Kelly and Norma

Remove our names from the list they finally came!!!

Whooo Hoooo ... our Green Cards came in the mail !!! Actually they came last Tuesday on November 7th but I have been swamped with so much craziness I haven't had time to log on and share my good news.

It is perfect timing as I start my new full time job tomorrow and I will have THE thing I need to prove I can work

Well now I better put a reminder on my calendar for July of 2008 ... which is when I will need to request the removal of the conditions. I haven't even bothered to do any research on that one ... but I think I have a few months before I need to worry too much about it

I will keep my fingers crossed for all of you who are still waiting ... I know how yucky it is.

Cheers,

Norma

OMG !!!!! WE WERE TOUCHED !!!

LOL

AND .....

What a GREAT touch it was!!! Our case status says that our welcome letters were sent in the mail yesterday (Oct. 30th)!!!!!

So I guess we paid to renew our advance parole and my EAD for nothing!!! But that's okay I am not going to complain about getting my "Green" card.

The welcome letter is on the way ... when will the green card actually come?

HIP HIP HURRAY!!!!

Montreal was great. The officer we had was really nice. Even answered some of our questions that we weren't sure they would take the time to do.

Take money for the ending machines if you are apt to get the muchies. It really was a piece of cake though.

Last year I crossed in Detroit ... asked for the stamp. At first the guy told me they don't do that anymore. I then pointed out that I already had a job lined up ... he looked at the officer working the desk beside him. This guy shrugged his shoulders ... and they guy that was dealing with me reached over took the stamp and put it in my passport.

I think they PREFER not to do it ... but tell them you hava a job lined up ...

Don't forget though ... it is only good for the 90 days that your Visa is good for (if you enter on a K1 like I did).

We went to City Hall and got married two days after I arrived then we filed my I-485 and EAD right away so it came before my temporary EAD ran out :-)

I opened a bank account here with Wells Fargo. I then went into the bank and talked to a real person. They told me that they COULD check my Canadian credit score but to do an international credit check it costs them $140. She said unless I was applying for a mortgage no one was going to fork over that kind of money to check my perfectly good Canadian history.

I ended up lucking out.

After I pointed out to this personal Banker that I had worked for the same company for 18 years, lived in the same home for 11 years, owned my house, had a line of credit, multiple credit cards and owned my car ... she said "let me see what I can do".

She then entered a bunch of things into her computer and "Voila" an approval for a credit card.

I think sometimes it just takes a person with the right access and their head screwed on straight to know what to do in order to get the job done.

My 11 year old had all 10 prints taken at the office in St. Paul ... and I wasn't allowed to go in with him. Not sure why ... but he was okay with it so no big deal.

It is a painless process and he said they were nice.

Just an FYI ...

The FBI Name Check thing going quickly has nothing to do with the country you are from. I and a number like me are from Canada. We have no criminal history ... or anything that would be a red flag ... yet we sit in the Name Check purgatory.

My interview was April 13, 2006 ... where I was told everything looked fine and IF the name check had been back he was going to approve me. But it wasn't and I was told I have to wait ... and wait ... and wait ... and wait.

My AP from last year will run out this December, along with my EAD ... so I renewed those this week.

Don't assume you will get your GC right away. Hopefully you will ... but there are no guarantees ... and with the USCIS there is no "normal".

Good Luck to you !!!!!

Here is a thought for all of us Name Check folks to think about.

There is a "Citizenship and Immigration Umbudsman" ... and this persons job is to stand up for us poor soles who are lost in Name Check purgatory.

It clearly says on their web site that those of us who are passed the normal processing window and can not get a response to our case should file a case with the Ombudsman.

It even says what you need to do and it tells you what they will do ... including passing your case on to another deparment if that is what is necessary to get the job done.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/edit...torial_0497.xml

I am seriously considering this ... what is one more trip to the photocopier??

OR ... better yet ...

File a case with the Ombudsman. If you read the entire text of what is written you will see that the Ombudsman's office is not supporting the USCIS process. Especially the process for the whole Name Check nonsense.

I went and found the web site for the Immigration Ombudsman and as you can see from this link you can file a case with them and THEY will follow up.

I think all of us in Name Check Hell should do this. Maybe if they get enough of us to step up and say HEY WHAT ABOUT US??? They will maybe get things moving better.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/edit...torial_0497.xml

Geeze ... Biometrics AGAIN.

Good Lord !!! ... How many times do they need to take our fingerprints??? Why do they bother to take them if they just throw them away. They must throw them away right ??!! I mean they wouldn't actually keep them in a file somewhere would they??!! LOL

Well I just eFiled for my renewal for my AP and my EAD ... and my son's AP ... there is another $520 down the old Immigration Flusher!!!

Tomorrow I will pop out and get our passport size photos for our AP (more money) and then ship the whole lot in (more money).

Sigh ... and to think there is potentially no end in sight

Lets see how long the renewals take!!

Yup ... I had some weird touching going on too.

My son's EAD and AOS were both "touched" on July 20th ... but what is weird is they didn't have those dates last week. So they just updated this week ... but with dates from JULY???

What is even weirder is he has had his EAD since February. I am glad they touched his AOS ... but they didn't touch mine .

JULY though???

I don't get it!!

Okay ... so here is an update on my Name Check

I had my Infopass appointment today in St. Paul ... and it went pretty much as I expected. I was told that there was no way for them to know when it would be complete. He reassured me that our files were still in the St. Paul office and they haven't been lost (Chicago previously lost all my sons paperwork).

He was able to tell me that my fingerprint check had come back fine ... but the name check is still pending. I then asked if there is anything we can do to find out where the name check is at. His response was that one year if it still hasn't been processed that they will give me an email address to contact the FBI. I tried to point out to him that I filed for my AOS in October of last year ... so it HAS been a year. He politely told me that the clock gets re-started again after you go for your interview. So I have to wait till April 13, 2007 before anyone will officially look into where my Name Check is at.

Interesting ... an email address ... anyone ever got that before?

SO ... I guess I need to file for the renewal of both our AP docs and renew my EAD ... more money, more pictures, more photocopies, more wasted time

Okay ... so I have been away for a long while (from VisaJourney that is) ... and I am so deflated by what I am reading in this thread

When I had my AOS Interview back on April 13/06 in the St. Paul office we were told that everything is fine but he couldn't give me the approval on the spot. He explained that the name check hadn't come through yet and we would have to wait. Before we could even ask how long we would have to wait he jumped in and told us the earliest to start looking for it would be October!!!

OCTOBER ????? I said. He said ... yup ...

I then pointed out that Chicago had completely lost all my sons paperwork and I had to re-file everything ... and well I was a little worried about our files "sitting around" for that long. Wouldn't they be at risk of being lost again. He told me that the file would stay in the St. Paul office until everything was finalized.

I saw a few posts ago mention of calling the FBI. Is this something that any of you have done? If you have what did you tell them ... what did they ask you?

I have an Infopass appointment on Oct 10th to see if I can find anything out from the office of miss information. I am hoping a warm smile and a calm voice will lull them into a false sense of wanting to actually help

Is anyone else out there waiting on the St. Paul office too?

Thanks!!!

Norma

Hey Cassie !!

I am scheduled to go to Bloomington on April 13th. Be sure to post when you get home so I know what to expect

Good Luck !!

Norma