jjbandero

Bring everything,just knowing you have it will be a little less stressful. I divided my documents into two piles, one contains everything I submitted, the other contains additional documents I collected after I filed my application. I put the really important stuff on top, mostly documents showing financial co-mingling.

Good luck

Hi there,

I did not take the road test in Florida, but I've been to Orlando for work and my advice is to watch out for the red cameras, definitely come to a complete stop and know where they are. Not sure where you are, but there were a lot of those cameras in Orlando, I know a lot of people who received tickets.

Best of luck!

Hello there WickedGriffin,

First of all, your feelings are completely understood and normal, this is a very big move, but you clearly have thought it through and have the support of your loved ones. In terms of coping, I would suggest a couple of things:

• Focus on the things that are within your control - figure out the logistics of where you're going to be, how to get around, what you might want to do, where you might find some German expats, food etc. It sounds simple, but it actually takes up a fair bit of time and since you will gain useful and sometimes surprising information out of it, I'd say it's quite productive. Things that are outside of your control should be acknowledged and their progress monitored, but worrying about them will only add more stress
• Let your fiancee know about how you feel and the plans/lists you've made so that she is on the same page and perhaps can offer up other great suggestions. I've seen a few ways of dealing with the significant other's arrival, some people prefer to take time off and spend it together to help the process of familiarization, others preferred to keep to their routines. I would suggest creating new routines together so that you're both experiencing a change together

I moved to the US by myself with a backpack and two suitcases about 10 years ago, and reading your post brought me back to the day that I landed, the only people I knew were the people who interviewed me for my job. I was lucky that I had to start work immediately (some might say unlucky), but where I worked, there were a lot of people my age and in similar situations (transplants from other states and countries) so we had a lot of things in common and worked and helped each other out. That was really helpful for me personally. If you are unable to work initially or prefer not to, then perhaps you can try and meet some locals for example, who have horses since you are an expert with them already to see how they are set up in Arizona.

Best of luck!

I want to wish you the best of health and a positive outcome Kiria. Glad you're able to have your parents' support and will be able to see some attorneys before you depart. I have a friend who went through quite a nasty divorce, for whatever reason, her ex-husband decided to use the custody of their children for his revenge, he would rather spend more money on the courts and lawyers, than to pay the proper child support and let her leave the state to be with another man she eventually met after they had been divorced for several years. Her son who is over 18 now, was able to stand up to his father and is now going to university in the same city where his mother's fiance is and lives with him, while my friend is home in another state with her daughter who is not yet 18. I don't want to scare you, I think it's important for you to ask very specific questions about your future and your child's future, ask the attorneys about different scenarios, given that you have good career prospects, the last thing you want is to have emotional trauma and also opportunities be taken away from you while being stuck somewhere that robs you of your freedom to do what's best for yourself and child.

Wow, thankyou everyone for your input.
I too believe a child should have both parents in their lifes, however when one doesnt want to be apart of the childs life- why should I force it?
The soon to be ex husband/childs biological father will be able to visit her as often as he likes- I am not going to keep him from his child. I will also be coming back to the states hopefully once a year as I want to see those that have helped me out through this trying time.
I have even invited him to come to the birth of his child- his reponce "I need more time to work on myself, and focus on myself before anything else" meanwhile I see his debit transactions where his mistress lives.

To the person saying there is two sides to every story...I have asked my soon to be ex-husband if i did anything wrong...his responce "no, nothing" he was just being selfish.
I havnt been vicious in this entire process, I havnt even lashed out at the woman who participated in the affair- even though she told me to "get over it, and move back to australia"
I have been very civil as I cannot risk the health of my unborn child with me stressing.

I will be seing an immigration lawyer and a divorce lawyer this monday with the assistance of my mother and father who are flying in on sunday. My child deserves the best support system possible- the father had his chance to right his wrongs- appoligize and ask about his child. He refuses to speak of his child and is mainly concerned about who gets our dog.

Thankyou again for your input, and some of you have been SO sweet- your comments lighten up my day and remind me that people dont have to put up with these circumstances- as someone said - my soon to be ex husband could of quite easily tried to move for me and my child to australia and I would have happily helped him out if he was willing to sacrifice what I sacrificed to move here- I need my family, and need to give my child the best possible life. He didnt appreciate me moving here for him and giving up my life- which I still to this day dont regret, I moved here for him, I loved him and was happy to give up my family and carear to be with him- its amazing when you put the shoe on the other foot and see what they would sacrifice for you. We are such strong people that go through this visa process- normally the partner see's this...unfortunately mine decided that I wasnt enough.

