NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!

[Kelvan 0]

Hey guys, I am getting together my AOS forms. I am following the guide on VJ. However I realised I had received a 2-page document from the NZ consulate when they sent me the yellow package back in Auckland. Inside it read:

"When you file your Application to Adjust Status Form I-485 you need to include your I-94, Arrival Record, a copy of the Fiance(e) Petition Approval Notice I-797, your marriage certificate, your I-9 and vaccination supplement form, not the entire medical report - which is in your visa package and taken by the inspecting officer at the Port of Entry."

1. What exactly is the Arrival Record?

2. I can't seem to find the form I-797 anywhere on the uscis website!

Is there a chance these instructions for the consulate are outdated? Should I just follow the instruction guide on VJ?

Edited August 24, 2009 by Kelvan

[cdneh 3,112]

Hey guys, I am getting together my AOS forms. I am following the guide on VJ. However I realised I had received a 2-page document from the NZ consulate when they sent me the yellow package back in Auckland. Inside it read:

"When you file your Application to Adjust Status Form I-485 you need to include your I-94, Arrival Record, a copy of the Fiance(e) Petition Approval Notice I-797, your marriage certificate, your I-9 and vaccination supplement form, not the entire medical report - which is in your visa package and taken by the inspecting officer at the Port of Entry."

1. What exactly is the Arrival Record?

2. I can't seem to find the form I-797 anywhere on the uscis website!

Is there a chance these instructions for the consulate are outdated? Should I just follow the instruction guide on VJ?

The I-94 is stapled to your passport. It's white. On the back written in pen is your Alien number, and you need to send them a copy of both sides.

I also sent all the pages of my passport that had stamps on it, just to cover my bases

I think that I-797 is a copy of your NOA2 from your K1. Hang on to the original.

Auckland usually give you a copy of the vaccination report that has their raised seal on it.

[Kim & Chris 0]

Hey guys, I am getting together my AOS forms. I am following the guide on VJ. However I realised I had received a 2-page document from the NZ consulate when they sent me the yellow package back in Auckland. Inside it read:

"When you file your Application to Adjust Status Form I-485 you need to include your I-94, Arrival Record, a copy of the Fiance(e) Petition Approval Notice I-797, your marriage certificate, your I-9 and vaccination supplement form, not the entire medical report - which is in your visa package and taken by the inspecting officer at the Port of Entry."

1. What exactly is the Arrival Record?

2. I can't seem to find the form I-797 anywhere on the uscis website!

Is there a chance these instructions for the consulate are outdated? Should I just follow the instruction guide on VJ?

From what I remember the consulate instructions are kind of right but the instructions on VJ are more comprehensive. I followed the VJ instructions but made sure to incorporate everything on the consulate papers. I didn't get my vaccination sheet transcribed and I didn't get the TB jab. They never knocked me back because of it.

[Kelvan 0]

Thanks so much guys! I understand it a lot better now I am slowly, slowly getting the forms completed. I just wanted to start filling them out before the wedding so I wasn't in a mad rush after our honeymoon!

We are going to apply for our marriage certificate today!!!

Edited August 26, 2009 by Kelvan

[cdneh 3,112]

Thanks so much guys! I understand it a lot better now I am slowly, slowly getting the forms completed. I just wanted to start filling them out before the wedding so I wasn't in a mad rush after our honeymoon!

We are going to apply for our marriage certificate today!!!

Congratulations!

[amaciar 0]

Thanks so much guys! I understand it a lot better now I am slowly, slowly getting the forms completed. I just wanted to start filling them out before the wedding so I wasn't in a mad rush after our honeymoon!

We are going to apply for our marriage certificate today!!!

Congrats! :dance:

[kiwiana 2]

hey all! hope your all doing great..well he arrived on the 9th with no problems..but when he arrived in los angels he had filled out the wrong arrival card , so they had him fill out the right card, then they open the mysterious brown package, looked at a few pages, showed it to another officer and then took him into another room..they rechecked through everything and commented about being process through bangkok and said they were surpised it was approved? which we found very disturbing but couldn't keep him from entering being it was approoved.. maybe this was just there opion or we just got very lucky..i dont know which..lol..ok care.. he's here! we've been busy planning our wedding and being together and basking in the glory of not have the 90 day gloom hanging over our head..we were married at the courthouse yesterday short but very sweet..so now were all married up and ready to go go go ... YEAH AOS!!! waitng for that certified marriage licence to get the show on the road!..

kelvan - we are in missouri north of kansas city..how close are you? and i see your poe was 2 days before my fiance..or hehe my hubby..

ok everyone.. the queations on the AOS are starting..social security card.. can you do that when ever? and being transfered to california.. from reading the thread in the past pages.. how do you do that? is that something we wanna try to do? is it better to be transfered to california? could someone explain this please..and where do we mail the AOS? lol..were lost all over again..

Congratulations on your wedding!! The AOS looks confusing especially as their are the EAD and AP forms (if you wish to apply for those that is) aswell. But it seems that so far this part of the process goes much faster for most people than the I-129f saga. Either that or it just seems it is going faster, as this time around we all have our loved ones by our side

It would be cool if we all got transferred to California but unfortunately, that is not the case. It is all the luck of the draw Remember we are all here to help you if you have any questions

Thanks so much guys! I understand it a lot better now I am slowly, slowly getting the forms completed. I just wanted to start filling them out before the wedding so I wasn't in a mad rush after our honeymoon!

We are going to apply for our marriage certificate today!!!

Congratulations on applying for the marriage certificate

Our interview is on Friday morning and I have been getting everything ready for it. I'm not really sure on everything i have to take so i am just going to take like 4 folders of stuff with me (from I-129f to present) and hope for the best. We don't have a lot of things in joint names. I don't have a US drivers licence which means we don't have joint car insurance yet. All we can do is present them with what we have got.

It has been like 6 weeks and three days now since i applied for state ID and still nothing!! After the trouble i had getting a ssn i thought the state ID would be a bit better (hassle free). How long did you guys have to wait to receive your state ID's?

[Kim & Chris 0]

Our interview is on Friday morning and I have been getting everything ready for it. I'm not really sure on everything i have to take so i am just going to take like 4 folders of stuff with me (from I-129f to present) and hope for the best. We don't have a lot of things in joint names. I don't have a US drivers licence which means we don't have joint car insurance yet. All we can do is present them with what we have got.

It has been like 6 weeks and three days now since i applied for state ID and still nothing!! After the trouble i had getting a ssn i thought the state ID would be a bit better (hassle free). How long did you guys have to wait to receive your state ID's?

Good luck with your interview on Friday Ana. I'm sure you'll be fine

When I applied for the state ID here, they give it to you on the spot. I waited for all of about 5mins if that. Same with the drivers license. Maybe it's the difference between small and large town

[Kelvan 0]

Our interview is on Friday morning and I have been getting everything ready for it. I'm not really sure on everything i have to take so i am just going to take like 4 folders of stuff with me (from I-129f to present) and hope for the best. We don't have a lot of things in joint names. I don't have a US drivers licence which means we don't have joint car insurance yet. All we can do is present them with what we have got.

It has been like 6 weeks and three days now since i applied for state ID and still nothing!! After the trouble i had getting a ssn i thought the state ID would be a bit better (hassle free). How long did you guys have to wait to receive your state ID's?

Ahhh sorry you're having to wait for your state ID! We were looking at apartments the other week and some woman denied me from one of the places! She said my mother-in-law who was with me could look but not me because I didn't have a state ID or state-issued drivers license! I was sooo annoyed. Hope yours comes soon! I need to get one as well.

[kiwiana 2]

Well for some reason it has seemed to be the longest day ever today! We arrived for the interview 15 minutes early. We had to go through security check first by having bag etc put through xray machine and had to walk through the metal detector 'doorway'

Cell phones weren't allowed so we left them at home beforehand knowing this. When we got to the second floor and walked into the waiting room, there was a security guy who looked over the interview letter then told me to place it in a tray by the front window and take a seat and wait.

There were like 40 people in there waiting. I was like omg this is going to take forever!! people that came in after us were all called for an interview and we just sat there and sat there. About an hour and 15 minutes later with about one family left waiting, we were called to a room.

The lady told us to raise our right hand and swear to tell the whole truth etc. She then asked for passport, marriage certificate, drivers licence etc. I told her i didn't have a US drivers licence yet.

She looked at the marriage certificate and said.. Do you have the 'right' one. I looked at my SO puzzled and said to her.' That is the right one'. She said 'no no it isn't'. i said 'yes, yes it is'..

She said no, you need to give me the one that is fancy looking with a border, like a diploma. I said to her that we sent away for the marriage certificate and this is what they sent us. We had opened a bank account and got ssn with it with no problems.

She said, well when you apply again to remove conditions in 2 years, you need to bring the 'right' one with you.

