biggish data

QUOTE (Coco&Kitten @ Feb 23 2008, 03:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good news!! I finally got my GC after 3 months!!!!!!!!!! My brother in law visited us last week and personaly brought it to me.
Well, I guess I can relax till next year, it is a 2-year card, so I still have to go thorugh one more step on the paper-work. But for now, it is celebration time!!

I hope that all the ones that have not received the GC card yet in this forum get it soon. Be patient, things move very very slow...

Kitten

just arrived back from my pal's house in atlanta with the green card !

now all i have to do is figure out where to hide it

not carrying it - executive decision - i will take the $100 fine if necessary but I dont want any more uscis stuff for 10 years

I might take nationality if I can get over 'soil' being called 'dirt' but it puts my hackles up every time i hear it

'dirt' for sale' and 'plant your roses in some dirt' - it makes me shudder i can't help it

dirt is filthy and soil is nice

nope - i am still an english person right now

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-02-24 14:03:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Feb 6 2008, 05:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Feb 6 2008, 09:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (milimelo @ Feb 6 2008, 12:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All sent out today WITH delivery receipt request as well as signature one.

Now I have to wait ...

Your job now is to put a follow up date on your calendar and then force yourself to stick it to the back of your mind and do something else. It's hard but it kills the time.

And when would the follow-up date be? After I receive NOA 1 or in 30-60 days?
I'm doing something else - I have two interviews lined up for Monday

i would go after em after 30 days

My pal still has my green card and his house is in the path of the tornados -just north west of Atlanta

perhaps my GC will end up like yours !

good luck with the jobs - they are disappearing fast

Carolyn has been looking since November 10 - nowhere near yet

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-02-06 12:48:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Feb 6 2008, 12:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All sent out today WITH delivery receipt request as well as signature one.

Now I have to wait ...

Your job now is to put a follow up date on your calendar and then force yourself to stick it to the back of your mind and do something else. It's hard but it kills the time.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-02-06 08:57:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Feb 2 2008, 06:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Update: things seem to be moving... I received a letter from a congressman that has an attachment to it - a print out of our case worker's email - in which TSC is saying that I need to refile I-90B (with NO fees) - their exact words black on white and to send the supporting documents to their address.

I hope this will work, I'm going to mail everything Monday morning!!!

Sounds good !

Just shows what you have to go through !

anyway lets hope they get the foot on the gas...

I would send a covering letter with copies of the congessman's letter.. just to let em know you have friends in high places !

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-02-02 18:00:00

QUOTE (Coco&Kitten @ Jan 28 2008, 08:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations to both Cowgirl and Alan and all the others who got the GC!!! You finally made it to the end of the Journey!

Well, I have some news as well. On friday my brother in law (who lives in Kansas) called us and told us 2 welcome letters had arrived for me, but no GC yet... So much for the change of address, it went to the old address (the same as in your case Alan), so I figure out they are not working to hard trying to update their system. If everything goes like I have been seeing here I should receive my GC shortly. The welcome letter was postdated on the 16th January. And as you, Alan, I won't have him mail me the card, no way, it is too dangerous. I will either pick it up personally or do a fedex super-safe mailing, we will see...

Will keep you posted, I am glad to hear all these good news.

Kitten

Good stuff Kitten it's really close now...
Weird that we really fear it being lost at the very final step ..
I am so unsuperstitious normally - but no I won't trust the mail at this stage ..

So I will drive to Georgia and we will have a blitz of a booze up and ask the restaurant for a candle and then we can have the official hand over (keeping it away from the candle)

I am sat wondering about my pal's house house burning down or getting burgled before I can go and get it !

Anyway it's dated to expire 10 years after they issue it and not 10 years after the POE date so thats good news..

After all the ducking and diving over the last 3 years it's great to be at the end

all the times we had to meet in Toronto or live in lancashire (yuk) ..all behind us..

England is still there and a USC can visit for 6 months, so when Carolyn retires we can have a caravan in the Yorkshire Dales for the hot hurricane season in summer... yep it's looking good..

Would I have embarked on this had I known 3 years ago about the stress ? Good question....
Easy to yes at the end of it !

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-28 17:35:00

QUOTE (Silas @ Jan 26 2008, 03:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (cowgirl @ Jan 26 2008, 04:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi everyone,

Update on my Green card replacement, Wednesday letter of approval received, if no card after 30 days contact USCIS,
Thursday went into town for the mail, quess what??? My Green Card, at last, good now for 10 years. Friday in the mail two more approval notices dated same date as the first one, from same office. Who is the crazy one?.

Hoep everyone else who is waiting for 2yr or 10yr card is successful in the very near future. My journey has been full of problems, but we are sorted now.

Congratulations Cowgirl!!! You must be glad it's all over!

Alan - looking forward to hearing confirmation from your friend that you've got it.

Got the GC scan from my pal in Atlanta

IT IS ALL CORRECT ! I MEAN EVERY DETAIL IS CORRECT - it's only a little card but I have looked at it 5 times and blown it up with photoshop and I cannot find anything wrong

MY GC EXISTS !!!!!!

NO WAY will I let him mail it to me - I am going to drive my V6 1100 miles round trip to Georgia to collect it from him in person and to hell with the planet's future !

Phew well a journey that started with K1 in January 2005 is ended at last - I am FINISHED with the USCIS for 10 years (apart from online change of address sometimes)

Now I just have to get over the post traumatic stress and I am not kidding.

This would have been totally impossible without VJ and the perspective it gives and the shared info was simply unique.

Immigration lawyers are an absolute waste of time and VJ is billions of times more help.

ok I will will lay down and quiver for a week or so then I shall return to lend a hand...

