August Interviews Crew - AOS Journey

[Tater&Bugger 3]

Yes VERY much looking forward to our interview! Annoying though, Justin told his battery when the interview was back when we found out in Jan... they approved the time off. Day before so we can drive 5 hrs to Buffalo, day off obv, and day after because it'll be a Friday. So since we've been gone due to the loss of his grandma (which they were totally understanding of) he gets to work on Monday and they make him work 16hrs... lovely. He had a horrible day. Today he gets to work at 6am, is still there at 830pm and texts me that he has to work CQ (24hrs shift where he is pretty much security in the single soldier barracks, his rank is too high for the job but they keep scheduling him anyways because so many ppl have dumb reasons not to). So now he has to work over night through tomorrow, then we leave and head to Buffalo where he has one night to catch up on lacking 2 days sleep. Doesn't help that I am sick so I kept him up all night the last two nights. He is sweet and comforts me, gets me water bottle after water bottle, medicine etc... so anyways. On top of making him work overnight tonight and into tomorrow, they wanted him in for work Thurs afternoon! The day of our interview!!! He told them it's impossible. Even everything is done in an hour he'd make it back for one hour's worth of work, so they said that is ok and he will just go into work on Fri. #######... so now he has to work Friday. He got a new soldier too so he has to spend his weekend already checking up on him over the weekend. Sheesh, THEY wonder why he didn't re-enlist. They don't seem to understand the GreenCard interview. His new bosses aren't the ones he had when we did the K1 so they don't know me, but they seem to think since I am already here that it is unimportant haha.

All our stuff is ready to go though. It was pretty easy to get together compared to everything else. That or I am just used to it haha. Our only worry is based on my dear Justin's bc. I've been telling him since last spring to get it from his mom (and I've mentioned it to her too) or apply for a new one. He seems to think he has it and that I've already sent it to them (USCIS) but I am sure I haven't because I have no idea what it looks like. So we are being brave and going to the interview sans birth certificate. His passport says his citizenship and place of birth so I am not sure why they need more, plus because he is in the military it is also detailed on his enlistment records. I am a little worried, but not too worried since we got this far without it anyways. As for proof of relationship I have our health insurance policy, bank records, veterinary records showing that we both own our dog (hehe), my military spouse ID stating him as my sponsor, wedding cards and photos. I think that's it anyways... oh and rental agreement.

Anywho... I am just on here because I am bored, what with him being at work and all haha.

[Veronik 19]

Wow, that sucks! Talk about an understanding boss -not! I didn't know you had to drive that long for the interview... Kinda sucks! I'm sure you guys will be fine though.

And keep your chin up, you'll find work soon... I'm in the same boat here, not great at all

[Brenda2010 1]

I'm sure you did, I was just making sure because I thought you had done like Ken and Kate and choose not to apply for it, just wanted to double check I guess! Don't worry though, if you know the name of the form, that means you filled it!

Thanks for looking out for me Vero, appreciate it! Think the stress of this process renders me a bit stupid on occassion...ie. yeah, i knew the name of the form/filled it out...boy, I amaze me sometimes (not in a good way!).

[Brenda2010 1]

I am collecting EI. Once your EAD is approved they can start paying you. Mine was approved in Jan and I have STILL been trying to find work. I live in a weird area though. Small town, mostly military so any place that is tailored to my description I cannot do because I am not a citizen

EI is pretty easy if you've already called. You call them back once you have the EAD card and fax or scan/email a copy to them with your SNN and they send you the reports in the mail. They ask you to keep record of all the jobs you apply for in case they want to see some.

Thanks for that, nice to know someone else who's doing it. Think I'll start looking before I have the EAD approved, that way there'll be no lapse between approval and payment! At least I hope there won't be, who really knows...

[Veronik 19]

No worries Brenda2010!

Good luck Tater&####### tomorrow! Can't wait to update the list and put one more approval

Since we're talking about interviews here, quick question for Wishing, Rose416, nickbits... Did you bring anything at all regarding your medical? I'm bringing the receipt, vaccination sheet, sealed enveloppe with a CD in it I think, basically everything that was given to me after the K-1 interview... I was just reading in the AOS forum that some people were getting a civil surgeon to fill in a form? This is why I usually stick with the Canada forum...

[J & J 3]

Congrats Brenda2010 for sending off your package

Good luck tomorrow Tater&#######.. I know ya'll will do great!!

[Veronik 19]

Sending all my good vibes to Tater&#######! Can't wait to see how it went!!!

[mandaNchris 3]

Good luck Tater&#######, hope your interview goes smoothly.

