I have no idea where to start......

[Texanbybirth 0]

Please help me. I've read the guides but am still quite confused. My fiancee just came over from Canada on June 9th with his K-1 visa. What do we do now? We need to know about his SSN, his driver's license, his EAD, his AOS, and all of the misc ####### to go with. What should we file for first? I also see that the fees are going to increase as of July 30th. If we go ahead and get married and get this all rolling will we end up having to send in extra money if it's still in process or what? HELP HELP HELP!!!

[YuAndDan 153]

First thing to do is get the SSN, the SSA will issue one to a K-1 only during the first 75 days of the I-94 in the passport, after that EAD or Green-card will be needed to get the SSN.

Marry, then file for AOS, and file for EAD is you want to work. AP is only needed if you want to travel home for a visit while waiting for the green-card, so AP is optional.

Do this ASAP, the fee to file AOS, goes up July 30.

Again the guides are well written, and straight forward.

[Mephys 2]

First breathe!

Ok

SSN: hes a guy so no bothering with name change. The suggested waiting time before applying is about 2 weeks so go to the SSA office, so wait after June 23rd.

Marriage : Get it done ASAP so that once you receive your marriage certificate you can send his AOS/EAD/AP package. I dont know in what state you are, but in some state they require the SSN to get the marriage license, but in Michigan it was only for the USC, as a foreigner i needed only to show my passport with my Visa in it. I did the SSN after to have my married name on it

AOS/EAD/AP: You can prepare the forms now and just complete after you get married with the marriage certificate. SSN is not required so if you obtain it before you can put it in there but if you dont have it by then its not a big deal.

Before July 30 AOS is 325$+70$ biometrics fee = 395$ form I-485

EAD highly recommend because it is used for more than just be able to work 180$ and form I-765

AP is not necessary, I did not personnally file for it but its form I-131 and 170$

After July 30 its gonna be 1010$ for AOS but EAD and AP fees are waived.

I personnally think you can make it before July 30 Good luck

And congrats on the 2 of you being together

Edited June 13, 2007 by Mephys

[featherB 1]

So long as you file for AOS before the fee increases, then you won't have to send in extra money, so don't worry about that.

The info really is all there in the guides. Wait until your fiance's been here at least two weeks (but less than 75 days, because he won't be allowed an SSN when his I-94's about to expire) before applying for his SSN, because if you go sooner than that, most likely you'll discover (like I did) that they can't verify his details in the system, and if they try to process the application at that point, it will take MUCH longer to get his SSN. Info on how to apply is here - just take the time to read through it, it's all pretty straightforward. Print out the info that's linked to on there, as well as the form, and take it to the SSA when you go to apply (or when he goes - you don't need to be there) along with all the required documents (passport & visa & I-94) - you might need to explain their own rules to them and show them that K-1s ARE authorised to get an SSN if they don't know their own procedures!!

As for all the AOS stuff... relax, take time to read the guides, and come back to ask about any specific points you're having trouble with. But again, it's all pretty self-explanatory, you just need to digest the information. Did he get all his vaccinations completed before/at his medical for the K-1? If he's still missing any, he'll need to get them now - and either way, he'll need to get an I-693a (vaccination supplement) completed by a civil surgeon here. Basically that means transferring over the vaccination info from the worksheet that was (hopefully) given to him at his medical in Canada... the I-693a will be completed by the civil surgeon and sealed in an envelope, which will need to be included with the AOS package.

Does your fiance want to be able to work before he gets his green card (could take some time)? If so, he'll need to apply for EAD (form I-765), which can be sent with the I-485. If he wants to be able to leave the country (and be allowed back in!) before getting his green card, he'll need to get Advance Parole first - that's form I-131, which can also be sent in the package with the I-485. Both forms require their own supporting evidence to be sent - much the same as for the I-485, just read the instructions on the forms.

