i-130 my mother is petitioning I-130 for me, possible mistakes?

[songvicky 0]

Hello! My mother is petitioning me using I-130, I was adopted and meet the requirements of the adopted child if that's still applicable (because I'm now over 21), I just want to look out for possible mistakes or common mistakes we can avoid so there won't be any problems once we file it. Please tell me if there are any possible problems with what we did:

Form:

• She answered the form using Adobe Acrobat, and the fields which weren't applicable, she wrote "NA" as. "/" wasn't an accepted character
• We wrote "unemployed" in the employment section as she is retired and I am a university student, however we explained in the Additional Information our statuses (would there be a difference in explaining thoroughly? as she's worked in America for over 10 years)
• There are blanks in the form, like the employment section, since it's "unemployed" the other fields were left blank, like the address of the company/employer (should we write NA instead?)

Requirements:

• For proof of joint residency for at least 2 years, we provided valid and expired IDs issued 2016-2018 (as I turned 21 on Nov 2018) with our address on it

 

Also, my mother is old, she doesnt trust the internet and insists on filing by paper and mailing the packet to uscis directly instead of online, what are the pros and cons to this?

Thanks so much to people who respond!

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

Per the instructions (please have her read them) nothing should be left blank. They should read N/A or None. I can’t see a pro to filing by paper. Filing online is foolproof it won’t let you proceed if you are missing something and you can’t mess up the payment. You receive a receipt right away and it’s a bit quicker. No need to come back asking in a a few weeks/month Worried that your petition was received, that you filed an old form or forgot to sign someThing.

[songvicky 0]

54 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

Per the instructions (please have her read them) nothing should be left blank. They should read N/A or None. I can’t see a pro to filing by paper. Filing online is foolproof it won’t let you proceed if you are missing something and you can’t mess up the payment. You receive a receipt right away and it’s a bit quicker. No need to come back asking in a a few weeks/month Worried that your petition was received, that you filed an old form or forgot to sign someThing.

thank for the response! I've edited the form (good thing we havent printed) and placed "NONE" and "NA" as answers, most fields dont accept the "/" though, i hope that's ok. Should I write by pen "N/A" on the date fields? as it doesnt allow me to input alpha characters. I'll try to persuade her to do it online but she's very adamant in filing by paper.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

3 hours ago, songvicky said:

thank for the response! I've edited the form (good thing we havent printed) and placed "NONE" and "NA" as answers, most fields dont accept the "/" though, i hope that's ok. Should I write by pen "N/A" on the date fields? as it doesnt allow me to input alpha characters. I'll try to persuade her to do it online but she's very adamant in filing by paper.

I hand wrote the /

[BrendaD 13]

On 10/2/2020 at 3:38 AM, Luckycuds said:

Per the instructions (please have her read them) nothing should be left blank. They should read N/A or None. I can’t see a pro to filing by paper. Filing online is foolproof it won’t let you proceed if you are missing something and you can’t mess up the payment. You receive a receipt right away and it’s a bit quicker. No need to come back asking in a a few weeks/month Worried that your petition was received, that you filed an old form or forgot to sign someThing.

 

On 10/2/2020 at 2:44 AM, songvicky said:

Hello! My mother is petitioning me using I-130, I was adopted and meet the requirements of the adopted child if that's still applicable (because I'm now over 21), I just want to look out for possible mistakes or common mistakes we can avoid so there won't be any problems once we file it. Please tell me if there are any possible problems with what we did:

Form:

• She answered the form using Adobe Acrobat, and the fields which weren't applicable, she wrote "NA" as. "/" wasn't an accepted character
• We wrote "unemployed" in the employment section as she is retired and I am a university student, however we explained in the Additional Information our statuses (would there be a difference in explaining thoroughly? as she's worked in America for over 10 years)
• There are blanks in the form, like the employment section, since it's "unemployed" the other fields were left blank, like the address of the company/employer (should we write NA instead?)

Requirements:

• For proof of joint residency for at least 2 years, we provided valid and expired IDs issued 2016-2018 (as I turned 21 on Nov 2018) with our address on it

 

Also, my mother is old, she doesnt trust the internet and insists on filing by paper and mailing the packet to uscis directly instead of online, what are the pros and cons to this?

Thanks so much to people who respond!

My concern would be using unemployed, can you put retired. They might think she is looking for work. She will have to eventually complete an affidavit of support to show that she can support you. If her income (social security/ pension) doesn't meet the financial requirements she will need a co-sponsor. Use NA whenever possible. Filing electronically is better because the chances of mistakes is greatly reduced, you can uploaded the required documents at the same time and pay applicable fees. Good luck!

Edited October 5, 2020 by BrendaD
Added info

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

1 hour ago, BrendaD said:

 

My concern would be using unemployed, can you put retired. They might think she is looking for work. She will have to eventually complete an affidavit of support to show that she can support you. If her income (social security/ pension) doesn't meet the financial requirements she will need a co-sponsor. Use NA whenever possible. Filing electronically is better because the chances of mistakes is greatly reduced, you can uploaded the required documents at the same time and pay applicable fees. Good luck!

 I agree she should put retired if that is her status. Unemployed indicates you are looking for work while retired is done with working. (Generally speaking)

[ultrasoul 58]

@songvicky I assume you are not in the US and am planning to go through consular processing route correct? 

 

Having filed many I-130's (paper and electronic) and adjustment of statuses (concurrent paper I-130/ I-485 filings and separate I-130/ I-485 filings) for various family members, I can categorically tell you it is immensely better to use the online filing. 

The online I-130 filing is most certainly a breeze compared to the paper version and has a tremendous benefit of time saving for those who are planning on consular processing with the electronic transmission of the approved I-130 to the NVC, eliminating 30 - 55 days of waiting time after  I-130 approval (no need for USCIS to send paper package from approving service center to NVC, no need for NVC manual data entry from USCIS forms to create NVC case).

 

If your mother is not comfortable with computer use, you can do the typing & actual data entry work for the online I-130 for her on the my.uscis.gov wither her over the phone/ skype/ zoom. Trust me she will thank you for not making her fill out a paper form, print and photocopy all the necessary supporting evidences, going to the post office to procure a shipping label/ postage, not worry about lost/ delayed mail, and waiting 2 weeks to get the I-130 case number from the paper NOA1.

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by ultrasoul