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DV 2011 AOS Only

that's why I'm asking from other states law. for being eligible you must be a PR or citizen with at least one of the following condition

1. One year of non-student employment in Texas (letter from employer or pay check stubs preferred)
2. One year of property ownership in Texas (warranty deed for property)
3. One year of business ownership in Texas (send paperwork verifying business ownership)
4. One year of marriage to a Texas resident (copy of marriage license and verification that spouse has completed one of the items above)"

I asked my school and they said that you're not eligible. the funny thing is that my friend in the office is American and he had also paid out of state tuition as he is actually from other state and is not considered a Tx resident. I have lived in Tx more than one year.

This is true for almost ALL the states. I am not sure about 'gainful' part, it I think is wrong info. But 1 yr state residency as a US-PR is a requirement.
Just check with your school's reg and records office and ask specifically for 'state higher ed board requirements' for state residency.

Best!
 
edward1mel,

My FO is Boston too. According the evident you pointed out and regarding my high cn, I think my chance to get gc in Boston would be low; you mentioned to the changing of FO, is it possible? as in some FO processing time for dv cases is about 3 months. thanks


Yes, it looks like that the Boston office processes DV cases slower than any other FO. It's probably because they either don't have enough Immigration Officers or they don't know or want to treat them as speeded up cases. Also on January 14th they had updated processing time of I-485 form and it now shows that on November 30th they were processing I-485 forms filed on July 13th. So by now, mid January they should be processing applications filed in the beginning of September 2010. So looking at this trend it looks like we would have to wait another whole month until mid February for them to reach our applications. Although our case numbers were current already by October 1st it looks like that we got stuck in the regular long line of all I-485 forms. No priority or speeding up DV cases. Guys just my recommendation for those of you who will be current in May-June-July and will be doing AoS via Boston office think whether it's worth to go via this office or better change it to another one for doing AoS or even make Consular Processing instead. So frustrating and disappointed. Don't know what to do to make it move. Any suggestions please comment.
 
That's what I would do if I were you, and make sure to do it promptly before your case gets to this FO and stucks in the long line. I'm not an expert or a lawyer, but l think it's possible if your life circumstance change and you have to move to another place within the large US. You would of course have to provide USCIS with your new address for mailing, biometrics and eventually Interview. Again, I'm not an expert or a lawyer so if someone else could share the ideas then it would be great.

By the way does anyone know when did 2010 DV winners got their first Interview letters last year? Just trying to figure out how long should we still wait as it looks like that Boston office has just totally forgot about us.
 
Hello, I have question about taxes, I'm F-1 student and this is my first year of work in US. Im paying all taxes, I heard that f1 visa holders don't have to pay social security and medicare taxes? If it so can I return them even I paid whole year? And which form I have to fill for tax return? Thank you
 
nncu, lisa6, personhuang and pbz:
I wish you all good luck with your interviews on 1/27. I am sure ya'll will come back with great news. This time 4 of you are from the 4 different states..:)
Cheers!

Thanks, I hope it will go smooth.
 
This used to be the case before 9/11, but ever since they made it stricter. It used to be that F-1s without jobs (and even F-2s) could get the SSN, but now you must have an RA or TA to be eligible. I am not aware that they changed the rules on that. You can get an ID and open a bank account without a SSN.

I think you are wrong feel. Everyone can apply for a social security number when they come to this country, unless you are just visiting which I am not sure if you can get a SSN. Beside that, you just go to the social security office with your passport and your I-20 and you get a Social security card. This was my first think I did when I got to US in 2006. You need a card to open a bank account, apply for credit card and apply for an ID. So I will have to contradict you on the Social Security Card Feel.
 
Interview experience

Thank you guys for wishing me luck for the interview.

We had good interview this morning. Our interview time was 8:00 A.M. so we were there by 7:45. The office was already open and we submitted our interview letter to the lady on the window. Exactly at 8:00 an officer called us inside.

He started with taking our oath. Asked us our passport and driver's license. He then opened the up the file and entered some information from there to the computer. He only asked few questions from the first and second page of our I 485 for each of us.

He took about 20 min. to finish the interview. During that time he was constantly typing something in the computer along with few questions like Date of Birth etc.

At last he said everything looks good and I will recommend for approval. He further added "you should receive your Green Card within 30 days, if you do not receive it within that time then you need to contact us."

We then thanked the officer and came back home happy.
P.S. our status has already changed to CPO after about 2 hours.
 
Thanks feel. I hope things go smoothly.

Good luck to nncu, lisa6 and personhuang as well.

And congratulations sundaram!!
 
