APRIL 2020 AOS FILERS

[Rich1974 19]

11 minutes ago, YvetteS said:

Thanks so much for sharing this. I have called my SSA over 5 times and every time they give me the same answer that they cannot issue me a SSN at this time. Its so incredibly frustrating. I am going to call again tomorrow and see what happens.

My I94 also expires mid June.

I got here early March and tried to get an SSN, I got part way and there was an issue with the K1 visa on the system showing as a work visa and they couldn’t process, they referred me to USCIS and the ‘SAVE’ system and it was resolved, the next day I went back to sort and the offices had all closed for Covid-19....I called and they told me to send my docs in and then I got a response saying I hadn’t included any docs, called again and they told me they weren’t able to issue through postal applications and I had to wait for the offices to re-open, I tried to schedule an appointment with several offices and they wouldn’t see me....i now have to submit my AOS without having an SSN so haven’t been able to sign up for medical insurance, savings account, drivers license etc....so frustrating, I’m just hoping I get it through the truest on the AOS form....

[PatSquared 57]

6 hours ago, YvetteS said:

Thanks so much for sharing this. I have called my SSA over 5 times and every time they give me the same answer that they cannot issue me a SSN at this time. Its so incredibly frustrating. I am going to call again tomorrow and see what happens.

My I94 also expires mid June.

Hi @YvetteS,

 

Sorry to hear about the pushback you’ve been getting. 😕 Have you tried contacting other offices in your area? The office my husband and I chose is actually an hour away from where we live, but it’s small (I assume they may not be as bombarded with inquiries as larger offices) and I’ve had good experiences dealing with the employees there.

 

If you have a specific reason for needing your SSN right now (pending job offer, health insurance, etc), they may hear you out. Best of luck!

[PatSquared 57]

6 hours ago, Rich1974 said:

I got here early March and tried to get an SSN, I got part way and there was an issue with the K1 visa on the system showing as a work visa and they couldn’t process, they referred me to USCIS and the ‘SAVE’ system and it was resolved, the next day I went back to sort and the offices had all closed for Covid-19....I called and they told me to send my docs in and then I got a response saying I hadn’t included any docs, called again and they told me they weren’t able to issue through postal applications and I had to wait for the offices to re-open, I tried to schedule an appointment with several offices and they wouldn’t see me....i now have to submit my AOS without having an SSN so haven’t been able to sign up for medical insurance, savings account, drivers license etc....so frustrating, I’m just hoping I get it through the truest on the AOS form....

Hi @Rich1974,

 

Ugh, I’m sorry. Such awful timing!

 

We were thankfully able to get my husband health insurance and add him to my bank accounts and credit cards, despite him not having an SSN right now. The one thing he wouldn’t be able to get without an SSN is a drivers license. We live in Texas and an SSN is required to apply for one here. My husband is also from the U.K. and has been using his U.K. drivers license, but it’s only valid for 90 days (so it expires the same day as his I-94).

 

You may have brought this up already, but if an SSN is a requirement for you to be added to your spouse’s insurance, you might be able to call back and present this as a need dire enough to grant you an in-person appointment... especially since you’ve already applied for your SSN and your prior issue has been resolved and verified!

 

And I’m curious, when your SSN case was put in the SAVE system, what did it say once things were resolved? Our case said “Case Returned to Agency” by yesterday afternoon, so we’re wondering if that means that things were settled.

Edited May 14, 2020 by PatSquared

[taximan683 75]

9 hours ago, Bluee said:

Based on my current experience being rejected the first submission for my daughter, a separate I-864 (can be a copy of K1's) and a separate I-944 is a need for K2.

I was rejected for the same reason. When I resubmitted, I put my daughter's name first on the second 864 and her mom, the K1 as additional family. Did I do it right? I'm waiting for NOA1 again.

[Viking 142]

2 hours ago, PatSquared said:

Hi @Rich1974,

 

Ugh, I’m sorry. Such awful timing!

 

We were thankfully able to get my husband health insurance and add him to my bank accounts and credit cards, despite him not having an SSN right now. The one thing he wouldn’t be able to get without an SSN is a drivers license. We live in Texas and an SSN is required to apply for one here. My husband is also from the U.K. and has been using his U.K. drivers license, but it’s only valid for 90 days (so it expires the same day as his I-94).

 

You may have brought this up already, but if an SSN is a requirement for you to be added to your spouse’s insurance, you might be able to call back and present this as a need dire enough to grant you an in-person appointment... especially since you’ve already applied for your SSN and your prior issue has been resolved and verified!

 

And I’m curious, when your SSN case was put in the SAVE system, what did it say once things were resolved? Our case said “Case Returned to Agency” by yesterday afternoon, so we’re wondering if that means that things were settled.

