AOS Help Needed...we're desperate.

[GordonFreeman 0]

Hey everyone - I thought I would never come back to this forum, unless to help out other people with their cases...

K1 was approved, I came to the US, we got married, and we filed for my AOS.

We were so happy that everything went well, and we could finally be together without worries... and in just a couple months I would be looking for a job here!

That happiness was only temporary.

We received 3 pages of request for Initial Evidence on the I-485.

What shocked me (or not really) is that there is no way to fish more information about what exactly they want!

- Among several requests for evidence we already provided, carefully and methodically, they state that we didn't meet the poverty guidelines (when I checked and re-checked all the numbers and we DID meet them!).

- They ask for tax documentation for the last year, which we already sent them on the AOS package.

- They also ask for my translated birth certificate copy, which WAS sent to them, in multi-language format that is used specifically for these situations.

- Last but not least was something I did not send the first time, which was the copy of my wife's US birth certificate. (that's the only thing that makes sense...)

I'm scared because all of these requests are so robotic - I will send them exactly the same things I sent the first time, and her birth certificate, but I will probably get another letter like this one, or get denied! They don't explain WHY the documentation I sent was insufficient (like my birth certificate copy). So how am I supposed to guess what else to send to convince them those ARE the real documents?

I can post the letter here, but it would make the post too long. If someone can help, and thinks that would contain important information to solve this issue, I will gladly copy it here! Thank you all in advance...

[Otto 83]

• Send a front & back copy of the international birth certificate (again) - highlight the English translations if necessary. (This is a not too uncommon RFE)
• Tax documents (is it safe to assume that you sent 2008's return and ALL supporting documents?

[Nik+Heather 121]

Hi. Aren't 2008 transcripts available now? Send those. Also, for AOS, you have to meet 125% of the poverty guidelines. So check that. If you don't, you'll need to makeup the shortfall with assets.

[Minya's wife 24]

- Among several requests for evidence we already provided, carefully and methodically, they state that we didn't meet the poverty guidelines (when I checked and re-checked all the numbers and we DID meet them!).

- They ask for tax documentation for the last year, which we already sent them on the AOS package.

What figures did you use to calculate if you meet the poverty guidelines? Remember that for the AOS, the sponsor (who completes the I-864) must have an income that is 125% above the poverty guideline. If your income is insufficient, you must have a co-sponsor.

Sometimes RFE's are issued and the request is for documentation already provided. Please just send again copies of your tax documentation for last year. Alternatively, you can request Tax Transcripts, directly from the IRS (you can look on their irs.gov website to see how to do this) and send those in.

Good luck.

[GordonFreeman 0]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies!

Yes, I know it's 125%, I know all this. I know that we passed it, but they now lie to us and say we don't. It's OK...

I guess I'll have to turn a blind eye on that too, and pretend they're right! That's what everyone does. No one PROTESTS a USCIS decision - that would be madness, right?

As for the birth certificate, if they can be foolish/half-assed enough not to see the English translation, then maybe you're right, Otto and Karin. I will try to highlight the English translation this time.

It's pretty visible on the original though... Sometimes I wonder if I'm dealing with an official entity, or a special-ed 5 year old... :/

I checked online examples of birth certificates accepted, to see if mine didn't look "official" enough, and that's not the case. I looked at some Indian birth certificates accepted and compared to mine, they look like just a scribbled piece of paper! If those got accepted, mine should have no problem.

[Minya's wife 24]

Truly, you're getting upset over something that has a solution, ranting against USCIS will not get your papers processed any faster. Its unfortunate that you got an RFE for the same $hit you already submitted, but it happens to many of us all the time. It's just something that is part of the 'jouney'

If you are above the 125% poverty level, then they should not be requesting a co-sponsor. Unless...are there other members of your household that your husband is supporting (like children from a previous marriage that child support is being provided for). If that is the case, those people are also part of the 'household size'. Otherwise, if it is just you two, the sponsors income needs to be $18,213 or above.

Perhaps you can just re-send the original I-864, with the updated Tax Transcripts and attach a sheet showing the calculation that the income is indeed 125% above the poverty guidline

good luck

[Thai Rath 1]

When we were filing for AOS we received a RFE for tax info that we had already submitted. We were worried that perhaps there was something we missed the first time around, so we made an Infopass appointment and brought the evidence that we were prepared to submit (the same info that was submitted the first time) and ran it past a USCIS agent just to be sure that we were doing things correctly. If you are worried about it and can get to your local office without too much trouble, you may want to consider doing the same thing for your own peace of mind.

