mari

WOW, Congratulations!!!!! Same thing happened to us, we had the name check completed at the beginning of April, and then got interview date on May. Best of lucks to you both.

YESSSSSSSSSS.... Hope your interview comes soon enough.

Yeah, it happened to me too. Wow, it's amazing how a small piece of paper written in such a terrible way can do to lift your spirits. Congrats..

Yes, it was all sent to the Chicago Lockbox, I just hope we don't have the same troubles as Kim.

My filing state is Puerto Rico, yesterday I called a contact person from Immigration in San Juan, she's in charge of corroborating the visa holders status for offices such as SS and other governmental. She said that she has heard that the process is taking around one year now, so I keep my fingers crossed that everything will go well and we get the conditional residency stamp within that timeframe. As you all know the second name check was a big pain for us and I just worry that we face some more hurdles in the near future. I agree that the most important matter is that we are finally together, but somehow I have this terrible feeling of not having a conclusion to our story with the government yet.

Frank, you're always great in your contributions to this forum. QiSheng has his biometrics appointment on August 19th and I am wondering how much longer will we have to wait for the AOS interview. As I understand it, it will depend not on the Chicago office which received our application, but on the timelines of my particular state? Another question: we got a MSC # as reference, and I have been trying to get a status on our case on the USCIS website, but it does show up an error. What can be the problem???

Congratulations, Paul, let the fun begin.....

Thank you so much for your replies. I will make sure of the rules that apply to PR. Basically the client population will consist mainly of Dominican Republic citizens who wish to bring their loved ones to the island, at least this is the market that I will pursue in case I can really do the business. Being a bank manager I will never do anything that is against the law, I was just thinking of running this business as a sideline, and after realizing that there's nothing to filling out these forms. I have worked in the past many SBA guaranteed loans and it's basically the same thing, you just need to follow the government instructions. We have also been thinking of starting other business, which has been always my dream, but never did it because I was the only support of my household. Qisheng already found a job and he will also work on his own repairing electroesthetic equipment, which will allow us to save some money in the next year in order to be able to open a business. Jason, you're more than welcomed to visit us next Christmas, we"ll be very happy to take you around, please let me know as soon as you have definite plans.

I have done and sent all the paperwork required for AOS and EAD, this time I decided not to hire a lawyer. Some days ago I called an office which is dedicated to prepare all immigration related paperwork and the girl explained me that their fees are much better than those of some "immigration lawyers" in town. For example, they charge $400 for filing I-129F while my lawyer charges $1000!!!! they charge $800 for AOS, EAD and AP (don't even want to know what my lawyer's fees are). Although the owners are not lawyers, they have different providers which prepare legal documents for them (such as affidavits) and their fees are included in the package. I am just wondering if it will be a good idea to open a business as this but want to make sure at first if there is some special requirements from USCIS in order to operate such business. I recall there is a special area in the forms which ask the name of the person preparing the form if it is not the beneficiary. In PR the tax form also asks for this and I know that one of the purposes is to assess if the person preparing the form has taken the mandatory course for doing tax returns and of course to make sure that such person reports the income in his/her tax return. I know that some immigration services (asylum, etc) require a lawyer to intervene in behalf of the client, but as I have figured out, a lawyer is not necessarily needed to file some type of cases and there are still a lot of people out there who prefer to pay to get the documents filed properly. What do y'all think?

Thanks so much for remembering us, my husband now visits the Candle once in a while and always tells me that his heart goes out to all of you who are going through so much hell in this visa journey. My best advice is to never give up on your dreams and knock all the doors of the ones who every 4 years make so many promises to their constituents. I assure you that one day all will be a part of the past and a new and happy (although busy) life will begin.

Qisheng got EA stamped at JFK (June 6th)

Do we need to send the 4 copies as for the I-129F application or one will be fine?

