BellasCanadian

Same thing happened to us. My husband never received the Biometrics appt ....when we called in, we were told they were current and our fee would not be refunded.

Not so happy about that but I guess it could be worse

We had an emergency and had to reschedule last minute ...

When I called USCIS, they told me it was fine and to submit for a new appointment date same way it says to on the letter. It's only considered "abandoned" if you make NO attempts to reschedule.

I would call USCIS anyways to confirm. Good luck!!

I got this last night as well. First thing that came to mind was RFE of course.

What does it mean? From your post I am guessing it's good news but I don't know why?

YAY!! It means our case was transferred to CSC (California Service Center) for processing. From what I have read here on VJ, it normally means that we won't have to go in for an interview .. so hopefully we will get the approval/greencard a lot faster!

That's great news!

I secretly like that you guys are all doing AOS before me, so you can be the guinea pigs

no problem! You guys all did the K-1 before me and I would have been lost without you, so I'm happy to help this time around!

I just got a text/email message that says "we transferred your I-485 case to another office for processing and sent you a notice explaining this action"

What the heck does that mean?!?

Nevermind .. I realized its good news!

I just freaked out thinking it was an RFE or something :bonk:

I just got a text/email message that says "we transferred your I-485 case to another office for processing and sent you a notice explaining this action"

What the heck does that mean?!?

I'm still worrying about my medical/vaccinations and wondering if its worth it to find a civil surgeon to transcribe the vaccination sheet... Everything I've read in the AOS forum seems to imply people often get RFEs over that... but on the other hand, I really don't want to spend the money if I can avoid it.

Argh.

I called around to at least 15 civil surgeons in my area .. and none of them would just transcribe just the vaccination portion without doing a new full exam. That was going to be another $250 bucks! So I figured I would take my chances and worst case, we get an RFE and have to do it/pay it later (but I'm still hoping we won't!).

I thought I read people only seemed to get an RFE is the original medical was "lost" in the transfer of paperwork?

FInally doing AOS today and I have a couple of questions.

When it refers to the DS-3025 for vaccinations, is that the "Vaccination Documentation Medical Worksheet Two" that was on the outside of my medical? Under results, the following is checked off for me: Applicant may be eligible for blanket waiver(s) because vaccination(s) not medically appropriate (as indicated above)" And "not age appropriate" is selected for some of the vaccinations. Is this all I have to submit? It doesn't have a form number written anywhere on it.

This is probably really stupid... Where did you find your Non-Immigrant Visa #? On my visa there's a number in red that's printed overtop of the end of my husband's name so I can't really read it too clearly, is that it? or is it the "Control Number" at the top? (Which is basically just my case # with 0001 on the end)

Yes, I included that form .. and a copy of the instruction forms for both the I-485 and the I-693, with the section highlighted that says if you had a K-1 medical within a year, that you do not have to complete a new one. I also attached a note with the date of the Toronto medical. I'm still worried about getting a RFE because he got the same "blanket waiver" plus he didn't have a flu shot at his medical (since it was in August) but because we filed AOS on Sept. 23 I'm hoping that was early enough to not be required to have one and maybe we will be ok?

And yes, the red number is the NI Visa number. I couldn't see it too clearly either but tried my best to figure it out

Huh, weird, I thought they wouldn't issue it to you if you checked off "not allowed" going by what I've read from previous threads... Everyone's experience is different.

Thanks! We went to the office at 7:15am this morning .. in and out in 15 minutes!

He had his passport and birth certificate with him .. and luckily, there were no issues

thanks guys!! last question ... do you check off "legal alien not allowed to work" on the application?

Do they give you a SS number on the spot when you apply .. or do you only know what it is when you receive it in the mail? How long does that usually take?

I belive the instructions said that if you are on K-1 and have had your medical within the last year all they want is a copy of your vaccination sheet. That's what we did. What worries me though is that a lot of people said their medical never made it to USICS and they had to do everything all over again. I hope it works better for Canadians.

