travelling on military orders prior to AP

[newlyweds 0]

i've posted a few times on forums to ask but somehow i havent received a lot of ideas, so im reposting 

the thing is, me and my fiance have planned that after we get married in the states, i will fly out with him to Okinawa since he's stationed there.but that's after we get the orders cut; his status will be changed to "accompanied" and i can gain SOFA status; 

My fiance has been stationed there since aug.2008 and he will only be in US during his leave so we will only meet in US when i have the visa. I'm thinking it will prolly be less than a month's worth of leave; He talked to their admin and they told him it only takes max of 2 wks for the orders after we send the copy of our marriage certificate, go to the nearest base have everything cleared out, get my ID, have a physical(idk if i would need to have one again as i will have the med.exam prior to the K-1)and all that stuff

i havent read cases like ours yet but still, i have a few questions though, maybe the experts can share something:

1) will it be possible to file for the AOS overseas? we were thinking we will do all that when im in okinawa with him

2)if we file for AOS asap after the wedding, will i still be able to fly out with him to go to Okinawa even prior to getting an AP? has there been a case like that, or should i just wait for the AP?

3)how long can i be out of the country on AP? we were thinking that maybe ill just fly back if id have the interview for the AP already; i have read though that there are cases when an interview is not necessary; 

we've talked to our immigration specialist, and he said it's ok to fly out of the country on orders but im not sure as there seem to be not a lot of cases like ours; so im kind of doubtful still and i wanna make sure so we can plan out ahead of time.Tnx!

[milimelo 4,477]

I'd suggest you do not go anywhere until you receive AP.

You may also want to include a letter in your AOS saying your husband is deployed, alongside his orders, you will be accompanying him so they have that in consideration should an interview be required.

Definitely get married asap, get the SSN as soon as you enter the country (need it for DEERS enrolment and military dependant ID) and file AOS as soon as you get the marriage certificate (some people will personally take it to the registrar after the marriage so they don't have to wait several weeks for it to be issued).

Best of luck to you,

milimelo

[jodee 30]

Ok,..I flew to the states in Dec 2003, married Feb 2004. My hubby had orders to Germany. I lodged my AOS and AP papers, I got an AP issued, and flew out with him to Germany on orders in April 2004.

I flew back to the USA in July 2004 for my AOS interview(back then it was common for interviews, now sot so much). I was approved, I flew back to Germany, with the temporary stamp in my Passposrt, and my green card was sent to me in Germany, to a military postal address.

I was still in Germany when it was time to remove my conditions, and filed that from Germany to, and they were lifted and my 10 yr green card sent to me in April 2007.

Do not fly out of the USA without at least AP. His military orders, and your MIL ID card alone will not allow you re-entry to the USA, if you have not gone through the correct process. You still have to follow immigration rules, even though your hubby is military. But being military does allow you the priviledge of getting at least the AP processed relatively quickly. We made an INFOPASS appt, and explained our situation, had all the required documentation etc for the AP and AOS with us,..and the IO/CO took our paperwork that same day. I had AP paperwork back in my hand 3 hours later. She also sent the AOS paperwork off to be processed, and had an interview date only 3 months later.

Just make sure you maintain a stateside residential address whilst you are overseas. We used my in-laws address for that purpose.

Edited July 17, 2009 by jodee

[newlyweds 0]

I'd suggest you do not go anywhere until you receive AP.

You may also want to include a letter in your AOS saying your husband is deployed, alongside his orders, you will be accompanying him so they have that in consideration should an interview be required.

Definitely get married asap, get the SSN as soon as you enter the country (need it for DEERS enrolment and military dependant ID) and file AOS as soon as you get the marriage certificate (some people will personally take it to the registrar after the marriage so they don't have to wait several weeks for it to be issued).

Best of luck to you,

milimelo

thanks so much for the info; btw, he is just stationed in okinawa and has been since august, so i cant say he's deployed so i guess i'll just have to explain that with the paperwork right?

we are actually planning to get married the next day i get there and yes, we will do that too just go over the registrar coz ive read about that too thaT we can be able to get it the same day.

i have a question about the SSN though, ive read on some posts here that some have been asked for the EAD before getting an SSN and some others too were able to get one prior to the EAD, so im still kind of confused about that; 

my fiance's from PA and CArlisle barracks is there, we tried calling them earlier but the person in charge of those stuff wasnt there so he'll call them again when he comes back from Laos coz the iridium phone signal keeps getting cut off; 

we are just really gathering as much info right now whilst waiting for the NOA2 and thanks

[newlyweds 0]

Ok,..I flew to the states in Dec 2003, married Feb 2004. My hubby had orders to Germany. I lodged my AOS and AP papers, I got an AP issued, and flew out with him to Germany on orders in April 2004.

