jjbandero

Hi folks,

Hope everyone's doing well, a quick update. I did my biometrics at Van Nuys ASC in CA on 10/25, I didn't attempt to do an early walk-in. The ASC is on the second floor of the building, there was some 2-hour street parking available. There were quite a number of people in the waiting area just outside of the reception, not sure why they were not sent to the larger waiting section past the reception. There were maybe a total of 6 people when I arrived, but I still waited for almost 40 minutes. Not sure what else this ASC handles, but it seems that a lot of the people were having long conversations with the officers taking their biometrics, I noticed one lady had her photo taken multiple times. Overall the experience was not too bad, except having my fingers twisted many times and being told that my prints were not very clear

I also got a stamp in my passport, as I noted a few weeks ago, I received two NOA 1 notices, with different receipt numbers, different time stamp and on the same day. At the InfoPass appointment, I was told by the officer that they have never seen this before (scary) and the system had two applications and two payments under my name (scarier). They could not cancel one of the applications, nor did I want them to, so I ended up getting the stamp so there wouldn't be any confusion at POE since I plan to travel.

Cheers

JJ

I agree with Inky, it's quite possible that you were picked randomly for an interview rather than specific issues with your paperwork.

As an aside, I'm also a foreigner who's experienced difficulties in getting credit initially, even though I have a long history of using international banks (HSBC) and credit cards (American Express) with business in the US, they also refused me credit because my Australian credit history was "not transferable". You might want to get your husband a secured credit card (basically you put money in the account before you can use the card) or try store cards (my first was a Macy's card with $200 limit) to help him build credit. While it may be too late in getting this done for your interview, it may be worthwhile to start now so that in the future when you do take out a large loan e.g. home mortgage, you are not disadvantaged (financial institutions will charge interest based on the lower credit score in a joint loan).

Best of luck!

Hi Michelle,

Inky has a great list, things that comes to my mind that are less common, but may work:

* Do either of you have a will naming the other person as a beneficiary?

* Do either of you have a benefit through work perhaps that only spouses are eligible for? My employer offers special discounts to our products and services and you have to be a spouse or dependent to receive it

* Do you or your husband have a 401K or pension where the other person is the beneficiary?

* Besides pictures of trips, have you had written communication with other family members? For instance a personal exchange with your in-laws?

I also liked using "official mail" e.g. mail from Social Security, Jury Summons to show we lived at the same address, even if it was not addressed to both of us.

Best of luck!

Just received my biometric appointment letter today, I will still keep my InfoPass appointment tomorrow just to find out which NOA1 I should be using.

Cheers

JJ

California Service Center (28 applicants)

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

CHANTEL..............08/31/11........09/02/11.......--/--/11........--/--/--....(K2)

BULGARICAN...........09/01/11........09/09/11.......10/03/11........--/--/--....

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

INKY.................09/03/11........09/06/11.......10/03/11........--/--/--....

INNEEDOFHELP.........09/07/11........09/09/11.......10/03/11........--/--/--....

ADIIANN..............09/09/11........09/1?/11.......10/19/11........--/--/--....

GUNDAS...............09/09/11........09/12/11.......10/03/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 9/19)

INNA.................09/09/11........09/14/11.......10/05/11........--/--/--....

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

FREYJA...............09/10/11........09/12/11.......10/03/11........--/--/--....

LEXY.................09/10/11........09/12/11.......11/02/11........--/--/--....

JULIDEN..............09/10/11........09/12/11.......10/07/11........--/--/--....

CHICAGOGUY 2.........09/12/11........09/19/11.......10/12/11........--/--/--....

MYPERFECTFLAW........09/12/11........09/19/11.......10/11/11........--/--/--....

TODSKIE82............09/12/11........09/15/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....

LOVABLE81............09/13/11........09/15/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....

DAVINCHI.............09/13/11........--/--/11.......--/--/11........--/--/--....

MINNEW...............09/14/11........09/16/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....

SELMA&ELVIR..........09/14/11........09/16/11.......10/21/11........--/--/--....

1LUVV................09/16/11........09/19/11.......--/--/11........--/--/--....

MATT & BING..........09/16/11........09/19/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....

VA8688...............09/19/11........09/23/11.......--/--/11........--/--/--....

PURPLE22.............09/21/11........09/22/11.......10/21/11........--/--/--....

SIMPS................09/21/11........09/22/11.......10/20/11........--/--/--....

CHICAGOMAMMY.........09/21/11........09/27/11.......11/02/11........--/--/--....

