i601 Form Question

[JohnThailandJohn 1]

Hi - I am anticipating my wife will be denied at her appointment later this week due to an act of moral turpitude from a decade ago. I am trying to start the waiver process and there is a wealth of information out there on providing hardship but have a couple stupid questions regarding the form.

The i601 form and instructions are not clear to me. (uscis.gov/i-601) and seems to be an updated form i see examples of on the web. So, I had a couple questions ...

1) What is the "12a: Date of Visa Application with DOS" and "12b: Location of Visa Application with DOS" and "12c: Department of State Consular Number"

I assume but am not fully confident this is the date NVC (opposed to USCIS) received my case and the the location would be the embassy in my wife's home country where she will be denied and that the Consular number is my NVC case number.

2) This question will really show I am new to the process but I don't understand that the applicant fills out this form as it is me the petitioner who needs to show the hard ship and will fill all this out. Do I talk in third person pretending to be her or can I include myself as the person filling out the form and I do this do I need to complete the G-28 form? Is this normally how people do this?

3) As far as I know, she doesn't have an Alien Registration Number but just wondering if this might be somewhere I am not looking or if it will be given at the interview.

I will likely hire an attorney but want to complete as much as I can to get this completed and submitted as soon as possible.

Edited February 8, 2015 by JohnThailandJOhn

[aleful 1,905]

hi

she will know after the interview if she qualifies for the waiver,

she fills out the form i601 and you do the hardship letter. the form goes with the hardship letter,

in the letter you will prove, together with all the evidence, o how much you are suffering from being separate from her and what are the reasons that you cannot move to her country of origin to live with her if she isn't allowed to return

www.immigrate2us.net has a lot of great hardship letters you can read and have an idea

[LoveMyTico 999]

The applicant is the one who files the waiver. The petitioner isn't even allowed to call for status unless the applicant is on the line to give permission. I suggest getting a lawyer to do the waiver if you are unfamiliar. You don't really want to mess it up. You can't file the waiver until your wife's visa is refused and they tell her she is eligible to file a waiver. You need the paper they give to her after the interview. My husband's waiver was straight forward with no offenses only an overstay. I had our lawyer do the waiver. You can do it by yourself but with the offense she has, it might be a better idea to get a lawyer.

Edited February 8, 2015 by LoveMyTico

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Preparing early is good. I did the same thing. But your wife has to be made inadmissible first. You also want the sheet from the embassy showing she is inadmissible. I have heard of people getting RFEs for this.

You can do it. I did my husband's waiver and we had a very, very, very complicated case. You need to think of all of your hardships, write them down. Then go with the strongest hardship first all the way down to the weakest. You need to make sure you have as much evidence supporting your hardships as possible. I also included a letter from my husband with his explanation of the situation and an apology. Then I wrote a letter explaining who I am and m,y current circumstances.

Then, I introduced my hardships. I put letters throughout the paragraphs that correspond with my evidence which which had a letter in the top right hand corner. Don't forget a table of contents. It took me a month or 2 to complete it, but you can do it.

[JohnThailandJohn 1]

Thanks for your replies. To be clear, I am not filing anything right now but just starting to get things in order. I will almost certainly get a lawyer but intend to put a package together as much as I can first including hardship information. I may submit it myself if I believe I can prove the case and evidence on my own but at the very least would present it to a lawyer first for input. However, the first thing, which I thought would be the easiest is filling out the i601 form for my wife but am having trouble confirming what to answer for questions 12:

1) "12a: Date of Visa Application with DOS" and "12b: Location of Visa Application with DOS" and "12c: Department of State Consular Number"

Again, I am trying to confirm if this is the date that NVC accepted the application, if the location will be the embassy in Bangkok or if they forward the application after it is denied and finally is the number they want is my NCV Case number, the USCIS or something else.

THANKS!

[LoveMyTico 999]

Use the mac case number. The file will stay at the embassy until the waiver is approved. The embassy and the USCIS will communicate and the USCIS will let the embassy know about the appeoval. The embassy takes it from there and will send yr wife the instruction letter. Once your waiver is accepted at the NSC, you can track it on the USCIS website and sign up for notifications. There is also an app that you can use on your phone and it will also send a notification when the status changes.

[LoveMyTico 999]

Sorry. My phone changed NVC to Mac

[JohnThailandJohn 1]

Use the mac case number. The file will stay at the embassy until the waiver is approved. The embassy and the USCIS will communicate and the USCIS will let the embassy know about the appeoval. The embassy takes it from there and will send yr wife the instruction letter. Once your waiver is accepted at the NSC, you can track it on the USCIS website and sign up for notifications. There is also an app that you can use on your phone and it will also send a notification when the status changes.

I REALLY appreciate your response. So, excuse my ignorance but what is the "mac number"

This site is great but some of acronyms get me a bit confused. The only relevant numbers I am aware of having are the NVC Case Number, Invoice Number, USCIS number and now a GSS number the Bangkok Embassy provides and requires for appointments.

Also, you mention NSC. Are you referring to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center or is this some other agency? Not going to be mailing anything now but a quick glance looks like the address to send is the AZ office but again just wondering if there is some other agency involved or if it is USCIS that decides on waivers?

Also, is the waiver actually decided by people at the embassy in applicants home country or is it decided by folks in the US? Just wondering how familiar they are with the country of applicant.

(Just saw your update -- THANKS AGAIN)

Edited February 8, 2015 by JohnThailandJOhn

[LoveMyTico 999]

The waiver is adjudicated in the United States at the Nebraska service center. You will get a new receipt number beginning with LIN... the embassy issues the visa after they get the approval from the USCIS.