Hey everyone, unfortunately I have not been on here in a while but once again this is a great forum and you have all been so helpful. I am going to try and update my info on dates and times tonight. We had our interview on 1/20 and things went really well. The interviewing officer approved our case after a quick 20 minute interview, I will post the details of the interview later and my experiences to help others shortly. I had a quick question for everyone.

The day of the interview we received our email through USCIS for CDP (Card/Document Production), then on 1/25/2011 we received another email stating the same thing for both my wife and I with the date of 1/25/2011 whereas the original e-mail date for CDP was 1/20/2011. Today we also received our welcome letters in the mail for both my wife and I. Then later today we received a third email dated for today that stated our PDA (Post Decision Activity) was approved.

My questions is I thought it went from PDA to CDP? And why would they send us two different PDA notifications?

Good luck to everyone still applying and for those going for their interviews this week. Stay calm and the best to you all.
 
Congrats on your interview and your aproval. There is no CDP. there is a CPO which means Card Production Ordered, which mean your case was aproved in the system and the cards ordered, then after they print the cards it moves to PDA which means Post Decision Activity that the cards were sent to you. Relax and enjoy the freedom.
Hey everyone, unfortunately I have not been on here in a while but once again this is a great forum and you have all been so helpful. I am going to try and update my info on dates and times tonight. We had our interview on 1/20 and things went really well. The interviewing officer approved our case after a quick 20 minute interview, I will post the details of the interview later and my experiences to help others shortly. I had a quick question for everyone.

The day of the interview we received our email through USCIS for CDP (Card/Document Production), then on 1/25/2011 we received another email stating the same thing for both my wife and I with the date of 1/25/2011 whereas the original e-mail date for CDP was 1/20/2011. Today we also received our welcome letters in the mail for both my wife and I. Then later today we received a third email dated for today that stated our PDA (Post Decision Activity) was approved.

My questions is I thought it went from PDA to CDP? And why would they send us two different PDA notifications?

Good luck to everyone still applying and for those going for their interviews this week. Stay calm and the best to you all.
 
It moves from CPO (indicates approval) to PDA when you card is actually mailed out to you. Best!

Hey everyone, unfortunately I have not been on here in a while but once again this is a great forum and you have all been so helpful. I am going to try and update my info on dates and times tonight. We had our interview on 1/20 and things went really well. The interviewing officer approved our case after a quick 20 minute interview, I will post the details of the interview later and my experiences to help others shortly. I had a quick question for everyone.

The day of the interview we received our email through USCIS for CDP (Card/Document Production), then on 1/25/2011 we received another email stating the same thing for both my wife and I with the date of 1/25/2011 whereas the original e-mail date for CDP was 1/20/2011. Today we also received our welcome letters in the mail for both my wife and I. Then later today we received a third email dated for today that stated our PDA (Post Decision Activity) was approved.

My questions is I thought it went from PDA to CDP? And why would they send us two different PDA notifications?

Good luck to everyone still applying and for those going for their interviews this week. Stay calm and the best to you all.
 
I don't know what you guys are talkning about, maybe it is different in Vermont, but in 2006 when I came, I got my SS card in less than 2 weeks with no problem. ALso in Vermont you can not do much without a social security card, no ID and definetly no bank account or credit card, maybe it is different from state to state.

This used to be the case before 9/11, but ever since they made it stricter. It used to be that F-1s without jobs (and even F-2s) could get the SSN, but now you must have an RA or TA to be eligible. I am not aware that they changed the rules on that. You can get an ID and open a bank account without a SSN.
 
Sorry I mean CPO, not CDP, now that all the stress is over my mind went blank there ha ha. Thanks for all the help everyone and good luck to you all. More to come on the interview details and my process, luckily it went really smoothly but I did have a lot to research. We were married after the first NL and before the interview, so if anyone is worried about this dont stress, as long as its all legit you dont have any worries.
 
Hello 2011,

I recommend that you talk to the office of International Education at your School. They will tell you exactly what to do. For your federal tax return, you should file form 1040NR. I do not understand why the finance folks at your school withheld SS taxes fro your paychecks, probably proper procedures in your state.



Hello, I have question about taxes, I'm F-1 student and this is my first year of work in US. Im paying all taxes, I heard that f1 visa holders don't have to pay social security and medicare taxes? If it so can I return them even I paid whole year? And which form I have to fill for tax return? Thank you
 
We had good interview this morning.

P.S. our status has already changed to CPO after about 2 hours.
That was fast. Congratulations on a smooth interview and fast CPO.


nncu, personhuang, pbz, lisa, good luck tomorrow. I hope you have a similarly smooth interview and competent officers.
 
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