mari

Very helpful info, thanks!!! We're planning a trip to Argentina at the end of May and I wander if my husband can travel without the permanent green card issued. We sent the I-751 on December 26 and haven't received the NOA yet but the money order sent was already cashed, so we're rolling.

We sent the I-751 last month and it was received in Vermont on 12-31 as per the USPS website; but we're very concerned that we haven't received a confirmation from them yet. I called the bank to verify if the M.O. was cashed and they said no. Is this normal?

My experience? Great for my backpain, terrible for my hip bones....ouch!!

BTW, where will you be living?

Congratulations, my husband had his interview last year and the visa officer gave him a hard time, but at the end realized we were so well prepared and organized that a pink slip was the only option. Please feel free to contact us if you want any input from my husband concerning his experience adapting to the new environment. His case has been worse considering our main language here is Spanish, but he has done great and I am very proud of him. I am sure you will do just fine, your English is perfect and thats a good start.

It really feels great, and it's really much better to go through all these process with our loved one here. Now I realize that the visa experience helped me to develop patience and value even more my relationship. Thanks all for the good wishes.

Just want to share the good news with all of you: our AOS interview took place on March 22nd, got there on time and waited for around one hour to be called. The adjudicating officer was a middle aged woman with a good sense of humor. Despite this, she was very thorough in her questioning to us, and even though the interview didn't took too long, she covered many issues with us: how we met, how many times I went to China, if his parents attended our wedding, went through all our wedding album photos , asked for employment verification, 2005 income tax return with W-2's, asked for credit cards, medical insurance cards and even made copies of them herself. Finally, she advised us to go to the SS office to change the status on his SS card, which we did once we left her office. At the end she told Qisheng that she has given him a document which will be the only notice he will get from the USCIS to take action to remove conditions 90 days before the 2 year conditional period. Also said that if he forgets to do this, he will get a free stay at their half star hotel, with free cable and electricity, and a one way ticket to China courtesy of the US government. She asked if we had any other questions, we asked two: "what's the difference between the conditional and permanent status? and "can he travel without receiving the green card? Her answers: the difference is that the 2 year period will give the couple the opportunity to know each other better before the beneficiary gets a more permanent status, as well as to give time to gather and acquire more assets together. Second: he can travel without the card but she suggested that we travel during their normal operating hours in case the authorities need to contact their office. I remember I got a little anxious when it all started, especially for the video recording and the oath, which made it seem like a very formal matter, but at the end I felt very relieved because the officer was very kind and showed a lot of respect to us. The green card arrived 2 weeks later, that is 2 days ago, even before the new SS card. Now we're ready to make that trip to Cancun next June....... wahoooooo....

Only got one more question regarding the AOS interview: are we expected to have copies of the paperwork we submitted along with the 129F? Please say no.........

Thank you very much for sharing your experience David. I will print it out to make sure we have all the issues covered, as our interview is coming up in just 12 days.

We finally got it, it will be on March 22 (strange as it is a holiday). Now some questions for you experts (and you bet is just the beginning): If we get the passport stamped, how long it takes to get the card in the mail? Can we travel to Spain with the stamp on the passport only? Will we get any trouble from USCIS after we come back? My dilemma is these: last June I was supposed to visit my honey in China, but as you all know we got the visa at the time, so I decided to get a voucher from the airline for a future flight, I got until June 1 to use it, so we"ll love to travel to Spain and take our daughter who's graduating from high school as a graduation present, we can only travel during spring break, which is around 3 weeks after we go for the AOS interview. If we can't go to Spain, we will be visiting San Francisco, which is my favorite city in the US. I just want to get some ideas from you guys. Also, I want to know if Qisheng gets the green card, how long can he stay in China if he visits. We have been considering exporting to China and would like to know if there would be any problem with his resident status. Of course he will have to spend some time to market his product, but later will leave an agent to represent us there. Thanks for the help.

CHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, no..... this is our last name. Not the security check black hole again... please, please....... Don mentioned a 21 month period to remove conditions after card issuance, this is scary. I thought it was 21 month after marriage.

Good to know, but this should not prevent the civil surgeon to process the Vaccination Supplement needed to proceed with the AOS.

Amber, first of all, I really hope is only a common virus and nothing more, but I think two chest X Rays will clear any doubt in your minds at this time. Qisheng got the MMR, Tetatus and Rubella shot and that was all needed (only one shot), the other required vaccine was for varicella, but the Civil Surgeon excluded that one once we could find a hole in his skin that proved he once had the disease (he told the doctor he had it when he was a baby). As you know our AOS is being processed and we have not got a RFE for not having the Vaccination Supplement they need. Qisheng had the TB test done this week, but for a health certificate required by the company which hired him, it bothered him a lot afterwards as his skin got all swollen, but the lab technologist insisted that he was negative and that it's most probable that he's allergic to the substance. She suggested that next time he better get a X Ray as it should show up the same results as the skin test. I don't understand why the civil surgeon that saw Xiaoming required a TB test, it really seems he's trying to get some benefit from it.

