DMATTHEW21

I am American and my wife Norwegian. My wife will be arriving in America to live in a few weeks. We have gone through all the necessary red tape and papaerwork and she has been approved. Our question is WHAT HAPPENS when she arrives. All she was given was a large sealed envelope and told not to open it before she comes here. Is her VISA inside that? What does she say to the immigration officer when she arrives? What will she be given? Will she be fingerprinted? HELP, she is very nervous! Thanks for your time...

Rete

At the POE she will hand this envelope to the examiner and taken to secondary inspection. While in SI, her passport will be taken from her, stamped with an I-551 (which is the visa) and is the paper equivalent of her green card and will be good for a year. It conveys all the rights of the actual green card which will be mailed to the address listed on her US Consulate papers. So don't move before that envelope arrives ;-) or at least be sure to file a change of address with the USPS so it will be forwarded. If she did not complete the green card manufacturing paperwork at the US Consulate (and it is likely that she did not), all she will have to provide is one fingerprint on the appropriate form and her signature. This card, along with her ADIT pictures given to the US Consulate, will be used to produce her green card.

They may ask her a simple question or two to verify her mailing address and then welcome her to the US and send her on her way.

Once you have settled down, you can take her to the nearest Social Security office and apply for her social security card.

Rete