British Expats - It Arrived!

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- USA (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/)

- - It Arrived! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/arrived-929483/)

Well last night we got home to find our Green Cards had arrived! We started the process at the beginning of last year so it has been a relatively lengthy affair but non the less quite smooth sailing.
Feeling very lucky, we only moved here in 2017 and have really settled and enjoyed living here.

Congrats on being “Greened” now you can start worrying about loosing the cards and start the 5 year countdown to Citizenship. Make sure you keep records of all your tax fillings and travel for the next 5 years so you are ready when Citizenship time comes.

Thank you!! That is so funny, woke up this morning thinking omg, we really need to keep those safe!!!
Great advise, thank you!

Congratulations. Scan front and back of the card onto your computer, put the image on a memory stick. My husband always carried his card with him, others don't but carry a copy of the card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rete (Post 12768922)

Congratulations. Scan front and back of the card onto your computer, put the image on a memory stick. My husband always carried his card with him, others don't but carry a copy of the card.

thank you, that is also really helpful, we will do that straight away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ecto17 (Post 12768933)

thank you, that is also really helpful, we will do that straight away.

I had a color photocopy in my wallet and digital copy on my phone, original in the fire safe, I vaguely remember looking it up and the fine for not having it on me was less than a replacement GC. Aside from international travel make sure you carry it when flying domestic, a certain perimeter around POE’s are treated like the land borders (so they can ask you to see it) and if your domestic flight was diverted to Canada or elsewhere in an emergency you wound need the card as well. Don’t forget to do Global Entry if you travel and don’t have it (also gives you Pre for free).

Congratulations !
What visa did you have before getting the GC? We haven't started the GC process but 2 years seem very long, I don't know what to expect. :blink:

we were on the L1 Aand B. It took about 3 months to gather information for the lawyers to actually file and we paused the process twice for probably a total of 3 months. We were in no rush so the process has been fine for us although a lot of work for my husband.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ecto17 (Post 12768787)

Quote:

Originally Posted by park99 (Post 12769476)

We haven't started the GC process but 2 years seem very long, I don't know what to expect. :blink:

It really depends on your path to LPR but for me (originally on a K1/fiance visa), it took about 8 months for my first 'conditional' green card from start to finish (and then it was sent with the wrong date of birth so went away for another 9 months) back in 2015 and about 14 months my 10 year green card (Removal of Conditions) to be approved. My naturalization was by far the fastest moving process with USCIS!

Unfortunately it just takes time & a little bit of patience!

Congrats OP!

"Don't forget to let the SSA know of your LPR status so everything is in sync (you won't have to do it again until after you naturalize if you plan to do so)."

Was not aware of this requirement. Is there any impact on not informing SSA? I'd thought they were updated automagically?

Quote:

Originally Posted by livinginnyc (Post 12769617)

Huge congrats!!!!

Hope you have a mini party to celebrate! (I know I did!)

It's quite amazing how long it can take for a Green card to get approved, printed & delivered from start to finish - It's all worth it in the end though and you can relax for a little while and not deal with paperwork till renewal! (or removal of conditions pending your circumstances/path to LPR). The worst part for me was the wait between the approval notice and having it delivered.

Don't forget to let the SSA know of your LPR status so everything is in sync (you won't have to do it again until after you naturalize if you plan to do so).

It really depends on your path to LPR but for me (originally on a K1/fiance visa), it took about 8 months for my first 'conditional' green card from start to finish (and then it was sent with the wrong date of birth so went away for another 9 months) back in 2015 and about 14 months my 10 year green card (Removal of Conditions) to be approved. My naturalization was by far the fastest moving process with USCIS!

Unfortunately it just takes time & a little bit of patience!

Quote:

Originally Posted by msk2uon (Post 12770451)

"Don't forget to let the SSA know of your LPR status so everything is in sync (you won't have to do it again until after you naturalize if you plan to do so)."

Was not aware of this requirement. Is there any impact on not informing SSA? I'd thought they were updated automagically?

Sorry late to respond to this one as I didn't see it.

Nothing is automatic/automagic with any government :)

SSA will need to be told & its really simple - go with your ID & green card to your nearest office, check in and when you're called up, they will ask for your green card, DL (maybe your social security card? - take it to be safe), and will update your info, they'll probably take a photocopy of the green card in a back office. Without doing that, as far as the SSA are concerned your right to work ends when your visa does... so they will need to adjust their records. Obviously the green card is definitive proof of your right to reside/work in the US - however when an employer (or new employer if you switch jobs), it will come back with a discrepancy & the HR team will prompt you to resolve.

Also worth noting, that you're supposed to let your HR team know when you switch status (including when you renew your card/become a citizen) and that typically will trigger them to enter the info into E-verify once again.

I got a nudge from HR when I became a citizen as I sent a copy of my passport to them before I went to the SSA, and it came back with that very discrepancy (I actually planned to go that afternoon anyway), When I got back, I went up and ran it with them again - and it went straight through. I've never seen E-verify before so it was pretty neat. If your drivers license expires before your green card does (or has TEMPORARY VISITOR on it), i'd advise going to the DMV too!

Note - the above is based on my experience, i'm not an HR expert.etc so if any of the above is wrong hopefully a more seasoned member of this forum can update (but im 99.9% its right!)