kimnjake

Hey there! LONG time since we have been in touch!! i am a little confused about your filing and the timeline you have. you said he has been a resident since March 22, 2005? What kind of resident? It has to be 3 yrs from the date of PERMANENT RESIDENCY! The day stated on his green card. in your signature it says that the green card was received through the mail on nov 2008...you have to go by the date on that card...so like in our situation my husband came in march 2004, married april 2004, filed for AOS then but was not approved or granted permanent residency until july 2006...he was a resident of our state after he lived here a few months or whatever it takes...but he cannot file for citizenship until july 2009...even though he has been here since 2004!! just makin sure with your situation because as i understand it your time line isn't quite adding up...maybe i'm reading it wrong! but anyway it is three yrs after the date stated on the permanent resident card (or green card)... hope you are doing well!

yeah, so pretty much if you sign up for the military and are stationed in japan/germany, you can do this route. very interesting. i have a friend in the army...i don't think he's aware of this. I am a teacher and one of my student's dad's is in the military and his wife is from abroad. She told me the other day that she got permanent residency almost immediately, but she is not interested in applying for citizenship at this time. she is from a European country though. But she said it took NO TIME at all to get her permanent residency!!

EAD based on I-485 adjustment is processed by the National Benefits center in Missouri. There is no expediting, if there were then everyone would try. If it is over 90 days, i can go to a local office to get a temporary one. So the maximum waiting time is 90 days. Am I right? That is only if the EAD hasn't been approved in 90 days....in our case it had been approved, but we had not received it within 90 days, so there was NOTHING we could so about it....we just had to wait...we were required to wait at least 14 days after approval to see if it showed up in the mail....at that point, we were past the 90 days and then past the 14 days and still no card.....it was MOST frustrating at the time, but this was only one time that this happened to us, the other EAD's arrived in a very timely manner! our problem incident card finally just appeared in our mail one day! it caused LOTS of problems at the time, but all that is over now! we have had the 10 yr gc for almost 2 yrs now! a great blessing! by the way, hello everyone...long time no post!!! our family is doing well! looking forward to naturalization in a little over a year!! wow!! kim

long ago, hehe, when we had to get jacob's vacc supp, we called the civil surgeon's office to find out all the info about it...they suggested we go to the health center in our city and get the shots there, we paid $10 for jacob's shots and then just brought the vacc paper to the civil surgeon's office and he certified it all and gave us our sealed envelope....he didn't even charge us a dime!! i am not understanding why i do not see other couples doing this in their cities? i am sure everyone has a "public health unit" type place, where people go that have no insurance to get, most children's, shots for schools and stuff like that...anyway, it is open to the public, insurance or not, but it is just that if you have insurance, most of the time these shots are covered and you only have to pay the co-pay, or something like that....but when you get these shots for adults, they are not always covered since they are shots we Americans usually get as children.... anyway, i'm rambling now, but i am just wondering if people don't know about this, or just choose to pay $150 or more to get the shots...when they are possibly available for cheaper!?!?!? any thoughts or answers about this from anyone?? our total cost for that part was $10!!!! kim

Kim, I'm so glad to hear that. I know that you and Jake were going nuts waiting. Patrick, your time is coming, too. Hey Don...thanks! yes, we were glad to get that card, and thankfully got a 10 yr card since we had been married two years by the time they issued it...that is ONE GOOD thing about the wait, otherwise, we would be dealing with them again the next year or so......we were VERY thankful!!! kim

just keep hanging in there, we FINALLY got our green card, lets see.....28 months after applying....and the only way we got it THEN was because i made an info pass appt to check on it again, it was becoming absolutely rediculous!! like yours....and at the appt they told me the name check cleared SIX months earlier, but they failed to notify us of it, then it was still some ups and downs before they actually gave us the card, but anyway.....just keep hangin! it seems NEVER ENDING, but it truly WILL end someday!! hopefully soon!!! kim

send what you already sent, unless it has changed! this happens all the time! we just sent our evidence in from our RFE, including a W2, but we hadn't had to submit one since 2004, so obviously they needed an updated one.... anyway, quit trying to figure it out, and just sent it in,....expect this type of activity from them! at least you know they are looking into your app....and the whole thing isn't lost!! this is good new buddy! hahaha trying to see the bright side!! hehe

We received the welcome letter TODAY, July 31st!!!! It says to expect the card withing 3 weeks.... It is a TEN YR card!!! FINALLY!! We have come to this point! We are SO EXCITED! AND....his name is even spelled correctly, and all of his information is correct on the welcome letter! Let's hope it is on the card as well! It said our receipt date was May 17, 2004, (we have the receipt of when they received it as being April 29, 2004- last day before the fees went up at that time hehe) Anyway, and approval date is July 26, 2006!! We JUST mailed the newly updated evidence in on July 21st, they received it on the 24th, approved on the 26th!so this was VERY quick!!! FINALLY!! anyway, the 19month old wants my full attention now...gotta go! had to share the good news!!! everyone else hang in there!! it will come! kim

yes, syl, we just have to keep looking for the "bright" side of all of this! hahahah

well the bright side of all of this mess, if there is a bright side....haha.....when we went for the fingerprints the other week, i asked the immigration officer about the temporary vs 10 yr card in OUR case, and he said that the card is issued based on the length of marriage at the time it is granted, NOT the time it is applied for....does that make sense??? so anyway, according to that ONE immigration officer, we SHOULD get the 10 yr card and not the two yr card, BUT we will see. i guess if another IO came to the window, i COULD have gotten a different answer! haha we will see!! thanks for the reply don, always great to hear from you!!!

