mchina34

That's great!

but right now, i just moved, do i need to inform them? i'm not filing the document for 20 more months as we just got the GC 2 weeks ago. thanks guys. for some reason i had always thought you could do it 90 days prior to the marriage anniv. I believe it is a requirement to let the government know when a resident alien moves. Why would they have a form for such a purpose if not? Then again I am not 100% sure on this. It could be optional. Here is the form: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/ar-11.pdf You can also submit online according uscis website, and it doesn't cost anything. i thought that form was for people with pending cases, not people with a GC. anyways, i'll just send them one. such a lovely way to make permanent residents feel like second rate citizens living in a police state. "Failure to report a change of address is punishable by fine or imprisonment and/or removal." Where to, GITMO?

but right now, i just moved, do i need to inform them? i'm not filing the document for 20 more months as we just got the GC 2 weeks ago. thanks guys. for some reason i had always thought you could do it 90 days prior to the marriage anniv.

i did, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. no joke. we had a fairly large one with over 100 guests at a nice hotel. it was great...and compared to an american wedding, cheaper and much more fun. make sure you record it...and practice your talent skills. it's common for the groom to have to 'earn' her from the mob ;-} dowries vary per family and per region, but don't get suckered. if you feel you are, then chances are they're not being very family-like. your american, so they might expect more. but in general, the husband pays for all wedding epxenses, the ring, the housing, and provides the family with a dowry (cash normally as i know it). the wife's side also can/does provide a dowry, normally in the furnishing of the home. kind of like american style gifts at a wedding, eg, toaster, microwave, bedding stuff, etc. also, i've heard that sometimes it's a test to see how much the guy thinks his wife is worth, but in the end they don't really require the extravagant dowry. again, depends on the family, but from several i've heard that's the norm.

congrats!!!

is it 90 days prior to the GC expiring (21 months), or is it 90 days prior to the second year of being married, which in most cases this would be well before the 90 days prior to the GC expiring. also, if we move, do we still have to notify the USCIS of address changes now that we have a 2 year cond. GC?

i heard that one from 001.

i would bring everything you brought to GUZ. however, they only asked me for state ID. for her they asked the same, plus her passport so they could remove the I94 from the US visa page. not sure about the g28. i was there and i didn't file any such form. just a normal sized office and we both sat side by side in front of him. they asked her around 7 generic question from a sheet he had...was easy for us, but i felt better having all the docs, pics, etc, we've collected over the year just in case they asked for something. good luck!!!

in washington state you can get a driver's license without a SSN. did you ask the DMV in tejas? you don't have to marry again in the USA. file for AOS and, depending on the new instructions, file for EAD. for us filing for EAD was a waste of money, but that's because we had our interview for greencard 4 months after filing for AOS and that before the interview the EAD was never processed. however, you need either the EAD or AOS interview pass to get SSN. so, in general, the wise thing to do is file for EAD and AOS because if the AOS takes a long time (for many it has), and considering the EAD is supposed to be processed quicker, then at least she can work and get an SSN...won't have to feel like a second rate citizen forever basically.

i contacted my congressman and they were able to find my wife's passport at the IRS after not getting it back for 7 months. squeaky wheel gets oiled....good luck.

i second that, that's what i heard.

We got our SSN request processed, and the lady shared a bit of information that may be useful to some, or possibly news to many. The lady said that it takes 10 days to get the card, however, an in-person request can be made of the number after only 2 days because that's how long it takes to produce the number. So anyone needing the SSN sooner or for those that haven't gotten their SSN card in the mail, you might want to inquire about this with your local SSN office.

Well, we finally got the thing! It's really high tech with holograms in several places, including a hologram of my wife's face on the back of the card. kinda of creepy, but very secure, and should be implemented nationwide for all citizens. anyways, cheers

i'd leave it at home as you suggest. just fyi for everyone, this last time at the USCIS (last thursday) i even checked my voice mail a couple times as i got a couple voice messages while i was waiting for the interview. i even had to take mine out of my pocket every time and put it in the coin tray to run through the scanner. strange how they didn't say anything about our cell phones...no questions at all. and they both have cameras...imagine the damage to national security that could've been done.

congrats man!!! that's awesome and well deserved! such an unreal amount of time you had to wait.

you mean the i485? ours wasn't online until after we did the biometrics, then the receipt number magically worked later that day or the next, don't remember.

everytime i've been (3 times now) i've brought my cell, and so has my wife. guess we didn't see the warning. i had to take it out of my pocket for scanning, so they must've seen it.

well god dang, welcome to Washington State brother!! Get your address here, then file for address of change. sounds like all you can do at this point, as it's unlikely you will get a notice to interview before leaving MN. fyi, and this was probably a fluke, but i had filed a typo request in Arizona back in march of 2006. i moved to washington in april, and in july i got their 6 month late response, when my wife was already here, saying my case had been approved already and they withdrawing my request to fix their typo. the mail had been forwaded from AZ to WA. but i agree with mike that it's probably not supposed to be.

thanks guys....good luck to everyone else waiting. lame about the SSN, but it's simple to get done at least and she's already been there once anyways.

USCIS case status now : " Application Type: I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS Current Status: Card production ordered. On November 29, 2007, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register. "

We both got asked for ID, and she had to give up the I94 stapled in her passport. Asked for correct mailing address. She was asked about 6 generic questions, eg, are you going to spy against the US, any arrests, etc. Then congrats, you will get your GC in about 10 days! We probably bullshitted about cobol longer than the actual interview. We didn't submit one single document, nor did they ask to see anything besides our state ID. Of course I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but as far as the eye can see we got the green card. So anyways, will she be getting the SSN card in the mail at the same time, or do we still have to get that?

i thought it went to the local office after being handled initially by chicago/missouri, since that's where the interview is to be held??? like mine is here in seattle, but i mailed it to chicago like everyone else. i don't think it ever said it was transfered to seattle either, i just got an appointment notice one day for my local (seattle) office.

yep, they were 'backlogged due to the influx of applications' back in august when i called. however, while our ead never got processed, our i485 was processed in a decent amount of time.

amen to that...i want my $180 back for the goddamn EAD we never got.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:m7lQsr...lient=firefox-a that's a google cached page of an article on msnbc i read several days ago. it says there were 6.3 applications last year compared with 7.7 this year. "The immigration agency's workload has nearly doubled, Aytes said, with 1.4 million naturalization applications arriving from October 2006 to September 2007, compared with 731,000 applications the year before. Between July and September of this year alone, USCIS received 560,000 applications, he said. The number of green-card-related applications surged to 876,000 in fiscal 2007, from 497,000 in fiscal 2006, he said. At one point this summer, USCIS had 1 million applications and checks waiting to be opened and acknowledged, Aytes said, a backlog that now stands at 235,000. Overall, USCIS received 7.7 million applications for all types of immigration benefits, up from 6.3 million." still, i don't believe 'em. i think the sum for the year probably wasn't much differen't like you suggest.