@PatSquared Case Returned to Agency” - wondering if that means that things were settled.

 

I had to chase up for several weeks- there was discrepancies between I 94 data and it took a few weeks before being sorted out. despite 5 x  “Case Returned to Agency” the Social secutity office could not see the correct data in their internal system .. it was frustrating - but it sorted itself out within a month or so. 

[Viking 142]

11 hours ago, Tmac88 said:

Our NOA receipt texts were just received after 29 days! Money still in my account but I assume it will be taken tomorrow. 

congrats

[taximan683 75]

12 hours ago, AC&MH said:

So am I to understand that a separate I864 is needed for a K2 minor child? I am sure I read somewhere that only 1 was required...Feedback please....

Yes, a separate one is required. I was rejected for not including a separate one. It appears that it would just be a copy of the one you filled out for the K-1. I resubmitted after rejection and I put the K2 (child) name first and the K1(wife) as family member I'm also sponsoring. I re-read the instructions now and I'm afraid I'll be rejected again. Someone else on a thread said that the K2's 864 can just be a copy of the K1's, so maybe I messed up again? But, yeah, definitely include a second 864 for the K2. Good luck. Make sure you include 2 of each form, and I would attach copies of all the evidence twice if I did it all over again. I'm waiting...

Edited May 14, 2020 by taximan683

[PatSquared 57]

8 minutes ago, Viking said:

@PatSquared Case Returned to Agency” - wondering if that means that things were settled.

 

I had to chase up for several weeks- there was discrepancies between I 94 data and it took a few weeks before being sorted out. despite 5 x  “Case Returned to Agency” the Social secutity office could not see the correct data in their internal system .. it was frustrating - but it sorted itself out within a month or so. 

@Viking - Thanks for the info!

 

The “Case Returned to Agency” update popped up again when I logged into the SAVE system. My husband just called the office and it seemed like they couldn’t see the corrected data on their end yet either. We’re just crossing our fingers and hoping that it doesn’t take too long to sort out,  since his I-94 will expire in a month. 

[RCable 75]

11 hours ago, Tmac88 said:

Our NOA receipt texts were just received after 29 days! Money still in my account but I assume it will be taken tomorrow. 

Yay! Congrats!

It gives me a little hope. We are at 22 days now and waiting. We didn't know about sending the I-131 along with the I-485 package. So now we have to wait for our NOA1 so we can file that. We've had a trip planned forever in October, but I don't know if we'll get the Advanced Parole in time now. (We had originally started on the CR1 visa path, we got DQ at NVC, but Canada had a backlog of 4-6 months for the interviews BEFORE COVID-19. So, we decided to switch to AOS so we wouldn't have to separate even more. If nothing had happened, we would have had the CR1 around August)

This whole wait is tough. For everyone 

[taximan683 75]

23 minutes ago, taximan683 said:

Yes, a separate one is required. I was rejected for not including a separate one. It appears that it would just be a copy of the one you filled out for the K-1. I resubmitted after rejection and I put the K2 (child) name first and the K1(wife) as family member I'm also sponsoring. I re-read the instructions now and I'm afraid I'll be rejected again. Someone else on a thread said that the K2's 864 can just be a copy of the K1's, so maybe I messed up again? But, yeah, definitely include a second 864 for the K2. Good luck. Make sure you include 2 of each form, and I would attach copies of all the evidence twice if I did it all over again. I'm waiting...

But my daughter is the primary on the K2 visa. Maybe I did it right? If I get rejected again, that would be the third time. I was also rejected for using the 2021 expiration date form because they changed to the one that expires in 2020. Ugh, frustrating

[SeanDowney0309 47]

Hi all, 

 

We are putting our AOS package together and hoping to send off this weekend. I have a quick question regarding writing my name and A number. I know this should be written on all additional supporting evidence...but should I also write my name and A number on all photocopies too? Like the photocopies of my birth certificate, passport etc?

 

Thanks 

[PatSquared 57]

8 minutes ago, SeanDowney0309 said:

Hi all, 

 

We are putting our AOS package together and hoping to send off this weekend. I have a quick question regarding writing my name and A number. I know this should be written on all additional supporting evidence...but should I also write my name and A number on all photocopies too? Like the photocopies of my birth certificate, passport etc?

 

Thanks 

Didn’t type/write my husband’s name and A number on the additional evidence that we provided! Just the main applications. All went well and our applications were accepted.

[eabrophy 25]

17 hours ago, PatSquared said:

Also, I assume there may be some folks here who have been wanting to apply for their SSN and haven't been able to do so due to the COVID-related office closures, so just wanted to share my husband's recent experience.

