tourist visa to us/marriage/adjustment of status

[Bralaheh 0]

Hey guys I have talked to a few of you before about the situation that my wife and I are in. You can look back at previous posts if you would like or to make a long story short my wife and I met online, she was living in Canada I was in the US. I started flying to see her back and forth as much as I could. She had recently immigrated to Canada from Iran and her Iranian parents had a big problem with her being with an American. Time passed and they threatened her daily. I came as much as I could. Finally her father spoke to her and told her that he'd kill her to keep her from being with me. After a few talks between the two of us she packed her bags, went to a womens shelter and filed a peace order on her father. A few months later after many tries she finally got a visitors visa to come see my home and my family. The day of her coming to the US she was held in the airport and questioned for about 6 hours. She didn't do a thing, she just had an Iranian passport. They kept taking her passport, taking pictures and finger prints and broke her laptop. I waited at the airport all day long worried as I could be. The whole time I called everyone from the ACLU and every lawyer I could find. They all said the same thing, "Get married". For the first time I realized that we had two options....she goes back to Canada in the same town as her father or listen to the lawyers and keep her here and get married. We chose to stay here after a few days of talking. Now we are married and have been saving up for the adjustment of status and we have finally gotten to about 1200 dollars. Oh and I forgot this....we had a fiance visa going while she was in Canada and we had actually gotten the NOA2 the day she arrived here in the US. The lawyers told us to just let it cancel itself due to abandonment.

Ok so now you have an idea of what's going on. Please don't comment on the risks or the things you assume we have done because I've heard it, I know it and I worry about it. However we didn't plan on using the visitors visa for immigration purposes. So all I'm asking for is help with the AOS

When I look at the guides on this website I'm not sure which ones I need to follow. Is the I-485 the main form we need or the I-130? We have the affidavit of support, we have the employment authorization document, we have pictures and letters and proof of marriage and we have a G-325 for both of us. I know that some people get to bypass having to go through an interview if you do everything really good and that's what I'm trying to do. If you have done it yourself can you give us a checklist. Help us and when we make it through this process we will do just the same for anybody who needs it. Thanks so much everybody and if I've been too vague I'll explain more.....I'm just typing in a hurry because of all the things it seems I need to do. Good luck all

[sachinky 464]

You need both the I-130 which the immigrant relative petition and the I-485 which is the application to adjust status.

Technically, the I-130 is YOUR form, you are petitioning your wife as an immediate relative and she files the I-485 concurrently with it to change her status from B2 to PR.

[Bralaheh 0]

so do we send those forms off together? I was thinking that it was $1010 to send everything off together but then I saw the I-130 and it threw me for a loss. And a bit of info for everybody if you didn't know...you do not have to get the HPV vaccine any more. If the doctor tries to get you to do it tell him the form he has is out of date and if that doesn't work show him the USCIS website. It is right there and will save you a lot of money.

[Bralaheh 0]

and one last question.....do we continue to use her original surname or my last name now that we are married? we haven't gotten it changed yet since she doesn't have a social so i figured we'd use her original but needed to ask

[sachinky 464]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it is only $1010 if you AOS off a K-1 (fiance) visa which doesn't need the I-130. For AOS from any other type of visa (tourist, student), you need the $355 I-130 petition.

You can send everything in one packet together.

No, the HPV vaccine has been taken off the list since December 14.

[ValerieA 350]

Sachinky has it right; you need both the I-130 and I-485, along with their requisite fees. The 129-f is specific to a K visa, which you did not get.

1. You will not likely be able to bypass the interview; the only people I know of who have been able to came in on a K visa. If you are AOSing from any other type, an interview is required.

2. It is preferable to send the forms off together, in one package. If you can not afford to send both, you can send the I-130 first. Do NOT send the I-485 until you have received APPROVAL of the I-130 or it will gum up the works. Sending them separately will slow down the process.

