Interview to USA entry

[DrIdu 50]

Hey y'all. Hopefully this update helps someone down the line. 

 

Last week: 27 OCT 2020

DH had his interview and was approved that day. 

Interview review is here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=365540

 

The follow day his visa was issued. And arrived the next day after that: 29 OCT 2020. 

 

We promptly paid the the final USCIS fee (about $200-ish bucks). This is paid directly to USCIS (when you get to this stage the website states you should pay before entering the US, however if you don't, they will send you an invoice in the mail and it will inevitably delay your GC and SSC, if you opted to get one at the petitioning stage... we did). 

 

Booked a flight from London to Kentucky, by way of Chicago. We did this because we already know Chicago's immigration vibe, so it would be familiar for Mr. Idu. 

 

The flight was on Sunday, 01 Nov. 

London airport - bit of issue with bag weight, easily solved, they were a bit confused with what to do with visa... however it was sorted and one of the officers finally came 'round and handled it all. Please note that IR-1s (and I'm assuming CR-1s) will have two exceptions listed on your visa sticker: 1-for the travel ban on working in the US, 2-for the travel ban on immigrating. They are plainly written at the bottom of the visa entry sticker. Mr.Idu also had documentation to prove our relationship, but wasn't asked for it. London done and dusted. 

 

Chicago airport - easy peasy. Went through immigration smoothly. They stamped his passport and wrote the a-number again. 'Welcome to America'. 

 

The rest is history. We are reunited! Finally...after a delay over the summer due to covid-19. 

 

Good luck to everyone! Things moved very quickly for us in the last few days. So hopefully that same energy will be the same for y'all. 

 

Now we're just awaiting the GC and SSC. 

[JFH 12,189]

***moved from 'IR-1/CR-1 spouse visa process and procedures to 'Moving to the US'***

 

Thank you for providing an update on the 'COVID-style' immigration journey - I am sure this will be useful information for others who are immigrating during these unusual times. 

[MBKT 21]

Great to hear Chicago was a good experience, ORD will also be my port of entry. When visiting I never have any issues, but makes me feel a bit better to hear it was pretty smooth

[Raza329 22]

On 11/2/2020 at 6:06 AM, DrIdu said:

 

We promptly paid the the final USCIS fee (about $200-ish bucks). This is paid directly to USCIS (when you get to this stage the website states you should pay before entering the US, however if you don't, they will send you an invoice in the mail and it will inevitably delay your GC and SSC, if you opted to get one at the petitioning stage... we did). 

 

 

 

Paid immigration fee before arrival on 21st September (arrived 24th september) and still waiting for my SSN and green card.. 🤫🤫

[Ohana2020 5]

On 11/2/2020 at 6:06 AM, DrIdu said:

Hey y'all. Hopefully this update helps someone down the line. 

 

Last week: 27 OCT 2020

DH had his interview and was approved that day. 

Interview review is here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=365540

 

The follow day his visa was issued. And arrived the next day after that: 29 OCT 2020. 

 

We promptly paid the the final USCIS fee (about $200-ish bucks). This is paid directly to USCIS (when you get to this stage the website states you should pay before entering the US, however if you don't, they will send you an invoice in the mail and it will inevitably delay your GC and SSC, if you opted to get one at the petitioning stage... we did). 

 

Booked a flight from London to Kentucky, by way of Chicago. We did this because we already know Chicago's immigration vibe, so it would be familiar for Mr. Idu. 

 

The flight was on Sunday, 01 Nov. 

London airport - bit of issue with bag weight, easily solved, they were a bit confused with what to do with visa... however it was sorted and one of the officers finally came 'round and handled it all. Please note that IR-1s (and I'm assuming CR-1s) will have two exceptions listed on your visa sticker: 1-for the travel ban on working in the US, 2-for the travel ban on immigrating. They are plainly written at the bottom of the visa entry sticker. Mr.Idu also had documentation to prove our relationship, but wasn't asked for it. London done and dusted. 

 

Chicago airport - easy peasy. Went through immigration smoothly. They stamped his passport and wrote the a-number again. 'Welcome to America'. 

