Filing I-130 & 1-485

[Tiffany Guara 6]

Hello all. Well, I got married earlier this month and we are ready to start the process. Both of us are here in Ohio. My husband is on a B1/B2 visa from Ghana. He had it since 2023, way before we met. I see you can file 1-130 online which seems easier than to mail all the documents. We are trying to do concurrent filing. Can i file the i-130 online, wait for the receipt and then add that to the I-485 to do in the mail? Plus we have so much evidence for the I-130. seems easier to upload the documents rather than mail them. Thanks so much, any and advice is welcomed!!

[appleblossom 5,699]

13 minutes ago, Tiffany Davenport said:

Hello all. Well, I got married earlier this month and we are ready to start the process. Both of us are here in Ohio. My husband is on a B1/B2 visa from Ghana. He had it since 2023, way before we met. I see you can file 1-130 online which seems easier than to mail all the documents. We are trying to do concurrent filing. Can i file the i-130 online, wait for the receipt and then add that to the I-485 to do in the mail? Plus we have so much evidence for the I-130. seems easier to upload the documents rather than mail them. Thanks so much, any and advice is welcomed!!

 

Does he have dual citizenship with another country? If Ghana is his only citizenship then I wouldn't let him overstay his visa personally - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-alerts/PM-602-0194-PendingApplicationsAdditionalHighRiskCountries-20260101.pdf

 

And you say 2023 was 'way before you met', how long ago did you meet and start dating? Whatever route you pursue, if he's from Ghana his case will be scrutinised much more closely, so hopefully you've got plenty of evidence of a long term committed relationship. 

Edited 7 hours ago by appleblossom

[appleblossom 5,699]

**Thread moved to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum, as OP is currently planning on pursuing the AoS route**

Edited 7 hours ago by appleblossom

[Tiffany Guara 6]

32 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

Does he have dual citizenship with another country? If Ghana is his only citizenship then I wouldn't let him overstay his visa personally - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-alerts/PM-602-0194-PendingApplicationsAdditionalHighRiskCountries-20260101.pdf

 

And you say 2023 was 'way before you met', how long ago did you meet and start dating? Whatever route you pursue, if he's from Ghana his case will be scrutinised much more closely, so hopefully you've got plenty of evidence of a long term committed relationship. 

No he doesn't have duel citizenship. Thank you for the links as well. We were told through an immigration lawyer that long as we applied before his I-94 expires, he wouldn't be out of status long as his I-485 is pending. 

[appleblossom 5,699]

3 hours ago, Tiffany Guara said:

No he doesn't have duel citizenship. Thank you for the links as well. We were told through an immigration lawyer that long as we applied before his I-94 expires, he wouldn't be out of status long as his I-485 is pending. 

 

That used to be the case. Now plenty of folks are being detained - 

 

 

Your call obviously, but I wouldn't be risking it personally given Ghana is on the list of banned countries. It would be awful if he got all the way to the end, had his application refused because of that policy, and then had a ban to overcome because he'd overstayed. As he can't get a visa anyway at the moment, I'd be making sure he left on time, and then going through the safer consular processing route (hoping that by the time he gets to the interview stage, the ban has been lifted). 

 

But it will depend on your tolerance for risk and your circumstances. Hopefully you have a water tight case if you do decide to try AoS.

 

Best of luck. 

[Tiffany Guara 6]

18 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

That used to be the case. Now plenty of folks are being detained - 

 

 

Your call obviously, but I wouldn't be risking it personally given Ghana is on the list of banned countries. It would be awful if he got all the way to the end, had his application refused because of that policy, and then had a ban to overcome because he'd overstayed. As he can't get a visa anyway at the moment, I'd be making sure he left on time, and then going through the safer consular processing route (hoping that by the time he gets to the interview stage, the ban has been lifted). 

 

But it will depend on your tolerance for risk and your circumstances. Hopefully you have a water tight case if you do decide to try AoS.

 

Best of luck. 

I know, this sucks!! We have some friends who went back early last year and now can't get back to the US. Visa was denied. Either way it's a difficult situation. But we are hoping and praying all goes well. Thank you for the advice