Help..Husband is giving up on GC since it went to the wrong address.

T

The French Maid

Registered Users (C)
Hello all,

Many of you know my story.. (see signature)

Recently we got notice that his green card was sent to our old address and it was returned to the USCIS.

My husband prior to that had filed TWO AR-11's and both times when he hit submit it said "thank you, you have fulfilled your legal obligation" I told him to call them just to make sure and he did. They said that was all he needed to do. Then on March 17th it said they received his greencard returned in the mail.

Since then, he has called NUMEROUS times to fix this issue. Each time a different story. On monday they put a "service request" in and said it would be 45 days to fix it...

I called yesterday and got someone that said if my husband were standing next to me (so he could verify that is was him) they would change the address right then and there but since I was at work I had no way of having him get on the phone and verify his identity. I hung up feeling exasperated.

He has pretty much given up on this country and the system. He said the USCIS are just a bunch of monkeys that don't know what they are doing. (can't say I blame him on that) so I BEGGED him to call one more time today and push all the options that I did yesterday.

So he did and he got some recording... I said.. no call again.. so he did and this time he got someone but when they looked at his case they saw that there was a service request and that they couldn't do anything. Now its probably going to be MONTHS before we see that greencard. HOW HARD IS IT TO CHANGE AN ADDRESS IN A COMPUTER?!?!?!:mad:

He recently got a call from France from a headhunter for a job that he applied for on Sunday night.. they asked him when he could be in France and he said in the next few weeks. My husband still has his advanced parole from x-mas and said he will just use that. He isn't very happy at his current work as it doesn't use his current skills.

However we had big issues with the AP as they threatened to send him back to France when we landed in Houston afther the holidays because he needed a new passport ALONG with the AP even though his passport is STILL valid:confused: They were such jerks... they even asked him if he could speak fluid English. Something tells me he had a couple of A-holes that day.

Point being.. my husband has given up. I have not because I don't give up very easily but he is disheartened and his spirit is broken from dealing with person after person that doesn't know what they are doing. I kindly remind him that it is no better in France but he doesn't care anymore. And it doesn't help that I am getting my citizenship in France faster than he is getting it here. How pathetic.

We have an infopass on April 1st (yeah no joke) but I assume they will tell us the same thing... that they can't do anything because of the service request. But I will push him to go anyway... I know he is looking at jobs in France as I type this and I can't MAKE him stay here in the US... I can only beg and plead but if doesn't want to be here any more... I can't force him. The fact of the matter is... we are married and everything he does affects me...

I know everyone here has gone through alot and was wondering if any of you have any advice.... or words of wisdom.:(
 
Does the fact that the card was mailed to him mean that he is already a green card holder for all intents and purposes ? Could he get a temporary stamp in his passport to hold him over until the card is mailed to the correct address ? To give up on something just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't make sense. Hopefully he will be convinced to hang in there just a tad longer so that he can get over this one last hurdle (which isn't a major one considering that he got approved for a green card already and it is just a matter of getting his hands on the actual physical card).

Hope things work out for you guys. Good luck !

-KM
 
kagemusha said:
Does the fact that the card was mailed to him mean that he is already a green card holder for all intents and purposes ? Could he get a temporary stamp in his passport to hold him over until the card is mailed to the correct address ? To give up on something just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't make sense. Hopefully he will be convinced to hang in there just a tad longer so that he can get over this one last hurdle (which isn't a major one considering that he got approved for a green card already and it is just a matter of getting his hands on the actual physical card).

Hope things work out for you guys. Good luck !

-KM
Click to expand...

Yes it does, the card was ordered. Case approved. He IS a permanent resident.
 
KM,

Getting the stamp would be a good idea... I will ask for that when we have our infopass appt on April 1st.

It's good to know he is a permanent resident despite the fact that he can't get the card right now...
 
If a minor bureaucratic mixup causes your husband to give up and move half-way around the world, I sincerely hope he doesn't give up on you as easily.

Just sayin'.
 
I agree with bigclaw. He's a permanent resident card or not. It seems a bit silly to me that he'd pick up and leave just because of no card in hand. I don't have my card yet, I have a new job that I hate, and even if my card got mixed up and I don't get it when I should, I have my husband. Which is all I need. I'd question his motives. I understand you're frustrated, but he seems to be overreacting.
 
remember, the important thing in life is to be happy. If things happen, it may happen for a reason.

If you are a U.S Citizen you can apply for him again anytime you want.


Sometimes if you come from a country where things are not bad, does not make much sense to come to the U.S and have a hard time with the system.
 
He sounds like a high skill worker.

Is not much about giving up and more about waisting time,using the same time for something more productive. We just live ones.
 
The US dollars suck hard against Euro now.. Not a good idea to move to EU for now.:)

I know USCIS is sometimes hard to deal with, but for this particular case, I think he just doesn't have enough patience. He started GC process, what , a year ago or so ?.. and I485 got approved w/o card. There are a PLENTLY of people waiting for GC for LONG LONG time and he should have considered himself lucky to get the things done quick.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't think is only about patience.

