January Filers at the CSC - How are you doing?

[CourtAndGrey 0]

About all those SSN's going so badly... I've been thinking and I could be wrong here but as far as I have seen does this thing only go wrong at people who already got married and already changed their names (if not all of them, then at least most of them).

I was wondering the same thing. Or maybe we just got very lucky. Greivin and I went in to the SS Office, filled out the form they had sitting on the table, took a number and waited. I had brought my entire bag full of binders and forms and envelopes and everything. They called us up and asked for Greivin's passport, and click, click, click, done! We got a letter printed out at that moment and the man said we'd get his card in the mail in a couple weeks.

It was a breeze! The card came later that week and no problems since.

It's horrible that things can't be streamlined to make this process easier for everyone. Maybe we just got lucky or maybe Washington just has their stuff together. Either way, we were thankful, and send our best wishes to everyone still battling the system.

[dbears 1]

waow! dbears I just read your story at the SSA! It was quite a journey! I'm glad that it worked out at the end! But, at your place, I would go back to see the first lady you talked to, showing the paper that state you will receive your SSN.... Maybe she still won't believe you, and say that you are illegal!

i am tempted to do just that and also give her a copy of it plus a copy of all those SSA documents I have and tell her to study and learn! but she probably would say I am on the suspect list now, the same way she claimed the other K1's who got married and still got SSN are on "suspect list". well, i just hope she thoroughly reads that "supposedly inaccessible" to public SSA document (which you can easily access through a link provided in the vj SSN guide)

About all those SSN's going so badly... I've been thinking and I could be wrong here but as far as I have seen does this thing only go wrong at people who already got married and already changed their names (if not all of them, then at least most of them).

Big busy SSA offices probably knows how to handle different cases best since they probably encounter more K1s through their office.. but as for the smaller ones like in our county, they are not used to it so when the system was acting crazy or was requiring more info/document etc for change of name & civil status, they had no idea how to handle it or they are too lazy to know how to handle it so they just dismiss the applicant with claims that "IT CAN'T BE DONE".

After all has been said and done, if I had to do it all over again, I would go and get SSN before getting married and just change name after marriage or after I get my green card. Probably less hassle even with smaller middle of nowhere county SSA offices.

Wishing everyone a good day. (((BIG HUGS)))

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I think I'll still probably wait until after marriage to get my SSN, despite what trouble everyone seems to have had! It's just that I'm getting married only a month after entry and I'm also hoping that, being in a big city, I'll have less hassle at the office.

Packing boxes arrived today so I'll be packing this afternoon! I also dropped in my tax form to my aunt so she and my dad can pay me for the work I've been doing for them.

I'm mostly concerned about wedding plans and finances at the moment. All of the money I've saved up from my job these past two months won't fully cover Alex's credit cards, and of the $500 we have spare each month $266 is eaten up immediately by bills, leaving less than $250 for gas and food. Argh, I don't mean to rant, but Alex doesn't even have all the AOS money yet, which is really bothering me. I should've booked my flight for December...

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Sorry, that was far too whiny. I am having a good time with my family and friends, anyway! Saw my friends from Sheffield for the last time before I fly last weekend in London, which was fun. It's strange to think that I'll be leaving this country behind for good in just a week's time!

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

@Jeroen: yes I think the SSN problem is because of the name change after the marriage; some people at social security offices say that they can't do it because it will not match the name on the immigration file. So I guess only women have that problem

@Rachel: I can understand how you feel. I did have saved enough money back in France, but to see how fast it disappears makes me go crazy sometimes. In the end I'm sure you'll figure out how to deal with all these money issues. And who knows, if you had booked your flight for December, maybe something would have happened that would have made it impossible to save a few extra hundreds, and then you would have said: "I wish I had booked a flight for January!"

[dbears 1]

I'm mostly concerned about wedding plans and finances at the moment. All of the money I've saved up from my job these past two months won't fully cover Alex's credit cards, and of the $500 we have spare each month $266 is eaten up immediately by bills, leaving less than $250 for gas and food. Argh, I don't mean to rant, but Alex doesn't even have all the AOS money yet, which is really bothering me. I should've booked my flight for December...

Don't worry about sounding whinny, we have all been there... as cecille have said, even if you saved up enough somehow it disappears quickly when you get here... when me and the kids got here, we just had all sorts of problems that had quickly eaten up whatever savings we had... plumbing problems, washing machine retiring(R.I.P.), problems with truck, etc... we didn't even know if we would have enough to push through with a wedding but we did manage to get through it.... AOS is another issue since for us we would be needing $2,210, plus other little extra AOS related expenses which could easily add up since it is always times 3 for us... our I-94 will be expiring by Dec. 3.. right now we are still $1000+ short for AOS fees., but I am still positive we will have enough to file AOS before Dec. 3.. Everything will be ok.. and same with you, before you know it, you have gone through the wedding and the AOS in a breeze.