Update on our case: we did visited another SS office this morning, and this time I asked Qisheng to hide away our wedding rings and not mention the fact that we're already married except if they asked us. It seems they don't process so many K1 cases, as the woman had to ask someone for help, finally she said all it takes is for her to send an inquiry to USCIS via her system, and once she confirms his K1 status, she will submit a request for the SSN and it will only take 8 days for the card to arrive. Lesson learned: don't believe everything they tell you..... (he, he)

Thomas, the name check is requested and coordinated by DOS and FBI is only one of the agencies where the name is sent for clearance. Our name check took 9 months and we never knew the reason for its delay. It got resolved by a woman at DOS after my congressman's aide contacted her. I did wrote to the FBI at the end of Noevember 2004, and I finally got a response from them around the time the case was being resolved (5 months later).

Thanks Frank, go figure, as if all the adjustments weren't enough and after all the trouble we got to get our visa, now these... **&&!!!!

Today we visited the Social Security office to apply for the SSN. After a 3 hour wait, the woman told us that she could not submit the request because the status shown in her system says K-1 and we already got married. She suggested that I contact the Immigration office, which of course I did as soon as I got home. The woman there explained me that the SS officer should have filled out form G-845 and send it to them so they can attest to Qisheng's current status in US. As I understand it, the marital status should be irrelevant as his K1 visa is still good for some months. I now wonder if I should not have mentioned the fact that we were already married, or if I should have applied for his SSN before getting married. I got all the paperwork ready to apply for AOS now but I want to make sure if I should send it before I resolve all this mess. My immediate plans are to go to another SS office tomorrow and try to get the officer to send the form to Immigration and after that send at once the AOS and EAD forms. Qisheng have been hired by a company already and the HR manager said they can place the SS money in an escrow until he gets the SSN and they can remit the amount to the agency. He also needs to get his driver's permit but the SSN is required. I would appreciate any feedback I can get from you experts.

I got all the paperwork ready but want to make sure that the Social Security number is not required to file for AOS and EAD. It's such a hard work to have all this ready at the same time when you're trying to adjust to the new life together, trying to make my teenage daughter feel as loved as ever, and going to work every day. But I keep lovin' it... wouldn't change it for anything in the world. B)

I'm trying to figure out if it's really worthwhile to apply for advance parole now, fee is $165 and as I see it, my husband will be able to travel once he gets the green card soon after he gets the AOS interview. My only concern at this point is that his parents get sick and he would not be able to travel at the time. I would greatly appreciate your help in the following: 1-) Any idea on the processing times for green card at the different USCIS offices? 2-) Form I-131 Part 3: Date of Intended Departure, Expected Length of Trip???? I just want to have the authorization to travel in case of an emergency, so what should I write here?

I'm still here Ken and as happy as ever. It's amazing how much life changes after they arrive here, so many things to do and show... but it's a great feeling indeed.

Wish you the best of lucks, Alex. It's so sad that you have to go through this.

Thanks!!!

You guys are great!!! Thanks Dan, I've tried this before but included the zip code and it didn't brought any info.

I'm curretnly working on filling out all the required forms and a couple of questions had come up: 1-) Form I-485- "Current USCIS Status"? 2-) Does he need to have a Social Security Number in order to file AOS? 3-) Do we need to submit a I-130 for AOS? Thanks for the help!

I'm confused regarding the vaccination issue, I read in the instructions for the AOS that a medical examination is not needed for K-1's, only a vaccination supplement, but I recall now that in the past days I checked the list of authorized civil surgeons and there were none listed for Puerto Rico. I'm now wondering if hubby can get the vaccination at any doctor's office????

Richard, the DOS is definitely the agency in charge of coordinating the second name check. In our particular case, my Congressman's aide found a contact person who was really helpful, I will PM her name to you. I would recommend you to try your other representatives. On thing is clear to me: your senator's office did not had any intention to help you, and the person who got your case doesn't have the appropriate contacts at DOS.