Green Cards in our hands!

iusedtoknow

Just picked up our perm cards from our attorney's office!

It was a strange process - originally, we were going to follow the track that my company offered - however because my wife is a physician - they (the company lawyers) actually recommended that we go via her. We had to adjust her status first, then make me the "beneficiary" holder. Then adjust my own status again. A lot of forms and waiting around but the lawyers knew what they were doing. The reason that they wanted it done through her? Cheaper. Because it was "national interest waiver", all filing fees were waived.

Through a number of layers of bureaucracy with my company and ourselves, they agreed to work on our behalf on the condition that I remain with my firm for a period of 2 years or else pay the lawyer fees (which was my original agreement).

I really can't believe it. It was weird the last couple of years on the L status. We settled really well into the US but were aware it technically could end. And now it won't.

Nelly 21

Congratualtions!!!!

Also thanks for all help regarding US travel! You're always on hand to help someone out!!!!

cena

Super jealous. Any spare green cards

congrats

Novella

Congratulations!

There's no better feeling than getting your green card. I have a two year conditional gc at the moment but the relief is immense, knowing you can definitely stay here.

Recognition Scene

Congrats, expecting mine soon.

InTheTrees

Congrats. And you get to use the "US Citizens & Residents" line at immigration now.

Novella

InTheTrees wrote: »

Congrats. And you get to use the "US Citizens & Residents" line at immigration now.

You know, I just flew back to the US from Ireland on Sunday and they made me get into the other line which was really long! I told the lady working there who was directing people where to go that I have a green card but she pointed at my Irish passport which I was holding and said, "You have an Irish passport, you go in this line."

I noticed some other people with green cards complaining about it but that's how she wanted things to go.

SHOVELLER

Novella wrote: »

You know, I just flew back to the US from Ireland on Sunday and they made me get into the other line which was really long! I told the lady working there who was directing people where to go that I have a green card but she pointed at my Irish passport which I was holding and said, "You have an Irish passport, you go in this line."

I noticed some other people with green cards complaining about it but that's how she wanted things to go.

It's based on what passport you hold.

iusedtoknow

SHOVELLER wrote: »

It's based on what passport you hold.

And how busy the line is. The priority is US citizens. If there are a lot of them on flights then they will move GC to the All Others line.

Conversely, I have gotten off flights and if there aren't many US citizen to go through, they will let "others" go to the US line.

Gandhi

Congrats!!! No more need to worry about endless visa renewals, and whether the laws will have changed by the time your next one is due. The yanks are stuck with you now.

Surprised you get stuck in the other line for passport control. I always went in the citizens' line and they only ever looked at the green card, not the passport. I got my US citizenship soon after 9/11, so not really surprising that things could have changed.

iusedtoknow

Gandhi wrote: »

Congrats!!! No more need to worry about endless visa renewals, and whether the laws will have changed by the time your next one is due. The yanks are stuck with you now.

The irony is that the wife is off to Liberia with MSF for 2 months and I am off to Brazil for work next week.

biddywiddy

Gandhi wrote: »

Surprised you get stuck in the other line for passport control. I always went in the citizens' line and they only ever looked at the green card, not the passport. I got my US citizenship soon after 9/11, so not really surprising that things could have changed.

This seems to be a recent change. My husband and I flew from Dublin to the US last month and he was in the same queue as me for the first time - he has a Green Card, I have a visa. Previously, it was Visitors (incl visa holders) in one line, US Citizens and GC holders in the other. Now it's split by passport.

cena

iusedtoknow wrote: »

The irony is that the wife is off to Liberia with MSF for 2 months and I am off to Brazil for work next week.

what is MSF??

iusedtoknow

cena wrote: »

what is MSF??

Medicin san frontier (doctor's without borders)

ProudDUB

Delira & excira for you !

What colour are your cards? When I got mine, I was oddly disappointed to find that it wasn't green, it was pink.

It's the little things !

iusedtoknow

ProudDUB wrote: »

Delira & excira for you !

What colour are your cards? When I got mine, I was oddly disappointed to find that it wasn't green, it was pink.

It's the little things !

