November filers

[juliava 80]

My husband received his NOAs in the mail last week on Friday. They were dated Monday 11/30 and he received an e-mail on Monday 11/30. I have been trying to use his receipt numbers ever since to find his case status on the USCIS website but keep coming up with the response that his case numbers do not exist. Should we be worried? It seems from everyone's dates that they receive a "touch" on their case around the same day they receive their NOAs but it's been a week and the USCIS website still does not recognize his receipt numbers. How do we learn if his case has been "touched" if the USCIS website is telling us that they do not recognize his receipt numbers?

Enter your receipt numbers again after you do your biometrics. I had the same trouble with the I-485 receipt number and I got to see the case status online exactly the day I did my bio.

[Sky* 0]

:dance:

Woohooooo

I just got my bio appointment today Dec 7.

Notice date on appointment is Nov 30

Appointment date is Dec 22.

I will be off this Friday, I'll definitely do the walk-in!!

Fingers crossed for every Nov. filers!!!

[dirtyweebesom 8]

oh heck, is the UK part of the European union now? I'm so out of touch I guess... just meaning to say that we're not from some desperately poor countries that will cause us to do some stupid things before/during immigration in an attempt to "desperately" live here, lol... I hope that makes sense.. I know there is a list of countries that are known for a lot of immigraiton marriage fraud...

Shani, were you off school sick when they were covering European history?! :-) Before the EU existed, there was the EEC (European Economic Community), which came into existence in 1967. The UK joined that in 1973. Portugal didn't join until 1986!!! But, even if the UK wasn't in the EU, that wouldn't mean that it's not a European country. Take Sweden and Switzerland, for example - they are not members of the EU, but they are certainly European countries.

My husband received his NOAs in the mail last week on Friday. They were dated Monday 11/30 and he received an e-mail on Monday 11/30. I have been trying to use his receipt numbers ever since to find his case status on the USCIS website but keep coming up with the response that his case numbers do not exist. Should we be worried?

I think the USCIS is a piece of shite. Every time I go to log on, it won't let me. The first time I log on, I get an error message, so then I have to log out, and log back in again. For some reason, it will only let me log in on the second attempt. There definitely appear to be some glitches in the system , so I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to find your husband's receipt numbers.

I think the touches just depend on the IO working on your case - there lots of cases on here that have been worked on without any updates/touches...

Well, I bloody well hope so! There still hasn't been a single new touch on my case since November 25th! That's coming up on two weeks now!

[dirtyweebesom 8]

:dance:

Woohooooo

I just got my bio appointment today Dec 7.

Notice date on appointment is Nov 30

Appointment date is Dec 22.

I will be off this Friday, I'll definitely do the walk-in!!

Fingers crossed for every Nov. filers!!!

Congratulations on getting your bio appointment! I'm surprised that they schedule bio appointments/interviews so close to/so soon after Christmas. I'm glad I'm not an October filer, as I read that one of them got their interview date scheduled for December 28th. I wouldn't even be in town for that if I was them! Maybe people plan to stick around just in case they get a Christmas/New Year interview date?

[FortLaudy 10]

Dirtyweebesom, LOL!! ok, I must confess, I have dual nationalily - Portuguese AND South African, I was born and brought up in South Africa, don't know much about European history, only that my ancestors from my mom's side are from there (Dutch) and my dad's Portuguese, lol. Spent more time in South Africa and in the middle east and in the US than ever in Europe so sorry for if I've insulted you let's just call it a blonde moment ;-)

[IstanBulls 1]

Today I got a mail for an RFE regarding the marriage certificate. They are asking me to submit a copy of my mariage certificate. I have already included the certified marriage certificate that I got from the city hall. I don't understand this either they lost it or misplaced. In both cases this is ridiculous. It is not like I forgot a document to include. All my included documents were listed line by line on my cover letters. They rob u for $1365 and hire idiots that can't handle paperworks. I can't believe. It is just waste of time with these people

[marie09 5]

Today I got a mail for an RFE regarding the marriage certificate. They are asking me to submit a copy of my mariage certificate. I have already included the certified marriage certificate that I got from the city hall. I don't understand this either they lost it or misplaced. In both cases this is ridiculous. It is not like I forgot a document to include. All my included documents were listed line by line on my cover letters. They rob u for $1365 and hire idiots that can't handle paperworks. I can't believe. It is just waste of time with these people

So sorry to hear that... that must be so frustrating I can only imagine... after all the hours you put into filing...