Honestly... it is all pretty straightforward, just a big heap of paperwork and documents that need to be gathered - a lot of it is the same stuff that you'll already have from the K-1 process, though. Just relax, enjoy having your fiance here at last (congrats!), read through all the info in the guides and (most definitely) the instructions on each of the forms.... you'll be fine!

When are you planning on getting married? You'll need to get hold of your marriage certificate (copies need to be sent with the AOS package), so it's worth finding out how long this will take. We had a civil ceremony and when we explained that we needed a copy of the certificate sooner rather than later, we were allowed to take the licence from the courthouse to the clerk's office ourselve straight after the ceremony, and they gave us a copy on the spot. You might be able to save time by doing something like that - just don't end up waiting weeks & weeks for it if you want to beat the fee increase deadline!

Good luck... come and ask about anything specific you're not sure about, people will be very willing to help!

(edited because I forgot to link to the social security info page!)

Edited June 13, 2007 by featherB

[Melyssa 0]

Please help me. I've read the guides but am still quite confused. My fiancee just came over from Canada on June 9th with his K-1 visa. What do we do now? We need to know about his SSN, his driver's license, his EAD, his AOS, and all of the misc ####### to go with. What should we file for first? I also see that the fees are going to increase as of July 30th. If we go ahead and get married and get this all rolling will we end up having to send in extra money if it's still in process or what? HELP HELP HELP!!!

I feel the same way, and I haven't even had my interview yet, lol

But I want to be prepared for when the time comes, especially since I more than likely won't have as much Internet access when I move...!

[Texanbybirth 0]

Thanks ever so much for all the replies. We will go and get his SSN the week of June 25th. We want to get married 07-07-07. Hopefully we can find a JP to marry us on a Saturday. Then we will send off his AOS paperwork and his EAD. We won't be needing an AP. Thanks so much for explaining what that is. You saved me some money. Another questions though, he didn't get to keep anything from his interview. They in fact kept my original paystubs, original income tax returns, my bank statements, and my letter from employer and bank. I did however make copies of the paystubs, income tax returns, my bank statements, and got my employer and bank to do two letters (so I have two originals). Can anyone tell me why they kept these instead of keeping the copies I sent with Dan? And when he goes for his interview will the copies be adequate? Also as far as the vaccination form. He has his vaccination record. Is this all he will need to have to take to the civil surgeon? This seriously has me ! LOL

[cellarlily 0]

Hello! Here's the order that I think might work best for people. We did it slightly askew (SSN after marriage) and it caused problems.

1. Obtain SSN at SS office 2-3 weeks after entry.

2. Before your wedding, gather all documents and fill out all the forms needed for the AOS package (including EAD and AP stuff if needed). Then all you'll need to worry about is making a copy of your marriage certificate and you can send it off. It takes a while to get all these documents together, in order, copied and triple-checked before you send it off, so it's best to do this as soon as you can. Use the guide as a checkoff list.

3. Inquire about county marriage courts. In Cook County, Illinois, we were able to obtain our marriage license on a Friday afternoon and come in to "marriage court" the following morning (Saturday) to stand in front of a judge and have him sign. The following Monday or Tuesday my husband went into the county office and obtained several certified copies of our marriage certificate for not much money. Marriage laws vary from state-to-state, so definitely read up and call your county office to see how they do it. Make sure you have the correct documentation, because we didn't at first. My husband had to go all the way back home to get a document (cannot remember what it is now).

4. Copy your marriage certificate (you do not need to send a certified copy, though some do just to be sure) and mail off AOS.

