Long-distance relationship - Immigration in a non-COVID scenario - K1 or CR-1?!

[emmewalle 8]

12 hours ago, RandW said:

Yeah seems getting married in the US is easier for you guys! My husband can't enter the US easily and I'm not a resident of the UAE so we were looking for solutions for a while till we found out about Dubai Courts. Hope you can get your birth certificate easily! 

For police certificates I looked at the bottom of this page: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

But I also then looked at country specific document requirements and we initially would need 3 police certificates but after reading through, I found we would only need to submit the UAE one for my husband, the other countries are not required.

 

We filed our petition in December, so for additional paperwork I've gotten extra evidence of our relationship ready just in case we are asked and in the last two weeks started looking at next steps like NVC doc requirements as I have heard they are really precise with scans of documents and file size, corners missing, etc. Also currently trying to get all the Qs answered for DS-260 on a word doc so it will be easier to transfer over once we are actually filling it out. 

 

I'm not based in the UAE, but I'm there a lot to visit!

Oh awesome!  Would both petitioner and foreign spouse need a police certificate or just the foreign spouse?  From what I understand on this link you've kindly shared is that I would only require a UAE police certificate (been living here since 2017) and when I lived in the US (2003-2006 - age 13-16) & Canada (2006-2017 age 16-27) wouldn't apply... this is great! because Canada requires fingerprints and out of country police cert applications can get messy!

 

As for your case, did you provide a ton of relationship evidence? we are going ALL out lol! did you apply online or by mail? given how much paperwork we have, i think we may do by mail but hear it obviously takes longer....  

 

I'm still stuck on the I-130A form.  I'm a smart gal, but I feel like the requirements are SO precise that I'm afraid to make even a tiny mistake  

We are counting down the days where I can fly to the US and get our court marriage done so we can get the ball rolling!

[RandW 30]

12 hours ago, emmewalle said:

Oh awesome!  Would both petitioner and foreign spouse need a police certificate or just the foreign spouse?  From what I understand on this link you've kindly shared is that I would only require a UAE police certificate (been living here since 2017) and when I lived in the US (2003-2006 - age 13-16) & Canada (2006-2017 age 16-27) wouldn't apply... this is great! because Canada requires fingerprints and out of country police cert applications can get messy!

 

As for your case, did you provide a ton of relationship evidence? we are going ALL out lol! did you apply online or by mail? given how much paperwork we have, i think we may do by mail but hear it obviously takes longer....  

 

I'm still stuck on the I-130A form.  I'm a smart gal, but I feel like the requirements are SO precise that I'm afraid to make even a tiny mistake  

We are counting down the days where I can fly to the US and get our court marriage done so we can get the ball rolling!

Yeah we had a very thick packet of evidence which took a good chunk of time to get together. I tried to keep it as organized as possible while also including important details. We sent our application in by mail to the Texas lockbox and from what I see some people have gotten their NOA1 the same day they submit it online but our NOA1 date is about a week after we sent it out and we got our notice in the mail 12 days later.

 

The details of the forms can be nerve-wracking, it was part of the reason why we decided to get a lawyer. However somehow I still managed to obsess over everything anyways!  

We're in the same boat but the opposite direction- waiting for flights into Dubai (hopefully by July?) but obviously safety comes first in times like these. Hoping that by then we will have our NOA2 iA!!

[emmewalle 8]

On 5/6/2020 at 12:10 AM, RandW said:

Yeah we had a very thick packet of evidence which took a good chunk of time to get together. I tried to keep it as organized as possible while also including important details. We sent our application in by mail to the Texas lockbox and from what I see some people have gotten their NOA1 the same day they submit it online but our NOA1 date is about a week after we sent it out and we got our notice in the mail 12 days later.

 

The details of the forms can be nerve-wracking, it was part of the reason why we decided to get a lawyer. However somehow I still managed to obsess over everything anyways!  

We're in the same boat but the opposite direction- waiting for flights into Dubai (hopefully by July?) but obviously safety comes first in times like these. Hoping that by then we will have our NOA2 iA!!

Yeah, I'm worried that my evidence pack might be too large/thick - so debating sending it via mail. Did you mail it from the US? Also, did you follow any guides/templates that you can share in terms of what it should look like?

 

And yeah, I think the flights in July are on track (for now at least, let's hope it's safe enough to travel by then iA)! The plan is to go to court as soon as I'm able to fly there and get this thing started!