[Minya's wife 24]

When we were filing for AOS we received a RFE for tax info that we had already submitted. We were worried that perhaps there was something we missed the first time around, so we made an Infopass appointment and brought the evidence that we were prepared to submit (the same info that was submitted the first time) and ran it past a USCIS agent just to be sure that we were doing things correctly. If you are worried about it and can get to your local office without too much trouble, you may want to consider doing the same thing for your own peace of mind.

good advice

[trillium13 84]

When we were filing for AOS we received a RFE for tax info that we had already submitted. We were worried that perhaps there was something we missed the first time around, so we made an Infopass appointment and brought the evidence that we were prepared to submit (the same info that was submitted the first time) and ran it past a USCIS agent just to be sure that we were doing things correctly. If you are worried about it and can get to your local office without too much trouble, you may want to consider doing the same thing for your own peace of mind.

If I'm understanding you right, you brought the same evidence that you had already submitted? If so, were they able to give you an idea why they didn't get it the first time, or didn't like it for whatever reason?

[Otto 83]

As for the birth certificate, if they can be foolish/half-assed enough not to see the English translation, then maybe you're right, Otto and Karin. I will try to highlight the English translation this time.

It's pretty visible on the original though... Sometimes I wonder if I'm dealing with an official entity, or a special-ed 5 year old... :/

Our RFE (for AOS) was for 'translated birth certificate' - we had sent (with the petition) a copy of the International BC (for those who don't know, this document is written in the issuing country's language, but each field has multiple language translations, so practically anyone could read it)

So we submitted the same thing again, but I highlighted the English field translations and included a short letter of explanation. Apparently that was acceptable - it's hard to believe they've never seen this document before, but who knows.

[thepizzadude 26]

Hey everyone - I thought I would never come back to this forum, unless to help out other people with their cases...

K1 was approved, I came to the US, we got married, and we filed for my AOS.

We were so happy that everything went well, and we could finally be together without worries... and in just a couple months I would be looking for a job here!

That happiness was only temporary.

We received 3 pages of request for Initial Evidence on the I-485.

What shocked me (or not really) is that there is no way to fish more information about what exactly they want!

- Among several requests for evidence we already provided, carefully and methodically, they state that we didn't meet the poverty guidelines (when I checked and re-checked all the numbers and we DID meet them!).

- They ask for tax documentation for the last year, which we already sent them on the AOS package.

- They also ask for my translated birth certificate copy, which WAS sent to them, in multi-language format that is used specifically for these situations.

- Last but not least was something I did not send the first time, which was the copy of my wife's US birth certificate. (that's the only thing that makes sense...)

I'm scared because all of these requests are so robotic - I will send them exactly the same things I sent the first time, and her birth certificate, but I will probably get another letter like this one, or get denied! They don't explain WHY the documentation I sent was insufficient (like my birth certificate copy). So how am I supposed to guess what else to send to convince them those ARE the real documents?

I can post the letter here, but it would make the post too long. If someone can help, and thinks that would contain important information to solve this issue, I will gladly copy it here! Thank you all in advance...

I think sometimes when we send the EAD, AP and AOS together somehow some stuff gets sent to wrong place, this might explain why they ask for things again.

ARE you sure you sent w-2's/1099's and all supporting documents with your tax forms.

The birth certificate, I agree with O&K just highlight the English parts and send letter of explanation.

Good Luck,

Don't let it get you down it happens ALOT.

Edited September 4, 2009 by thepizzadude

[Thai Rath 1]

If I'm understanding you right, you brought the same evidence that you had already submitted? If so, were they able to give you an idea why they didn't get it the first time, or didn't like it for whatever reason?

Yup, you understood me right - the very same thing we'd sent in originally (tax transcripts). The officer we met with at the Infopass appointment was as surprised as we were to have received the RFE. Glad we came on VJ and learned that being asked for something that'd already been submitted was not that uncommon!

[GordonFreeman 0]

Truly, you're getting upset over something that has a solution, ranting against USCIS will not get your papers processed any faster. Its unfortunate that you got an RFE for the same $hit you already submitted, but it happens to many of us all the time. It's just something that is part of the 'jouney'

If you are above the 125% poverty level, then they should not be requesting a co-sponsor. Unless...are there other members of your household that your husband is supporting (like children from a previous marriage that child support is being provided for). If that is the case, those people are also part of the 'household size'. Otherwise, if it is just you two, the sponsors income needs to be $18,213 or above.

