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Just got my e-mail from USCIS.

Card production had been ordered!! Should receive it within 30 days.

Hmmm ok the only reason we thought about this was because we heard from this lawyer that the best option is if I go to Colombia and marry there, and then she can actually file for a visa that would get her here in 2 weeks. She actually said tourist visa.

So that's a no go?

She can always apply for a tourist visa. But under the scenario you've suggested, as the spouse of a US Citizen, she'd most likely be denied for immigrant intent.

Aaron is right - that lawyer is an idiot. Don't listen to another word they say.

When we moved house, we killed our landline through QWEST and bought an OOMA device (similar to a Magic Jack).

So the phone line is now free (though I buy $10 of credit every 6 weeks to call the UK)

But QWEST were determined to keep us as internet customers, so they slashed our monthly fee to just $12. Don't know the speed off hand, but it streams movies perfectly.

Our only cable option out here is U.S. Cable (horrifically expensive) so we went with DISH instead. Decent package (including a sports upgrade) for $42 a month.

Is it a joint credit card account (with the statements addressed to both of you)? Or is one of you simply an authorized user, with the statements addressed to just the actual account holder?

If it's joint - send the statements.

If it's an authorized user scenario, send copies of both the cards. Personally, I wouldn't redact any part of the card number (you want to demonstrate they are identical after all) - but for security you could (for example) redact the expiry dates, or (if appropriate) the CVC codes.

And don't forget....

The costs listed in the OP pale into insignificance compared with the lost income that K1 migrants suffer. I didn't earn a penny for 6 months after arriving on a K1.

Measurements. Sadly, nobody can say for certain. It depends which member of the check in staff you get on the day, and what mood they are in. Some will just eye-ball a bag and waive it through - others will get the tape measure out. But given that anything over the magic "62 inch" mark could cost you $200, I certainly understand your concern.

Number of bags. If you are flying from the UK to the US, you are allowed one free checked bag. The second bag (even if both are under 62 inches and under 50 lbs) will cost you $70.

http://www.continent...kedBaggage.aspx

But - given your name, you could be in luck. But that's IF (and only if) your husband will be flying with you. Continental allow military personnel and their dependents 3 free bags each. You don't have to be traveling on orders - but you would need to be with your husband and he'd need to show his ID.

No different to when I was in Britain.

Marmite on toast and either: Weetabix, All-Bran, or Coco-Pops.

If we ever eat out for breakfast, I might be tempted by steak and eggs, or huevos rancheros. But a lot of the traditional American stuff leaves me completely cold. American "bacon", pancakes, French toast. Meh.

As an aside, you mention in your OP that you are not a USC therefore not qualified for government/ state/ city jobs.

That's not necessarily true.

Yes, most Federal positions are reserved for USCs, but the majority of state, county and city jobs are open to anyone with a valid EAD or Green Card.

I'm only an LPR, but I'm an investigator with the Colorado Attorney General.

Possibly. But it depends on 2 factors:

1) What background checks are used.

If an employer simply uses E-VERIFY you should be fine. E-VERIFY acts as a snapshot to comment on your current immigration status. You have an EAD, so any employer searching will be told you are legal.

If however an employer opts to do a criminal history check, that will show any arrests (and whether or not that led to a conviction).

So that leads to factor #2....

Were you ever arrested or detained for being in the U.S. illegally? If so, that WOULD show up on a criminal background check - and would highlight your illegal past.

If you were not arrested or detained, I can't see how a standard criminal background check would show your illegal past.

We went to Wal-Mart (just last week) to get our daughter's passport photo taken.

$7.50.

I was just about to post a topic about this!

My situation is in Florida though.

I will be entering on a K-1 in a few weeks, hopefully!

My USC Fiancee is insured with Allstate.

I have a full Irish license, clean.

I have visited her a number of times, and driven her car. Now, we were under the assumption that once SHE has insurance, anyone with a license is covered to drive HER car, with her permission, of course!

A few weeks ago, we second guessed ourselves, called Allstate and were told; 'ya, once they have a full licence, they're good.'

Today, she called them to change her address and asked them again (it was a different person on the phone), this time he said; 'No, he needs to have an American license to be covered.'

So, which is true? Any ideas!?

It makes sense in my head that if she has insurance, then I can drive... Right!?

Find and read her actual policy document (the long version with all the definitions and legal mumbo-jumbo). Only THAT document will give you a definitive answer. Anything else will be nothing but guesswork and conjecture.