Again I am not keeping him from her, however I will be exiting this country as I moved here for him- not for anything else, she will be born in Australia and if he wants some kind of custody- he can go through the australian courts. He has however shown no interest in doing so.

Thanks again

Hi there OP,

Just a couple of quick points, not sure what your plans for working (once you have the approvals) are, but if you do plan to work, it doesn't hurt to work on your resume early. Iff you are in a field that requires particular skills and certifications to make sure those are up to date. I have some friends who asked for my help with their resume and it turns out that while they have had great experience, they did not promote themselves in a way that is familiar to employers in the US. You can start look at job postings that are interesting to you and start planning it out so you can hit the ground running.

Cheers

You definitely can't use just any doctor, please select from the list of approved Civil Surgeons. I would recommend you call a few in your area to see what their prices are, I don't recall what I paid for my exam, but I don't think it was as much as $300. The surgeon I ended up selecting was very friendly and efficient, and his assistant was very familiar with the process as well so it doesn't hurt for you to find out a bit about them before you make an appointment.

While you're adding your husband to the lease, see if the landlord is willing to provide a letter stating that you've been living together at your address from the time your lease started. I don't think it would hurt to explain as part of the RFE package the credit issue, it's certainly a legitimate reason not to co-mingle, you got any rejection letters from financial institutions not giving both of you credit? That's a good piece of evidence showing why you're not able to get the accounts in place.

I definitely agree with getting the tax transcripts. What about mobile phone bill? Do you have a family plan?

Not required, but people have used them where they had little other documentation. I personally did not use them and was approved. Good luck!

You seem to have a good selection of documents, one way my husband and I overcame the address issue on the driver's license was to include the car registration documents from the DMV because they come from a 3rd party source and it shows that we clearly changed our addresses even though it may not show it on the license. I also included other documents that shows that we are sharing the same residence and in my humble opinion, the more official these are the better. For example, I've included our Social Security statements and his jury duty summons to show we're at the same address.

Cheers

Other examples of financial co-mingling you might want to consider are:

• Do either of you have any life/disability insurance where the other person is the beneficiary?
• Do either of you have a pension/401K account where the other person is the beneficiary?
• Joint credit cards where one of you is the primary cardholder and the other is an authorized user?
• Perhaps explain that the second account was newly opened and thus did not span your the duration of your marriage
• Car insurance that has both of your names on it

I posted yesterday on how to present our packet. Do we put it in the same type of binder with 2 holes on the top with labels.

This is the last of what I need to finish.

There's no need to have a binder for your documents, my understanding is that when your documents are opened, they take it apart and file it differently. All I did was put in a few posted-it notes for the different sections and used a large clip to hold it together (no staples). Good luck!

Also no issues for me at POE, but the airline people sometimes asks questions, if the person you're dealing with doesn't understand the paperwork, just go to a supervisor. You must carry the ORIGINAL extension letter though, I read somewhere that another member's wife had issues when she only had a copy of it with her.

I've traveled several times with my 2-year card, there were never any issues. I also traveled using an expired card and my extension letter, also no issue. I've had some silly experiences at the POE and also with my NOA1 (I ended up receiving two of them), you can read my past posts, but never had an issue with the traveling part.

Occasionally, when you're traveling with the extension letter, and you encounter inexperienced airline staff, they may ask you some questions, in which case, I just asked to speak to a supervisor and it's all fine. I also second the suggestion to be prepared and file immediately after you return, while you can reschedule an appointment, why go through the hassle? I've not had any good experiences dealing with any of the immigration related departments (they were not rude, just never efficient).

Best of luck.

First of all, congratulations! It's great you're making progress, just a suggestion, while we sent out paper invitations, my husband and I did not include any RSVP cards, we thought it would be too troublesome if they came in late, since we were doing a destination wedding (live in LA, wedding in Chicago), instead we created a website to provide information about us, the wedding, RSVP and directions. It worked out well, our guests easily followed the instructions on the invite, logged on and gave their responses. It was simple for me to tally up who was coming and what they wanted as well. We were not under the K1 visa time pressure, but we had a small wedding we had our ceremony & reception in the restaurant's private room, lucky we did too, it was a super hot day in Chicago and I'm sure our guests appreciated being in an air conditioned space in their formal wear

Cheers

Please expand, if you care.

