Shergar

It should take about a month for you to receive the actual card in the mail. Considering the current situation of the USPS with cutting and reducing routes, it may take a little longer. Give it another week or two, if you can.

At the POE they may have annotated your passport to the effect that you were admitted as a resident and authorized to work. That should be proof that you are legit to any employer, but you will need to present your green card to HR at some point. Employers can also use e-verify to check your SSN is good for work.

Having said all that, there is nothing that should prevent you from looking for a job while you wait for your green card. Unless you have a job lined up already, chances are it will take you some time to find one. (I hope to be wrong). Make sure you disclose your situation to any potential employer so they know you're playing it clean.

Good luck! I wish you success!

Gegel,

Thanks so much for your very informative reply, what VJ is all about right there.

Cheers

Brian

Hi there,

I arrived in the US May 11th 2012 with my temporary I-551 in my passport.

As we have been married less than two years I am due to receive a conditional

Greencard for two years. I have received my Social Security Number (SSN) three

weeks ago.

I was under the impression I had to wait to receive the 2 year

Greencard with the i-551 stamp in the post before I could work? Is this true?

Do I need to apply for this card or does it come automatically? (The immigration

officer in the airport suggested it does however he also said the same for the SSN

but I still had to go to the office as it did not arrive)

How long does the card normally take to arrive?

Is there some resource that I can call/check in order to find this information out?

I have plenty of savings so am in no rush to work, you may think I am crazy but great and all as the Florida sunshine is, a

month off and boredom is setting in so I want to know when I can get back at it

Any information you can provide would be great.

Cheers,

Thanks VJ'ers

Hi there,

I had my interview last week (not in Tokyo in Dublin) but the Interviewer had my full file in front of her.

I thought about bringing alot of things with me but in the end I just brought a small folder with the following:

My passport & passport photos

a copy of the I-864 info along with up to date payslips and the tax extension for this year

Certified copies of Marriage Cert & Birth Cert

Police Cert

Medical

All that was taken from me was the Police Certificate but I was gad to have the others as back up. The interviewer used my file to establish all of her questions and was very nice. Because of this preparation on VJ I was very relaxed and she could tell, I was only with her for 10 minutes.

Hope this helps and Good Luck

Cheers,

I will of course.

I hope you're getting through your process ok.

Thanks

Congrats!

When you have a minute , would you be so kind and write a short review in the embassy section to help out your Irish folks? cheers!

Hi there,

I had my interview at 1.45 in the Dublin Embassy today and it went great.

I just want to thank everyone who provided the much need info throughout this process, we could not have done it it without you.

Best of luck on all of your journeys,

Cheers

Brian&Ashley

€395... oh my God!

It was €366 back in January.

Scary stuff.

Yes its crazy how it rose by nearly 30 Euro, I had a quick coffee downstairs with Dr. Gleeson after (rugby&soccer talk)he was quite honest with me and said basically that it so expensive as you have to pay for 'the view'. Blackrock Clinics rent must be through the roof. In fairness he is a very nice man and it was an ok experience and worth every penny for the end result, but no excuse for nearly 400 quid

Hi all, we made a huge mistake. My wife put the wrong month down for when we met and we just found out now after re-reading it. We met in person in January 2008 but on the letter of how we met for the I-130 she put down that we met in June 2008. Should we send in a letter stating that we made a mistake or what do we do? Can in be cleared up during the interview? We feel like complete idiots. This process is so exhausting and I can't believe we overlooked it.

Sincerely worried,

Paul and Amber

Hi there,

I agree with Penguins advice.

we had the same problem just a small mistake and it had us so worried.

We did nothing to be honest just left it be thinking that we would correct it if they asked.

Nothing came of it though in the end and our interview is on Monday

Good luck with the rest of your journey

Cheers

Hi Guys just a quick one to my Irish folks... anyone knows how much is the medical at the blackrock clinic now? I know here says 366 but I have a feeling it has gone up? Also it looks like they are pretty much booked up till mid June, should I book my appointment for an available spot in June and when worse comes to worst is it possible to have your medical without a case number? I know I can ring and ask but right now I am outside of the country and would appreciate your reply Cheers!

Hi there, did mine 2 weeks ago, it has gone up (I cant remember exactly why,some sort of tax reason she gave me)and it cost €395

Cheers and Good Luck

I would take a copy of it, just in case! I plan on taking a copy of everything to our interview! Better to be over prepared than under prepared!

Good luck!