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-28 09:21:00

QUOTE (cowgirl @ Jan 26 2008, 04:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cowgirl I am so pleased for you..

One way or another, I have been dealing withthe USCIS since January 2005 and I feel exhausted and demoralised some.
Today I should find out if the GC that arrived at my pal's house in Atlanta is correct (he will email an image)

Then I can celebrate.

So by tea time today I hope to be in the same position as you with a 100% correct 10 year GC.
I will drive up to Atlanta for a boys night out and become as drunk as a lord.. Then I have to shake off all this sadness and disappointment and anxiety which has been a part of my life for so long. It has become a part of me now and it will take a while to shed the 'temporary' feeling

But cowgirl - it's all over ! Good on you. Now we need another project eh ? nature abhors a vacuum and we will soon find something else to strive for (It won't be immigrating ANYWHERE !)

best wishes

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-26 08:42:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Jan 23 2008, 07:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Jan 17 2008, 02:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (cowgirl @ Jan 17 2008, 06:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cowgirl,

Waited the stated 30days from May 15th 2007 then rang them, told to re-file 1-90, did this without fee as I had never received GC, letter sent back saying re-file and pay $260, then by the time I had the money went up to $370, filed in Sept 2007, had biometrics done again (they have a lot of biometrics and pics of me), still waiting.

yes you did your bit

info pass ! then another and then another if need be.....

good luck times 10

Hey Alan,

any news re: green card?

On my front nothing new

YES NEWS

my buddy in Georgia says it has arrived at his house..

problem - he is at a conference in florida and is not home until the weekend so cant send me a scan of it

so i can't check whether the info is correct

I simply cannot celebrate until i see it and check it as I know the let down it will cause

ss people called me and said they had put the application in again and this time it cleared and i have should have my ss card within 2 weeks.(applied dec 3)

good job i had a card from last time otherwise no driver's license /bank accounts/credit cards/mutual funds/brokers accounts - I would have been stuck for 3 months

I just CANNOT feel good about the card and I cannot believe it until I see it...

an unbeliever - thats what the uscis has made out of me..

roll on saturday - i am driving to georgia 1100 miles round trip rather than trusting the mail. They have lost 3 bank letters i sent in 3 weeks to different banks - I bet they are still wondering where the ISLE OF MAN is - they probably think its somewhere in the garden of eden - i did put UK but they probably think that is short for 'UnKnown'

now I must...you got it... WAIT !

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-23 17:05:00

QUOTE (cowgirl @ Jan 17 2008, 06:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yes you did your bit

info pass ! then another and then another if need be.....

good luck times 10

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-17 13:31:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Jan 17 2008, 02:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (cowgirl @ Jan 17 2008, 01:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations Saywhat on receiving your GC. Mine is still been sorted out somewhere, as I said earlier they approved my replacement card (never received first one), sent it to production, then both reopened and reclosed the file on Oct 22nd. Senators's assistant has had contactwith USCIS adn hasn't got any more news for me. Newsfrom USCIS was 14th Dec. Going to make an infopass appt, to see if I can get an extension stamp in my passport.
Will update as and when anything happens.

Cowgirl,

you never received the first GC? How long did you wait before filing for replacement one? I'm in the same boat - entered the US on 5/31/06 but so far never received the GC. Now have congressman involved but looks like I will have to get a new GC or they won't let me out of the country in the summer (by that time I-551 stamp will have expired, and of course they won't stamp a new one without proof of new filing - smart for them, huh?).

You mean they won't let you back in the country of course - not they wont let you out...

Yes, your case is a real warning to the rest of us to act quickly if we think things have gone wrong as it is an awful process.

I had the experience last month of having $61,500 lost between 2 banks - one said they sent it and the other said it never arrived.. that went on for almost 5 weeks and boy did I sweat..

The GC thing is the same - when they shrug their shoulders and say you never arrived and its nothing to do with them it must be so scary

I haven't got a GC but at least the welcome letter acknowledges that i arrived and thats a start

I was once denied an EXIT visa from saudi arabia as i told em my wife in england was critically ill with a burst ulcer - they said 'its just a woman whats the problem ' and told me to lay on the ground and kiss their feet before they would let me out - i refused and told them i would die first - I lived on bananas for 6 weeks until i got money from my dad in england and they took a bribe and gave me an EXIT visa - now that IS a scary situation and i shiver when i think of not being allowed OUT...
They had amputations of thieves hands after the 6pm news each night and beheadings in the street. They made blood-curdling threats against me every day for 6 weeks

Exit visas are given by your employer and not the government and it was a lot worse than i describe here and i still have nightmares..

One of America's closest allies eh ? George W was kissing the king of saudi arabia on both cheeks this week.

Luckily the US is all too easy to get out of....

You can get your GC but it needs constant pressure of every kind you can think of and all the time - I know you are up to speed now and you will make it happen ....

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-17 11:41:00

QUOTE (cowgirl @ Jan 17 2008, 05:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations Saywhat on receiving your GC. Mine is still been sorted out somewhere, as I said earlier they approved my replacement card (never received first one), sent it to production, then both reopened and reclosed the file on Oct 22nd. Senators's assistant has had contactwith USCIS adn hasn't got any more news for me. Newsfrom USCIS was 14th Dec. Going to make an infopass apt, to see if I can get an extension stamp in my passport.
Will update as and when anything happens.

Don't have the GC yet but got the welcome letter - which is about as welcoming in it's terms as a letter from an ex wife's lawyer. Why does everyone gush over me at the supermarket and tell me how wonderful and important I am, but not in a real situation like immigration. Could it be 'money'

As they say in the song 'write it on a pound note'

Or

a bird in the bush is worth 2 in the disco

Yes once these things get really mixed up then it takes ages to sort out - if my GC comes and is ok then it will be a huge relief..