(oooook! )

She asked to look at our wedding photos so she could choose a few to photocopy and keep. As she looked over them she saw the ones of us kissing after we got pronounced husband and wife and she said ' no, no kissing ones' (not sure why?) She ended up just taking two from of our wedding.(one of them was when my SO placed the ring on my finger)

She then asked me how many times i had been to USA. Did my children (they are adults now) live in nz. How did we meet? She asked my SO if he had ever been to nz and where did he work. She asked me if i worked.

All the time she was talking she was flipping through our rather large file she had infront of her. She got to the I-1693 and faltered. She said, 'i see that the civil surgeon you saw here did not fill in the form correctly. You will have to take it back to him and get him to fill out the one part he missed'.

My heart SANK with a thud! She said 'once you get it done, you can sent it back to me and then i will approve the AOS'.

I said to her "but i got it all done at the doctors. If i go back he will make me redo it all again" She cut me off kindly and said 'no he wont you just need him to fill out the part he missed'.

I was NOT happy and could feel the tears well up in my eyes. She took the documents we gave her (marriage certificate etc) to another room to photocopy them.

When she came back, she sat down and said.' I have just been talking to my supervisor about the medical form. I know you are not happy about this, so i asked her about it and she said that it will be ok. You won't have to go back to the doctor'.

You have been approved and will take 4-6 weeks for the GC to arrive.

She then said, 'But when you come back to me in 2 years time to remove conditions you will need a LOT more things in both of your names to show me. You have very little here. We will want to see joint health insurance, car insurance, life insurance, credit cards etc. You will need to show lots of things.

I said to her. 'well it is hard to get evidence together when we haven't even been married 6 months'. She agreed but reiterated about evidence in 2 years time.

And that was pretty much that. The interview wasn't an interrogation or anything like that. It was pretty casual and she seemed to just be going through the motions of what is required at the interviews.

I am soo glad it is over though for two years!! yay!!!!

[Kim & Chris 0]

Well for some reason it has seemed to be the longest day ever today! We arrived for the interview 15 minutes early. We had to go through security check first by having bag etc put through xray machine and had to walk through the metal detector 'doorway'

Cell phones weren't allowed so we left them at home beforehand knowing this. When we got to the second floor and walked into the waiting room, there was a security guy who looked over the interview letter then told me to place it in a tray by the front window and take a seat and wait.

There were like 40 people in there waiting. I was like omg this is going to take forever!! people that came in after us were all called for an interview and we just sat there and sat there. About an hour and 15 minutes later with about one family left waiting, we were called to a room.

The lady told us to raise our right hand and swear to tell the whole truth etc. She then asked for passport, marriage certificate, drivers licence etc. I told her i didn't have a US drivers licence yet.

She looked at the marriage certificate and said.. Do you have the 'right' one. I looked at my SO puzzled and said to her.' That is the right one'. She said 'no no it isn't'. i said 'yes, yes it is'..

She said no, you need to give me the one that is fancy looking with a border, like a diploma. I said to her that we sent away for the marriage certificate and this is what they sent us. We had opened a bank account and got ssn with it with no problems.

She said, well when you apply again to remove conditions in 2 years, you need to bring the 'right' one with you.

(oooook! )

She asked to look at our wedding photos so she could choose a few to photocopy and keep. As she looked over them she saw the ones of us kissing after we got pronounced husband and wife and she said ' no, no kissing ones' (not sure why?) She ended up just taking two from of our wedding.(one of them was when my SO placed the ring on my finger)

She then asked me how many times i had been to USA. Did my children (they are adults now) live in nz. How did we meet? She asked my SO if he had ever been to nz and where did he work. She asked me if i worked.

All the time she was talking she was flipping through our rather large file she had infront of her. She got to the I-1693 and faltered. She said, 'i see that the civil surgeon you saw here did not fill in the form correctly. You will have to take it back to him and get him to fill out the one part he missed'.

My heart SANK with a thud! She said 'once you get it done, you can sent it back to me and then i will approve the AOS'.

I said to her "but i got it all done at the doctors. If i go back he will make me redo it all again" She cut me off kindly and said 'no he wont you just need him to fill out the part he missed'.

I was NOT happy and could feel the tears well up in my eyes. She took the documents we gave her (marriage certificate etc) to another room to photocopy them.

When she came back, she sat down and said.' I have just been talking to my supervisor about the medical form. I know you are not happy about this, so i asked her about it and she said that it will be ok. You won't have to go back to the doctor'.

You have been approved and will take 4-6 weeks for the GC to arrive.

She then said, 'But when you come back to me in 2 years time to remove conditions you will need a LOT more things in both of your names to show me. You have very little here. We will want to see joint health insurance, car insurance, life insurance, credit cards etc. You will need to show lots of things.

