UK AOS 2009 Thread

[Gemmie 142]

You know it's Martin Luther King day on Monday, right? A lot of places close on this holiday - best check they're open before you set off.

Thanks for that, we'll try and go later on during the week. As long as I have my permit by the end of the week, I'm happy.

Dom, I'm taking my test in Brockton. Someone who took it the other day also told me it was heavily focused on drink driving, so to make sure I know my stuff. It's hard remembering all the penalties for Under 21 and then Under 18, and then for Refusing a test, Failing a test; and then for First offense, Second offense, etc.. hopefully I'll pass, well done to you.

Selina, anything with your names on (and cohabiting address) is good evidence, as well as the pictures of you with the family. Magpie gave some advice on this a few pages back, basically just talk about the pictures with them. If you don't have joint accounts in things, there's nothing you can do about that. You'll be fine.

Sorry to hear about the RFE, Nik/Heather. The link isn't working, what was it for?

Edited January 18, 2010 by Gemmie

[Gemmie 142]

Nevermind, just saw your old post.

I'm confused, and don't know what they're on about. Is it the new 'RFE craze' with medicals lately?

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

Hewwo everyone .

Moving out today! Haven't been around because I worked five days in a row this week (I do four-tens, so Sunday is the start of my new week and I was working on it).

Selina, yes, piccies are good -- and if you've got ones with you and the in-laws, that's good, too. I would suggest labelling the back of photos with the month/event/place, and then being able to explain what's going on in them to the interviewer. The idea is just to demonstrate that you know his family, that you've been places with your hubby, and that you're over the moon to be here with him .

Gemmie, the test does pick up a lot of stuff about the drinking and driving penalties. I think it's because the test is mostly targeted at teens who have found the Happy Bottle (or can) and think it's the best thing ever. You'll do fine, though -- just read the manual a couple of times. Dom, grats on passing the first time around it's a lot better than I did!

I did take a look at your thread Nik+Heather, and I think you've more or less covered everything that I would. The letter was well-written, and I couldn't think of anything to add. I looked at it a few days ago, but Gemmie's right, the link no longer works. I would have replied sooner but I've been so busy .

Mama Nich, thank you so much for the tax advice. We're going to file jointly through a website that was recommended to me by my supervisor. We do have a tax guy who camps out in the Wal-Mart (my credit union is at the front of Wal-Mart), and I do get a discount with him for being part of Denali Alaskan FCU, but I've been told that we shouldn't bother with that until we've got our own house and that kinda thing. Once the move's done, I'll take a look at the thread and see about getting the stuff filed jointly.

Okay! Now to move stuff I had no idea that Knight and I owned so much stuff...how we fit it into the room, I have no idea. Bean knows something's up, he's been watching us since yesterday.

Magpie.

[MARM 7]

Received the biometrics letter for biometrics appointment fo Jan 29, 2010 but plan to do an early walk in!

[Nik+Heather 121]

I did take a look at your thread Nik+Heather, and I think you've more or less covered everything that I would. The letter was well-written, and I couldn't think of anything to add. I looked at it a few days ago, but Gemmie's right, the link no longer works. I would have replied sooner but I've been so busy .

Yeah, I had to take it down because I didn't XXXXXXXXXXX out all of the personal info - like our full address . Krikit said I could repost, but I was still sort of hoping that Ewok could just edit that part out and then put it back up. Oh well. Thanks for your feedback here. I called one of our senator's offices and talked to their immigration specialist who also recommended that we do what we are planning - and that I should request in writing that they follow up. Hopefully THAT will keep those USCIS guys on the straight and narrow.

Cats know a lot of stuff. My girl cat (also named Ewok, but not after the admin) always hides deep under the bed when I pack to go to my parents' for the weekend. Many times I take her with me when I'm going to be gone more than a couple of nights, and she doesn't like the car! I probably have an air about me when I'm packing/getting ready to leave.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

So much to comment on since I've been pre-occupied with stuff and not keeping up.

