Bah Humbug

[Misty1979 0]

Well, after arriving here in the US, I'm starting to realize very quickly that even after being approved, things still aren't going to be easy at all.

Shortly after arriving here, we moved to a new city so my husband can attend college. I had applied for my SSN about 1 week before we moved, so I figured I would just have my MIL check the mail at our old address and send the SSN along to me. As far as I know, it still hasn't arrived, but I did go ahead and change my address with the SSN office, so they can send it to my new address if they haven't already. The thing is, our address is pretty um... strange. Nobody has even heard of our street name, and there isn't even a sign on our street saying what street it is. I know how weird that sounds, but the landlord gave me the full mailing address, so I'm hoping the SSN and the GC will still find their way here.

On the GC note....*sigh* I didn't know you could check online to see if your GC has been ordered (for some reason I thought that only worked for K3/K1 visas), so until I can find my old case number with USCIS, I can't check the status of it online, and since I don't have internet yet, doing anything online is pretty much impossible (I'm at a hotel right now that luckily has high speed internet, so I just had to pop in and see what's up on VJ .)

After calling USCIS to see if my greencard would be forwarded along to my new address, they told me most likely, it would not. Now I'm panicing since I don't know if my GC is floating around out there trying to find me, and at this point, I really really need for at least one of them to arrive, since cash is very tight right now due to the moving, and both of us trying to find jobs here in the middle of freaking nowhere.

I did change my address online with USCIS, but am not sure if I did it correctly. For one thing, I didn't know what my alien number was. The old paperwork that has all that written on it is buried somewhere due to the move, so I took a chance and hoped it was the same as the registration number on the visa page of my passport. They are unable to tell me on the phone if my address was changed properly, since they can't access that info for some reason, which I find somewhat hard to believe.

Anyways, let it be a lesson to all: Try to stay in one place until your SSN and GC's arrive! Changing addresses is a pain in the butt and more of a headache than it is worth

[Carlawarla 1]

Sorry you're going through this! If you MIL is checking your mail, maybe your GC will show up there as well? I hope so for you! A lot of people seem to wait until they move before applying for things, but if you can't do that, then it's a real dilemma.

Hope you hear something soon and get those cards!

Carla

[Misty1979 0]

If anyone knows the answer to this, I might be able to get a bit of piece of mind:

I'm not sure what my alien number is. The old USCIS forms that have it are buried somewhere along with all of our moving stuff, which we plan to sort out today. When I filed the change of address online, it asked me for my Alien number, so I looked in my passport on the visa page, and found something called a "Registration Number". It has 8 digits, so I figured that could very well be my A#...does anyone know if that is correct?

PS- Thank you for your kind words Carla! I'm sure everything will turn out fine too, I'm just getting a bit antsy and wishing I hadn't moved in such a hurry hehe. On a side note, I can't get my MIL to check the mail at our old address for awhile...she was admitted to the hospital last night, and I don't know anyone else in our old neighbourhood who can fish through my mail

Edited January 2, 2008 by Misty1979

[MissStacey 1]

Check the I 94 that is stapled to your Passport. The A# should be written on it.

[Misty1979 0]

Check the I 94 that is stapled to your Passport. The A# should be written on it.

I don't have anything stapled to my passport, just my visa stamped in it. I think the I-94's are only given for K1/K3 visas, though I could be wrong.

[MissStacey 1]

Check the I 94 that is stapled to your Passport. The A# should be written on it.

I don't have anything stapled to my passport, just my visa stamped in it. I think the I-94's are only given for K1/K3 visas, though I could be wrong.

I actually thought about that after I posted- I wasn't sure if CRI's got an I 94 or not.

[Flames9_RN 358]

no I94 for cr-1's

[Misty1979 0]

Anyone know if the Registration number on my visa is the same as my alien number?

[Flames9_RN 358]

ok, I just checked, my A# on my green card, corresponds with the REGISTRATION # on the stamp Mtl issued me in my CDn passport. BUT on my greencard it is a 9 digit #, while on the stamp it s a 8 digit #. They didn't add the "zero" at the beginning of the # as they did on the greencard. Confused? lol I need more coffee.

example:

On greencard it is: A# 012-345-678 (separated just like that)

on Stamp in passport it is: Registration number 12345678 (no separation between #'s)

Time for coffee

[Misty1979 0]

ok, I just checked, my A# on my green card, corresponds with the REGISTRATION # on the stamp Mtl issued me in my CDn passport. BUT on my greencard it is a 9 digit #, while on the stamp it s a 8 digit #. They didn't add the "zero" at the beginning of the # as they did on the greencard. Confused? lol I need more coffee.

example:

On greencard it is: A# 012-345-678 (separated just like that)

on Stamp in passport it is: Registration number 12345678 (no separation between #'s)

Time for coffee

Gotcha! The lady on the phone at USCIS said they may add in the "0" on the greencard too, so I'm thinking I might want to re-submit my change of address with a "0" in front of it this time.

Thanks so much for your response

[thermophile 0]

Hey Misty

bummer about not getting any of the cards. I'll bet you a tim-bit that the post office will forward your gc to your new address, there's nothing on the envelope that says "do not forward".

Can you go down to a SSA office? it maybe crazy right now, but at least then you'll know that your card is coming to the correct address. tell them how long it's been since you applied and that you haven't gotten it yet and they'll know if they need to order you a new one.

it'll be ok, you're almost there

[Misty1979 0]

Hey Misty

bummer about not getting any of the cards. I'll bet you a tim-bit that the post office will forward your gc to your new address, there's nothing on the envelope that says "do not forward".

Can you go down to a SSA office? it maybe crazy right now, but at least then you'll know that your card is coming to the correct address. tell them how long it's been since you applied and that you haven't gotten it yet and they'll know if they need to order you a new one.

it'll be ok, you're almost there

That sounds like a good plan. I did actually try to go to the SSN office yesterday, but we didn't leave enough time to find the place (it's in another county, so the drive took longer than expected.)

I'm going to try to get there again Monday though.

I'm gonna snap if I find out it got lost in the mail. I'm so antsy to get started working.

Edited January 4, 2008 by Misty1979

[Flames9_RN 358]

if the card has already been issued (and lost) at least you wil know and they can give you the SSN # (which they cant over the phone)

[samaci 0]

If it helps at all, I'm still waiting on my GC. My interview was Oct 5th... Got my SSN after I went in an applied for it (within 2 weeks), but still no GC... I did get 2 "welcome letters" at the beginning of Dec, so I'm hoping my card will follow..