silvana.toma

Bring everthing you have, just to be on the safe side. They asked for our ID's, but they also took my EAD card, and also my ssc. Then they asked for tax returns from last year, pictures, and at the end they asked if we have any joint bank account, apt lease with both of our names on it.. Try to bring anything that has both of your names on it...it could be anything ..like a cell phone bill...anything.

Other than that be prepared to answer questions about your relationship, and be confident-that's very important. If it's a legit relationship they will aprove you, you'll see, these people they know what they are looking for..

Good luck!!!

It would be stupid to deport you, especially since your husband did not press charges against you.

Maybe you should contact a lawyer just to be on the safe side, and to know your interests are taken care of.

Maybe you should stay away from your husband for a while, make him understand how serious the situation is. Too much alcohool can be a problem, and it's not something people should ignore.

The red flag is out there, so be careful, and good luck to you!

Yey!!!!!

Congrats! We finally did it, we can breathe now...

that sounds great Silvana, you give me hope!

we just signed our offer last week and the sellers accepted it no problem now we have to just wait for the lender. luckily there is only one bank involved. I hope my short sale is only 3 months like yours! my lawyer and Realtor told me to expect a 6 month wait BOOOOOOOOOOO!

In all honesty we knew from the begining this short sale will not be a long one. Right before us there was another contract on that house, where the bank aproved the price, everybody was happy ..but the buyer couldn't get financing...

Our realtors said that this will be easy because the bank already agreed with the price and that is half the battle..to be honest that was the only reason we accepted to get into a short sale.

Now, our realtors told us the sellers will not pay closing, but we fight it, and the sellers bank is also paying all closing costs...and that is so awsome!

It took 6 weeks to hear back from the bank after we put our offer in...the realtors told us 3 weeks but it took 6...but at least we are on the right track:)

Good luck to you and let me know how it goes!

Hey guys...just wanted to give you an quick update to our home buying process..

We recieved news from the bank on the short sale house we are trying to purchase, and they are willing to pay the 5250 in closing costs, we are only waiting for the second bank to aprove the closing costs, and we are good to sign the radified contract(not sure how you spell it). Also we are very close on beeing aproved for the loan with the underwritter. They are very happy with all the package, and it seems everything is running smooth. OUr realtor said we should close by may 8th.

I was wondering if we could lock in our interest rate before the radified contract...as it;s 4.6% the lowest it's been in months...but our mtg broker said we can not do that until we have a radified contract.

I'll let you know more, but i have to say short sales are not always a pain, and if you get a short sale...chances are you get the deal of your life.

Yeah, he said he would be in touch Friday... You're so right! I have a bachelor's degree in teaching and close to 3 years of experience as a administrative assistant, and STILL I can't find nothing! I really don't want to do retail, and I am too looking into going back to school...

I'm in Chesterfield! How did you Green Card interview go? Was it in Norfolk?

That is so unprofessional, to say they will call and not keep their word!

My green card interview was amazing, everything went smooth, we were there for maybe 30 min...and she told me on the spot that i was aproved. I actually got"welcome to the US"letter yesterday...i am happy it went smooth, i was never worried that i will not get the green card ...i was worried if we get to do the interview with someone who woke up on the wrong side of the bed...

Yes,the interview was in Norfolk.

Why don't you try for a teacher position here? Some teachers make decent money..

I am thinking to apply to this school, and I was wondering if there are any ECPI students here who can give me some insight on the school.

TX!

Wow, it's a small world!!! It turns out he never called on Friday, I waited until 3:pm, then called. He wasn't in, left a message. I waited until 3:00pm on Monday as well, he never called and I called again and left a message.

Still nothing today, time to move on!

Oh..that sucks...i'm sorry:( Did they say they will call you?

It seems like you have to have another set of brains just to be able to get the 8-$10/hr jobs. That's why i decided to go back to school. It's a jungle out there in the job market, and i guess people that would work for 20/hr now accept the 10/hr so that makes the competition even harder for us

Hang in there, everything happens for a resason, so maybe you will land a better job in the near future. Where from Va are you? I live in Hanover county.

Hi everyone!