I flew back to the USA in July 2004 for my AOS interview(back then it was common for interviews, now sot so much). I was approved, I flew back to Germany, with the temporary stamp in my Passposrt, and my green card was sent to me in Germany, to a military postal address.

I was still in Germany when it was time to remove my conditions, and filed that from Germany to, and they were lifted and my 10 yr green card sent to me in April 2007.

Do not fly out of the USA without at least AP. His military orders, and your MIL ID card alone will not allow you re-entry to the USA, if you have not gone through the correct process. You still have to follow immigration rules, even though your hubby is military. But being military does allow you the priviledge of getting at least the AP processed relatively quickly. We made an INFOPASS appt, and explained our situation, had all the required documentation etc for the AP and AOS with us,..and the IO/CO took our paperwork that same day. I had AP paperwork back in my hand 3 hours later. She also sent the AOS paperwork off to be processed, and had an interview date only 3 months later.

Just make sure you maintain a stateside residential address whilst you are overseas. We used my in-laws address for that purpose.

thanks for all that information, that really helps give us some light on what we should do; we were kind of freaking out when we talked last night lol; i called up the military hotline and i was also told that we need the AP; but we will file the AOS asap after we get the marriage certificate

btw, how did you apply for the infopass? can it be scheduled right away like after we get the NOA1 for the AOS or can we request for it alongside our application?

and where was it at? ive read that with the infopass enables the person to talk to someone in person..

oh wait, im confused you got the AP even before filing for AOS? 

any other information will be very very helpful at least it lessens all these queries we have and there arent a lot here who have experienced it so it's great having heard from the 2 of u

oh btw, my fiance will prolly only have about 3-4wks leave days so i guess i will just have to fly a few weeks after him; although we were really hoping i could fly out with him; and oh btw, we will have all other documents sent to his dad's house so that takes care of the US address

for the AOS interview, if there will be one, i will just fly back to US and if he has enough leave days, he'll fly with me too

[CaMhae 7]

U need AP even U r in orders of ur Asawa.....apply for AOS and AP once U get the marriage cert so U can be with him....

We have the same situation...I came here in US as K1 we got married asap and applied the AOS,I-131 and I-765...Okinawa din ang nxt base ng hubby ko by nxt montha ng punta namin don sa japan...

Edited July 21, 2009 by sayitonce

[newlyweds 0]

U need AP even U r in orders of ur Asawa.....apply for AOS and AP once U get the marriage cert so U can be with him....

We have the same situation...I came here in US as K1 we got married asap and applied the AOS,I-131 and I-765...Okinawa din ang nxt base ng hubby ko by nxt montha ng punta namin don sa japan...

ok yes, we will do that right away; i know the AP really is very important, so we'll schedule for an infopass and hopefully we can get the AP right away; am i going to need the orders for me or will my fiance's orders for Okikawa suffice? He had been stationed there since august of last year, and i think he can pull out a copy of his orders; although i'm not yet sure about that 

[milimelo 4,477]

U need AP even U r in orders of ur Asawa.....apply for AOS and AP once U get the marriage cert so U can be with him....

We have the same situation...I came here in US as K1 we got married asap and applied the AOS,I-131 and I-765...Okinawa din ang nxt base ng hubby ko by nxt montha ng punta namin don sa japan...

ok yes, we will do that right away; i know the AP really is very important, so we'll schedule for an infopass and hopefully we can get the AP right away; am i going to need the orders for me or will my fiance's orders for Okikawa suffice? He had been stationed there since august of last year, and i think he can pull out a copy of his orders; although i'm not yet sure about that

There is a section on orders that is to be filled if the sponsored dependants are coming with the soldier. So your husband will need updated orders to reflect that and have your name in there.

[newlyweds 0]

U need AP even U r in orders of ur Asawa.....apply for AOS and AP once U get the marriage cert so U can be with him....

We have the same situation...I came here in US as K1 we got married asap and applied the AOS,I-131 and I-765...Okinawa din ang nxt base ng hubby ko by nxt montha ng punta namin don sa japan...

ok yes, we will do that right away; i know the AP really is very important, so we'll schedule for an infopass and hopefully we can get the AP right away; am i going to need the orders for me or will my fiance's orders for Okikawa suffice? He had been stationed there since august of last year, and i think he can pull out a copy of his orders; although i'm not yet sure about that

There is a section on orders that is to be filled if the sponsored dependants are coming with the soldier. So your husband will need updated orders to reflect that and have your name in there.

yes, i guess that's what he meant with getting the orders cut; hopefully i get my SSN asap, and my marriage certificate and all that good stuff so i can get enrolled in efmp, DEERS/tri-care then all that get signed off then i get the orders; and we just really hope everything goes smoothly, no delays so we can get an infopass for the AP then i can leave with him to go to Okinawa