UK AOS 2009 Thread

[emma77 0]

Thankums again for the advice and support, everyone -- it's muchly appreciated.

Gemmie, yes, it was the Wicked Witch of the East I think who died first (and the "Wicked" Witch of the West survives, sssh! She's not that wicked). My step-sister-in-law's hubby, who actually immigrated here (and is living in Oregon) when he was four, gave lots of advice; he said to bring lots of photos, and signed letters from family members to verify that the relationship is legitimate.

Woo, Ellie and David! Sounds like it's on the way, in any case. They usually ballpark how long it's going to take with most things, and pad the timeframe enough so that they don't say a week and have you waiting for two. Congratulations .

To npearce124, I personally got my AP and EAD quickly after biometrics and then was waiting a bit for any notifications on the AOS. I think it all depends on the application. I wouldn't worry about it -- they might just be a little slow.

I'm going to go get documents together for tomorrow, and put out another job application. Eeeeeeeee!

Magpie.

Hi Magpie, I think I confused you with my long post, I got the 2 emails with different info on them and Ellie replied, you've read it and thought Ellie got the emails I'm sure she will be writing the same though soon enough!!! Maybe it's the interview tomorrow making you go

[pothergavel 0]

Just a quickie....

Interview this morning, all done and dusted, easy peasy and all that. Hardest bit was getting up to get the train at 5:40.

Back to it now, still no jobs for either of us. On top of that I need a root canal and a crown which is $800 (we said the initial price of $940 was too much, so they came back with that estimate. Gotta love haggling for health care) and the missus laptop just did an automatic update thing and killed it all. Only option was to format her hard drive so she lost all her photos, music, work, job apps, etc. And it still doesn't work. Awesome. Off to get her something to replace it, I guess.

Yay to all who got their interviews, not needed interviews, etc Looks like we all get 21 months without government interference (the guy this morning said the 2 years is from date of marriage rather than date of AOS)

[Gemmie 142]

Thankums again for the advice and support, everyone -- it's muchly appreciated.

Gemmie, yes, it was the Wicked Witch of the East I think who died first (and the "Wicked" Witch of the West survives, sssh! She's not that wicked). My step-sister-in-law's hubby, who actually immigrated here (and is living in Oregon) when he was four, gave lots of advice; he said to bring lots of photos, and signed letters from family members to verify that the relationship is legitimate.

Woo, Ellie and David! Sounds like it's on the way, in any case. They usually ballpark how long it's going to take with most things, and pad the timeframe enough so that they don't say a week and have you waiting for two. Congratulations .

To npearce124, I personally got my AP and EAD quickly after biometrics and then was waiting a bit for any notifications on the AOS. I think it all depends on the application. I wouldn't worry about it -- they might just be a little slow.

I'm going to go get documents together for tomorrow, and put out another job application. Eeeeeeeee!

Magpie.

Hi Magpie, I think I confused you with my long post, I got the 2 emails with different info on them and Ellie replied, you've read it and thought Ellie got the emails I'm sure she will be writing the same though soon enough!!! Maybe it's the interview tomorrow making you go

I was confused when I read Magpie's post too.

Good luck for tomorrow!!

Congrats on your interview, pothergavel. I didn't know it was from marriage and not AOS either

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

Hi Magpie, I think I confused you with my long post, I got the 2 emails with different info on them and Ellie replied, you've read it and thought Ellie got the emails I'm sure she will be writing the same though soon enough!!! Maybe it's the interview tomorrow making you go

Oops! I'm so sorry, Emma -- I was probably thinking Emma initially and put Ellie and David down without thinking. I think it IS the interview @_@. I'm getting photos together, trying to find the ticket stubs from San Antonio (can only find the itineraries), bits of paper, arrgh!

So congrats to you, and hugs!

Just a quickie....

Interview this morning, all done and dusted, easy peasy and all that. Hardest bit was getting up to get the train at 5:40.

Back to it now, still no jobs for either of us. On top of that I need a root canal and a crown which is $800 (we said the initial price of $940 was too much, so they came back with that estimate. Gotta love haggling for health care) and the missus laptop just did an automatic update thing and killed it all. Only option was to format her hard drive so she lost all her photos, music, work, job apps, etc. And it still doesn't work. Awesome. Off to get her something to replace it, I guess.

Yay to all who got their interviews, not needed interviews, etc Looks like we all get 21 months without government interference (the guy this morning said the 2 years is from date of marriage rather than date of AOS)

Oh boo I wish you'd mentioned something about it before you reformatted the laptop. You can buy hard drive enclosures for laptops, stick the hard drive in there, and transfer everything to another computer (even if Windows is being mad). Knight's done that for his laptop because it has a tendency to die on a frequent basis. I hope that works out though...it's a shame she lost all that stuff.

Keep at it with the job hunt! And on the topic of dental work, I need a wisdom tooth out. It keeps moving around so some days I'm achey and some days I'm not, and it strikes this one nerve which seems to run right through my head. Blaaah. Need to earn money so I can get it out.

Also we almost bought a vehicle but the bank was being funny about loans. Because Knight just started his part-time work at the Arc, they say we're not earning enough. I think that if I get some proof of having a job (which I don't yet), the bank might be a bit nicer about it. In any case, we'll have to see...we're going to chat to the bank tomorrow after the interview.

Magpie.

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

Also, guys, I'm not quite sure how to phrase a letter for proof of the relationship (for others to sign). Any suggestions?

Magpie.

[H&V 5]

Just a quickie....

