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dnyal

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  • State
    Florida

Immigration Info

  • Immigration Status
    K-1 Visa
  • Place benefits filed at
    California Service Center
  • Country
    Colombia

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  1. That’s not precisely true in law. What you’re talking about is what the Code calls a “natural” parent. Adopted people have mothers who didn’t give birth to them. Legally, your mother is whoever is listed in your birth certificate/registry/adoption papers. You can see here and here the different definitions for “mother” that USCIS applies.
  2. You can go to college, but you won’t get any federal financial aid until you adjust your status. State aid may vary. At least in Florida, you have to be a “citizen or eligible non-citizen” in order to get any state financial aid, including school-sponsored scholarships. However, some colleges do have privately funded scholarships for international students. Go to the financial aid office of your school to find out more.
  3. You can do it yourself if you’re a detail-oriented person who follows instructions. The government forms for K-1 and the whole process afterwards are accompanied by official instructions. Forums like this one break all that down for you, besides the countless YouTube videos of people who’ve done it themselves. Unless your petition will require special waivers or you have convoluted situations, you can do it yourself. However, I understand some people might not be able to. As a rule of thumb, if you are a person who conscientiously prepares your taxes, keeps meticulous records of your receipts, and generally dots every i and crosses every t, you’ll be golden. Whereas, if you simply cannot be bothered with filling your taxes and going through the motions of Turbo Tax is excruciating, you might want to have help.
  4. What your husband is going through is absolutely ridiculous. I flew back from Colombia in May with my expired green card and the 24-month extension letter. The airline agents would just take a look at the green card and notice it was expired and ask for the letter. That was it. I was using American Airlines. No need for a stamp on my passport whatsoever.
  5. Hello, everyone! 👋 I had an interview scheduled for next week at the Orlando USCIS office. I suspect it was a combo interview, since my husband and I have a pending I-751 (but I only ever received an invitation letter for the citizenship interview). However, it was cancelled last week when I checked online and just got the official cancellation letter in the mail today. I know of at least one other Visa Journey member whose naturalization interview at the Orlando office was scheduled a few weeks prior to mine, and theirs was also cancelled. I found out mine had been cancelled precisely because I had messaged them to ask about their ceremony, they told me they never even got to the interview, and then I checked the status of mine. I also notice in the VJ timelines that a few other people also with interviews set at the Orlando office recently haven’t updated their timelines. It just makes me wonder if there’s something else going on. Is there anyone else here with the same issue at this office? Is there maybe a mass cancellation going on? Please, chime in with your experiences or opinions. Thank you!
  6. I'm sorry you're going through all of this. It must be going through a lot of emotions right now, and I'm glad that you're finding support in your family and things with your husband seem amicable. Regarding the immigration situation, the consensus here is that, if you two are considering divorce, then you should file for ROC with a divorce waiver. You mentioned that your husband is willing to "stay married" while you go through this process in order to help you out. However, ROC is based on a bona fide relationship. The moment you decided to divorce, staying married in order to get an immigration benefit no longer constitutes a bona fide marriage. Should USCIS catch any wind of this during the process or interview, you'd be in for a world of trouble. Since you talked to your husband and now you both have considered divorce as the route to go, then you need to file for divorce in your state of residence and file for ROC based on a divorce waiver. You will still need to provide evidence of having had a bona fide relationship: joint lease, bank accounts, health insurance, etc., up to the point where you two separated, along with the paperwork that you two initiated divorce proceedings and a brief letter explaining the situation (better if signed by both you and your husband). A cousin of mine is going through AOS in NY. She got an RFE about three months after her initial filing, so that should give you an idea of how long you'd have to wait until you get your RFE for the finalized divorce decree. I'd suggest you apply for ROC as soon as you are eligible and then submit evidence as requested by USCIS.
  7. In Colombia, the hospital did ask for my passport to check against the paperwork, but that was the extent of it (no stamp). The doctor's office gave me a sealed envelope to take to the embassy later that day after the exam. I fail to see why a hospital would stamp your passport; it is a travel document. Maybe they've had instances of fraud and want to cover their butts.
  8. My husband and I have always regretted having gone the K-1 route. What others say is true: I spent six months without being able to do absolutely anything because I had to wait until my status was adjusted. I was really bored, and I also had to delay starting college here until I got my green card. I could’ve started a semester earlier or have come to the U.S. a whole 18 months earlier! You seem to have a pretty solid case, so I do advise you to simply marry and then file for a spousal visa; they’re taking almost the same as K-1 approvals, and you skip the added months of adjustment of status. If what you want is to have a ceremony in the States, you can legally marry here (if your fiancée comes on a B visa, not sure if Serbia is part of the visa waiver program, and then returns to Serbia to wait for the spousal one) or marry in Serbia (legal paperwork-wise) and then have the wedding here.
