Follow To Join....

[Vinsam]

Hi Rammyrammy,

Thanks for the response. I have NOT applied for my wifes 485. She is still in Singapore working there for a consulting firm and will be here in Nov.
I have a few questions:
1. How long will it typically take for her to get her GC using this process since we WERE married before GC approval of mine?
2. My category was EB1 (Emp based) and is current most of the time.
3. Can she be here while the FTJ process continues?
4. When will she be able to get EAD and AP?

I am new to this forum so any ones suggestions and help will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Vinsam

 

[Simala2006]

Hi there co-threaders! Godbless us all!

Thanks Judex, its the same feelings for me, too! I am happy for all who got their answers to their prayers and I know God will make His special miracles to each and everyone of us!

My husband called me that he got the packet four last Thursday, their interview will be this Sept 6 and medical is very specific, August 29. Is it the same as for you?

This is really strange and I believe this is the miracle we are praying for... I got an email last end of July from USembassy in Manila apologizing for my dependents are not scheduled due to no availability of visas and mentioned that maybe by Oct they will resume the giving of visas then. I went to church and prayed to God for a miracle. In prayer, God imprinted in my heart to send a letter to embassy again, which I followed, and prayed over my email before I send.. Touching hearts of the officer who will receive it,,,

I sent it Aug 2 and the letter from Embassy thru DHL, is dated Aug 14, I know God has heard our cries! Now, I believe that all of you out there who are praying and constantly trusting in the Lord will get your answers soon, Amen!

As I posted before, let us all count our blessings... continue to trust God and pray unceasingly!

This is for a three weeks notice only for us to prepare, I mean for my dependents, pls post Kamrans and all out there link for filing 1-134, thanks!

Godbless us all! I will update you all soon!
Simala2006

embassy manila has scheduled an interview for an EB3(nurse), with a PD of 2005 or 2006, with a 3 weeks notice before the interview, which is very unusual... 3 weeks to prepare your papers? a month notice will do, hhhmmmm... and they say that there's no more visa for EB3 until October VB 2007. hhhmmmm...

but! I'm VERY happy for that person, he/she will update this thread soon

God bless!

 

[kamrans]

I got the same response from them that no visa numbers are available. Now its available in September Visa bulletin and I am going to write them again. I wish that they dont put her in background check again.
Another set of retrogression is in place. The dates went back to 4 years. The EB3 category is unavailable for china, india and mexico.

Good Luck.

embassy manila has scheduled an interview for an EB3(nurse), with a PD of 2005 or 2006, with a 3 weeks notice before the interview, which is very unusual... 3 weeks to prepare your papers? a month notice will do, hhhmmmm... and they say that there's no more visa for EB3 until October VB 2007. hhhmmmm...

but! I'm VERY happy for that person, he/she will update this thread soon

God bless!

 

[BISDAKDREAMER]

To Simala, Judex, Kamrans And All...

My husband called me that he got the packet four last Thursday, their interview will be this Sept 6 and medical is very specific, August 29. Is it the same as for you?

This is really strange and I believe this is the miracle we are praying for...

This is for a three weeks notice only for us to prepare, I mean for my dependents, pls post Kamrans and all out there link for filing 1-134, thanks!

Godbless us all! I will update you all soon!
Simala2006

Hello everyone! I am finally in US soil as a legal immigrant My kids and arrived 2days ago and still adjusting todate. No problem at all at Port of Entry. In fact, no questions were asked at all!!! It just took time about 2-hrs wait at LAX airport due to admin processing but the whole time we were just seated at one area waiting. Then we were called one by one and handed back our passports and advised we were okay to go out.

Simala, I am soooooooo happy for you. Although, I never doubted you will be getting it. You have been my personal source of inspiration and strength. At some point in time I envied your positive thoughts in the midst of retrogression when your PD was even far from ours. It was from you I learned to totally surrender everything. Congratulations, my friend! You certainly deserve all this. I got your spouse's SMS on my way to the US already so I was not able to respond. Should you have questions, just email me

As for your question, yes, our Packet 4 did specify a particular date for medical exams (exactly 1week before the interview). Although anyone with a Packet 4 Appointment Letter may walk-in at the St Luke's on any day. They will still process your medical. If you can do it earlier, the better. That way should you have a medical condition you need to work on you still have time to do it. Remember, they will not interview you without that medical clearance despite having a set appointment date at the embassy. I suggest you go early. We went at 530AM but we were already nbr 98!!!

Good Luck my friend! I will be praying for you

Judex, Kamrans and all,
Tks for all the help. I have learned a lot from you guys. I do hope I can return the favor to someone who was as lost as I when we started our case...

