maxsalvo

My wife was an English teacher, History teacher and class manager at a middle school. She is currently enrolled in the university of Illinois in search of her state teaching certificate.

Ummmm... Thats not very encouraging. I hope our case will move at a little faster pace. I do appreciate you comment though. Thanks.

My wife just got her biometrics appt for almost 4 weeks from now. From what I have read here and on other immigration sites, most offices will allow walk ins as long as you have an appointment letter and they are not busy. My Question: Will going in early and getting the biometrics completed 2 or 3 weeks early, speed up the process of the EAD and/or green card? Thanks in advance for listing your experiences or opinions. Max

Same here. Out of the 4 or 5 phone card companies I tried I had the very best luck with ecallchina.com Pinless, speed dial and no service fee options were the best I found. Not to mention detailed phone records. I used the phone records at the interview in GUZ. Very nice to have this feature back when I needed them. Not so important now though.

My wife got the 3 shots listed below at our local health dept. Because my income was..... Well, because I have an income, the shots cost me $216 even though the Mexicans sitting next to me who had no identification and spoke zero English got their services for free (another story). Td MMK Varicella Then they gave a sheet of paper we mailed to the civil surgeon for a cost of $30 plus postage. This all added up to about $250. It looks inline with your charges so I would just go for it.

You have had much better luck then me. Whenever sending any type of package to Hunan (Changsha) using the USPS it was a crap shoot. Anytime the package had more then just paper items inside, it never arrived. When they did arrive (Illinois to Changsha) they were always right at 3 weeks for regular mail. Another thing I noticed while sending packages there using USPS is that whenever the envelopes or packages included stamps rather then "postage paid" stickers they never made it. I always assumed that somewhere along the line someone had a fancy for the American stamps. Once a USPS package hits China it is no longer under the control of the USPS. At least thats what I was told when inquiring about missing items. From my experiences, I would never send a bank card, anything of value or anything containing personal information using USPS to China. DHL was my preferred method but the cost was very high. Bank Cards - Check oversea rates for usage. I have found the bigger banks charge around 3% per transaction while a small local bank charged 0%. I set up a specific account at the small bank to be used exclusively for transactions in China. Flat rate boxes or envelopes - Within the states they are great and very competitive. Good luck

Update - It took exactly 3 weeks (21 days) for my wife's info to show up electronically in the SAVE system.

Awesome phone/whatever you want to call it. You can download apps to do just about anything you can imagine. If you can afford it and the service - buy it.

Its been about 18 days since my wife entered at Newark and her information can not be found in the SAVE database. This is according to the very nice lady at the SS office. (is there a way to check this yourself or a number to call?) I have read where some of the others were cleared in as little as a week. I'm curious if others have had this long of a wait and if so, how long before it showed up there. The POE was Newark. I would also like to know the wait times of anyone who had to do the manual approval. Any insight into these questions would be appreciated. Max

Central Illinois - This is a great little store. Little World Mart Asian Food 2936 S Macarthur Blvd Springfield, IL 62704

2 Questions - 1) When including the tax returns for the I-864, is the front and back of the form 1040 sufficient or do I need to include all of the schedules and forms (12 extra pages)? 2) I have my tax transcripts that I used in GUZ for the interview. They are from 05,06 and 07. I am going to send those along with my 08 tax form 1040. Will this be sufficient? Thanks in advance, Max note: my income is well above the minimum required and I will also be including a current letter from my employer.

This was the exact explanation I was looking for. Straight, to the point and not confusing. Thank you very much, Max

I used my Magic Jack in the hotel room I stayed in last week in Hunan. I had no idea if it would work or if the phone would plug into it. IT ROCKED! The cheapest and best way to go if you have a decent connection speed in China. If the person in China is using a Magic Jack that is the same local number as the person in the states, it is 100% free other then the initial cost of $19.95 per year. You can leave your Magic Jack in China for relatives to use. When you dial the USA number it will ring in China. It worked great for me. Hope this helps. Max

After filing all of the necessary documents, I am wondering in which order they are normally processed and issued. I mean, will a person normally be granted Employment rights first at 2 months and then advance parole at 3 months followed by green card at 3 1/2 months etc..... Or - are they all issued at the same time? Just what exactly is the time sequence between the issuing of each document? I understand that each case is different and there are different situations but I am just curious as to an average situation using the most common circumstances. If it is impossible to give average case history how about listing your own experiences here? Thanks to this forum and the members here I know what to do - but I do not know what to expect Thanks for any insight into this matter.