3. Use the checklist in the AOS guide. When you believe you have everything together, post a list in the AOS from work, student, and tourist visas forum. We will be happy to review it for you. One note of caution - I did notice that sometimes the guide in here listed a notarized copy as a requirement, when it isn't on the actual USCIS form (just a regular copy will do). I believe that the marriage certificate for the I-485 was one of these incidents. I can't find where I wrote it down; I think I posted a topic on it in Site Discussion and I will look for the link for you. However, having said all that, there can be no harm in sending a notarized copy, it is just a bit more expensive and time-consuming.

4. I used my married name on my AOS forms, although my passport was in my maiden name. This is to prevent paying an additional fee in the future to get a new green card with my married name on it. There have been no issues with it, the marriage certificate provides proof of the bridge between your maiden and married names.

5. I don't know if she has overstayed, but in her situation, I would advise not even going for the AP (advanced parole) and she must stay in the US during the entire process - right until she gets the green card. I just feel it is safer this way.

Good luck, and don't worry about the intent thing. I still have conniptions over mine, because I was married before I came to the US and decided to stay (and I was in the CR-1/K-3 process). I will find out in a few weeks if it is an issue, but I have been reassured over and over that it shouldn't even come up.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

While it's a good thing that you told your story exactly the way it happened, you should rephrase much of it for the AOS interview, and I'm sure there will be one. Forget the obvious visa issues; basically, you got married for immigration purposes, to have your now wife escape from her father to the safety of the US of A. While that is a noble thing to do, it's also something that might get you in serious trouble at the AOS interview. I hope you understand my concern and my implied advice to you.

[sachinky 464]

You WILL have an interview. Only K-1s who AOS are able to bypass an interview since they've already been interviewed at the visa issuing post.

[Leigh Ann 8]

Sorry if I missed this - how long after she entered did you get married?

[USUY2010 4]

Hey there you need to file both forms I-130 and I-485 together with the working permit if you so desire.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2 That link can help you with the check list of all you need for each "package"

If you need any more info, ask!

I just noticed everyone else had replied already... sorry.

About the name, she can either keep her maiden name or change it to yours, the decision is up to you both.

Edited July 12, 2010 by USUY2010

[Bralaheh 0]

she entered on her visitors visa on february 24th and we got married on may 8th

[Leigh Ann 8]

she entered on her visitors visa on february 24th and we got married on may 8th

There's no hard & fast rule about this, but the longer the time between the entrance & the marriage, generally, the better off you are re: the intent inquiry. Sometimes it depends a little on the interview office.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Ok, I'm just going to throw this out there for consideration.

She was in secondary inspection for six hours. I'm sure they weren't asking about her hobbies or her favorite foods. Did the subject of "immigrant intent" come up during the interview?

You need her birth certificate in order to file for AOS, but it's not required to visit the US. Did she bring it with her? If so, you can bet they found it in her luggage.

Did they make her sign any statements while she was in secondary inspection? Did she declare on any signed statement that she did not intend to immigrate while visiting the US?

If the above two items are true, and she attempts to adjust status while in the US, then they have evidence of her preconceived intent, and they have her false statement about her intent - material misrepresentation. Her AOS could be denied on this basis, and she could be banned from the US, potentially for life.

Seriously, the preconceived intent is not a big deal, and she won't be denied solely based on that. Being in secondary inspection for six hours, and subsequently filing for adjustment of status, very well MAY be a big deal. Do you have copies of any statements she signed?

[Bralaheh 0]

she didn't have her birth certificate with her...we had to have a friend fed ex all of her things here after we had made the decision.....and she said she did sign something but it was just stating who she was, who her parents were and where she was staying. they asked her if she was coming back to canada and she said yes, because she planned on coming back but didn't sign anything saying she wasn't getting married or anything.....its crazy how u can hear 10 comments that make u feel good about your situation and then you have that one that scares the hell out of you. i know you are just saying how it is though. we didn't have a choice in the matter. if she went back and her father found her and hurt her it would have been because we made another choice. damn this immigration process....damn it

and i just talked to her and i was wrong about the six hours. she was six hours late getting to the airport where i was waiting. they had her with them for an hour.

[engineer21 51]

Don't have any extra advice as I think everybody else covered everything already.

Just wanted to wish you luck with your AOS. Hope everything goes well for both of you