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DV 2017 OC Selectees

Does anyone know how long USCIS takes to reply to queries.. we logged a query using the online portal 2 weeks ago and still no reply.
Really need to know how to go about paying for our bubs green card.
 
One for the experts:

From past experience, if there's a choice between LAX (aware that the experience here varies for different people), San Francisco (SFO) (haven't seen anyone activate here yet??) and Dallas FW as potential POEs, which one would be recommended?

The layover for all the above is about 1 hour 50 minutes before a connecting flight.

Alternatively, a 6 hour layover for LAX is also available :( a long wait.

Thanks
 
@lottic Why would you choose a city by only considering your activation? That's a tiny part of it.. why don't you just travel somewhere that interests you?

I think smaller airports would be nicer to activate, more of a community feel and shorter lines. The nicest of those options sounds like SFO!

I'm activating at JFK and I'm almost positive it'll be a nightmare.. loooooong wait maybe 2-3 hours and maybe mean immigration officers. BUT I want to visit NYC so that's how it has to be (and flights are really cheap!) :D
 
Wingpin said:
Why would you choose a city by only considering your activation? That's a tiny part of it.. why don't you just travel somewhere that interests you?

I think smaller airports would be nicer to activate, more of a community feel and shorter lines. The nicest of those options sounds like SFO!

I'm activating at JFK and I'm almost positive it'll be a nightmare.. loooooong wait maybe 2-3 hours and maybe mean immigration officers. BUT I want to visit NYC so that's how it has to be (and flights are really cheap!)
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I think you misunderstood. Those cities are stopovers as i'm coming from Sydney. My final destination (hence the layovers and connecting flight) is NYC. I just have a choice when i buy plane tickets which city i want to make a compulsory stopover at.

Re SFO, i haven't seen anyone here activate there yet, so waiting for a response from one of the experts!

Btw, flights really cheap for NYC? In September? Lucky you, it's quite expensive coming from Sydney.
 
@lottic Ahh my mistake I'm sorry :oops:

Well in that case just choose whatever is the shortest/cheapest option. I'd avoid LAX.

And yeah Norwegian Air has direct flights from London-NYC for €180 or less one way, they are considered an LCC (low cost carrier) but aircrafts are new and they have great IFE (inflight entertainment system).
 
lottic said:
I think you misunderstood. Those cities are stopovers as i'm coming from Sydney. My final destination (hence the layovers and connecting flight) is NYC. I just have a choice when i buy plane tickets which city i want to make a compulsory stopover at.
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I think this is all just a matter of priorities. For me, if I was coming from Sydney, I'd pick SFO or LAX to avoid the extra couple of hours of being on the same flight to DFW. But then, you could also consider the timing of landing as a factor (for example, flights from MEL to LAX on Qantas land in the early morning, so customs isn't that bad), or the terminal changes required. The customs experience would be lower down my list of things to consider - you only have to do it once, and you could just as easily get a'bad' officer in a 'good' airport as the reverse.

FWIW, I'm flying via Brisbane because I found a couple of premium economy seats to LAX using points. That flight gets in even earlier, with a 6am landing. Pooch will still go direct from Melbourne.

Wingpin said:
nd yeah Norwegian Air has direct flights from London-NYC for €180 or less
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I can't wait to be living somewhere near where flights are this close and this cheap :)
 
lottic said:
One for the experts:

From past experience, if there's a choice between LAX (aware that the experience here varies for different people), San Francisco (SFO) (haven't seen anyone activate here yet??) and Dallas FW as potential POEs, which one would be recommended?

The layover for all the above is about 1 hour 50 minutes before a connecting flight.

Alternatively, a 6 hour layover for LAX is also available :( a long wait.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'd never recommend less than 2 hours for a connecting flight.

We activated at SFO. We were in secondary for a while because we were behind 2 groups needing security related secondary inspection. Other than that, lines were short and officers friendly. SFO has a dedicated new immigrants line, though queues were so short the day we landed it wasn't necessary.
 
lottic said:
One for the experts:

From past experience, if there's a choice between LAX (aware that the experience here varies for different people), San Francisco (SFO) (haven't seen anyone activate here yet??) and Dallas FW as potential POEs, which one would be recommended?

The layover for all the above is about 1 hour 50 minutes before a connecting flight.

Alternatively, a 6 hour layover for LAX is also available :( a long wait.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Easy choice then because 1 hour 50 minutes is not enough time to allow for an activation.
 
Hi all!

Just booked my one way ticket Melb-NYC for end of July - getting excited!

I have set up an online account with USCIS however I have a few questions I was wondering someone could answer:

1. Is there a cut off date/recommendations as to when to make this payment? ie. is a month prior to departure ok? Is 1 week prior leaving it too soon?
2. Am I filing in the online form I-90 (which says replace/renew)? I am a little confused as to what to tick here - permanent resident in commuter staus? Do I have a prior Alien registration card (is this the name for the tempory visa in the passport?)
3. My original address was with a reliable family friend in LA as I wasn't sure of what NYC address I would put. If I update this on my USCIS account, will it be ok at POE/will this overwrite what I originally entered?

To make things potentially more complicated, I had a greencard previously but moved back to AU so it lapsed. Expiration date listed as 2011 (I moved back before the expiry). This was declared during my original forms as well as at the interview but I am concerned I should be ticking other boxes on the I90 form like existing card expired?

