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Hi,

My partner is a New Zealander and I am a natural-born US Citizen. We have been together for about 8 years, and lived together for about 4.5 years in NZ. I am a Permanent Resident in New Zealand via a partnership visa track. My partner and I decided to do long-distance for me to return to the US to finish a grad-school program and then start my career in the US. He has been working in the US periodically on a J1 visa with a company that gives him a few months of work at a time, and he has a 30-day grace period on either side of his work contracts to travel in the USA. We are considering marriage and would like to live in the USA for the time being. From what I can tell, we have two options:

1) He is currently in the USA working on a J1 visa (he does not have a 2-year home requirement on his J1). We could get married while he is still in the USA, he could file for an AOS, EAD, and Travel Waiver.

Question: What if the AOS is not approved prior to his J1 grace period expiring?

Pros as I see them: We're able to live together in the USA right away. He is able to get work much sooner than waiting for CR-1.

Cons as I see them: Avoiding the 90-day rule. He will not have entered the US with the intention to marry, but it might not look like it to immigration. Him not being able to leave the USA until travel waiver comes through.

2) We get married outside of the USA and apply for the CR-1. For career purposes, I do not want to live overseas currently and leave my job, so we would essentially head back to NZ for a few weeks, get married, and then I'd fly back to the USA to continue working. We would then wait for the CR-1 to get approved (as I understand 1.5-2years) before he moved over here permanently, in which time we'd need to continue long distance.

Questions: Is the long distance thing going to raise flags for immigration? Can he continue to come in and work on a J1 visa with his current company for a few months at a time while awaiting the approval of the CR-1?

Thanks for your help!

Hi everyone! I wasn t able to find a clear answer in past threads, so hoping someone here can help.

I submitted my citizenship application online a couple of months ago and am currently waiting to be scheduled for the interview. I m applying under the 5-year rule I ve had my green card for over five years now.

My green card was marriage-based, but my spouse and I separated after about four years and have since divorced. I have a divorce decree on hand, but I m wondering if I ll need to bring my marriage certificate to the interview as well. I ve moved to another state since then, and requesting the certificate from the city clerk would be a bit of a hassle so I d prefer to avoid it if I can.

Does anyone know if this is typically required in my situation? Would really appreciate any insights. Thanks in advance!

1. My mothers middle name is listed as an initial 'M' on my birth certificate, but her full middle name ,"Macy" , appears on her U.S Passport and Auto Driver License. In addition, her birthdate was recorded incorrectly on my birth certificate as 01/12/1970, while the correct date, as reflected in all of her official documents, including the U.S Passport, is 01/13/1970 or 13 Jan 1970.

2. Neither my fathers middle name nor his initial appear on my birth certificate, where his name is listed simply as "Roger Rabbit". However, his full legal name, "Roger Maxwell Rabbit" appears on his U.S. passport and driver's license. The name used in this form reflects his correct and legal full name as recognized by all current official U.S. documents.

Both of these are the issues as well as the responses I gave in the Additional Information section of form I-130. I've gotten advice to just remove these additional responses and not complicate it, so I wanted to know if this is normal or not, how to proceed, and if my explanation is thorough enough. Should I include copies of their passports for proof?

Hi, we submitted our I-130 petition in March this year. As we didn't submit the petition online, we dnt have an online account.

Do we receive a letter in mail when our petition is approved? I believe it's not possible to link our petition to an online account as we filed the paper version instead of submitting it online

Also, another question. Our receipt notice said at the bottom "Potomac Service Center " but just below that the address of the Texas Service center....does that mean anything?

Many thanks for your help

We are petitioning for my in-laws. They have a daughter that is 13 years old. Can she be added as a derivative on one of the parent's application or do we file her own application? I know sibling take a lot longer to process