[Tater&Bugger 3]

Appapapapapapapproved. It was actually kind of a joke Haha so here is how it went down;

The drive to Buffalo was miserable because we were both sick and exhausted. Justin slept ok on his Nyquil but I was still too congested. The morning of I think he got nervous and kept asking me to confirm the year I was born, what day we met etc... We got to the place about 10-15mins before our 9am appointment. We walked about 7mins from our hotel, the Comfort Suites. It was cold out but thank god not snowy or rainy, side walks were dry. So we go in and there were two woman ahead of us at security. Few mins later we go through security, realize I have an apple in my purse that I have to throw out so I do... then afterward we head to the main room to check in. The young man reviews my notice and tells me to go to the 2nd floor, room 201, sign the sign in form and have a seat and wait. I am not sure if any of you remember that we waited all day for our K1 interview, so we were expecting something similar. We get up there and it's empty. I put my stuff down and Justin goes to sign in when this couple speaking a foreign language come out and this young man (prob about my age, 26ish) tells us not to bother and to come in. Without introduction he had our file at the back of his desk. MAN WAS OUR FILE BIG! I had to laugh at it. He introduces himself and we tell him we're both sick so not to mind the sniffles and whinny voices... so he hands us some antibacterial lotion incase we want it haha. He asks us each all the questions on the 325A form... basic, confirms that my husband is active military. Then asks us how long we've known each other. I say "Over 2.5 years, dating almost 2 years". He then asks us how we met and I laugh and say "At a bar. Ya, it does happen!". He asks us the name of the bar and I tell him "Skiffs, it's in Alexandria Bay, NY. We actually held out post wedding reception there". Then he laughs "So wait, you had two receptions for your wedding?"... "yup!". Then we chat a bit about how we got married on an island but wanted everyone off by night fall for safety reasons and thats why we held the "fun party" portion of our wedding at the bar where we met, reserving the floor we met on. He said it sounded pretty cool and asked us the name of the island, I look at Justin because I forgot "Um... Casablanca Mansion on... Cheery Island!". He looks at us and asks if there is any new info since we filed, and I say just the 2010 tax forms. Hand them out of my huge organized pretty yellow file to him. He adds them to our giant pile and asks if 'those' are more pictures. I say yes, pictures from the wedding, honeymoon, different things since we've been married and asks if he wants them. He says no and that he is going to go ahead and approve us. Yippie! He explains I will be issued a 2yr GC and can request to waive the conditions within 90days of its expiry, then will be issued a 10yr GC and can apply for citizenship if we wish to do so after 3yrs of marriage (I asked him to clarify all this because I honestly didn't know what came next after the "approved" haha). We have no more questions, and I ask him if he wants all the papers I was asked to bring in an he goes "Oh no, you've provided WAY more than enough photos here" so I laugh and say "You sure you don't want another 25 pictures, 80 wedding cards and other forms of proof of our relationship?" He laughs and says we're good. ALLL this and I didn't need to bring a SINGLE THING with me! I only opened my folder because I asked to give him more! He congratulates us and I say I'd shake his hand but don't want to share my cold. We say goodbye and drive home...

Guess what time we walked out of the building? 9AM!

The second we step out I ask Justin "They couldn't just call us and ask us that?" and we both laugh at how much it cost to drive to and stay in Buffalo for an interview that the outcome was already decided on. At noon I received an email stating my card was requested for production.

This went way simpler than the K1 interview, and best of all the agent actually said APPROVED! At the K1 she was so vague and I had to ask a million questions haha.

Edited March 3, 2011 by Tater&Bugger

[Veronik 19]

Great news Tater&#######!!! That's awesome! Gosh, I HOPE ours goes as smoothly and swiftly as yours!!! Hope you guys get better soon!!! Congratulations again!!!

And, maybe when you have more time, if you want to share with us what to do next, meaning after the 2 years green card, that would be awesome!!! What did he mean by we can apply for citizenship after 3 years of marriage?

Oh, and he didn't ask for anything about health insurance or about the medical?

User .......... AOS sent .... NOAs ...... Bio. App ... AP Result ..... EAD Result .... Inter./Transf. .... AOS Result ...... Card Revd.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mandaNchris ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Alaba ......... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Brenda2010 .... 02/28/11 ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Rose416 ....... 09/25/10 ... 10/08/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/22/10(a) ... 11/23/10(a) ... Int: 02/07/11 ..... -Approved!- ..... 02/19/11

Vero and Chris. 10/06/10 ... 10/18/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 12/14/10(a) ... 12/17/10(a) ... Int: 03/10/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

J & J ......... 12/06/10 ... 12/13/10 ... 01/05/11 ... 02/11/11(a) ... 02/11/11(a) ... Tra: 01/19/11 ..... -Approved!- ..... 02/19/11

Wishing ....... 10/11/10 ... 10/20/10 ... 11/12/10 ... 12/21/10(a) ... 12/21/10(a) ... Int: 01/11/11 ..... -Approved!- ..... 01/21/11

