mrmarouka

Wonderful. Thank you for the clarity.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1ba892623014d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

This is yours. It's an I-865

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=2e5174ab3d2fa210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

This is hers. An AR-11

You mail yours in, she can change address online.

Thanks for the link. I am a little confused however, where it says:

If you have moved, and you have a pending case, you can change your address online here on our website. Please note that the law does not require U.S. citizens to file a Form AR-11.

What do they mean by pending case? I don't have any cases pending. I am also a U.S. citizen. Does this mean that I don't have to fill out a change of address form?

My wife has already been granted permanent resident status, so she doesn't have any pending cases either. I'm assuming this means that she only has to file Form AR-11, is this correct?

Basically, only SHE has to report her change of address, right?

Thanks for the help.

-M

She can change her address online. You have to mail yours in.

https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=coa

I hope this is the right forum to post this question on:

My wife received her green card in March. She also has a social security number. Basically, she is all set. But in May I left my job, we moved to a different state, and I am now working at another job and we have a new address.

Is it required that we submit any kind of change of address to USCIS? I know that there is a website to do this on, but I am just wondering if we are legally obligated to do so, or if it is just a formality?

The reason I ask this is because we applied for her adjustment of status using a different address than the one we used when she arrived with her VISA. We never reported the change of address, and it didn't seem to be an issue. In fact it was never even brought up. Though, I don't know, maybe they were just cutting us some slack because I was in the military.

Also, would I as her sponsor be required to file a change of address as well? Do I also need to report my new job/income?

Thanks.

-M

My wife received her green card early this month, and on the 15th of February we went to the local SSN office to apply for her social security number. We had all documents needed, though the agent didn't look at my wife's green card. She only looked at her Employment Authorization Card, birth certificate, and her passport, which was all scanned to be sent out for verification. She said it should take less than two weeks, but as of today we have yet to see a SSN.

I'm just wondering if it is too early to be concerned? The reason I am a little edgy about this is because the agent was pretty confident that it would only take 7 to 10 days, as long as everything was verified by USCIS/DHS.

What could possibly be the problem? Would it be imprudent to call the local office and ask if there are any problems with my wife's case? I would rather know sooner than later so we can get things straightened out. Or should I just wait another two weeks and see if we get it by then?

We have already missed out on last year's earned income credit for our tax return due to her not having an SSN.. I would hate to miss out on another year of it.

Any clarity would be appreciated!

one thing I know, no agency accepts expired documents to process anything.

Understood. Just seems pretty dumb to have to drive several hours to New York City to get a new passport when all we need it for is to apply for a SSN at a local office..

Do you think they would accept a Birth Certificate as ID?

Thanks for the help.

Just a question:

We had our AOS interview today. All went pretty well. Our interviewer told us she would review all of our paperwork before the end of the day, and we should have the green card in the mail in two to three weeks.

We also happened to receive her Employment Authorization Card today.

I would like to apply for her SSN as soon as possible. The only problem is that my wife's passport expires in a few days. I know that in order to apply for a SSN, you are required to bring your SSN application, EAC, Passport, and another form of ID (in our case it would be her green card).

Will we have to renew her passport before we apply for SSN, or will they accept her expired PP? Getting a new passport would require a long long trip to the Philippine embassy in NYC, I believe. I am not sure, can we do it by mail??

Also, when the time comes, can we just apply at our local Social Security office?

Thanks for the help.

In regards to a move, there may be another possibility.. Let me know if this could work or not:

Would I be able to use my parents address in the AOS application (as well as the other applications that go with it), so that all mail could be sent to their address and not my current one? My wife did live there for a year while I was deployed to Afghanistan, and it is the address that we actually used when she applied for her K-3. Since I am in the military and was deployed only six months after she arrived, we haven't had much of a "stable" address, and technically my parents address IS my home address since nothing is permanent in the military.

My main concern is would this be seen as a discrepancy, as our current address would be listed as most recent place lived, but our "home" address would be listed on the application?

I am about to send out my wife's AOS packet. We are not sure where or when, but I may be leaving my current job and moving to a different location within the next three to five months.

My first question is will it matter that I have a different job/income after I have sent out her packet?

My second question is how do I report that we have changed our living/mailing address after the packet has been sent?

Thanks.

I have a quick question regarding the affidavit of support for my wife's AOS.