Heather-- I also read your letter earlier and thought it was great. USCIS has got something screwed up with all these RFEs and they need to get more specific on what they are looking for exactly. A general vague RFE statement is confusing people and making them guess what to do next. Then that creates a rumor mill on VJ of things that are based on rumor rather than fact. In your case they were more specific (maybe they're trying to do better) but it was just wrong. I would challenge them too.

Magpie-- I am so happy for you. Your life is moving along in such a positive way and so quickly too. You deserve it, Sunshine Girl!

On the taxes, you and Knight file just like any regular American couple since you have a SSN and a green card so it should be very easy to do yourself. Anyone like MARM who married late in the year can also file jointly with a few extra steps to go through. Filing jointly should be a savings. I just installed my new TurboTax 2009, but haven't started since there's documents yet to arrive in the mail concerning earnings.

I updated the UK AOS Spreadsheet with Marm's bio dates. You're still moving along MARM Where's some more 2010 filers??

I hope you're driving soon Gemmie. You need to get out and feel some independence asap. You've been so patient with the process.

I got a new computer and I'm muddling through figuring out where Windows 7 puts stuff. And since Outlook doesn't come with it, it sorta screws up my calendar and contacts setup that would synchronize to my portable thingy. I know there's all kinds of things out there, but I had worked hard to keep the Outlook one complete. I'm sure I can export into something more fabulous. Meanwhile I just move back and forth between computers. It's my exercise, running from room to room. Thank God we didn't move the old one upstairs or I would be exhausted. LOL. New stuff is great, but it takes time to get organized. Thank God I imported an IT guy who is making it much easier by networking everything. He is so great that I have practically turned off my brain.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Thank God I imported an IT guy who is making it much easier by networking everything. He is so great that I have practically turned off my brain.

DITTO! I like being married. I just turned a lot of stuff over to Nik when he got here. And, really, I'm sort of enjoying having a house husband while we are waiting on this EAD (AOS RFE ).

[MARM 7]

My hubby completed his biometrics today. We just decided to walk-in today and it worked

[Stinkerpotsam 6]

Hi Guys...

Got a text that our cards (husband's and step-son's) were ordered today

[n1dom 0]

Some good news here today too, got confirmation that my EAD card had been ordered!

[Nik+Heather 121]

Well, it turns out that one of the immigration experts at the congressman's office actually took our "What should we do about THIS?!" question and actually made a congressional inquiry to the National Benefits Center. They came back and said that we don't need to worry about the RFE, it WAS issued in error - now apparently corrected, and as soon as we get biometrics done they'll send it to Phoenix for an interview (ah well, we aren't too worried about that), and EAD 2-3 weeks after bios.

Anyway, I'm glad we did some investigating instead of just paying out another chunk of change to get a medical. It might even have been faster this way - just a week after we received the letter in the first place.

Totally psyched right now! EEEEeeeE!!! :dance:

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Totally psyched right now! EEEEeeeE!!! :dance:

Well done Heather!! Have you thought about doing a walk-in biometric appt.?

So they plan to send your file to Phoenix and not transfer to CSC? Seems like Phoenix has been a fast office if I remember correctly several others who had interviews there. Surely part of the CSC thing is because the local offices are so busy. Mine local is Houston, the fourth largest city in the US with tons of immigrants--legal and illegal. If I remember right, Phoenix interviewers were getting green cards way faster than mine at CSC processed. I hope they give you a quick interview so you can give immigration a rest for awhile.

[nickandkayte 0]

So i posted this in the January filers thread but no one seems to know what to do or say...

"My WHOLE case got sent back yesterday, I nearly burst in to tears, I was missing one signature....

So we decided to overnight it back and just got our medical vaccinations done yesterday, we deliberately are waiting for a RFE for the medical as we don't want them to loose the documents...It seems to be their recent trend and the agent we called yesterday agreed with me (I took down her name and number encase they get funny with me again...)

