Court wedding vs traditional

[jo&jo 1]

Hello All,

I was married in a NY court in Dec 2010 before my wife and I came to India for our traditional wedding. I have my case completed at the NVC and got my interview scheduled in August.

1. Should I be mentioning anything about my traditional wedding to the consular officer? If I do, would they ask why I got married twice ?

2. Should I be paying VFS any fees for scheduling my interview?- hope the India VJ members could help me on this

3. I have a social security # since I was in the US before on H1B. Can I use this to work as soon as I reach the US (even before I get my GC)

4. Should I be applying for another Social security card once I reach US?

5. India VJ members - what all documentations do the consular officers usually ask for?

Thanks in advance!

Joe

[jundp 191]

Hi Joe,

You do not need to apply for another SS# since you already have one. However, you can't work in the US without your EAD or GC, regardless of whether or not you have a SS#. But, and I'm sure someone in the know can correct me, I believe if you come to the US on a CR1 you have your GC when you enter. <--- not sure about that since we did the K1 route.

[Ryan H 3,812]

When you come to the US on a CR-1 visa, the green card is issued at entry in the form of a I-551 stamp. The actual green card will arrive in the mail a few weeks later.

[Adil & Jeanne 296]

Many people here celebrate wedding anniversary by redoing the marriage vows. Nothing wrong with it. I married in Morocco but will have another cereomony here for my family and freinds. You onlly get one SS number. so, the origianl card is fine. If you loose it, apply for replacement only.

Hello All,

I was married in a NY court in Dec 2010 before my wife and I came to India for our traditional wedding. I have my case completed at the NVC and got my interview scheduled in August.

1. Should I be mentioning anything about my traditional wedding to the consular officer? If I do, would they ask why I got married twice ?

2. Should I be paying VFS any fees for scheduling my interview?- hope the India VJ members could help me on this

3. I have a social security # since I was in the US before on H1B. Can I use this to work as soon as I reach the US (even before I get my GC)

4. Should I be applying for another Social security card once I reach US?

5. India VJ members - what all documentations do the consular officers usually ask for?

Thanks in advance!

Joe

Hello All,

I was married in a NY court in Dec 2010 before my wife and I came to India for our traditional wedding. I have my case completed at the NVC and got my interview scheduled in August.

1. Should I be mentioning anything about my traditional wedding to the consular officer? If I do, would they ask why I got married twice ?

2. Should I be paying VFS any fees for scheduling my interview?- hope the India VJ members could help me on this

3. I have a social security # since I was in the US before on H1B. Can I use this to work as soon as I reach the US (even before I get my GC)

4. Should I be applying for another Social security card once I reach US?

5. India VJ members - what all documentations do the consular officers usually ask for?

Thanks in advance!

Joe

[Rock81 0]

Hello All,

I was married in a NY court in Dec 2010 before my wife and I came to India for our traditional wedding. I have my case completed at the NVC and got my interview scheduled in August.

1. Should I be mentioning anything about my traditional wedding to the consular officer? If I do, would they ask why I got married twice ?

2. Should I be paying VFS any fees for scheduling my interview?- hope the India VJ members could help me on this

3. I have a social security # since I was in the US before on H1B. Can I use this to work as soon as I reach the US (even before I get my GC)

4. Should I be applying for another Social security card once I reach US?

5. India VJ members - what all documentations do the consular officers usually ask for?

Thanks in advance!

Joe

Hey http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas/a-z-subject-listing-for-iv-terms.html#proof visit this link for all information regarding the documentation required.

[Navyk 78]

Remember you can't marry the same person twice without a divorce - it is not legal. Since the first court marraige is the offical one, you probably did to speed up your IR-1 process, remember always to consider and mention any subsequent function or.... as a wedding reception or traditional celebration but do not call it a second you know what..... Remember this for your interview. Also when you take the so called second album, be sure to have just the reception photoes only. The wedding photoes will have to be from your NY wedding only.

I am not sure how this VFS thing works. From all the research I made, we just have to collect our Visa from them else they are supposed to mail it to our address in India. They play a bigger role for the direct Consulat cases - collect fees and act as the correspondents. So don't worry, you will get know everything at the interview time, if your interview letter does talk about paying any corier fee to be paid at VFS.

Keep all the I-130, I864 and DS-230 copies with you for interview. You will also need all your education certificates, albums of you and your spouse in addition to marraige and receptions - like honeymoon, any documents showing inter-mingling of finances - like a joint lease or joint bank accounts, which kind of establishes your marraige to be really and solid. All Embassy cares/ chcks is to see that your marraige is true and not a fruad. Of course take copies of your marraige certficate and Date of birth certificates and don't forget to claim the originals sent with DS-230.

finally remember to share your individual experience for the benefit of others in the forum. good luck with your interview.

[Done--Really 331]

Let's be 100% clear on the work issue:

1) Your passport will be stamped at POE and will act as a temporary green card until the real one arrives in the mail in a few weeks. The stamp in your passport gives you all the rights and responsibilities of the green card, including the right to work--immediately. No EAD is ever required.

2) You do not apply for a new SS#. Once issued, it is good for life, so your old one is yours--forever.

3) If your SS card has any legends, you may want to get a new card with the legend removed--piece of cake by just taking your newly stamped passport to the local SS office. If there are no legends to be removed, you need to do nothing.

[jo&jo 1]

Thank you for that information. Could you please explain what you mean by the legend? Does the SS# which I got while on an H1B has any restrictions attached to it?

[Done--Really 331]

Social security cards can have several different legends on them related to the conditions attached to the card. I frankly don't know much about H1B restrictions, so your card may or may not have a legend that spells out any restrictions. If it says nothing in particular, then you do nothing. If there are any restrictions, all you have to do is go to a SS office once you have the stamp in your passport and they will reissue the card without restrictions.

I sometimes work in the illegal immigrant community and many of them have SS cards that specifically say either "not valid for employment" or "valid for work only with DHS authorization". Yours won't have the first legend, but if it has the second legend, that is what you want removed from your file and your card once you get that precious stamp in your passport.

[jo&jo 1]

Yes, I do have the "valid for work only with DHS authorization" legend on my SS card, which I guess needs to be removed. So, I can work from the day I set my foot in the US right ?