If you can get a 12 month extension stamp in your passport, that will take the pressure off you and you can put the pressure on them at your own pace..

That sounds like the best move right now...

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-17 07:33:00

QUOTE (samaci @ Jan 16 2008, 07:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess I'm # 4 or 5 to join this thread. I'm still waiting on my green card to arrive, after entering Oct. 21/07.. I received 2 welcome letters already, one dated Nov. 30th, and the 2nd was dated Dec 8. I guess I just have to continue waiting...

Shiver ! that's a long time from the letter to no GC... Silas was around 2.5 weeks

i think you need to call the info line and they will say if it has been sent at least....they can tell that

I still have no SS card (interview was 3 december) and if i had not had one from K1 then i would have no car or bike license or bank accounts or credit cards after nearly 3 months !

I was SO lucky to have got one at K1 entry (It took a week), so i hit the ground running and i was driving on a US license within a week

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-16 10:07:00

QUOTE (Lola_ @ Jan 15 2008, 08:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I meant K-3

Thats ok everyone makes mistakes - that's why they put rubbers on the end of pencils - oops they call them 'erasers' in the USA ! - been caught with that before when I asked my workmate from Georgia - ' Do you have a rubber I can use'

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-15 15:46:00

QUOTE (Lola_ @ Jan 15 2008, 07:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wanna hear a funny story?

So I entered on K-1 in July of '06 and then got approved and entered US on CR-1 visa in January of '07 and.... STILL DON'T HAVE MY PHYSICAL GREEN CARD!!
An infopass appointment revealed that after I left my file at the airport in Montreal, they never entered any of my information into the computer and the proceeded to LOOSE my entire file!! Therefore, I had to gather what copies I had of things that got filed and received by me so that they can begin reconstructing the file... I will have to do a new biometrics appt etc. However, they did put a stamp in my passport which acts as a green card...I sometimes have issues at POEs and have to explain the whole story. Grrr
You can't even imagine my frustration with the gvmt at this point!

Bit confused - a K1 is a fiance visa and you had beem married a year ? wonder if you mean k3 ?

tell me you do so my brow can unfurrow

heck - i have heard of files being lost - 2 of my personal vj pals have had their files lost at one stage or another

it does not sound uncommon....

oh dear

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-15 14:36:00

QUOTE (Silas @ Jan 15 2008, 03:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Jan 15 2008, 03:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Silas @ Jan 15 2008, 03:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Got the Green Card this morning!!!!

Seems fine: right name, right photo, dates, A#.

So they're definitely on track, just slow in getting it out.

The only odd thing was that I also received a second welcome letter. This wasn't part of the GC but it was in a seperate envelope.

MEGA !!!!!

dec 27 was your welcome letter (first) so about 2.5 weeks to the GC

celebration time - at last !!!!!!!

alan

According to the date of the letter accompanying the GC it was sent 8 January. Bearing in mind the new year holiday it makes it more like a week and a half from welcome letter to GC.

Bizarrely, the envelope with the welcome letter has 'return service requested' stamped on it. But, yes, you've guessed it, there's no such request on the envelope with the actual GC in it.

They are nuts - totally nuts...anything could happen and probably will...

they probably put it in the envelope january 8 and it took em a week to get enough spit up to lick the seal...

It's like they are both punch drunk and drunk drunk and they have a carbon monoxide leak in their offices...

non of it makes sense...

I reckon the vj committee could devise a whole new system in a 4 hour meeting which would make the whole thing slick and faster and safer for everyone and the USCIS...

We should have been given a pin number at the start of the process so we could call and change addresses and pay by credit card and find out the status of our applications at all stages....etc etc

We could log on and see 'packet received from poe chicago...next stage welcome letter..5,112 in line before this application...estimated time to next stage 33 days..'

all that could be programmed by one decent programmer in few hours

but from the east german railway as it was, to local government in england, to the irs to the uscis to the bejing parks department - government processes are the same the world over.

I bet the Klingon govt passport dept is just the same

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-15 12:14:00

QUOTE (Silas @ Jan 15 2008, 03:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

MEGA !!!!!

dec 27 was your welcome letter (first) so about 2.5 weeks to the GC

celebration time - at last !!!!!!!

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-15 10:23:00

QUOTE (Coco&Kitten @ Jan 15 2008, 12:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi guys!

Congrats Alan!! this suggests as you said the system is slow but moving (more like creeping I guess)... And we are 3 identical cases, and probably there are more somewhere lost in this forum.

Today my husband called the famous 800 number, after half an hour waiting (it is amazing, it was exactly 30 minutes as they said) a lady answers and after looking at my case says I am not "yet" in the system and that they are running really slow, so it is normal not to have received the GC. Yep, we figure that out... But at least we know the GC has not been lost in the mail, which it really worried me for a while.

On the SSN issue thanks for your answer Alan. But actually mine says "valid for work only with INS authorization", I guessed I automatically had the INS authorization by being a CR visa holder, or not? I ticked the box asking for a new card on the DS-230 form... but of course they never arrive. I am confused now... I don't know if I can use it for work or not if it says that on the card...

Kitten

PS. Oh, I guess I would be the female Penguin waiting for the male to replace me... :-)

those lady penguins sure have the males trained !

my ss says same as yours but the permanent residence status is what authorises you to work and the SS card is all about pensions and social security (American readers please note that 'social security' means 'welfare' in the UK so i always chuckle)

The employer wont ask for your ss card i bet - just tell em the number

i did that for driver's license, bank accounts credit cards etc etc - nobody wanted to see the card - they just want a valid number

I have turned into an 'authorisation' collector and thats why i just passed my motorbike test here in florida and why i want a 'clean' ss card with no endorsement about work.