Same here. We just sent in the vaccination sheet and a letter attached saying the date of the Toronto medical was within a year. I had tried calling around to civil surgeons in the area but no one would transcribe the vaccination info onto the I-693 form without doing a full medical .. and I didn't want to spend another $250 if I didn't have to. If we get a RFE, we will deal with it then I guess?

Thanks! Good luck you to too!

AOS material is now in the mail. It was fairly easy which is making me nervous and I feel like we forgot stuff.

Applying for his SS tomorrow and doing my name change.

The name change business is kind of awkward, but in a cute way I guess.

I thought the same thing! I checked it over a milion times to make sure I wasn't forgetting something obvious. Maybe it's just because we already made it through the K-1 process and are "seasoned" filers now?

Can you update my info? We moved up the wedding to 9/22/11 and AOS filed 9/23/11.

YAY!! ... now we wait again!

Anyone been able to book any interviews lately? My friend is patiently waiting

How do you get a Vancouver interview as opposed to Montreal .. I thought all K-1 interviews went through Montreal?

Just curious for a friend .. she read if there are no appointments available in Montreal she can go to Vancouver. Any truth to this?

I just wanted to let you all know that the Congressman's office forwarded us an email on Friday .. it was the response from Montreal, saying how they accidentally sent the visa to Ottawa instead of Markham and have now redirectled it. I don't know if this was true or not, because there was no record anywhere of it leaving Montreal, so it was probably still sittign there somewhere .. BUT Montreal had responded to the Congressman's email immediately!

So for the future VJers ... if you find yourself waiting for your visa and can't get an answer anywhere ... go to your local congressman's office for help!!

FINALLY!! I just checked by reference number and it looks like the visa is in Ottawa! I'm hoping he gets it in Toronto tomorrow

So happy and excited! We called the congressman's office today, so i"m not sure if that had anything to do with it? And I also prayed to St. Anthony to "find" the "lost" visa. So whoever it was that helped us ... THANK YOU!!

Thank you so much .. I really appreciate you sharing your experience .. and the advice!!

They haven't questioned me about it and I cross the border about twice per week. I have been carrying a letter from my employer showing that I am required to be at work in Canada until October 17th but have never been asked for it or asked why I haven't activated my K1 visa. It could happen at some point so you definitely want to be prepared.

And you are sure this won't cause any issues once you do activate the visa? Since the whole time you were entering as a "visitor" correct?

Congratulations to all the couples who got an appointment in Montreal. I would like to know how you're doing booking the medical appointment. Do you plan to have it done in Toronto or Montreal? Do you plan to have it the same time as you go for your interview in Montreal? Does the doctor's office tell you how long you'll need to wait for results, so you know how close to the interview you can book the medical?

Thanks all !

My fiance did his in Toronto about 2 weeks before the interview date. They gave his the results back 2 days later. Visit www.panelphysicians.com for all the info.

I would suggest booking your medical appointment close to your interview date, so you can use it for AOS because it is valid for a year.

Do you have a Nexus card or enhanced drivers license? I am not activating my K1 Visa until October 17th but have been crossing with my Nexus card and my visa was issued on August 22nd.

He has a Nexus Card also. Does it show that a visa was issued on their computer? .. meaning do they question you about it at all?

This makes me feel SO much better .. thank you!

ok, so we had our interview on August 29th and according to DOS, the visa was issued/printed the very next day. However, we still have yet to receive it and it's been 11 business days so far.

My question is this: We have a wedding to attend in Florida next weekend (we already have flight/hotel booked) .. so can my fiance come to the US with just his Nexus card and then return to Toronto and continue to wait for the passport/visa and then officially POE once he gets it? Or will this screw up our application in any way?

I spoke to someone at BCP today and she seemed to think that since he was entering as a visitor and not on the visa itself, it would be fine. He just needed to explain that to the officer at border and bring lots of proof of the wedding with him.

Has anyone entered the US after the visa was issued but then did POE at a later time? Or am I taking a huge risk here?

What about when filing for AOS? The medical was done in July, so no flu shot was needed.

But now lets say we submit the AOS paperwork first week of October (with the imunization documents from Toronto K-1 medical). Do we need a flu shot?? And how do I submit that without having to get a civil surgeon to do the entire medical again?