Well, update again.... we got the prints done, and then went on vacation!...hehe a much needed vacation, and we left our one and half year old with my family, so we were glad to get home to him after five days, but enjoyed a time of "rest"..... while we were out of town we received a letter from our local office where we got the prints done once again a few weeks ago, the letter was basically a "RFE", although it didn't specifically state that, like we have received in the past on other applications.... anyway, they wanted all of our proof of marriage as they had before in the original submission of the I-485 as well as at our interview....so we submitted all of the "evidence" they asked for and just mailed it off to them. we will still wait to hear back from them, yet again!!!! aaahhh!! at least there is action again on our case...!! that is a GREAT feeling!! kim

i agree don, it is great to hear from eveyone again, all of us who rarely log on anymore, or at least rarely enter a comment! I lurk sometimes, but don't reply nearly as often as in the first 2 yrs of this immigration! anyway, our "quick" timeline for AOS is this... **married april 10, 2004 **filed april 29, 2004 **fingerprints may 28, 2004 (had joseph dec 21, 2004 ) **interview feb 8, 2005 (tell us we should have card within next 2-3 months!!) **STUCK........called 800# about....1,000,000 times (hehe) **info pass july/aug 2005- NOTHING!! **Hurricane Katrina hits processing center Aug 2005 (gives CIS a NEW excuse!!!) **STILL STUCK........called another 1,000,000 times!! **N.O. office reopens June 2006----call 800#- sends inquiry- comes back with same old thing- namecheck/background check not cleared!!! (WHAT????? WRONG, TRY AGAIN!!!!) **Info pass appt June 2006- IO says "BACKGROUND CHECK CLEARED APRIL 2006!!!!!", sends us to next person at next window, they tell us fingerprints are expired, schedules our fingerprint appt for the NEXT week. **July 2006 go BACK to N.O. get fingerprints, they tell us it will be 6-8 wks to process prints, will receive green card when complete! i'll keep you updated! i do finally see some ray of hope again!!!

well well well, i'm back with more news and frustration to report about our case...it is VERY similar to STATS!!! we didn't have the rescheduling of the interview problem, but the waiting and run around from the gov't have been the same... we also have hurricane katrina added to our ordeal!!! they try to blame everything on that, but i NICELY told them that we were outside of processing time BEFORE hurricane katrina ever happened!! so anyway... we had gone to New Orleans office to see an IO BEFORE the hurricane and at that time it was the same old story, name check pending blah blah blah!! so anyway, we have been calling and all for almost another year now, but to no avail, and to add to it, the N.O. office was still closed until just almost a month ago...so i have continued to make calls to the CIS customer service line.....no answers, no hope... then the other day i called, same old story again, but he suggested that we make an infopass appt. in N.O. since they were open again...we went down there and LO and BEHOLD they told us the BACKGROUND CHECK HAD FINALLY CLEARED, but to of course not let it go smoothly.....when did it clear you may be wondering???? IN APRIL!!! it is now JULY!!!!!! they have yet to notify us or update our status online....so anyway, we spoke to an IO and then someone else, after waiting a while, they located our file, THANKFULLY it was actually IN N.O., honestly i was schocked, i just KNEW it would be in Memphis still...(that is where they sent them after Katrina), so anyway, then they asked us if we had received a notice to have the fingerprints redone......OF COURSE NOT!!! so anyway....we now have to go BACK down there this week to get the prints and THEN, just maybe, THEN, we will receive the green card....only after the prints are "cleared" as well.... so anyway, that is the update!!!! hopefully we will get somewhere now.........we are very excited but still frustrated, we have received NOTHING from them...if we weren't so proactive on this case, who knows when they would have looked at it again!!!! also, when you call the USCIS 800 customer service line, they supposedly submit an inquiry on your part to your processing center, well, the reply from our most recent inquiry, end of june, the response was, "your background check has not yet cleared..." and well, ummm, when did it clear?? APRIL!!! i DO believe it was clearned in june if it cleared in APRIL!! i don't think they really do ANYTHING when those inquiries, except make you leave them alone for another 30 days!!! kim

wish i could give a short timeline like some of these here....we applied for AOS 26 mos ago, had interview 16 mos ago, STILL NOTHING!!!!! we are going to an infopass appt next week...i'm sure we will continue to get the run around though! kim **"security clearence pending!!"**

Hey! I have been thinking about y'all!! Wondering what in the world happened to y'all and also how y'all made it through the Hurricane...this is your other Louisiana friend!! We are in Baton Rouge!!! Good to hear from you! Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.....glad to hear y'all are good and able to repair the damage!! Talk to you later! Kim