I don't want to feel that I have less here than I had in the uk so i just keep going forward getting more and more authorisations until i don't feel 'second class'

I will open stockbroking and mutual trusts and frequent flyer etc next week just for the heck of it...

Apart from the passport, I will soon have more authorisations than my USC wife !
I don't want to feel like an 'alien'. A registered 'alien'. The U.S. doesn't mind 'aliens' forming a coalition with them in Iraq - oops off I go again - they will do a Charlie Chaplin or a John Lennon on me if I don't shut up. I think we should have a competition on VJ to find a less offensive term than 'alien'.. how about 'non US citizen' and just kill off 'alien' - then change the 'A' number to a 'R' number which can mean ' registration number'

Does anyone else resent being called an 'alien' ? When Americans visit York i don't refer to them as 'aliens' even if they are wearing check pants and jackets and have triangular faces with big eyes...

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-14 20:36:00

YABBERDABBERDO !

my pal in Georgia says my welcome letter just arrived !

So as we thought chaps and chaplettes, the system is working but very slowly - I expect the GC is about 11 days or so....

I put my friends name down on the immigrant visa application all those months ago in England so they treat him like an immigration attorney for receiving my GC... we knew we would be moving so we used the question 'where would you like your green card to be sent if a different to your intended address'

phew well the system is as we thought - so you folks who arrived November and since - (I was november 5) don't sweat coz they are well behind but the system is ticking slowly

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-14 17:14:00

QUOTE (Coco&Kitten @ Jan 14 2008, 04:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi guys!

I guess I am joining the club of NO GC received. I arrived to the US on the 15th of November (POE Chicago) with a CR visa, and I am still waiting for the welcome letter as well. I guess I am in a similar situation as Alan, as we changed our address at the POE, so maybe that suggests that the system gets screw up when we do a change of address... Anyway, keep up the messages, I enjoyed reading them all today as I was really worried for not having received the GC after 8.5 weeks. After reading the postings I don't feel so bad... :-)

And I plan on using my "old" SSN (from a previous J-1 visa when I was living here for 3 years) as the officer told me it was valid, or should I worry about this?

Kitten

Dear Kitten - welcome to the waiting room !

First your ss is issued for life - i got mine at K1 2 years ago (abandoned aos) , and I have got my driver's license and bank accounts using it - no problem. I have asked for a new one as mine says 'no work' on it - but it's valid for all other purposes. As a CR1 you can work without a SS number. Even I could work if i wanted but i have asked for a new card just to be neat.

Silas and I are very glad you have popped up on this forum and don't you dare go away !

ok there are now 3 of us in exactly the same position with similar timelines and that is a great comfort as it means we are not alone and it is a VERY strong indication that the USCIS are VERY slow on GC's just now.

I am really pleased we a have 3 identical cases and timelines -

the ONLY time a change of address is a factor is of you put a 'forward' on your mail. If the person at your previous address will send your mail to you then the card will not be returned to the USCIS

So everything is ok and there is strength in numbers are now we 2 are 3 !!! ok let's stick together and wait patiently like male emperor penguins waiting 6 months through the antarctic winter for the female to return and take over the egg - that's faith

alan

Edited by saywhat, 14 January 2008 - 08:38 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-14 08:36:00

QUOTE (Silas @ Jan 12 2008, 05:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Jan 11 2008, 01:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All quiet - Silas got his welcome letter last week and entered the country 4 days after me. He has not got the card yet but it should be the next few days.

Alan,
Just a quick update on my end. Unfortunately, there's nothing new to report. Will keep watching for the postie.

zero here too - not even the welcome letter - now 10 weeks on monday

I reckon they have switched staff to all these huge backlogs they have like 18 months now for citizenship and the DOUBLE applications they had at the time of the new fees..and they have to TRAIN 1,500 new staff

If other people were not in the same boat I would be doing my nut and popping my skull by now but I still think all is ok and I am a worryier usually...

GC is usually 11 days or so after the letter ?

just got my check book - wrong address of course - my wife's had a different wrong address on 6 weeks ago

2 wrong out of 2

I told her its the radio active rocks in the US that makes everyone so aggressive and violent and always referring to the latter part of the alimentary canal and administratively incompetent - the admin bit was just a merry joke which I am sure she will come to appreciate as the UK have been fouling things up for me twice in the last 2 weeks and i have received two thousand dollars in compensation from 2 banks in the last 3 days for 2 separate errors over in the UK...

come to think of it I am getting quiet aggressive myself, so it's either the rocks or the life experience here. My wife's brand new sky blue Camry has purple tree resin spots on it which have gone right into the paint and wont come out even with white spirit

I dread to get out of bed most mornings nowadays..

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-12 12:56:00

QUOTE (vylex @ Jan 11 2008, 09:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Jan 11 2008, 08:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My wife thinks all the wonderful things that people say to you in the U.S. are so courteous and polite and a step up from england, but i would rather be treated offhand and get the cards than be buttered up insincerely with all this 'you are a special wonderful person' stuff and get nothing..

alan

Hi Alan, I strongly believe that the welcome letter needs to come first. Has anyone received their GC without a welcome letter?

LOL again at your comments. Come up to NYC and the people here will give it to you straight.

had a freebee once to NY on Concorde and stayed at the Marriott in Time Square...

the guy in the photo shop tried to sell me a camera lens for 900 dollars and said they were new and special and the british airways pilots were taking them home by the box load and selling em for 5k each in london

all i wanted was a T shirt - as i finally left the shop he was shouting 'ok ok 50 dollars - come on 50 dollars !'