Well, I just got back, and I think it went really well! Gosh, I hope I get the job, it seemed like a super nice office to work in! The guy told me that they were looking into filling the position as soon as possible, and then he asked me when I would be able to start, and I said right now! I guess that's a good sign if he asked me when I could come in, right?

Oh, and I did slip and said 'like', but only once! Hope he won't think I sounded like a sophomore!

He said he would be in contact tomorrow, so fingers, toes, ears and nostrils crossed!!!

To CBM,

Well, converting my license would cost me 250$ in translation cost, and then 140$ to transfer my credentials... A little too much right now... If I get this job, I'm thinking of trying to keep it for around two years... It's definitely in the future, but not in the near future.

THis is so funny, i supose to go to the same interview ... in Ashland as well for a receptionist position...but i had my green card interview that day and i could not make it in time, so i called and let them know i will not be able to make it. Then i decided i will not go at all, as i really want to go back to school...

Good luck, and i really hope you get the job!

This is interesting. When I posted my experience, not many responded. Now I see that so many others go through similar waiting times.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/299638-interview-completed-today-and-now/page__st__15

Its been 3 nerve-wrecking weeks since my intereview. My officer did not say anything. He did not even ask any personal questions. I called last week and was told the same thing - to wait 30 days. But then someone recommended to do the Infopass, which I did last Friday. There I was told that a decision has not yet been made about my case. I don't know what this means. My officer also leaved through the papers when we interviewed as if it was the first time that he saw my application. He did not say so, but there were long moments of silence where he would just read and jump through different sections and ask random things that he just read about. At the infopass I asked when I can inquire again, and was told 90 days as well, but I don't think its a rule. The infopass is a service they offer and I don't think that there are limitations to using that service. There is simply a guy that looks in the computer and tells you the status. Its not a big deal. I think I could go back there every week if I wanted to. The thing is that the infopass does not do anything. They don't take any action by you showing up there. At least I don't think so.Its simply to receive a status update.I don't know whats next. I decided to wait a little longer and then I don't know what. Involve an attorney?

That sucks! I mean...how long does it take to review a file? I know they don't work exclusively for you, but come on...there has to be someone who can answer your questions. Do you know what's their time line? They have to have a time line to finish a case...they can't just postpond your case forever.

I'm sorry for you, but think about it...if you know your relationship is for real ...then you have nothing to worry about.

Thank you all for the amazing support and great help! It will always be remembered.

My dear friends,

SOOOO.....I'm oficially a green card holder!!!!

It's been a long and exciting journey to green card land, and I really want to thank all of you for helping me make it happen, without you i would have spent a lot of unnecesarry money, or I would have got it all wrong. So i will never be able to thank you enough!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so exhausted, but i can not go to bed before telling you guys how it went, so, if my english is not very good ,please bare with me...it's been a long day.

SO..here is the story:

Our interview was at 9am this morning, in Norfolk,Va, so we woke up at 5am to make sure we will be there early. Left the house at 6:30(even if it was only a 1:30min drive), and 20 min into the drive we stoped at mcdonalds for a coffe. AS we were paying i remembered i forgot my wallet home which had my EAD, social security, health care card, etc...so we had to turn around I said to myself :great.. we started this just great! Went back, got my wallet, and as we got closer to Norfolk my smile was back on my face as we were making really good time then..we stoped...only to notice huge traffic ahead...

Finally, against all odds ..we got there 15 min before our time, so we took a seat and waited to be called. At 9:25 we were called by this IO officer who at first looked very serious, and did not give us the impresion it will be a walk in the park.

SO..first she asked for the ID's ..i gave her my social security, passports, EAD card, and my hubby's driver's licence.

Then she asked my hubby for last year tax return, pay stubs, then the fact my hubby's in the national guard came up, and i think she was in the navy so they started talking about that for a while...right after that she changed her attitude and became very friendly...

Then she asked if we have any pictures...good thing we had an entire album -200 pictures from all over the world...so she looked at those for about 10 min..she looked at ALL of them ...she seemed to enjoy them too..so we started talking about the cruise ship..and she aked us all sorts of questions about living on cruise ships etc...

