velvetboxes

That was me assuming. I just looked it up and it's possible to have several. No biggie. Questions still stand, though.

Hello Everyone,

I'm certain that this question has been asked a thousand times, so forgive me for asking it again because I could not find a definitive guide for Canadians naturalizing and dealing with the desire to have dual citizenship.

I am looking at beginning the step towards naturalizing, as I have been in the US for nearly four years now, have permanent residency status, and desire to also become a US citizen. I am pretty certain that I have a firm grasp on what is required for the N-400, but unsure of what I need to be doing to keep my Canadian citizenship intact also. I am also a Polish citizen as I was born in Poland and I understand a person can only have two, so I am going to need to somehow revoke my Polish citizenship.

SO, any assistance on how to proceed outside of the N-400 would be absolutely fantastic.

Hey guys!

Just a quick question. I am currently working on filling out my application to renew my Canadian passport. I am on a conditional green card in the US and my passport is set to expire in January of next year.

I am looking at the documents that you need to present when providing information and proof that you are a Canadian citizen, and I ran into a bit of an issue. My citizenship certificate has a picture on it of me when I was a child. I immigrated to Canada from Poland way back in 1989.

The question is, does it matter if the picture is me when I was little or do they just pay attention to the certificate number, details, etc.?

Just thought I would ask before I call the consulate in Atlanta tomorrow and ask them!

I am so sorry to hear about all of the problems that you incurred while you were in the US. That sounded just plain awful what happened to you. I have to say, the post really tugged at my heart, so I am hoping that things go much better for you when you return back home.

All of the advice that I have ever recieved on this board and forum has been sound advice and very good advice. People have been more than helpful and give out the right information. More than likely, what people are telling you will actually happen when you attempt to leave.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey back home.

Hey!

I came in on a K-1 as well from Canada. I filed for my AOS back on September 9th of 2012. I recieved my GC on March 9th, 2012. It was a little bit of a waiting game, but it really was not all that long of a wait. I also filed for my EAD and got that in a few months, as well.

However, it really does depend on how fast processing goes. I am also talking to another Canadian on this forum who filed around the same time as I did, but he recieved his GC two months before I ever got mine.

I also didn't have to attend an interview and I would also say that depends, as well.

Good luck!

I moved to Tennessee from Canada back in August of 2011. I went to the Tennessee Department of Motor Vehicles and they simply handed me my temporary US driver's license without much of a question. There was a slight delay of a few days as they had to verify my legal entry with the Department of Homeland Security, but they said because I was Canadian, the rules of the road were identical. I thought I would have had to take at least the knowledge test because laws are different, but there was none of that required. I was amazed.

I don't know specifically what will happen if you're from England, but I cannot imagine that it will be too much of a hassle, even if driving occurs on the opposite side of the road.

Good luck!

Hello all you VJErs!

I actually just wanted to take a moment and send you all my most sincere thanks. I just recieved my permanent residency card after waiting nearly four months for it. I have been going through this entire process since 2010 when I filed my K1 visa, then filed my adjustment of status in 2011, and now I am now nearing the very end of this journey.

I would never have been able to go through this process without the assistance I have gained in this community. Each and every one of you have been more than helpful with not only assisting me with any questions or issues, but with everyone else who happens to find a home here. You all are fantastic and I seriously would not have known where to start if it wasn't for all of you, the guides on this forum, and the general overall goodness of the people on these forums.

I will still be hovering around because I still have to work on my naturalization in the future, but I just wanted to send a shout out to you all. :D

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love,

Paulina

Hey guys!

Just another quick question. I am assuming that it is just fine to waltz right into a Passport Canada office in person and re-apply for the passport? I am going back to Canada for a visit in April and would just bring my documentation with me and just re-apply for it while I am there.

I would rather not mail these things, most especially if I am only in the US as a permanent resident. :/

Well, if you look at the country as a whole, Canada's economy is doing pretty well. The country sits at an unemployment rate of 7.4, its GDP rate is rated 11th in the world, and its debt is also significantly less than the US (Canada is ranked number 13 in the world for debt). We have not avoided this recession, but we fared better. Canada has the soundest banking system in the entire world partly because there are very few banks in the country who have attempted international expansion.

