Forever_After

It is, unfortunately for me in more than one way. But thank you for your advice.

I went ahead and cancelled my passport appointment. If anyone here knows if I must go through a whole new Visa process if update my passport with new name, or if I can just use legal name change documents when arriving in the U.S. with both my new and old passport (with the valid visa) please let me know. I appreciate it.

Should I seek out an immigration lawyer to answer this?

Here's the deal, last year I was issued a visitor's visa, but not thinking I changed back to my old name for immigration reasons. Due to Norwegians not being able to pronounce my name correctly I had it changed in 2005. Let's just say it was "Johnny B. Good" and I changed it to "Johnny Not Bad". Well, I've changed it back to "Johnny B. Good" but my issued Visa is in my other passport under the name of "Johnny Not Bad". From what I have understood, is that if I bring both passports and legal documentation of the name change this should be no issue? So if I arrive at the border with my old passport with old name and my new passport WITH official documentation of name change should that cause me any issues? Or do I need to fully re-apply for a new Visa? Or can I just send my old one in with name change documentation? I've called the U.S. Embassy but the nice lady had a very thick Indian accent and I had a very hard time understanding what she had to say. I really do not want to go through a whole new Visa interview process again honestly.

And any info prior to my appointment the 28th of this month would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, here's a slight update: I visited the U.S. October of last year and got back this February. I went to Texas, the DFW airport. This whole trip has been like a time capsule. Texas is the first state I ever visited as a 3-4 year old. DFW was the airport we first ever went to in the U.S. Upon arrival, the BP agent scanned my prints and before saying anything else, he asked "Oh, are you coming in on your Visa?". I stupidly said "no" and that I had a Visa. He then said, "Oh good because then we'd have to spend 30 minutes in the other room (forgot the rest of the sentence)". That interaction further strengthened my belief that I have had a green card as I don't think he would have asked me that after finger printing me, would he? New question: Due to Norwegians not being able to pronounce my name correctly I had it changed in 2005. Let's just say it was "Johnny B. Good" and I changed it to "Johnny Not Bad". Well, I've changed it back to "Johnny B. Good" but my issued Visa is in my other passport under the name of "Johnny Not Bad". From what I have understood, is that if I bring both passports and legal documentation of the name change this should be no issue? I called the U.S. Embassy where I spoke to a lady with a very thick (and a little difficult to understand) Indian accent. But from the parts I understood, she claimed I should re-apply for the Visa under my new name? I honestly don't want to go through all that again. So if I arrive at the border with my old passport with old name and my new passport WITH official documentation of name change should that cause me any issues? I changed my name back to my original one as in order to get my birth certificate in Georgia I need proof plus, it makes things a lot easier. But am hesitant to go get my passport changed if it requires a new Visa interview etc. Finally, lawyers: So far I've had two lawyers look into my history. The first lawyer as mentioned above gave me blatantly false information. He then said he'd file a FOIA on my behalf, after trying to pull a roosters tooth he finally gets back to my email where I ask if any new info has come back. His response said "No, for difficult situations it can take months.". But he just can never shoot me a quick email back with a question I have. 95% of the time I feel ghosted. But he is very personable, I'll give him that. Lastly, I've employed a new lawyer to look into things for me. Besides what felt like some googling she provided me with nothing I didn't already know for $500+ bucks. I need a lawyer that will respond to my questions and do a little more than just sitting on their fingers after having done minimal work. I need a lawyer that feels like they're "fighting for me". Does anyone have any recommendations to a lawyer that they felt did that for them? Thank you all for being here through this difficult journey. :)

Greatly appreciated, milimelo!

Hi again, Family. I'm just curious, who should I direct the FOIA towards?

As the title says, what's your favorite decade? And why? Got any stories from that time you'd like to share? Mine is the 80's. It was jut rad. Teddy Ruxpin, The Goonies, Spaceballs... I mean we had it all and then some! We lived in California during this time, we were in LA (I believe) and were walking on a boardwalk on the beach. We had to go through some dance club to get to the other side. Mirrors and mirror balls everywhere! To a kid, this was "peak cool". A guy looked down at me dressed in white dancing. He seemed so cool to me as a kid lol. Then it got only cooler on the other side, because there was a robot! Some stationary robot with a guy controlling it via remote control. But it was like, totally rad. Second up is the 90's, but I'll let someone else share their story for that decade!

