D.O.R.A.

[Collie 122]

Ashwin did you not get a sheet stating the requirements for the photos? You should have! The USC needs to have 1 photo and the alien needs 3 of standard passport size.

TexasGem you apply to remove the conditions 3 months before your 2nd wedding anniversary or 3 months prior to your gc expiring.

The stamp is not given with DORA. Its only given with other offices as the interview approves those people on the spot (in some cases). You have your GC o you don't need to worry about a stamp as you are free to work and travel

[giddy34 0]

Well i seperated the money but look on the uscis site it will tell you what you need to bring also ring them at the info line they will have an idea as well.. but id just do seperate money orders just in case..

[Collie 122]

Separate cashier checks /money orders are the preferred choice. I figured this when we were queuing and heard someone getting reprimanded and a rather peeved desk officer having to exlain that its better to have separate checks for each application form.

[Ashwin 0]

R&W, How did the interview go?

Did they take your passport photos u guys brought in? I brought mine but they didnt take them.

[R&W 5]

Hey Ashwin, how's the interview? Ours was just okay, less than 10 mins. It was a WAIT though. But no, they didn't ask for my husband's photo and they only took two of my passport pics. Don't worry you'll just be fine. Have a nice evening!

[mrs.jenjen 0]

I thought it was best to ask this here, as its a texas specific post. Sorry that it doesn't have THAT MUCH to do with DORA though.....

I've been driving on my UK licence since June 28th 05. I was under the impression that I had a year to apply for my texas licence, and that was cool. Obviously the 28th June is coming up fast now, and I'm beginning to worry about my obvious procrastination - so last night I printed off the handbook and have been studying it.

My problem is, in the handbook, it says something about residents having 30 days to convert their foreign (either out of state or out of country) licences to a TX one. I became a resident according to my green card since April 8th. Which is obviously a lot longer than 30 days ago!!

Have I totally been flaunting texas driving laws by driving up until today on my UK licence?!?! Does that mean if I got pulled over I'd be in trouble, and does that also mean my insurance details are no longer valid?!! I honestly didn't realise this, and neither did hubby (who is a policeman! Go figure!) but I'm a little freaked out now, especially as I have made at least one long trip in that time! Bad Jen!!

I'm off down the driving place tomorrow, but I want to know if I've been unknowingly breaking the law continuously in the last month, because obviously if I have I'm getting hubby to drive me and if asked how long I've been driving, I'm going to lie my ### off

Anyone know the answer to this?!

Jen x

Ashwin - I still have my passport photos from my AOS here. They never took mine either. The picture on my greencard is the one they took at my biometrics, and as I'm all approved, I'm assuming that I didn't need them after all!!

[Ashwin 0]

Jen, i dont know if this will help but when i was in college i was pulled over with my out of country license. The cop didnt really know what to do. He let me go as long as i will take my test soon. I think it might be to the discretion of the cop what to do.

As for insurance, its still to the discretion of the cop what to do if u get pulled over, but if theres a wreck(which we dont wish that) i dont think ur insurance will cover u since they usually ask if u have a valid license. I am not sure what they asked u tho. Anyway i hope this helps.

[Ashwin 0]

Ok guys, here is my dora experience along with my timeline, hope this help all of you out there.

02/14/03 - Met my wife first time in the US

03/23/03 - Went back to my home country after finishing my Studies

12/13/06 - Came back to the US on a Visitors visa just to visit and met my wife again

01/01/06 - Went back to home country after visit

03/17/06 - Decided to come back to visit my future wife on a visitors visa

05/24/06 - Got married in vegas

05/31/05 - Got Infopass appointment online for the 20th June

06/08/06 - Medical exam $225 for exam + 3 vaccines with Dr McNally(i blacked out after the vaccines!!)

06/20/06 - DORA AOS interview

Our interview was at 10.15am. We got there around 9.45. You are only suppose to show up around 30 minutes. Not more. No cell phones allowed. The office was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Walked in with the infopass printout, no lines, the lady took all the copies of what we had and left me with the originals and call us after 5 mins to hand me a paper saying that we will be called around noon. She said we could go out as long as we are back around 30 min from noon. We just sat there waiting and took one cigarette break.

