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I am from Vietnam |
| I last logged in on 24 Nov 2008 |
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I have been a member since 09 Feb 2008
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| I have added
58 posts in trackitt forums
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I added my last post on 26 Apr 2008
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quasar's Immigration Cases
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| I-485 case:
Approved
(1 comment)
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| User: |
quasar |
Nationality: |
Vietnam |
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| Country of Chargeability: | Vietnam | Applicant Type: | primary | | | Service Center: | Nebraska | Category: | EB2 | | | Priority Date: | 15 Dec 2005 | Application Filed: | | | | USCIS Received Date: | 20 May 2006 | USCIS Notice Date: | 31 May 2006 | | | USCIS Receipt Number: | | I-140/485 Filing: | concurrent | | | I-140 Processing Type: | regular | I-140 Approval Date: | 30 Jul 2006 | | | First Fingerprint Date: | 20 Jun 2006 | Second Fingerprint Date: | | | | RFE Received?: | yes | RFE Received Date: | | | | Reason for RFE: | | RFE Replied Date: | 30 Oct 2006 | | | Case Transferred to: | | Transfer Date: | | | | Name Check Status: | pending | Name Check Approval Date: | | | | I-485 Status: | approved | I-485 Approval/Denial Date: | 29 Feb 2008 | | | Card Production Ordered: | | Card Received Date: | 07 Mar 2008 | | | EAD Applied?: | yes | AP Applied?: | yes | | | EAD Approval Date: | | AP Approval Date: | | | | EAD Received: | | AP Received: | | | | Time to Get EAD Approval: | | Time to Get AP Approval: | | | | Time to Get Fingerprinting Done: | | Total Time to Get GC: | 0 days | | | Most Recent LUD: | | Days Elapsed: | | | |
| Case Added to Tracker: |
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Last Updated: |
07 Mar 2008 |
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| Notes: |
No extra LUD until the emails. Only 1 FP back in mid-2006 as it was electronic scanning |
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| quasar's Posts |
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Topic: Laid off today
They have not mentioned anything about my last company revoking the 1-485 yet.
Your ex-employer revoked the I-140, not I-485 of which you are the petitioner. (Re the I-140, they were the petitioner, you beneficiary => so they had the right to retract it.)
We do hope to see your GC approval. I myself will be very excited. Why don't you start counting down from 60?
Best of luck. | |  |  |
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Topic: Two weeks ago I was laid off and today 2 weeks later everything has changed, thank you everyone.
Quasar
Just to let you know that I have a lawyer whom say that I have a very good case.
I have a meeting with him on Monday morning and start my new job on Tuesday.
Thanks Quasar for all your help.
Sweetpea.
You're very welcome. We, trackitters, just offered you some comfort. Glad that you seem to pull thru a tough time.
When I advised you to take up the suit task, my intention was more to slow down your ex-employer's action and buy time. Not really for the money. I am not into lawsuits myself. I could have gone to 2 lawsuits but either didn't pursue it or decided not to. One case was a chain car accident, 5 cars involved. The culprit that created the whole mess ran away, leaving the 1st car that got hit (hardest) hold the bag (Fortunately, she had good insurance). I was pushed hard into the steering-wheel but didn't get hurt, my car remarkably didn't get a scratch. Yet the one that I hit (the last car in the chain) was so greedy, claiming injury, everything (he already got 1,000$ or so, yet wanted more and more). After that, the insurance company (of the poor lady) asked me permission to take pictures of my car as evidence to fight against this guy. I mean, at the accident, this guy got out of his van, running around like a bull, taking pictures after pictures of his car (no scratch at all!) How can there be people that damn greedy? I regret that could have gone to court to testify against this damn man. I would have told him this: "Take the claimed money, then spend it on medications for the injuries you claim to have."
The 2nd case was a reckless airline (a big airline, let me withheld their name) which took off their plane despite they ALREADY discovered (and announced to passengers on board) a technical problem with the plane. Boy, I sensed something wrong here (am I paranoid?). After taking off, the plane had to fly low and eventually made an emergency landing. The craft hovered over ground. I was calm, partly because already prepared for the worst. Must be scary to other passengers. You must see it. Grown-up men wet their pants. An 18-yr-old boy from Australia visibly cried even after we temporarily landed. The airline asked us to wait for them to fix THAT plane (Excuse us? Are you out of your mind???? That airline just filed Chapter whatever shortly before that). We passengers all protested. After several-hour delay for a new plane, we finnaly made it to our intended destination. What would have been the point for a suit here? The airline put us in danger while fully aware of the craft's problems.