Lots of people wait years because they have no choice. Their options a limited and they are at the mercy of the system.

Some people in the other hand have more options in life and don't have to deal with this kind of problem.


I personally know people that live overseas and their US passports are collecting dust. They have great jobs and have a great life style.


Is all about having choices. If you can have the same or better quality of life on your place or origin or in another place, what would be the point of waisting your time with the system?


I kind of understand his point. He has choices and don't want to deal with the B.S.
 
I agree.

Plus since he is a French citizen he don't have to worry about any kind of paper work for him. He also can work in any country inside Europe.

Your kids(Future European Citizens) don't have to worry about College since you can apply to any school in Europe and study for free.



You in the other hand,if you need to work , I presume is another story.
 
Only with college and Health care you can save hundreds of thousand of dollars in your life time.


You kid if choose can In the future to move to the US at anytime since they will be American citizen at birth.
 
Any countries in top ten in economy standarad is liveable at the same living standard. However, when people consider moving to other country, they have to think about the long term plan... whether you wan to move there premanently or not.

I have a close friend who is from France and he works/worked as an analog circuit designer here and there.,
He said his salary in France is less than $50k(equivalent to $US), and I believe he is getting more than $100k here in the US(And I believe $100k for analog designer is bargain for employer in the US now. He can get $130k - $150k easily).
Assuming tax rate is similar, and living expense is a bit less expensive in France, he could save more in the US than France. When he goes back to France some day, he can take a lot of cash. What about the other way.. France to the US after retirement. You may have enough money to live in France, but not enough to live in the US.
 
I work with electronics and I can tell you that you are giving information from both extreme of spectrum.


A analog Engineer in the US need to carry a Head of design management position to make anything from 100k to 150k.

We are talking about very long hours and tons and tons of deadlines and stress.

In the other hand 50k(32k euros) in Europe is for a person in a junior level.I know technician in Europe with only trade school that makes more then 32k euro a year.
 
In America is not question that you can save more. The problem is that easy come easy goes.

It take only one medical problem, accident,lawsuit to evaporate years of work.


Again my position is for people that have a good life style. If you in France in a bad job like your friend then to come to the U.S is a much better idea.


My point is only that people that have better choices do not stick around waiting for something to get done.
 
It's true.. when you have a choice then one can be alot less patient. There are good and bad things about each country. I try to remind him that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. For instance, when we are in France, we are usually stressed because trains are cancelled, ticket machines don't work.... rude crazy drivers and the usual stuff in France. I always say "try to remember this when you get fed up in the US"

As for retirement.. we have quite a few years before that (we are both in our upper 30's) but I think France will be our choice only because the health care in this country scks...especially for older people on MediCare.. I know this since my mother is 73 years old and on it. So France would be a no brainer there.

It's true, one car crash can do someone in... sad for the richest country in the world (or not these days). I stay at my job for fear of losing health insurance or getting a job that doesn't have up to standard health care.

Anyway, enough of that. France does NOT have a better system as far as administration goes and in fact, it is horrible...so coming to this country one would expect a little more effeciency. But as my husband is learning.. it is not. I cringe when I hear my mother's stories about dealing with MediCare and Social Security. Hence, I would rather move to France when I get old and if I have to deal with bad administration.. at least I will get better healthcare.

If one saves for retirement here, I don't think one can live well in France...for instance, my dollars don't buy as many Euros.. at least today that is. Who knows what that will be when my day comes to retire.

When my husband found out how much I owed in student loans, he gasped!:eek: He had no clue what a student loan was until he came here. And of course when I found out he had 2 master degrees from France and didn't owe a penny... I inturn gasped myself!

So.. bottomline.. choices do make one less patient. We have an apartment in Paris and we have no kids, we sold our condo here and are not married to our jobs so we could just pick up and leave tomorrow. So.. get my point? France isn't a third world country....

And yes Prae... they do have better wine and cheese... lol:cool:
 
The French Maid said:
As for retirement.. we have quite a few years before that (we are both in our upper 30's) but I think France will be our choice only because the health care in this country scks...especially for older people on MediCare.. I know this since my mother is 73 years old and on it. So France would be a no brainer there.
Click to expand...

I would be very reluctant to draw any conclusions today on what the world will look like 40 years from now. Demographically speaking, if I was in your shoes I would be very curious as to how many young French workers there will be in 2045 to support you in your retirement, and how well any European system will fare.

I stay at my job for fear of losing health insurance or getting a job that doesn't have up to standard health care.
Click to expand...

I'm confused. You don't have to quit your job to find a new one - and if they don't offer good benefits, you can say NO quite happily. I've turned down three companies in the past three months because they didn't offer me enough to consider leaving. There's nothing sweeter than going for an interview knowing that they need you more than you need them.

I had an interview last month where they asked me, "So why do you want to leave X?" and I simply replied, "I don't. But if you want to give me a better opportunity, I'm willing to listen." All of a sudden the interview was turned around.

I cringe when I hear my mother's stories about dealing with MediCare and Social Security.
Click to expand...

Depending on the state for anything is a good recipe for mediocrity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top