My question is, the civil surgeon I saw seems to do a whole lot of these medicals and just vaccinations (I was told about 12 a week by the receptionist) . Since I haven't completed my varicella or Tetanus course hes marked it as not completed yet and JUST sent in the vaccination info to the USCIS in the envelope. He stamped his credentials on there, as well as the address of the practice. But he only sent in THAT page 4, he didn't include my page one or the last page as he said it was irrelevant due to me not needing another medical, and swore it didn't need to be included. Just the vaccination record....Is this alright? Also this was done yesterday...If they RFE'd me in like a week and I sent it in do you think they would be okay with it? We completely forgot to include it in the package yesterday...

On another subject I have to get a varicella shot on the 11th of Feb so I hope they RFE me before this time. I really dont want to pay another $60 to say "I had my second $100 vaccine that I didn't need..."....I have had chicken pox twice and Shingles at aged 13, but HEY! Uk medical records must be wrong right?! DOH!"

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

So i posted this in the January filers thread but no one seems to know what to do or say...

"My WHOLE case got sent back yesterday, I nearly burst in to tears, I was missing one signature....

So we decided to overnight it back and just got our medical vaccinations done yesterday, we deliberately are waiting for a RFE for the medical as we don't want them to loose the documents...It seems to be their recent trend and the agent we called yesterday agreed with me (I took down her name and number encase they get funny with me again...)

I'm not following why you didn't want to send the medical?? If you get an RFE, you have to mail in the medical...mail now, mail later seems the same. The medicals they are losing are the ones given before the visa. Those are turned in (brown envelope) at POE and go to a central location. When you file for AOS, they are supposed to retrieve your POE files to meet up with your AOS files. That doesn't happen all the time. Makes you wonder if they got misfiled or somebody was lazy and didn't send for them.

My question is, the civil surgeon I saw seems to do a whole lot of these medicals and just vaccinations (I was told about 12 a week by the receptionist) . Since I haven't completed my varicella or Tetanus course hes marked it as not completed yet and JUST sent in the vaccination info to the USCIS in the envelope. He stamped his credentials on there, as well as the address of the practice. But he only sent in THAT page 4, he didn't include my page one or the last page as he said it was irrelevant due to me not needing another medical, and swore it didn't need to be included. Just the vaccination record....Is this alright?

My gut feeling is NO it's not okay. The I-693 instructions are written exactly how they want them done. They are rejecting so many vaccination things lately with the wording "please submit a properly completed I-693." There used to be a one page supplement I-693A, but they changed the forms and want it the way they state in the instructions. It's just my opinion.

Also this was done yesterday...If they RFE'd me in like a week and I sent it in do you think they would be okay with it? We completely forgot to include it in the package yesterday...

I wouldn't send in what you described you have. Go back and get it done correctly. If it's correct and all immunizations are completed, then they will be okay with it when you get the RFE.

On another subject I have to get a varicella shot on the 11th of Feb so I hope they RFE me before this time. I really dont want to pay another $60 to say "I had my second $100 vaccine that I didn't need..."....I have had chicken pox twice and Shingles at aged 13, but HEY! Uk medical records must be wrong right?! DOH!"

Did you tell the Knightsbridge doctor you had chickenpox? He should have written VH on your DS3025 form (for Varicella history) and that excludes you from taking the shot. They normally take your word for it. Nick told them "my Mum said I had chickenpox in Dec 19xx." OR don't you have any pock marks to show the Civil Surgeon as proof of having the disease? I think with one shot they will accept your form, but who knows for sure what they are wanting these days with all the medical RFEs. Nik and Heather's RFE was a total mistake and they admitted it after she got her Congressman's office involved.

[Laura & Kyle 16]

Hello everyone! I know we didn't go through the K-1 (don't shoot us!), but we were wondering if we could join you all. My husband is from Scotland, in the Highlands to be a little more specific. I wish we were as lucky as MARM with the bio letter. We are still waiting and I feel like the letter was lost in the mail or something (does a biometric letter send out texts/email confirmations?).

We just moved to a two bedroom apartment from my one bedroom.. and while unpacking I cam across a bunch of shopping bags I had from the UK... next, matalan, and debenhams.. haha!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed for a biometrics letter. :-(