(former _HOPEFULLY)

MIKE143..............09/22/11........09/23/11.......10/24/11........--/--/--....(Early Bio 10/12)

JULY09BRIDE..........09/24/11........09/26/11.......10/31/11........--/--/--....

JJBANDERO............09/27/11........09/28/11.......10/25/11........--/--/--....

Vermont Service Center (20 applicants)

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

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

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........--/--/--....

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)

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........--/--/--....

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........--/--/--....

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

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)

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

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If you had blonde hair and you dyed your hair black, What would you do?

I would pick black regardless of if my hair used to be blonde because its not anymore!

People change their hair colour all the time i highly doubt it makes any big deal what so ever.

My biometric notice WAC number is 100% different from my NOA1 number.

Ok good to know, thanks. I just hope they're not going to issue me with two biometric notices and then claim that I failed to show up to one of them!

Hi JJbandero,

I had a similar experience when I applied for I-485. I received 2 application numbers. I wrote a letter asking USCIS to confirm the correct number. They were very helpful and fast with their response, and informed me of the correct number and that the wrong number had been cancelled. It was an error on their part. I did not use an infopass to correct the error, but I would not rule one out in your case.

Lexy.

Thanks for the reassurance Lexy, what you did was a good idea, I didn't think of it especially since the NCSC told me they couldn't do anything to help me. This makes me wonder if the incorrect receipt number is going to create problems for the biometric notice...

JJ posting

Thanks Inky, I hope so too, this complication really came out of left field. Makes me wonder if USCIS has a system glitch *gulp*...

Hopefully its sorted out easily and its not something really complicated. Good luck at the appointment.

Thanks Bobby+Umit, we took your advice and called the national center, they couldn't help beyond telling us that an Infopass appointment is needed, we have it scheduled for 10/14. My wife has some fears that she will end up traveling with the wrong NOA, so you were right, better get this resolved.

I would contact them - you might proceed on one - but the other one will get no info (so it might affect the other application - knowing how things go!)

Great to see members making progress. Here's something odd that happened, my wife and I discovered that she received two NOAs, both with the same content, but different receipt numbers on the same date with a time stamp 10 minutes apart. She called the national office today and all they could confirm is that it is not normal practice to have two receipts, but could not help us any further. We were told to make an Infopass appointment to clear this up, I have some horrible thoughts of us traveling together on the wrong extension letter. The appointment is scheduled for 10/14.

Hi everyone, we just realized my wife received two identical NOAs with different receipt numbers, different time stamps (10 minutes apart) issued on the same day. Has anyone encountered any issues like this? Should we do anything to correct this?

Thanks!

Sorry, having trouble updating, can someone please include us:

Packet sent to CSC on 9/27/11, receipt dated 9/28 (received by us on 10/1). Thanks!

I agree with the others: LOOKS GOOD! You've got way more stuff than I did and I'm already approved. So throw in some good vibes and beautiful karma in that pretty package of your and you're good to go!

Oh, and good luck!

Thanks Frenchy and congratulations! Looks like you were were able to get your card in a little over 4 months, I've got my fingers crossed that the same would happen for us

the list looks solid! good luck

Thanks Barca!

Oops, just noticed that I incorrectly put our wedding year as 2001, should be 2009.

Thanks Deidre! Best of luck to you and hopefully it won't be much longer

Hi VJ members,

My wife and I are getting ready to send in our I-751 paperwork and would like to ask for your help to look over the list of documents we're submitting to make sure we haven't missed anything glaringly obvious. A little background, my wife was already working in the US on an E3 employment visa when we met, after we married in June 2001 we filed for AOS. She received her conditional PR status without significant complications, her green card expires on 12/21/11, and we plan to take an overseas trip in November for her birthday, so we're hoping this time around the process will be relatively smooth.

I will update our timeline after our package is in the mail, many thanks for your help! Here's what I've got so far, we didn't replicate the information we'd already submitted at the time of her interview which included the months after we were married.