 

Hopefully you get your NOA2 soon iA!!

[SalishSea 16,776]

On 5/5/2020 at 12:22 AM, emmewalle said:

I'm still stuck on the I-130A form.  I'm a smart gal, but I feel like the requirements are SO precise that I'm afraid to make even a tiny mistake  

Why are you already filling out the form (really the USC petitioner should be doing that!) when you're not even married yet?  Seems like putting the cart before the horse honestly.

[emmewalle 8]

3 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Why are you already filling out the form (really the USC petitioner should be doing that!) when you're not even married yet?  Seems like putting the cart before the horse honestly.

1) He is filling out the I-130 form as the USC petitioner. 

2) I, as the spouse beneficiary, am filling out the I-130A as it pertains to my details.

3) We are filling in the forms and gathering the required evidence now since we have the time to dedicate to this given the current situation.  It is a lot of work, and I'd rather be ahead of the game than not. As soon as flights open up for us (July 1), we will meet and get married.  Following the marriage license, we will submit the paperwork. 

 

[RandW 30]

On 5/12/2020 at 2:55 AM, emmewalle said:

Yeah, I'm worried that my evidence pack might be too large/thick - so debating sending it via mail. Did you mail it from the US? Also, did you follow any guides/templates that you can share in terms of what it should look like?

 

And yeah, I think the flights in July are on track (for now at least, let's hope it's safe enough to travel by then iA)! The plan is to go to court as soon as I'm able to fly there and get this thing started!

 

Hopefully you get your NOA2 soon iA!!

When I was compiling evidence I organized everything chronologically first and then created checklists for each trip/time period. For example, the list included 

• Copies of boarding passes and flight bookings for the trip
• Copy of any hotel booking/itinerary
• Photos from that visit (I tried to keep it 4-5 per trip)
  • I tried to choose photos that had landmarks, something recognizable in the background or from an event. 
  • On the back of each photo I wrote the location, date and who was in the photo. 
• Copies of attraction tickets/stubs, reservations, bookings, etc.

Then Iput post-its on each part and basically summarized what that piece of paper was (example: Flight booking from Summer 2017). After that I created a little packet for each trip and checked off the list. Then paperclipped each packet to keep each trip and its things together and binder clipped all of them together. I put the photos in an envelope and added tabs to separate them chronologically, then put the envelope in a plastic baggy and wrote our names on it and attached it to the rest of the packet with the big binder clip.

 

I hope that makes sense? I watched some videos on YouTube of people putting all of their evidence into a binder or creating a book to keep it all together for the officer. I'm not sure how effective that was but I saw at least one couple who had evidence sent like that have it sent back to them. I also read separate pages vs. stapled pages are easier for the officers to scan as they don't have to take out the staples?

 

Yup, I sent our application from within the US. 

Wow that's so exciting; I wish you the best of luck with the process! 

Thanks! We actually just found out today that we were approved yesterday!! 

[emmewalle 8]

On 5/15/2020 at 6:41 AM, RandW said:

When I was compiling evidence I organized everything chronologically first and then created checklists for each trip/time period. For example, the list included 

• Copies of boarding passes and flight bookings for the trip
• Copy of any hotel booking/itinerary
• Photos from that visit (I tried to keep it 4-5 per trip)
  • I tried to choose photos that had landmarks, something recognizable in the background or from an event. 
  • On the back of each photo I wrote the location, date and who was in the photo. 
• Copies of attraction tickets/stubs, reservations, bookings, etc.

Then Iput post-its on each part and basically summarized what that piece of paper was (example: Flight booking from Summer 2017). After that I created a little packet for each trip and checked off the list. Then paperclipped each packet to keep each trip and its things together and binder clipped all of them together. I put the photos in an envelope and added tabs to separate them chronologically, then put the envelope in a plastic baggy and wrote our names on it and attached it to the rest of the packet with the big binder clip.

 

I hope that makes sense? I watched some videos on YouTube of people putting all of their evidence into a binder or creating a book to keep it all together for the officer. I'm not sure how effective that was but I saw at least one couple who had evidence sent like that have it sent back to them. I also read separate pages vs. stapled pages are easier for the officers to scan as they don't have to take out the staples?

 

Yup, I sent our application from within the US. 

Wow that's so exciting; I wish you the best of luck with the process! 

Thanks! We actually just found out today that we were approved yesterday!! 