 

We read a post here on VJ written by someone who managed to secure a face-to-face appointment at their local SSA office by calling that office directly and explaining why they needed to apply for their SSN now. I believe they needed an SSN because the USC spouse needed it for their stimulus check (not really sure about the details anymore). Their office determined that this was a "dire need" and allowed them to come in for an appointment.

 

My husband arrived in the US on March 16 (the day before all of the SSA offices closed), so his I-94 is expiring in about a month (June 12). We knew that if we didn't apply soon, he would have to wait until his EAD arrives to get his number. We decided to try our luck and contact an SSA office that had a direct number listed (many offices only have the national hotline listed). We decided to go for the office where I applied for my new SSN card after I got naturalized years ago because I had a really good experience there, and they thankfully had their own number listed!

 

He was put in touch with that office's field manager, who then asked him a bunch of questions regarding his immigration status as well as questions that would help her determine if he had a dire need. She explained that she would normally only grant a face-to-face appointment to someone who had a pending job offer, etc... but when my husband explained that he was self-employed back in his home country and was hoping to establish an LLC here, that was something she started to consider. She ultimately called back and set up a face-to-face appointment for him. He went to the office this morning and had a really pleasant experience!

 

When he showed up for his appointment, he was escorted inside by a guard and the field manager who spoke to him over the phone was the same person who processed him. She managed to find him in their system, but said that there was some sort of "mismatch" that was popping up. My husband asked her to clarify, but she said that she wasn't so sure what was causing the mismatch herself. She sent off a manual verification request and gave my husband a letter acknowledging that he had applied for an SSN on this day but they needed to verify the documents he gave. She told him that no further action was needed on his part and that his SSN card should arrive in 10 business days.

 

The letter, however, said that this verification process may take up to 4 weeks. I've read about people's experiences with manual verification here and know that it can sometimes take just a matter of days or it can take much longer than the estimated 4 weeks. We checked his case status on the online SAVE system this afternoon and it already had an update saying "Case Returned to Agency." The description stated "SAVE has returned your case to Maryland - Social Security Administration, SSA (Single Signon) (WS37)." We're hoping this a good sign that means DHS verified everything and SSA can now move forward with processing his number. We will call our local office to check tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

 

We're hoping that it gets processed soon and that he *is* able to receive the card within two weeks... before the I-94 expires.

 

Just thought I'd share that this option existed! Getting a face-to-face appointment is really up to your local field office manager's descretion. There's a good chance that they may not consider the needs you present to be dire enough, but contacting them may still be worth a shot.

This is interesting! We also called out local office and were granted an in-person interview because the K-1 has such a short window of time to be able to get it. Despite him going in about a month after arriving, the woman told my husband that they would need to manually verify as well. Unfortunately, they didn't give him any paper or case number to be able to check on it but when we just called the office to check in on the case, he said it could take 4-6 weeks to get the card but there's nothing to worry about (it's been 3 weeks so far). I wonder if DHS is just extremely backed up due to the virus...

[YvetteS 178]

4 hours ago, PatSquared said:

Hi @YvetteS,

 

Sorry to hear about the pushback you’ve been getting. 😕 Have you tried contacting other offices in your area? The office my husband and I chose is actually an hour away from where we live, but it’s small (I assume they may not be as bombarded with inquiries as larger offices) and I’ve had good experiences dealing with the employees there.

 

If you have a specific reason for needing your SSN right now (pending job offer, health insurance, etc), they may hear you out. Best of luck!

I tried calling and explaining I need it for health insurance and they didn't care. I live in a bit of a remote area and my closest office is an hour away! My second closest office is 4 hours away, so that just makes things more challenging in a way.

[YvetteS 178]

10 hours ago, Rich1974 said:

I got here early March and tried to get an SSN, I got part way and there was an issue with the K1 visa on the system showing as a work visa and they couldn’t process, they referred me to USCIS and the ‘SAVE’ system and it was resolved, the next day I went back to sort and the offices had all closed for Covid-19....I called and they told me to send my docs in and then I got a response saying I hadn’t included any docs, called again and they told me they weren’t able to issue through postal applications and I had to wait for the offices to re-open, I tried to schedule an appointment with several offices and they wouldn’t see me....i now have to submit my AOS without having an SSN so haven’t been able to sign up for medical insurance, savings account, drivers license etc....so frustrating, I’m just hoping I get it through the truest on the AOS form....

I'm so sorry to hear that. Truly frustrating. I have also applied for SSN through AOS... but if the offices re-open soon I might try and get one at the office.. not sure if that will mean I end up with 2 SSN's, but I will just explain the situation and see what they say.