AOS Timeline 44 days only

[~*Dorothy*~ 2]

Congratulations...you are one of the lucky ones...

[WifeOHunkyJohn 2]

And dr_lha, California DMV are unhelpful at best, and strict as hell at worst and will not issue an ID with an i-94 with less than 60 days on it (considering we only get 90 days from start to finish that's a bit of a cheek... but anyway) and no NOA will cut it while waiting for AOS. Its EAD or GC or nothing.

I'm fully aware of how ####### the California DMV is, I lived there for 5 years.

Still, they're not as strict in many ways as the PA DMV, who require you have a I-94 valid for 1 year or more to get a PA license. Great for people coming here on 1 year visas (like a lot of people I work with here), who can't get licenses due to not being able to get to the DMV within 1 day of arriving, and can't own a car either because you're required to have a PA license for them to issue you the title on a car.

Yup. Had to wait until he had it.

Do you want to come up here and teach him how to drive? In your car?

Ah... no.

Glad to know its not just the CA DMV that sucks - but PA sounds harsh. You mean you have to get over your jetlag and unpack within the first 24 hours and drag all your papers to the PA DMV to get a licence, and you don't get a licence if you don't make it within that 1st day of arriving. Makes me think the sunshine state is not so bad after all.

For me it's the mis-information that frustrates me the most, and the fact their own website stipulates bringing one of the documents on the list, and then you have to explain to the guy in triplicate what you want when you do because he doesn't get it or thinks its too hard. DMV and USCIS are hard work and make me feel sometimes like I am banging my head against a brick wall.

Maybe I'm just allergic to organizations that have initials...

[Dr_LHA 3]

Glad to know its not just the CA DMV that sucks - but PA sounds harsh. You mean you have to get over your jetlag and unpack within the first 24 hours and drag all your papers to the PA DMV to get a licence, and you don't get a licence if you don't make it within that 1st day of arriving. Makes me think the sunshine state is not so bad after all.

On the flip side however PA is one of the few states that accepts NOA1 for AOS as proof of legal presence, so here you can get a drivers license as soon as you get NOA1 in the mail.

[meauxna 15]

If this "name check" were performed prior to the issuance of the K1 in my estimation if would reduce fraud. It would also get people more involved in the process, i know that when Annie and I were waiting throughout the k1 process we were constantly calling various officials to help expidite the process. I do not think this attitude would of changed if knowing it would take a bit longer on the frontside to make it easier one the AOS side. Therefore i will restate my earlier post, if this "name check" were done during the k1, once married it would not need to done again. Submit your marriage certificate, USCIS issues CLPR. See ya in two years for the interview and hopefully LPR.

John,

I thought you and the others might be interested in this thread, particularly the comments from Folinskyinla:

The first link is a 'translation' of the first post in the second link.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395435&

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395333 (especially post #9)

[WifeOHunkyJohn 2]

Comment number nine is very interesting. For those who haven't read it, it says:

Third, the Ombudsman recommends that USCIS amend the regulations such that K-1 nonimmigrants are not subject to breaks in employment authorization.

Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. 5 214(d) and 8 C.F,R. § 274a.l2(a)(6), USCIS currently provides employment authorization to K-1 nonimmigrants for duration of status of up to 90 days, upon approval of an application for employment authorization (Form 1,765). Such employment authorization is discretionary in nature and is not mandated by statute.

Employment authorization for K-1 nonimmigrants is not granted automatically incident to status, and once obtained, the employment authorization cannot be extended beyond the 90-day duration of status.

Accordingly, K-1 nonimmigrants seeking adjustment of status to permanent residence as a spouse of a U.S. citizen must submit a separate application for employment authorization once they file for adjustment.

USCIS does not consider automatic employment authorization for K-1 nonimmigrants to be consistent with the intent of the underlying benefit. The K-1 nonimmigrant visa is designed to enable an alien with a bona fide intention to marry a U. S. citizen to enter the United States and enter into a valid marriage in the United States within 90 days after the alien's arrival. (See 8 C.F.R. § 21qd)).

Thus, the purpose of the K-1 visa is to provide a family-based benefit in facilitating marriage between a foreign national and a U.S. citizen. Its purpose is not to provide an avenue for employment within the United States.

This interpretation is supported by the short 90 day duration of the K-1 nonimmigrant visa with no opportunity for an extension. By contrast, granting employment authorization automatically to K-1 aliens appears to conflict with the temporary, nonimmigrant and family-based nature of the K-1 visa. USCIS instead plans to propose to eliminate employment eligibility for K-1 nonimmigrants, in order to be more consistent with the overall intent of the K- 1 visa.

The reply from number 9:

Folinskyinla, Sep 8th 2006, 1:58 am

Hi:

Personally, I think there is an administrative campaign against the K-1 visa. I wonder if there is lobbying to simply abolish the category. It pays to remember that the K-1 is a "hybrid" and notially speaking, somewhat a ####### one at that. We are still working under the Immigration & Nationality Act of 1952, as amended after all. The K-1 was added to the law in early 1970. The first wide body 747 was just starting to fly -- air travel was expensive and sometimes hard to get in parts of the world.