Questions for me:

What;s my hubby's name, date of birth, place where he was born

Questions for my hubby

same except that my hubby did not know what year i was born

Then she went over the questions with no no no no answers and the funny thing about that was that she asked me if i am planning to kill someone(or something similar) and she started laughing saying maybe i will after this interview, my husband for not knowing the year i was born

Then ..she asked me if we have any evidence of bona fide, so we gave her joint bank account statement,lease with both of our names on it,life insurance on my name, and joint health care insurance.

Even though i knew from the very beginning there is no reason to worry, i did not expected the golden words to come out of her mouth but they did, and i quote:" you will recieve a 2 year green card and in 2 years from know you have to apply for something something form for ROC(removal of condition)...and sha gave us all the papers back and wished us all the best.

we left the building doing this

Then we went to the beach, walked on the board walk for a bit, after that we had lunch at a great sea food restaurant, and celebrated with a very cold beer, and very good sea food....yummy ...

Funny thing is that today i was supose to go to my first job interview, for a receptionist job, but i could not make it so i called them to pospond. However i got to the school i want to go to, and the lady told me the Rn program had 10 students fighting for one spot...but then she looked at me and she said i can do it, if i can speak 4 languages i can do this as well, and there was something in the way she said that...that made me think...if a stranger believes in me ...why should't i?

OMG..ok i have to stop...i am writting a novel here...

Ania, and everyone else who are waiting to do this...all the luck in the world to you, but you will be fine,you'll see!

Again i just want to thank you guys for the time and patience, this is an amazing website, with amazing people, and i am so lucky to have found you guys!!!

Going to bed now, have a good night guys where ever you are...

If you have been married for less than 2 years, you'll get a conditional green card that is valid for 2 years, and then file for ROC (removal of conditions) to get the 10 year card. If you already had been married for more than 2 years when you filed the AOS, you'll be issued the 10-year card automatically.

Good luck for the interview!

Tx, we have been married for less than a year, so hopefully if everything goes right i should get a 2 year green card.

tx for the info, and for the wishes.

It seems like yesterday i had a million questions for you guys, and you were all so nice and patient with me. The time has come for us to have our interview, and i want to thank all of you for the great help you have given me. I will let you know tomorrow step by step how it went.

I have a quick question. Is is standard to recieve a 2 year green card at your first application? I heard some peoplle get it for 10 years, and i would asume that happenes after your 2 year green card expires...

Tx again!!!

Thank God is over, and now you can relax, you can now say you did it! And looking back at least your story is a lot more exciting than other stories. There is my silver lining for you:)

Congrats! and tx for sharing with us the experience word for word....helps the rest of us prepare also for interview like this one. It's better to hope for the best but expect the worse.

Our interview was yesterday and we were approved!!! yayyy!!!

I took my 2010 W2 and Taxes with me and the IO did ask to see the W2, so i was relieved that I remembered to bring it along!

Good luck next week! Let us know how it goes.

Lindsay

yayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

That's awsome! one less thing to worry about, right?

I will also bring everything i can think of, worst case scenario they don't ask for it, but if they do i am prepared.

So I would asume they told you on the spot you were approved?, i heard the norfork office in VA where i have to go, they usually don't aprove people on the spot...but i will let you guys know how my interview went!

Congrats again on the great job, and I wish you the best in life!

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My interview is next week on tuesday, and i wanted to ask the same questions but you beat me to it, so that's good info for me too!

Again good luck!!! and let us know how it went!

As far as i know it's only one biometric for the I-765, that's it. I only did one, when my letter came in the mail and it was for the I-765.

I've over 10 years experience in retail back home in the UK and applied at our local Target store. Had an interview on Monday for a flow team member for overnight shelf stocking... got an email today stating that they were unable to provide me a position. I've had my Greencard 3 months and this is only the second interview I've managed to get and I've sent out too many emails, phone calls, registered with temp agencies etc to even remember. To say I feel like a spare wheel while my USC wife supports us both is an understatement. Fortunately she just got a promotion at work which is great and makes me very proud of her, but just makes me feel even more of a tool as I can't even get a position in retail - one in which I'm qualified for - to help pay the bills. I've never known such a tough job market in all my life, feeling as if you need a degree just to flip a burger at the moment.

