jjbandero

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I think the OP said he arrived on a CR1? Doesn't this mean that unless there are some other issues, he should be receiving his 10-year card soon and there's no need to ROC? If so, then perhaps he just needs to stay calm, decide on what he would like to do next in terms of his marriage?

The important thing is not to engage with her in any kind of confrontation where she could claim you abused her, that would create all sorts of legal issues for you as domestic violence is taken quite seriously.

what they told you is kinda true. If she applied under her SSN withouth any credit history she most likely will be denied!

Speaking from experience of being denied credit, I came here for work before I met my husband, and got denied for everything for the first few months even though I was going to American Express and HSBC (where I already had account history in Australia, apparently they cannot share that information, they ought to be ashamed to claim they are a "global" business... Anyway, I digress). Basically, adding another person to a credit card account is not exactly the same as a savings or checking account. What you can do is have a "supplemental cardholder" who is authorized to use the credit card, but they are tied to the main account holder's credit and subject to the same conditions, card issuers will also allow you to set up limitations on supplemental cards if you wish.

Supplemental cards are also available for a lot of other things that are not banking related, for instance, my husband and I have supplemental cards for Costco and AAA memberships.

Cheers

no. Im not arguing with what im being told im asking for information. you are misinterpreting inquisitiveness with stubbornness. Im simply asking question so i can get this right as opposed to going in blind and cutting my future short. so place have more patience when im asking questions

and in reference to "There is no thing for unskilled workers."

i was referring to the EB-3 visa for unskilled or "other" workers

While technically you may qualify for EB-3, the issue will be having a long wait, according to the April 2012 Visa Bulletin, this category is not current, they are processing people who have lodged applications back in April 2006. Unfortunately, the US does not have some of the "working holiday" visas that are available elsewhere.

Best

Has anyone tried traveling to another country (or their home country) on the Temporary Piece of paper you are given while waiting for RoC to get completed? My husband and I would like to visit his family in Canada in May and don't want any troubles.

Thanks for any advice!

I traveled couple of times to different countries (not home country), I flew different airlines as well. It was fine, a little tricky getting on some of the flights, a few of the airline personnel are not at all familiar with the extension letter, they kept checking the letter and presumably the instructions on their system... A couple kept on asking me for the I-551 stamp, I actually got a stamp because I ended up with two NOAs with different receipt numbers (you can look under my other posts for that story). Ultimately, I think if you run into issues, you can always speak to a supervisor level person to get it resolved, I was only held up a little each time. I ended up in secondary inspection one time, but it was unrelated to my GC paperwork (my passport was mistakenly flagged as being reported lost/stolen). If you're thinking I'm an unlucky traveler, you'd be right

Cheers

I agree with the posters who said it depends on the in laws. Mine are very respectful of our space, and always willing to lend a hand, *after* they ask us. For instance, my MIL wanted to help us with laundry (for the guest room she was staying in, and our stuff), she asked if it was ok with me if she went ahead and did that (of course, thanks for the help!), the important thing is that she asked. So I do the same when I'm at her house, I'll try and keep things the same as I found them and I check in with her before I did something, even going as far as asking how she would like it to be done. It never hurts to over communicate a little, especially in the beginning. If you don't want them to think you don't know what you're doing, you can always explain your approach first, and then ask, "how does that sound to you?" to give them a chance to chime in. I know sometimes it's nice to surprise someone with cleaning and cooking etc. but it's best to be sure of their personalities before you invest the time and effort.

I actually had a harder time with my own grandparents staying with us when I was younger, they're the busybody, I'm-going-to-go-through your stuff type. I dealt with it by doing a lot of things out of the house always productive things like spending time in the library, looking for a job etc. It's hard to criticize when you're doing something to better yourself or your financial situation right?

Best of luck to you and have a safe trip to Utah!

Cheers

Just called USCIS today, and for the few of us still waiting for the CSC, apparently they are processing applications up to 9/16/11, this information is updated on the 15th of every month. If we don't hear by 4/15, I was told to log a service request.

Cheers

The only other things I can think of is what if you cross referenced the payments on your husband's credit card statements with the utility bills that were in your name? This will show that while he might not be on the bill itself, he is paying for them. For our application, we also submitted some "official mail" e.g. letters from the Social Security Administration and my husband's jury duty summons - while these may not have both our names on it, they are addressed to the same place. I also included insurance statements showing that my husband was indeed on my plan and was able to use it in addition to the online print outs.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

So, I've got...

