phone number etc.), which means you can only make one appointment. Fair enough? No... I don't think so. Because if you subsequently find an earlier appointment you have to cancel your existing appointment BEFORE you can snap it up. And I guarantee that by the time you cancel it and get back to the booking page someone else will have snapped up the appointment you wanted.... so just hope that at least your original appointment is there too. (I lost out on both appointments once.)

So, I worked out a way to get around this:

1) Book an appointment NOW! :-) Hang on to it. Now... you can no longer use your genuine details (TRUE DETAILS) to browse for earlier appointments since when you enter your details you will just be taken directly to your existing appointment. So if you want to check for earlier dates you have to enter fictitious details.

2) When browsing under fake credentials (FAKE1) if you find a new appointment you want.... BOOK IT TOO! Now you have new appointment with fake details (FAKE1) and your old appointment under your TRUE credentials. You want to get the new appointment under your TRUE credentials without risking losing the old appointment:

[a] Open a new browser window and enter a new set of fictitious details (FAKE2) - don't click on to the final 'results' page.

Cancel your old appointment in the first browser window (TRUE DETAILS) and then IMMEDIATELY click the 'Continue' button on FAKE2 so you can rebook your old appointment under FAKE2 credentials. (Just in case.)

[c] Repeat the above by using your TRUE details to get to the page before the bookings screen, cancel your new booking under FAKE1 in one window and immediately click 'Continue' and book the appointment under your TRUE details.

[d] If successful, make sure you cancel your old appointment (FAKE2) so that another poor soul can get it.

That all seems pretty complicated and longwinded but it's not really. Note that, if you use fake credentials, make sure you remember them - that way you can cancel them or otherwise access the appointment.

Furthermore, constantly entering your details on the web site can wear down even the most dedicated of VJ'ers. When making my appointment I wrote an application that automatically does it all for you - so all you need to do is click a button (no more typing!). If you want it -- you're more than welcome. I just tested it and it still works.

That's far too much spout from me. Good luck.

Gman

Hi and welcome,

Answering your questions...

1) Get your appointment NOW! As I wrote in a previous post it can take a while so get it now so you have a date to work towards.

2) AOS interview. Yes you're right - paperwork and interview in one. See earlier in this thread for packet information. And I think there's only one venue.

3) Biometrics. There are four locations where this can be done in Dallas. There may be other offices nearer you though... I don't know. You can ask at the interview.

4) Optional EAD/AP interview. This is optional since [a] you may get your greencard within the 90 days so there's no need and you may choose to wait for the greencard proper rather than get EAD and AP. I suspect this can only be in Dallas but I may be wrong - again, check with your interviewing officer.

Good luck to ya.

Gman

Edit: for ease of reference... here's the old DORA thread.

meauxna, Cassie:

Thanks to both of ya for your responses. I thought as much. Boy... I hope I don't lose my wallet... wouldn't like to have to go through the rigmarole of getting a new one!

"you must carry your currently valid Form I-551 on your person at all times" was quite a surprise though. Seems a little over the top to me but there you go.

More importantly... yeah! Ain't she a little cutey?! Well... not little... huge catasaurus actually. She's Italian -- flew here with me the poor thing. Actually, she broke one fang a few years ago so it was just half a tooth and then some time last year (I think maybe during the flight here) she lost it for good. The other is protuding quite a bit but it seems pretty solid and the asymmetry of it makes her appear intimidatingly cute I feel.

Hey Catherine,

As soon as you have a date by which you know your other half will be in the US I see no reason for not booking your appointment then. It can be quite a test of patience to get an appointment and it might be 3 or 4 weeks ahead so I would go for it now. You can always cancel it. (Indeed you *must* cancel it if you're not going to use it.)

And of course you can start work on the good old DORA paperwork now. Details on compiling that can be found earlier in this thread.

Cya,

Gman

As a follow up question... am I right to assume I should carry my greencard with me to show on entry or will they be able to deduce I'm a greencard holder from my passport number or driving license? (Obviously my greencard is a precious little thing and I'd rather not travel with it unless I have too for fear of losing it...)

Thanks

Yup - it sucks all this early morning stuff doesn't it. You can find my EAD/AP experience on the old DORA thread HERE. (I just realised I incorrectly linked to the old DORA thread a few posts ago.)

Re getting to the office I found I drove past it and had to loop back to get there:

The large sign saying Department of Homeland Security is completely invisible in the dark and there's no street numbers until you get to 8001 - so you have to do a loop round Mockingbird and Empire to get back.

And further note my comments that they didn't want my beautfully collated packages in their envelopes with cover letters etc. I'd bring the extra stuff just in case but don't waste your breath with cover letters etc. I guess the difference is that they already have all your details from the AOS application, this is more of a supplement.