US citizens are taxed on worldwide income, irrespective of where in the world they live. If a US citizen moves to a country with lower income taxes, they would still have to file a US return and pay taxes on the income they earn from foreign country X, assuming that there is a tax treaty in place with foreign country X, the US citizen may claim a foreign tax credit from the taxes they've paid in country X, but the US citizen would still have to pay the difference between the foreign tax and US tax. So the lower taxes in the foreign country X is not really an advantage.

What about other legal documents like power of attorney or maybe life insurance where your wife is a beneficiary or vice versa? Do you contribute to the living expenses paid your in-laws? If so, you should list that in the letter where they explain your living arrangements, if it's paid out of your joint account, then you can cross reference them to show that you are mingling your households.

Best of luck

Another thing, I am trying to check my case status online and it is not working. I have tried for 2 days. I called and tried over the phone, and not working neither.

Case status online is definitely unreliable, a lot of VJ members do not get any kind of update for months, we didn't any updates after the first NOA, and then received 6 emails after the approval all about the same update. You can call the customer service line, but be aware that they provide fairly poor information on a regular basis.

Perhaps also include some more letters that are addressed to both of you, or if you don't have it, then letters that are addressed to you separately, but at the same address. Best to use some kind of "official" mail if you can (we figured USCIS may be more inclined to believe mail that is printed on special letterhead/paper), for example, we included jury summons, social security statements where we highlighted the same address.

Good luck

When my parents visit they stay 2-3 weeks (Australia is a pretty long trek ), when my in-laws come, they tend to stay for about a week. Fortunately, we have a spare bedroom so it's not a huge issue. I guess it really depends on how much extra space you have and how respectful the visitors are of your rules and your privacy. All of our parents are pretty good about checking with us before they go ahead and did anything major, they pitch in with the housework and do not expect to be entertained. We're totally fine with them visiting us.

Just a couple of questions here, I'm a natural worrier who like to be prepared and now what to expect .

1. How long do I need to allow between booking an InfoPass appointment and it being scheduled. My card expires on the 24th. Will it be a problem if the appointment ends up being after then? When should I book it? The check was cashed yesterday so I've still got time, but I want to be prepared.

2. As I mentioned, the check was cashed yesterday, but I can't pull a copy of it online. It says in the description on my bank statement "E-Check" then the check number and CSC field office. I'm going to my bank later to see if they can still get me a copy. I'm concerned here because a lot of people seem to be using copies of the cashed check to take to the InfoPass appointment to get their passprts stamped, and all I've got right now is just the line on my bank statement, plus a confirmation on the USPS site that it was delivered (and my conditional green card, obviously). Would this be enough?

As I said before, I still have 13 days before the card expires, so there's some time. Come on NOA!

Hi there,

When you book InfoPass appointment online, you can select the date and time, availability is mostly based on how busy your local office is, in my case, I ended up with options more than a week from date I scheduled the appointment. Is there a particular reason you must have the stamp? You will most likely receive the NOA in a week or two.

HELLO I AM A FILIPINO AND MY GREEN CARD WILL BE EXPIRED NEXT YEAR.

IT IS TOO EARLY TO ASK BUT I KNOW THAT ME AND MY HUSBAND WILL NEED TO FILE FOR THE REMOVAL. i JUST WANT TO ASK IF THERE IS ANYBODY HERE WHO UNDERGONE THE SAME PROCESS and WHAT QUESTIONS ARE THEY GOING TO ASK FOR THE INTERVIEW. ARE THEY GOING TO TO THE INTERVIEW WITH ME AND MY HUSBAND IN SEPARATE ROOMS? THANKS.

You don't get interviewed unless USCIS suspects something about your case or if you were randomly selected for interviewing (most of the members on VJ going through ROC were not interviewed, we didn't), I have no experience in this, but from what I read, you're usually separated if there's suspicion, otherwise you're interviewed together. You and your husband will have to submit information showing the co-mingling of your lives, in particular, your finances, the information should cover the period from when you submitted your AOS to just before your file your ROC.

Good luck!