Absolutely, wil bring copies of everything and the kitchen sink if I have to at this stage

Thanks again and good luck with yours, let me know how you get on,

Cheers

K-1 is a whole different ball game. They pay fees at the embassy/consulate. IR-1 do not. NVC for K-1 is basically just a mail stop to get a number.

As an IR-1 you have paid all your fees to the NVC, you do not need to pay anything else. They need to see your original documents, and provide them with photo copies. They may want to see a copy of the tax forms and I-864 that was sent with your AOS package.

Other than that, take what they sent you in the letter.

Hi there,

Thanks so much for your quick and helpful response, I was thinking the same but then the doubts set in, would hate to be under prepared after being so organized so far. The I-864 information my wife sent in before, will that be sent to the Embassy or should I get her to scan it and print it for them? I think I will do it just in case.

Once again I appreciate the help

Cheers

Hi there,

A wee bit confused. My interview date is 04/30/2012 at the Dublin Embassy for the IR-1 Spouse Visa. I received just a single page letter from the Embassy requesting that I bring the large 12" x 14" envelope. From the NVC I went through their checklist and everything is in order that we have sent/paid. I was under the impression that I had to bring some sort of payment also to the Embassy ($400.00) with me and I-864 information etc (which I thought was odd as it would be in the file the Embassy received from NVC. It looks this way on the Consulate Information section on here, though they are mainy reviews from K-1 & DCF filers.

So for my Spouse Visa interview I should bring:

My Appointment letter

Passport

2 Passport photos

Birth Certificate

Marriage Certificate

Police Certificate

Medical Info

Envelope 12" x 14"

Can anyone confirm this for me, I would really appreciate your help.

Cheers in advance

yay nice one Widsy Congrats

Hi, my wife the US Citizen, added me to her triple A memberships and the gym etc which she said was very easy to do(aswell as bank accounts also as an AU on her Credit Cards) I did the same in Ireland for her and with what you listed below plus a few Affidavits from 3rd parties it was good enough.

TracyJo, good luck this time round

Kristine&sean ,good luck with the rest of your journey

Cheers

So phone/text records, emails, photos, passport stamps weren't enough for the interview? I'm going to have to look into more things to get our names on together then. I already checked with my bank and they won't let me put his name on without a SS#. It's so annoying. I wonder what else we could put our names on?

I'm not really sure how the IR-1/CR-1 process works, but I know there are differences. Having said that, your file should be on it's way to the Embassy shortly. Have you called the NVC? They will be able to tell you if they sent it or not.

In relation to the RFE, don't know about the IR-1/CR-1 timeframe on RFE's. Sorry

Hey Widsy thanks, yes I called them today, grrr my birth cert was not the long form one it was the A4 one so I will be getting an RFE, already sent it off today so its all good. They told me our case was complete except for that so happy days, Cheers

Wow seems easy enough thank you for the link Brian! Did you start the process recently? I'm hoping that sending everything to the Chicago lockbox doesn't prolong the process too much!

Aaaah you're filing through Chicago DCF, i see, sorry I should have looked at your post better, then the other people have given you good advice, your Mom should be able to help you with it, send your packet to her and she can include the check and send it to CHicago lockbox etc. My bad!

Been in the process since June 11, hoping that my case is on the way to Dublin right now so I can get back to the US soon

Hi there everyone, just filling out and getting all my stuff together, about to send the I130 in this week hopefully (soooooooooo pumped!!!!!!!!! )... I'm currently residing in Dublin, Ireland however the fees say it's $410. Does it matter if it's a money order in Euro for the exact amount exchanged from dollars? It might be an obvious answer I just don't want to prolong this if possible, thank you!

Hey Pumpkin, From the most recent Dublin Embassy reviews (link below) on here they seem more than happy to take Cash Dollars for the amount at the Embassy counter which is much more helpful and practical, thats what I will be bringing, so happy days

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Ireland&cty=&dfilter=5

Cheers

Brian

Hi there,

I have just undertaken this part of the process so I can help you I hope, Here goes:

1. Technically No, the DS-3032 requires her signature and Barcode from your payment, However below may speed this up

You can now call the NVC # 603-334-0700, go through the automated steps and enter your USCIS reciept #, it will give you some info, an NVC # such as DBL XXXXXXXXXX. It may say that your AOS Bill ($88) is ready for payment,

Have your wife fill out the info on this template for DS-3032:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Email_DS-3032_form

and email it to the email address provided. I got a response after 2 days.

