mam521

You're dealing with a government entity...they work at the speed of sloth most of the time

These aren't red flags. People have worked on L1 visas before and people have to renew passports all of the time. Initially, it seemed the DS-5535's were targeted for people who were of a MENA background or had worked there or had a specific education type. Then, it seemed to turn unto a random number generator. Elderly parents who'd lived their entire lives on the farm on the Prairies, young children, just...random. Remember, too, that this thread is people who have come together to share their experiences. It's a concentrated number of people for a specific reason. There are plenty of other people who whisk through the process with no issues at all but they aren't here. Immi is hard. It's an emotional rollercoaster. But you gotta make sure that you don't get pulled into the hype and try to logic yourself through so you don't set yourself up for failure.

Your notification will come by e-mail. After you become documentarily qualified, an interview isn't instantaneous. London doesn't have a long wait, but I don't recall people receiving letters in less than a month of late.

Clearly not enough turkey vultures residing in the vicinity...

When you go through security and preclear at US Customs, you're "landing" in the US. Because you're activating your visa, you'll board the aircraft as a shiny, new greencard holder and walk off the aircraft in the US at your final landed destination. The whole preclearance thing can definitely create confusion. It's nice not to have to stand in a line on this end, but it's really a case of robbing from Paul to pay Peter - you stand in a line in Dublin or you stand in a line in the US.

You've stated you're doing preclearance in Dublin. As soon as you step foot into the US Customs area, you've technically landed on US soil. Make sure you get to the airport early so you can visit CBP and have your I-551 endorsed and activated and make sure you've already paid the $220 greencard fee.

Engagement and weddings, like the immigration process, are but a blip in time. Your marriage is intended to last a lifetime, irrespective of how you got there. I have a friend who, when planning her wedding, initially wanted a BIG ta-doo (her family is Filipino) but the cost of having the big wedding undermined what she actually wanted to achieve. She "curated" her guest list to include the people that she felt had been influential on the success of her relationship with her husband and would celebrate and support their life long marriage, through not just the happy times, but the challenging, tough times as well. Hubs and I never got engaged. We left work for lunch one day and he said "maybe we should go get a marriage license". I agreed and off we went. I still don't have an engagement ring. I have a beautiful sapphire and diamond platinum wedding band, though. Hubs and I still got dressed up to the nines - I had a wedding gown (with pockets, no less!), he had a beautiful custom Italian suit, my kids were in formal wear and we got married at a friend's place with him and his wife as our witnesses and photographer with the JP. We took them to a top, high end, local restaurant where I am friends with the chef and enjoyed a delicious meal and then the chef sent this ridiculous dessert tasting menu that was about 6 rounds long! It was planned and executed in 10 days and turned out beautifully. My point is don't get hung up on the engagement and the wedding. If you've met your person, that's what's important. Being together is what's important. Starting your marriage off on an equal footing is important. Bringing your person to the US and them being in a new country with no friends, no family, unable to work, unable (in many states) to drive and 100% financially dependent on you after having their own successful career will not create the most harmonious of situations in which to begin your marriage that's supposed to last a lifetime. Think bigger picture and what that looks like.

I know there was a thread about this before but I can't find it. I naturalized earlier this year. I got my US passport, no big deal. But, now I want to get my kids' passports and I see that the main passport office here only takes urgent or emergency passport applications. It's looking like I'm going to have to book through a post office. Unfortunately, my confidence with USPS staff is low. Are we going to have issues since I have a single naturalization certificate and 2 kids? Are USPS going to take their greencards and send them with the applications? I really don't want to have to pay to replace my naturalization certificate and greencards because of a screw up. Anyone care to share their experiences?