UK AOS 2009 Thread

[Nik+Heather 121]

Nich, My mother has really great neighbor kids as well. We weren't so sure at the beginning (boys will be boys, you see?) but now that they are a little older they are quite nice (good parents too!) The girl likes to come over and entertain the kittens my mother fosters for the humane society. In fact, she came over with her mother for the wedding brunch all dressed up - it was cute! They were the first to arrive - right on time.

Gemmie, it does sound like a crazy commute, but I think it may be worth taking from time to time - I work in another building from most of the engineering community (a mile away) and the loss of face-time is not to be underestimated. Many times I have a job or a meeting which could be conducted over the phone, but I take the time to go over there, sometimes 3 or 4 times per day just to be sure that I'm getting in front of people.

Damien, I'm glad that this one little thing is going right.

Re: Taxes - Yay! We did ours too! I tried to do it ourselves with turbotax (or something the H&R block kind) but got so tripped up and confused while trying to make it include then exclude Nik's UK income that I finally gave up and scheduled an appointment with the parents' tax preparer. It turns out that since he only got here in October, and it was taxed in the UK, and we weren't married when he was earning etc...etc. etc... that we didn't even have to claim his income at all. File the return with just my income. Coulda saved myself that money. Oh well.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

It turns out that since he only got here in October, and it was taxed in the UK, and we weren't married when he was earning etc...etc. etc... that we didn't even have to claim his income at all. File the return with just my income. Coulda saved myself that money. Oh well.

So did you file Married Filing Separately? 'Cause seriously, if you filed Married Filing Jointly, you have to report his income. Wish you would have said you needed help. I walked Bob and Patricia through it.

Damian - - You're a STAR

[Bob and Patricia 0]

So did you file Married Filing Separately? 'Cause seriously, if you filed Married Filing Jointly, you have to report his income. Wish you would have said you needed help. I walked Bob and Patricia through it.

Damian - - You're a STAR

Walked and talked us through it. Nich is truly a VJ treasure.

Damian, glad you're finished with the paperwork, sorry it was under these circumstances.

Bob and Pat

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Well, I just got back from a weekend's camping yesterday, and there was something in the mail from USCIS. Now seeing as I only put the petition in the mail a month ago, and only received NOA1 in the mail a little over 2 weeks ago, I assumed it was too soon for biometrics, and as such, had to be a RFE. Well, it was neither.

Upon opening the letter, the first piece of it that I saw said "Date decision made: 04/07/2010." And I knew something was either very good, or very bad. It was very good. Unbelievably, only a month after filing, I am now a permanent, legal, unconditional resident. No RFE, no biometrics, (I paid for the them, but I think I can let that slide ) no interview, no nothing. Just super-fast approval.

Normally, the "happy dancer" emoticon would be in order here, but given the circumstances, I feel a quiet smile and a nod and a wink to the heavens is far more appropriate.

Yay! That is so awesome! Ian and I are really happy for you.

[Lisa and Ian 7]

So did you file Married Filing Separately? 'Cause seriously, if you filed Married Filing Jointly, you have to report his income. Wish you would have said you needed help. I walked Bob and Patricia through it.

Damian - - You're a STAR

I'm glad I went with TurboTax, but it wasn't entirely intuitive, and it really would have been much more difficult to get through for me without your help.

Hopefully, I've done it right and the IRS is not laughing too hard at me at the moment. Next year, I may just send you our taxes. LOL (It would save me some stress)

[Justine+David 218]

Congratulations on your 10-year card, Damian. While I'm not part of this cohesive group, I read just about all the original NOA2--Interview 2009 thread and this thread when preparing for my own visa journey/AOS and on some level feel like I know most of these posters.

It does me good to hear that immigration didn't jerk you around for this. You're right--no dance-y smileys here, but perhaps a is in order.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

While I'm not part of this cohesive group, I read just about all the original NOA2--Interview 2009 thread and this thread when preparing for my own visa journey/AOS and on some level feel like I know most of these posters.

Jump in this thread any time you like because we're here to help you if you need it. We chit chat alot lately because we've mostly gotten through the system for the time being. But we have a lot of experience to offer you and would love to help because we're not exclusive by any means.

[lirwin2000 0]

Im the same, read occasionally, and its nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel for you guys!!!! Phew! I've got my AOS interview on Tuesday - so im getting nervous, but it'll be over soon and life will go on!!!!!! (Eek I hope - fingers crossed!)

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Thank you all for your kind words. And just to top everything all off nicely, the 10 year green card arrived in the mail today.

Luverly.

[John & Mary 1]

I read every day although I don't usually post because I don't feel like I have anything interesting to say! But I love seeing everyone's progress as they both adjust status and adjust to living here. Congrats Damian! I'm so glad you were able to get through ROC without any hassle.

As for us-- John's still trudging through the job search process, although things certainly seem to be picking up lately, and he's had two promising interviews just this week. Good luck to everyone still looking!

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

Just a quick post to give a :: hug :: to Damien and an "eeeeee!" to Marm.

'Nuff said, I think.

Magpie.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Everyone is quiet and nobody new needs help...........

So I'll pop in and say we have booked tickets to England. It'll be the first time Nick has been back since he came over on the K1. We're going next month for two weeks. We'll be bringing back hundreds and hundreds of tea bags I suspect. He likes the cheap red label ones from Sainsbury's.

[MissusM09 1]

I need help, i always need help. No one talks to me however. lol....i'm used to it. no one except nich and knightandmagpie. nonetheless, i'll stop the pointless griping to fill in on whats happening. this week took my written drivers test, passed it, so i have to wait 30 days before i can do the full test. i have been driving alot recently so i'm confident I'll pass. received my ead last week, yeah yeah, its nice. I was checking out the uscis website for updates on the i485 and nothing. i knew the ead was coming, 1 day after the co sponsor stuff was received, they approved it.

so colour me surprised when I received an interview letter from them today, for the 24 of May 2010. no email, no update at all. and it was sent on the 16th. Now my question is Nich, did they put me up for an interview because i got a co sponsor, and i took so long to reply to the rfe? or is it because they just want to torture me?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

They just want to torture you.

No, seriously there's no reason why they interview vs transfer to CSC. It may be your local office isn't as busy, so has time to do an interview. Maybe it's because a year has passed since your visa interview. Sometimes I think they send to CSC if it's only been a few months since somebody from the government met you face to face. But I've never checked that out to compare if it's an actual trend.

Good luck on the driving test. You'll do well. It's weird how each state is different. Nick took his written test and driving test all on the same day.

And yay for the interview date. Keep us posted and tell us if you have more questions. We'll be in England the day you interview. And I do need to update that UK timeline thing, but not tonight. We're heading out to the Crawfish Festival. See ya!

[MissusM09 1]

They just want to torture you.

No, seriously there's no reason why they interview vs transfer to CSC. It may be your local office isn't as busy, so has time to do an interview. Maybe it's because a year has passed since your visa interview. Sometimes I think they send to CSC if it's only been a few months since somebody from the government met you face to face. But I've never checked that out to compare if it's an actual trend.

Good luck on the driving test. You'll do well. It's weird how each state is different. Nick took his written test and driving test all on the same day.

And yay for the interview date. Keep us posted and tell us if you have more questions. We'll be in England the day you interview. And I do need to update that UK timeline thing, but not tonight. We're heading out to the Crawfish Festival. See ya!

I will, enjoy your crustaceans. how can you have a whole festival for crawfish????

Edited April 24, 2010 by MissusM09