(Being the 'nerd' that I am I would have her send a printed version of the DS-3032 also with signature and mail it to you along with the DS-230 just in case the email doesnt work, but I imagine it will)

Also Have your wife print and fill out the DS-230 and mail it to you with all the supporting docs required Birth Cert, Police Cert etc and sign it (Part 1 is normally signed Part 2 is filled but not signed depending on Columbian Embassy if its Standard or Appointment post processing, check the website i listed directly below for this info)

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3734.html

(You should have gathered your I-864 (AOS) forms, tax info and docs and be ready to send them in now once the 1st bill has been paid.(Yes, You are basically on 2 separate Visa tracks at the moment.)

They will respond to you by email and you can also check via the website, here is a quick link when you have received your Invoice number from your first bill, you can enter it here along with you NVC # and see when your 2nd bill is due. ($404 i think?):

http://ceac.state.gov/CEAC/

click on fee payment under the Immigrant Visa Heading

When you pay the second bill you can then send the DS-230 once it arrives from Colombia.

2. You can prepare these in advance but they need her signature.

3. The barcode situation is sketchy to me I didnt quite grasp the uick guide generator thing, to be honest Id just use the barcodes generated by the payments to be safe, that is purely my opinion. You must send the cover sheets that are provided on the bill payments site so make sure and put these on you I-864 and on her DS-230 when it arrives before you send them in.

Yes she should include 2 passport photos to the US reqs. signed and dated on the back i believe

I wouldnt waste any time sending her the forms, just send her the link to them and have her print them and send them to you.

i hope this helps, sorry I was writing as quickly as possible so feel free if you have any question about what I have written just ask.

Check my timeline also, it was very quick this part so far once I had the DS-230 in the US signed,thats the most important thing

Cheers

Have you called the Department of State? They can tell you whether or not you have an interview scheduled. Some people never receive Packet 4.

Similar predicament here, also is there a 'normal' period of time that passes before you can start to feel safe from RFE's?? was not sure when I should follow up on whether my stuff was sent to Dublin yet or not as I thought they would still be processing it??

I'm not gonna make it back for my 1st anniversary on March 26th, but as long as I get back I'll be happy, Cheers

Great stuff, all the best in the US, Cheers

Those of you in this thread, who live in Florida:

How about driving there?

Did you get a Florida licence?

Did you use your license from your home country?

Hey widsy,

After you become a resident it is best to change your licence. I used the Irish one for a bit while I was there. No problems with it, but I will change it as soon as I am back. My brother got stopped by the Police and was told to change it ASAP. I would think the Police would expect us all to do the same. My wife moved from Hilton Head Island SC to Celebration FL since I left and changed her Car plates and licence from South Carolina to Florida ones.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Brian

Hope this helps

Hey everyone, this is a great thread,

We moved from Boston to Celebration FL. We are back in in Ireland at the mo while the rest of the process is ongoing, hopefully an interview date will come about soon, good to see everyone enjoying the sunshine and I look forward to chatting to you all in the future.

Cheers

Brian&Ashley

Congrats Great news

Cheers

Now that I'm in the "waiting game", how long did it take from when you submitted your I-130 until your first contact from them? They told me 2-3 weeks but was just wondering if they say that to everybody and hoping it's quicker of course.

I submitted an G-1145E but they said it only applies if I filed in the US...?? So I'm waiting on Peru snail mail

Hi there,

I am not using DCF but on the IR-1 trail, for the most part from what I have seen on here people get their NOA 1 or first contact after a few days or a week after the USCIS have received their I-130 package. In our case we did not for a month but I would not panic if this happens with your case, this was normal. They said if I had not heard anything after 30 days I should call them. We then waited the most part of 6 months for the next contact or NOA2. I am not sure if this applies to DCF but I hope it provides you with some info.

Snail mail is painful but I just got all the info ready for the next step by researching it on here in the 'Guides'. When they looked for information then again the documents were already in the US as I had posted them in advance and saved a wee bit of time.

I wish you all the best on your journey and hope it goes as quickly as possible

Cheers

CSC is kicking *** at the moment but their back-log is a lot greater than Vermont. I would think its coming soon,from what I saw on here they flew through July/August, I hope you hear some good news soon

Cheers

Oh okay. Thank you very much ! So many Visas... xD Thanks ! =)

No problems I would suggest you give the link to your husband so he can better understand the process and once you start to fill out the forms, check(and re-check them ) against the example forms as there are a few tricky questions which can easily be misinterpreted

Good Luck and once again any questions feel free to ask

Cheers