Mistakes to Avoid (AoS) and Process

[Joe30 17]

Hello all,

 

What are some mistakes to avoid when filling out forms for AoS (and others in the package) along with evidence.
 

will highly appreciate it!

[Adventine 3,187]

Some things we missed but thankfully caught after rereading, or browsing VJ:

 

- the credit card authorization forms also need signatures

- USPS is slow and unreliable. Better to use UPS/FedEx/DHL to mail the package

- In a rush to copy/paste, I added the wrong I-94, for a previous 2019 entry, not the latest 2021 one.

- Walgreens photos weren't exactly 2x2 for some reason. We had to go back and reprint them.  Only costs a few cents if you use a passport photo app.

[Joe30 17]

1 hour ago, Adventine said:

Some things we missed but thankfully caught after rereading, or browsing VJ:

 

- the credit card authorization forms also need signatures

- USPS is slow and unreliable. Better to use UPS/FedEx/DHL to mail the package

- In a rush to copy/paste, I added the wrong I-94, for a previous 2019 entry, not the latest 2021 one.

- Walgreens photos weren't exactly 2x2 for some reason. We had to go back and reprint them.  Only costs a few cents if you use a passport photo app.

Which credit card auth forms? And where was the signature needed?

[StuTor 51]

2 hours ago, Joe30 said:

Hello all,

 

What are some mistakes to avoid when filling out forms for AoS (and others in the package) along with evidence.
 

will highly appreciate it!

- Do not file too early or too late

- Make sure you sign where applicable

- Send package to the correct lockbox based on your location

[Adventine 3,187]

28 minutes ago, Joe30 said:

Which credit card auth forms? And where was the signature needed?

Form G-1450: https://www.uscis.gov/g-1450

 

Very very easy to miss where you need to sign this document.

 

[Joe30 17]

2 hours ago, StuTor said:

- Do not file too early or too late

- Make sure you sign where applicable

- Send package to the correct lockbox based on your location

What do you mean not too early or late? 

[StuTor 51]

Sorry i actually misread, and thought this was for RoC.

Edited June 2, 2021 by StuTor
Misunderstood

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

 

5 hours ago, Joe30 said:

Hello all,

 

What are some mistakes to avoid when filling out forms for AoS (and others in the package) along with evidence.
 

will highly appreciate it!

@Joe30

that's a broad question. To name a few:

 

• not sending evidence of bona fide marriage with the AOS package and planning to bring it to the interview. The I-130 requires that you send evidence of bona fide marriage at the time of filing. Not sending it may lead the officer to suspect fraud even if there is no fraud. 
• not sending evidence that shows that you knew each other before you got married. Often times people send evidence since the date of the marriage. That may look to USCIS like you met on Monday, married on Wednesday and filed for AOS on Friday. 
• Not signing the forms. 
• Missing any initial evidence that is required. At one point, USCIS changed the rules and they started rejecting applications that were missing initial evidence like birth certificates, marriage certificates, the I-864. I do not know if that's changed back to USCIS issuing RFEs for those items as they used to. 
• sending an outdated form; i.e., the wrong edition. The edition date is what matters the most. Always download the forms from the USCIS website. 

 

 

[Rocio0010 5,577]

3 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

3 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

not sending evidence of bona fide marriage with the AOS package and planning to bring it to the interview. The I-130 requires that you send evidence of bona fide marriage at the time of filing.

Not 100% accurate. Other than the marriage Certificate and some joint bank statements, we did not include much evidence in our initial package, and we were approved with no issues!

In my case it was sending tax account transcripts instead of tax returns .

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

@Joe30, my best recommendation to you is to always follow the directions for each form. You will not run into problems that way. Every case is different. While it is a good idea to learn from the experience of others, you can't rely 100% on the experience of others. Again, every case is different. Best wishes.  

[Scott-Ilyn 78]

3 hours ago, ra0010 said:

In my case it was sending tax account transcripts instead of tax returns .

I have a question. Are you supposed to send tax returns or transcripts?

[Just Paul 4,591]

1 hour ago, ScottLangbehn said:

I have a question. Are you supposed to send tax returns or transcripts?

transcripts are preferred.

[Scott-Ilyn 78]

15 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

transcripts are preferred.

Gotcha. That’s what I thought. Thank you

[mc962 55]

In our case, we sent the wrong version of the transcripts, printed from the IRS website. I think the first time we sent what was basically a Summary, instead of the full Transcript that had all the information Immigration was looking for, and so got an RFIE that was fortunately quickly resolved.
If you go on the IRS website and follow their prompts, you can say that you want to print something for Immigration and it should point you at the right form.

 

 

I'm not sure if AoS requires this, but I think in the I-129F they recommended signing and dating any additional pages for the final "Additional Information" page/section, so we've made sure to do that for AoS and now RoC. I don't know if they actually care since in the I-129F copy they returned to us had the signature half cut-off when it was scanned into the computer, but it probably wouldn't hurt.🤷‍♂️

[Joe30 17]

4 hours ago, mc962 said:

In our case, we sent the wrong version of the transcripts, printed from the IRS website. I think the first time we sent what was basically a Summary, instead of the full Transcript that had all the information Immigration was looking for, and so got an RFIE that was fortunately quickly resolved.
If you go on the IRS website and follow their prompts, you can say that you want to print something for Immigration and it should point you at the right form.

 

 

I'm not sure if AoS requires this, but I think in the I-129F they recommended signing and dating any additional pages for the final "Additional Information" page/section, so we've made sure to do that for AoS and now RoC. I don't know if they actually care since in the I-129F copy they returned to us had the signature half cut-off when it was scanned into the computer, but it probably wouldn't hurt.🤷‍♂️

What is the difference between transcript and return?