Number 25 requires me to list my adjusted gross income from my latest federal tax return. Only problem is that my adjusted gross income was only $2,305 and the rest was non-taxable combat pay.

So should I just combine the adjusted gross income with the non-taxed income and put the total? Or should I just put the adjusted gross income as it's listed in the tax transcript that I'm including with the I-864?

Any clarity on the subject is appreciated.

Since a K3 is a non-immigrant visa, your wife would have had to complete a I-94, it's the date that is written on the I-94 that is significant, not the visa expiration date.

If the date on that is written on the I-94 passes and AOS has not yet been filed for, then she is technically out of status. It is true that she could be detained by ICE if she is found out of status, however, because she is eligible to file for AOS based on being married to you, she would be released by a immigration judge and be told to file for AOS immediately.

OK, thank you.. The expiration date on her I-94 is April, 2012. So when I get back home, we have about six months to apply for her AOS and get a green card. Hopefully that is adequate time.

Thanks again.

While I have not seen any hard rule or deadline about when to file for AOS, your wife is technically out of status when the expiration date on the I-94 passes. If your wife's I-94 expiration date had passed, she should not leave the country until the AOS is approved and she has the green card. The valid date on the visa has no meaning anymore once the holder is in the US. I know a K3 is multiple entry but to take advantage of that, she would have had to leave before the expiration date written on the I-94.

My suggestion to you is to file for AOS as soon as you can.

Thank you for your answer! Though, I should have specified what my greatest concern was regarding the AOS in my initial post...

What you are saying is that it is just ill advised to leave the country after her K-3 has expired? We have no plans to leave the US any time soon, and she has stayed in country the whole time she has been here. I have been in Afghanistan for almost a year, so my wife has been living with my mother for the duration of my deployment. I am set to come back home within the next 3 months.

My main concern is her legal status. If we apply for her AOS when I come back home, and it takes longer than her K-3's expiration date, she will not be deported or anything, will she?

My wife has a K3 VISA that expires March, 2012. We would have filed much sooner, but we had been through a lot since her arrival in the US. I have been deployed to Afghanistan since October, and in that time we also had our child, so we have had quite a bit on our plate.

I had heard from someone that if you are in the US with a spouse visa and do not file for AOS quickly, you will raise a lot of red flags. I do not know if this is true or not. I always thought you could apply any time between the beginning and expiration of your visa.

So is this true? Or is there no time limit as long as you apply and receive the green card prior to your visa's expiration?

Also, generally how long would it take to get a green card after applying for AOS? Could it be done within four months?

Thanks.

My wife arrived in the US late April 2010 with a K-3 VISA valid for three years I believe...I will have to confirm the exact date of expiration with her---but I believe it is sometime in March of 2013.

I deployed to Afghanistan in October 2010, and prior to that I was involved in a lengthy training exercise, which took up a lot of our time and made it difficult for us to focus on anything else.

I return to the US in October 2011. Will this grant us enough time for the AOS procedure, or should we start now?

Thanks,

Mark

wow ...you are in watertown NY and you are going to complain about Cali???? I opened an office for my company out there a few years back and was there for over a year!!!!!.....there is only 1 good restaurant there unless u go to the bays or over to canada!!! ...lol....but they do have alot of bars there to drink at!!!...lol....also where in New Hampshire I am from New England and my mom still lives there and can tell you some good places to eat some food ...since she is trying it because she is comming out here in a couple of weeks so she knows the type of food pam will make her

Quite frankly, I hate New York. Watertown is a cesspool. But I'm stationed here, so I make the best of it. Yes there are tons of bars and clubs, and strip joints. I've found that any community neighboring a military base is usually one of the most hideous places you can imagine. I'm a married man, so in that respect, there is absolutely nothing to do locally.

I spent my younger years in Manchester, all through High School. My mom lives in New Boston and my dad in Goffstown. I love New England more than anywhere else in the country.

And uhhh NY is any better than Cali?

I'm not here by choice..

New Hampshire, however, is heaven on earth.

Thanks for the heads-up, though I generally try to stay as far away as humanly possible from California in the first place...

I've been there three times. Twice from Korea, once from the US. The only things customs & immigration checked were the arrival documents I filled out on the plane and my passport. Only once they asked me questions regarding the duration of my stay and where/who I was visiting.