1- our Tax information, and I guess I didn't include it the FIRST time, because we had submitted it every other time, guess we should have included it anyway. That'll be one of the first things I print out.

2- I will contact our insurance company, through my work for documents -- even though we are encouraged to print from the website (I already sent this in). But, I will request something from the company directly and send again.

3- We just re-financed our home, but because I bought the home on my own before we were married, the rules for the re-fi was that only I could re-fi under my own name. However, he had to sign off that I was doing this and with his approval (MI state laws). So, I will dig out those documents.

4- We own the cars, so there's nothing there. I already included insurance cards for our cars that show both our names.

5- I will contact my retirement person to see if she can get a formal document stating that he is my beneficiary there, too.

So, with those items, do you all think that would work??

Congratulations to everyone who has received their approvals! 6 days to the 6-month mark

Riiigghhhtt. Okay well you called the embassy so you might have to go in and get them to scan it or something to find out what the deal is.... 'cause this could get old FAST

Not sure if the Aussies can do anything more, they told me their systems interface with the US systems automatically, and they really don't know the update protocols on the US side. I did some research, and apparently CBP uses an inter-agency system called IBIS, but the only contact info they had for it is via mail.

Maybe you can check out

http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1169676919316.shtm

the Redress Program, contact them with your concerns.

Look through the site and find contact numbers and call one of them, they can possibly lesad you to the right direction.

I know my daughter's father had an issue and he went back to the boarder to try to fix it. Even showed papers.

They should be able to tell you something.

Hope this helps alil.

Thanks GVMack, I emailed CBP yesterday and just emailed DHS today, hopefully one of them gets back to me. It's a bit hard to prove that I didn't report it and the consulate could not give me anything in writing as just because it was not reported right now, it doesn't mean that it couldn't be in the future. I can just imagine the next time, I will have to go through the same process again because I would not have any proof again...

No sorry no idea. What did CBP say when you said it wasn't? Did you ask them what system claimed it was? (might help to find out who to call)

They said they didn't know anything, that I "need to talk to your government, they must be reusing the passport numbers". I then asked if she could tell me when the alert was put in the system, she replied "I don't have that information, I can't tell you anything more, speak to your government, they are always messing up"

Hi VJ members,

I'm a LPR currently going through the lifting of conditions. I traveled outside of the country recently and when I returned via LAX, I was put into secondary inspection, CBP claimed that my passport was reported lost/stolen. I certainly did not report it, and I checked with the Australian consulate and they had no such alert in their system. Does anyone know how I can get to the bottom of this and remove any flag on my passport?

Thank you.

Same here, worse my case is still not found

Us too... Very disappointing... My husband and I just got back from a vacation in Mexico, at the POE, the IO said, "did you guys file the removal of conditions within 90 days?" We answered "yes" and the IO said, "and those guys STILL haven't processed it?" We wish they would, but nothing... He also went on to advise us against using a lawyer to do any kind of paperwork... LOL...

What about other "government/official" mail addressed to either of you at the same address? For example, I submitted Social Security statements that were addressed to us individually, but at the same address, jury duty notices (not applicable to me as an LPR, but I got them still). I also provided examples of employment benefits that were extended to my husband because he was a spouse. Finally, just because the bills are in his name, were you responsible for paying any of it? If so, perhaps you can take the bill and the matching payment listed on your bank/credit card statement that shows while you might not be officially on the paperwork, you are still financially responsible for it.

I guess it's time to get a little more creative, and best to find examples over a period of a couple of years.

Best

Vanessa is right, if you want to see your medical records, you can just request it from the doctor. I did not come here on a K1 but I had to do a medical for my AOS, and I simply asked the doctor if I could get a copy and he gave me one. I don't know about the Philippines, but in the US, you have the right to access your medical records, just don't try to access the copies in the sealed envelope

I live in California and the driving test I was given was pretty basic. We drove around on some major roads (no freeways) with traffic lights and some smaller ones with stop signs, I didn't have to do any kind of hill start and we only did half a parallel parking job. The tester asked me about my driving history, but I don't know for sure if that played into how he tested me or not. A couple of the "hints" I received were: come to a full stop at a stop sign and make it obvious that you're looking around, and also when you're merging and checking your blind spot. The tester may be writing down something and may not be fully watching what you're doing, so if they miss it they will mark it against you.