Now, the housing market within the country is extremely costly. My husband and I plan to build a house in Tennessee in the near future, and it will cost us about $220,000 for a 3,000 square foot home. In Canada, the same house would cost anywhere between $400,000 to $600,000, depending on where you want to build it. However, we also make more money per hour. Canada's minimum wage now sits anywhere between $9 an hour to $10.25 an hour, again, depending on where one lives. If you want to compare living expenses, we're really on par with the US. People up in Canada still, at times, live paycheck to paycheck. It's normal. However, Canada still has less poverty (10.8%) versus 15.1% in the United States. Again, that also depends on social programs, low income measures, and reduced tax burdens for the poor.

I miss Canada. Granted, I have a job in the US, just like I did in Canada, and I am making roughly the same amount of money as I did before I moved. People have not been as lucky, but I have had no problems finding employment in either country, or living either.

One may want to rethink the whole "land of opportunity" concept when concerning the United States and the world as a whole. I grew up in Canada and recently moved to the United States back in August of 2011. We're in the middle of a massive recession, unemployment is at 8.6 percent, and this country is $15 trillion dollars in debt. I love the United States immensely, am happy to be here, but I am also a realist. To be quite honest, there are several other countries that are in much better shape at this current moment in time, including the one I recently left.

Do not use that cliche term, especially not right now.

You may want to call the USCIS directly and speak to a representative. Their phone number is 1-800-375-5283.

I am currently waiting on my employment authorization document. Nothing has changed on my case status online either, and yet I am getting notices from them in the mail showing me that my case is moving forward. You cannot always depend on the USCIS' case status update system for anything. I hear they have delays of 30-60 days on updating that thing, if it updates at all.

You can even use INFOPASS on the USCIS' website and schedule an appointment directly with an immigration representative about your case if that would make you feel more comfortable.

Hey Guys!

Just a quick question. I am currently changing my address online on the USCIS' website. After completing the AR-11, they ask if you have any pending cases because you need to have your address changed on them as well. I have two pending cases at the moment. However, I hit a bit of a snag here.

There is a drop-down menu that asks you to select whether or not you are the applicant/petitioner or a legal representative. I put that I am the applicant/petitioner and it says that if that option is selected, leave the spaces where you put the legal representative's information blank. When you try and submit it, it won't allow you to continue the process because the spaces are blank. I tried putting 'N/A' in all of the spaces and that doesn't work, either. I have tried everything and it will not allow me to pass that page.

Anybody else have the same problem? Any help would be fantastic!

Send an e-mail to SSA:

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/ask

Be sure to include the application reference number or your phone number.

Sent out the email. Thank you, I Quit. Hopefully I will get a reply back shortly. This is all very discouraging.

When you went to the office and applied for your SSC, did you walk out with a receipt that stated your application was accepted and you had to wait 30 days for the card to arrive? If so, then you have a SSN just no card yet.

Take the receipt you received from the SSA when you applied for your SSC to the nearest office. Show them the receipt and ask them the status of your card. If nothing else you should get a print out of your SSN. We filed for a SSN in early January. No card by the end of January. Went back and asked. Received a printout with SSN on printout. Had them send card to local office because the USPS was not deliverying mail addressed to my wife because we did not inform them that she now lives at this address. This can be a problem if the last name is different because your wife keeps her maiden name like mine did or your or you take your husband's name.

Hope ou get tis straightened out.

Dave

Thank you, Dave. I will do that.

I did receive a copy of a receipt from the SSA office, so I will bring that back with me. I changed my last name legally when I was there. That shouldn't be a problem. I will take care of all of that this coming week.

I am glad to see that I'm not the only one with this issue.

Hey Guys!

Just a quick question to ask. I just got off the phone with social security in regards to my SS card. I applied for it on August 30th, 2011 and still have yet to receive it in the mail. It's September 26th. The woman on the phone mentioned that it hasn't been updated in the system and sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for anything to show up. However, from what she said she saw, there was no movement on it.

I filed for my AOS from a K-1 visa on September 6th and received my NOA on the 9th. I called USCIS and the application for my I-485 and my I-765 is currently under initial review.

Could this possibly where the delay is coming from? When I went to the SS office, the gentleman handling my case mentioned that it could take up to 5 weeks to process because they had to communicate with USCIS and vice versa in regards to my entry into the US. When I went to apply for the card, I had already been in the US for over three weeks and it had yet to show in the system that I had entered at all.

