Confused: do I file I-130 AND I-485 together?

[ivo__5 0]

My wife arrived 04/22/2009, on a K-1 visa after a nearly 2 year engagement(I proposed 06/2007)

We married 05/08/2009.

Unfortunately, I have since lost my job, and am on unemployment... bottom line is: I fall about $3,000 short of the minimum annual income requirement based upon I-865p guidelines. However, this doesn't include my unemployment benefit, which I was told I couldn't use as income(since it IS temporary income, it made sense at the time). Feeling somewhat hopeless, we did nothing, thinking we could not possibly get approved. Then I found this site- which reassured that we could still file even if we are a few weeks beyond her visa expiration.

But I have received conflicting information after talking to other friends who have gone through this process, and talking to various immigration attorneys.

Do I only file the I-130 first, and after USCIS responds, file I-485?

Or do I only file I-485 and supporting documents, and forget I-130?

Also, based on misinformation received at the SSA office, my wife has yet to apply for her SSN- and now her I-94 is expired. Is there anything we can do about that, is it necessary right now, or have we just crippled our ability to apply for AOS?

I apologize for being obtuse, but this process is very confusing. A friend that I spoke to made it sound as though I would not have to provide proof of income or file I-865 immediately, but rather, at a later date, a few months down the road(at which time, I anticipate having resolved my income problem).

Could anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance,

Jason

[ikarus 1]

Start reading here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1k3aos

That goes into pretty good details as to what you have to do.

About the social security number, youll have to get it after she gets the green card; you could have gotten it before you married, and changed the name after the wedding.

By the way, if you lost your job, maybe youll have to file with a sponsor to get the AOS process going. Do a search in the forums for that and on the site. All your basic questions should be answered that way.

Edited August 6, 2009 by ikarus

[Xamindar 0]

I am confused about this also. I filed both the i-130 and i-485 ad the same time but sent them to two different places and not together. Both documents have different chicago lock boxes listed. The i-130 was accepted but the i-485 was sent back and I can't figure out why. It lists some of the documents in the i-485 package as invalid - particularly the i-765 but is not clear why.

Was I just supposed to send them all to the lockbox for the i-130? If so then how do I correct this sense the i-130 was already accepted?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If your wife arrived on a K-1 and you married within the 90 days of her arrival, then you do not need to file I-130 - just I-485. If you did not marry within the 90 days and married after that time, then you would need to file the I-130 as well.