  9. What I gather from the OP is that their wife seems to live with them, as in share a residence. Otherwise, why would they both share a lease like OP says? It seems she’s constantly going to different places because of her research job, yet she maintains residence with her spouse at their home (this doesn’t mean, however, that they have to be together). If this is the case, that the wife keeps residence at the same address as her spouse (i.e., she uses it legally for her bank documents, taxes, voter registration, etc.), then OP doesn’t have to claim “ignorance.” She legally resides at their joint address, especially if she often travels back to be with her spouse for periods of time. This has even more weight if they file taxes together using OP’s address. She voluntarily took a job that requires her to relocate, like somebody else pointed out. It’s not the same as she voluntarily relocating for some other reason. Like yet another person pointed out, the most sensible approach here is not to volunteer any information. So, ask your wife to come with you, bring pictures of you two (also keep some Skype screenshots at hand in case her living away comes up), and restrict yourselves to honestly answer only what is asked. If your wife usually lists your joint address on everything she does, it is proof that she considers the place you two rent her home. Make sure that she bring paperwork that shows her relocation is necessary for her job (for instance, some employer document that states that she would need to go to place X if she wants to do research on something). You mentioned your wife is a researcher, so you may qualify for an exemption anyway (should the subject come up) if she works for one of the institutions listed here.
  10. Like someone suggested, you should apply for citizenship. If you ever got in any sort of trouble with law enforcement (wrong place, wrong time), you could have either difficulty renewing your GC or it could even be revoked. As a permanent resident, you don’t have guaranteed entrance to the U.S. when you come back from a trip. You mentioned you’ve lived here since you were a kid and it sounds like you have your life settled here, so you’re basically American already. Just make it official. Austria doesn’t allow dual citizenship, but it seems you could apply for an exemption (which has to be given before you apply for American citizenship), especially if you are Austrian-born. I think it is worth a try.
  11. I’m sorry to hear some of you are having troubles. After much waiting, I literally just noticed on the USCIS website that an interview for my N-400 has been scheduled for August! 😄 I also have a ROC pending with no changes since last December, when it said it was transferred to the NBC after I applied for naturalization. I do hope it is a combo interview so my husband and I can be done with this nightmare of uncertainty that is immigrating to America. Do you guys think they’ll tell me whether it is a combo interview if I give USCIS a call?
  12. I really don’t see the issue here. It seems the OP is trying to say that their parents (or one of them, at least) was threatened, and they decided to flee along with their family. It could be that the father was the one threatened, but then decided he was not gonna leave without his family. Unlike in the U.S., a 19-yo person in Colombia very often still lives with and gets support from his or her parents. I lived with my mom until I was 22! And, when I mean living, I mean she supported me completely. Perhaps that was the situation the OP was in back then and why their parents involved them in their asylum process. Now that the OP is financially independent and might not have been the directly threatened person, I see why their lawyer would give them a green light to travel.
  13. In case it isn't clear to the OP and his friend, American citizens are required to file a tax return on worldwide income. That means that even if you live overseas and work overseas and no longer have ties to the U.S., you are supposed to file your taxes in the U.S. (unless your foreign income in U.S. dollars is less than the standard deduction). If your income for the past three years has been more than the standard deduction that applies in your case (i.e., single, married filing separately, etc.), then you are supposed to file the corresponding tax form. You can do it retroactively right now. There is a foreign income exclusion or foreign income tax credit (you get one or the other, depending on whether the country you lived and worked in has a tax treaty with the U.S.); making less than the threshold for the foreign income exclusion does NOT mean that you didn't have to file taxes (as I think I saw someone suggesting here). You had to file a tax return, it just may be that, if your income was below the foreign income exclusion, you might not owe taxes to the U.S. government. However, keep in mind that not every income class falls within the foreign income exclusion (I think dividend and interest income are not excluded). It is best if you consult with a tax professional on this, but you definitely needed to file taxes (if your income was above the standard deduction), you can still do it retroactively, and you might not end up paying in taxes, anyway.
  14. I remember my AOS was approved in three months at the Tampa office. That was back in 2018, though.
  15. Filing an N-400 did nothing for my I-751. It’s been seven and a half months since I submitted my naturalization application online and nothing. I’m seeing people getting approved in six months, and my USCIS online account says there’s a “5-month wait” for naturalization. My removal of conditions is gonna turn 20 months old in two weeks. It had a bump a month after I filed the N-400: it got transferred to the NBC. That’s been it since then.
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