5. Sit back and enjoy married life as best as you can!

[featherB 1]

Thanks ever so much for all the replies. We will go and get his SSN the week of June 25th. We want to get married 07-07-07. Hopefully we can find a JP to marry us on a Saturday. Then we will send off his AOS paperwork and his EAD. We won't be needing an AP. Thanks so much for explaining what that is. You saved me some money. Another questions though, he didn't get to keep anything from his interview. They in fact kept my original paystubs, original income tax returns, my bank statements, and my letter from employer and bank. I did however make copies of the paystubs, income tax returns, my bank statements, and got my employer and bank to do two letters (so I have two originals). Can anyone tell me why they kept these instead of keeping the copies I sent with Dan? And when he goes for his interview will the copies be adequate? Also as far as the vaccination form. He has his vaccination record. Is this all he will need to have to take to the civil surgeon? This seriously has me ! LOL

When he went for his medical in Canada, did the doctor give him a form with a record of his vaccinations? They send a record (the DS-3025, I think it's called) of which vaccinations he's had done and which he still needs to the Consulate, but many of the clinics will give a copy to the, erm, 'victim' as well... which is very handy, because they can then present it to a civil surgeon in the US (speaking of which, you can find a list of local ones to you on the USCIS site, but people post recommendations on here too... I'll see if I can find the list that's been posted here for you) and, usually for a small-ish fee, the civil surgeon will transfer the details over to the I-693a... which you can then send with the AOS paperwork. That way you can save on getting a load of unnecessary vaccinations. From what I've read here, some civil surgeons might transfer the info direct from his Canadian vaccination records, but I wouldn't count on it... see if he's got the vaccination worksheet that was completed at his medical, that should do the trick!

As for the paperwork and documents you're talking about... if you're asking whether copies of stuff he took to his K-1 interview will be adequate for AOS (paystubs etc), I wouldn't worry about that too much - the things you'll need to send with the AOS packet are things like copies of birth certificates, passport biographical pages, the K-1 visa, the I-94, the NOA2 from the I-129F... hopefully things that you'll be able to get hold of quite easily - and of course the marriage certificate, that you should hopefully be able to get a copy of without too much of a delay if you explain why you need it sooner rather than later... it takes a while to get it all together, and it involves a fair bit of photocopying... but is all pretty straightforward, really!

[featherB 1]

(eek... meant to say as well, just review the instructions for the I-864, too - totally forgot to mention that one before!!)

[Mephys 2]

Hello! Here's the order that I think might work best for people. We did it slightly askew (SSN after marriage) and it caused problems.

1. Obtain SSN at SS office 2-3 weeks after entry.

2. Before your wedding, gather all documents and fill out all the forms needed for the AOS package (including EAD and AP stuff if needed). Then all you'll need to worry about is making a copy of your marriage certificate and you can send it off. It takes a while to get all these documents together, in order, copied and triple-checked before you send it off, so it's best to do this as soon as you can. Use the guide as a checkoff list.

3. Inquire about county marriage courts. In Cook County, Illinois, we were able to obtain our marriage license on a Friday afternoon and come in to "marriage court" the following morning (Saturday) to stand in front of a judge and have him sign. The following Monday or Tuesday my husband went into the county office and obtained several certified copies of our marriage certificate for not much money. Marriage laws vary from state-to-state, so definitely read up and call your county office to see how they do it. Make sure you have the correct documentation, because we didn't at first. My husband had to go all the way back home to get a document (cannot remember what it is now).

4. Copy your marriage certificate (you do not need to send a certified copy, though some do just to be sure) and mail off AOS.

5. Sit back and enjoy married life as best as you can!

Just wondering what kind of problems you went through because I did my SSN after I got married to have it in my married name and I went to the office in Elgin ( border of Dupage or Cook county, IL) and everything was fine

[featherB 1]

Hello! Here's the order that I think might work best for people. We did it slightly askew (SSN after marriage) and it caused problems.

1. Obtain SSN at SS office 2-3 weeks after entry.

2. Before your wedding, gather all documents and fill out all the forms needed for the AOS package (including EAD and AP stuff if needed). Then all you'll need to worry about is making a copy of your marriage certificate and you can send it off. It takes a while to get all these documents together, in order, copied and triple-checked before you send it off, so it's best to do this as soon as you can. Use the guide as a checkoff list.

