dukeandduchess

So sorry you had to deal with all of that.... That's so so so annoying... I wonder what they will come up with with my double last name....

Yep, i see your point. But in that case he should not have given me a letter verifying me that I applied for a renewal and that my new SSN will arrive in main in 10 days. Also, there was no need to block my application and to file me for investigation ( he did all of that).....

I agree that was totally wrong and I'm sorry to hear you had problems with them too. Hopefully once you get your EAD or Green Card it will be much easier for you! (Here's hoping!)

It's the same process only with less scrutiny, I'd say.

Yes, I see your point, but..... friend of mine filed for SSN 2 weeks after she got married ( her I-94 was not expired and was a month from being expired) andthey issued her SSN. Also. my current SSN says "Valid for work only with DHS approval." Our new SSN card will say the same, and as an approval we will have work permit. So, there is no real issue there. Also, if it was not possible to issue me a renewed SSN card ( in my case, just add with a hyphen my husband's name), then why did he give me a letter saying I would receive in in 10 days? What he did was he gave me letter, then after I left, filed me for investigation, because he assumed there could be some fraud. Too sad he did not had enough knowledge of over 5 visas in my passport to realize that I got my SSN over 6 years ago and all was good.

Thank you! Good luck with you getting your SSN too!

The reason he could not renew it was because you only had 10-12 days left on your I94 and it takes more than 10-12 days for them to issue the new card. I agree there is more going on here, but this is still the reason he could not renew it.

You need to have proof of your legal status in the United States. I had the same problem after I got married on my K1. I had to wait until I got my EAD/AP card.

Social Security is by far the worst (aside from USCIS) government administration I have dealt with. When I tried updating to my married name they combined my first and middle name together (My name is Holly Anne Lastname and they named me Hollyanne Lastname). It took weeks for them to correct it, even telling me that my name is "not my name" despite the fact that my original SSN had my name spelled correctly. Well guess I was lied to my whole life! Now my friends and family jokingly call me Hollyanne when talking about stupid government problems.

You can volunteer all you want. I believe problems only arise if you're volunteering to do a job that someone could get paid for (?)

I think they ask you weird questions to throw you off - I had something similar but he pointed out how nice my teeth were. It does throw you off from the questions you expect!

Congratulations!

I recently went home to visit my family and travelled with my green card. I made sure to book my ticket using my maiden name (same name as is on my passport) and brought my green card and marriage license. On my way back to the US the lady checking me in told me I couldn't travel because my green card and my passport names didn't match. I stared at her in shock for a minute until she said "well unless you have your marriage certificate" - I of course did and everything was fine.

Just make sure you bring all 3 things and you will be fine!

I just wanted to say I am so happy to hear that same-sex couples can now apply. This is awesome! Best of luck to everyone!

You must do them prior to your medical and bring proof of immunizations to your medical exam. Best to start them as soon as possible because if you need vaccinations like MMR or varicella it is two doses spaced 1 month apart. Slowed down the process for me because I had to do two rounds of varicella!

You need to have a visa first. After that you have up to 10 years to move all of your possessions. I believe you need to supply the moving company with a copy of your visa before they can move it for you.

Did you make sure to address it to them?

If you did, I would just submit two more letters, as others have advised. I used the same examples from VJ and did not have any problems.

I had all vaccinations up to date, including Rabies because it is illegal to have a cat in the city I live in (Long Beach, CA) without it. You may want to check if your city/state has requirements like this.

Customs didn't even want to look at her paperwork (I offered), and she stayed in the car the entire time I was inside.

The only downside to getting your citizenship first is that you would be responsible for paying US taxes if you move back to Canada - pretty much the only reason I'm hesitant to become a US Citzen.

Sorry for the double post, I cant seem to edit my topic:s

I just scheduled the medical for Sept 9th. It says I must bring a letter with my NAME, CASE NUMBER, and INTERVIEW DATE. Well on the appointment confirmation email for the interview it states my name and the interview date but not my case number. Is this the letter they are talking about? It says they cannot see someone who doesn't have a letter with those three things on it. So what do I do??

Hmm... Having a letter with all three was never the case when I went, but that was back when you had the medical at Woking.

I would bring the letter from packet three (with name/case number) as well as your appointment confirmation email (interview date).

Or you could try calling the medical office and see what they say. It wouldn't make sense for you to have a letter with ALL three on one letter, since Packet 4 is sending you instructions on how to book your interview.

Sorry I can't help more. Perhaps someone else who has gone through recently can provide more information.

As long as you know packet 4 is on the way, you should be fine scheduling an interview. Packet 4 just contains instructions on how to book the interview and instructions for visiting the embassy (ie. no cell phones etc.)

I agree with the advice given here. Find someone else or move home and sponsor her yourself. As others have mentioned the I-864 is a legal document, which you will need to have for AOS. If you are having difficulty finding someone for the I134 you will have a more difficult time finding someone for the I-864.

Try volunteering for a bit and see if you can get a reference that way! Most places are happy to give a reference to volunteers.

Three weeks - only because I had DHL mail my package to an address. I think about a week and a half if I had gone to pick it up.

Yay! Finally pinned! Keep this post updated folks!

Just wait it out. If you can't wait a few more months I doubt your marriage will last. Things are still stressful even when you are together - months of not being able to work, stress of filing AOS and the never-ending wait for that to get approved, not to mention the stresses of everyday life.

As others have said, you are close to the end. Generally once your paperwork gets to the consulate you only have a few months left.

Good luck!

The place I volunteered at hired me once I got my EAD. So pretty much immediately. It is a really tough market though so hang in there!

Receipts are very important. I read up on the process and saved everything. If you have any receipts from when you were there, credit card statements (if it just shows currency rate perhaps you can contact the bank and get something that shows your location), boarding passes... If you don't have any of that I'm not sure what else to suggest.

Yes this is out of date! Unfortunately I don't know how to update it. Perhaps someone who has gone through recently should make a new one!

Haha, I wish it were that easy. I thought I was buying travel insurance for my whole trip when I booked my ticket but it was just for 1 day. Ugh!

I don't remember having to prove co-mingling of assets. And we didn't really offer much proof of a real marriage. I think a few pictures and cards.. plus the marriage certificate of course

I didn't really understand everything at that point and I thought it was going to be more difficult to prove. So lack of understanding and worrying about proving everything played a big part of it. If I could go into it knowing what I know now I probably would have done CR1 as well!