Request for INITIAL Evidence (I-485)

[marissou36 2]

Hi everyone!

I entered the US on a K1 visa on December 12th 2014, I married my US citizen sweetheart on January 2nd 2015 and filed for AOS + AP + EAD on January 16th 2015. I received all 3 NOAs (via Text and letters) on January 23rd. I even had my Biometrics appointment on February 10th. You might say wonderful everything is going well right? Except it's NOT. AT ALL. and I desperately need some guidance here. Let me explain the situation:

Yesterday (Feb 17th), we received a Request for Initial Evidence letter in the mail (see attached pictures). It's beyond ridiculous. Its seems to be saying that we never got married, that my I129F was never even approved and that the joint sponsor not only doesn't meet the poverty line, but that we didn't submit income evidence for him either. However:

• My I129F was obviously approved (I sent a copy of the approval notice),I passed everything succesfully and got my K1 Visa approved (I sent copies of my passeport with the K1 Visa page and the entry stamp for december 12th 2014)
• We DID get married (duh!!!!) and we sent a copy of our marriage certificate (why would we even be filing for AOS if we were not even married?!!!)
• The joint sponsor -my husband's dad - is WAY above the poverty line (he makes like 300k$ a year and we did send his entire tax return for 2013 along with numerous other supporting documents).

Attached is the exhaustive list of everything we sent with our application (cover letter).

I am beyond confused and miserable I just can't understand why they would even say that when they had all the evidence right before their eyes!!! The only explanation I see is that they lost all the documents... But then how could they have the forms and not the supporting documents when they were all stapled together in the package I sent???

And this is not all. I have two other issues (they might be all related I don't even know):

• My I94 doesn't mention my latest entry on Dec 12th (the k1 entry), I check regularly it just doesn't show... I don't know how long it takes fo it to be up to date but that can't be good right? Could it be part of the problem?
• I applied to a social security card on December 29th 2014 at the Jamaica Queens SSA center (Queens, NY). The place was so packed (I waited about 5 hours) that the lady said she couldn't process my application right away, that she would do it later when it's less busy and that we would receive my card within 4 weeks. Obviously we never received anything so when I returned to that same SS center on February 11th, we found out that the lady messed it up in the most ridiculous way: she literally entered the wrong information about me, she entered a completely wrong adress and that I was on a J1 Visa as a student (What the hell?????)... So obvisouly the immigration couldn't confirm my status based on these ridiculous information and my SS card application was denied. I re-did a whole new application that day so hopefully this one gets approved...

I really don't know what to do, there seems to be a lot of misunderstandings and weird stuff going on with my case, maybe it's all related, maybe it's not, but I'm a little lost, I'm not sure where to start and how to start everything out... Now my K1 will expire on March 11th so I don't even know if I will be out of status?

This is my husband and I's strategy:

• I am thinking of going to the French consulate (I'm from France) and let them know what my situation is and try to get help from them
• We are gonna re-assemble all the evidence regarding the RFE letter, with original documents this time (marriage certificate, affidavit of support etc...) and send it ASAP along with a letter explaining the situation.
• We booked an apointment at the Newark, NJ USCIS for March 3rd to explain our situation and talk to A REAL PERSON!
• We are thinking of seeking the advice of an immigration attorney... although we can't really afford it... in case nothing works out

Has anyone here ever experienced the same traumatic situation? What would you recommend? Should we expect other RFE? Are we gonna get through this? Ultimately what are the risks for me?

Thank you SO MUCH for any advice/help you can provide!

Love

Marie

Cover Letter.pdf

[Marco&Bettina 502]

They don't like staples. Maybe this is retaliation.

Edit: I think your #2 & #3 bullet points are the best CoA.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Marco&Bettina

[_Paul&Jesica_ 70]

You can respond to the RFE with a copy of your I-94, a copy of the K-1 VISA (and the CBP officer should have marked on it at the POE), another copy of the marriage license. The marriage license/certificate has the be the official one that is filed with the county where you married after the ceremony took place. Make sure what is submitted is a certified copy and not a certified abstract. It took me two weeks to receive.

As for the I-865 stuff, it is best to send a copy of the official IRS transcript and needs to be for the past three tax years. You can request those irs.gov.

[Wooderz 314]

Can someone knowledgeable with AOS shed some light on the implications of the missing i-94? To me that seems like an issue. I just have no clue what kind of problems it could cause other than I believe, prevent one from getting a SSN.

[PerditaD 35]

I agree with April.

Here's what you can do:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1697/kw/i-94%20update

Hopefully you'll get more replies and advice.

[marissou36 2]

Thank you everyone for your quick replies!
April and Perdita: my I-94 is not missing, sorry it was not clear; I can access and view it online and it mentions all my other previous entries to the US, but not the latest one (the most important one if you ask me!) which is my entry with my K1 visa on December 12th!
So you think this might be the problem, and the cause to everything else?

Update:

• we called the USCIS helpline number, wasn't very helpful, they just told us to re-send everything
• we booked an apointment with immigration lawyer Jennifer Durkin (NYC) for Monday 23rd
• I called the French Consulate, they can't really help me (they do hold an immigration counselling session every month but the Feb one is full)
• we went to our mariage bureau and got a certified copy of marriage certificate

So I guess until we see the lawyer on the 23rd there is nothing we can do really right?

Should I go to the airport to a CBP office and ask them to fix my I94 in the meantime though?

