Temporary Green Card issues, Real ID and dealing with bureaucracy

[Kris & Crystal 47]

Hi All,

 

I travelled to the US on the 21st of November 2019 and activated my CR-1 visa, so I thought I'd give a list of my experiences and issues thus far.

 

• Paid the immigrant fee a month before I travelled.
• The CBP officer at LAX didn't know what type of visa CR-1/IR-1 was -- guessing he was new -- he flipped through a little book/guide, called a few people but no luck. He had to get someone up from secondary. I chatted with the guy for about 30 to 40 minutes holding up the line until the secondary guy arrived. Went to secondary with him for 10 minutes and everything was good. Had to explain to the secondary guy that I didn't have a physical packet and that it was all digital.
• Social Security Card was printed on the 25th of November and I received it in the mail a couple of days later. Only issue was the address omitted the Apartment number, despite it being correct on my DS-260.
  • I went to the social security office to try and get this fixed and create an online account but I was told to come back with a Green Card or a California licence or ID.
  • So apparently what I had was sufficent to get a social security card, but not sufficent to change the address or create an online account for whatever odd reason.
  • My wife was with me also to get the name on her card changed, they were a bit sniffy and obstructionist with the Scottish Marriage Certificate she used as the name change document but eventually accepted it after a bit of pushing from me.
• Went to the DMV to try and get a Real ID, after a few attempts I got someone who would accept the MRIV with a stamp as an identity document. Not received the Real ID yet so there could still be issues. Also they scutinised the Scottish Marriage certificate again when my wife was changing the name on her licence.
• I have a conditional job offer from the State of California, when filling out USCIS Form I-9 they were initially a bit reluctant to accept the temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV) in the passport. I was able to deal with this by linking to the USCIS site. Then I also had to explain that the 'IV Expires On' date field on the visa wasn't the visa expiry date.
• Still waiting on the Green Card, the last action taken was on the 4th of December 2019 with a status of 'In Process'

 

I wish things were a bit more joined up. That the bureaucracies and civil servants and administrators were more knowledgable and shared information:

• They really don't seem to like Temporary Green Cards.
• A few people got K1 mixed up with CR-1/IR-1 and seemed to think I also needed an I-94.
• It might be worth changing the 'IV Expires On' date field to something more descriptive.

[Loren Y 2,755]

Not to burst your bubble, but you're just getting your toes wet. You have yet to see how messed up the bureaucracy is in good old USA.

[Kris & Crystal 47]

17 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Not to burst your bubble, but you're just getting your toes wet. You have yet to see how messed up the bureaucracy is in good old USA.

Part of me thought the US would have the more modern, dynamic and efficent bureaucracy and civil service, especially when compared to the UK. It's weird that it's the other way around.

[shaolincrane 69]

On 2/7/2020 at 9:30 PM, Kris & Crystal said:

Part of me thought the US would have the more modern, dynamic and efficent bureaucracy and civil service, especially when compared to the UK. It's weird that it's the other way around.

Too many people are getting their pockets lined with the current system for anything to change any time soon.

[igoyougoduke 1,656]

On 2/7/2020 at 9:12 PM, Loren Y said:

Not to burst your bubble, but you're just getting your toes wet. You have yet to see how messed up the bureaucracy is in good old USA.

if one thinks Bureaucracy is different in any country, than i have bridge to sell

[Kris & Crystal 47]

For reference I received my California Real ID yesterday.

 

Last update on the Green Card was on the 4th of December. I've been in the US for about 99 days so far.

 

The bureaucracy I dealt with in Scotland/UK was different, or it felt different. Faster, more accepting of electronic and online stuff, etc.

[Fr8dog 312]

On 2/8/2020 at 12:30 AM, Kris & Crystal said:

Part of me thought the US would have the more modern, dynamic and efficent bureaucracy and civil service, especially when compared to the UK. It's weird that it's the other way around.

Remember how "great" and "organized" the EU was? Well, that was only 23 countries without a legal federal oversight, here you have 50 states with a federal government.

 

Civil servants are the same all over the world, the know what they know and are not willing to look for an option to make it work. All they have to do is be able to read the instructions that go with the SAVE system, but very few are willing to that as it requires them to get up and walk. Actually it's even simpler for your case as the CR-1 is a standard option they can select.