I didn't have any interest in pursuing these cases as some others advised me to. There are more important things/goals in life than these. I simply don't wait to exploit other people (be it a government or a public company)'s misfortune. Not because a god is watching. It's simply because since I cannot make the world a better place, I should refrain from making it a terrible place to live. I believe you share this philosophy.
Anyway, your ex-employer treated you bad. You are doing a favor not only for yourself, but for other employees - past, present, and future - for that company.
[Another thing to add: you have to look if some other manager/s performing at par or worse than you yet still in the payroll just because he is male?]
I bet you watched Erin Brockovich? Regardless, fun to watch Julia Robert in that role. It's not for the money. It's for the justice. Someday looking back you will see how extraordinary your life has been. It's worth fighting.
Best wishes. | | | |
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Topic: New FBI and USCIS memo on name check
New GC filers = the ones that file in 2009. Their names will be cleared in 90 days at most (again, suppose the FBI keeps its words.) At least the USCIS cannot point its finger at the FBI should a new wave of WoM's floods in starting next year.
I'm sorry that some of current GC filers are held up even when their names are cleared.
Let me put it this way: the new FBI/USCIS memo may not help a few of us, but it certainly doesn't hurt any of us. | | | |
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Topic: New FBI and USCIS memo on name check
The FBI/USCIS new memo and the Feb NC memo are orthogonal.
This latest memo is indeed great news for citizenship applicants who are not covered under the other memo.
Down the road, in 2009, this is even beneficial to new GC filers no longer having to potentially wait a 180-day NC limbo to take advatage of the NC memo. [90 days at most if the FBI keeps its words.]
And who knows, the recent GC holders (myself included) may be blessed that their names will be cleared by end-08 with no nasty surprises. Doesn't matter anymore but doesn't hurt to get cleared either. | | | |
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Topic: Got my GC, but changed job just 2 weeks ago. Is that a problem for future?
banglagc-
Didn't follow the whole thread. But I guess you should come clean if possible. Don't rely on the current laws, practices, or wisdom that the USCIS won't trace your employment history. Those are laws/practices/wisdom of today, not written in stone. Things might change. Rewind back to Sep 10, 2001, who on earth would have imagined of the horrendous namecheck requirement?
Better safe than sorry. Don't let it haunt you for 5 years. As long as you obtained your GC cleanly this time, no new laws can affect that. | | | |
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Topic: Two weeks ago I was laid off and today 2 weeks later everything has changed, thank you everyone.
russianninja, you should go home and wash your hand (the one that typed) :)
So the problem is an oversupply of homes. This is easy for the US to solve if they want to; just ease immigration (unsurprisingly when people immigrate they require places to live, and this has an uncanny ability to ease oversupply problems).
Agreed (partially only). Immigrants, especially skilled workers, add value to the US economy. They create jobs. One study - widely circulated on the Net - argues that one techie generates 5 to 6 derivative jobs. Beside that, these are educated people. So their children tend to be well grown.
But your solution may come too little, too late. I have no intention to hold the bag, man :) | | | |
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Topic: Two weeks ago I was laid off and today 2 weeks later everything has changed, thank you everyone.
Sweetpea-
I guess you should ask your immigration lawyer to find ways to have your case adjudicated as soon as possible (write to senators, congresspeople, etc? or even file a suit with USCIS). You reach a safer ground, but the danger is still dangling.
Sorry that I sound ignorant. Obviously this is not your top concern/worry right now with the news of your parents back there. Stay strong. | | | |
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Topic: Two weeks ago I was laid off and today 2 weeks later everything has changed, thank you everyone.
I have not got my green card yet, but that is not so important anymore as I have a new dream job with the
competitor of the company that fired me.
Unbelievable. I lost hope, upon reading one of your latest posts. I thought you were painfully giving up fighting...
Life is beautiful beyond words, isn't it? Someday, looking back you'll cherish a life worth living. Smile, we trackitt imagine a smile on your face. We are expecting the day you share with us the news that brings a smile on our faces.
[PS: The fact that the competitor hires you EMBOLDENS your case against your previous employer's claims about your "work incompetence". How sweet!] | | | |
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Topic: Got Card Production Ordered Email and Traveling in a Week But No Paper Approval Notice. Stamp?
You're a Canadian national? I thought you would always have been able to work in the US thru some special (NAFTA?) arrangement without the need of H1B or GC... | | | |
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Topic: Got Card Production Ordered Email and Traveling in a Week But No Paper Approval Notice. Stamp?
Of course I'm not counting the 30 minutes to wipe the big smile off my face on the way home!
Congrats!
Was the trip part of your celebration plan? Or at least for a festive feeling of being greeted "Welcome home!" instead of "Welcome to America"?
