2010 United Kingdom AOS Thread

[Nik+Heather 121]

Here's a question. I was reading in the guides a few weeks back that you should wait a couple of weeks upon the foreign fiance's arrival to apply for a SSN. This gives all the government agencies time to have his info in all their databases (or so the guides said). So, I was curious, for those of you who have applied for your fiance's SSN, how long did you wait after he/she arrived? Is it true that the AOS process is easier if you wait to get your SSN before you send off for AOS?

We waited more or less the recommended time stated (about 2 weeks).

SSN is not required for AOS. Maybe it would be easier because then your data is all in there if needed, I guess....

However, if the beneficiary/immigrant is female AND she is changing her name, it is DEFINITELY recommended that she get her SSN before marriage (and thusly before AOS) in her maiden name, get married, then change her name on the SSN. If you don't want to wait for the GC/EAD to change the name, you'll also have to get the name changed before I-94 expires (SSA quirk).

[brit_la 1]

I did mine before we were married. We had everything ready. All we were waiting on was the wedding certificate and then we filed AOS the following day.

Perfect! Thats just what I was planning to do. Good to know, thankyou!

[beatlesrebel 0]

We waited more or less the recommended time stated (about 2 weeks).

SSN is not required for AOS. Maybe it would be easier because then your data is all in there if needed, I guess....

However, if the beneficiary/immigrant is female AND she is changing her name, it is DEFINITELY recommended that she get her SSN before marriage (and thusly before AOS) in her maiden name, get married, then change her name on the SSN. If you don't want to wait for the GC/EAD to change the name, you'll also have to get the name changed before I-94 expires (SSA quirk).

Great, thank you for the info!!

[Justine+David 218]

whoo! I can now officially join this thread! Hoping that the fees don't go up before we file!

[beatlesrebel 0]

whoo! I can now officially join this thread! Hoping that the fees don't go up before we file!

YAY!! I hope they don't go up either! We won't file until late April/early May.

[Justine+David 218]

I'm bored out of my skull at work, just checking in to see how everyone is

David and I are in a bit of a tricky situation because his POE will be in late-June but our wedding won't be until September 11. We're planning to have a court wedding in July just to cover the legalities, but we're looking at when to file our AOS timewise.

We don't want to apply too early and have an interview in September because we'll be in Seattle for the wedding and Hawaii for our honeymoon for two weeks. I'm thinking about applying in August to be relatively sure of not missing our interview.

Mom & Dad weren't happy about the court wedding being in July, but I told them no way in heck are we going to risk David being out of status and possibly deported. I know the risk is small, but I don't want to chance it, especially if we'll be flying around the country. Thankfully our priest understands.

The AOS package looks relatively straightforward according to the guides, which is nice.

David won't be working for awhile when he gets here-he's hoping to go into a one year masters in teaching at the University of Maryland; he already has a bachelor's in physics and has a side-tutoring business at night while by day he works at HSBC as a computer programmer (and pretty much hates it). He'll be applying in December and hopefully we'll have his green card by then because it seems to be fairly sticky as far as financial stuff goes...initially the graduate studies lady told me that I have to have the $20k tuition upfront along with room+board $$ and no student loans allowed but then I figured out that with a green card he won't be subject to all those rules.

[beatlesrebel 0]

I'm bored out of my skull at work, just checking in to see how everyone is

David and I are in a bit of a tricky situation because his POE will be in late-June but our wedding won't be until September 11. We're planning to have a court wedding in July just to cover the legalities, but we're looking at when to file our AOS timewise.

We don't want to apply too early and have an interview in September because we'll be in Seattle for the wedding and Hawaii for our honeymoon for two weeks. I'm thinking about applying in August to be relatively sure of not missing our interview.

Mom & Dad weren't happy about the court wedding being in July, but I told them no way in heck are we going to risk David being out of status and possibly deported. I know the risk is small, but I don't want to chance it, especially if we'll be flying around the country. Thankfully our priest understands.

The AOS package looks relatively straightforward according to the guides, which is nice.