[dirtyweebesom 8]

Dirtyweebesom, LOL!! ok, I must confess, I have dual nationalily - Portuguese AND South African, I was born and brought up in South Africa, don't know much about European history, only that my ancestors from my mom's side are from there (Dutch) and my dad's Portuguese, lol. Spent more time in South Africa and in the middle east and in the US than ever in Europe so sorry for if I've insulted you let's just call it a blonde moment ;-)

No, don't worry, I wasn't offended! It would take a lot more than that to offend me! Now I understand why you are blond, though. You mentioned you were blond in another post, and I was surprised, as there can't be all that many blond Portuguese people out there (are there?!). Is this why your English is so good, too?

Today I got a mail for an RFE regarding the marriage certificate. They are asking me to submit a copy of my mariage certificate. I have already included the certified marriage certificate that I got from the city hall. I don't understand this either they lost it or misplaced. In both cases this is ridiculous. It is not like I forgot a document to include. All my included documents were listed line by line on my cover letters. They rob u for $1365 and hire idiots that can't handle paperworks. I can't believe. It is just waste of time with these people

Yeah, I read earlier that you got an RFE for the marriage certificate! No wonder you are frustrated. I would be too! I mean just how bloody hard can it be for these people to take forms and supporting materials from the envelope they arrived in, and start working on them without losing them?! This is why I marked every single piece of paper with my name, address, I-94 number, visa number etc. At least that way they *might* be able to return any "misplaced" documents to the correct file.

Don't worry, though. All you really need to do is send off another copy, and you'll be fine. It's nothing too complicated.

[Mestis 1]

Got my biometrics done yesterday. YAY! Went pretty smoothly. Was there 30 min before appointment, got done 10 min before the schedule apointment...

Now, waiting....

[FortLaudy 10]

No, don't worry, I wasn't offended! It would take a lot more than that to offend me! Now I understand why you are blond, though. You mentioned you were blond in another post, and I was surprised, as there can't be all that many blond Portuguese people out there (are there?!). Is this why your English is so good, too?

Well there are a few blondes in portugal, two of my cousins are blonde too, but I reckon I get the blonde hair from my mom and brown eyes from my dad, cocktails are da best, lol!!! English is actually my second language, first being Afrikaans (dutch dialect spoken in South Africa). But growing up in South Africa we had to speak quite a few languages just to get by (11 official languages dear!) so English was second on the list and also I mostly spoke English to my dad and my portuguese is no good at all, so it sucks when I visit family in Portugal and can barely speak it, luckily most of my family also speak English, but that's actually a major reason why I decided to go to college in the U.S. A lot of my family in SA decided to return to Europe after some political turmoil in SA and they moved to Portugal and France, I was working as a flight attendant out near Dubai for a few years then and travelled all over the world including the U.S. on a regular basis. When I decided I wanted to quit flying and return to college I found it hard to adjust in Europe, the language barrier but Especially the weather was just too tough- I decided I wanted to enjoy my college years and I wanted to be somewhere where the weather is like South Africa but the college was English, on another trip here to visit some friends I checked out the possibility of coming to school here and the friends I had here certainly played a part in convincing me, and as they say, the rest is history! Of course my family kept trying to convince me to return to Europe find a nice portuguese boy and settle down, haha - you guys know what stupid opinions Europeans have of Americans, lol - but after they came to visit a few times they saw that I'm happy and they're OK with it now (they're still strongly holding onto hope that my husband and I will someday live in Europe though, lol)

It's always so fascinating to hear everyone's story of how they ended up in the U.S., I certainly never thought I would want to stay here at first and that I would find a great husband and all of the rest that is certainly to follow, but hey, life happens and it's amazing where it takes you, just enjoy the ride! How did you guys end up here? care to share some stories while we're bored and waaaiiiiting? I got stuck on reading this one guys' posts the other day, OMG!!! I could not stop reading, his username was "Merrilizer", if you're really bored and want to kill some time and read a good thriller/love story/horror/whack job's journal look it up, haha!