Valerie78 ..... 11/17/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 01/18/11 ... 02/08/11(a) ... 01/28/11(a) ... Tra: 01/18/11 ..... -Approved!- ..... 02/19/11

nickbits ...... 09/16/10 ... 09/24/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/16/10(a) ... 11/16/10(a) ... Int: 12/13/10 ..... -Approved!- ..... 12/23/10

Tater&####### .. 10/08/10 ... 10/19/10 ... 11/09/10 ... 01/11/11(a) ... 01/14/11(a) ... Int: 03/03/11 ..... -Approved!- ..... ------------

ken and kate .. 11/15/10 ... 11/23/10 ... 01/06/11 ... --- n/a --- ... 01/28/11(a) ... Int: 03/29/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

[J & J 3]

Congrats Tater&#######!!! Glad it was simple as pie

[Rose416 1]

Congrats Tater & #######! Now you can relax and enjoy married life (:

Vero, I only brought a photocopy of my medical records (the one I was handed at my examination). I wasn't even asked for it. You should be fine.

[ravis 0]

Congratulations.

[Tater&Bugger 3]

I am not sure what "the conditions" are exactly, because I haven't looked that far into it. I told him when I was there I didn't know what came next because it's so overwhelming I just read it one step at a time, then my husband said he just does what I say haha. So within 90days of your greencard's expiry date you apply to have the conditions removed, and will be issued a 10yr card. I've seen info for it on here... but honestly I am not going to read that for like a year hahaha. I'm taking a break! Not bad though considering it was only March of last year that we had an idea when Justin would be home and began gathering our info... he was in Iraq, I was in the UAE... he mailed his stuff to me in Canada from Iraq, so when I got home in April it was there and filed for our K1. NOA1 date was April 19th! I am really thankful for the expedite we received and the smooth process. Even with the RFE in Nov it wasn't bad at all, I have no right to complain when I see what other people have to go through. We knew in Aug 09 we wanted to get married, but spent the last month and a bit just enjoying one another company before deployment (we thought he'd be gone a year but came back after 9 months)... Oct 09 we researched what was involved and apparently missed a whole step haha! When we got things together in March was when I realized you had to go through USCIS and the consulate for the Visa, when I thought it was just one.

In regards to citizenship you can apply to be naturalized after three years of marriage; is what he said. He said a lot of people don't and just keep renewing their GCs. I haven't looked into it yet but Justin and I already decided we plan on doing this. In a few years we have plans to move back to Ottawa but not forever. We want to be able to come to the US to retire, or come back if we decide we hate winter after living in AZ haha... obviously if I am recognized as a citizen in the US then I won't need to go through this all over again. Mainly though truth is we don't know what the future holds and we don't want to close off any options.

He mentioned absolutely NOTHING about the medical forms that were sent in by the consulate or by me, and we both sent in the same things, if anything I had less because I copied each page of my immunization booklet. So as for that you have nothing to worry about. As for health insurance he knew that my husband was active military so probably assumed I was covered for health insurance. I had my Tricare info and our family insurance benefits just in case, but it never even came up. The folder is exactly as I packed it Wednesday night still haha. I think its case by case.

Now for a job. There were even more posting on the base that I cant apply for because I am Canadian, and one that I could. I don't have the exact right experience but know I could do the job so we'll see. I also learnt that Starbucks is hiring and I promised my husband if I couldn't find something remotely related in my field by the first week of March I'd dip into retail... and Starbucks is my first choice haha. I'll probably stop in myself tomorrow the old fashion way. Tina the Barista... that has a nice ring to it, even for minimum wage right? Haha.

[Veronik 19]

Thank you for all the info and for the great review Tater&#######, it really helps! I'm happy you are done with immigration for two years, and like you I don't think I'll worry about removal of conditions for another year after!

I am in the same position work-wise. I thought I could get away without doing retail, but it looks like that's what I'll have to do for a little bit. In order to get my teaching license, I have to get my documents translated (260$) and get my credentials (140$)... Needless to say that it's an expense I didn't think about... I'm going to wait for my Canadian tax return and then get it done...

I'm a nervous mess right now for this interview. I realise that it's basic, it's nothing new, nothing I can't handle, BUT through all this you guys must have figured out by now that I absolutely hate not being in control of things in my life. Since I have a lot of time on my hand, I get psychotic and think about me getting denied and being banned from the US forever! I know it's just me being me, Chris is not worried about it at all! I don't know, I guess there's just so much to loose! But I have to bring myself back to reality; we're not doing anything wrong, haven't done anything wrong, and that's that! I was trying to calm myself down, thinking about how bad I was before the K-1 interview and how well it went! It helps! I just wish J&J were there too this time

Alright, enough rambling! I'm working on an updated I-864 right now. I will not be bringing pay stubs though, so we'll see what happens. Chris gets an old-fashioned check so he doesn't have a pay stub per say. For the K-1 interview, the secretary had photocopied her part of the check (that little square thing), I felt like I was back in the 80's!

Have a good day everyone! And a good weekend too!