Filing AOS ASAP After POE

[blenheim 243]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to file AOS as soon as possible after my fiancee has his POE on a K1 visa. My fiancee and I will get married the day after he arrives in the US at a city hall with just my parents attending as we really need EAD/AP asap. My concern is evidence of a bonafide relationship for the AOS application. I read conflicting evidence on here that front loading an AOS application with evidence is wanted and some say it's ok to save for interview. I'm wondering what the minimum evidence I can send in is without getting an RFE. Can I just send in one piece of evidence of him being on my will/bank account and a letter as testifying by a witness that we moved in together and were married? It will take me weeks to get him on my lease and to get him health insurance... so I can show in interview, but not if I want to file AOS asap.

 

Any guidance on how I can file AOS as soon as possible after POE and then marriage would be great appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited February 16, 2018 by blenheim

[Catseal 268]

Hi there, we did exactly that for the same reasons (except that there was a weekend in between, so we had to wait until Monday to get married). We did not include any evidence yet either, but accumulating it over the next months should be fine as far as we read on Visajourney. 

 

Two things:

 

In case you do have the time, go and get your SSN in the morning before the wedding. We did not have time to do that and read mixed reports about this and assumed it would be possible to do it after; in our case, it wasn't. They asked me if I already married (which I obviously answered truthfully) and refused to give me an SSN based on me no longer being a K1, since I got married. They made clear that after they get informed about the marriage, they can no longer give out an SSN ( I got a denial letter stating they could not verify the immigrant document - that was the K1 visa  - I submitted as evidence of my lawful alien status).They could not give me an answer as to what my current status is now, but after talking to several people in the office it became clear that I would not be issued an SSN before I got through AOS (I do hope to be able to go back once my EAD arrives).

On the EAD form you can ask for the issuance of an SSN along with the card (don't remember the exact wording) which we didn't as we were under the impression we could go by the next day; if you don't have the time to go before the wedding, I would suggest ticking that box though.

 

Also, in case you haven't done this, I would strongly suggest looking into how long it takes the city hall to give you the copies of the marriage certificate. We changed our initial location because we could reduce the wait by doing so from 2-3 weeks to same-day issuance. You will need at least one copy of the marriage certificate (obviously) for AOS filing, so getting it back the same day was a priority for us because we wanted to send off the package the same day (which worked out fine).

 

I can't say much more about AOS filing as a whole since we are also waiting to see if we did everything correctly, but I hope this helped.
All the best on your journey.

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Catseal

[blenheim 243]

7 hours ago, Catseal said:

Hi there, we did exactly that for the same reasons (except that there was a weekend in between, so we had to wait until Monday to get married). We did not include any evidence yet either, but accumulating it over the next months should be fine as far as we read on Visajourney. 

 

Two things:

 

In case you do have the time, go and get your SSN in the morning before the wedding. We did not have time to do that and read mixed reports about this and assumed it would be possible to do it after; in our case, it wasn't. They asked me if I already married (which I obviously answered truthfully) and refused to give me an SSN based on me no longer being a K1, since I got married. They made clear that after they get informed about the marriage, they can no longer give out an SSN ( I got a denial letter stating they could not verify the immigrant document - that was the K1 visa  - I submitted as evidence of my lawful alien status).They could not give me an answer as to what my current status is now, but after talking to several people in the office it became clear that I would not be issued an SSN before I got through AOS (I do hope to be able to go back once my EAD arrives).

On the EAD form you can ask for the issuance of an SSN along with the card (don't remember the exact wording) which we didn't as we were under the impression we could go by the next day; if you don't have the time to go before the wedding, I would suggest ticking that box though.

 

Also, in case you haven't done this, I would strongly suggest looking into how long it takes the city hall to give you the copies of the marriage certificate. We changed our initial location because we could reduce the wait by doing so from 2-3 weeks to same-day issuance. You will need at least one copy of the marriage certificate (obviously) for AOS filing, so getting it back the same day was a priority for us because we wanted to send off the package the same day (which worked out fine).