The other weird thing is that the K-1 adjustment used to be almost a pro-forma application -- processed on a walk-in basis! The K-1 visa is processed AS IF it is an immigrant visa in the first place and IMHO, it should be treated like any other admission but with a built in request for evidence. I think lot of the problems are based upon the way it is processed.

In the "if I were King" category, I would do away with K-1 non-immigrant category and in its place create an IMMIGRANT visa -- however, at the Port of Entry, the holder would NOT be "admitted" but would be "paroled" in for "deferred inspection" with the marriage certficate to be produced to complete "inspection" and then be admitted with a "green card."

This is interesting, but I am not sure where the FBI Name Check comes into this. While I like the poster's comments on having the current K1 come in as something else and be paroled, with the marriage certificate the completion of the process, I can understand that there would be greater security and name checks prior to the person coming into the USA as opposed to after they have married the USC.

The problem for me with the FBI name checks - apart from the length of time they take which are extrordinally fast for some people (the 44 day OP of this topic as an example) or months, and even years for others with no real way they can expedite the process or talk to anybody about them - are this:

We come in having had the police checks for the countries we have lived in, and they list whether we have had any criminal convictions of any sort, then we get married within the 90 days [i'm speaking as a K1-er here so forgive me] then at some point we adjust to AOS status and it is then the FBI want to know if our name (or an alias/identity similar to our name) is listed on their FBI’s Central Records System (CRS) Universal Index (UNI).

The CRS encompasses the centralized records of FBI Headquarters, field offices, and Legal Attache offices. The CRS contains all FBI investigative, administrative, personnel, and general files.[/color]

<a href="http://www.fbi.gov/hq/nationalnamecheck.htm">National Name Check Program</a>

Function: The employees of the NNCP review and analyze potential identifiable documents to determine whether a specific individual has been the subject of or mentioned in any FBI investigation(s), and if so, what (if any) relevant information may be disseminated to the requesting agency. It is important to note that the FBI does not adjudicate the final outcome, it just reports the results to the requesting agency.

<a href="http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nationalnamecheck.htm">National Name Check Program—Frequently Asked Questions</a>

The searches seek all instances of the individual's name appearing in both main files and reference files. A main file name is that of an individual who is, himself/herself, the subject of an FBI investigation, whereas a reference is someone whose name appears in an FBI investigation. References may be associates, conspirators, or witnesses.

I googled (I have the time, sigh) and I found some other information on the name check:

<a href="http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2006/May/04-878088.html">Understanding the Immigration Security Process</a>

FBI Name Checks—FBI name checks are also required for many applications. The FBI name check is totally different from the FBI fingerprint check. The records maintained in the FBI name check process consist of administrative, applicant, criminal, personnel and other files compiled by law enforcement. Initial responses to this check generally take about two weeks. In about 80 percent of the cases, no match is found. Of the remaining 20 percent, most are resolved within six months. Less than one percent of cases subject to an FBI name check remain pending longer than six months. Some of these cases involve complex, highly sensitive information and cannot be resolved quickly. Even after FBI has provided an initial response to USCIS concerning a match, the name check is not complete until full information is obtained and eligibility issues arising from it are resolved.

For most applicants, the process outlined above allows USCIS to quickly determine if there are criminal or security related issues in the applicant’s background that affect eligibility for immigration benefits. Most cases proceed forward without incident. However, due to both the sheer volume of security checks USCIS conducts, and the need to ensure that each applicant is thoroughly screened, some delays on individual applications are inevitable. Background checks may still be considered pending when either the FBI or relevant agency has not provided the final response to the background check or when the FBI or agency has provided a response, but the response requires further investigation or review by the agency or USCIS. Resolving pending cases is time-consuming and labor-intensive; some cases legitimately take months or even several years to resolve. Every USCIS District Office performs regular reviews of the pending caseload to determine when cases have cleared and are ready to be decided. USCIS does not share information about the records match or the nature or status of any investigation with applicants or their representatives.

Now the name check (and USCIS rest of the checks collectively) is looking for criminal or security issues, or instances where the person has appeared as part of an FBI investigation, I wonder why they don't do these name checks at the K1 stage. Think about it, not everybody applies for AOS before the 90 days of the I-94 expires and some wait until after the 2 year mark so that they can get the 10 year GC without having the torment of trying to remove the conditions of the conditional GC. For me that was tempting but all this free time can be quite dull, and I wanted to see my baby nephew for the first time this Christmas. But that's an aside. The fact is that people don't necessarily adjust status within the 90 days and there is no real push from USCIS to see what happened to all those K1-ers once their 90 days are up. If you never want to drive, work or whatever, you can probably live quite happily in the shadows as simply an out of status person.

If, however, you have other reasons for wanting to be a ghost in the USA, you can go undetected, with no USCIS system that I have found, remain that way until whatever dasterdly deed you have done is complete. It's a horrifying notion, but just because you have no criminal record in your home country, or whichever countries you have lived in, that doesn't stop you being a 'person of interest' through whatever FBI investigation flagged your name. And it's only through the AOS that they thoroughly check who you are and if you are a match to any name, person living or dead, alias or whatever on the FBI list (national and international).