 

[rammyrammy]

Answers for your Questions
1)Using follow to join if faster compared to family based immigration because she will get her visa based on your EB status. Since your's is Eb1 it will be even faster since there is no waiting like other Eb's. The only delay I see is I824 delay and the usual delay in you sending the documents and their processing.

3)If she has a valid visa, she can stay here during the Processing time.

4)She wont be able to get EAD or AP because she is not adjusting status. EAD and AP for I485 cases and since your case is already approved you cannot file for 485 for her.

My advise, apply for I-824 without wasting time and send Packet 3 to the consulate as soon as you get the I-824 receipt. Call the embassy a week after you send the packet 3 and get the case number. Once you have the case number monitor the Visa bulletin and also your respective consulate Immigrant Visa Appointments. Make sure that you get the other Documents ready which are needed for Immigrant Visa interview. The things which take most time are Police Clearance Certificates.

So send the I824 ASAP.

Good Luck..
Rammy

Hi Rammyrammy,

Thanks for the response. I have NOT applied for my wifes 485. She is still in Singapore working there for a consulting firm and will be here in Nov.
I have a few questions:
1. How long will it typically take for her to get her GC using this process since we WERE married before GC approval of mine?
2. My category was EB1 (Emp based) and is current most of the time.
3. Can she be here while the FTJ process continues?
4. When will she be able to get EAD and AP?

I am new to this forum so any ones suggestions and help will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Vinsam

 

[rammyrammy]

My wife made it safely to the US. Like I said in my previous email except for the initial hiccups everything went fine.

Guys please make sure that you take back all your documents and double check. My wife gave a printout out with some information like my address and
calling cards etc to the Attendant to get the boarding pass and she didn't get them back and she was not able to call because she don't have any phone numbers with her except that printout. Luckily she remembered my Cell number(with all the calls she made to me all these years..))..
She called me and I gave her the numbers again. The flight attendant was very rude and she didn't even look it seems. That print out is not all that important but.. if its an important paper . . it would have been worse..

She had to wait for an hour during POE.., and she barely got into the connecting flight. But the immigration officials asked for people with connecting flights and processed their application... so that was good.

Thanks everyone and all the best for every one who is waiting...

Rammy.

rammy,

even my wife has the same stamp.Glad that things cleared out.Looks like the immigration officials are not aware of the things becoz many of our forum friends spouses arrived with out any problem .Some times there lack of knowledge makes our lifes miserable.Please update once ur wife arrives here.Also please post any observation/Suggestions as my wife is coming on 24th of this month.

Thanks,
RM

 

[rm101]

My wife made it safely to the US. Like I said in my previous email except for the initial hiccups everything went fine.

Luckily she remembered my Cell number(with all the calls she made to me all these years..))..
She called me and I gave her the numbers again. The flight attendant was very rude and she didn't even look it seems. That print out is not all that important but.. if its an important paper . . it would have been worse..

She had to wait for an hour during POE.., and she barely got into the connecting flight. But the immigration officials asked for people with connecting flights and processed their application... so that was good.

Thanks everyone and all the best for every one who is waiting...

Rammy.

rammy,
Thanks for the update and glad to know that ur wife arrived safely and on time.Could u please tell me what was the problem with the bording pass issue?
Also can u please clarify thios text.

"Guys please make sure that you take back all your documents and double check. My wife gave a printout out with some information like my address and
calling cards etc to the Attendant to get the boarding pass and she didn't get them back and she was not able to call because she don't have any phone numbers with her except that printout"

Please share ...

 

[rammyrammy]

The Problem with the Boarding pass is the Text on the VISA,
"Should be Accompanied by F2J Spouse/father/mother"
This basically means that the person should be traveling with the main Applicant. The people who give the boarding pass thought that she cannot travel alone and I should be traveling with her. So they had to clarify this before issuing her the Boarding pass.

Second thing is, they asked for my current address, and my wife gave the printout which had all the information. and they didn't give it back. And when she asked for the paper they rudely told her that, they returned everything along with the passport. My advise is to double check all the documents before leaving the Ticketing counter.

rammy,
Thanks for the update and glad to know that ur wife arrived safely and on time.Could u please tell me what was the problem with the bording pass issue?
Also can u please clarify thios text.

"Guys please make sure that you take back all your documents and double check. My wife gave a printout out with some information like my address and
calling cards etc to the Attendant to get the boarding pass and she didn't get them back and she was not able to call because she don't have any phone numbers with her except that printout"

Please share ...

 

[abk123]

hi everybody,

recently got my US GC wife is a canadian PR, can i file i-824 at montreal consulate, Guru's pls help.

my wife has a job in a good s/w firm on a contract for a yr, can i delay in filing the 824 shall i apply it now since they r just procesing jan 2007 for i-824, it will take the same time.

