KK85

Thank you all so much!

Sean, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you receive yours back soon.

My visa was delivered an hour ago. We are thrilled! So I'll be flying out as scheduled this Friday, the 17th.

Can I just ask, re. the USCIS Immigrant Fee - most documentation (including the letter that came with the visa) states that it is 'strongly advised' that we pay the fee prior to arriving in the United States, but that it can also be paid afterwards if necessary. My husband and I would prefer to pay the fee next week, after my final pay-day from work (I was rinsed by the medical and funds are a little less than comfortable). From what I can gather, the only ill effect that might come from paying after arrival will be that my green card will take an extra week to arrive - am I correct? Or are there any other factors or consequences that we ought to be considering?

The letter talks about the completion of a form for an 'application for a Permanent Resident Card or "Green Card" (form I-551)' upon the port of entry, so I am hopeful this will mean I can use my marital name for the production of that (mentioning this due to discussion on another thread - thank you, Rete, for discussing it here).

Can anyone confirm for me whether there are any fees due to be paid at the airport? My husband seems to think there might be one due, but he is unsure and now so am I (I didn't think there was).

Thank you.

KK85

For the sake of continuity, I just wanted to finish this thread with a final update, especially to clarify the answers to my own questions above. I made my final flight to the United States on the 17th of November.

I paid my USCIS Immigrant Fee online, one week after arriving in the States as a PR. It causes no issue, other than adding a delay (in my case, of one week) to the production of the green card. There are no fees to be paid at the airport whatsoever.

There are no forms to fill in at the airport, so no opportunity to address the issue I've faced about what name will be printed on my green card. I anticipate, therefore, that my green card will be issued in my maiden name, and I can live with that.

I have written up a more detailed account of my POE experience, which is here: http://britishexpats.com/forum/marri...irport-906456/

Finally, thanks once again to everyone on these boards for all the guidance and advice given over the past thirteen months.