I said to her. 'well it is hard to get evidence together when we haven't even been married 6 months'. She agreed but reiterated about evidence in 2 years time.

And that was pretty much that. The interview wasn't an interrogation or anything like that. It was pretty casual and she seemed to just be going through the motions of what is required at the interviews.

I am soo glad it is over though for two years!! yay!!!!

oh Ana well done & congratulations :dance: ........... I'm so pleased it went ok for you and it's all over and done with. She still sounds like a bit of a cow though. Fancy expecting all that stuff!!!!! I would have been well and truly stuffed as I have very little in the way of the evidence that they want. But I will make a mental note to gather as much stuff as possible over the next couple of years.

God I bet you're relieved ...............now to the diving test

[kiwiana 2]

oh Ana well done & congratulations ........... I'm so pleased it went ok for you and it's all over and done with. She still sounds like a bit of a cow though. Fancy expecting all that stuff!!!!! I would have been well and truly stuffed as I have very little in the way of the evidence that they want. But I will make a mental note to gather as much stuff as possible over the next couple of years.

God I bet you're relieved ...............now to the diving test

Thanks Kim!!!! I am VERY relieved it is over!! I actually feel quite drained tonight after what has felt like a LONG day!

She was most insistent about gathering as much in joint names as possible for the next round of immigration. So i definitely urge everyone to start collecting as much as you can from now until then.

My SO isn't a fan of credit cards and bank accounts and asked her..... does it HAVE to be credit cards?. what about those who prefer not to have them?. She said that they just want to see lots of things in both names!!

I looked online to see if i got any touches on the AOS file for today and it's still the same so i hope she remembered to put my approval notice in

i was surprised too that she said that it will take 4-6 weeks to receive the GC. Are they really that swamped under in Cali?

I went to hand her my EAD card back as i had read that some vjers handed them back and she said , no you keep it. you will need it for when you look for jobs until such time that you receive the GC.

cdneh: it won't be long until you get approved too!

[Kim & Chris 0]

Thanks Kim!!!! I am VERY relieved it is over!! I actually feel quite drained tonight after what has felt like a LONG day!

She was most insistent about gathering as much in joint names as possible for the next round of immigration. So i definitely urge everyone to start collecting as much as you can from now until then.

My SO isn't a fan of credit cards and bank accounts and asked her..... does it HAVE to be credit cards?. what about those who prefer not to have them?. She said that they just want to see lots of things in both names!!

I looked online to see if i got any touches on the AOS file for today and it's still the same so i hope she remembered to put my approval notice in

i was surprised too that she said that it will take 4-6 weeks to receive the GC. Are they really that swamped under in Cali?

I went to hand her my EAD card back as i had read that some vjers handed them back and she said , no you keep it. you will need it for when you look for jobs until such time that you receive the GC.

cdneh: it won't be long until you get approved too!

Ana I found myself in the same position....... my SO isn't a fan of credit cards or bank accounts either so I recently got a walmart visa debit card sharepak.

https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/AcctMgmt/C...t/Products.aspx

It's two cards, two names and one shared balance. I'm hoping the statement will have both names on it, I haven't got that far yet but it's worth a try. I guess it doesn't have to be a walmart one but you get the idea

I don't know, some things are quite different back home. The whole banking culture is the norm there, I mean we had bank accounts opened for us when we started school, and took banking to school once a week. Don't know if they still do it now but I'm glad they did when we were younger, you grow up with the whole concept and to me opening and running a bank account is no big deal, it's just a part of everyday life. To come across so much anti bank talk here just seems plain wierd, I opened an account as soon as I could and believe me, I've been asked to cash quite a few cheques for family members here who don't have bank accounts.

I received the "Card production ordered" email on the 13th, and the welcome letter was dated 13th Aug (received it by snail mail on the 17th), and the actual approval date was the day before (12th). So when you get the production ordered email it shouldn't be too long.

The welcome letter said I should receive the GC within the next 3 weeks. It arrived on the 22nd Aug, and the date on the actual card is the 12th. So it took 10 days from approval to arrive in the mail. I think they just give you the 3-4 weeks to cover themselves.

