Married 5 years with kid and in US already with B1

[crush 0]

Hi,

First post here.

In 2008 I got a B1/B2 visa for business and came straight away. In 2010 got married to my USC (by birth) wife and at the end of the year we had a kid. I have been travelling to the US for business in the past with and without her (2 times before I got married alone and twice together after we got married; and went back all together. Our boy has his US passport. Pretty straight forward happy family, living together all this while.

In 2014 July wife was homesick and wanted our boy to start pre-K in USA so we came rented a house. I stayed for as long as I could but always left before my I-94 was due. My company is at a stage where I can manage it from the US but have to go every 5-6 months and it was good for me because I could stay longer and visit more customers. I did not want to get a green card because I didn't need it, plus we were not sure if we were going to want to stay here after the Mrs. wasn't homesick any more.

So since 2014 July I have been back to Turkey 2 times already staying 5 or 6 months ever time I was here. Our kids (wife has a USC son from first marriage) are flourishing here so wife wants to stay; I personally like living here too but don't mind if we go back. So my "intent" on my trips to the US were never to immigrate. Up until now....

Since I am staying here more than Turkey, I feel I should have a green card so I don't have trouble getting into the country ( I have read people saying if you stay 5-6 months every time you come to the States, go back to your home country and after couple of weeks or months come back again you may be denied entry for visa abuse)

So I have decided to apply for a GC !!! I came here early June and have to leave early December.

I will try to share my whole experience here (hence the whole history above for later reference) but would like to start by asking if I could be flat out denied on the basis of my "intent" for my last entry to the US being for immigration purposes? I am reading a lot of people getting married in the US and staying but not a lot of "married already and in the US on B1" type of scenario. I wouldn't mind going back to Turkey to apply (still have house, company etc there) but then kids will be missing school that just started. I could go on my own but my wife would go nuts without me for more than a few weeks.

So should I apply for the concurrent I-130 + I-485 + I-131?

[Carla V 43]

It sound pretty straight forward to me, you can file concurrent, but wont be able to leave until you receive the Advance Parole card. The things that cause problems are lying to immigration officer or misrepresentation, if you were always honest, dont see problems

[Carla V 43]

It sound pretty straight forward to me, you can file concurrent, but wont be able to leave until you receive the Advance Parole card. The things that cause problems are lying to immigration officer or misrepresentation, if you were always honest, dont see problems

[Mrs.Hull210 24]

I agree with post above

My husband was back and forth from USA & England, never overstayed at all on any of his visits... until now. During this visit I had a medical check up that came with some bad news. I'm now in the process of having to do biopsies, sonograms, and depending on what my results are, I could be in for surgery, radiation, or even chemo. This was very unexpected, and my husband can not leave me here alone to care for our girls if I have to go through all that, so we did just file concurrently so he could be here with me through this all. If we had not decided to file now, it would be a year before he would have vacation days again to come back!

[Starkilla09 366]

By the way intent is determined at the port of entry. You've been admitted you're good to go ahead and file. Your case is pretty straight forward and you have a bona fide relationship plus a kid. Yeah, file all documents concurrently l-130, I-485, I-765 and I-131 together at Chicago lockbox office. Your EAD/AP document should be ready in 60 to 90 days before you can depart the U.S after temporarily while you wait for your interview. Good luck.

[crush 0]

Mrs Hull, very sorry about the health situation. I hope the biopsies turn out ok.

Thanks for the replies. Have any of you read of cases on the forum that ended in GC where one of the spouses was married? Ive seen one case where they married in the US, then left and spouse came back on B1 and got GC. If you could give me some leads that would be great.

[Mrs.Hull210 24]

A huge thanks for the health well wishes!

There are several threads about people adjusting through B1 that are approved. It is completely legal to adjust your status if you entered the USA with the honest intentions of returning back to your home country. Things happen, plans change, I would personally stay and file to adjust your status. Of course you will have people who will try and yell "fraud", intimidate you, but what you have done is perfectly legal. Good Luck to you

Edited September 25, 2015 by Mrs.Hull210

[crush 0]

Thanks for the reply. So I started getting all the documents together. The more I read the more documents I see I need. I am going to do my best to send everything out in the next 1-2 weeks. Monday I have my physical, ordered birth certificate, and marriage certificate + translations from Boston consulate. Now I am looking at the sponsor papers which seem to be the most challenging.

I-864:

Q1- Wife stopped working in 2012 and taxes files so I can get a transcript for that year and have ordered it through the IRS site by mail (since direct online is down). For 2013 and 2014 she didn't work at all so I just write a letter to that extent and have her sign it, correct?

Q2- My father in law will be the joint sponsor in this case (since I cant show my foreign assets or earnings as income). HE just retired last May. So I will get his last 3 year IRS tax return transcript but will USCIS assume his current earnings may be lower since he retired and want to see income evidence from this year also? (We can do that because he is still way above the poverty requirement but I don't want to ask too much of him if its not necessary.)

Thanks.

Edited September 25, 2015 by crush

[Mrs.Hull210 24]

Q1- If she did not file taxes due to non employment, she must provide a letter of explanation on why she did not file taxes and it helps to put under what law excused her from not needing to file. You may want to look into this more as I believe not being employed does not always excuse you to file (makes no sense to me either, but google it.) If anyone else has better information on whether unemployment is excusable, please correct me.

Q2- No, they won't assume that the joint sponsor's income is what is stated on his last transcript. He will either need to provide a current work verification or his last check stubs, or his retirement earnings. If he does not qualify with his income, look into seeing if he can add any household members to his income to help (such as his spouse) and if that is possible, have him do the I-864 and his spouse file the I-864A. Hopefully a more experienced member can either confirm or correct any of this info.

[BritInMA 15]

Thanks for the reply. So I started getting all the documents together. The more I read the more documents I see I need. I am going to do my best to send everything out in the next 1-2 weeks. Monday I have my physical, ordered birth certificate, and marriage certificate + translations from Boston consulate. Now I am looking at the sponsor papers which seem to be the most challenging.

I-864:

Q1- Wife stopped working in 2012 and taxes files so I can get a transcript for that year and have ordered it through the IRS site by mail (since direct online is down). For 2013 and 2014 she didn't work at all so I just write a letter to that extent and have her sign it, correct?

Q2- My father in law will be the joint sponsor in this case (since I cant show my foreign assets or earnings as income). HE just retired last May. So I will get his last 3 year IRS tax return transcript but will USCIS assume his current earnings may be lower since he retired and want to see income evidence from this year also? (We can do that because he is still way above the poverty requirement but I don't want to ask too much of him if its not necessary.)

Thanks.

Hi Crush

You are incorrect - I just got my green card this week, using the income I get from my business in the UK - it takes a bit of explaining, and you have to provide proof, but your foreign income IS admissible, PROVIDING it will continue if, as & when they approve your GC

So the question is, will your income continue?

I am more than happy to give you tips and pointers... but I can assure you, I just got my GC based on income I get from the UK....

Good luck!

[crush 0]

Thanks for the tip BiritnMA. I've decided to go with the father-in-law's sponsorship since it seems it will be much simpler and straight forward than getting my business involved.

Anyhow, the physical is done and I am waiting for the test results etc and going to the local tax office to get refund transcripts tomorrow.I should be ready to send by Wednesday next week.