Congrats again. I bet this is a trip to remember. Enjoy! | | | |
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Topic: GC waiting crisis
I have to work tomorrow, is 2:30 am in the morning and I can not sleep because I am having a crisis right now thinking about the Visa Bulletin March 2008, Trackitt, Priority Date and India EB2s. I can not believe how the Priority dates are still back in November 2002 (6 years behind) for ROW and that EB2 India is Unavailable.
I been here since 2001 doing Masters, working very hard just to pay the bills and the only thing I have are my dreams that are fading away with time because of monthly Visa Bulletins. I look at the mirror and I look much older and tired from the day I came here. I lost all I had, friends, girlfriend, family, nobody remembers me anymore. I am all by myself in this Big Babel with infinite sadness in my heart, this feeling of emptyness in my soul and the terrible impatience for this green card wait. This is not a pleasant life to live like this. I dont enjoy anything anymore, I dont even fall in love anymore, I dont enjoy christmas anymore even though this used to be my favorite holyday before but now I dont believe in anything. I feel my spirit has been stolen.
I only would like to know when will this suffering be finish? Who has the answer to this wait? when are we going to be saved from this hell of GC wait? How can people be under such amount of pressure? does this kind of stress produces Cancer?
Am I the only one feeling like this on an a everyday basis?
JuanRamirez-
This is an old post of yours, before the revised NC memo miracle. Hope you feel better and build a stronger hope by now.
Pardon my ignorance. But now you can travel on AP, at least? [Even before that, you could also have traveled on H1B then applied for the visa stamp at your homeland, why not?] Why don't you have one of your parents come to visit you in the US? S/he will have to apply for B2 visa, but if one of your parents stays home, the chance for the other to get the visa is substantial.
I arranged for my Mom to come 4 times already. All from my own pocket (saving from fellowship, TAship, RAship, and later, paychecks; not counting the fact that I regularly wired money home to support her, she doesn't work anymore nor has a pension). This summer will be her 5th visit. Each time, she has to reapply for B2 and she maxed out almost full 6-month stay permitted in I-94. I haven't gone back home for 12 years. I hate flying. I could travel, but the urge to go is simply not there (not even now with my GC). Having my Mom here is good enough. I could have spent at most 3 weeks back home for the same airfare cost. Beside that, I could show her around this country. For her, having visited the US 4 times is an amazing feat that NOBODY in our neighborhood is able to do even once.
Job-wise, I guess you ought to be proactive. [You have a Master, why not an EB2 right at the first place?] Make yourself marketable, not just employable. Consider the UK's highly skilled worker immgration program as Plan B (you have MS => 35 points; depending on how much you made in the last 12 months => more extra points; 75 points is the passing score; google it out.) Canada, Australia, and New Zealand more or less require job offer => not suitable.
Don't stress out. I maintained a stable serenity thoughout the hopeless two-year namecheck limbo. It's not that I was safe; I stood the risk of losing my status anytime. Perhaps partly because I've been in a happy/supportive relationship. Look for one yourself. Trust me, a girl that doesn't want to withstand with you hardships isn't worth to be your girlfriend. | | | |
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Topic: Does the sponsor get notice when somebody is approved?
Yes. The USCIS informs your representative about I-485 as well. That happened to me. | | | |
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Topic: Laid off today
Ditto.
gcdream247 points out an excellent road map. Please follow it in THAT order.
I know you have many things (worries, confusions, stress, fear, etc.) running in your mind right now. Outsiders like us have better view of what you ought to do.
I'm confident that the legal system is there to protect you. The most important goal is you reach a safe ground away from this company while saving your GC eligibility. That goal is within your reach.
In the event that you might need some financial aid to consult with a labor attorney, I hope we could help raise a temporary loan here. I can pledge 100$ to the loan. | | | |
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Topic: Laid off today
sweetpea, I just modified my post above. Please re-read it. | | | |
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Topic: Laid off today
I must admit I feel a sense of relief. With your I-140 approved (as I suspected from your profile), these evil people have little ammunition to harm you.
Should you look for a new job now? I doubt it.
I do recommend you to contact a labor lawyer right away - first thing to do on Monday.
If you and your lawyer can draft up a letter stating a LABOR DISPUTE to the company right away, this will likely stop them from laying you off at least at the moment. Having a labor lawyer represent you adds much stronger weight to your voice and they understand that you mean business.
The indications of unlawful termination in your employment appear to be surprisingly strong:
* You were promoted and have been holding this position for 6 yrs. Why did the General Manager (GM) change his/her view about your performace lately? If the sales went bad last year, why are you the one to be blamed but not the market conditions in general? Do you have all the sale numbers that you helped generate in many years till now? This would embolden your argument in court.