I hope there are no significant delays, I will be traveling for work from 5/19 to 5/27 internationally, and am really not looking forward to have to bring my expired card, extension letter and the approval letter. Last time the POE officer kept on asking me if I had filed the ROC application, when did I file it and why it was taking so long??? I don't know, I thought you guys all worked together, shouldn't you know more than me???

Some companies will actually run a check for your qualifications in your home country. My company engaged a 3rd party to do just that, they verified I have the degree that I claim to have and made an assessment of whether my qualifications is equivalent to the US qualifications. It was fairly easy, all I had to do was sign a consent form.

I've been living in the US for the past 7 years and have not encountered particularly overt racism, I think I am some what insulated because I work in an environment where we have lots of transplants from out of the state and outside of of the US and we pretty much all appreciate how hard it is to start somewhere new. Most of the experiences I've had in this space were caused by ignorance or simple curiosity. People find it very difficult to grasp the fact that I lived on three continents, I was born in China and left to go to Australia when I was a youngster, then I came to the US as an adult, some people really struggled to come to terms with the fact that I have an Australian accent. Overall, I've tried to adapt to the word usage here to avoid potential communication confusion, and answered their questions politely, my husband sometimes lose patience, but you don't know what you don't know, so maybe if I tell you, it might stick when they encounter it next time

I actually faced more xenophobia when I was living and then later visiting China, I found this surprising, since I am not outwardly "foreign". I noticed that in a lot of the conversations I've had with people, the first few questions were usually around where I'm from. I generally use my father's home town as my home town (even though I've never lived there, but I understand that is the traditional way of explaining it), when I'm in a northern city, I'm treated like as if I'm a country bumpkin (based on the home town) and when I'm in the south, I'm immediately thought of as a snob based on my accent (actually, I have a standard newscaster accent, since that's what I was taught).

I guess to make my long answer short, it really depends on where you are in the US, and the people you are in regular contact with. I've been told by friends that there are lots of places in the US where no one is really welcome when you examine all of the prejudices in that area, which is slightly humorous to me.

Received the approval letter today, thank you for your support VJ members!

California Service Center (35 applicants, 33 approved 94%)

VJName.............Date of I-751.....NOA1 Date......Biometrics......Approved....

DALIABAKKEN..........08/30/11........09/01/11.......10/13/11........03/09/12....(card received 03/15)

CHANTEL..............08/31/11........09/02/11.......XX/XX/XX........02/04/12....(K2)(card received 02/09)

BULGARICAN...........09/01/11........09/09/11.......10/03/11........01/20/12....(RFE received 11/29)

FOOLSKILL............09/02/11........09/06/11.......10/10/11........02/14/12....(Early Bio 9/21)

INKY.................09/03/11........09/06/11.......10/03/11........12/07/11....(card received 12/12)

CHUCKH...............09/06/11........09/08/11.......10/03/11........03/22/12....(RFE received 12/16, responded 01/26)

INNEEDOFHELP.........09/07/11........09/09/11.......10/03/11........11/02/11....(card received 11/07)

ADIIANN..............09/09/11........09/1?/11.......10/19/11........01/13/12....(Early Bio 10/13)(RFE received 11/25)(card received 01/19)

GUNDAS...............09/09/11........09/12/11.......10/03/11........02/07/12....(Early Bio 9/19)(card received 02/11)

INNA.................09/09/11........09/14/11.......10/05/11........11/21/11....(card received 11/28)

TANKGURL38...........09/09/11........09/12/11.......10/07/11........12/02/11....

MRMRS DRUMMER........09/09/11........09/12/11.......11/02/11........02/15/12....(card received 02/21)

FREYJA...............09/10/11........09/12/11.......10/03/11........01/30/12....(card received 02/04/2012)

LEXY.................09/10/11........09/12/11.......11/02/11........11/30/11....(Early Bio 10/14)(card received 12/05)

JULIDEN..............09/10/11........09/12/11.......10/07/11........11/18/11....(card received 11/25)

CHICAGOGUY 2.........09/12/11........09/19/11.......10/12/11........11/21/11....(card received 11/25)

MYPERFECTFLAW........09/12/11........09/19/11.......10/11/11........11/29/11....(card received 12/03)

TODSKIE82............09/12/11........09/15/11.......10/24/11........03/08/12....(card received 03/19)

LOVABLE81............09/13/11........09/15/11.......10/24/11........03/15/12....