I had a slice of toast and a small coffee by room service at 4am (jet lag) and it was 30 dollars - that was 1992

fun place though as long as you laugh at it all...

Yes this welcome letter seems random - some people got the letter with the GC inside. Some got up to ELEVEN welcome letters and no GC ever - some got no welcome letter, just the GC - anything can happen and it can go to any address or they just bin it and say its lost or never produce it and say its lost - or just shake their heads and say WAIT forever...

not being able to manage a good time in a brewery springs to mind...

Still no SS card though i had a restricted one already.. i have phoned 4 times and left recorded messages and written once

Actually I am doing fine - I have a car and florida license and now a florida motorcyle endorsement too ! and 5 US bank accounts and 2 US credit cards and a US cell phone etc etc etc...

I am all set up really but I wont get rid of this ulcer until I get the GC and ss card.

perhaps tomorrow

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-11 18:04:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Jan 11 2008, 02:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alan,

Any news on GC? I'll be calling my congressman and senator contact tomorrow to check the status.

M

All quiet - Silas got his welcome letter last week and entered the country 4 days after me. He has not got the card yet but it should be the next few days.

I don't have the welcome letter even.

I know it was 4 weeks at the start of last year and then 7 weeks around xmas and I am now 9.5 weeks.

The fact that Silas still has not got his and the USCIS are not saying that the card was sent out, leads me to believe there is still hope.

I don't suppose I can say that it is lost and submit an I-90 if the USCIS are saying they have not sent it out yet

No social security card either although I went into the Clearwater office December 3 and they said it would be 48 hours to check with USCIS electronically and then 2 weeks max.

I call the Clearwater office and the national SS line but it says they are too busy, call again later, i am a very special person and they are anxious to serve me - and then 'goodbye' - click

All the sugary insincere bull about how they want to serve me just makes it worse and if they said i was an alien and didn't rate in an election year and there was no money in it for them and so just go and get an illegal job in a cotton field, then at least i would appreciate their honesty.

My wife thinks all the wonderful things that people say to you in the U.S. are so courteous and polite and a step up from england, but i would rather be treated offhand and get the cards than be buttered up insincerely with all this 'you are a special wonderful person' stuff and get nothing..

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-11 08:03:00

QUOTE (milimelo @ Jan 4 2008, 06:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Guys,

any ideas if having two people (one Congressman, one Senator) inquiring about my green card would be too much? We just received a letter from my husband's Senator - a week after we sent off all info to his Congressman. So, would two people asking around be over the board? This time, I am to fill all the paperwork instead of my husband.

Thoughts, ideas....

Mr Bush tried to get as many countries as possible into his coalition of the willing

You can't have too many allies

I would try and get George aboard too, and Hillary - no you can't have too many in my humble opinion- alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-01-04 14:04:00

n-400 noviembre 2010

I disagree they ARE equal here in the USA get ALL the same benefits. There is only one difference between between being Naturalized/Natural ... Cant become the US PRESIDENT.

they will .. they can hold any other job.. where did you gather your information..?

Saying they can hold any other job is like saying to a black person that they are totally equal to eat out in public, but there are plenty of other restaurants they can go to - not this one.

Not being able to become President means Naturalized Citizens are different to other citizens.. Not equal.

It is common knowledge. It is a fact. There are 2 classes of US Citizens. Them and us. A and B

I don't want to be President but I would like to think there was only ONE class of Citizen and everyone was equal.

There are two classes of citizen. Let any Naturalized citizen try and stand and they will learn soon enough that they are in category B

Edited by Alan the Red, 21 November 2010 - 11:55 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-11-21 11:55:00

n-400 noviembre 2010

Make sure you have been married to your sweathard for at least 3 years minus 90 days before you apply. Make it 88 days to be sure because the USCIS maths is strange. It won't delay the ceremony.

Almost all offices can process the whole thing within the 5 months target

It took me 10 weeks from application to interview. I still had not reached my 3 year anniversary on interview day and so I have had to wait another 5 weeks for the ceremony. You cannot have a ceremony before the 3 year date even if you have finished the interview successfully

It's good fun - but a Naturalized citizen will never be equal to 'natural born' so I don't expect too much...

Short lines at Seattle Airport and no GC to carry - that's about it.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-11-21 11:38:00

Hey Nick I may be hijacked to Wisconsin one day as 'her indoors' is from Hubertus, Wisconsin and she has a packer fixation.

I have to keep her alive until she is 62 so I can piggy back on her SS contributions for Medicare - until then I will have to pay $6,500 per annum to buy in from age 65.

I first became aware of how the American worker was treated when I visited LaGrange, Georgia in 1983. It was a work trip to Head Office as I worked for a US firm in Europe.

I sat down with the more attractive workers and chatted about their rights and their vacations etc and I was appalled at how they were treated. They could be fired with no notice and no reason and they got 10 days vacation per annum. I just assumed it was a hang over from the slavery days as it was Georgia after all. Now I know that kind of treatment is pretty universal. When I parted with the UK company after 14 years, I got 150k severance pay and the use of a Mercedes for a year. I had been on 30 days vacation as had all my co-workers.

No wonder that corporate profits in the US were the highest they have ever been in the whole of history during the last quarter. The bosses and owners must not be taxed though because they can't afford it.

We Americans pride ourselves on being 'free' and our 'liberty'. When you get right down to it, Europeans have many times more personal rights and benefits by right and by law and yes they can vote and yes they have free speech too.

The downside is they can't walk into Walmart with a gun so that means we are still better off with our system.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-06 11:43:00

OMG Red, you write what many of us think but dare not express.