* You managed a group and covered the jobs for the people that left. Was that NOT an overwork? Was that a sign that the GM did not provide you sufficient work conditions then blame you for the loss?
* How did the firm's clients value you? Looks like they like you and want no-one else!!! Keep the emails as evidences. And if necessary, ask them for reference/testimony. Their testinomy is the most valuable/powerful aid for you. A judge will take this evidence as the OBJECTIVE measure of your performance.
* Did the "honeymoon" end only after the wave of new management flooded in? You have evidences for that? If so, this is a clear pattern that it is THIS management team who dislike you, not your performance that warranted you a pink slip. Show this evidence to the court.
* MOST CRITICALLY, do you see some other manager/s who performed worse than you yet being kept on the payroll just because s/he is a Japanese? If this is true, then it is a clear discrimination based on race (you are white) AND national origin.
* On top of that, consider you are a female. Any pattern of discrimation based on your gender? [You may even claim some unwanted sexual advances by the GM. I can't wait to see his red face! I hold highest standards of ethics and am not into lawsuits at all, okay? Just make their lives miserable a bit. They do injustice to you - and possibly other workers past/present and future. This is their turn to taste misery.]
* And the company really intends to inform the USCIS to undercut your immigration status? Oh Gosh, this is such a crystal clear intention of hatred that a judge cannot overlook.
You have a very very compelling case. All in all, the termination is motivated by many unlawful factors rather than your own performance. I just hardly see why you hesitate to sue their ass off for a lump sum enough for you to go on early retirement till the rest of your life???
STOP LOOKING FOR JOBS. Talk to a labor lawyer right away. Any labor lawyer would dream to have this lion share!!! You don't have to pay them anything; they willl take the share when they win the case in court.
And EVEN IF you lose, till the dust settles, by then you will have had your GC in your hand already. Isn't that what you want?
Remember: you don't have to stick with the company till the case settled or ruled. You can leave right away when you get another job, yet leaving the case pending. I can't wait to see what these souless actors will answer in court. | | | |
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Topic: Laid off today
How about a LAWSUIT?
Really sorry to hear that, sweetpea. [Did your I-140 get approved yet?]
Sounds like your company is very hostile to you. If they mean to hurt you now, well, THREATEN them about a DISCRIMINATION lawsuit. Although there is no job security, although the employment letter explicitly states that "the termination is at will for both you and the company" which YOU signed, believe me or not, that's just to cover their ass and that means nothing to a judge or a Labor board.
The company can only fire or lay you off for a few reasons (non-exhaustive, though):
(1) The position is closed due to downsizing, business cut, etc. But it cannot be just to target your position alone. It must have a busines-wide impact, say, the whole group is laid off.
(2) You underperformed for a while, compared with your peers (do you have regular employee evaluations? Do you get negative feedback from managers/peers? Did you show up late and leave early?). OR you made big mistakes that hurt the company's profit/reputation (did you mistype the name of your company's clients? Did your computer codes crash the system? etc.) OR you violated the company's rules of conduct (did you visit unauthorized websites from/during work? In particular, did you check THIS trackitt website from work? If so, I recommend you to STOP doing it. Did you excessively use the company's items for personal use? Did you use the company's phone for personal international calls?) The company (and their Human resource) must have been collecting evidences about your performance/mistakes/conduct... to build their case against a potential lawsuit.
Discrimination is BIG issue for a company. If you have suspicions (better yet, evidences) that they are against you for your race, national origin, gender (and a few other things, including sexual harrassment), then it's time you told them so. But do NOT show them all your cards!
A bright spot in your profile is that you have been working with this company for 6 years at least! Any judge will ask the company: "You show me evidences of this employee underperforming, why did you wait for 6 years???". The burden is now in your company to show the evidences are not bogus. [UNLESS there is some BIG mistake you commited lately that triggerred their unhappiness about you.]
Sounds like they are fully aware about your paperwork situation/diificulty, in my opinion, there is NO WAY to play NICE with them any more. Crying on their shouldder won't help! Try to negotiate first. But do let them know that there are questions they will have to answer in court. I suggest you signal them about a lawsuit and tell them that it's their burden to prove your supposed incompetence after 6 years of service, that there are suspicions that their action is discriminatory.
Even if they downsize the whole group that you belong, a judge may consider your 6 years of GOOD service to order the company to assign you another position in another group.
Of course you won't be happy with them any more. But these tactics are just to buy time until you get I-140 approval and another job to invoke AC21.