Thanks Frank and Don, why consult a lawyer when you guys are there? For what you posted I conclude that the couples who get the interview close to the end of the second year of marriage should get the 10 year green card. I guess that most of us will get the interview faster than that and get the I-551 stamp instead, right? Do most people have their security checks done when the AOS interview comes up? If it's not done, then what's the purpose of the interview if you will not get a stamp at the time??? My point is that they should not schedule an interview without the security check being done. What are the requirements to remove conditions, that the couple is still married?

My dear friends: today Qisheng reminded me that he's been in USA for 4 months now. So far, so good......... even though married life is not a piece of cake, especially in our case where there are so many differences in the way we react to some situations (latin vs chinese culture). But despite this, I feel so proud of him: he already got his drivers permit, got a good job at a medical equipment company, repairs equipment in his spare time and now we're looking into opening a business, and he is a great husband and has a great sense of humor, which is one of the characteristics that I most admire in a human being. We always try to go to bed with all pending arguments resolved, this has been our little secret for success.... Recently his mom was admitted to the hospital for a heart condition and we were very scared as we did not applied for Travel Authorization at the time we filed for AOS. Luckily she is now home and feeling better, and I wonder if we should apply for travel authorization or just wait until he gets his temporary residence. I got some questions to ask: 1-) What's the purpose of the AOS interview, issue the temporary or the permanent residence? If it's the temporary, is there any other interview needed for the permanent residence? 2-) When does the person receive the stamp in the passport, when temporary residence is granted? 3-) Does it allow the person to travel to China without travel authorization? 4-) When is the permanent green card issued? Thanks for the help.

It took us a little over one month to get EAD after biometrics (see my timeline). I suggest you to go to the USCIS website and verify your case status online, you need to enter your case #, at least you could find out if it was approved, and it will shed some light as if the problem deals with the EAD being lost in the mail. Good luck.

The best way is to e-mail them and request that they call your SO to confirm her chinese address. They will most probable call her, I asked them twice in the process (P3& P4) to call my fiance and they were very cooperative about this.

Jesse, believe me that I don't want to discourage you more than you are right now, but you need to prepare yourself and your SO for a long wait. The California Serv Center is known for being the slowest, and there are still many more steps ahead in the process. Our case took almost 14 months to be completed, and we were initially processed at Vermont, which is the fastest center, but then we went through an endless second name check that also placed us in the dilemma of looking for the dreaded Plan B (moving to China). Right now you have been in the pipeline for 4 months, you still got a long road to travel and I certainly wish that it will be speed up in some way so that you can finally be with your loved one as soon as possible. But make sure that she doesn't have false expectations as to the time when she will finally have that much expected visa interview. Take care and best of lucks.

Congratulations David, glad you made it.

I agree with Frank, in our case and after 9 months of waiting for our second name check to come through, I was lucky enough to find someone at my Congressman's office (and with the right contacts) who was able to move it forward. Then I wrote to Maura Harty explaining my particular situation where one of my closest family members was very ill and sent her enough evidence as proof of it, one week later got a reply from her with our interview date set one month later. I think if you have a real situation it's worthwhile to give it a try, but if your process is following the normal timeline you will not get any help, most probably they will ignore your request.

I finally could see the status for AOS and EAD in the USCIS site, they state that AOS processing will take 4 to 6 months and EAD 30 to 90 days. Do they always keep their promises???

Congratulations for your upcoming interview, the P4 is sent via EMS so it should not take more than 2-3 days to reach its destination if outside GZ. I would strongly recommend you to e-mail GZ and request them to call your fiancee, they're pretty good about this and would always call. It happened to us with P3 and P4. Good luck.

I can now understand why our troubles don't end with the visa issuance, it just makes our load lighter. How can they issue a temp work authorization and not process promptly the EAD so that our SO's can continue to work in peace? With the economy as it is and the difficulty to get a decent job in these days, you have to hold to it once you finally get it. All this time I have also thought that it should be the employer's responsibility to decide if he should keep working, but....... as we approached the expiration date for the EA and checking our mailbox for the document every day without any success made me very anxious about the whole matter. Anybody has any idea on the max amount of time they can take to process the first EAD? Same as for renewing the EAD? Thank you all for your help!!!

I have asked about this in the past, and still confused as to the right answer: tomorrow my husband's EA will expire, USCIS acknowledged receipt of our I-765 on July 11th, my husband is already working, and my question is: should he stop working until he gets his EAD or is it legal for him to continue working as we have applied on time for his work permit? Will his decision to continue working can affect in any way his AOS?

How many times a week or how many times a day???? That would be my answer........p*****s me off their ways.