Monument256

My husband just arrived in June 2024 on a K-1 visa. For opening a bank account/ obtaining drivers license - to your point- we needed a utility bill in his name. My husband’s name is on our lease but that was not sufficient proof of address for the banks. The easiest and most straightforward one to adjust and put in his name was the internet! In our area- cell phone, electric/gas/water providers ran credit checks and or needed a deposit if you didn’t have credit score. When talking to the bank the bill actually had to be addressed to my husband, which when talking to the utility provider, having my husband as an authorized user would not add his name to bill, it just allowed him to call in and inquire etc related to the account. Getting our Spectrum internet bill in his name was very easy - just walked in and updated without SSN or anything else. You may be able to do this online or ahead of his arrival - not too sure!

My now husband, UK Citizen, entered the US on a K-1 visa, in June 2024. We quickly learned it was not so easy to establish him a bank account - as others have mentioned the bank wanted proof of US residency, and since technically the K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa we had to over explain, having a relationship with a banker helped a ton here. In order to finally get him an account opened we needed a utility bill in his name (internet was the easiest to get in his name) and a social security number for him. Prior to my husband entering the US, I had added him as an authorized user on my AMEX by calling in and providing his foreign passport number as the identification number. When he received his US SSN we then faxed that to AMEX, and we were surprised that the “opening date of first account” in regards to his credit score dated back to when I first added him over a year ago. Good luck!

We just showed up on a Friday morning and waited in line!

My husband entered country on June 10th. We got married June 13th, and went to the social security office June 14th. They ran his foreign passport number through the SAVE system and no issues! Took about 10 minutes with an agent (after waiting 3 hours to see someone). Card arrived about 10 days later in the post. I had read on a thread that you could ask them the SSN there- the agent told me that she didn’t even know the number and it would be generated that evening when the card was produced. My understanding is that obtaining a SSN before marriage has more to do with name change than anything else and/or remaining time left on K-1 visa.

Okay that’s good to know! Yeah we are just waiting for that now. So hopefully that will come in soon. Thanks for the update!

Thanks!!

Can anyone point me to the USCIS policy manual or case law that states that once a K-1 visa has expired, and if one has legally got married and filed an adjustment of status application - that they have the right to remain in the USA under a period of authorized stay? I see the mention of authorized stay within the USCIS Chapter 3, Part D; but it doesn’t really clearly define anything. Asking because we are trying to prove to a governmental agency that my spouse has the right to be in the US after the expiry of his I-94 and because there’s no expiry on the I-797 NOA they won’t accept it. As a note - he has not yet received an EAD.

Thank you for response! Yeah I think you’re right that they aren’t looking at it because the FTSP analyst comments are not clear and just continuously asking for what has been provided. Hopefully the EAD comes in soon! Thanks again.

Speaking from very recent experience. We submitted our I-485; I-765; and I-131 on 6/27/24 (delivered and tracking with ups). Our credit card wasn’t charged until 7/30 and also didn’t receive text confirmations until then. The text confirmations contained the receipt numbers. The next morning, 7/31, my husband checked the status of all the cases on USCIS tracking tool, and we had received an RFE for the I-485. My husband, the beneficiary, began messaging the EMMA robot on USCIS and if you ask for a live agent enough times you’ll eventually get one. This agent provided him the online access code to be able to check status and to download the RFE from his portal - in that moment rather than waiting for it in the post for 7 days. We were able to respond and upload the requested support in that moment to the USCIS dashboard. Three days after responding to the RFE, biometrics were scheduled. We had been very anxious waiting for word on the receipt of the cases - my husband called twice and emailed the lockbox office in Elgin. In short a waste of time - because the answer we continuously received from USCIS - until there’s a receipt number and the case has been processed by the lockbox - USCIS cannot help. Technically the lockbox support website says to wait 30 business days before contacting them or reaching out, and the standard lock box email response is that they’ll respond within 30 days of your inquiry. I can attest that reading reddits and trying to compare your own timeline to others can be a spiraling experience - had to stop reading them! Haha

We have slowly figured that out the hard way unfortunately 😔

Thanks for the response! That’s what we unfortunately were thinking would be at least minimum. It sucks because you pay $135 odd bucks and then if it gets denied you have to pay again since they’ve already spent time processing it. We will keep our fingers crossed EAD comes in here soon and probably try with that - was hoping to get started on all his training sooner but it feels like the federal/state systems all differ in recognition of how it treats individuals in that “authorized stay” period!

My husband is a Pilot and is looking to enroll in an ATP course after immigrating to the US (on a K-1 visa), with the goal of completing his re-training/licensing whilst he waits to receive his green card. Ahead of enrolling in the course, he’s required to obtain TSA security clearance. He received an email stating that “security threat assessment (STA) has been reviewed and requires corrections” and to upload “a US Permanent Resident Card or other documentation demonstrating legal presence residence”. His I-485 and I-765 are pending and the K-1 visa expires 9/7/24. Have any other pilots out there encountered this situation with TSA, when your legal status is just AOS? If yes - what information did you provide to TSA to grant clearance? Any tips or advise would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Gary! My husband and I live in NC, thus I realize rules for licenses vary state to state. We got married in June ‘24, and we went to the NCDMV in July (with his SS card received - as that’s required here) and he was able to get a REAL ID /license but as you mentioned only until the end of his k-1 visa term. We just went back on August 9th, and brought the I-797 receipt for the green card application; and his license was extended to a full-term 8 year license (the back of the card now states legal presence verified until 2032). NC law was passed in March 2023 requiring the state to issue full term licenses to individuals waiting for their green card application. Within the law passed, it states that you must bring proof of legal presence but simultaneously one’s legal status is checked via the SAVE system. We had made an appointment for this renewal/update and my husband was in and out in 15 minutes.