The united states of america bit is green alright - the rest is just as bland as a drivers license.

InTheTrees

Novella wrote: »

You know, I just flew back to the US from Ireland on Sunday and they made me get into the other line which was really long! I told the lady working there who was directing people where to go that I have a green card but she pointed at my Irish passport which I was holding and said, "You have an Irish passport, you go in this line."

I noticed some other people with green cards complaining about it but that's how she wanted things to go.

Interesting. Hopefully she was an idiot.

Did you noticed whether the sign still reads "US Residents"?

C.D.

Congratulations. I had an enormous feeling of relief at once I had mine in hand. We were single income at the time and my company had had lay offs a few months previously so there were some sleepless nights. Got out of there pretty quickly.

You can now choose (freely) to live and work anywhere in the US or Europe! Always amazes me to think that and think wistfully that I most likely won't take advantage of that incredible opportunity.

iusedtoknow

C.D. wrote: »

You can now choose (freely) to live and work anywhere in the US or Europe! Always amazes me to think that and think wistfully that I most likely won't take advantage of that incredible opportunity.

Yup - it is kinda overwhelming to be honest. We both like our jobs here on the west coast, but we are thinking of heading East eventually - perhaps to the midwest or to NY/Boston.

We moved here because of my career, but the next move is going to be for my wife's. She loves where she is and has at least another 18 months to go with her work, and I have to stay put for a couple of years or else pay back the lawyers fees - but I'd say we'll be on the look out for somewhere else in a year or two.

Novella

InTheTrees wrote: »

Interesting. Hopefully she was an idiot.

Did you noticed whether the sign still reads "US Residents"?

I can't remember what the sign said actually, maybe it said "US Citizens" and that's why I had to go in the other line? I really only asked because I'm seven months pregnant and the US line was so much shorter so it would have saved me standing in a hot, crowded place for a long time.

A lot of other gc holders were kicking up a fuss. There was one family traveling with a young child and one of the parents had a US passport and the other had an Irish passport and a green card and they didn't want to be separated but the lady told them that they couldn't go together and the man was so annoyed about it.

biddywiddy

InTheTrees wrote: »

Interesting. Hopefully she was an idiot.

Did you noticed whether the sign still reads "US Residents"?

We flew back from Dublin in May and the lines were split by passport. US Passport holders in one line, everyone else in the other. So, for the first time, my Green Card carrying husband was in the same queue as me.

iusedtoknow

biddywiddy wrote: »

We flew back from Dublin in May and the lines were split by passport. US Passport holders in one line, everyone else in the other. So, for the first time, my Green Card carrying husband was in the same queue as me.

Here, whenever I land in SF my colleagues that were already on green cards would go straight through through the US/Green card lines with no questions asked.

Maybe it's different when you do pre clearance.

biddywiddy

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Maybe it's different when you do pre clearance.

This is a new (to me) change in Dublin. We flew through Heathrow on the way to the US after Xmas, so hadn't precleared in over a year.

Previously, in Dublin, I would go in the Visitors queue (I'm on a J1) and my husband would join the US residents queue. Then, after preclearing, we'd join the big queue, basically in a corridor, for US security. Now, a newer, much bigger area is open. You go through US security first (and this process seems much more efficient than the former setup) and then queue for preclearance (US passports vs everyone else).

When we cleared immigration in Newark in January, the situation was as you describe: US residents vs everyone else.

Bayberry

Novella wrote: »

A lot of other gc holders were kicking up a fuss. There was one family traveling with a young child and one of the parents had a US passport and the other had an Irish passport and a green card and they didn't want to be separated but the lady told them that they couldn't go together and the man was so annoyed about it.

This is actually the same for Irish citizens who are married to a US citizen (or any non EU citizen) arriving back in Ireland now. Their spouses must go in the non-EU line, so you're supposed to split up, but they won't make an issue of it if you use your Irish passport in the slow lane and stay with your non-EU spouse.

Welcome "home". I sometimes wonder whether it's worth the money to renew my Irish passport.

él statutorio

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Here, whenever I land in SF my colleagues that were already on green cards would go straight through through the US/Green card lines with no questions asked.