I enjoy Rammstein to a certain extant. Their newer stuff is a bit "meh". I'm also into a lot of techno and trance. I thoroughly enjoy 80's hits. Men at Work, Duran Duran, Kraftwerk to name a couple. Recently (for the past decade or more) I've grown very fond of down-tempo music. (Somafm.com / groove salad) I can listen to that for hours while whittling away at whatever menial task I may be doing, lol.

Some Scandinavian pancakes with blueberry jam and sugar. Definitely a calorie bomb, but once in a while it's a treat!

I was married once before. She was the clinical definition of a psychopath. Extremely abusive both physically and mentally. When we divorced (against my will - More on that later) she took it out on our child. (I thought if I stuck around, I'd be the punching bag). It got so bad that we went to court, I won and my ex-wife has been completely removed from our child's life. Even on our child's birth certificate she's gone! And it takes a LOT for that to happen in the Scandinavian country I'm in, so it should give you an idea of what kind of person my Ex was. My fiance now however is the complete opposite. She's sweet, caring, and loving and not afraid to let me know. She's just genuine, the kind of person you know you're safe with. The kind of person you entrust your heart to and know it's not gonna be broken. She's worth more to me than her weight in gold.

I have grown to really love cats. Growing up, we've primarily only had dogs and only one, very special cat. So I used to love dogs. I still do, but I used to, too! When I eventually get back to the states, I'm considering a Maine #######, anyone here have experiences with them? *Edit* I see and can understand the censoring of that word, but in this case it's literally just a breed of cat. I won't try circumventing the language filter but you know, a Main C... A big house cat.

Thanks, this has been an arduous journey to say the least. You guys have helped me more than 3 different immigration lawyers have. My grandfather (adoptive dad) was a combat veteran for the USAF and he was "to the book" kind of guy, so that's what I'm falling back on in regards to hoping he did so with the adoption as well. I'm born in Norway, but moved to the U.S. when I was under five years old. I lived there throughout the 80's and the 90's. The only school I've ever gone to was American schools. Even when speaking my "native" tongue they hear my American dialect in the way I speak. I've never been happy here, and longed to return back to what I consider home. Especially now, since I've got a fiance whom I love dearly. I've lived all across the U.S. from California to Florida and many places in between. (Noteworthy Texas and Georgia - Bulldogs represent!) I know we can get married and all that, but it would be nice to be able to stand on my own two feet and not have to rely on her to sponsor me in and all that. Not that she could, anyway. She's disabled (muscular dystrophy) but I have found a co-sponsor she can use that will help me if push comes to shove. So I really do appreciate all of your help, especially you Family. You've all provided great feedback and help, so know that it means a lot that you've all took the time to help me out. And thought I'd just share a little about the person you're helping. It's late here now, so nighty-night!

I really appreciate it Family, I'll see if I can't do that! I spoke to the old lawyer who helped my grandparents with the adoption. She had quit and has been retired for 10+ years or so and all the old documents are gone, unfortunately. However, she did say that a new birth certificate should have been made after I was adopted and that I should get a hold of that and give it to the immigration lawyer. (It also says so on the adoption paper work I have) Would that help me in any way?

I do not currently live in the U.S., no. My grandfather was a U.S. citizen. I'm unsure about the green card, I did not do anything with the green card. I never had it in my hands. 1) and 2) I'll do that. Thank you. 3) Yes, I arrived in 1996 as a visitor I presume. They started the adoption proceedings immediately however it was finalized in 1998. And I'm 95% they applied for me, probably as soon as they could, if that was 1998 or earlier. I doubt it was 2000. I appreciate everyone's input and valuable advice. Thank you!

Hello all, I'm "Forever_After" and am now in my 40's. I was adopted by my grandparents in 1998 just shy of my sixteenth birthday. I lived with them prior to the adoption and up until March of 2000. I'm a Scandinavian national. I left to return back right before I got my green card. I've been given so much bad information that I'm at my wits end. One immigration lawyer swore to me that the N600K is what I needed. I had to research myself prior to paying the fee to realize that I'm not eligible for the N600K! Then I'm told "Oh you need the N-600!". Now I'm being told that I may not be eligible for that either because A) I left prior to having my greencard and B) It's unsure if my adoption complied with the Hague convention. (Which I'm fairly certain it did, and that lawyer also doesn't have all the details as my grandparents are deceased and I no longer have any documents so they're running off of what I know). My country is part of the Hague convention and my parents here gave up their rights locally prior to me returning to the U.S. with my grandparents. I have the stamped and signed adoption papers in hand, I just find it hard to believe that "oh we'll, you're outta luck". I met a woman and while we can get married etc. I just would like to stand on my own two feet and not have to rely on an I-130 etc. Anyone have any advice?