Congrats on your Citizenship to this great land of ours! (Ours since seizing it from the former occupants.)

I am a second nation American too so perhaps I will get a grant or open a casino..

1st nation - Native Americans
2nd Nation - the English
3rd Nation - the British
4th Nation - the colonials who were revolting (the others went to Toronto or hid)
5th Nation - Al Capone and the cosa nostra and half of Germany and Poland
6th Nation - quién podrá ser ? (Who will that be ?)

Given that history, I am sure the US will survive my arrival on the scene.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-05 21:45:00

Ha my wife, a US citizen for two years now still needed my support in going back to the service department of a local department store to make a return. Just said, this is my wife, she wants to return and item. Then she took it from there, was so proud of her doing most of the return rather than having me do it. How does a guy return a skirt if asked the reason why? Just snapped back without thinking, thought it was a mans' skirt, but when I got home, learned it was for a woman.

Actually I got an email today from a pal who is transvestite in the yookay
He opened a bank account as Pauline and goes in there after work with his lippy on. Gives him a buz I reckon.
I bet all the girls in there know - though he does dress like Sarah Palin. The TSA would know.

I was proud of my wifey too when she lived in England and faced winter motorway traffic on her own and got a hard job. I am bloody proud of myself too - I used to be homesick after 10 days holiday in Spain and ready to run home - and I have made it here in the US. For someone who's native tongue is not English it must be 10 times harder.

I would like to get her indoors a UK passport - a 3 year stint when she early retires. That will guarantee her unlimited 100% free health care for life with no limits or copays and no pre existing etc. Worth having.

Nobody early retires here in the US as they cant afford or trust health insurance. I retired at 54 in the UK and all my friends retired between 50 and 55.

You can live on a few dollars a week if your house is paid off. I feel sorry for Americans - oops I mean other Americans - they really do have it tough. I would never petition for my kids to come here as its scary - they are better off in a socialist Europe where they are surrounded by safety nets.

However its all right for me - ca plane por moi !!!!

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-05 18:57:00

My German Shepherd dog was born in Germany, just needed his shots all dogs gets and a crate I had to pay for. No immigration for him was required, and his place of birth is not even mentioned on his birth certificate, just the names of his parents. Is written in German, no translations were required. Since he didn't ride first class, airline fee was only one way and was about 130 bucks, but since he was a cute little pup, was treated with great care, no question about him coming here with a one way ticket.

When going to Canada, he isn't required to have a US passport, just have to remember to bring his shot records along, he gets a little touchy with a full body strip search, so they leave him alone. Now if you knew any better, you would have come here barking so you could avoid this mess, no English or civics tests, no passport, no visa, and no outrageous fees to pay. You would have been far better off if you came here as a dog.

Perhaps bring my wife and step daughter here compared to my dog isn't a fair comparison, but just couldn't help but notice how poorly humans are treated by this country. Better off to be a dog.

Why a German German Shepherd? Far more care is used in selecting the parents with great distance between relatives. So typical of American breeders to even mate a mom with her son to get certain lines, resulting in either an idiot or a very in poor health pup. Can end up paying more for vet bills than the price of the dog and still end up in grief. Part of our greed in our society. Isn't greed a good definition of the USCIS?

I am scared of dogs and they sense it and bite me - but of recent years I have learned to trick em by saying "wiggy waggy - wiggy waggy" and rocking my head side to side and putting on an air of false confidence. So far it has worked as long as I don't look in their eyes where they would see through the pretence. As far as mating son to mother - my sergeant would have said "don't knock it until you have tried it" - but he was a bitter man whose values were in flux.

Feeling American is going to be a process and is not an instant change like a vasectomy. It will take a few years.
Almost 50% of Americans would hear my political/religious views and call me a traitorous immoral foreign atheist who is not wanted here and why don't you 'go home'.

The other just over 50% will welcome my monetary and philosophical contribution to the betterment of the people of the US. In order to survive the first 50% who have more guns than even me, I shall have to be more circumspect in putting forward my ideas.

The internet is educating the previously isolated Americans fast and the country will recover and flourish eventually and the violent and truculent and uncaring and xenophobic people (you know who I mean), will fade more and more.

I still feel naked without my GC !!!!

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-05 12:09:00

LOL... Glad to read some English humour again. I have to say, they're good at this.
Alan... thanks for making my day. It's nice to see the frustration coming out, created over the years as an emigrant in this free country. We all know the feeling. Congratulation Alan... I really mean it.

Thanks folks, I am still suffering from PTSD which I acquired after the green card struggle in 2007. People are people and once one realises that, living anywhere is easy and simply a question of chosing the place with the least rain and the largest parking spaces. It rains 8 inches pa here and the parking spaces are wider than my house was back in the UK so home sweet home. All politicians are corrupt swine the world over so lets not worry about them and their artificial governments which are constructed to suit them. We the people in the US and Germany and England etc etc are great taken as individuals so lets not hear any more of Americans are like this and Iranians are like that etc etc.

That is one thing the tea party has right - left to our own devices, we the people can all be pals and get along with our lives quite nicely thank you - it's only our political masters who give us guns and tell us to hate and kill each other and who cause all the trouble. Without governments, it wouldn't even cross our minds to do that.

I am just a human being and interested in giving every other human being a 'fair go' in their own chosen style as the ozzies say.

Right I shall have another beer before I turn into John Lennon and start fancying yoko -- jeez heck

ps I went for a walk today and felt naked without my GC. No certificate (mailed for passport) , no GC. No Arizona for sure !

