September 11, 2001
October 03, 1998: Steve (UK citizen visiting on a B1/B2 visa) marries Lisa (US Citizen).
October 05, 1998: We visit the Cleveland INS office to pick up forms for Spousal Adjustment of Status. (This can be done with alien spouse in the US if unplanned, or with alien spouse in their own country, sometimes quickly if done directly at the at the consulate, but not all countries have this type of direct filing available.)
Cleveland District Office Information
AJC Federal Building
1240 E. 9th Street
Room 1917
19th floor
Cleveland OH 44199
Phone: (if anyone has their new number please e-mail us)
You can only leave messages, all communication with the Cleveland INS Office must be done in either in person or via mail.
Hours : Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
8am-4pm
List of Forms for I-130
G-325(2) Biographic Information
I-130 Petition for Alien Relative
I-131 Application for Travel Document aka Advanced Parole or A/P
I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status
I-765 Application for Employment Authorization aka EAD
Important: Cleveland INS requires you to file by mail, and not in person.
October 08, 1998: Overnight mail G-325(2), I-130, I-485, and I-864 (fees increasing October 13, 1998) and we did include the fee to have fingerprints taken.
October 09, 1998: Cleveland INS receives forms.
November 06 1998: Receive first Notice of Action (NOA) a receipt with Steve's Alien Number along with fingerprint notification. They must be done between November 17,1998 - November 24, 1998.
November 10, 1998: Journey to Cleveland and Steve receives EAD. (Employment Authorization Documents) Cleveland at the time did them in person, but they have since changed this, you must MAIL in your EAD along WITH your I-130/I-485 paperwork.
November 19, 1998: Applies for Social Security Number, using his EAD, passport and UK Licence for Identification. He is told to call 24 hours later, and at that time receives his number. SSN Card comes in the mail less that two weeks later.
November 21, 1998: Up to Cleveland again and fingerprints taken.
December 00, 1998: Steve tests for Ohio driver's license. This includes a written exam, eye exam, road test and maneuverability test. He passes and does not need to relinquish his UK licence.
April 09, 1999: Receive our Adjustment of Status interview date notice. The date is Friday May 7th, 1999 at 11:30 am.
April 20, 1999: Visit to Dr Patrick Bray at the Cleveland Clinic for the required INS physical, which can only be done by INS designated doctors. He is also tested for HIV, Syphilis and TB. He has to return in 48 hours for them to check the result of his TB test.
April 22, 1999: Another visit to the Cleveland Clinic to check Steve's test results, he passes all three tests.
May 7th, 1999: Our AOS interview. (Details below)
Days till Approval: 212 days
Our appointment was for 11:30am, Friday, May 7, 1999. We arrived a bit early, put our letter in the appropriate box, and sat down to wait. We were called in at 11:45am, and directed to an interview room equipped with video camera. She started by swearing us in, then proceeded to ask for our identification. We also gave her our passports, birth certificates, letters of employment from our employers, a letter of health insurance from my employer, lease from our apartment in both our names, bank account statements in both our names, and the physical exam papers in an envelope sealed by Dr. Bray.
She proceeded to ask us how we met, we told her online. To which she replied that it was getting more and more common for them to see couples that have met that way. She then asked had my family met Steve yet. To which I responded by pulling out a letter we had received from my sister Deb, in Chicago, that mentioned meeting Steve over Thanksgiving 1998. The INS officer read the entire letter. She then asked if we had photos. We pulled out around 100 photos, and started to show them to her, again she requested to be able to look at them, leafing through all the photos we had.
After going through all the papers and photos we came with, she informed us that we were approved, BUT, due to the CIA clearance being months behind, Steve would not get his temporary permanent resident stamp in his passport. That we should get an approval letter by the end of the summer*, at which time we will have to go back up to Cleveland for Steve to get his I-551 stamp (conditional residency).
*UPDATE-
December 06, 1999:
Steve finally received his approval letter.
December 14, 1999:
Steve is the proud owner of an I-551
stamp in his
passport!!!!!
January 18, 2000:
Green Card with
informative letter arrived in the mail, less than seven weeks from receiving approval letter.
This is a two year conditional green card, which means we will have to file to
have conditions removed.
August 31, 2001: We sent in by certified priority mail our Petition to Remove Conditions to Nebraska Service Center (NSC). (I-751)* (This is to be sure NSC gets it 90 days before Steve reaches his 2nd anniversary of conditional residency.)
September 08, 2001: Received the return receipt from NSC INS for certified priority mail signed for and dated September 04, 2001. Now the wait for our I-751 NOA.
September 17, 2001: NOA received from NSC dated September 12, 2001.
February 08, 2002: Called NSC to find out the status of our case and was informed it was sent for review and that Cleveland will be contacting us for an interview.
February 12, 2002: Mailed letter to Cleveland INS Office to find out what their timeframe is for I-751 interviews.
March 09, 2002: Received Approval for the removal of conditions dated March 04, 2002. NO interview was needed!!
March 12, 2002: Went to Cleveland INS Office with approval letter and three ADIT photos. They took Steve's expired green card, approval letter and two ADIT photos kept them. Stamped his passport with permanent residency stating his 10 year green card should come in the mail within six months.
June 04, 2002: Received 10 year Green Card.
