K1 AOS No Birth Certificate for Argentina. Takes 2 months to request!! Should I send i-485 now or wait?

[argentina_usa 5]

My  husband arrived to the US in August on a K1 visa. We're about to mail the AOS/EAD/ AP combo and we just realized we don't have his birth certificate!!! Our 90 days are up in about a week.

 

The Argentina embassy does not issue birth certificates and it says you can request it online but processing times are about 2 months.

 

Should I send i-485 now before 90 days are up or wait 2 more months to have birth certificate?

 

If I get RFE for birth certificate will this delay the EAD?

 

Thanks guys!

[Villanelle 4,121]

How were you able to do the K process with out a birth certificate? 

 

Anyway this is a hit or miss question. You can send the packet with the birth certificate missing. USCIS may accept it (process payment, send NOA) and then RFE for it. If they do you should have it in time to respond to the RFE if you order it now. However there is new policy with USCIS that basically says if your packet is missing a key piece that they can reject/deny it. This can mean they either do not accept your packet and mail it back to you with your payment- OR- they accept it, take payment and then deny it for the missing doc (and keep your money)! The policy was implemented to stop people from trying to secure a place in line and then gathering docs. 

 

As long as you were married in the 90 days you are able to file AOS packet at any point. So you can file it after the 90 days are up. There is no policy that says when it HAS to be filed. Just be aware that once the 90 days expires you have no status until the NOA of the AOS packet. This usually isnt a problem for most folks but it does mean to not hang around the borders or where ICE has a strong presence because if you are picked up after the 90 days and before you have a NOA you will have problems. (not the end of the world, but you can end up in a detention center as happened to someone on VJ recently)

[argentina_usa 5]

1 minute ago, Villanelle said:

How were you able to do the K process with out a birth certificate? 

We have a document that is "Father recognition" that looks IDENTICAL to a birth certificate, so we thought it was it.

 

In the K1 process and interview we submitted this. Then at the embassy they rejected it because they said it was only a copy and not a certified version. (I think the embassy employee didn't notice either!! ) 

They asked us for a certified copy of the birth certificate at the embassy interview, and we said "sure we'll update you" but then they emailed us the K1 visa anyway so then we just didn't bother.

 

Getting a birth certificate from Argentina is a real NIGHTMARE. My husband was born in a different province from where we lived and they said processing times would be 2 months. By then, we had to leave the country.

[Juli. 18]

41 minutes ago, argentina_usa said:

 

Getting a birth certificate from Argentina is a real NIGHTMARE. My husband was born in a different province from where we lived and they said processing times would be 2 months. By then, we had to leave the country.

Mmm I don't know who tell you that but to get ANY documents in Argentina is pretty easy.

Which province is he from? Buenos Aires or?

 

"Father recognition" is not Partida de Nacimento.

 And I really don't know for the K1 visa but for my CR1 they ask me to Apostillar my documents too.

 

Tell me his Province and I can help you.

 

 

 

 

[argentina_usa 5]

2 hours ago, Juli. said:

Mmm I don't know who tell you that but to get ANY documents in Argentina is pretty easy.

Which province is he from? Buenos Aires or?

He was born in Santa Fe. We were in Buenos Aires and we went to the Santa Fe civil registry office in Buenos Aires and they said it would take around 2 months to obtain the acta de nacimiento.

 

They said if we wanted it sooner we would have to travel to Santa Fe directly. This is not feasible anymore because he has no family there and we are already in the USA.

 

I requested his birth certificate online on this form that is for Argentinians abroad, and the estimated time for that is 2 months as well. They asked for random stuff on this form like Tomo number and Folio number which we do not have, so I fear that this online request may not go through.

 

His mom is going to request his acta now in her city (Corrientes), but who knows how long that will take since they have to send it from Santa Fe.

Edited October 27, 2019 by argentina_usa

[Juli. 18]

I don't know why he didn't have his birth certificate with him but is a super necessary documents.

 

You guys don't have anybody in Argentina right now? A apoderado can do the paper work too and send by mail to you. 

 

Did you try here?

https://www.santafe.gov.ar/partidas/frontend_dev.php/solicitar_partida_nacimiento

 

Says took 7 days.

 

Good luck 

Edited October 27, 2019 by Juli.

[Juli. 18]

17 minutes ago, argentina_usa said:

 

Is a complicated situation. 

 

Just one question.

 

For his Visa interview they didn't ask for the Birth certificate?

 

[Pengunista 221]

15 minutes ago, Juli. said:

Is a complicated situation. 

 

Just one question.

 

For his Visa interview they didn't ask for the Birth certificate?

 

I think they did ask during the interview and what they have was a copy and the embassy rejected it. And the OP told them that they will update them regarding the certified copy of the birth certificate but since they still issued the K1 visa, OP just didn’t bother with it

[argentina_usa 5]

44 minutes ago, Juli. said:

Is a complicated situation. 

 

Just one question.

 

For his Visa interview they didn't ask for the Birth certificate?