I think I will start a new business organising Naturalization Ceremonies and sub contract to the USCIS. I could use the Bon Jovi rig and have the judge dressed as a James Brown look alike flying in on a trapeze and shining a flashlight on the candidates as he paases over them singing 'Living in America' on max amps ! Oh dear I need to go and lay down it's all been too much.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-04 21:44:00

Ceremony Thursday – the report

Thursday 2 December - made my way 30 miles through snow and ice to the Naturalization Ceremony. Told to report at 4pm so everyone arrived 3.30 to 3.45. Joined a line for registration where my letter was taken and my green card was removed and tossed on a pile in the middle of a desk. I signed the certificate and a USCIS paper with my full name. On the door was a sign ‘ USCS Nathuralization’. I kid you not it was just like that. The admin thing was done mainly in Spanish and 25 of the 30 candidates were Hispanic. I get on well with most Hispanics and I can rap it some – so I was comfortable being a minority of one English person.

My wife was told to go in another room where she would be called to observe the ceremony at 6 pm !!!!!
We candidates sat there in agony for one and a half hours staring at the wall. A woman candidate told the USCIS that we should have been warned in the letter of the huge time delay as she had small children with her who had been sent to the other room.. Eventually we were re-united with our relatives just before the ceremony. No coffee. 3.30pm to 7pm with no coffee ? My batty hurt on the wooden school chairs.

Then the stage guests:
A local school teacher made a rambling speech saying education was important otherwise we would only have bows and arrows for weapons instead of rockets and guns. A girl sang the national anthem and she was very good and hit all the notes but did it in the warbling, bordering on screaming, gospel style which I don’t like.
A lady who could barely speak any English said she had been here 23 years and started as an apple picker and worked her way up to an apple polisher. She was very nice but I could read Spanish much better than she could read her English piece and that is after 23 years of assimilation !

Then I renounced Prince Charles and all his ears and successors. I declared that I am no longer willing and eager to be parachuted into Iran at midnight in winter on behalf of David Cameron – but if ####### Cheney says it’s a good idea then it is my sacred duty and I would just love to.

I was called up onto the stage and they used my correct name instead of my first and middle they had been using up to then. I shook hand with eleven people and I congratulated the singer and the apple polisher who was very nice despite her lack of progress with English after 23 years.

I was then taken in the back room for the chip to be inserted under my neck skin and it was all quite painless.

I was asked to write the following lines to make sure the chip was working:

A Sarah Plain has nice silky hair and is sexy cockeyed and looks like she is taking a close up on my commander - and that qualifies her to be leader of the free world and given the codes to thermo nuclear weapons
B Invading other countries is a good thing because they are not US Citizens and therefore have no rights
C Rich people deserve even more and poor people deserve even less and to say otherwise is socialist
D I would rather die in agony than accept free medical help because it’s not the American way
E Kidnapping foreign nationals and keeping them in foreign secret torture centers is bad unless it’s us that is doing it in which case it is totally justified as we are the good guys so there
F Although Jesus was born in Palestine (I mean the great State of Israel), he was and is a US Citizen because his father was and is and made the US on the first Monday morning of creation.
G Getting a second mortgage at 30% interest and tithing the proceeds, plus 50% of my income, to a slick pastor in a shiny suite who has a pink Rolls Royce, is only sensible
H If an 11 year old kid with intellectual problems tries to steal my hub caps, there is nothing wrong with kneeling him in the driveway, executing him with my Glock, and billing his parents for the clean up

The computer checked my responses and certified the implant was working and I had been successfully re-oriented.

Despite some of the negatives, it is a nice feeling to be the same Nationality as my cats and to be as entitled to be here as I am entitled to be in the EU. My wife got me a US lapel badge which I will proudly wear every day.
I am seriously happy to be an American because despite the orientation test, I know that more than 50% of my fellow Americans think the opposite to those sentiments and the good guys are in the majority and will win through one day (with my help)

Civis Romanus sum - ipso facto coitus interruptus

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-03 11:47:00

Passport application

I applied for the blue passport last Friday at my local courthouse.

I paid the expedited fee and overnight return

My personal check cleared my bank on Tuesday.

I went on the DOS passport site and registered for email updates on my case (dob and last 4 of SS number required)

I just got an email from them saying processing is finished, it has been mailed out, and I should have it by Saturday latest

I reckon Friday

So that was slick - I know there have been times in the past when it has been very many weeks due to fee increases etc which cause long lines

Edited by Alan the Red, 09 December 2010 - 11:44 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-09 11:44:00

Receipt of USC Certificate

PS

Social Security refuse to accept a US Passport as proof of citizenship so make sure your certicate is VERY SAFE and take it to the SS office once you have your passport

keep the copy as far as possible from the original

Never take the original abroad

That was a tip from the USCIS boss

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-10 11:20:00

Receipt of USC Certificate

Hello All,

When do we receive the certificate in our hand? is it when right after the Oath? or when the certificate will be mailed to us later after the Oat Ceremony?

The reason I am asking is because there is a chance my wife is moving during the N-400 filing process.

They take the green card when you register at the desk.

I like the idea of an 'oat' ceremony as I am a porridge man myself.

However, they always give you the certificate at the ceremony but only after you say your oath

We did our oath and then they called us up onto the stage to get our certificate and shake hands with the assembled grandees

That was December 2
On December 3 I applied for my passport
Yesterday I got an email saying my passport is on the way (you can register on the DOS site for the email notification)
I reckon the passport should arrive in a couple of hours from now

I have only heard of one person ever who did not get their certificate at the ceremony and that was because of a terrible admin error.

When you send off your original certificate for your passport, you will not have a GC or a certificate and you will feel very naked...

I got color copies before I sent it off (UPS store). The USCIS tells you to do that. It is legal.