 

I can't say much more about AOS filing as a whole since we are also waiting to see if we did everything correctly, but I hope this helped.
All the best on your journey.

 

Thank you so much for all of this helpful info!! Especially about SSN first and confirming if we can get a certified copy same day. We will do apply for SSN upon arrival then as where I live you have to apply for a marriage license on a business day before getting married anyway. 

Wishing you a swift and painless AOS process!!

Edited February 16, 2018 by blenheim

[Sumariatigz 2]

10 hours ago, Catseal said:

Hi there, we did exactly that for the same reasons (except that there was a weekend in between, so we had to wait until Monday to get married). We did not include any evidence yet either, but accumulating it over the next months should be fine as far as we read on Visajourney. 

 

Two things:

 

In case you do have the time, go and get your SSN in the morning before the wedding. We did not have time to do that and read mixed reports about this and assumed it would be possible to do it after; in our case, it wasn't. They asked me if I already married (which I obviously answered truthfully) and refused to give me an SSN based on me no longer being a K1, since I got married. They made clear that after they get informed about the marriage, they can no longer give out an SSN ( I got a denial letter stating they could not verify the immigrant document - that was the K1 visa  - I submitted as evidence of my lawful alien status).They could not give me an answer as to what my current status is now, but after talking to several people in the office it became clear that I would not be issued an SSN before I got through AOS (I do hope to be able to go back once my EAD arrives).

On the EAD form you can ask for the issuance of an SSN along with the card (don't remember the exact wording) which we didn't as we were under the impression we could go by the next day; if you don't have the time to go before the wedding, I would suggest ticking that box though.

 

Also, in case you haven't done this, I would strongly suggest looking into how long it takes the city hall to give you the copies of the marriage certificate. We changed our initial location because we could reduce the wait by doing so from 2-3 weeks to same-day issuance. You will need at least one copy of the marriage certificate (obviously) for AOS filing, so getting it back the same day was a priority for us because we wanted to send off the package the same day (which worked out fine).

 

I can't say much more about AOS filing as a whole since we are also waiting to see if we did everything correctly, but I hope this helped.
All the best on your journey.

 

I got my SSN after we got married n it wasn't problem. I changed my last name too. Just bring your pasport, I-94 n married certificate to SSN office 

[Catseal 268]

On 2/16/2018 at 8:58 AM, Sumariatigz said:

I got my SSN after we got married n it wasn't problem. I changed my last name too. Just bring your pasport, I-94 n married certificate to SSN office 

We did all that, they refused. Some offices apparently handle it differently, the one I went to was very clear about the fact that they would not issue an SSN after marriage because they can't categorize me as K1 anymore, nor categorize me in any way (see above where I wrote what the denial letter stated), and that those offices which do give out SSNs after marriage are not following their internal rules. We argued with them for a while. If you find me any solid reliable source that can serve as proof that this is, in fact, wrong, be my guest, I'd appreciate it and I'd be more than happy to go back and bring that forward. Sadly, we did not find anything about them being wrong on this matter except people on here who say it worked for them, but obviously, that's not valid proof we can bring forward. So yeah, it might work for people, but it also might not, depending on your office and how strictly they follow these rules.

 

(I do want to add that despite not getting an SSN, I had no problem getting health care, into the lease nor a bank account, so I decided to let it go for now unless someone can point me to said proof that could help show that I am entitled to get one.)

Edited February 18, 2018 by Catseal

[Sumariatigz 2]

51 minutes ago, Catseal said:

We did all that, they refused. Some offices apparently handle it differently, the one I went to was very clear about the fact that they would not issue an SSN after marriage because they can't categorize me as K1 anymore, nor categorize me in any way (see above where I wrote what the denial letter stated), and that those offices which do give out SSNs after marriage are not following their internal rules. We argued with them for a while. If you find me any solid reliable source that can serve as proof that this is, in fact, wrong, be my guest, I'd appreciate it and I'd be more than happy to go back and bring that forward. Sadly, we did not find anything about them being wrong on this matter except people on here who say it worked for them, but obviously, that's not valid proof we can bring forward. So yeah, it might work for people, but it also might not, depending on your office and how strictly they follow these rules.