 

The rest is history. We are reunited! Finally...after a delay over the summer due to covid-19. 

 

Good luck to everyone! Things moved very quickly for us in the last few days. So hopefully that same energy will be the same for y'all. 

 

Now we're just awaiting the GC and SSC. 

Glad it all went went for you!  Did you receive the invoice in mail before arriving to US?

 

Also,  you mentioned that they put the A- number on your spouse's stamp, I wonder why my stamp is different...There is no A# on mine.🤨

[DrIdu 50]

On 11/10/2020 at 11:30 AM, Ohana2020 said:

Glad it all went went for you!  Did you receive the invoice in mail before arriving to US?

 

Also,  you mentioned that they put the A- number on your spouse's stamp, I wonder why my stamp is different...There is no A# on mine.🤨

Thanks! He received the USCIS payment information with his returned passport. So we followed those directions and paid the fee, using the account we set up at the beginning of the process with USCIS. 

 

The A-number at the Immigration boarder was written in by the officer. I'm really sure why they did this, as it is already on the visa sticker. Also don't know why your stamp is different. Different officers, different days, perhaps? As long as you have your A-number somewhere, that's what you need until the green card comes along. We input the a-number in order to pay the final USCIS fee, btw.

[DrIdu 50]

On 11/9/2020 at 5:43 AM, Raza329 said:

Paid immigration fee before arrival on 21st September (arrived 24th september) and still waiting for my SSN and green card.. 🤫🤫

Y'know... I'm half expecting it to take a while given all the things going on. Plus I figured the green card and SSN combo would take a bit longer. 

 

Have you tried to contact anyone to see what the delay is? If we haven't gotten ours by Thanksgiving, I plan on making several calls. 

[Raza329 22]

On 11/12/2020 at 7:55 AM, DrIdu said:

Y'know... I'm half expecting it to take a while given all the things going on. Plus I figured the green card and SSN combo would take a bit longer. 

 

Have you tried to contact anyone to see what the delay is? If we haven't gotten ours by Thanksgiving, I plan on making several calls. 

Oh yes. I did call to homeland and security office for my green card reference and they said, green card takes 30 to 120 days to your mail. You don't need to do anything except wait. 

 

On the other side, social security offices not giving any appointments due to covid situation, until you have "dire need".. otherwise stay at home and enjoy Netflix.

[DrIdu 50]

On 11/14/2020 at 2:44 AM, Raza329 said:

Oh yes. I did call to homeland and security office for my green card reference and they said, green card takes 30 to 120 days to your mail. You don't need to do anything except wait. 

 

On the other side, social security offices not giving any appointments due to covid situation, until you have "dire need".. otherwise stay at home and enjoy Netflix.

Ah. One website I looked at said SSN could take 5 weeks (if done as part of the visa application) if it hasn’t been received by then call SSA (social security administration). https://www.ssa.gov/agency/contact/phone.html
 

For the green card, you can check the status of the green card using the IOE number provided on the receipt for the final payment (it may be different from the initial IOE number given at the petitioning stage, btw) on the USCIS check case status site.

 

I’ve just checked ours and it says Form OS155A (this is the visa packet that many of us have completed electronically) was approved, and the card was ordered for production on Nov 13. Mr. Idu arrived in the US on Nov 1, for reference.

 

Hopefully that’s helpful!

[Raza329 22]

19 hours ago, DrIdu said:

Ah. One website I looked at said SSN could take 5 weeks (if done as part of the visa application) if it hasn’t been received by then call SSA (social security administration). https://www.ssa.gov/agency/contact/phone.html
 

For the green card, you can check the status of the green card using the IOE number provided on the receipt for the final payment (it may be different from the initial IOE number given at the petitioning stage, btw) on the USCIS check case status site.

 

I’ve just checked ours and it says Form OS155A (this is the visa packet that many of us have completed electronically) was approved, and the card was ordered for production on Nov 13. Mr. Idu arrived in the US on Nov 1, for reference.

 

Hopefully that’s helpful!

Thank you for the detailed reply. I just checked mine for the green card, it stated this: