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Hi! I first joined up here about 12 years ago I was a naive, enthusiastic future resident of the USA who had just married my US-born husband and needed to Adjust my status. Although I knew my husband had an offense from 20 years ago, I had no clue that the USA gave a damn about the criminal history of the petitioner! To make a long, tear-filled story easier here is the outline 2012 - married US Citizen from tourist visa 2013 - First application for AOS by marriage - with attorney but not one with AWA experience 2013 - First NOID - Got Psych report and as much evidence as possible sent off 2015 - Denied 2015 - Reapply for AOS - same attorney but we are better versed this time 2016 - NOID - new reports, fresh proof 2017 - Denied 2017 - Reapply 3rd time - yet more info provided 2018 - NOID - 3RD Psych assessment, at $3000 a pop 2021 - Denied 2021 - Reapply BUT with a change - we switch application from my husband as a sponsor to my eldest step-son and suddenly, no issues 2021 - RFE for Medical Exam only! 2024 Jan 13 - email from attorney to say we have finally been APPROVED WHAT I HAVE LEARNED THAT MAY HELP OTHERS WITH AWA ISSUES 1. Get an attorney WHO KNOWS THE AWA, not just any migration attorney. We had a wonderful, kind, generous attorney, but this was in no way her field of experience. 2. Be prepared to pay a lot of money, not just for your attorney but also for the reports, copies of offenses, parole decisions, probation records etc. You will need copies of everything. Fresh Psych reports will almost always be needed and they aren't cheap. 3. Despite all your efforts and money, the odds are you will not win. Our choice, if my stepson had not wanted to help, would have been to take it to court in front of a judge and plead for common sense to prevail. 4. If you have any alternative method of filing that does not involve the person with the conviction being used then take that option like I did. I know this is not available to everyone, but some of you may benefit from this suggestion. 5. All in all, I think this cost 12 years, $30,000 US or near enough, nearly caused us to divorce several times due to all the stress, and interfered with my right to work and hold a driver's license. I've been too scared to leave for 12 years to visit my home or parents in case I could not get back into the USA. 6. If you can find any other way to apply, sponsored by a stepchild in my case, or try employment-based immigration, etc, I'd say try anything before having to try beating the AWA. 7. I am open to private messages from others who just need moral support or someone to listen to, but I can't offer legal or immigration advice more than I have said above.

Hi all, I am wondering which case would be better when filing for N400 with a pending i751. Do I wait for my i751 to be approved first then apply for N400 or do I apply for n400 while my i751 is still pending ?

Hello, My wife and I filed our I-130 in August 2022 through consular processing as we are both in Korea. Our service center is Vermont. We are planning on a vacation to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles end of Feb/first week of March. Our trip will be for about 6-8 weeks. We will be entering together and heading back to Korea together once the trip is over. I have a business in Korea and am paying rent for an apartment. My question is what would happen if our I-130 were to be approved while we were in the US? Would there be no problem? I have heard of some cases where USCIS would automatically change it to AOS and we would have to wait for the 485 to be approved and we would not be allowed to return overseas? Thanks in advance

Hi everyone. my fiancé and i are currently in the process of obtaining our k1 visa. however, there is something that i am not entirely sure about. as i read through the eligibility of obtaining a k1 visa, the in-person meeting requirement is mentioned. the thing i am not sure is that what does this requirement is meant for? for filing the petition? or it will affect the final issue of an actual visa? my fiancé and i were physically together from 2019 December till 2020 june, and then we started long distance. from then till now, because of a lot of reasons we didn't schedule to meet, but took action on filing the k1 petition. so if the in person meeting requirement is only dictating our eligibility to file the petition, then i guess we are good. but if it also applies to the time period before my visa interview, then i guess we will have a problem. timeline dec 2019-june 2022 physically together june 2022- present long distance march 2021 petition filed march 2022 petition approved may 2022 received e-package notifying the beneficiary to begin k1 visa application we have been waiting for so long, and i am getting really nervous if my visa is denied, so just wanna make sure i get everything right thank you