Just for clarity, you probably need to refine your question slightly and just ask specifically about J1 cases at the ROC stage.

Asking generally about "non-immigrant visas" won't help you much. For example, K1 visas are also classed by USCIS as "non-immigrant visas", and the vast majority of K1 entrants get through the ROC stage without an interview.

I don't know any specific stats for J1 entrants, who marry then apply for ROC, but hopefully some others will.

Also, where did you file? If it was CSC you may hear sometime soon. If it was Vermont, chances are you can sit back and relax for MANY months to come.

Public transport, Sheffield Wednesday games, (and although I'm a non-drinker) British pubs!

Food is both yes and no. On the one hand it's surprisingly easy to buy British groceries in northern Colorado (processed items such as Weetabix, marmite, chocolate bars, marmalade, custard, salad cream, Branston Pickle, Robinson's squash, Irn-Bru etc are even sold in our local supermarket) - but it's almost impossible to replicate true British meals. The ingredients, water etc just aren't the same over here.

I would KILL for some proper Yorkshire fish and chips. Never mind a bacon butty. America doesn't have the bread, or the bacon to do that.

Miss British humour too.

I also miss London. Terribly. Its wealth of culture, its history, its cosmopolitan/ multi-racial population, its size, the anonymity of it.

But I love my wife and my daughter more, so here I am.

EDIT - And how could I forget...... Social healthcare, and a welfare state that's fit for purpose.

FURTHER EDIT - And how could I forget this - decent annual leave (I had 32 days in London - it's 12 days here).

Evidence that you traveled together is always great - and it doesn't matter whether or not you used your maiden name.

There's nothing to say that you have to change your name after marriage - some do, some don't.

You can provide whatever you want as evidence. The question is, will it help you.

For ROC, USCIS are primarily looking for evidence that:

a) You and your spouse have been living together and

b) You and your spouse have co-mingled your assets and liabilities (and the trust that is shown from this).

Ideally they want to see joint bank statements, joint credit cards, joint loans, joint leases/ mortgages, and evidence that you filed your taxes as "married". If you have a joint primary bank account that you pay your incomes into, or even add your spouse as an authorized user on your credit card, that shows trust and reduces the risk that the marriage is a scam. Especially if that co-mingling can be demonstrated over a couple of years. If you did marry for fraud - would you risk a two year period where your "spouse" could suddenly clean out your account, or run up debt in your name?

Having both your names on WU transfers doesn't demonstrate that trust. It simply shows that you both agreed to make the payment(s). Nothing more.

As an aside, there have been threads on VJ stating that USCIS rejected ROC applications, after seeing evidence of numerous WU payments back to a home country. It might be worth searching for, and reading those, before you supply WU documents as evidence.

You can provide whatever you want as evidence. The question is, will it help you.

For ROC, USCIS are primarily looking for evidence that:

a) You and your spouse have been living together and

b) You and your spouse have co-mingled your assets and liabilities (and the trust that is shown from this).

Ideally they want to see joint bank statements, joint credit cards, joint loans, joint leases/ mortgages, and evidence that you filed your taxes as "married". If you have a joint primary bank account that you pay your incomes into, or even add your spouse as an authorized user on your credit card, that shows trust and reduces the risk that the marriage is a scam. Especially if that co-mingling can be demonstrated over a couple of years. If you did marry for fraud - would you risk a two year period where your "spouse" could suddenly clean out your account, or run up debt in your name?

Having both your names on WU transfers doesn't demonstrate that trust. It simply shows that you both agreed to make the payment(s). Nothing more.

As an aside, there have been threads on VJ stating that USCIS rejected ROC applications, after seeing evidence of numerous WU payments back to a home country. It might be worth searching for, and reading those, before you supply WU documents as evidence.

It is a supplemantry citizenship means you still need the citizenship of the country which is accepted the treaty and is part of EU.

Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship.

Unfortunately EU citizenships being supplementry it is not considered for the immigration purpose, it is the nationality of the country is taken into account.

Which is why in my original post, I said EU Citizenship was something very different and then asked the OP what specific country the friend was a citizen of....

In response to the OP - my understanding is that citizens of Hungary do not require visas to enter either Mexico or Canada.

There is also no EU Citizen.

Actually..... yes, there is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_of_the_European_Union

And Armenia are members of UEFA - which is proof enough of being European for me (Israel's membership being the notable exception).

