March 2017 AOS Filers

[Californiansunset 336]

On ‎12‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 4:10 PM, ndwedding said:

thank you so much for your reply. Ive asked my sister and her husband to be our sponsors. they were our sponsors for our k1 visa and they didnt have a problem with it. have you had your interview?

I have my interview in 3 weeks. 

[Californiansunset 336]

On ‎12‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 1:36 PM, agnesita84 said:

Sorry, what is building credit good for?

It's such a big part of people's life here in the US... it's pretty scary actually. As umabanana stated it's for things, that you might first even think are not that important like getting a loan (until you all of a sudden need one). However if you are trying to move into a new place, a lot of landlords want to run a credit check on you. If you don't have good credit, they won't even consider your application. Where I live in SoCal I've even seen apartment listings that specifically stated that they you shouldn't even bother about applying for this plac f you have a score that is lower than 750. 

I have two friends that have a terrible credit score that got ruined through other people (ex husband or fraud). They've explained to me how limited they feel and what effects it has on their lives. My friend wants to get a student loan bc she decided she wants to do additional classes... she will have super high interest rates bc of her bad credit. 

 

I first refused to get a credit card too bc where I'm from you really don't use them. That was until my husband explained how crucial it can be in the future to have a good credit score here in the US. 

Even if you don't plan on using it. Just get a credit card and put it somewhere safe. Make one charge a month automatically taken from your card (could be something like Netflix fees, auto insurance, Spotify fees), pay if off each month on time and you'll have an extremely good credit score after a year that you can use when you actually need it. It's not going to hurt if you have one, you'll never know when your good credit score comes in handy.

Edited December 11, 2017 by Californiansunset

[Catalina Cuqui 17]

7 hours ago, Californiansunset said:

It's such a big part of people's life here in the US... it's pretty scary actually. As umabanana stated it's for things, that you might first even think are not that important like getting a loan (until you all of a sudden need one). However if you are trying to move into a new place, a lot of landlords want to run a credit check on you. If you don't have good credit, they won't even consider your application. Where I live in SoCal I've even seen apartment listings that specifically stated that they you shouldn't even bother about applying for this plac f you have a score that is lower than 750. 

I have two friends that have a terrible credit score that got ruined through other people (ex husband or fraud). They've explained to me how limited they feel and what effects it has on their lives. My friend wants to get a student loan bc she decided she wants to do additional classes... she will have super high interest rates bc of her bad credit. 

 

I first refused to get a credit card too bc where I'm from you really don't use them. That was until my husband explained how crucial it can be in the future to have a good credit score here in the US. 

Even if you don't plan on using it. Just get a credit card and put it somewhere safe. Make one charge a month automatically taken from your card (could be something like Netflix fees, auto insurance, Spotify fees), pay if off each month on time and you'll have an extremely good credit score after a year that you can use when you actually need it. It's not going to hurt if you have one, you'll never know when your good credit score comes in handy.

Thanks!! Wow, that's crazy. In Spain we definitely don't need that either. I haven't had a credit card for years because I don't like the feeling of being in debt. If I can't afford something, I don't buy it. Period. But I guess Ill have to get one here. If it's as easy as just paying Spotify with it, not a big deal.  

Do you recommend joining your spouse's credit card, or getting your own? I read somewhere that it's best to go the second way because then if one of you has a problem, the other one can still get stuff.

[Suudsu 66]

13 hours ago, agnesita84 said:

Do you recommend joining your spouse's credit card, or getting your own?

That depends on whether the bank makes you joint cardholders, or an 'authorised' cardholder. In both situations the bank will give you a card (and they will have the same card number on them).

 

If you are an authorised cardholder, you are not financially responsible for any charges you make on the card. Because of this, you also won't build credit.

 

If you are joint cardholders, then you are jointly responsible. You will both be financially responsible for any charges/debt. You can build your credit rating off your spouse though, through this, and hence some banks have stopped issuing cards in this way (to stop people trying to 'fix' bad credit with someone else's good credit).

 

Bottom line: check with your intended bank, but chances are you will have to get your own card(s).

[antoineD 36]

13 hours ago, agnesita84 said:

Do you recommend joining your spouse's credit card, or getting your own? I read somewhere that it's best to go the second way because then if one of you has a problem, the other one can still get stuff.

I think getting your own credit card is required for building credit. Joining your spouse's will certainly help in demonstrating to USCIS that you share finances, but it's still his/her line of credit, not yours, that's being built up.

 

Please note that if you're married, even if you're using different credit cards or have different loans, state laws may still hold you liable for your  spouse's debts (some, not all - feel free to Google it) - but getting a separate card limits, not removes that risk.