AOS April 2004 Biometrics June 2004 Interview Feb 2005 Green Card- PENDING SECURITY CHECK!!!!! AAHHHH!!!!!!!!! kimnjake

Kim, you will probably need to get the fingerprints redone. We did a status check yesterday (still pending) in Houston and also asked for new fingerprints. A friend of mine, who was also in limbo until last month, was told that they expire after 15 months (I think). Ours were done in Aug 2004, so we asked and were given an appointment to get them redone. FYI. 197669[/snapback] that is interesting! the first i have heard of that one! we will have to check on it i guess. i almost hate to call and ask about it, since they will probably just go along with what i ask, since i am not sure they really know what they are doing in the first place...at least not the people you have the privilege to talk to on the CS line....we JUST went last week to Mississippi to get his prints for the EAD, we could have done them at the same time, since he had to take 2 days off work and i had to take one day off to get all that done...we will see though?? if anyone else has had to have the prints redone, please chime in! now, is having the prints redone also mean/or begin the process of having the background check (FBI) restarted?!?! that is what we had requested in Aug 05, the background check has been out for WELL OVER a year now, and we requested they restart it. an immigration attny told us that is necessary, and they are required to restart it, but getting them to do it without an attny is next to impossible!! so, back to my question, is requesting to have the prints redone, does that have anything to do with the background check??

done all of this a MILLION TIMEs now...NOTHING works for us...we are STILL waiting! also, since we are still waiting- (AOS interview done and passed per the interviewer, but unable to issue the green card bc of security check handled by FBI, supposedly the CIS has nothing to do with it and they are simply waiting on FBI and "other agencies" to return their findings....)--- anyway, since we are still waiting, we had to renew the work permit, once again, and since New Orleans office is closed, we had to take days off from work to drive to Jackson, Mississippi to get it all done there- the biometrics that took ONE MINUTE- after waiting for ONE HOUR!!! NO EXAGGERATION!!! anyway, we are so very frustrated and have no idea what to do next. we called every 30 days from may 2005 to aug 2005- then Katrina hit- we called again every 30 days from Oct 2005 to Jan 2005, the waited until just the other day, first week of March. Each time now i get to speak to an Immigration Customer Service Officer, or some name like that, but that gets us NO WHERE!! either...we have contacted all senators/congressmen etc. that got us no where, we contacted a lawyer but their fees are outrageous, and i have no guarantee they will get us any further than we we will get on our own, and we are very frustrated!!! New Orleans "office" is currently processing cases with receipt date of Aug 2004, we have receipt date of April 2004. AND they tell me that our case is now in Memphis...due to Katrina! What next??

average?? i dont think there is such thing....it all depends, and on what?? who knows?? we filed april 04, biometrics june 04, interview feb 05, said we will receive the GC within 90 days, and to this day, we have received NOTHING!!! we have made info pass appts and sent letters made phone calls, you name it, and we have no more answers than we did when we sent it in april 04..... we have been waiting 22 months! still have not received it!! very frustrated!!!

i may be answering about something y'all are not talking about here, but here are my 2 cents! our last online update for our I-485 application says that fingerprints were received (june 2004, 2 months after filing from AOS), well we have since gone for our interview, feb 2005, and our update STILL says that fingerprints have been received, processing has resumed on the case (THAT IS A JOKE!) and we will be contacted if they need any more information! dont count on their updates to ever carry much truth or validity in anything! they haven't updated our since june 2004....

well at least you got a few answers, or at least a real person to talk to. i just dont understand what we are supposed to do now, but wait!! but that is understood all the time, even without a hurricane coming and messing with all of this immigration stuff anyway!!! we feel most helpless now, and only 'thought' we were helpless before!

Hi djljj, I also live in the hurricane ravaged "area". We did not get any damage personally, but our processing office is also New Orleans. The whole process is a mess now. It already didn't run very smoothly to begin with, but now it is even worse. New Orleans office hasn't processed NOT EVEN ONE case since before August. We are waiting on a green card, we are outside of processing time, and cannot get ANY answers from anyone. It is MOST FRUSTRATING! We have tried Senators, with not help from them. Keep us posted on what you find out. We also are considering legal advice.......

CONGRATS!!! glad to see you didn't get stuck like some of the rest of us are!!!!

yeah, definitely put NO faith in the times they give you, they are hardly ever close to the times they say....sometimes shorter and sometimes a lot longer....we went for our AOS interview almost one year ago and were told the GC would be here in one month, two at the latest!!! now it has been 11 months....i think they were a "little" off!!! on that estimate!! i wish they would tell us ours was transferred or SOMETHING!! just something so we know it isn't LOST somewhere...it is getting rediculous!!!

yea, it is good to finally have more females on here to understand the other side of it, briging a HUSBAND here. my husband was educated in china, but not at a good institution, so none of it is recognized here and he is working odds and ends kind of jobs, he is miserable!!! he wants to go to school here, but really just doesn't quite know specifically what he wants to do even...all he knows is BUSINESS!! (that is SO chinese!!) hehe we want to go back to china this summer, his parents have never met me or our baby and we are going to start on the AP soon....so we shall see.....