[ivannnaloveskiwi 0]

hey all! hope your all doing great..well he arrived on the 9th with no problems..but when he arrived in los angels he had filled out the wrong arrival card , so they had him fill out the right card, then they open the mysterious brown package, looked at a few pages, showed it to another officer and then took him into another room..they rechecked through everything and commented about being process through bangkok and said they were surpised it was approved? which we found very disturbing but couldn't keep him from entering being it was approoved.. maybe this was just there opion or we just got very lucky..i dont know which..lol..ok care.. he's here! we've been busy planning our wedding and being together and basking in the glory of not have the 90 day gloom hanging over our head..we were married at the courthouse yesterday short but very sweet..so now were all married up and ready to go go go ... YEAH AOS!!! waitng for that certified marriage licence to get the show on the road!..

kelvan - we are in missouri north of kansas city..how close are you? and i see your poe was 2 days before my fiance..or hehe my hubby..

ok everyone.. the queations on the AOS are starting..social security card.. can you do that when ever? and being transfered to california.. from reading the thread in the past pages.. how do you do that? is that something we wanna try to do? is it better to be transfered to california? could someone explain this please..and where do we mail the AOS? lol..were lost all over again..

ivannaloveskiwi, congrats! Can't believe we entered the US 2 days apart I'm in Overland Park, Kansas so not incredibly far away. I am loving the weather right now Oh and I got my SSN on Friday, it was really easy! Just make sure you read through the guide on VJ before you go

That is very close..your kansas ,we're missouri..lol... i've explained to my kiwi the rivals between the two states..he's forever saying he's in kansas and i'm forever saying no your in missouri..lol..we went and got our social security cards on thursday..had to have my name changed..and yes it was very easy, the man at the counter talked forever to my husband..they just love the accent here..lol

[ivannnaloveskiwi 0]

Well for some reason it has seemed to be the longest day ever today! We arrived for the interview 15 minutes early. We had to go through security check first by having bag etc put through xray machine and had to walk through the metal detector 'doorway'

Cell phones weren't allowed so we left them at home beforehand knowing this. When we got to the second floor and walked into the waiting room, there was a security guy who looked over the interview letter then told me to place it in a tray by the front window and take a seat and wait.

There were like 40 people in there waiting. I was like omg this is going to take forever!! people that came in after us were all called for an interview and we just sat there and sat there. About an hour and 15 minutes later with about one family left waiting, we were called to a room.

The lady told us to raise our right hand and swear to tell the whole truth etc. She then asked for passport, marriage certificate, drivers licence etc. I told her i didn't have a US drivers licence yet.

She looked at the marriage certificate and said.. Do you have the 'right' one. I looked at my SO puzzled and said to her.' That is the right one'. She said 'no no it isn't'. i said 'yes, yes it is'..

She said no, you need to give me the one that is fancy looking with a border, like a diploma. I said to her that we sent away for the marriage certificate and this is what they sent us. We had opened a bank account and got ssn with it with no problems.

She said, well when you apply again to remove conditions in 2 years, you need to bring the 'right' one with you.

(oooook! )

She asked to look at our wedding photos so she could choose a few to photocopy and keep. As she looked over them she saw the ones of us kissing after we got pronounced husband and wife and she said ' no, no kissing ones' (not sure why?) She ended up just taking two from of our wedding.(one of them was when my SO placed the ring on my finger)

She then asked me how many times i had been to USA. Did my children (they are adults now) live in nz. How did we meet? She asked my SO if he had ever been to nz and where did he work. She asked me if i worked.

All the time she was talking she was flipping through our rather large file she had infront of her. She got to the I-1693 and faltered. She said, 'i see that the civil surgeon you saw here did not fill in the form correctly. You will have to take it back to him and get him to fill out the one part he missed'.

My heart SANK with a thud! She said 'once you get it done, you can sent it back to me and then i will approve the AOS'.

I said to her "but i got it all done at the doctors. If i go back he will make me redo it all again" She cut me off kindly and said 'no he wont you just need him to fill out the part he missed'.

I was NOT happy and could feel the tears well up in my eyes. She took the documents we gave her (marriage certificate etc) to another room to photocopy them.

When she came back, she sat down and said.' I have just been talking to my supervisor about the medical form. I know you are not happy about this, so i asked her about it and she said that it will be ok. You won't have to go back to the doctor'.

You have been approved and will take 4-6 weeks for the GC to arrive.

She then said, 'But when you come back to me in 2 years time to remove conditions you will need a LOT more things in both of your names to show me. You have very little here. We will want to see joint health insurance, car insurance, life insurance, credit cards etc. You will need to show lots of things.

I said to her. 'well it is hard to get evidence together when we haven't even been married 6 months'. She agreed but reiterated about evidence in 2 years time.

And that was pretty much that. The interview wasn't an interrogation or anything like that. It was pretty casual and she seemed to just be going through the motions of what is required at the interviews.

I am soo glad it is over though for two years!! yay!!!!

congrats anna!! thank goodness its all over..your good for 2 yrs!!!