 

(I do want to add that despite not getting an SSN, I had no problem getting health care, into the lease nor a bank account, so I decided to let it go for now unless someone can point me to said proof that could help show that I am entitled to get one.)

Which state do you live?

[Catseal 268]

Just now, Sumariatigz said:

Which state do you live?

Washington

[Sumariatigz 2]

8 minutes ago, Catseal said:

Washington

It's weird because u are married u can't apply for ssc. When u apply was your I-94 expired? 

[Catseal 268]

30 minutes ago, Sumariatigz said:

It's weird because u are married u can't apply for ssc. When u apply was your I-94 expired? 

No, of course not - as I said, we married right after I entered (that's what this thread is about, after all). It's not weird if you read what I wrote, it seems to be the way the Social Security Offices handle this officially as per their rules according to the one here in Seattle, and some offices just enforce it more thoroughly than others (as I mentioned, happy to be corrected on this, we weren't able to find any proof for the contrary).

[javadown2 308]

I think you have to wait approximately 2-3 weeks after your POE to apply for the SSN initially (that's what we did). I think you can file SSN with the EAD, but you've already mentioned that, so no new info. I think it's best to just wait the 2-3 weeks and get the initial SSN then get married and file AOS. But I understand the rush because it takes so long to process even an EAD and AOS. When we filed my wife's AOS with the AP it got processed before we got an AP approved, about 3 months total. But we live in Spokane WA, not as busy here as it is in Seattle.

[Sumariatigz 2]

11 hours ago, Catseal said:

No, of course not - as I said, we married right after I entered (that's what this thread is about, after all). It's not weird if you read what I wrote, it seems to be the way the Social Security Offices handle this officially as per their rules according to the one here in Seattle, and some offices just enforce it more thoroughly than others (as I mentioned, happy to be corrected on this, we weren't able to find any proof for the contrary).

I did read. I said weird cos I applied for SSN after we got married. Yeah... Maybe different state different rules. I live in California.

[Catseal 268]

6 hours ago, javadown2 said:

I think you have to wait approximately 2-3 weeks after your POE to apply for the SSN initially (that's what we did). I think you can file SSN with the EAD, but you've already mentioned that, so no new info. I think it's best to just wait the 2-3 weeks and get the initial SSN then get married and file AOS. But I understand the rush because it takes so long to process even an EAD and AOS. When we filed my wife's AOS with the AP it got processed before we got an AP approved, about 3 months total. But we live in Spokane WA, not as busy here as it is in Seattle.

Just to be clear, did I understand this correctly: your whole AOS took 3 months? That's amazing! I thought that was the minimum for AP/EAD (mostly it seems to take people longer for that even though). But yeah, Spokane is a bit less busy probably.

[javadown2 308]

36 minutes ago, Catseal said:

Just to be clear, did I understand this correctly: your whole AOS took 3 months? That's amazing! I thought that was the minimum for AP/EAD (mostly it seems to take people longer for that even though). But yeah, Spokane is a bit less busy probably.

Yep, it only took 3 months, her interview was December 5th, we sent packet on September 10th 2017, she got her green card on the 8th of December!  crazy fast, but now the 2 year wait. 

[blenheim 243]

@javadown2 @Dee elle @Catseal / anyone reading

 

I'm a bit confused as how to include evidence of a bonadide marriage if I file for AOS as soon as we enter? It seems like a requirement of i-130 no? It's listed as a requirement on the i-130 guide on here.

[blenheim 243]

1 minute ago, Dee elle said:

You will have only a little when you file the paperwork but a whole lot more by the time you have the interview

Alright! Sorry for repeating myself again a few weeks later haha. I'm really paranoid about getting an RFE for this one.