nervous!

[chinky_amanda 1]

I came to US July 2008 and got married Sept 2008 (thru K1 visa),because of financial difficulties we just file my AOS last Nov 1, 2010, I received the NOA dated Nov. 10, I havent had my biometrics appointment and interview yet.

My concerns are :

My husband haven't added my name to any bills or anything and doesn't have a joint bank account because I dont have a SS#.

The document that shows our name was the tax-1040 (2008 &2009),our Christmation Certificate,tithes and offering letter from the church and Airline booking confirmation for our trips to Chicago, Las Vegas and Boston.

We have pictures to our wedding, family gathering and special occasions. We also have letters ,cards and invitations (Mr and Mrs)

enough proof?

Please help!

Thank you

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Yes.

[chinky_amanda 1]

Yes.

Thank you for yor response

[yehaww 0]

That was enough proof for us. My wife is from Sweden and we didn't have any bills or anything with her name on it. She didn't change her last name to mine. We had a lot of photos though, from the past 3 years of visits. That was enough for a conditional 2 year Green Card. We have two years to submit the necessary proof to get the 10 year card.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

That was enough proof for us. My wife is from Sweden and we didn't have any bills or anything with her name on it. She didn't change her last name to mine. We had a lot of photos though, from the past 3 years of visits. That was enough for a conditional 2 year Green Card. We have two years to submit the necessary proof to get the 10 year card.

Your situation is a little different. The OP has been married for more than two years. The IO may expect to see that they've accumulated more evidence that they've lived as a married couple during that time.

chinky_amanda, I have a couple of questions. How did you file joint taxes if you don't have a Social Security number? Why did you fly to Chicago, Boston, and Las Vegas if you hadn't filed your AOS yet?

I'm not asking these questions to "get in your face" about this stuff. I'm asking because the IO might also ask them.

If you got an ITIN so that you could file joint taxes then you also could have opened a joint bank account. Very few businesses require an SSN in order to add a spouse's name to an account, and those that do would accept an ITIN. To an IO, this might look like either your husband is handling all of the finances in your home, or perhaps you are leading a separate life - i.e., living somewhere else.

If the IO asks why you waited so long to file, and you say it's because you couldn't afford it, the first he's going to do is point at those airline tickets and ask "Why?". The next thing he's going to do is wonder if someone who can't afford to pay for the AOS can really afford to guarantee the immigrant won't become a public charge.

Because you filed more than two years after your marriage they might reject your I-485, and insist you file an I-130 as well. There is a conflict in the immigration law regarding this. One section of the INA says that a K1 can only adjust to a conditional permanent resident. Another section says that someone who has been married for more than two years can only adjust to an unconditional permanent resident. If they determine that you have to adjust to an unconditional permanent resident then they can't use the K1 entry as a basis for eligibility, which means you'd need an immigrant visa petition approved - an I-130. The bad news is that they can keep the fees you paid for the I-485, and make you pay everything over again PLUS the cost of filing the I-130. Hopefully this won't happen to you, but you should be aware that it's possible.

[chinky_amanda 1]

That was enough proof for us. My wife is from Sweden and we didn't have any bills or anything with her name on it. She didn't change her last name to mine. We had a lot of photos though, from the past 3 years of visits. That was enough for a conditional 2 year Green Card. We have two years to submit the necessary proof to get the 10 year card.

thank you!

[chinky_amanda 1]

Your situation is a little different. The OP has been married for more than two years. The IO may expect to see that they've accumulated more evidence that they've lived as a married couple during that time.

chinky_amanda, I have a couple of questions. How did you file joint taxes if you don't have a Social Security number? Why did you fly to Chicago, Boston, and Las Vegas if you hadn't filed your AOS yet?

I'm not asking these questions to "get in your face" about this stuff. I'm asking because the IO might also ask them.

If you got an ITIN so that you could file joint taxes then you also could have opened a joint bank account. Very few businesses require an SSN in order to add a spouse's name to an account, and those that do would accept an ITIN. To an IO, this might look like either your husband is handling all of the finances in your home, or perhaps you are leading a separate life - i.e., living somewhere else.

If the IO asks why you waited so long to file, and you say it's because you couldn't afford it, the first he's going to do is point at those airline tickets and ask "Why?". The next thing he's going to do is wonder if someone who can't afford to pay for the AOS can really afford to guarantee the immigrant won't become a public charge.