[Californiansunset 336]

15 hours ago, agnesita84 said:

Thanks!! Wow, that's crazy. In Spain we definitely don't need that either. I haven't had a credit card for years because I don't like the feeling of being in debt. If I can't afford something, I don't buy it. Period. But I guess Ill have to get one here. If it's as easy as just paying Spotify with it, not a big deal.  

Do you recommend joining your spouse's credit card, or getting your own? I read somewhere that it's best to go the second way because then if one of you has a problem, the other one can still get stuff.

I literally said the exact same thing to my husband (if I can't afford it I don't buy it, I won't need a credit card) before I got my credit cards. 

 

The main part I noticed why it would be beneficial to have a joint credit card would be that the years of credit from your spouse would be transferred to yours (I've read somewhere that the length of open credit cards make up 30% of your credit score). I personally don't think that's necessary though if you don't plan on getting a loan anytime soon. Pay Spotify with your credit card each month for a year and you should have a solid credit score! In fact there's a capital one credit card that actually waives your Spotify premium fee. I know my friend has that. 

[Suudsu 66]

I agree with what AntoineD and CalifornianSunset have said.

 

My comments were meant with 'building credit' as a goal, rather than 'proving joint assets/liabilities' as a goal. For proving joint liabilities to USCIS, I think the authorised cardholder is fine (so long as the monthly statements have both your names on them). Just be aware that it won't show up on your credit report with the credit bureaus that you're making payments (because in that case, only your spouse is).

[Goodluckeveryone 42]

On 12/4/2017 at 12:23 PM, KimberleyVDB said:

Do youhave the Sacramento office as well?  Good luck that day. You're going to be fine!

I have a question. Do they allow you take you to take your bag with you inside? I have a bag in which i keep all my documents and it is not transparent. The reason i am asking is because at the time of my interview in the embassy for k1 they asked me to take out my documents and leave the bag outside.

[KimberleyVDB 77]

9 minutes ago, Goodluckeveryone said:

I have a question. Do they allow you take you to take your bag with you inside? I have a bag in which i keep all my documents and it is not transparent. The reason i am asking is because at the time of my interview in the embassy for k1 they asked me to take out my documents and leave the bag outside.

Yep. Bag, phone. It can all go in with you.

[Goodluckeveryone 42]

7 minutes ago, KimberleyVDB said:

Yep. Bag, phone. It can all go in with you.

Thank you

[Catalina Cuqui 17]

On 12/12/2017 at 12:57 PM, Californiansunset said:

I literally said the exact same thing to my husband (if I can't afford it I don't buy it, I won't need a credit card) before I got my credit cards. 

 

The main part I noticed why it would be beneficial to have a joint credit card would be that the years of credit from your spouse would be transferred to yours (I've read somewhere that the length of open credit cards make up 30% of your credit score). I personally don't think that's necessary though if you don't plan on getting a loan anytime soon. Pay Spotify with your credit card each month for a year and you should have a solid credit score! In fact there's a capital one credit card that actually waives your Spotify premium fee. I know my friend has that. 

 

Hahaha. European mentality vs. American mentality.

That's cool. I will check Capital One. Thank you!!  

And thanks everyone else.

[TL2016 208]

Just a little FYI about Capital One - Whilst their secured CC is a great way to start building your credit, you do not get your security deposit back and they will probably keep it secured for ever. If you want to get your security deposit back after half a year or so and hope for the CC to become unsecured after a while, go with Discover instead. I wish I would have done that.

 

I have Capital One too, but I didn't know these things beforehand. They also have no cashback at all with the secured one.

[Arnel villarreal 46]

Working all day and forget about my application process. To my surprise when I check my mailbox, receive mail from USCIS that they approved my green card, thank you lord. Finally after 9 months of waiting. Hang in there guys.

[Apfel 46]

For those of you who, like me, wonder why the processing times haven't updated since September 30 - they post all the data every 3 months in a very detailed spreadsheet

https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-form-i-485-application-adjustment-status

 

If you click the first link, you can see how many applications each field office received, approved, denied, and still has pending. It makes me feel like I know a bit more about the reason it's been so slow for us.

[DelilahBrz 48]

1 hour ago, Apfel said:

For those of you who, like me, wonder why the processing times haven't updated since September 30 - they post all the data every 3 months in a very detailed spreadsheet

https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-form-i-485-application-adjustment-status

 

If you click the first link, you can see how many applications each field office received, approved, denied, and still has pending. It makes me feel like I know a bit more about the reason it's been so slow for us.

I just don't understand why all of a sudden nothing is getting updated.