Green card production after ELIS

[Paps IR5 6]

Dad's GC arrived today in the mail after usps mis-delivered it due to our address changed. But took only 4 days from the time it was shipped.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

My husband's card has not arrived as of today. I paid the fee on 3/17/2014 and it's still showing as accepted on ELIS.

2 weeks ago, we went to the SS office and applied for a new card. Note: He already had a SSN created for him prior to his arrival on his CR-1 since he worked in the US previously.

He got his new card last week which removed the "Valid only with DHS authorization" on his old card.

Should I be worried yet? It seems like most people are getting their cards in a month.

[Darnell 8,478]

take the IOE receipt #,

put it into CRIS,

and track it there.

if you set up a portfolio account in CRIS, CRIS system will give you almost-real-time electronic notifications when things change.

[Darnell 8,478]

Just tried this....

Under my case status: receipt number I pasted the number from the Elis system...

I got: "Your OS155A, IMMIGRANT VISA AND ALIEN REGISTRATION... Initial Review"

Does this sound correct?

Summary:

Visa- CR-1

POE-02/02/2014

Immigration Fee- Paid in 01/27/2014

GC-waiting

SSN-waiting

Elis system: Optimized, updated March 19,2014.

I am having a lot of trouble filing my taxes, since I will file "jointly" with my wife who does not have a SSN. I made the monumental mistake of waiting to file last minute (easiest taxes in the world) thinking it would take 5 minutes. I have been running in circles for hours trying to find what to do.

Last week we called the SSN office...totally unhelpful. I emailed USCIC....They said they put in a service request at the Texas Service Center where our case is being handled. I am not sure what to do right now.... During the week I am gone working full-time from 7:30am-6:30pm and don't have the time to go into a SSN office thats 1 hour away to be told they can't help us. I'm very aware I made the mistake of thinking the SSN will arrive soon.... Any suggestions?? .... please...

I hope someone was able to take you to the SSA office during the day and you got the SSN application in.

IF a refund is due, there is no immediate deadline to file, you can file 2 to 3 years after.

[apologies if I answered this before]

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

ELIS has been down the past few days. When it goes up again is anybody's guess.

[Michael85.asl 5]

I hope someone was able to take you to the SSA office during the day and you got the SSN application in.

IF a refund is due, there is no immediate deadline to file, you can file 2 to 3 years after.

[apologies if I answered this before]

Hey, thanks.

We got the SS card within a few days. On the tax forms I put "applied for" and also scanned copy of the SS office approval paper for evidence.

BUT

No GC yet. The Elis site still says "optimized". We paid the fee on 1/27/14 and received her SSN two weeks ago....

I emailed the USCIS and they replied two weeks later that the Texas Service Center has our files and they are waiting on Biometrics! What does that mean for us??? At the POE they took her prints and scanned her eyes at the immigration line, then they sent us to another immigration area and she took the fingerprints again and they opened the sealed envelope. They have never sent us to any biometrics appointment or anything and I have not heard about that yet...only when they mentioned they are waiting for that.

Any advice on what I need to do???

Thank you!

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Anyone have any idea how long it takes for anything to happen after you've gone to your congressman/senator? (NY specifically).

[shekoujay 0]

Did a CR1 DCF at Guangzhou, passed the interview on 11/12/13. Entered at LAX on 1/25/14. Received SS card two weeks later. Still no green card received three months later. Finally called USCIS hotline today and was told that the green card fee had never been paid. This despite the fact that GUZ required payment at the consulate before doing the interview. Rather than searching for the payment receipt and going through more waiting, I went online and paid the fee again at ELIS. Can't believe we wasted 3 months thinking it was on the way (why do they give you that piece of paper saying it will arrive in 6 to 11 months ???? )

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Did a CR1 DCF at Guangzhou, passed the interview on 11/12/13. Entered at LAX on 1/25/14. Received SS card two weeks later. Still no green card received three months later. Finally called USCIS hotline today and was told that the green card fee had never been paid. This despite the fact that GUZ required payment at the consulate before doing the interview. Rather than searching for the payment receipt and going through more waiting, I went online and paid the fee again at ELIS. Can't believe we wasted 3 months thinking it was on the way (why do they give you that piece of paper saying it will arrive in 6 to 11 months ???? )

The fee you pay at the consulate is for the interview; the ELIS fee is only paid once you have been issued your visa - it needs details you will not have before you get your visa - and only paid online. Perhaps the different fees were not made clear at the interview, there seem to be more than a few people who didn't realise the ELIS fee had to be paid as well.