DAVINCHI.............09/13/11........09/22/11.......11/02/11........03/16/12....

MINNEW...............09/14/11........09/16/11.......10/24/11........02/23/12....(card received 02/29)

SELMA&ELVIR..........09/14/11........09/16/11.......10/21/11........03/13/12....

ALIAS................09/15/11........09/19/11.......10/17/11........12/16/11....(card received 12/22)

SHAIMA...............09/15/11........09/??/11.......10/28/11........--/--/--....

1LUVV................09/16/11........09/19/11.......10/31/11........03/19/12....

MATT & BING..........09/16/11........09/19/11.......10/24/11........03/21/12.... (card received 03/26)

VA8688...............09/19/11........09/23/11.......10/28/11........03/14/12....

PURPLE22.............09/21/11........09/22/11.......10/21/11........02/22/12....(card received 02/29)

SIMPS................09/21/11........09/22/11.......10/20/11........01/10/12....(card received 01/14)

CHICAGOMAMMY.........09/21/11........09/27/11.......11/02/11........02/23/12....(card received 02/29)

(former _HOPEFULLY)

MIKE143..............09/22/11........09/23/11.......10/24/11........11/29/11....(Early Bio 10/12)(card received 12/06)

JULY09BRIDE..........09/24/11........09/26/11.......10/31/11........--/--/--....(RFE received 03/19)

JJBANDERO............09/27/11........09/28/11.......10/25/11........04/30/12....

CHEESECAKE77.........09/27/11........09/28/11.......11/04/11........02/23/12....

NAT&SUL..............09/27/11........09/30/11.......10/23/11........01/19/12....(Early Bio 10/07)

Vermont Service Center (27 applicants)

VJName.............Date of I-751.....NOA1 Date......Biometrics......Approved....

JAXXEE...............09/01/11........09/15/11.......09/30/11........--/--/--....

BMORE................09/01/11........09/06/11.......10/21/11........--/--/--....

SEABAS...............09/05/11........09/12/11.......10/14/11........--/--/--....

CANADA2US............09/06/11........09/09/11.......09/30/11........--/--/--....

MISR.................09/06/11........09/09/11.......09/29/11........--/--/--....

CHERRYRED_04.........09/07/11........09/12/11.......11/07/11........--/--/--....

JEFF&MADZ............09/08/11........09/12/11.......10/12/11........--/--/--....

FLICKER..............09/09/11........09/13/11.......10/17/11........--/--/--....

FABILOUS.............09/09/11........09/12/11.......10/14/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 10/5)

BIGBUBBLE............09/10/11........09/??/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....

JOHN & MARY..........09/12/11........09/16/11.......10/26/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 10/12)

JOSHUA EBBI..........09/12/11........09/15/11.......10/12/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 10/3)

KAT & A..............09/13/11........09/19/11.......11/23/11........--/--/--....

MONKEYJUICE..........09/14/11........09/19/11.......10/14/11........--/--/--....

ANNA1988.............09/15/11........09/16/11.......--/--/11........--/--/--....

KARENANDTREV.........09/15/11........09/19/11.......10/18/11........--/--/--....

CANADIAN/AMERICAN....09/15/11........09/19/11.......10/18/11........--/--/--....

SHANI-SAURUS.........09/15/11........09/??/11.......10/28/11........--/--/--....

ACINLOVE.............09/17/11........09/20/11.......10/14/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 10/12)

BRIAN-CHARISMA.......09/17/11........09/21/11.......11/10/11........--/--/--.....

BABYROG..............09/19/11........09/22/11.......10/28/11........--/--/--....

DYLAN&DOUGLAS........09/20/11........09/23/11.......10/21/11........--/--/--....(Early bio 10/11)

ELLIE-AND-DAVID......09/20/11........09/23/11.......10/21/11........--/--/--....

BLUESTUMCGREW........09/22/11........09/26/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....

BARCA................09/24/11........09/27/11.......10/26/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 10/7)

LINDAL24.............09/24/11........09/28/11.......10/19/11........--/--/--....

MARTIN AND RAVEN.....09/24/11........09/30/11.......11/02/11........--/--/--....

IMPORTANT!

* Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.

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Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application

NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter

Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment

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