Dear USCIS Officer,

Enclosed please find a joint I-751 petition for removal of conditions on permanent resident status regarding my wife, JJ and a check for $590 for the filing and biometric fees. My wife and I are happily living together and have attached the following documents (referenced at the top right hand corner of each page) to demonstrate our ongoing relationship:

A: Front and back of JJ’s green card

B: The grant deed to our house

C1 to C9: Joint mortgage statements for our house from XXX from July 2010 through August 2011

D1 to D2: 2010 annual property tax bill and supplemental bill

E1 to E6: Tax transcript for joint return filed for 2009

F1 to F7: Tax transcript for joint return filed for 2010

G1 to G13: Statements from our joint savings account from XXX from January 2010 through August 2011

H1 to H4: Joint car insurance from XXX

I: JJ’s life and disability insurances showing me as the primary beneficiary

J1 to J7: Medical, dental and vision health insurance information showing me as a dependent on my wife’s plan

K1 to K2: JJ’s 401K plan showing me as the primary beneficiary

L1 to L4: Homeowners’ insurance and home warranty from 2010 and 2011

M1 to M5: Boarding passes from our trips to Cancun, Mexico and Chicago; pictures with family and friends from various events

N1 to N11: Miscellaneous mail (DMV, Social Security, jury summons, utility bills etc.) we have received at our old address [N5-N11] and our current address [N1-N4]

O1 to O3: Cards addressed to us from various family and friends

I hope you will consider the above listed documents sufficient to support the removal of the conditions on my wife’s permanent resident status.

Sincerely

Bandero

Hi,

Just wanted to give a perspective on employment verification. I actually participated in my company's internal I-9 process a few years ago, and here's what I've learnt from the process:

1. The employer is obligated to verify employment, however, they cannot demand to see specific documents, only that the employee must provide sufficient documents as described in the I-9 instructions

2. The employer is obligated to make good faith efforts to ensure all employees are eligible to work in the US - good faith effort includes correctly documenting the expiration dates of immigration documents for re-verification purposes e.g. work visas, GC - otherwise the employer may be subject to penalty, the penalty may increase if the employer was found to be negligent in putting measures in place My link to the I-9 handbook

3. My company chose to use a reminder system that automatically generates a letter to be sent to the employee 90 days prior to the expiration of their documents so there is adequate time for the employee to provide additional documentation to show their continued eligibility to work.

It appears in OP's wife's case, the employer maybe doing a re-verification if her 2 year conditional GC, and since the GC was used to establish her eligibility initially, the employer is asking for the same document. However, I suspect all of this was not clearly communicated to OP's wife, what the employer should have done was to have in writing their re-verification policies and procedures so that there is transparency and expectations are clearly set out.

Cheers

Congrats on starting your journey, I'm sure more experienced members will chime in, but I was slightly confused by your statement that your wife has been in the US since she was four through a visitor/business visa in the 90's. Doesn't this mean she has overstayed her original visa? I thought there would be additional requirements if that was the case. Don't mean to be a Debbie Downer

I want to wish you the best of luck, I agree with a lot of the other posters about working hard to get what you want, I also think your husband is just as they say, "managing your expectations", this way, you won't be as disappointed if things don't quite turn out the way you think . I think you've taken a good step to learn more about the US, just remember that the next time you encounter something you don't know how to solve, ask some locals and then get a second opinion! It's always easier when you combine hard work and know how

Don't be discouraged if you don't find a perfect job right away, the economy here has been difficult. You can always donate your time to work local community groups or non-profits, when the time comes, you can ask them to be a reference for you and a little charity work never hurt anyone's resume

Cheers

We have one realtor and two loan officers that we contacted to do this for us. When the time comes will choose the one that is more convenient for us. One of them asked for the sun and the moon, meaning all sorts of papers, phone numbers of tax lawyer that we used to file our taxes while we were on cruise ships, comcast, at&t, etc. Also she asked us to do an explanation letter as well. The other guy who we work for was really on top of things ...very quick, he got us a pre-aproval letter in a day, and he is not asking as much as the other lady. The only thing he told us to do is pay 1000 up front for the student loan to keep it under 5k, that's all.

We saw a home that was apraised at 320k, and the asking price is 184k, we put an offer on it for 164k and fingers crossed they will except it. Also i'm not sure if it's only in Virginia, but an option that we have is to do a agricultural loan, where we put no downpayment and we don't pay for the mortgage insurance , that can save you 100 dollars from your monthly mortgage, the only thing is that the house has to be in a specific area. Tis area we are looking into is up and comming, a lot of farm land, and a military base, no bad neighbourhoods or anything like that...it's just that is 30 min away from the city....but the home is 3200 sq/f so we are happy with driving

It's such an amazing time for us, as i will hopefully get my green card soon, and i can start going back to school, we are buying a home, it's so overwelming...in a few years when i will be a nurse, having a great home, i will look back and laugh at all the craziness that is happeneing right now...but hey..baby steps...will get you there!

i want to thank you all for beeing a part of everything we are trying to accomplish -house, school, green card...it's so amazing to have so much suport from people you never even met. I'm happy i have found you, and hopefully one day i can also be able to help others in their search.