Perhaps you can just re-send the original I-864, with the updated Tax Transcripts and attach a sheet showing the calculation that the income is indeed 125% above the poverty guidline

Maybe I sound like I'm ranting, but I am actually concerned! Getting this letter when I was super careful the first time, makes me feel insecure about sending the SAME information again!

NO there aren't other members in our household, of course not! Don't you think I would have mentioned them here? Of course not, I'm not an idiot... :/ And I'M the husband, she's my wife. It's our first time getting married.

I will probably just get a NEW sponsor altogether, which hurts me because I didn't want to ask ANYTHING else to her - she sponsored our K1 already, and was very nice to help us! I hate how USCIS forces us to the limit, even when asking friends for help...

When we were filing for AOS we received a RFE for tax info that we had already submitted. We were worried that perhaps there was something we missed the first time around, so we made an Infopass appointment and brought the evidence that we were prepared to submit (the same info that was submitted the first time) and ran it past a USCIS agent just to be sure that we were doing things correctly. If you are worried about it and can get to your local office without too much trouble, you may want to consider doing the same thing for your own peace of mind.

Thanks for the advice Thai!

Our RFE (for AOS) was for 'translated birth certificate' - we had sent (with the petition) a copy of the International BC (for those who don't know, this document is written in the issuing country's language, but each field has multiple language translations, so practically anyone could read it)

So we submitted the same thing again, but I highlighted the English field translations and included a short letter of explanation. Apparently that was acceptable - it's hard to believe they've never seen this document before, but who knows.

I guess I'll do that too, yeah... thanks.

I think sometimes when we send the EAD, AP and AOS together somehow some stuff gets sent to wrong place, this might explain why they ask for things again.

ARE you sure you sent w-2's/1099's and all supporting documents with your tax forms.

The birth certificate, I agree with O&K just highlight the English parts and send letter of explanation.

Good Luck,

Don't let it get you down it happens ALOT.

Thanks!

[Urge To Race 2]

Remember, if you use or used a joint sponsor, your wife is still the main sponsor and must submit an I864 and all supporting documents as well.

Truly, you're getting upset over something that has a solution, ranting against USCIS will not get your papers processed any faster. Its unfortunate that you got an RFE for the same $hit you already submitted, but it happens to many of us all the time. It's just something that is part of the 'jouney'

If you are above the 125% poverty level, then they should not be requesting a co-sponsor. Unless...are there other members of your household that your husband is supporting (like children from a previous marriage that child support is being provided for). If that is the case, those people are also part of the 'household size'. Otherwise, if it is just you two, the sponsors income needs to be $18,213 or above.

Perhaps you can just re-send the original I-864, with the updated Tax Transcripts and attach a sheet showing the calculation that the income is indeed 125% above the poverty guidline

Maybe I sound like I'm ranting, but I am actually concerned! Getting this letter when I was super careful the first time, makes me feel insecure about sending the SAME information again!

NO there aren't other members in our household, of course not! Don't you think I would have mentioned them here? Of course not, I'm not an idiot... :/ And I'M the husband, she's my wife. It's our first time getting married.

I will probably just get a NEW sponsor altogether, which hurts me because I didn't want to ask ANYTHING else to her - she sponsored our K1 already, and was very nice to help us! I hate how USCIS forces us to the limit, even when asking friends for help...

When we were filing for AOS we received a RFE for tax info that we had already submitted. We were worried that perhaps there was something we missed the first time around, so we made an Infopass appointment and brought the evidence that we were prepared to submit (the same info that was submitted the first time) and ran it past a USCIS agent just to be sure that we were doing things correctly. If you are worried about it and can get to your local office without too much trouble, you may want to consider doing the same thing for your own peace of mind.

Thanks for the advice Thai!

Our RFE (for AOS) was for 'translated birth certificate' - we had sent (with the petition) a copy of the International BC (for those who don't know, this document is written in the issuing country's language, but each field has multiple language translations, so practically anyone could read it)

So we submitted the same thing again, but I highlighted the English field translations and included a short letter of explanation. Apparently that was acceptable - it's hard to believe they've never seen this document before, but who knows.

I guess I'll do that too, yeah... thanks.

I think sometimes when we send the EAD, AP and AOS together somehow some stuff gets sent to wrong place, this might explain why they ask for things again.

ARE you sure you sent w-2's/1099's and all supporting documents with your tax forms.

The birth certificate, I agree with O&K just highlight the English parts and send letter of explanation.

Good Luck,

Don't let it get you down it happens ALOT.

Thanks!

[GordonFreeman 0]

Remember, if you use or used a joint sponsor, your wife is still the main sponsor and must submit an I864 and all supporting documents as well.

What do you mean?.... :/ Sorry!