Maybe it's different when you do pre clearance.

I always go through the US/Green card line too, never a problem.

daycent

Congrats! Must be a big relief.... I'm also on an L visa and the GC feels a long way off... another few years in limbo for me!

cena

I would love to get a sports visa for the level two ice hockey coach exam I passed.

jaymcg91

cena wrote: »

I would love to get a sports visa for the level two ice hockey coach exam I passed.

Lol, pretty sure you have to be world class to get those visas .

iusedtoknow

cena wrote: »

I would love to get a sports visa for the level two ice hockey coach exam I passed.

sorry buddy, but without years of experience and an extensive background in the sport (such as playing it professionally in a league) you'll be towards the back of the line for coaching jobs. There are tons of players in the US and Canada that go into coaching

cena

jaymcg91 wrote: »

Lol, pretty sure you have to be world class to get those visas .

It was through the international ice hockey federation that the exam was done by.

cena

iusedtoknow wrote: »

sorry buddy, but without years of experience and an extensive background in the sport (such as playing it professionally in a league) you'll be towards the back of the line for coaching jobs. There are tons of players in the US and Canada that go into coaching

That is what Ireland is lacking A rink where us coaches can get more experience. Etc

Wompa1

Congrats from a US citizen!

Recognition Scene

Recognition Scene wrote: »

Congrats, expecting mine soon.

Speak of the devil!

Chisler2

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Here, whenever I land in SF my colleagues that were already on green cards would go straight through through the US/Green card lines with no questions asked.

Maybe it's different when you do pre clearance.

My experience. (I am Irish, living with my husband of 3 years standing in USA mid-west) We are frequent fliers to Ireland to stay at my home there and visit my family in Ireland. Husband goes through "Non-EU" at Shannon and Dublin, I through EU channel. It is NOT "Irish" but EU distinction. My husband has to fill in a non-EU visitor form submitted at passport control in port of entry in Ireland.

I lived in England when I met my (American, based in mid-west America and with secure, status employment) when I lived in Colchester UK. My application for K-1 Visa to go to USA and marry was through US Embassy in London, including medical in London...........all satisfactory. When I went through Chicago three days before my marriage there appeared to be an "issue" (?) and official took my huge sealed pack of documents (including medical results) and ushered me through, and I rejoined my husband-to-be who had passed through "US Citizens" channel.''

To cut a long story short, what we expected to be a problem-free three-month maximum wait for my Green Card (which I had no intention to use as a work-permit - I am 67 and retired! - or to constitute any claim for support in the USA (my husband had a secure, highly-paid profession and massive insurance benefits for himself and spouse)) BUT eight months later we were still phoning the USCIS Helpline and various other US emigration agencies including Immigration Lawyers as my Green Card had not arrived. In that period I was (NOTA BENE!) not eligible to buy/rent a vehicle; not eligible to get a Social Security number; not eligible to take the USA Driving Test (necessary in the state I live in if you drive after a stay of more than 30 days) not eligible to set up a business...............and of course, not eligible to simply travel to and from USA to other countries (including South American countries or Canada)................as I was a Petitioner for K-1 Visa which precluded use of, or application for, any other kind!

Last week (whilst I was visiting family and conducting necessary business in Ireland) my Green Card arrived in the post (the website informed me). My first approach via the American Embassy in London with an Irish passport was in July 2011. To anyone who thinks this process is easy, my warning is.............be aware that however simple and legitimate your situation is, the USCIS and subsequent US Immigration system is highly-bureacratic and beset with difficulties. If you want and need the Green Card, keep going. In retrospect I wonder if it would have saved us enormous time and energy (and money!..............this process "costs" at every stage) for me to have simply moved back and forth on either ESTA Waivers or registered as an academic (I write and research). Additionally, this would have simplified tax issues between my interests in Ireland and my English pension and my American husband's income and pension.

Things to consider for anyone applying for a Green Card. Incidentally, we are both TSA (Trusted Traveller status) and "sail" through security issues but I am still subjected to additional questioning and delays by the US Immigration Authorities!