Is the 6 mnths rule apply (cant be out of US more than 6 mnths) i am planning to go to canada be with wife.

thanks in advance

 

[rm101]

The Problem with the Boarding pass is the Text on the VISA,
"Should be Accompanied by F2J Spouse/father/mother"
This basically means that the person should be traveling with the main Applicant. The people who give the boarding pass thought that she cannot travel alone and I should be traveling with her. So they had to clarify this before issuing her the Boarding pass.

Second thing is, they asked for my current address, and my wife gave the printout which had all the information. and they didn't give it back. And when she asked for the paper they rudely told her that, they returned everything along with the passport. My advise is to double check all the documents before leaving the Ticketing counter.

Thanks for sharing the info and ur time rammy.I will ask my wife to carry the info of my address /phone etc .Also can u share her experiance at port of entry like what was the process .Did they stamp GC on her passport? Did she has to fill any thing extra for SSN and physical GC any questions etc ....

sorry to ask u too many questions.

 

[NJBLUE]

Thanks for sharing the info and ur time rammy.I will ask my wife to carry the info of my address /phone etc .Also can u share her experiance at port of entry like what was the process .Did they stamp GC on her passport? Did she has to fill any thing extra for SSN and physical GC any questions etc ....

sorry to ask u too many questions.

My Wife's POE experience.

Hi RM101,

My wife arrived last month without any issues. Her POE was JFK (Terminal 1 - Lufthansa airlines) . She was asked to go to non immigrant visa lane and the immigration officer has no clue about FTJ visa. He asked all sort of weired questions like what is this packet, who gave it to you and what should I do with it. My wife has to explain the whole story. After that her passport was stamped and asked her to go to secondary inspection area. There she has to wait for 30 min before they process the case. The officer asked few general and routine questions like where is your husband and where does he works etc... They forgot to put I-551 stamp the on the passport. She got the welcome letter after two weeks and green card after 3 weeks.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks

 

[rm101]

My Wife's POE experience.

Hi RM101,

My wife arrived last month without any issues. Her POE was JFK (Terminal 1 - Lufthansa airlines) . She was asked to go to non immigrant visa lane and the immigration officer has no clue about FTJ visa. He asked all sort of weired questions like what is this packet, who gave it to you and what should I do with it. My wife has to explain the whole story. After that her passport was stamped and asked her to go to secondary inspection area. There she has to wait for 30 min before they process the case. The officer asked few general and routine questions like where is your husband and where does he works etc... They forgot to put I-551 stamp the on the passport. She got the welcome letter after two weeks and green card after 3 weeks.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks

Glad to hear that your wife arrived safely.Thanks very much for sharing the info NJ Blue.So there wont be any separate line for new immigrants? So after inspection there was no stamp in passport? did they give any receipt after inspection???

 

[rammyrammy]

POE is a normal process no hassles. The problem is some immigration officials are ignorant about the various VISA's etc. Thats when we will have bad time. People like that are very few. Most of the officials at POE are very intelligent.
It just very rarely we encounter someone who don't know what it is and don't want to ask any other official..

In my wifes case, they took application packages from all IV entrants in the line, made them sit in a room processed the application packages. All together it took 30-40 minutes. So when you book a ticket and have a connecting flight make sure that you give at least 3 hours in between connecting flights after Port of Entry.

I was reading somewhere that they Stamp the passport with new I551 and write the A number. But for my wife they didn't. All she had was a Stamp with Arrival Date and Class of Admission. Also the Immigrant VISA in the passport had an annotation which says, "Upon Endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year". So I am assuming that the same VISA will be valid for 1 year from the Point Of Entry even though it says that it will expire in 6 months(or I might have to go and get another stamp using info Pass).

Regarding SSN, they do take the SSN form filled along with the DS-230 during IV interview and they will send it to IRS. It doest matter, in spite of waiting for them to do it, we can just walk in to any SSN Office and apply , in that way we know that we did apply for SSN.

Thanks for sharing the info and ur time rammy.I will ask my wife to carry the info of my address /phone etc .Also can u share her experiance at port of entry like what was the process .Did they stamp GC on her passport? Did she has to fill any thing extra for SSN and physical GC any questions etc ....

sorry to ask u too many questions.

 

[rammyrammy]

Dont waste time and apply for I-824. All this process can be done without affecting her work status in Canada. 6 month rule? There is a 6 month Processing delay for I824. Also after she gets the Immigrant Visa, you will have 6 months to come to the Country.

Since she is in Canada, She can just come into the Country and go back after port of entry. Once she enters she can go back to her old Job. But why do you care for the contract in Canada when you are getting a PR in USA? Job wise its lot better in US if you have a PR in here than in Canada.