Blah. Any advice? People in the same boat?

I am in the same boat as you and currently waiting. I received my NOA1 for my adjustment of status from a K1 on September 9th. Still waiting on my case status to be found in their system. I figure I will wait until Friday and call them if nothing changes.

Do you have your vaccination records from when you were a kid in Canada? I brought all my vaccination books with me etc for the doctors here when I got my doctor so they would have note of it.

You can bring all your booklets/sheets showing your shots from Canada that you have and the CS will determine if you need more/are missing some.

Yes, but even then there is a problem. At my medical, I received four other shots for immigration that are not noted on my vaccination records of when I was a child.

What to do then? I could call the hospital that did it in Montreal and request a copy of the medical exam if they even have it...

You should have gotten a copy from the immigration medical of your vaccination record they made during the medical. You would send this copy with your AOS.

Its a 50/50 chance you will get an RFE for a 693 depending on what they wrote on your vaccination sheet at the medical.

If you get an RFE or if you want to avoid the chance of one, you need to get the 693 vaccination section filled out by the civil surgeon.

See, I could go and see a CS about the vaccination record, but I don't have any record of it considering that I received no copy of it from the doctor in Canada who did it for me.

Oy. This is not good.

Congratulations you two!

So glad that it turned out for you both.

Hey Guys!

Just a quick question. I am currently working on my adjustment of status paperwork for my K-1 visa and have come into a bit of a snag with the I-693. I did my medical exam overseas not even two months ago and it was obviously given in to the consulate when I did my interview for the visa.

Now, it says that if I file for adjustment of status, I do not need to send the I-693 with the entire packet because it's been less than a year. I am reading on the board that people don't bother sending it in and when the interview for AoS pops up, they ask you for vaccination records? People are saying to have a CS transcribe it for you?

I never received a copy of my original medical exam. o.O

What's the deal? I am so lost.

In my case, the lady DHL gave me attitude. She told me that the system works with waybill numbers, blablabla... She still asked for my ID and went to check the documents in the backroom. I guess she didnt like it when I told her that someone had received any email or phone call and had had to come in person to the office to get their passport. Yes, that's you velvetboxes

But in the end, attitude or not, she looked for my passport. And that's what mattered at the time.

Hahaha! Didn't like how she was told, eh? ^.~ Hey, I will take the credit for bucking the system somewhat. Sometimes, you just have to.

That made me laugh. xP

No, I didn't get any sort of attitude about not having a waybill number. I simply explained to her that nothing was sent to me from the consulate, but I had sent my father earlier to confirm that there was a package for me from Montreal. The woman there did not really react, but she did take my driver's license to the back and another man came out. No qualms, nothing. He just went to the back, grabbed my package, and brought it to me.

I did ask, however, whether it was common that people come without waybills or tracking numbers. He said sometimes, but it was rare. So, IT DOES OCCASIONALLY happen. In my case obviously, it did.

Noeil, congratulations on receiving that e-mail. At least you can rest easy somewhat until it reaches your hands.

jj&dd, chances are that the person who spoke to at DHL was having a bad day. Next time, I would have requested to talk to a supervisor and even brought some immigration paperwork with you to prove you're waiting for the passport. Then again, I'm not the type to take nonsense from others... lol

Are you kidding me???

That's terrible. The closes DHL office is like an hour away. argh!!!

Did you just go and asked if they had it?

I had my father go in and ask them because he works 10 minutes away from it in Ottawa. He confirmed it and I drove over. Yes, it was sitting there. No phone call, no notice, no nothing.

ok thanks

I actually already sent an email to the email yesterday. The email address is montreal-iv-dv@state.gov and not montreal.iv.dv@state.gov but that's probably what you meant. My wife also sent ont late last week. And of course we never heard anything back from the consulate.

The DOS agent this morning couldnt see if the passport had been sent or not. I guess it hasnt been sent since i havent heard from DHL.

DHL has my visa and it has been sitting at their offices for three days now. No notice, no phone call, no change on my profile on CSC. Guys, head over to DHL yourselves! Check on it!

You will get the message from DHL before the Consulate. Hope it comes in timely fashion. I got the message from DHL about 7 p.m. All you can do is wait now.

I ended up faxing the supervisor at the consulate and begging for his help to push this forward faster.