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jo & ro

guidance on conditional green card application

By jo & ro in Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas

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jo & ro Newbie

jo & ro   0

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Timeline
Posted

Hello All,

We are so amazed to have found this website! Wow... I've been searching all over the net for info on legalizing our marriage, and this place seems like a god-send!

A brief background: we are getting married in August this year. My fiancee is a US citizen, and I'm on an F-1 (student), getting my doctorate degree. We've known each other for 10 years..... there's been a lot of ebb and flow, but finally she said yes!! :dance:

Anyway, my questions are:

1) Is there anything we need to know about our specific situation? Jo is moving to VA (where I live) in the beginning of June, and we'll be getting married in August. We are in no hurry with the immigration papers because my F-1 is valid for 3 more years, but we want to get all this paperwork started right after we get married, since our understanding is that it may take forever.

2) Having said that, would you suggest that she files her petition (I-130) before I file mine (I-485)? Or is it better to file both at the same time? We were thinking about taking it one step at a time, since I'm a student and she doesn't have a lot of money either, and the I-485 costs over $1K!! But we can file both if it's better...

3) My mom lives abroad and we want her to come to the wedding ceremony... What papers would she need to take to the Embassy to apply for a visitor visa?

4) When Jo submits the I-130, would you suggest that we also send copies or our letters, pictures, etc right away? Or is it something that we should bring to the interview (whenever that is...)?

All in all, I guess we would just really appreciate any sort of guidance you guys can give. We aren't going to start the process until after we get married, but the whole process seems so overwhelming that we want to start getting ready now.

Thank you to everyone who responds!

Ro

Kathryn41 Grand Master

Kathryn41   3,205

Posted
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
 Timeline
Posted (edited)

Moved from AOS from a family visa to AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visa forum

Welcome to VJ. I am sure you will get some useful answers to your questions from our members, but in the meantime you will find a lot of useful information in the Guides at the top of this page and the pinned topics at the top of the AOS from Family Visa forum. Good luck.

Edited by Kathryn41

“...Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?”

.― Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

5892822976_477b1a77f7_z.jpg

Another Member of the VJ Fluffy Kitty Posse!

Brother Hesekiel Mentor

Brother Hesekiel   2,236

Posted
Filed: Other Timeline
Posted (edited)
1) Is there anything we need to know about our specific situation? Jo is moving to VA (where I live) in the beginning of June, and we'll be getting married in August. We are in no hurry with the immigration papers because my F-1 is valid for 3 more years, but we want to get all this paperwork started right after we get married, since our understanding is that it may take forever.

Not really, other than reading the guides.

2) Having said that, would you suggest that she files her petition (I-130) before I file mine (I-485)? Or is it better to file both at the same time? We were thinking about taking it one step at a time, since I'm a student and she doesn't have a lot of money either, and the I-485 costs over $1K!! But we can file both if it's better...

I-130, I-485 and I-765 are all filed together.

3) My mom lives abroad and we want her to come to the wedding ceremony... What papers would she need to take to the Embassy to apply for a visitor visa?

Can't seem to find the paramount info on what COUNTRY your mom is coming from?

4) When Jo submits the I-130, would you suggest that we also send copies or our letters, pictures, etc right away? Or is it something that we should bring to the interview (whenever that is...)?

No. You will submit that kind of evidence at the interview.!

Edited by Just Bob

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all . . . . The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic . . . . There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

President Teddy Roosevelt on Columbus Day 1915

jo & ro Newbie

jo & ro   0

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Timeline
  • Author
Posted

Thank you all so much for all the info! (Danke schon to trillium13 and Just Bob). It really helps.

Can't believe how expensive the whole process is!.... Since, as I said, I have an F-1 that's valid for 3 more years, should we just wait with the paperwork until we have been married for 2 years, so that we don't spend money and time on getting a conditional residency and then spending more money on removing the conditional resident status?

Brother Hesekiel Mentor

Brother Hesekiel   2,236

Posted
Filed: Other Timeline
Posted
Thank you all so much for all the info! (Danke schon to trillium13 and Just Bob). It really helps.

Can't believe how expensive the whole process is!.... Since, as I said, I have an F-1 that's valid for 3 more years, should we just wait with the paperwork until we have been married for 2 years, so that we don't spend money and time on getting a conditional residency and then spending more money on removing the conditional resident status?

Depends.

Advantage: you save money and headache by avoiding the ROC process. (By the way, since the AOS process takes time by itself and the date you get approved is the one that counts, all you really need to wait is about 19 months.)

Disadvantage: if you get divorced, you missed a valuable opportunity to get a GC.

Head or tail?

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all . . . . The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic . . . . There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

President Teddy Roosevelt on Columbus Day 1915

jo & ro Newbie

jo & ro   0

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Timeline
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for your response! That sounds good... I'll talk to my fiancee and see what she wants to do. I'd actually prefer to wait since I don't need the papers right away.

As for getting divorced, we've known each other for 10 years, and if this marriage doesn't last, I don't know what will. Although, one should never say never, right? (Knock on wood).

longey Apprentice

longey   1

Posted
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Timeline
Posted
Advantage: you save money and headache by avoiding the ROC process. (By the way, since the AOS process takes time by itself and the date you get approved is the one that counts, all you really need to wait is about 19 months.)

Disadvantage: if you get divorced, you missed a valuable opportunity to get a GC.

Another possible disadvantage: if you are married to a US citizen and try to reenter the US on a nonpermant visa (after travel abroad) you might get into trouble, i.e. worst case you might be refused entry.

AOS:

12/05/09: Sent AOS package to Chicago lockbox.

12/11/09: USPS reports delivery of package.

12/16/09: I-485 check cashed.

12/17/09: I-130 check cashed.

12/19/09: Received four NOAs in the mail (dated 12/15)

12/28/09: Received biometrics apt. letter for 1/8/10

01/04/10: Walk-in biometrics done (Santa Ana, CA)

01/26/10: Received interview letter for March 10

02/05/10: EAD card production ordered & AP approval notice sent, both arrived in the mail shortly thereafter

03/10/10: Interview and approval for cond. GC

03/11/10: Status update "Card production ordered"

03/16/10: Welcome letter in the mail

03/22/10: GC in the mail!

ROC:

12/20/11: Mailed to CSC.

12/21/11: NOA date.

01/13/12: Scheduled biometrics.

05/18/12: Received approval letter, dated 5/14.

Brother Hesekiel Mentor

Brother Hesekiel   2,236

Posted
Filed: Other Timeline
Posted
Another possible disadvantage: if you are married to a US citizen and try to reenter the US on a nonpermant visa (after travel abroad) you might get into trouble, i.e. worst case you might be refused entry.

:crying:

What happens if the plane lands and is attacked by a spaceship from another galaxie? Nothing is unimpossible in the world of nonpermanent visas, after all . . . .

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all . . . . The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic . . . . There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

President Teddy Roosevelt on Columbus Day 1915

 
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