Anyways dont waste valuable time, Start the process its gonna take some time for you to get the interview and go through the Immigrant Visa Process, by not applying you are wasting time, Being in the Queue and thinking is better than pondering standing outside and seeing the Queue grow.

hi everybody,

recently got my US GC wife is a canadian PR, can i file i-824 at montreal consulate, Guru's pls help.

my wife has a job in a good s/w firm on a contract for a yr, can i delay in filing the 824 shall i apply it now since they r just procesing jan 2007 for i-824, it will take the same time.

Is the 6 mnths rule apply (cant be out of US more than 6 mnths) i am planning to go to canada be with wife.

thanks in advance

 

[rm101]

POE is a normal process no hassles. The problem is some immigration officials are ignorant about the various VISA's etc. Thats when we will have bad time. People like that are very few. Most of the officials at POE are very intelligent.
It just very rarely we encounter someone who don't know what it is and don't want to ask any other official..

In my wifes case, they took application packages from all IV entrants in the line, made them sit in a room processed the application packages. All together it took 30-40 minutes. So when you book a ticket and have a connecting flight make sure that you give at least 3 hours in between connecting flights after Port of Entry.

I was reading somewhere that they Stamp the passport with new I551 and write the A number. But for my wife they didn't. All she had was a Stamp with Arrival Date and Class of Admission. Also the Immigrant VISA in the passport had an annotation which says, "Upon Endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year". So I am assuming that the same VISA will be valid for 1 year from the Point Of Entry even though it says that it will expire in 6 months(or I might have to go and get another stamp using info Pass).

Regarding SSN, they do take the SSN form filled along with the DS-230 during IV interview and they will send it to IRS. It doest matter, in spite of waiting for them to do it, we can just walk in to any SSN Office and apply , in that way we know that we did apply for SSN.

Thanks for sharing the info rammy.It was very helpful.

 

[judex]

H1B Question

this is a friends case:

she has an H1B visa that will expire on 2009. she went to the US as SINGLE, then she wants to get married this coming December. she will apply for her GC next month(sept.). can she apply for H4 for her husband? or does she need to apply an i-824, simultaneous with her GC application?

thanks,

judex

 

[rm101]

On the way

My wife just took (23rd august 1.30 PM IST) the boarding pass and she is on the way.Thansks rammy and NJ Blue for your suggestions that helped her in preparing with any questions.

I will update the forum with her expeiance in POE.

Thanks,
RM

 

[yameen79]

Question for 824

MY 485 is approved eb3 category .140 approved in 2005. I got married in 2004 but couldnt include my wifes name when i started the GC process in 2003. MY wife is out of US and i didnt have h1 to bring her here. Now I was told that i can do FTJ process for her and file 824 first.

1. I have checked the box where it says " Notify a consulate that my status is permenant resident.

2. On the 2nd page where it asks original petition ,should I enter 140 info or my 485 info?

I was also told that I have to fill all my info on 824 and not my wife`s info. is this correct?

Can anybody please help me in this process..thanks

 

[judex]

POE Experience

sorry if this is a very late post.

i arrived at Detriot Int. Airport, my POE, on Aug. 7, 2007... the only question that the Immigration Officer asked me was, How are you doing? gave me some instructions regarding how to use the visa, when i will receive my GC, etc...

that's it...

judex

 

[Vinsam]

Thanks Rammyrammy.

I appreciate your response. But can you point me to a link or a website that gives me information about packet 3. Again I apologize I am new to this since I have never been involved in FTJ process.

Also, one more question is: Since you suggest that I apply for I-824 my wife can come on her H1B1 visa and there will be no issues at the POE although I have applied for FTJ i.e applied for I-824. What I mean to ask is she can continue to be in the US while the process is going on?

Please help with the above 2 questions. Indeed appreciate.

Vinsam

Answers for your Questions
1)Using follow to join if faster compared to family based immigration because she will get her visa based on your EB status. Since your's is Eb1 it will be even faster since there is no waiting like other Eb's. The only delay I see is I824 delay and the usual delay in you sending the documents and their processing.

3)If she has a valid visa, she can stay here during the Processing time.

4)She wont be able to get EAD or AP because she is not adjusting status. EAD and AP for I485 cases and since your case is already approved you cannot file for 485 for her.

My advise, apply for I-824 without wasting time and send Packet 3 to the consulate as soon as you get the I-824 receipt. Call the embassy a week after you send the packet 3 and get the case number. Once you have the case number monitor the Visa bulletin and also your respective consulate Immigrant Visa Appointments. Make sure that you get the other Documents ready which are needed for Immigrant Visa interview. The things which take most time are Police Clearance Certificates.

So send the I824 ASAP.

Good Luck..
Rammy