Thank You so much <3

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

When you saw that your I-94 was incorrect, did you contact the CBP to have it fixed? That is what you needed to do first. Your I-94 does not show you entered in Dec. with the K-1 visa. Contact your closest deferred inspection site to get that issue resolved. You need to prove you entered legally via the K-1 and married within 90 days of that entry to be eligible for AOS. http://www.cbp.gov/contact/deferred-inspection/overview-deferred-inspection

You could not get the SSN because your I-94 is incorrect.

If your joint sponsor has already filed their 2014 taxes, then use a complete copy of that return with all forms, attachments, schedules, W-2s and/or 1099s. They also need proof of their individual income. If an employee, then a letter from employer and most recent pay stubs will work. If self0employed, then CPA/quarterly statements along with complete tax returns. If they have non-taxable income, then they need to provide proof of the amounts and show 12 months of bank statements to prove the income amount they have deposited each month.

Your K-1 visa expired as soon as you used it to enter the US. When your I-94 expires, you will not be out of status because you have filed for AOS. AOS applicants enter a new period of authorized stay while their cases are being processed.

Your biggest issue is your incorrect I-94. Get that fixed before doing anything else.

Edited February 18, 2015 by KayDeeCee

[marissou36 2]

KayDeeCee thank you so much for your reply! It makes a lot of sense. I never tried to fix my I94 because I never realized how much of a problem it was since I had the entry stamp in my passeport proving my entry anyway. Also I thought maybe it took a while before the I94 was updated... Haha couldn't be more wrong!!!
So I am going to go to the nearest DIO first thing tomorrow morning and have that freaking thing fixed once and for all! I'm going to bring my passeport with the visa and stamps inside + my marriage certificate! Is it enough or shoudl I bring other evidence? Like my old K1 visa case?

Again thank you so much, I see hope now!

When you saw that your I-94 was incorrect, did you contact the CBP to have it fixed? That is what you needed to do first. Your I-94 does not show you entered in Dec. with the K-1 visa. Contact your closest deferred inspection site to get that issue resolved. You need to prove you entered legally via the I-94 and married within 90 days of that entry to be eligible for AOS. http://www.cbp.gov/contact/deferred-inspection/overview-deferred-inspection

You could not get the SSN because your I-94 is incorrect.

If your joint sponsor has already filed their 2014 taxes, then use a complete copy of that return with all forms, attachments, schedules, W-2s and/or 1099s. They also need proof of their individual income. If an employee, then a letter from employer and most recent pay stubs will work. If self0employed, then CPA/quarterly statements along with complete tax returns. If they have non-taxable income, then they need to provide proof of the amounts and show 12 months of bank statements to prove the income amount they have deposited each month.

Your K-1 visa expired as soon as you used it to enter the US. When your I-94 expires, you will not be out of status because you have filed for AOS. AOS applicants enter a new period of authorized stay while their cases are being processed.

Your biggest issue is your incorrect I-94. Get that fixed before doing anything else.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

That should be enough, but you can call ahead to the DIO and ask them exactly what you need to bring in order to get it sorted out for you. Let them know it causing you a problem with adjusting status and getting an SSN because the K-1 entry is not showing up on the I-94.

[marissou36 2]

You're the best thank you so much!

I just called them but they told me to call back between 8am-11am tomorrow...government people lol!

I will keep you updated!

Thanks again

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

You are welcome. Hope you get it all sorted out soon. Good luck!

[marissou36 2]

Update: just had the New York DIO on the phone, they told me the day I arrived in the U.S their computer system was down (I'm so out of luck seriously lol) and they couldn't process anyone that day. They told me to come in today with my passport and they would fix it for me no problem! Making some progress here yay!

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Did you get it all fixed now? I am glad they recognized they had a computer issue when you arrived.

Edited February 19, 2015 by KayDeeCee

[marissou36 2]

Hi everyone! We are making some very good progress here, let me give you an update:

We saw the lawyer today -she was amazing btw, anyone in NYC looking for a lawyer I recommend her- and she confirmed that the faulty I94 was a problem, which was a lot worsened by the social security issue. Basically when USCIS looked into my case they found a lot of contradictory information: my I94 saying I was not even in the US right now, the SS info saying I was here but on a J1 visa and leaving in queens, and my AOS application saying I was on a K1 living in New Jersey lol!

She also said that a lot of times USCIS will send an RFE to buy themselves some more time, because they have so many application that they are falling behind and can't process them all in 90 days.

As for the affidavit, she says they can be very picky about the supporting documents, and even though what we sent was technically enough, because of all the aforementioned issues we will need to be much more thorough and overwhelm them with evidence! My advice to all AOS filers out there: just overkill it, shower them in supporting documents!!!

I want to reassure everyone who might be in my case and is freaking out like we were, she said it really was gonna be ok, the worst worst possible scenario would be to be requested for an interview that she said we would pass anyway.

Oh, and last update, as for my I94, when we showed up at JFK airport at the deffered inspection office, unfortunately they were not able to fix it on the spot because believe it or not, their computer system was down!!!! Seriously somebody make a donation to CBP and buy them new computers lol! But anyway the officer I met was nice and understanding, she gave me a call back this morning and I'm just gonna go there tomorrow and have my fingerprints re-taken and it should be all good

I will keep you updated, once we assemble everything with our lawyer I will put the list here of everything we send so that you can use it too

[marissou36 2]

Update: my I94 is now fixed!!! They took my fingerprints, put in their system my K1 entry of Dec 12th and made a note to USCIS explaining the issue apparently. I feel great!

My advice to any K1 freshly arrived in the US: triple check your i94 before you do anything else, and if there's the slightest mistake, just show up to the closest DIO, they are super helpful and understanding they will fix it for you and it will avoid a lot of problems on the long term!