We have not heard anything since the Biometrics letter. We did get the letter to use until the GC arrives. My hubby's GC expired last week and we are going to Scotland to visit my stepson and in laws next month. Since it seems very unlikely the GC will arrive before the trip we will be taking the expired card, passport and the letter. Has anyone else had any trouble at all travelling while you wait?

As long as he travels with the expired GC and the NOA1, he should be absolutely fine.

Make sure it is the ORIGINAL NOA1 though - not a photocopy.

The only problem I've read about on here, involved an LPR spouse who traveled back to Brazil - but on the return trip, the airline refused to carry her back as she only had a photocopy of the NOA1. Her USC husband (who stayed in the States during her trip) insisted that she leave the original at home for "safekeeping", so she only had a photocopy with her.

Basically she was able to make the first return leg from Brazil to Peru - but was denied boarding for the connecting flight to the U.S. - and sent back to Brazil.

He then had to FEDEX her the original NOA1, and she had to pay for a brand new flight.

Thanks for an answer

I did not think of this.......but Mexico requests a Visa from a European citizen?

Now you know that she can't use a trip to either Canada or Mexico to extend her U.S. stay, it may no longer be relevant, but...

There's no such thing as a "European Citizen".

EU citizen, yes. But that's a very different thing.

What specific country is she a citizen of? Britain? Switzerland? Armenia? Europe is made up of very different countries - some people will need visas for CAN or MEX, some won't.

Any debt that he has in the UK will not affect you or even his credit rating in the US. He basically starts fresh with US credit and will need to work towards building his US credit. It will almost be like a fresh start for him as his UK credit file does not follow him. But, he will need to keep paying back the debt from the US if he would like to avoid UK penalties.

You need to figure out what works for you both and how you'll make it work. Basically you can be as involved or uninvolved as you want to be with his UK debt but ultimately your name is not affected in the US.

You can most definitely have a joint account with him in the US and not be connected to the UK debt. I'd recommend keeping your own separate accounts and also having joint accounts (mingling of finances is important for immigration). You can both contribute a set amount to the joint accounts and also keep some money for yourselves to take care of your own debts. He can send money to the UK from his own account and not involve you OR he can send it from your joint accounts. Either way, it doesn't affect your US credit.

I would also advise him to have some savings for when he moves over so that he can continue to pay down his debt while he is not working when he moves. But again, you need to make your own arrangments and decide how to pay down his debt. Every couple has this own way of doing it, some share the burden, some don't.

That's not always true. Individuals need to be very careful about which credit cards they apply for in the U.S.

I applied for a U.S. issued AMEX card in 2010. AMEX noticed my short U.S. credit history and (realising I was probably a recent immigrant) contacted me, to ask which country I had emigrated from and whether I had previously had an AMEX account there. They explained that they could link that former UK account to my new American account - effectively importing my credit history with AMEX. That's wonderful if you've had a great history in your former country - but horrific if you didn't, and do want to start fresh.

My advice would be - if he had accounts with AMEX, Barclays, Capital One etc in the UK - avoid these providers in the U.S.

Just apply for a credit card (or any line of credit) with Wells Fargo. Can't talk for other banks, but they may be the same.

Once you are accepted, they send you a letter saying what your interest rate will be - and that letter contains.... your current FICO score.

It's very, very hard to collect debt incurred in the UK from someone who has moved overseas - so he may be tempted to just stop paying.

After 6 years, the Statute of Limitations expires anyway, meaning the debt can no longer be legally collected.

Two issues to be aware of though, should he choose that option - even though the statute of limitations will stop any further attempts at collection, the fact he defaulted may stay on his credit report for much longer - making him potentially a marked man (credit wise) if you ever decided to live in Britain.

Also, some creditors have a much more connected international footprint than you may realise. AMEX for example, can import your British credit history if you move to the US - great if you have a good score. Awful if you don't and were looking for a clean start.

I have already filed my removal of condition application. A friend of mine has just gathering the requirements and filling out the form, She asked me if she needs to put her US citizen child on Part 5 of the form. I told her I put my daughters name on it but i wrote US citizen under the Immigration status since it states to list all the children. Is there going to be a problem about my form? Did i do it right? or i suppose to put NONE.

Thanks..

We did exactly the same as you. Listed our daughter in Part 5 and wrote US CITIZEN in the immigration status box.

As you say, it clearly states "list all your children".