Best of luck

Not everyone has life insurance, so not having that as supporting documentation is not going to be a huge deal if you have other evidence of co-mingling of your assets and finances. However, just note that some insurance companies (I'm not sure if this is state law - I'm in California) requires that you nominate a primary beneficiary, and if you are married, the presumption is that the primary beneficiary would be your spouse. In my case, if I choose to nominate someone else as primary beneficiary, my husband would have to sign a form acknowledging that he waives his right as primary beneficiary. So essentially, even if you don't add him now, once you do your annual renewal for your insurance, when you put yourself as married, there is still the possibility that your husband would be required to waive his right. As another poster has said, you will still retain control over how your insurance benefits are split, it's just it will be done with your husband's consent.

As for the mortgage, while USCIS can ask for a lot from everyone on the visa journey, they do not expect you to take on bad financial situations in order to demonstrate co-mingling. So if you can add him with no additional cost, then great, but if it's going to result in refinancing or something that impacts you negatively, then as long as you can explain your position, you shouldn't have to do it. For instance, you can apply to have your husband added, but if the mortgage lender comes back in writing here are the costs you will incur to do this, that letter would serve as a good reason why you didn't add your husband. Another example, while we were doing our AOS, my husband did not add me to the lease, this was because we were on a month-to-month contract, and adding me would have resulted in another fixed term contract with higher rent, which we were not prepared to do, so we didn't even include the lease. When we went to the interview, the question didn't even come up, even though we were fully prepared to explain ourselves, all we were asked for was to submit two pieces of additional information showing co-mingling, so I gave the IO a bank statement and car insurance and he was satisfied.

I hope it all works out for you, best of luck.

Looks good, for the accounts where you receive regular statements, please include examples spanning the entire period from your AOS to ROC, you don't need every month, just make sure there are a few different ones from different dates.

Cheers

I think perhaps you misunderstood my post, it's about satisfying the financial requirements set out by USCIS... They will want to see all of the necessary paperwork and if you have it all ready to go, then there wouldn't be any additional delays in the already long visa process

It appears that if OP wishes to get pregnant, one of the first things that should be done is to make sure a co-sponsor is available just in case. The reason I say this is because (1) the baby will for sure increase household size, but OP does not yet know how much she will make with a new job related to her degree; and (2) complications with pregnancies may arise, she may not be able to continue working and most employers do not offer extended paid leave beyond what is required by law.

Otherwise best of luck for your journey ahead

This is a really interesting question, when you make an election for a joint return, is that specifically "married filing jointly"? What about "married filing separately"? If "married filing separately" does not have any FICA implications, then this may resolve the issue, since USCIS will accept married filing separately.

This might be one of the situations where you might want to consult an attorney. There are a few members here who have submitted their ROC application late, but only by a few days outside of the 90 day window. These members have submitted their application and supporting documents as well as a written explanation as to why they were late, I believe a few experienced members have said that whether the USCIS accepts the explanations and the application is at their discretion, so it is probably best if you consult first before sending anything in and possibly having it rejected (if rejected, you may not be refunded your application fee either).

Good luck

Ewika....this is not a problem and it will not affect your application.

In my situation, we submitted our taxes as married but separate since we've been married because hubby doesnt want my tax return to be affected by his bad debts from before we married.

And...we just got approved and received 10 yr GC last week!!!

Agree with Deidre (congratulations by the way!), as long as you're filing as married rather than single, you should be fine. Whether you file jointly or separately is based on your spouse's and your financial circumstances.

Cheers

You should double check the rules for CT. I read a while ago a member here had some trouble with the California police. In CA, you are suppose to get a CA license within two weeks of becoming a "resident", and "resident" is not clearly defined. The member ended up being ticketed because he had a CA address since was living here after arriving on his K1, but his argument that he is not yet a LPR was not accepted by the police and they deemed him a "resident".

You can use the US dictionary for your mail/word processing etc spell check. I found it picked up a lot of my spelling differences, although I still get into trouble for using "whilst". I generally get a lot of people laughing at my word choice, I've toned down my accent to help with the confusion, but it's tough when people have no idea what a "fortnight" is. My boss actually agreed with me that "fortnightly" is better than "bi-weekly" as some people interpret it as every two weeks, others will interpret it as twice a week...

Everything's definitely bigger here and people who are not transplants themselves (either from different states or other countries) are surprised I would make such a move and that I've traveled to many other countries for work and leisure