As for discrimination against hiring workers who are not born n raised in the US... well after so many rejection interviews/letters it does start to make you wonder.

Have you thought about getting a degree, or at least a certification(some classes take 6 months)? That might help! research what's in demand and you go for it. I have worked on ships as assist art director, but here that doesn't mean anything, so i decided to go back to school for a while.

Imagine I'm from Romania, it's even worse to get a job for me than it is for you, at least english is your first language...

WE were told by our current realtors that closing should be around 3% of the total cost of the house...it could be a little more , a little less but for us to have an ideea what to expect.

You probably know this but you can ask the seller to pay all or at least half of the closing, as this is a buyers market ..so we should take some advantage, right? It can save you some money, and worst case scenario you will have to pay, but at least you tried!

We are trying the agricultural loan VHDA, this loan will give us 102%(with fixed rate for 30 years just like FHA) that should also pay for closing, in case we have to.

Good luck in finding your dream home!

With all the head ache and bad luck we had finding a home, we still had an amazing time, so i have no doubt you will have a blast!

4.5% is great! We got 4.8 and 5% and my hubby has a preety good score...so 4.5% as far as i know it's great!

I would have a sugestion for you that has not been brought up yet- since you are complaining about noise i would not recomend buying a townhouse(no offense for those owning one).

I'm not sure what you are looking to buy but a townhouse it's just not worth the money. They are expensive and on one hand you still have to deal with noise from your neighbours....and on the other hand maybe you want to turn your music up cause it's you b-day or something and you can not because of the neighbours. So what's the point of owning a house if you can not enjoy the freedom?

We are in the process of buying a home right now, we had several issues with the real estate agent, so be carefull who you chose to represent you, always double check everything, make sure their info is acurate.

We met several realtors and unfortunately we had some bad experiences. One realtor lied to us big time, one brought us to this home that was almost falling apart and she told us for the money we were looking for(175k) we will not find anything better than that. Well...so it happens we did found something for the same price, that was 10 times better than what she showed us. So just because a realtor says something doesn't mean it's a general rule.

So my thoughts to you is you have to LOVE THE HOME YOU BUY, as once you buy it, it will be very hard to sell it, so don't let any realtor manipulating you into buying something you are not 100%sure.

We have a contract with a short sale now...we have been waiting to hear back for 4 weeks and a half now, thing is we are in no hurry so we don't mind waiting BUT IF we DO get this house we get an AMAZING deal. Not all short sales take a long time but If you want to be out of your apt by july i would not recomend risking putting a contract on a short sale. Foreclosures yes, we put a contract on a forclosure and we heard back from the bank in 2 days..so they are fast.

Banks usually take 30-60 days to close so if you start loking now you have a month and a half to find your dream home!

Good luck in your search and may your experience with realtors be nothing like mine!

I'm not sure. He said the guy seemed to know what he was doing, and that he was in agreement that he shouldn't try to be processed manually since it's a huge pain and can cause problems. He then took all of his info and copied it, sent it to Buffalo (their processing office) and said he can go ahead and use his current number and that an updated card would arrive in 4 weeks. It sounds normal since he's not getting a new card...but I'm so confused because I thought he had to be in the immigration system before they could do anything? Is it because he already went through this process back in 2007 they don't need to verify it all again?

If that's what the guy said i would go with what he sais, they are the pro's in this, so worst case scenario you were just doing what a gov agent was telling you to do...

I would do exactley as they say, and if something goes wrong it's not your fault...

Hmmmm.. I do understand your desire to know it now though. After 4 visits to the SSA office, my wife's SSN # was finally issued almost 7 weeks later.

You'll have it in the mail soon!

Because i was told i can ask for it, and because my husband will finally be able to file his taxes. Obviously i can wait, but i thought hey...if i can do it sooner why wait?

Did you speak to her in person or over the phone? They can NOT give them out over the phone..

Right..and i understand that, that's why i asked her if i come to the office if they will give it to me, and she said no, and gave me a buncg of explanation why...bla bla...

I think when i get the ssn card i will go celebrate..as it has been such a pain in my ####to get this.My green card process went smoother than getting a ssn card...