Because you filed more than two years after your marriage they might reject your I-485, and insist you file an I-130 as well. There is a conflict in the immigration law regarding this. One section of the INA says that a K1 can only adjust to a conditional permanent resident. Another section says that someone who has been married for more than two years can only adjust to an unconditional permanent resident. If they determine that you have to adjust to an unconditional permanent resident then they can't use the K1 entry as a basis for eligibility, which means you'd need an immigrant visa petition approved - an I-130. The bad news is that they can keep the fees you paid for the I-485, and make you pay everything over again PLUS the cost of filing the I-130. Hopefully this won't happen to you, but you should be aware that it's possible.

thank you for your response.

Yes I have ITIN# and we filed joint taxes. We tried to open a joint accnt using my ITIN# but the bank dont accept it, they are looking for SSN# and greencard.

We went to Chicago,Las Vegas and Boston because of business meetings. (not for pleasure)

The reason we have financial difficulties because we want our business (transportation) to pursue and we sacrifices a lot. for 2 years we lost all of our buses, fortunately this year we had the chance to file my AOS.. ( thanks to God)

[chinky_amanda 1]

Your situation is a little different. The OP has been married for more than two years. The IO may expect to see that they've accumulated more evidence that they've lived as a married couple during that time.

chinky_amanda, I have a couple of questions. How did you file joint taxes if you don't have a Social Security number? Why did you fly to Chicago, Boston, and Las Vegas if you hadn't filed your AOS yet?

I'm not asking these questions to "get in your face" about this stuff. I'm asking because the IO might also ask them.

If you got an ITIN so that you could file joint taxes then you also could have opened a joint bank account. Very few businesses require an SSN in order to add a spouse's name to an account, and those that do would accept an ITIN. To an IO, this might look like either your husband is handling all of the finances in your home, or perhaps you are leading a separate life - i.e., living somewhere else.

If the IO asks why you waited so long to file, and you say it's because you couldn't afford it, the first he's going to do is point at those airline tickets and ask "Why?". The next thing he's going to do is wonder if someone who can't afford to pay for the AOS can really afford to guarantee the immigrant won't become a public charge.

Because you filed more than two years after your marriage they might reject your I-485, and insist you file an I-130 as well. There is a conflict in the immigration law regarding this. One section of the INA says that a K1 can only adjust to a conditional permanent resident. Another section says that someone who has been married for more than two years can only adjust to an unconditional permanent resident. If they determine that you have to adjust to an unconditional permanent resident then they can't use the K1 entry as a basis for eligibility, which means you'd need an immigrant visa petition approved - an I-130. The bad news is that they can keep the fees you paid for the I-485, and make you pay everything over again PLUS the cost of filing the I-130. Hopefully this won't happen to you, but you should be aware that it's possible.

www.uscis.gov

Who may file I485?

You may apply to adjust status if you were admitted to the US as a K-1 (fiance'(e)of a US Citizen are you are married that citizen within the 90 days of your entry.

Who is NOT Eligible to Adjust Status?

You failed to maintain your nonimmigrant status, unless your failure to maintain was through no fault on your own or for technical reasons,UNLESS you are applying because you are:

A K-1 fiance'(e) dependent who married the US petitioner within the 90 days of admission.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

www.uscis.gov

Who may file I485?

You may apply to adjust status if you were admitted to the US as a K-1 (fiance'(e)of a US Citizen are you are married that citizen within the 90 days of your entry.

Who is NOT Eligible to Adjust Status?

You failed to maintain your nonimmigrant status, unless your failure to maintain was through no fault on your own or for technical reasons,UNLESS you are applying because you are:

A K-1 fiance'(e) dependent who married the US petitioner within the 90 days of admission.

I didn't say you weren't eligible to adjust status. I said you may not be eligible to adjust based on the K1 because of the length of time since you were married. It's pointless to quote snippets of summary information from the USCIS website. Those basic information pages do not pretend to cover every possible scenario that might come up. If you like depending on information from the USCIS website then refer to their copy of the immigration law, Immigration and Nationalization Act, section 245:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.f6da51a2342135be7e9d7a10e0dc91a0/?vgnextoid=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&CH=act

You are eligible to adjust status, but you may not be eligible to adjust based on the K1 entry. In that event, they will require your husband to file an I-130 Immigrant Visa Petition. I'm not making this stuff up. It has happened to a number of VJ members who entered with K1 visas and waited more than two years to file the AOS, and it might happen to you.