Slightly off topic but worse case scenario and the AP wasn't approved - How long would it be before she could travel back to China? Once she gets the green card is she allowed to travel? If everything went smoothly would it only be 2 or 3 months?

I found the information below at this link but it is 4 years old. Social Security Info for this Topic (2 Nov 2005) Q. Is a SSN required for filing AOS ? A. A social security number isn't required to file AOS. You only need the alien registration number and the eight-digit red number on the visa. A. You can get SSN before being married and you definitely can file for AOS before SSN. I would really like to get the AOS rolling as soon as possible so that my wife can begin to work as soon as possible. (not wanting to wait for SSN if possible) My Question - Without causing trouble or delays, can you file the AOS packet with everything outlined above with the exception of having the SSN issued? The only thing I am currently missing is the I-693 vaccination record and I plan on obtaining that very soon. It would be great to be able to get all of the AOS things filed and rolling and then go for the SS# while the AOS, EAD and AP are being processed. Can it be done this way? Is there a chance it might cause delays? Sorry for the barrage of questions lately but this place is the most helpful group of people and I trust the advice and directions given here. Thanks again, Max

Has anyone recently filed this form with or without including the additional sheet of paper that is asked for in the beginning of part 7? What were the results? If you submitted the paper, what did you write or include as the evidence? Thanks, Max

This is what I was referring to. Part 7 of the I-131 (3/24/09) Thanks http://oldpyro.com/i131.JPG

I have seen where a copy of the I-94 needs to be included with the I-485 & I-765. Inside the passport, on the opposite page to the visa, they stapled a simple white piece of paper or stub. It says I-94 at the bottom. Is a copy of this simple piece of paper all that is required when submitting the required I-94 document? It does have the admission stamp and date on it. If I submit an identical scan just like the one below will it suffice for both the visa and I-94 copies. Is the back side or anything else required of the I-94? As always - Thanks so much for your help, Max http://oldpyro.com/i94editinfo.jpg

I-131 (rev. 3/24/09) Part 3, question 1 and 2 asks 1) Date of intended departure 2) Length of trip After reading other posts I have decided to put "TBD" in both boxes. I am sending this form along with AOS and EAD for my initial filing. Does this sound right? ________________________________________ Part 7, reads "On a separate piece of paper, explain how you qualify for an advance parole document, and what circumstances warrant issuance of advance parole". Is this necessary and if so, would the parents being elderly and possibly needing help for medical etc... be sufficient? If needed - what type of documents would be submitted to satisfy this request? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions. Max

I read this topic and it confused me even more. I have been trying to find the answer to what I need to put here but it is quite confusing at this point (probably very simple - just want to be perfectly clear on this) There are 3 sets of parentheses marks on the form for #16. As a K1 visa holder who was recently married and submitting paperwork for AOS, EAD and AP all at the same time, would you use (C ) (9) ( ) like quoted above and leave the last set of parentheses empty like shown above? Thanks in advance. Max

Hello, I have read about accompanying your fiance through the same line at the POE but my sister who is also an American citizen has accompanied me to China to help my fiance prepare for coming to the USA for the first time. Will my sister be allowed to go through the same line as my fiance and I or will she need to go through the same line as the rest of the other US passport holders? Anyone who would like to share their experiences with me is thanked in advance. Thank you, Max

This is a great piece of information. Thank You

First off, A big thank you to everyone who gave a detailed description/steps and shared their experiences. Reading the two quotes above I see where it seems logical to marry first and then get the SS# but the second quote tends to try and steer me away from that. I also know that when dealing with government agencies, taking the "logical" approach is not always the most efficient. I called the office that issues the marriage certificate in my area and a valid passport along with a birth certificate is all that is necessary to obtain the license so that shouldn't be a problem. "Many SSA officers tend to give a hard time if you try to apply for one after marriage." Would you please explain the reasoning behind this? With all of the above in mind, what are the pros and cons of marrying first vs. SS# first? Thanks in advance, Max