Thanks everyone in advance!
 
RI1985 said:
Hi BritSimon,
Called them this morning and they couldn't tell me anything. The customer service officer had no idea what I was talking about.
Not sure what else to do..
Click to expand...

How strange. You should have asked to speak to someone higher up who would know what you were talking about...
Somewhere on this forum is a thread about tracking green card through ELIS, and if you use the search function and some patience you should come across a discussion in it between a couple of people who had to do this. I can't reemember how it resolved but it was sorted out in the end.
 
Hi Everyone,

I've done my activation trip and returned back to my country to prepare for the big move.. Just wondering if it's a smart idea to change my address on USCIS to my intended California residency while still overseas (my current address on USCIS is for NYC). Not sure how picky they will be in LAX about changing my address while not living there.
 
allabouttonight said:
Hi Everyone,

I've done my activation trip and returned back to my country to prepare for the big move.. Just wondering if it's a smart idea to change my address on USCIS to my intended California residency while still overseas (my current address on USCIS is for NYC). Not sure how picky they will be in LAX about changing my address while not living there.
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Do you have an actual address in California already? Is whoever there now able to receive mail for you?

I don't know how picky they are about doing it while not being there. We only changed address once we had moved; the requirement is within 10 days of moving to a new address. I don't see any benefit in doing it in advance anyway?
 
SusieQQQ said:
Do you have an actual address in California already? Is whoever there now able to receive mail for you?

I don't know how picky they are about doing it while not being there. We only changed address once we had moved; the requirement is within 10 days of moving to a new address. I don't see any benefit in doing it in advance anyway?
Click to expand...
Yeah Im going to be living with my friend in SoCal, I just thought maybe LAX immigration would give me an easier time if I changed it now instead of asking me why I skipped over NYC and why my bank account address doesn't match. Also was unsure if Amex would be able to access my USCIS information to check my address. I think you're right I'll just do it when I actually move there.
 
RI1985 said:
Hi BritSimon,
Called them this morning and they couldn't tell me anything. The customer service officer had no idea what I was talking about.
Not sure what else to do..
Click to expand...

It's actually not strange to me that you couldn't get any information regarding the baby's GC from the USCIS 1-800 number - that number is manned by contract workers (3rd party agents) who basically answer most of the questions asked by reading from the prepared scripts they've been given. They have no answer to complicated issues or questions that do not fit in the category of a FAQ.

GC for babies processed at the POE tend to take months to show up. You need to schedule an INFOPASS and pay a visit to your applicable USCIS Field Office (Link for scheduling an INFOPASS below) to follow up on it If the first officer you run into at the FO doesn't seem to understand what you're asking about (which is possible), request to speak with a supervisor. The good news is no payment is required for the baby's GC, but you still have some waiting to do before the GC shows up.

Here's a 2016 Thread from DV selectee who went through the same process:
http://forums.immigration.com/threads/na3-status-to-getting-green-card.330924/

INFOPASS Link:
https://my.uscis.gov/appointment
 
allabouttonight said:
Yeah Im going to be living with my friend in SoCal, I just thought maybe LAX immigration would give me an easier time if I changed it now instead of asking me why I skipped over NYC and why my bank account address doesn't match. Also was unsure if Amex would be able to access my USCIS information to check my address. I think you're right I'll just do it when I actually move there.
Click to expand...

CBP officers at the POE couldn't care less what your banking address is, or that you're entering the US from a POE different from your listed address. And Banks do not verify their customer's address from USCIS.
 
SusieQQQ said:
How strange. You should have asked to speak to someone higher up who would know what you were talking about...
Somewhere on this forum is a thread about tracking green card through ELIS, and if you use the search function and some patience you should come across a discussion in it between a couple of people who had to do this. I can't reemember how it resolved but it was sorted out in the end.
Click to expand...

Thanks SusieQQQ. I asked to speak to a Tier 2 which from my research means an Immigration Officer and was told there wasnt one available and that I needed to call at 8am Mountain Time. So frustrating. I am going to try again tonight/tomorrow morning.
I will also look for the thread - Thank you.
The main issue is we don't have an A number for our bub as he was processed at the POE. Only a stamp in his passport saying NX3 and a memo detailing his status as a LPR. I also need to make sure they recorded his DOB correctly as on the memo it's incorrect.
 
Sm1smom said:
It's actually not strange to me that you couldn't get any information regarding the baby's GC from the USCIS 1-800 number - that number is manned by contract workers (3rd party agents) who basically answer most of the questions asked by reading from the prepared scripts they've been given. They have no answer to complicated issues or questions that do not fit in the category of a FAQ.

GC for babies processed at the POE tend to take months to show up. You need to schedule an INFOPASS and pay a visit to your applicable USCIS Field Office (Link for scheduling an INFOPASS below) to follow up on it If the first officer you run into at the FO doesn't seem to understand what you're asking about (which is possible), request to speak with a supervisor. The good news is no payment is required for the baby's GC, but you still have some waiting to do before the GC shows up.

Here's a 2016 Thread from DV selectee who went through the same process:
http://forums.immigration.com/threads/na3-status-to-getting-green-card.330924/

INFOPASS Link:
https://my.uscis.gov/appointment
Click to expand...

Thank you!!! I will check all of this out.. our closest field office is in Bangkok which is a 6-8 hour flight so I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Sm1smom - thank you again for the information..
 
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