You could have tried another bank. Many banks do not require an SSN to open an account of any kind. Some will allow you to open an account without an SSN, but will place a restriction on the account that you can't have any single transactions over $10,000. The reason they require an SSN is because interest payments and transactions over $10,000 have to be reported to the IRS. There is no valid basis for denying an account to someone with an ITIN, as it is the equivalent of an SSN for tax purposes. The bank officer you talked to was a bureaucrat. You should have asked to speak with a supervisor. Comingling of finances is a big deal to an immigration officer when evaluating the sufficiency of your marriage. People who have been married for two years don't usually maintain completely separate finances.

Don't expect USCIS to be sympathetic to your financial problems. As a K1 without an EAD, you don't have any business interests in the United States because you can't legally work here yet. If they look at your husband's discretionary financial decisions they may decide he didn't give your adjustment of status the level of consideration it deserved.

Again, I'm not saying this stuff to get in your face. I'm telling you how an IO might see it. Because of the length of time you've been married, they can question why it's taken so long to file the AOS, and why you haven't collected more evidence of a normal marital relationship, such as maintaining a household together.

[chinky_amanda 1]

I didn't say you weren't eligible to adjust status. I said you may not be eligible to adjust based on the K1 because of the length of time since you were married. It's pointless to quote snippets of summary information from the USCIS website. Those basic information pages do not pretend to cover every possible scenario that might come up. If you like depending on information from the USCIS website then refer to their copy of the immigration law, Immigration and Nationalization Act, section 245:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.f6da51a2342135be7e9d7a10e0dc91a0/?vgnextoid=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&CH=act

You are eligible to adjust status, but you may not be eligible to adjust based on the K1 entry. In that event, they will require your husband to file an I-130 Immigrant Visa Petition. I'm not making this stuff up. It has happened to a number of VJ members who entered with K1 visas and waited more than two years to file the AOS, and it might happen to you.

You could have tried another bank. Many banks do not require an SSN to open an account of any kind. Some will allow you to open an account without an SSN, but will place a restriction on the account that you can't have any single transactions over $10,000. The reason they require an SSN is because interest payments and transactions over $10,000 have to be reported to the IRS. There is no valid basis for denying an account to someone with an ITIN, as it is the equivalent of an SSN for tax purposes. The bank officer you talked to was a bureaucrat. You should have asked to speak with a supervisor. Comingling of finances is a big deal to an immigration officer when evaluating the sufficiency of your marriage. People who have been married for two years don't usually maintain completely separate finances.

Don't expect USCIS to be sympathetic to your financial problems. As a K1 without an EAD, you don't have any business interests in the United States because you can't legally work here yet. If they look at your husband's discretionary financial decisions they may decide he didn't give your adjustment of status the level of consideration it deserved.

Again, I'm not saying this stuff to get in your face. I'm telling you how an IO might see it. Because of the length of time you've been married, they can question why it's taken so long to file the AOS, and why you haven't collected more evidence of a normal marital relationship, such as maintaining a household together.

[/quot

I understand clearly and I thank you for the information. I agree with you that we can open a joint bank accnt, I expalin that to the bank manager but unfortunately she told us that I need SSN and greencard, we are trying to find another bank to open a joint accnt using my ITIN.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I understand clearly and I thank you for the information. I agree with you that we can open a joint bank accnt, I expalin that to the bank manager but unfortunately she told us that I need SSN and greencard, we are trying to find another bank to open a joint accnt using my ITIN.

My wife had an SSN, but she didn't have her green card yet, and we opened a joint account at Bank of America. Other people have also been able to open accounts at B of A without an SSN. Call around. You should be able to find a bank that will work with you.

[chinky_amanda 1]

My wife had an SSN, but she didn't have her green card yet, and we opened a joint account at Bank of America. Other people have also been able to open accounts at B of A without an SSN. Call around. You should be able to find a bank that will work with you.

Thank you! I will call or we'll go to Bank of America and try.

I truly Appreciate your help! God bless

[marriedtomrg 141]

Did you file an I-130 with your I-485? Since you waited more than 2 years to file for AOS, you need to file an I-130.

[katie & sifa 25]

My wife had an SSN, but she didn't have her green card yet, and we opened a joint account at Bank of America. Other people have also been able to open accounts at B of A without an SSN. Call around. You should be able to find a bank that will work with you.

Chase also let us open a joint account with just the SSN, no green card.

[Biruta 0]

I have the same story. 2.5 years after got married in 90 days (K-1). Didn't send I-130, but copy of NOA2, been transferred to California. So far no problem. No RFE. As evidence i attached health insurance, life insurance, letters from my mom and sister, pictures, 401K, and rent lease with address to prove residence, because my name is not in lease.(thats why i attached copys of letters). So far BIO is done. Now waiting EAD.