[marie09 5]

I just got my bio appointment today Dec 7.

I will be off this Friday, I'll definitely do the walk-in!!

Congrats Sky and good luck with the walk in

I marked every single piece of paper with my name, address, I-94 number, visa number etc. At least that way they *might* be able to return any "misplaced" documents to the correct file.

Wow! I am impressed - I thought I was all about the detail, wishing i'd thought of that too - lol!

Got my biometrics done yesterday. YAY! Went pretty smoothly. Was there 30 min before appointment, got done 10 min before the schedule apointment...

Yay that's awesome! My turn tomorrow!

It's always so fascinating to hear everyone's story of how they ended up in the U.S., I certainly never thought I would want to stay here at first and that I would find a great husband and all of the rest that is certainly to follow, but hey, life happens and it's amazing where it takes you, just enjoy the ride! How did you guys end up here? care to share some stories while we're bored and waaaiiiiting!

Ok my story... So I had wanted to go to the US since I was a little kid. Crazy I think since most people I knew growing up wanted to go to Australia. Well for me I wanted to go to America I looked at a sticker atlas one day and decided I would live in New York, Florida and settle in California. Whenever I hear from friends from childhood - they are like wow you really did end up in the US...

But anyways life happened I grew up and went to uni/college in Scotland - hey Dirtyweebesom totally forgot to mention I lived in Scotland! For 3 years I studied in Edinburgh. Anyway by my second year i had a serious Scottish boyfriend, we talked of getting married after college - we thought we were too young to get engaged so I had a diamond eternity ring he gave me. One day at college we were told we could apply to study overseas, i'd always wanted to do that but didn't want to apply and leave the bf. My mum in the end told me I shouldn't give up my dreams and if it was the right guy he would wait. So talked to the then bf he agreed it was just 2 semesters and i'd apply and if I got in he'd wait and we'd move in together when I got back.

For months I didn't hear anything on my application - forgot all about it... Until one day I went home to my flat, and I had mail. Pretty unusual as lived in a grotty student flat where the post man couldn't even get in the building most days and our mail was always getting returned to sender. Not that day... That day I had a letter offering me a place as an exchange student to a college in New York state. Thought about turning it down for the bf but I had a friend who'd turned down a place in Canada the year b4 for a bf and it hadn't worked out and she totally regretted it - so I didn't want to make the same mistake. So I went to New York had an amazing year met a lot of awesome friends who are still friends to this day. Incidentally the then bf and I were over in weeks of me getting to New York.... So i made the right decision...

After I got back from New York I had the travelling bug so lived and worked in France for a few months. I liked it but the language barrier was always an issue. Got back from France and spent a year finishing my degree. started looking at taking a gap year after uni to travel more. Looked at programs in different countries - thought about Canada or new Zealand. Applied to one program in the US - a program working for disney in Florida. I got accepted and met a few cool people at the Glasgow interviews so once i was accepted it was pretty easy to accept. Plus as an international program disney organized everything. Flights, apartment, job etc... It was easier than my exchange year in New York... So I went loved Florida - had the time of my life, disney extended my visa a few months longer too. I was pretty sad when the visa finally ran out and I had to go home.