David won't be working for awhile when he gets here-he's hoping to go into a one year masters in teaching at the University of Maryland; he already has a bachelor's in physics and has a side-tutoring business at night while by day he works at HSBC as a computer programmer (and pretty much hates it). He'll be applying in December and hopefully we'll have his green card by then because it seems to be fairly sticky as far as financial stuff goes...initially the graduate studies lady told me that I have to have the $20k tuition upfront along with room+board $$ and no student loans allowed but then I figured out that with a green card he won't be subject to all those rules.

It's nice to hear from you, Justine! Phill will be flying here on April 14th! SO excited!! He thought he was flying with British Airways (yikes!) but he called them up and they were just the booking agent, thank goodness! We're doing the same thing. Pretty much as soon as he gets here we're going to file for our marriage license and visit a justice of the peace so we are "legal" and can get his paperwork sent off right away. We plan on having our formal wedding in September as well! Never thought about being out of state when the interview is scheduled. We want to honeymoon in Charleston, SC, but will probably wait until October or so to do that. Phill hates the fact he won't be able to work right away when he gets here, so it'll be a hard transition for him. Luckily my mom wants him to help with yardwork and such, so he'll be kept busy! Good luck on David's studies!

[Justine+David 218]

yeah I read it is a huge no-no to not show up for your interview or if you want to re-schedule, somebody must've died...which I don't think is fair. USCIS running our lives more, I guess. I don't see why they can't say, "Okay you're eligible for an appointment...go online and pick an interview date." My work schedule comes out 2 months ahead, so I'm going to have to use a vacation day or pretend to call in sick if I'm working that day

3 more years! US citizenship and we won't have to deal with this #######

[beatlesrebel 0]

yeah I read it is a huge no-no to not show up for your interview or if you want to re-schedule, somebody must've died...which I don't think is fair. USCIS running our lives more, I guess. I don't see why they can't say, "Okay you're eligible for an appointment...go online and pick an interview date." My work schedule comes out 2 months ahead, so I'm going to have to use a vacation day or pretend to call in sick if I'm working that day

3 more years! US citizenship and we won't have to deal with this #######

They don't do that because it would be easier on us! lol Yeah, very much looking forward to not having to deal with this stuff anymore!

[Justine+David 218]

Hey Beatle, I saw that your fiance (husband now?) got in okay, yay! :dance:

Looking at adjusting pretty soon? Got his SSN yet?

Still a'waitin' on David; he's tall-ship sailing right now somewhere off the coast of England and has his last day of work on Wednesday. After that, he'll be doing some conservation work up in Scotland, go with his family to Stonehenge (they've never been!), do some other family stuff, and now he's talking about coming here in early June! 'twould be terrific, indeed (my ticker is for June 23rd, his cut-off date)

Still wondering about the when-to-file issue with our honeymoon, but maybe we'll just file on the 80th day or so (early September) so we know for sure we won't get a biometrics notice or interview date. Ugh! I suppose you're not "allowed" to re-schedule a removal of conditions interview either...

Ah, well. It's worth it for these British chaps (or ladies) of ours

[beatlesrebel 0]

Hello Hello!

Yes, Phill got in safe and sound, just barely! He flew in on April 14th...if his flight would have been the next day, he would have been stuck in England for like two weeks because of that ash cloud from Iceland! Omg, that would have been the icing on the frustration cake. LOL! His POE was fantastic...the officer ripped open his envelope, stamped the papers, then told him he was good to go! Phill even asked twice "that's it?" Yep, that's it! The officer didn't even take his x-ray. His POE was in Chicago and he was very impressed with how fast everything went. I've been meaning to check in here and time just got away from me! We aren't married yet, but we have the marriage license pretty much filled out. I just need to find out if he needs his SSN for the form. They ask for one and there's no space to put an alien number. Maybe we just write the alien number in the SSN space? I don't know. I think we'll call this week to make an appointment to get his SSN now that it's past the two week mark of him being here. Sounds like David is having a good time before he leaves! Phill had three leaving parties before he left which I thought was very nice! Hope David can come over in June, that'd be wonderful! I think this week we'll start looking over the AOS paperwork and start filling it out. I'll work on getting my employer and bank letters for the affidavit of support form. It is very frustrating having to plan your wedding and honeymoon around the government's schedule. Not sure how ours will work out, but we might not be able to take a honeymoon right away (due to money), so maybe that'll work out for the best. Can't wait for the stress to be over!