Hey! 

 

That's great news, so happy for you!!! What's your next step now? with everything going on..?

 

Yes, thanks so much for the info, I've only seen one YT video so far but bookmarked a few others as well. Def going to take your advice and look into the best way of doing this so it's not so cumbersome for the officer - I can imagine the binder method is probably a lot to deal with, I was thinking of an accordion folder and labelling it as you mentioned. 

 

BTW did the beneficiary have to submit passport photos and a birth cert? i see the new checklist doesn't require them - but this sounds odd to me?

 

I had a random thought over the weekend - do we need to be married for a certain amount of time before applying for the visa? or can we marry today and start this tomorrow (hypothetically - of course have to wait for covid to settle and for the license to come through)...

 

Thanks again!

[SalishSea 16,776]

2 hours ago, emmewalle said:

I had a random thought over the weekend - do we need to be married for a certain amount of time before applying for the visa? or can we marry today and start this tomorrow (hypothetically - of course have to wait for covid to settle and for the license to come through)...

You need to have a certified copy of a marriage certificate in order to be petitioned for a spousal visa.

[Just Paul 4,591]

3 hours ago, emmewalle said:

I had a random thought over the weekend - do we need to be married for a certain amount of time before applying for the visa? or can we marry today and start this tomorrow

We had our certified marriage certificate a moment after saying "I do".

 

On 5/11/2020 at 11:55 PM, emmewalle said:

Yeah, I'm worried that my evidence pack might be too large/thick - so debating sending it via mail. Did you mail it from the US? Also, did you follow any guides/templates that you can share in terms of what it should look like?

I'd recommend not making it "too big" since the petition is more about the petitioner and whether the parties have proof of marriage. Someone at USCIS will have to review it all.  Front loading for UAE isn't rally needed unless there are a bunch of red flag items - it isn't a very hard consulate compared to others.

[emmewalle 8]

6 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

You need to have a certified copy of a marriage certificate in order to be petitioned for a spousal visa.

yeah, that's the plan..

[emmewalle 8]

5 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

We had our certified marriage certificate a moment after saying "I do".

 

I'd recommend not making it "too big" since the petition is more about the petitioner and whether the parties have proof of marriage. Someone at USCIS will have to review it all.  Front loading for UAE isn't rally needed unless there are a bunch of red flag items - it isn't a very hard consulate compared to others.

thanks! 

[Paco415 60]

GET MARRIED ALREADY! LOL

 

Seriously, when you do get married, get married somewhere that you get an ENGLISH marriage certificate, that way you wont have to get it translated  

Edited May 17, 2020 by Paco415

[emmewalle 8]

2 minutes ago, Paco415 said:

GET MARRIED ALREADY! LOL

 

Seriously, when you do get married, get married somewhere that you get an ENGLISH marriage certificate, that way you wont have to get it translated  

I CAN'T TRAVEL TO THE STATES!!!!😞 and he cannot travel to the UAE 

[Just Paul 4,591]

8 minutes ago, emmewalle said:

I CAN'T TRAVEL TO THE STATES!!!!😞 and he cannot travel to the UAE 

If you mean now with COVID - then ok.

 

But once that it over if you have a passport there are quite a few place both of you can go visa free or visa on arrival.   The Emirati passport is the 15th most powerful passport. 

 https://www.henleypassportindex.com/assets/2019/Q4/HENLEY_PASSPORT_INDEX_2019_Q4_INFOGRAPHIC_GLOBAL_RANKING_190928.pdf

 

Our favorite comes with an english marriage certificate.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Hong_Kong

 

[emmewalle 8]

1 minute ago, Paul & Mary said:

If you mean now with COVID - then ok.

 

But once that it over if you have a passport there are quite a few place both of you can go visa free or visa on arrival.   The Emirati passport is the 15th most powerful passport. 

 https://www.henleypassportindex.com/assets/2019/Q4/HENLEY_PASSPORT_INDEX_2019_Q4_INFOGRAPHIC_GLOBAL_RANKING_190928.pdf

 

Our favorite comes with an english marriage certificate.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Hong_Kong

 

Thanks for the tips! We are planning on getting married at the US courts - he's American, I am Canadian, don't think it should be an issue!  With the UAE, he would have to undergo some additional medical testing (due to him not being a resident) which could take a week or two to clear before we officially get married. Simplest is the US.