Edited by Alan the Red, 10 December 2010 - 10:26 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-10 10:25:00

Another warning:
If you ever had a ticket and reported it truthfully on your N-400 application, you will also get a yellow letter saying "You indicated that you have been arrested." Be prepared that this is as much BS as the RFE letter you got for the Biometrics. You'd think that a country of 308 million people would find a few who are not f*cking up something so important, but obviously that's not the case. If I were the Secretary of Homeland Security, I would fix these things before I go to the bathroom.

Vote for me!

You got it if I can't get it ! I can't become prez and big dadda field Marshall with damned big juju bongo bongo medicine for life at least (Idi Amin) - but I am looking for a proxy - you know, like the W and Cheney ventriloquist act - I will be like cheney except not in favor of anything he is. If he was in favor of breathing I would hold my breath til I died.

I have offered Charles proxy prez but he didn't take me up on it coz I have more guns than him and he is envious.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-10 15:51:00

Just so you know, they dont always update online or do you get emails or texts.

I still have the biometrics status up on mine. And I have since been for interview, and am about to take my oath next week. Still says date of last action was oct 13...so don't fret, as others have said, the RFE was just your biometrics.
If they require any additional inof they will send you a yellow coloured letter detailing whats required, and you bring the evidence with you to your interview.

other than that, if you get no yellow lwtter, just wait for your interview letter, and bring the few things that they do request on that, which is mainly just orifinals of any copies you may have sent in as evidence, your d/l, passport and greencard.
I took in everything that was sent in originally, and they asked to see nono of it,..only my d/l and greencard.

yeah my status is still stuck on 'out to local office' even though I got my certificate last week and my passport arrives today or tomorrow

Most people report that it never moves after the interview pending stage

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-10 13:40:00

Thanks for the quick reply appreciate it...I wasn't worried really that they needed more evidence as it was pretty detailed... more that... while it is in this "status" it is delaying my moving forward to the next step...ie..Losing a month because click click while they move to the next BLUE dot..

Thanks for the info!Just like old times with them when I first came form Canada...a real treat to be sure...

Kev

haha it won't last forever - at least they are quite quick nowadays

I filed august 8th - interview oct 25

my anniversary was nov 5 and they cant do you til then

So they delayed me to dec 2 for ceremony and my passport arrives tomorrow !

viva !

free at last

hang loose the n400 stuff is easy peasy lemon squeezy

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-09 23:22:00

Hi

Canadian Citizenship....10 year green card holder yadda yadda....send in my application for N-400..they have zero trouble vacuuming up the $675.00 but then send me a Request for Evidence on Nov 8, 2010. Then 3 days later my Biometrics arrives..NOTHING else arrives...So I call there like 2 weeks later and say what is this Request for evidence?

Oh...sez rep...could be an error and they really just wanted Biometrics which I did Nov.22..so could be a mistake...Gives me a reference number if in 30 days I dont hear anything..

So I call back..another rep....It has not been 30 days so we cannot do anything sez Robo Rep....

So I call back does it seem reasonable to you guys that 2 weeks pass I call and THEN another possible 30 days to DETERMINE whether the BIOMETRICS IS ACTUALLY THE REQuest for evidence???

cLICK..cLICK...PLEASE INSERT ANOTHER QUARTER TO CONTINUE this call..click click...sez ROBO REP 3..

Anybody higher I can talk to about this sez I? Does not compute. Anything else I can help you with?

Anything else? Just er...what DID you help me with?

click.click.

Thanks for listening

Kev

Don't worry
good news
the RFE IS the fingerprints and the USCIS sytem is so crocky its the best they can do

programmers ? useless !

thats all
everyone gets the entry on their account

have a look on august filers september filers etc and look at the tables

the RFE is the fingerprints

everyone !

You are in the clear - no hass

Always check with VJ tribe first - we are the experts

Forget USCIS - they are brains out dopey do-dahs

Edited by Alan the Red, 09 December 2010 - 11:11 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-09 23:09:00

Applying for passport experience

Yesterday I tried to apply for passport at a postal office ( I had an appointment).The clerk there did't accept my application because she said the pictures were not OK (the same pictures that USCIS used for my N400 application !!!) and because the checks were not written by me, but by my husband.She told me that if I want to use these checks my husband should be present (!!!!?). The pictures were in fact good, but she measured the distance from my chin to my forehead not my whole head (which in the pictures was 1 inch, perfectly acceptable under US Department of state requirements ).I admit I wasn't prepared for this absurd situation and I left instead of questioning the clerk (I should have asked her to show me a document where it says about the checks), or asking to see her supervisor.
Today I went to a local County Courthouse and I applied with the same pictures and using the same checks and all went smoothly and without any troubles.If I had do to this all over again I would have applied at the courthouse from the beginning.The clerks there are more experienced (they do this on the daily basis) vs. the clerks at the postal office who don't have a clue about what they're doing.The clerk at the postal office ( I think her name was Lisa) obviously pulled those requirements out of her ####.

wow it goes on and on !

The post office said they would take my photo if I didnt have one - for a charge

In the end I applied at the courthouse - I asked who did passports and she said - we all do

the line is shorter too

Never mind, I think your journey is now wrapping up and you should soon have the blue passport.

I live in a desert where we rely on planes for the mail. I am socked in with fog so mine may not come today.

Its never over until it's over - and then it's over

ps my photo is bad but not as bad as the one in my UK passport. I had 4 pints of Timothy Taylor's finest bitter the night before and slept with my face down. Then I got a cheap photo from the booth at the supermarket in the early morning. I look like Quasimodo after he has been exhumed

Edited by Alan the Red, 10 December 2010 - 12:43 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-12-10 12:40:00