With all the stress all these immigration expenses give us, me and Ricky just tell each other that same time next year, we will look back and smile and wonder how we pulled it through. Finances will be tight for us who go through immigration but we can all do it... and You and Alex can certainly pull it through

[KimandRuss 0]

So nice to see you folks checking in.

Gaye, lovely to see you as always my friend. I love your perspective on the $$$... things will certainly change! Just so you know, you do not have to apply for AOS before the expiration of your I-94... I know we're all in a rush to move things along but ...as long as you filled the requirement of marrying your status is pending AOS.

We should be filing anytime (paperwork is right in front of me as I type this ) but I seem to be procrastinating just a tad! With the new TB requirement we're still debating on whether or not he should just go get it and send the results or send the package and await an RFE. Decisions...decisions... eh, it can wait!

Anyway, just wanted to be sure you weren't stressing about it... enjoy!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Thanks guys! Cecile, Gaye, you are both right - and I shan't continue to worry about it.

It all seems so unreal at the moment!

The pound is falling against the dollar so swiftly. Just three months ago if I'd sent my earnings to Alex I could've give $1100 - now I can only give him $900 at most! I was thinking of giving him less and keeping more in my bank account, just in case.

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

Sorry, that was far too whiny.

You whiner!!

Nah, I can understand what you mean.. we have the money for our AOS, which was no problem at all.. but we found out that we actually have another problem with the request for the AOS, it will be solved (we know it will be) so I shouldn't worry but seeing I have to have filed before the end of the year (preferable earlier), it kinda nags me as it is only a month left..

As for the AOS.. are you going for wedding gifts or money? We didn't ask anything (lol, we didnt even expected a party at first) and it turned out we received quite some money at the party and from the cards people send us... we decided to pay the AOS from that money (no worries, there's enough left for fun stuff, we already bought some nice things) so we wont feel it in our pockets and have no worries about it.

I know it is not very traditional to pay the AOS from the money that comes in at a party, but what is traditional about having a wedding with someone from another country and having to do this whole immigration thing? Since it is all so non-traditional, I don't think many people will have a problem with it if it is like this.

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

A little update about my DL... I went out to the DMV today and PASSED!!! :dance:

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

A little update about my DL... I went out to the DMV today and PASSED!!! :dance:

Congratulations!

[hawkeye52 0]

What's up everyone. Nice to see everybody moving along in their processes! Val went a couple weeks ago for her SSN and we didn't have any problems here in San Diego. We went in at 9:00 and were out of the office by 9:30. Pretty painless. Haven't received it yet, but it should be here soon. And she was able to use her new name. We just took the marriage certificate, along with her I-94, and that was all we needed. It's crazy how each city seems to have different procedures. You'd think it would all be the same. Anyways- we also received our NOA 1's for the AOS and for the EAD (after a minor setback due to an expired form) so that's good. She has her biometrics appointment on Tuesday, and we'll be a step closer! Everything is moving so fast now compared to the K-1 process. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it continues!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

As for the AOS.. are you going for wedding gifts or money? We didn't ask anything (lol, we didnt even expected a party at first) and it turned out we received quite some money at the party and from the cards people send us... we decided to pay the AOS from that money (no worries, there's enough left for fun stuff, we already bought some nice things) so we wont feel it in our pockets and have no worries about it.

I know it is not very traditional to pay the AOS from the money that comes in at a party, but what is traditional about having a wedding with someone from another country and having to do this whole immigration thing? Since it is all so non-traditional, I don't think many people will have a problem with it if it is like this.

We are going to create a registry but we have also received some money from people already! I just didn't want to rely on the assumption that people would give gifts, you know?

Anyway, things are looking up. We have enough money for AOS now and to buy a few household things the first week I am there, and although we can't pay off his credit cards just yet we should be able to by April, and in the meantime we may transfer the balance of his cards to a 0% APR one.

My friends are being incredibly generous and giving and have really quite humbled me! One friend just called round today and presented me with a scrapbook three months in the making. It's full of photos dating back from high school and is full of stories and random pieces of information, all nicely decorated.

A little update about my DL... I went out to the DMV today and PASSED!!! :dance:

Congratulations!

hawkeye52 - good luck for tomorrow! Glad to hear things are progressing smoothly for you!

Okay, I fly out Wednesday. I think I have everything!

[sunnybear 0]

Hey Rachel so what day do you fly in again? Best of luck to you! Hope the packing has gone well!