3. Inquire about county marriage courts. In Cook County, Illinois, we were able to obtain our marriage license on a Friday afternoon and come in to "marriage court" the following morning (Saturday) to stand in front of a judge and have him sign. The following Monday or Tuesday my husband went into the county office and obtained several certified copies of our marriage certificate for not much money. Marriage laws vary from state-to-state, so definitely read up and call your county office to see how they do it. Make sure you have the correct documentation, because we didn't at first. My husband had to go all the way back home to get a document (cannot remember what it is now).

4. Copy your marriage certificate (you do not need to send a certified copy, though some do just to be sure) and mail off AOS.

5. Sit back and enjoy married life as best as you can!

Just wondering what kind of problems you went through because I did my SSN after I got married to have it in my married name and I went to the office in Elgin ( border of Dupage or Cook county, IL) and everything was fine

I think the problem that some people have had is that if they try and apply once they're married (particularly if they're women and trying to apply using their married name), they get told by ignorant SSA staff that once they're married, their K-1 is no longer valid, and they're therefore no longer eligible for an SSN... blah blah blah. At least, I've seen warnings about that before. Although I suppose that if the worst happened, they could always go back a few days later/to another office, and apply again, neglecting to mention that they're married, and using their maiden name... at least they'd get a number that way. I might be wrong though - I have it in my head that that's the big problem people have encountered, but I could be imagining things!

[Carlawarla 1]

You can apply for your SSN, and even change your name on your SS card after you're married, but the key thing to be aware of, is that you can not make ANY changes or apply for a card if you're within 2 weeks of your K-1 Visa expiring. So, if you came into the US, married soon after, and still have several months left on your visa, you can make changes.

In my situation, I married with just over a week left on my visa, and when I went back to get a name change on my card, it was denied, and they told me why. I remember, but can't link you at this time to the article that states this.

Carla

[Cassie 8]

Thanks ever so much for all the replies. We will go and get his SSN the week of June 25th. We want to get married 07-07-07. Hopefully we can find a JP to marry us on a Saturday. Then we will send off his AOS paperwork and his EAD. We won't be needing an AP. Thanks so much for explaining what that is. You saved me some money. Another questions though, he didn't get to keep anything from his interview. They in fact kept my original paystubs, original income tax returns, my bank statements, and my letter from employer and bank. I did however make copies of the paystubs, income tax returns, my bank statements, and got my employer and bank to do two letters (so I have two originals). Can anyone tell me why they kept these instead of keeping the copies I sent with Dan? And when he goes for his interview will the copies be adequate? Also as far as the vaccination form. He has his vaccination record. Is this all he will need to have to take to the civil surgeon? This seriously has me ! LOL

In my case, they kept what I gave them....so did Dan hand them the originals instead of the copies??

One thing I would like to say about the AP -- I know it costs money, but it saves a lot of time and aggravation if you have it in case of emergency. I thought about not applying for it because I knew at the time that my local office was zooming right along. I thank God every day I had it, because I ended up going home for almost a month when my mom was diagnosed with leukemia and started treatments. It was a relief not to have to scramble for an emergency AP (which I don't think I would have gotten anyways, seeing as my mom wasn't at the "weeks to live" stage). Just a thought.

[cellarlily 0]

Just wondering what kind of problems you went through because I did my SSN after I got married to have it in my married name and I went to the office in Elgin ( border of Dupage or Cook county, IL) and everything was fine

My husband went to a SSN office in Lakeview, turned in his application for a SSN, didn't put that he was married on the application but they asked him anyway. He didn't want to lie to the officer, so he said that, yes he was just married that weekend. The officer said "You are ineligible for a SSN because as soon as you got married, your K1 visa became null and void." He tried to explain that it didn't expire for over two months and as a K1 visa holder he should be eligible to apply for a SSN. She wouldn't have it and turned him away.

After speaking to some members here on the forum, they suggested he try a different SS office. He went to the one downtown instead and he had absolutely no problems. They didn't ask him about his marital status, and he didn't divulge and he received his card one or two weeks later.

SS offices are notorious for having misinformation and not uniform practices.