Congrats on finding a home you like so quickly, I hope it works out for you. Our home buying experience was pretty painful on the loan side, this was because both my husband and I were on the application, but I had only gotten my GV fairly recently. The problem was I not only had to prove my credit worthiness (I've working here for a few years), I had to prove my residency status to the bank. We also had some funds that were gifted to us from parents, which again took extra paperwork to prove validity. Luckily we had a good loan officer who responded to our questions outside of business hours and on weekends to get things done, he also chased the underwriter to speed hints up. Our agent also anticipated the delays and asked for a longer contingency period, I'm in CA and it's common to have 30 days but we had 45. We had to go down to the wire and it was real stressful.

Anyway, my advice is to start gathering the documents you will need for the loan now, so you are not in a rush later. Things like your tax records, proof of your cash, ID, pay slips, you will have to submit to pretty much any lender. Make a package with photocopies and electronic files so you can handover or email quickly. You don't want to be the bottleneck in the process, things take a long time as it is.

Best of luck!

I'm saddened by what you're going through and will echo what the other posters said to document and protect yourself. It's good that you have a lawyer, given your ex has no qualms about lying, manipulating etc, you really need to get whatever paperwork you can to support your divorce and have your ties severed as soon as possible. I'm not sure how old your children are, but perhaps it would be good to sit them down and tell them what they should do in case your ex tried to contact or approach them.

With regard to your other comment about your ex crashing a company's systems for revenge, that is a type of cyber crime and can be reported, see http://www.cybercrime.gov/

However, I would recommend you do this only if you have evidence of what he did and best with the help of the company that was the victim of his crime.

Best wishes for getting on with your life

Hi Everyone,

I have a question for a couple of friends. My friend received an E3 visa for work last week, she is expected to start work in the US on 9/20, her husband is accompanying her here on the visa waiver program to help her settle in. He is working with a different company to get his own E3 visa so he did not apply for an E3 dependent visa. Is there something they should be aware of at the POE? Could he possibly be denied entry because he could have gotten a dependent visa?

Thank you!

It depends on where you're driving in California, the police in my city (Southern California) are very strict and depending on whether they understand your immigration situation, most don't care about immigration issues. I heard a horror story of having to fork out over $1000 for fines because of not driving with a correct license because the person was not able to get the police to understand why he had a home address in CA but he was still not a resident. The police basically said, if you've been living in CA for a couple of weeks and intend to continue to do so, then you should have a CA license.

Is it very difficult for you to get a license and then renew it? I renewed mine just by filling in a form online and paid the fees (I think <$30).

My experience is slightly outdated now, but it may help a little.

It took me six months before I could get a credit card, I came to the US on a work visa and did not have the option of adding myself to a joint account. I started with a department store card with a limit of $200 (I bought something on the card on the day it was opened, and then on the same day paid it off in cash), they are notorious for offering terrible rates, but if you paid everything off on time, then it's a none issue. It doesn't matter about the credit limit, just continue to use the card and then pay it off, after about 12 months, I started receiving offers for credit cards (they haven't stopped since!).

I would recommend you approach your existing banks to see if your spouse could be added to any of them to help build a history. You can run a free credit report after six months to see if information is starting to show up, I was told it generally takes 6 months for information to be fed to the credit reporting agencies.

I was advised that pictures and emails do tell a story, but the IOs generally rely more on more "objective" documents, from third parties e.g. your insurance company, bank, 401k manager. So I took some pictures and emails, but I didn't volunteer them at all, in the end, all I submitted as additional evidence was a copy of the bank letter showing we had a joint account and our car insurance.

I'm so sorry to hear your stories of employment troubles, it must be taking a toll on your lives. Here are couple of my suggestions, they may be stating the obvious, but here goes:

* Perhaps consider having someone review your resume, my experience has been that many US employers have certain expectations as to how the resumes are written. Sometimes they only look for key words in your resume to see if it matches the position they're hiring for. It is possible that you have matching experience, but because you didn't use those key words, they may overlook it.

* I know it's hard to get the potential employers to check on your references, perhaps you can get written references from them, so at the very least they can be attached to your resume even if the interviewers do not wish to call your past international employers.

Just as an FYI, I've also discovered that because of federal labor laws that came in effect a few years ago, employers are obligated to consider every electronic application they receive once the application has been opened. So to get around this rule when you have lots of applications, the employers just stops from even opening then. This is one of the reasons why some of you didn't hear back after submitting your application. I know this doesn't really take away your frustration though.

Best of luck to you all!