 

 

26 minutes ago, Pengunista said:

I think they did ask during the interview and what they have was a copy and the embassy rejected it. And the OP told them that they will update them regarding the certified copy of the birth certificate but since they still issued the K1 visa, OP just didn’t bother with it

Yup exactly. The embassy interview asked for it and we presented the Father Recognition document which we erroneously at the time believed was birth certificate (again, it looks identical to a birth certificate, it's hard to tell unless you read closely).
The embassy employee said "nope, we need certified copy, you can send it later after interview". K1 visa was issued anyway so we didn't bother

 

That Santa Fe link you sent I have tried to use before but it asks for Folio and Tomo number (where on earth are we supposed to get that from??) so my request gets rejected.

 

Lastly, his mother is going to try to get it in Argentina but estimated time is 2 months

[argentina_usa 5]

1 hour ago, Juli. said:

 

You guys don't have anybody in Argentina right now? A apoderado can do the paper work too and send by mail to you. 

 

Is there some kind of service where we can hire an apoderado online in Santa Fe? I will look into this

[Pitaya 2,576]

5 hours ago, Villanelle said:

How were you able to do the K process with out a birth certificate? 

 

Anyway this is a hit or miss question. You can send the packet with the birth certificate missing. USCIS may accept it (process payment, send NOA) and then RFE for it. If they do you should have it in time to respond to the RFE if you order it now. However there is new policy with USCIS that basically says if your packet is missing a key piece that they can reject/deny it. This can mean they either do not accept your packet and mail it back to you with your payment- OR- they accept it, take payment and then deny it for the missing doc (and keep your money)! The policy was implemented to stop people from trying to secure a place in line and then gathering docs. 

 

As long as you were married in the 90 days you are able to file AOS packet at any point. So you can file it after the 90 days are up. There is no policy that says when it HAS to be filed. Just be aware that once the 90 days expires you have no status until the NOA of the AOS packet. This usually isnt a problem for most folks but it does mean to not hang around the borders or where ICE has a strong presence because if you are picked up after the 90 days and before you have a NOA you will have problems. (not the end of the world, but you can end up in a detention center as happened to someone on VJ recently)

This response above, in combination with the others seems like the only reasonable courses of action available to you.

 

One thing I should add, if you send in your AOS packet after the 90 day expiration of the Form I-94. I think that you will also have to include a Form I-130 in your AOS packet. 

 

Another thing I would suggest that when you get the mechanism figured out about getting a proper birth certificate, you should likely get a couple of extra copies. You never know when you will need one.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey. 

[Loren Y 2,732]

Not to cause any worry, but maybe I am reading this wrong, but if you were supposed to update the Embassy with a certified copy before they issued the visa, and they messed up and issued the visa anyway, and you still entered on it even though it was issued without proper documentation it may come back to get you in the long run. Probably not until you apply for citizenship  where they go back thru your whole file to make sure everything was issued properly along the way and there were no issues. If the visa was issued mistakenly that could null and void your whole process. Maybe what you had was good enough, but I have seen stories where they have issued Green cards for 10 years when they should have been only issued for 2 years, and people don't do anything about it and say oh well, their bad, I'll just roll with it and not say anything, then come citizenship it all goes south. If anything was wrong along the way, and you didn't try to correct it it will fall on you.

5 hours ago, argentina_usa said:

Then at the embassy they rejected it because they said it was only a copy and not a certified version. (I think the embassy employee didn't notice either!! ) 

They asked us for a certified copy of the birth certificate at the embassy interview, and we said "sure we'll update you" but then they emailed us the K1 visa anyway so then we just didn't bother.

 

This is the only problem I see from the beginning, they asked you for a certified copy and you never supplied it, then they issued the visa by mistake making it invalid to enter on. Maybe they aren't that strict, but immigration is not known to own up to any mistakes they make unless you point it out to them in a reasonable time. I would continue on by following the advice given here, and I hope that it doesn't become an issue down the line. Maybe I am completely off base, and someone can correct me, but from my experience any small error in the process can circle around at the most inconvenient time. I sure hope not, as it is a long and nightmarish process from the get go, and I wish you the best of luck, and I hope I may be wrong, but I have seen small things like this come back and catch people off guard all the time.

[HRQX 4,145]

42 minutes ago, Pitaya said:

if you send in your AOS packet after the 90 day expiration of the Form I-94. I think that you will also have to include a Form I-130 in your AOS packet.

No I-130. I-130 is only required if they didn't marry before the I-94 expired.

[HRQX 4,145]

24 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

If anything was wrong along the way, and you didn't try to correct it it will fall on you.

This is the only problem I see from the beginning, they asked you for a certified copy and you never supplied it, then they issued the visa by mistake making it invalid to enter on.

Not doing ROC when wrongly issued a 10 year GC is totally different than OP's circumstances. OP could argue the whole Birth Certificate mishap wasn't "willful": https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-j-chapter-2 Also, they could argue the lack of Birth Certificate during the K-1 process wasn't ultimately "material."

[Loren Y 2,732]

25 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Not doing ROC when wrongly issued a 10 year GC is totally different than OP's circumstances. OP could argue the whole Birth Certificate mishap wasn't "willful": https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-j-chapter-2 Also, they could argue the lack of Birth Certificate during the K-1 process wasn't ultimately "material."

Hope so, I was just giving an example with the green card thing. I know my Fiancee at the times birth certificate was pretty important at the embassy stage as they double checked the original for the raised seal and all that stuff. Every embassy is different, I just hope they don't end up arguing with USCIS in court down the line. I have learned in my experience in legal matters it costs a lot of money to prove you are right.