tom&tanya

Can't wait for you to get back so we can all meet!!!! Have fun and eat a bit of salo for me

Congrats on the visa!

(My wife really likes "American salo" ... I like to call it bacon.... and cook it first before I eat it.)

Hi All,

Thanks a lot for your input! I'm still a little scared to send the application as early as possible because in the end, we'll be gone during 3 weeks total.

I've seen people receive a biometrics letter for appointments two weeks after that. So I'm afraid we could receive one of those when we're gone at get denied.

I know the chances are slim since there's only one biometric appointment normally, but my wife's fingerprints are extremely difficult to read so we received 2 biometrics appointments for AOS and had to send police records to prove that she didn't have any criminal record.

I expect the biometrics to go down the same way this time, that's why it's even more difficult to project for us.

Do you know if there are any mail services that will delay the delivery of our package if we ask? Ie: we drop it off on December 7th, the day we leave but ask them if they can deliver it around the 14th, so we have a month before the GC expiration but no risk of missing anything since we would be back 2 weeks after that?

Thanks!

I think if you send your application just before you leave you have MORE of a chance you will miss your biometrics appointment. It would also be better to travel with the I-797 stating your green card is extended 1 year.

Right, you'll need your green card AND the letter extending it I think.

Correct!

We are trying to keep it out of our thoughts until May or June, 2013

Gary,

Congratulations and All the best to you and Alla!

HI All,

Silly question: when we get our new GC, will it have a new picture in it, or will it be the same pic?

New photo and fresh set of fingerprints taken at the Biometrics appointment you will have.

Received the Bio Apt date. We may try to do a walk-in, as others have stated, but we don't think this will speed up the process

I agree, I don't think it will have much of an effect on the approval date. The only reason we did an early bio was because it fit our schedule better and the ASC is only a 15 minute drive from my house.

Finally got my ASC letter but I have a question, can I show up earlier than the actual appointment date? Like walk-in.. I see a few ppl on here had early Bio but how does that work? The place is like 2 hours away from where I live so i just want to make sure before I get to the office.

How it works is easy. Just show up with your letter and present it. I've done walk-in biometrics twice already. Once for AOS and now for ROC. The reason I did this time was simply for convenience. It fit our schedules better. The ASC I went to was only a 20 minute drive from my house so it would not have been a big problem if we were turned away. In your case, a two hour drive would have me thinking about doing it unless I had a good reason.

The first floor of my house is tile and after one month here it was decreed that shoes were allowed on the tile floor but no one had better set a shoe on the carpeted stairs.

Wearing a bra around the house sucks. Bras aren't comfortable, and many women's tops, especially "loungewear", is very sheer or thin.

It means she's comfortable around you, or better yet she trusts you. It's a good thing, let it go.

I know how much Russians and Ukrainians enjoy relaxation inside the home. The first thing my wife (and step daughter) do when they get home is change into comfortable clothes and slippers. They can't understand why I don't do the same the instant I come home.

Oksana and I talked about this last night (after I regained my bearings). I explained how most American women would have been outraged that I admitted to seeing their daughter's breast, and I asked her why she was not upset and her reply made a lot of sense.

She said "You are a man, and a man is going to look at a pretty girl no matter what and it is normal. I trust you completely and if I thought there was a danger, I would never leave you alone with her. It is also a sign that my daughter trusts you."

Got to love a FSU woman's no-nonsense approach.

How true!

Can't touch? Are you kidding me? I'd be all over that! It's not weird if you met as adults. <br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 253); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 253); ">But, then again, a 20-year-old dude is no match for a 22-year-old Russian woman. He's like an amateur and she's like 40 in American guy years. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "She will be to him as the heron is to the fish. Over him simply because of sovereign nature alone." <br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 253); ">

Morally speaking (and I have very few morals) there is no problem. As for the age difference...oh yeah. She would damage the boy irrepairably and ruin him for anything else.

Well he would ... if he could. He is certainly no match for her, but it's fun to watch him try to impress her. She still has old Russian and Ukrainian boyfriends sending her gifts from clear across the world. I could open a used flower shop with the amount of flower deliveries I get since she moved in.

On the more practical side, I'm glad nothing will happen because they are going to know each other as family for many years to come and I don't want there to be any awkward feelings between them later.

My step-daughter is an extremely attractive 22 year old who walks around the house with very little on. .. sometimes VERY little! I do my best to ignore it, (or pretend I'm ignoring it!!). Because as Slim said, whatever I say I'll be wrong. The one I feel sorry for is MY 20 year old son who looks at forbidden beauty and can't touch!!

Got Our Noa's today. Noa date Aug 28th. could someone please update for me.

I do not like how I got a normal NOA1 and my son who was included only got a page saying he was included in my petition. I hope we have no problems traveling.

I've got nothing so far for my step-daughter. My wife's NOA 1 says nothing about my step-daughter. We did however get Biometrics for both. I'm going to wait 30 days and then do an infopass.

Hi All,

I'm trying to recap all my immigration information after 2 years of being absent. What if I get to the point where I can file for citizenship but my 10 year green card has not arrived? I just saw that the VSC is processing ROC petitions from Oct 2011

There has been discussions about this before on VJ. If you are eligible for citizenship the you can apply even if your ROC has not been approved yet. It seems that this forces them to work your I-751 petition.

It's been a hell of a month in my household. Our window opened on the 5th, and we were pretty close to being done for a few days following that, but my father in-law went into the hospital and after 10 days of being moved from emergency to ICU to another room, he passed away on the 12th. So we've been dealing with that and my ROC has been put on the backburner.