Make sure you have your arrival documents filled out completely before you leave the plane, otherwise you will be asked to get out of line and fill it out at a table, which is very inconvenient.

The airport employees were very friendly towards me. They didn't seem as friendly with the Korean and Japanese visitors though...

Be sure to plan accordingly if you decide to stay over 21 days. Find the nearest Bureau of Immigration and apply for an extension. The nearest BI to my wife was a 5 hour trip (one way). It was a long day...

Take care.

-Mark

How did she like (or not like) PRISM? My girl is taking her medical in a few weeks and will be doing the seminar at PRSIM as well after her medical.

Everything went great. It was very painless. I'm starting to realize now that I worry too damned much.

Next big hurtle: PLANE TICKET, Airline Check-In, and flight to the US.

I may have a stroke...

Immigrant Data Summary is for CR1/IR1 only

Ok, sounds good.

What goes on at the counseling session anyway? They aren't going to be interrogating my wife are they?

So our original marriage certificate from the municipal hall will be OK? We no longer have her NSO printed certificate and don't have the time to get another one. The CFO website mentions a certified true copy from the local civil registrar. This is just another way of saying "original marriage certificate", I hope...

My questions can be somewhat redundant sometimes and I apologize for that, but I always like to make sure we know what's happening before jumping into a situation...

Thanks people.. =)

Totally.

I'll be scanning and sending them to her email. She can get 'em printed at the nearby internet cafe.

Change of plans. Looks like she'll be flying to San Francisco. Price is a little lower and I'm more comfortable with the layout of the international terminal.

Hi, my husband purchased my ticket with travelocity before using a credit card here in the US. They didnt asked any copy of the credit card in the airport at all. I traveled from Manila to LAX using PAL..

Hey there. So you traveled the same route my wife will be taking in a couple of weeks.

Regarding LAX itself. I've been to the Tom Bradley International Terminal and it is quite a busy place. Granted I have only been to the departures area. I am concerned that I will not be able to find my wife as she exits the arrival lobby...

Is there a specific area that PAL arrivals come from? Is there a choke point at the exit that will make it easy for me to identify my wife as she is coming out?

I sent her a TRACFONE in the mail, registered and with minutes added. Hopefully it will work when she lands...

My wife will be attending the seminar at PRISM tomorrow morning, and then registering with the CFO.

From experience, is there anything she should have that is not listed on the website when she goes there?

Also, our NSO Certified Marriage Certificate was taken during her interview at the US Embassy. What we have now is the original marriage certificate (and photocopies) from the municipal hall in which we were married. Is this acceptable?

And one more thing... What is the Immigrant Data Summary for US bound?

We're almost there....

Thanks,

-Mark

Is it different if you buy the ticket through Expedia? I think the price is actually a bit cheaper for PAL on Expedia than on PAL's website. I know people on VJ have used Expedia for tickets for their SOs without any ID issues.

Really? I am a little nervous about using Expedia because they are a third party. I would prefer to deal directly with PAL, even if it is a little more costly...

Mark,

You just need to send her a photocopy of the credit card and ID for the person who purchased the ticket. They don't care about last names, etc.. PAL does STRICTLY enforce this.

Make sure it's a clear picture of the credit card.. My Milagros told me that they complained in the airport about another passenger who didn't have a good clear photocopy.

Best regards,

-Jared

OK, not a problem. How about if it is not a photocopy of the ID and credit card but a computer scan, printed with a color printer? I'd say that sounds better..

Thanks for the responses.

-Mark

I am purchasing a ticket for my wife to fly straight from Manila to Los Angeles. Has anybody here flown that route before?

I was reading Philippine Airlines policies on their website, and one policy is that if the ticket is purchased for the passenger by someone who is not accompanying them, the ticket holder must also provide a photocopy of the credit card used, as well as a photocopied ID of the person who the credit card belongs to.

Does PAL strictly enforce this policy?

Also, it is possible that my mother will be purchasing my wife's plane ticket with her credit card to ease the financial burdon of our travel. My mother has a completely different last name as me, as she is remarried. If my wife were to show a copy of my mother's credit card and ID, would there be an issue regarding the names?

I have a very small time window in which to go pick up my wife and fly her back to New York before I have to return to work (I'm in the Army). I just want to make sure everything is going to go right the first time.

If anybody has any suggestions, or has done this before please let me know.

Thanks.

Mark