* Since our AOS interview was done before our second wedding anniversary, Steve's greencard is a two year conditional one. This means that 90 days before it is due to expire, we must file to have the conditions removed. We've included here our cover letter that explains what we've sent along as evidence of a valid relationship.
|
RE:
I-751 Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence
Dear USINS Nebraska Service Center: Enclosed is our petition to remove the conditions
on Steve's conditional residence (copy of card included) due to expire on
December 2001 along with a
check for
$$$$.
Below you'll find the list of
evidence we have enclosed to show we have been happily married and living
together since Evidence
of Relationship: Y Copy of our lease showing joint residency Y Joint checking account statement Y Electric bill in both names Y Copy of 1999 & 2000 US income tax returns Y Copy of health insurance policy Y Copies of both life insurance policies showing each other as beneficiary Y Photos starting from date of I-551 stamp in passport (December 1999) to May 2001 Y Signed Letter of Affidavits from friends and family stating Steve and Lisa are now and have been in a loving and true marriage. Also included is an article about us from the Repository. We hope that the amount of evidence is sufficient in the eyes of the INS to show that we do indeed continue to have a loving and true marriage. Regards, Steve Lisa Enclosure (16) LMW
|
August 30, 2002: Steve sent in by certified priority mail his Application for Naturalization N-400 to Nebraska Service Center (NSC) (This is to be sure NSC gets it 90 days before Steve reaches his 3rd anniversary of permanent residency acquired after marriage to USC.)
September 07, 2002: Received the return receipt from NSC INS for certified priority mail signed for and dated on September 03, 2001. Now the wait for his N-400 NOA.
September 13, 2002: NOA received from NSC dated September 09, 2002. The next letter to come will be his fingerprint appointment letter. (Received Date of September 03, 2002 and Priority Date of September 03, 2002)
November 19, 2002: Aid from Congressman Regula's office said he would be looking into why we had not heard from Cleveland about fingerprinting. Stating that the average wait time is 60 days from when NSC received N-400 application to get your fingerprint notification.
December 03, 2002: Spoke with aid from Congressman Regula's office who informed us that Steve is inline for receiving a fingerprint notice. He is working on finding out more on our case.
December 14, 2002: Received NOA dated December 10, 2002 for Steve's fingerprint appointment on January 16, 2003 at the Cleveland INS Office.
January 16, 2003: Fingerprints taken at the Cleveland INS Office.
June 27, 2003: Sent letter to Cleveland to find out status of application.
July 28, 2003: Received form letter from NSC,
here is a copy of the front and back.
November 17, 2003: Received NOA from Cleveland dated November 12, 2003 for Steve's interview date of January 30, 2004.
January 30, 2004: Citizenship interview and testing - Passed! Now the wait on the background check and oath ceremony NOA to let him know when he will be sworn in as a US Citizen.
March 15, 2004: Rang Congressman Regula's liaison to find out about Steve's oath ceremony and found that his Citizenship was approved on February 19, 2004 and that he's more than likely going to be in the Oath ceremony they hold every year during Law Week in Canton Ohio.
March 18, 2004: Contacted Cleveland BCIS via phone and the officer stated Steve was indeed due to be sworn in on Friday May 07, 2004 during Law Week in Canton Ohio. As his fingerprints would expire on April 16, 2004, the officer personally took a walk in form to the fingerprint office so that Steve can get his prints done March 19, 2004.
March 19, 2004: Fingerprints taken at Cleveland BCIS Office.
April 12, 2004: NOA for Naturalization Oath Ceremony received dated April 07, 2004.
May 07, 2004: Steve becomes a US Citizen. (Oath Ceremony)
Steve
is studying for the citizenship test.
Want to check out the list of 100 questions the INS pulls from when
you take your citizenship test, click below:
Naturalization Self-Test
Alien #012345678
Dear USINS Nebraska Service Center,
Subject: N-400 Naturalization Application
Enclosed
is my application for naturalization. I have also included the following:
A Check for
$$$$
(application fee and fingerprinting fee)
Copy of my permanent resident
card (both Front and Back)
2 ADIT Photos
Our marriage certificate
My wife’s birth certificate
A copy of my wife’s divorce
decree from previous marriage
Copy of my driving record to
show one speeding ticket from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
Copies of our joint checking
account statements (for August 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Copy of our joint residence
rental lease
Copies of 1999, 2000 and 2001
joint tax returns
Regards,
Steve
Enclosures (13)
lmw
cc:
|
****Note
we are not attorneys and this is just a record of our own personal I-130/I-485
experience with alien spouse residing within the United States. Our marriage was
unplanned, if you are planning a wedding you may wish to file for a
K-1
fiancé(e) visa.
Feel free to
email
us with any questions you may have.
Visit Our Other Sites
[Home]
[Brits in the US] [K-1/I-130 links]
[Pictures]
If you'd like further information on filing either the K-1,
K-2, K-3 or the I-130, a good
place to start is the Newsgroup
alt.visa.us.marriage-based
.(Can also be
found by using a newsreader such as Outlook Express or Netscape.)
This K-1/I-130 Ring of Gold site is owned by Steve and Lisa.
Want to join the K-1/I-130 Ring of Gold?
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Last Updated: 22 June 2005