Talk to a LABOR lawyer immediately. (I might know of one good labor lawyer in California.)
Are you member of any labor union? Talk to them.
Companies don't like lawsuits. They tend to settle. For a large company, your managers will not even have a final say in laying you off. It is Human Resource laying you off. So, even if your managers hate you, s/he cannot just fire you without an OK from HR. Does HR hate you? Likely not, they don't know you. They go by the book. They pay attention to your performances. If necessary, go see the HR partner that is responsible for your employment. Scare them, just to buy time, ya know.
Play hard ball if they want hard ball.
Show them two choices: (a) a lawsuit; (b) employ me until I get my GC which won't be too long. But do NOT leave any trace of this negotiation (emails, notes, beware of recorded conversations) which they might use to have the USCIS revoke your GC after you leave.
Look at it this way: you have nothing to lose with the lawsuit. Because what they want is to get rid of you AND to punish you. Whatever the outcome is a gain for you.
May God give you strength and courage. | | | |
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Topic: Hallelujah! I See Green!
swoca-
You have a kind heart.
Million congrats on your green...
Don't be overexcited/overdrunk or you will lose sleep. Frankly I've slipped into an insomnia since getting approved 2 weeks ago. For the last 2 days I had to leave work at the middle of the day, go home and sleep. Yet not recovered yet. | | | |
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Topic: Changing Employers (or starting my own business) immediately after I get the greencard?
You needn't worry.
The central subject of permanent residency is one single individual - YOU. It is designed to grant you to right to work for anyone (well, save NASA, the IRS, and the USCIS itself for now), take up any job, take a break, go back to school, open your own businesses WITHOUT the need of a sponsorship onward.
Any string attached with your current sponsor (be it employer or spouse) would defeat the purpose of permanent residency. Remember: Nobody owns anybody in this free country. It is YOU who petitioned for a greencard status and it is granted to YOU – a qualified individual – not your sponsor. Otherwise an H1B (employment) and/or conditional GC (marriage) in which you are a beneficiary – NOT a petitioner – would have been as good - at least for your sponsor.
Why my lengthy elaboration? It’s to say that the greencard issuance event is the point upon which you are entitled to the privileges reserved for permanent residents and I can’t think of any judge that would interpret otherwise.
Should the USCIS accuse you of illegally obtaining your PR status, they must have a very compelling case. They will (and should) act when there is blatantly clear evidences of fraud (sham marriage, bogus employment).
From your profile I gather that you have been with this employer for around 3 yrs. You sound to be having a decent job with a decent company who cares enough to hire an attorney to handle your paperwork. That indicates that your job is a real job with a decent pay. To any judge, it looks extremely unlikely on YOUR side that you took this job just for the sake of greencard only.
With an approved I-140 and 2-yr pending AOS, you are allowed to leave for another employer in the same profession to “enhance the competitiveness of the US economy†(the spirit of AC21). Remember that it was established that “no US citizens or PR’s are qualified†for this “specialty occupation†position.
[With GC thru marriage, it’s a quite different story. Neither does it “benefit the US economy†per se nor require a “specialtyâ€; hence the "conditional GC" valid for only 2 years at first to test the beneficiary’s intent.]
That is to say, should the USCIS track you down on a fraud charge, any judge would just rule in your favor.
You often hear of stories floating here and there GC’s getting revoked or citizenship applications denied. But I do believe that these cases are - upon "the whole truth and nothing but the truth" be told - so outright fraudulent and lacking any substantial merit. I believe that you have a great case to rest on.
There is a remote risk that the USCIS would decide to track you down. A parallel: does the risk of a fatal car accident fear you away from driving? Being a good driver, you have lots of room for maneuver and you knowingly keep the risk at bay. The bottom line is: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and be ready to fight in court when needed. | | | |
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Topic: Changing Employers (or starting my own business) immediately after I get the greencard?
ixtab-
You listed yourself as in EB1A category. Why an involvement of any employer here? Are you sure you are EB1A yourself? | | | |
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Topic: Approval Notice Sent
I haven't got an "approval notice" yet (after 4 days) and I believe it is NON-existent. My friend who got approved a month ago never received such a notice either. (We both got our Welcome notice/s.)
The date of my "Approval Notice sent" email was exactly the date postmarked on the envelope containing the physical card which arrived yesterday. My card was produced many days earlier, March 1, right after my "Card production ordered" email.
I am thus convinced that the "Approval Notice sent" email/LUD instead meant "YOUR PHYSICAL CARD sent".
I already ignore the phantom "approval notice" and move on.
With the actual card in my hand, a new chapter of my life has begun today. Best of luck to you all! | | | |
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