There are loads of "Congressional Testimony" documents online about the FBI name checks and I have put some of the links below if anybody is interested in reading them. They basically explain the FBI's current status, with suggestions on improving the process, while acknowledging that the delays are not ideal. For me, I have given up stressing about how long my GC is going to take. I'm not in a rush to bust a gut over it, it will arrive when it arrives. Stressing does nothing for me, and does nothing for the patience and nerves of my helpless hubby either. But I do wonder about all those souls who come into the USA on visas that require an AOS and they don't apply to change their status. We also have somewhere around 12 million illegal immigrants all living within the shadows of the USA and we don't know who they are. Most of them are probably very nice but, as you can see from this forum post: <a href="http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44303"> Illegal aliens murder, *Gasp*</a> not all of them are. So I have to wonder about the policy of fighting to secure the borders, check and recheck people coming into the USA from land and sea [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/11/30/traveler.screening.ap/index.html">Homeland Security assigns terror scores to travelers</a> when there's a black whole of people that seem to exist here without anybody knowing, or following it up.

Anyway, I've googled enough, I'm gonna go play sudoku online till my hubby gets home, then we're gonna go on date night, woohoo . But I will leave you with the links to the congressional reports I talked about and, though some of the intro is pretty similar between 2003 and 2006, it does make for interesting reading.

<a href="http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress03/garrity071003.htm">"The FBI's VISA Name Check Process"</a>

[ps: I have no idea why my formatting isn't working. I think my computer hates me.]

Edited December 1, 2006 by WifeOHunkyJohn

[John & Annie 0]

If this "name check" were performed prior to the issuance of the K1 in my estimation if would reduce fraud. It would also get people more involved in the process, i know that when Annie and I were waiting throughout the k1 process we were constantly calling various officials to help expidite the process. I do not think this attitude would of changed if knowing it would take a bit longer on the frontside to make it easier one the AOS side. Therefore i will restate my earlier post, if this "name check" were done during the k1, once married it would not need to done again. Submit your marriage certificate, USCIS issues CLPR. See ya in two years for the interview and hopefully LPR.

John,

I thought you and the others might be interested in this thread, particularly the comments from Folinskyinla:

The first link is a 'translation' of the first post in the second link.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395435&

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395333 (especially post #9)

I do not doubt any of that, thus my point. We need to reform the system, it does not help our situation now, but i am willing to put in my time to help others in the future.

[dani_christine 0]

[ps: I have no idea why my formatting isn't working. I think my computer hates me.]

you're posts aren't formatting correctly because you're using html instead of BBCode.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode

[LaL 418]

at the risk of sounding like a broken record... why not add the FBI namecheck finds to the namecheck thread?

Edited December 2, 2006 by lal_brandow

[Miranda&James 8]

Regarding the K1 as being a temporary non-immigrant thing....that doesn't seem to be the case at all. It seems to me like most people who are coming to the USA on a K1 do it because they want to be able to legally come here, get married, and stay....whereas if you come with intent to marry without a K1 you're technically committing fraud so spending 6mo to a year planning a wedding wouldn't be a recommended thing unless you're SO was coming here with a legal visa to get married. Maybe I'm missing something? There needs to be some way to get married in the USA without it being "spur of the moment" and still be completely legal.

[Girona40 0]

Regarding the K1 as being a temporary non-immigrant thing....that doesn't seem to be the case at all. It seems to me like most people who are coming to the USA on a K1 do it because they want to be able to legally come here, get married, and stay....whereas if you come with intent to marry without a K1 you're technically committing fraud so spending 6mo to a year planning a wedding wouldn't be a recommended thing unless you're SO was coming here with a legal visa to get married. Maybe I'm missing something? There needs to be some way to get married in the USA without it being "spur of the moment" and still be completely legal.

The K1 visa is, indeed, a bit of a strange one. It is a non-immigrant visa - used simply for the purpose of marriage. The visa itself only lasts 90 days, as does the time allowed to stay under the VWP. I could not ever see the point of the K-1, when someone who marries whilst visiting under the VWP could apply for AOS and it be granted.

The K-1 is processed by the Immigrant Visa Section at the consulates. On the DS-156 it asks you how long you intend to stay in the US In my son's case, and I am sure most of you are sick of hearing about his situation but it is ironic, he put "permanently" in the space provided. The USCIS are now arguing that he has to leave the country because he did not complete AOS in time!

The K visa has only been available since 1970 -things were a little different back then, and it was supposed to allow couples to remain together during the processing of an "immigrant" visa.

It is a hybrid and nobody we have spoken to, in any authority, seems to understand the rules that apply to K-1's. It makes little sense to many that you enter on a "non-immigrant" visa when you are applying to live in the US permanently. It seems strange to many also that someone who comes into the US on a "temporary" visa, or on the VWP, and yet they stay permanently.

Go figure!