Anyway, I was wondering if I could get VJ's opinion on my list of evidence if it's all good or if I need anything more:

- tax transcripts 2010 & 2011

- Credit union statements (where we regularly bank)

- Credit union statements (where our car loan is at)

- benefits statements from two different branches of health insurance

- health insurance member card showing me as beneficiary

- reimbursement receipt for my glasses showing my husband as main holder and me as spouse

- copies of driver's licenses

- copies of purchase agreements from when we bought a car with both our names on it

- vehicle registration receipts for 2 years with both names

- copies of car insurance cards showing both names on policy

- copies of visa cards

- copies of Target Red cards

- photos

Anything else I'm leaving out that I should have?

We've been living with my in-laws, so that's why we don't have anything pertaining to mortgage/lease/rental agreement of a house.

Looks like you have plenty of evidence now. If you read the pinned topic at the top of this forum "Chat with USCIS director" It says letters from friends are not considered good proof of relationship and have little value.

They cashed my check, is that a good sign or is that something they do either way?

I think that's a very good sign that they accepted your petition. You should be getting a NOA1 in the mail in a few days. Then you know for sure you are OK with the filing date. (Let us know)

Start to research everything you can about your personal situation here on VJ and what others did in similar situations, and gather the evidence you need. When you get a RFE, you will be ready.

For the I-751 Pasha's NOA1 came about a month after Alla's. If I recalll, without digging out the forms, his biometrics also came before the NOA1. I would not worry about it at this point yet. Wait at least 30 days. His letter was a bit different than the usual NOA1 in that it stated he was "included in a petition..." and listed Alla as the primary beneficiary. It did extend his LPR privileges for one year, so it is important for that.

Thanks Gary!

One little problem I have: My wife's NOA1 came about 3 days after I sent the package but my step-daughter's NOA1 did not arrive as of yet (18 days and counting). I'm wondering what I should do and how long I should wait before trying to get a copy. I did receive bio appointment letters for both of them and did a successful early bio yesterday.

i will be sending my package next week ( so i will be a september filer) but maybe someone can answer my questions since there is no september thread yet... did anyone write the Alien Number on all Copies of the Evidence? Or A Number + Name, Just the Name or nothing? I have everything together just waiting for my window to open.. can't wait to get it out of the house

I just sent my evidence with no A# on any of it. I did the same thing when I send AOS and did not have a problem. My Bio letter came about 1 1/2 weeks after NOA1. Did an early bio appt. yesterday for no other reason than it fit our schedule better.

Now the big wait. VSC is working at an average time of 8.5 months last time I checked. However this time, I have no problems waiting, It has no effect on anything in our life since my wife's green card is extended 1 year while we wait.

Successful walk in biometrics: 08/27/2012

Received Biometrics appt. 09/05/2012. They are sending me to the wrong service center! I live in West Palm Beach and they are sending me to Ft. Myers.. a 2.5 hour trip one way! I'm going to do a walk-in at West Palm next week.

The same thing happened when we went for biometrics for AOS. It worked last time so I'm hoping it works this time.

I got in what I hope is a pretty decent submission today, so they'll have it on the day of the deadline. USCIS support said this is technically too late when I called them yesterday, so I added an explanation with some evidence. Thanks again for the advice.

I hope they accept it. Let us know.

Thanks. To be clear, the waiver is the one where the marriage ended through divorce. My divorce isn't final yet, but will be in a few months. My understanding, based on the memo here (http://www.uscis.gov...tion_3apr09.pdf) had been that I should file with a request for a waiver of the joint filing requirement, but without sending the divorce decree until the RFE (since I don't have the decree yet). Did I get confused?

I don't have a good idea of how I should be trading off making a hasty submission vs. being a few days late. If I'm going to have to send in the divorce decree later anyway, does that mean I'll have an opportunity to send more evidence of bona fides later regardless? Or is there a risk that they'll just reject it?

I really believe you are making a huge mistake not filing on time and something you are going to regret. I hope I'm wrong for your sake.

Hi. I'm wondering if anyone here can give me some insights:

I'm trying to file RoC by August 24th, with the waiver for divorce, with the intent to send the decree in response to a request for evidence. I've been separated from my wife since late April, but because of unexpected obligations with work, she's taken a long time in sending me the documents she promised to send, and the hassle over that and other things have prevented me from being well-prepared in time.

I'm receiving my documents only on the 22nd, and could still scramble to send them in in time. While making the deadline seems preferable, from what I've read on the forums, it doesn't seem like a few days late would be a real problem in practice, particularly given that I have a good explanation why it wasn't my fault. I'm not 100% sure though?

Also, I'm confused by some things it says in the instructions for the I-751. It seems to say affidavits are necessary, while on the internet I've mostly read that affidavits are only necessary if you don't have other documentation.

And under when to file (for the waiver case), it says the following:

"You may file this petition at any time after you are granted conditional resident status and before you are removed."

So does that mean that although removal proceedings theoretically start at the second anniversary, if you send it later than that, they can't fault you as long as you haven't actually been deported? Or does it only mean I could have sent it in before the 90-day window? I'm confused.

I've been trying to consult a lawyer about these things, but in the mean time, I'd greatly appreciate any answers people may have.

Why put yourself in the position to have to ask for a waiver? It seems crazy to me. I would file on time with whatever I had at the time and pay the fee. Then wait for a possible RFE. It's a much better "problem" than not filing on time!!

Send it overnight with tracking you you can prove you filed on time. I used USPS overnight since FedEx and UPS cannot deliver to a PO Box.