On the 17th, I got another letter this time on plain paper addressed from 8101 N. Stemmons telling me to go to a biometrics appointment at any of four different places (including the fort worth one) at any date up to the 28th. Do I have to go to this appointment?! I mean - the very same office has my biometrics from the previous appointment.. but I'm a bit concerned that if I miss it I will get denied.

I received the same generic letter just after my biometrics too -- with a little sticker on it with the case number right?. Don't worry about it, just ignore it. My case wasn't updated online post biometrics either so don't be disheartened if yours isn't.

Re your appointment... no idea I'm afraid. If you don't want to bother applying for EAD or AP then you don't really need to attend but bear in mind Kaleyko's advice. It's harsh though since, it seemed to me, that the appointment is only for EAD/AP. There's not an officer there with whom you can discuss the specifics of your case.

Ridiculous advice: Hope this isn't true but... as far as I can tell... DORA operates a little outside the scope of the misinformation line. Therefore I don't see how that could help. The way of communicating with DORA officers seems to be to make an appointment. So... you could make an appointment at Stemmons to discuss your appointment predicament.

Hope it works out whatever you do.

Oh... and further, since you joined VJ in February you probably don't know this, at the end of January there was a server crash/corruption. VJ used the opportunity to upgrade the site to its current glory but this meant that years of threads and postings were no longer directly accessible from the main site.

The original DORA thread (ahhh great days) can be found here with lots of descriptions of other people's experiences. (That link starts with my own actually - just what I had bookmarked.)

And you can search the old forums here too (very useful):

Hi Collie,

Inlove_TX has covered most of your questions but I thought I'd chip in with further clarification:

Is the EAD and SSN given at the same time as the GC or does one apply for those and receive them prior to the GC?

SSN:

Most people here came in on a K1 visa in which case you're entitled to an SSN before marriage. In your case however, I would imagine you won't be able to get it until you have a green card (maybe you could get it using your AOS receipt letter but I'm not sure).

EAD:

There's no point in getting EAD when you get your green card because a green card entitles you to work. So with DORA what generally happens is that, should your AOS take >90 days, you can apply for EAD and AP to essentially tie you over until your AOS is complete. (That's what I did.)

Lawyers & non K1 marriage:

Based on my experience (K1) I would generally advise not to get a lawyer -- I just think it's an unnecessary expense and, unless you get someone who's sharp, they are just as likely to make mistakes as you.

That said, in your case, I think you're absolutely right to. I'm sure you know "Entering under VWP with intention of getting married" = bad while "Entering under VWP and then deciding to get married" = OK. I don't know of anyone else within our little DORA community who's done this (and therefore I might be talking nonsense) but I would make sure you discuss this thoroughly with your lawyer and be prepared. My AOS interview was a walk in the park because everything (fortunately) was by the book but, I should imagine, you will be asked whether you intended to get married when you entered etc. I'm not trying to scare you -- or indeed chew your head off -- I just want to make sure you know you might not be in for as smooth a ride as other people. From what you've written above your case sounds genuine and reasonable so I wouldn't be too nervous. Good luck to ya.

Right y'all. That's quite a lot of spout from me so I'll wrap up! Gotta pack.... long weekend of skiing ahead of me. (What?!?!! It makes sense to go while I'm unemployed right?!)

Gman

PS - Collie, I'm sure you know this but just in case you don't.... I'd be wary of posting your email address directly because it'll be harvested in no time by spiders and bots that trawl through sites such as this, although hotmail has pretty good spam filters anyway. Breaking your email up into human readable form such as gmanRemoveThis at hotmail dot com is common practice -- as is using VJ's emailer to initiate contact. (That's not my email address by the way!)

PPS - Previewing this post, its tone comes across as a bit... um... parenty and superior. Please don't take it that way. (If you don't think it comes across that way then please ignore this bit... )

Thanks for the tip k1_visa -- I'll check it out.

No real news on my front - in discussions on job, based in Denver or NYC. Plus a few things in Dallas maybe but I'm interested in the former so I'm kinda holding out for that.

Well congratulations on your job interview success.

If you're already eligible for work that puts you one step ahead of most people in the DORA program who have to wait for AOS or apply later for EAD.

I know that doesn't sound like the best news in the world... but it's certainly not bad news. It's essentially as we thought -- things going to plan, just a little delayed (probably backlog over the holiday season).

At the very least it should be a load off your mind that there's nothing wrong with your application.

See -- it helps to put a positive spin on these things!

Good luck Maghreb! Hope it all went well.