Interview this morning, all done and dusted, easy peasy and all that. Hardest bit was getting up to get the train at 5:40.

Back to it now, still no jobs for either of us. On top of that I need a root canal and a crown which is $800 (we said the initial price of $940 was too much, so they came back with that estimate. Gotta love haggling for health care) and the missus laptop just did an automatic update thing and killed it all. Only option was to format her hard drive so she lost all her photos, music, work, job apps, etc. And it still doesn't work. Awesome. Off to get her something to replace it, I guess.

Yay to all who got their interviews, not needed interviews, etc Looks like we all get 21 months without government interference (the guy this morning said the 2 years is from date of marriage rather than date of AOS)

Congrats on the interview! And I hope something comes up for you both soon job-wise.

Just wondering if that means expiry date on the green card reflects what the guy said to you - it would be your wedding date? Can any GC holders confirm/deny?

[pothergavel 0]

Also, guys, I'm not quite sure how to phrase a letter for proof of the relationship (for others to sign). Any suggestions?

Magpie.

Not sure if this is too late, but we didn't have any letters or anything like that. This is what they asked for from us:

The guy took our passports, ID's, my EAD (which he gave me back when he was done), then our SSN cards.

He asked when we met, so we talked for a few minutes about that.

Then he asked what we had brought to show him. We had our tenancy agreement, bank statements, and utility bills (we split the bills, so my name was on 2, and Katie's was on 1, but it showed we have the same address), car insurance docs with both our names on it. I think that's all we had.

Then we gave him some of the stack of photos we had, he picked 5 I think, and that was about that.

He didn't ask about the AP docs until I said about it, and then he said "oh yes, I forgot to ask about that. Well you won't need them anymore". I think then we knew we were safe!

He definitely said it was 2 years from the date of marriage. I even asked him by repeating it, and asking if it was the date of marriage and not the date of the interview and whatnot, and he said it definitely was the date of marriage.

We were out of the building and all done by 8am!

[Ellie-and-David 38]

OMG!!! This has been a faster process than I ever could have imagined!!

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSC*******

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On October 20, 2009, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

WOOOHOOOOOO! No more USCIS!

:):)

[MonkeyJuice 3]

Wow congratulations Ellie! That was super quick.

[Ellie-and-David 38]

Wow congratulations Ellie! That was super quick.

I know. I'm in shock to be honest. Especially as I submitted unsigned G325-A's (whoops....DOH!) So fast! I was expecting to wait until late November to hear anything and was just happy to receive the EAD, but being out of legal limbo feels GOOD!

Wowzers CSC are FAST!

[H&V 5]

Congrats Ellie! Super news!!

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

lmao NOW I can congratulate you, Ellie! HUGS! That's awesome news!

And Pothergavel, thank you SO much. It's put some of my worries aside -- I was trying to find AOS interview stuff on here, and in one case, the people were told to bring birth certificates and stuff along (but only because they didn't submit copies with the initial file). I'm taking:

1) Photos (of both us and a few with the family in them)

2) Bank statements (joint account)

3) GCI bill statement (I'm under his account)

4) My SSN letter to show I changed my name to his

5) Verification letters (two) from relatives to say the relationship is legit

6) Boarding passes for San Antonio + Itineraries (found the passes!)

7) The really shiny marriage certificate from San Antonio

8) Additional evidence, like showing my ownership of Bean (bringing him here shows that it's long-term -- I've got a photo of Knight curled up with him, to also show that Bean is his cat too), as well as how my degree was mailed here, receipts with our names on them, even the chequebook as it has our names on it...and anything that will show we're living at the same address

This is also not to mention the letter we were sent (where I was only told to bring my passport, the letter, and supporting evidence). Thank you for reminding me about the AP documents -- I've added those to the file.

Whewww. Here we go...I better go wake Knight up!

Magpie.

[pothergavel 0]

Good luck Magpie and co. They really didn't ask us for anything other than what was on the letter. Don't worry, youll be fine!

Congrats Ellie, that was pretty quick!

[mrs_sdp 0]

Hi All ...

Ellie, I got the same letter from USCIS - card production!!!! OMG, things are going fast, fast, fast!!!

Magpie, I hope I'm not too late, but I'm sending you loads of luck for your interview - you are so well organised, I am sure you will both sail through it!!

Congrats to everyone else ... USCIS are on a roll ....

Have a great week everyone ....

Moira x

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

:D

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The interview was great! The lady who interviewed us was lovely. She asked all the usual questions (ensuring that everything I said was the same as what was on the application), and then she asked a few things about our relationship. It was, more or less: "How did you meet?" and "How long did you (Knight) visit her (Magpie) for?" and "How are you finding it in Alaska (to me)?" She also asked me things about when Knight's birthday was, and so on.

She looked at the whole stack of photos (and I explained where we were in each photo, who was in photo, and so on), looked at our GCI and AlaskaUSA thingy, and was quite happy to let us know that she was recommending us for the green card (well, approval, thingy). The whole thing was recorded on a little video camera (and you have me going "goodness, no!" when she asked if I came here intending to practice prostitution/polygamy/terrorism/etc.) and barely took fifteen to twenty minutes. Waiting time was maybe ten minutes at most. Knight was squeezing my hand throughout .

She said to expect the green card in three to six weeks, and if I didn't hear anything, to schedule an InfoPass appointment.

It feels so strange, like it was some kind of distant dream...and it's taken so long to get to this point, I'm still stunned .

Thank you everyone, and congrats to Moira -- seems like we're all on track! Woohoo!

Magpie.

Edited October 20, 2009 by KnightAndMagpie