It was pretty busy there. There's a bunch of lawyers just hanging out there too. The was a couple who went in there and stayed in there for a very long while. 45min to an hour. That kinda made me nervous.

At 12.30 we got call in, it was an hispanic guy in his thirties who called us. We sat down and first asked me for my parent's name, looked at my birth certificate and asked if Mauritius(the island where i am from) was in the Carribien. I said it was in the indian ocean, and he said thats right. But the list of question asked:

- Name of your parents?

- Our address?

- If we have been married or have kids?

- The regular ciminal stuff

- How much we pay in rent?

- Where we went to school? ( Both went to 2 different universities)

- Since we didnt meet in school where did we meet? (In a bar in Dallas, she is my buddy's sister)

- When did i go back home? - I started rambling saying that we kept in touch bla bla bla... my wife started laughing...

- What hotel we stayed in?

- Where was the chapel located?

- If any parents attended the wedding? ( only my sister did)

- Asked both of us what kind of work we do?

After that we mentioned that we are both low talkers.... which we are?

He also took a good look at our album with pictures from the wedding, bars and also a trip we took down to San Marcos to go float on the river... asked a few questions about the pictures.

He probably did review our evidence before we get there- We brought our lease, car title on both our names, bank accounts, credit card bill, phone bill, boarding pass to las vegas, our athletic club membership, car insurance on both our names.

After that he told us very well done, told us how the DORA program worked and to wait for stuff in the mail.

He didnt take our passport picture we brought, which is making me nervous but oh well as long as we have been approved.

A lot of it is i think how the couple reacts to each other in there. Shouldnt be too distant also he looked at both of us while i was answering the questions.

The other thing is that i came in with a visitors visa / tourist visa and that didnt come up at all. I guess as long as u dont get married the next day u come in the country u should be ok.

We were both so relieved.... finally done with it and move on...

if u guys have any questions let me know....

Edited June 21, 2006 by Ashwin

[nonameexist 0]

Collie,

I was not aware you could remove conditions the 90 days before the two year wedding anniversary. I've always heard that it's the 90 days prior to the 2nd anniversary of being a conditional resident, and that is all it says on the I-751 forms.

Can you give me info on where you heard the 90 days before the two year wedding anniversary?

Edited June 22, 2006 by kaleyko

[Collie 122]

Hey folks,

Kaleyko the immigration officer told us about the removal of the conditions as did our attorney

I came home from working at the Animal Shelter today to find my biometrics appt. letter scheduled for june 29th..that would be this thursday at 8am! I'm so impressed that DORA are living up to their name and are on the ball

[geordieluvr 1]

*Bump*

[Collie 122]

Geordie i see you hehe

Ok I had a wee lookie through some timelines for DORA and talked to a few people. I wasn't expecting my biometrics until about 1-2 months after my AOS appointment. I'm not complaining but I wonder why its come through so fast! also how long after the biometrics does it take for the gc to come through?

[vincit_qui_se_vincit 0]

Kaleyko the immigration officer told us about the removal of the conditions as did our attorney

You've misunderstood your attorney and interviewing immigration officer. The two-year wedding anniversary mark is important only if your AOS approval comes AFTER it--then you should receive a 10-year, unconditional green card. Otherwise, if your AOS approval comes BEFORE the two-year wedding anniversary mark, you will get a 2-year, conditional green card, which will require removal of conditions three months prior to its expiration.

Your own AOS timeline via DORA is so far fairly typical. If you don't get stuck in FBI name check, you should expect your green card within two months after the biometrics appointment.

[HappyGirl 0]

I spoke to my local congressman last week and he was told by immigration that my GC hasn't been ordered yet because they need to update my file. Apparently they can't give me a timeframe because "they have alot to update" - whatever that means.

It will be a year next month from my DORA interview.

[geordieluvr 1]

*Update*

Our appointment today. I must say it went way better than I had expected. Then again I had people all over praying for us so I really am not that surprised. Basically, what we found out was that we should be getting the greencards in a couple of weeks. Because DS#2 turned 14 in March he has been the hold up. They had to re-process him as an adult and do the standard adult stuff not the kid stuff. They also processed them as a family so they should all get their greencards at once. That's all I know for now folks!!!!