Phill is settling in quite well and has done so much work around the house. My parents are loving it. LOL! Poor guy is very ready to be able to start working! Thanks for asking how it went!

Hey Beatle, I saw that your fiance (husband now?) got in okay, yay! :dance:

Looking at adjusting pretty soon? Got his SSN yet?

Still a'waitin' on David; he's tall-ship sailing right now somewhere off the coast of England and has his last day of work on Wednesday. After that, he'll be doing some conservation work up in Scotland, go with his family to Stonehenge (they've never been!), do some other family stuff, and now he's talking about coming here in early June! 'twould be terrific, indeed (my ticker is for June 23rd, his cut-off date)

Still wondering about the when-to-file issue with our honeymoon, but maybe we'll just file on the 80th day or so (early September) so we know for sure we won't get a biometrics notice or interview date. Ugh! I suppose you're not "allowed" to re-schedule a removal of conditions interview either...

Ah, well. It's worth it for these British chaps (or ladies) of ours

[MissusM09 1]

I'm bored out of my skull at work, just checking in to see how everyone is

David and I are in a bit of a tricky situation because his POE will be in late-June but our wedding won't be until September 11. We're planning to have a court wedding in July just to cover the legalities, but we're looking at when to file our AOS timewise.

We don't want to apply too early and have an interview in September because we'll be in Seattle for the wedding and Hawaii for our honeymoon for two weeks. I'm thinking about applying in August to be relatively sure of not missing our interview.

Mom & Dad weren't happy about the court wedding being in July, but I told them no way in heck are we going to risk David being out of status and possibly deported. I know the risk is small, but I don't want to chance it, especially if we'll be flying around the country. Thankfully our priest understands.

The AOS package looks relatively straightforward according to the guides, which is nice.

David won't be working for awhile when he gets here-he's hoping to go into a one year masters in teaching at the University of Maryland; he already has a bachelor's in physics and has a side-tutoring business at night while by day he works at HSBC as a computer programmer (and pretty much hates it). He'll be applying in December and hopefully we'll have his green card by then because it seems to be fairly sticky as far as financial stuff goes...initially the graduate studies lady told me that I have to have the $20k tuition upfront along with room+board $$ and no student loans allowed but then I figured out that with a green card he won't be subject to all those rules.

congrats on your engagement. i just had to comment however on your timelines. for most ppl it is straightforward, you apply for AOS, you get the reciept in a 10 days later, then 3 weeks later the biometrics appointment, not withstanding if you have any rfe's it holds the whole thing up. just one little thing like a signature, lets not forget the hubalooo over i-693's in the last few months; then you will probably get your ead(his ead) after which ( though its not typical) you can wait anything from a month, to six months for an interview or even approval. yes you can do a congressional, but my point is give yourself some time, so that for any eventuality you have some leeway.

all the best.

[Justine+David 218]

Right...at this point we might just file on September 1st (our wedding is Sept 11 and we'll be back from the honeymoon on Sept 28), that way we know "for sure" that we won't get an interview in <1 month time and then miss it...I wonder what happens if you miss a biometrics appointment?

Edited May 3, 2010 by Justine+David

[Jay&Jo 4]

amazing news that my green card arrived this morning!!!

Was ready to cry just at the realisation that i have no more visa stress for nearly 2 years. we filed for our k1 almost exactly a year ago and cant believe all thats happened in the past year!

happy day god has been good!

[beatlesrebel 0]

Woohoo! LOVE this kind of news! Congrats!

amazing news that my green card arrived this morning!!!

Was ready to cry just at the realisation that i have no more visa stress for nearly 2 years. we filed for our k1 almost exactly a year ago and cant believe all thats happened in the past year!

happy day god has been good!