Got home and was strange to readjust, looked and applied for a few more travel things world wide. But also looked at getting a proper job too. Went to interviews in London, started looking at the cost of living there compared to what i'd be earning - not good. Back when I was in the US I had applied to do ski season at a place in Colorado and a ski resort in Tahoe. They were both meant to interview me but kept delaying it. Finally the tahoe one had sent me an e-mail for a telephone interview while i was travelling just after I left Florida but i didn't see it for days, I replied saying I was interested but they'd already filled the job. One day a month or so after I was home i got an e-mail one day from the tahoe resort I had missed the phone interview and they'd filled the job but their sister resort had an opening and they liked my resume. I accepted and planned to take it if nothing came up in the UK - it didn't so I went. Was just meant to be 6 months then was going to go back to the UK. The job was in HR and I learnt a lot and they wanted me to come back the following winter. So I found a summer resort in AZ to sponsor me went back and during that winter met my husband, at a pub trivia thing i'd go to with a bunch of people from work. However I had just got out of a relationship with a total jerk so didn't notice my hubby for a while. By the last month or two had become friends with my future hubby. Thought he was nice super smart. he sortof asked me out one day but I had plans that night... Meanwhile got a job for summer in New England... Went there, turns out my future hubby asked my friends how I was doing all summer. I got back to california - he asked me out 3 days after I got back. we really hit it off and were inseparable all of last winter spent every day together.

It got to May and I had to goto Arizona for a summer job - there were no seasonal visa sponsors in tahoe. I thought of going back to the UK as I didn't want to go to Arizona had worked there 2 summers before the resort was super remote and hadn't liked it. But the future hubby persuaded me to goto AZ since we could see each other more often than if I went back to the UK.

So I did and all summer every 3 weeks either i'd fly to him or he'd drive to me. Friends kept telling me they thought he'd propose as my 3 year work visa was finally going to end in Nov and couldn't be extended. But every trip went by and he didn't. We didn't really talk about me leaving, but if we did we talked about me coming back to grad school. I knew it was different with him than previous bfs and i'd known for a while that this was the guy I wanted to marry. But i couldn't afford the fees for grad school so was going to have to work and wait a few years. Finally about 6 weeks before my visa was due to expire was about to book flights home... didn't want to leave the future hubby but was tired of seasonal work and wanted to go back to the UK get a proper job make some money. then the future hubby proposed on the phone one night and my life changed completely we looked at the marriage/fiancee visa options. I had a few friends who'd met their hubbys back in Florida. One had, got married just her and the hubby and then had a big wedding later. my future hubby really wanted us not to be apart and we thought that was the best option for us too. We just wanted to be married already! So 3 weeks later he arrived in AZ proposed in person. We married the next day in Vegas... And here we are!

Ok apologies for the loooong post guys! That's my story... Now want to hear everyone elses!

[marie09 5]

Ok that was a lot longer than I intended it to be - lol! Would totally go back and edit it but the edit option is no longer available... Read only if very bored guys!

[FortLaudy 10]

LOL you're funny!! no need for apologies at all silly! I'm just sort of looking at these posts and replying in short in between writing my final papers and studying for finals, which is over next week wednesday so haven't read your post yet, but looking forward to and definetely will do when I've got a bit more time :-)

[FortLaudy 10]

marie, that's soooo cool that you worked for Disney, one of my friends also worked for Disney years ago, driving the safari truck at Animal Kingdom, she only stayed 2 years though and went back to South Africa and is happily settled down and married now, but when she heard I was coming to the US for college she told me that she was sooo jealous and she loved the US sooo much and would've stayed had she met someone or had family here, she said Disney was the best experience of her life...

Good luck with your biometrics today!

[dirtyweebesom 8]

Ok that was a lot longer than I intended it to be - lol! Would totally go back and edit it but the edit option is no longer available... Read only if very bored guys!

That was really interesting, Marie! It was a good idea for us to write down our stories. Makes everything feel a little bit more human rather than just talking about I-485, I-130 etc. all the time! Once I get a wee bit more time I will write down my own story.

That's funny that you went to school in upstate New York, Marie, because so did I...many aeons ago, though, in 1996-1997. That was my first time in the US as an exchange student, and I went to SUNY Albany. Where were you?

You are probably well rid of the Scottish boyfriend! Scottish men do have their charms, it's true, but, well, they're not exactly the most romantic or good-looking men on the planet!

Good luck with your biometrics appointment today! It doesn't look like I'm going to be one of those lucky walk-in Visajourney members who gets their EAD before their original bio appointment. Mine was December 14th, and still no new touches on my I-765, or anything else for that matter.