[NikLR 13,230]

Hey, thanks.

We got the SS card within a few days. On the tax forms I put "applied for" and also scanned copy of the SS office approval paper for evidence.

BUT

No GC yet. The Elis site still says "optimized". We paid the fee on 1/27/14 and received her SSN two weeks ago....

I emailed the USCIS and they replied two weeks later that the Texas Service Center has our files and they are waiting on Biometrics! What does that mean for us??? At the POE they took her prints and scanned her eyes at the immigration line, then they sent us to another immigration area and she took the fingerprints again and they opened the sealed envelope. They have never sent us to any biometrics appointment or anything and I have not heard about that yet...only when they mentioned they are waiting for that.

Any advice on what I need to do???

Thank you!

Nothing the biometrics were the fingerprints etc taken at POE.

Plus you called the misinformation line.

Optimized is a good thing. they'll get it done when they get it done. After all you have a year from POE to get the green card. Her endorsed visa acts as a green card for everything until then.

[shekoujay 0]

The fee you pay at the consulate is for the interview; the ELIS fee is only paid once you have been issued your visa - it needs details you will not have before you get your visa - and only paid online. Perhaps the different fees were not made clear at the interview, there seem to be more than a few people who didn't realise the ELIS fee had to be paid as well.

aiiiiiyaaaaaah ! thanks for clarifying. There was no verbal instruction or pamphlet given at the consulate regarding a separate green card payment. Our immigration lawyer, who got paid a lot of money, didn't mention this either. Better off to rely on VisaJourney for guidance through this complicated process !

[Darnell 8,478]

For us, in the visa packet thingie,

there was an external set of papers stapled to the visa packet,

one of them explaining the fee for the greencard.

If you got your visa packet recently, scan all external pages, email them somewhere safe,

as you won't see them again after the POE.

For us, it was a godsend, as there were mini-medical-exam results there and a shot record.

I not know if the PRC workers screwed up on this, or if this is normal for GUZ IV, but there were other instructions also, and an Immigrant Visa Summary sheet that contained important case #s. Not found anywhere else.

[Michael85.asl 5]

Nothing the biometrics were the fingerprints etc taken at POE.

Plus you called the misinformation line.

Optimized is a good thing. they'll get it done when they get it done. After all you have a year from POE to get the green card. Her endorsed visa acts as a green card for everything until then.

well we received a letter from immigration today...... giving my wife a biometerics appointment! Annoying since she already scanned and took ink fingerprints at the POE in Chicago....so what happened to those fingerprints?! That is scary. So there goes a day of work to drive to the place just for fingerprints that they should already have....but they should issue the GC after that. I wonder if applying for her SS card issued the bio appointment or what. I haven't heard of this before...

Thank you for all your help as usual

[NikLR 13,230]

well we received a letter from immigration today...... giving my wife a biometerics appointment! Annoying since she already scanned and took ink fingerprints at the POE in Chicago....so what happened to those fingerprints?! That is scary. So there goes a day of work to drive to the place just for fingerprints that they should already have....but they should issue the GC after that. I wonder if applying for her SS card issued the bio appointment or what. I haven't heard of this before...

Thank you for all your help as usual

That is annoying. But go to the biometrics.

[zhaozi 0]

Interview date: Feb. 18, 2014

POE: April 12. 2014

Payment date: Mar. 18, 2014

ELIS's status is still under acceptance.