We are still trying to fit all Gareth's belongings into our flat haha! Hopefully after the wedding reception and Christmas we will get all sorted!

We are getting all done here and man it is crazy! My friend is coming tonight to help me out so that is cool! Oh cool and just called the local rescue mission and they will take any of my leftover food from the reception so that makes me feel good too! Hopefully will have some pics up from our ceremony tomorrow late at night or Wednesday but not promising as we may be busy haha...

Good luck to all and will let you know how it goes and how our journey at SS goes too ha ha!

As for the AOS.. are you going for wedding gifts or money? We didn't ask anything (lol, we didnt even expected a party at first) and it turned out we received quite some money at the party and from the cards people send us... we decided to pay the AOS from that money (no worries, there's enough left for fun stuff, we already bought some nice things) so we wont feel it in our pockets and have no worries about it.

I know it is not very traditional to pay the AOS from the money that comes in at a party, but what is traditional about having a wedding with someone from another country and having to do this whole immigration thing? Since it is all so non-traditional, I don't think many people will have a problem with it if it is like this.

We are going to create a registry but we have also received some money from people already! I just didn't want to rely on the assumption that people would give gifts, you know?

Anyway, things are looking up. We have enough money for AOS now and to buy a few household things the first week I am there, and although we can't pay off his credit cards just yet we should be able to by April, and in the meantime we may transfer the balance of his cards to a 0% APR one.

My friends are being incredibly generous and giving and have really quite humbled me! One friend just called round today and presented me with a scrapbook three months in the making. It's full of photos dating back from high school and is full of stories and random pieces of information, all nicely decorated.

A little update about my DL... I went out to the DMV today and PASSED!!! :dance:

Congratulations!

hawkeye52 - good luck for tomorrow! Glad to hear things are progressing smoothly for you!

Okay, I fly out Wednesday. I think I have everything!

Oh cool on flying on wednesday!!! Just wrote to you about that haha! So awesome on your friends giving you that scrapbook!!! So sweet and such a thoughtful gift something I would treasure for sure. We have gotten a couple gifts too already FUN! haha....Good luck it will all go smooth!

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

The Department of Revenue website says that while adjusting my status I can get a DL, so I went to a first DMV office where they told me that it was wrong, I can't get one until I am approved for the AOS (or for the EAD). I went to a second office and the woman went to ask her supervisor (I assume that's what she did, she disappeared with all my paperwork for 5 minutes), and told me that when I have a proof that I am adjusting my status I can apply for a DL. So, just to make sure, when I received my NOA1, I came back to their office to ask them if the NOA1 is really what I need, and this time they told me that no, it had to be approved. which didn't make sense. So once outside the office, Bryan called the Department of Revenue for Missouri, and they told us that yes, I can have a DL even without being approved for the AOS. They told us that if the DMV office says something else, they should call the "Fraud and Immigration" department (yeah they put immigration with fraud, isn't that funny?). So we came back inside the office, told us what they had told us on the phone, and the woman said "Ok, then you go pass your driving exam and then you come back here and we'll call them to make sure, and there shouldn't be any problem"

So after all I should be able to have a DL soon.

And the DMV of Hawaii may be nice, but the ones in Missouri ARE the gates of Hell!!!

A little update on the driver license.

Friday I passed my driving and writing exams. The people at the Missouri Highway Patrol didn't have any problem with me adjusting my status. So after I passed the tests, we went to the DMV. There the woman said that i was her first K1, she started doing whatever she had to do, and when she realized that there isn't an expiration date on the NOA of AOS, she asked someone else in the office and they said "No! no expiration date, no Driver license". So we had them call the Department of Revenue in Jefferson City, they stayed on the phone very long, and while they were trying to deal with that, Bryan also called the Department of Revenue, just to make sure that what they had told him last time was good. After waiting 20 minutes, we finally got an official response, which is that as long as I don't have an EAD or a form that says I am approved for AOS, I can't have a DL. Why didn't they tell us that last time? I keep thinking that it doesn't make sense, as when I receive such form I will not be on AOS anymore, I'll be a permanent resident, so they shouldn't even have a "AOS" category in their paperwork!

Anyway, we left the DMV and even though it made me really angry and sad, now I just have to wait until I receive my EAD or GC. I just hope that the paper they gave me that proves that I passed the test doesn't expire before I get one of them... I don't want to redo the test (I almost failed because of how stressed I was... another thing that made me really angry, depressed and sad)

So, time to move on. I am not going to think about this until I have the right paperwork. It sucks, I can't do anything about it, but I have no choice. So here it goes out of my mind.