US Immigration from France

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help answer my question about switching from the standard i130 consular abroad with USCIS to DCF? I've understood that you cannot technically "switch" over the application, but can I cancel my current i130 that is with USCIS and re-file with DCF? My embassy is France and I am a USC petitioning for my husband.

Long story short, I am an idiot who did not do their research before I did the regular filing, and I can now get a job transfer to the US with my company tomorrow if I wanted to. My PD is 02/27/2025 and I am feeling very anxious about the recent slow down with processing times. I have a very straightforward case (married for 10 years, husband has social security number, has lived in US and held green card before, 2 kids...), but I don't think that is making a difference and I see horror stories of people waiting 24 months now. I want to move back to the US with my 2 young children in July to be able to start the school year with them, but I am very nervous that my husband might not join us for quite some time.

Thanks for anyone that can give some advice.

Hi! My husband submitted an I-751 back in 2023 and we recently received a response from USCIS that we need to provide additional information. In his USCIS account, we see that he can respond to the RFE online, which is great, but it says that it is limited to only 10 documents, and we have more than 10 documents, because we want to ensure we provide enough evidence this time. The letter we received said that we needed to include the letter itself, and we have a cover letter explaining all of the documents, so it seems like we actually can only upload 8 documents, unless I am missing something?

There is some instruction about if you have other documents, you can upload them under the Documents tab as "unsolicited documents", but will they even look at these other documents then? I am attaching a screenshot of the instructions from the website.

Any advice on how we should handle uploading the documents? Should we just prioritize the ones we feel are the best evidence and submit those?

Thank you!

We have our interview coming up end of April.

My brother and sister-in-law are the co-sponsors for my husband and step-daughter.

Should they come with us?

The instructions say to bring all of the documentation "unless already submitted."

We already gave them everything.

Should we print it all out and bring it again or will they even look at it?

I know I must bring our marriage certificate, his, my and step-daughters birth certificates v and translations for theirs. I'm assuming my and his divorce decrees and translation for his.

I've already submitted all this but the form does not say "unnless already submitted" here, so I'll bring it again.

I was thinking of uploading photos of us together at random events taken since the packet was sent. Should I bring hard copies as well?

What's suggested. Should I really bring a second copy of everything they already have?

Do I need to bring my brother and sister-in-laws birth certificates as well, even though copies were sent?

It mentions letters from their employers proving employment and pay rate, is this a requirement or just one of the options for proving income.

We did already send in their tax transcripts for past 3 years.

I was thinking of bringing their income tax transcript for 2025 (I had sent '24, '23, and '22) So would that suffice or will they have to get letters from their employers as well?

And again, should they come with us?

TIA!

Edited to add: We applied for work auth for both of them at the time we sent the original packet. We haven't heard anything and the site shows only "current."

Does anyone know if they are even doing work auths? How long after the interview do people usually get the green card. If I'm not mistaken, that serves as work auth as well, correct?

Hi Fellow Visa Journey members,

I'm preparing my N400 application under the 3 year rule (married to a US Citizen).
I'm reading the instructions and the N400 form (I'll fill it online, but I'm familiarizing myself with it beforehand).

There's a question that bugs me (see below + attached screenshot):

Quote

Part 9 q4: "Since you became a lawful permanent resident, have you called yourself a nonresident alien on a Federal, state, or local tax return or decided not to file a tax return because you considered yourself to be a nonresident?"

I've filed all my federal and state taxes every year (using HRBlock) to make sure everything was in order for each tax year.

Context: My wife and I got my visa from the UK where we both lived (consulate processing), and moved to the US together mid-year in 2023. So I effectively became resident in the US mid-year 2023 onwards -- when we entered the US.

Now when filing taxes, my accountant filed for me (Married Filing Separately for tax year 2023) using a 1040 dual-status (since for the first half of 2023 I was not yet a US resident). Similarly for my state return, the accountant filed a 540NR (non-resident or part year resident). This is such that I only paid taxes on my income from the time we arrived to the US (not including any income prior to me arriving in the US since I wasn't a resident then -- e.g. my UK income from early-to-mid 2023).

Because the the State form is specifically called `540NR (non-resident or part year resident)`, I want to be extra cautious as to how I answer the question Part 9 Question 4 on the N400 form.

I'm leaning towards assuming that I can safely click `No`, but I would love to have the reassurance of VJ members that I'm doing the right thing. I assume this is the standard way people file with the IRS every year when they move to the US mid way through the year?

All the best,

Screenshot 2026-03-07 at 19.54.59.pdf

My brother and his wife have agreed to sign for my husband and step-daughter as joint sponsor and household member of joint sponsor.

We are currently filling out the required I864 and I864a for the RFE.

My husband received his NOA for the I-485 AOS and his NOA for the I765 EAD in one page each, with his original A# that was issued to him from the beginning in France, and a USCIS Online Account Number.

This same A# is listed on his biometrics document.

In contrast, my step daughter received the same, but she received 2 pages for the NOA I485.

One of them has instructions for the online account set up and the other is more of a receipt of funds paid.

Both of the pages for the I485 NOA have the same IOE number, but the receipt form and the EAD have the original A# she received in France.

The instruction page for account access has a different A#, and this second new A# is on her biometrics document as well!

I'm not sure why she has two different A#'s on documents received at the same time, especially when two pages are of the same NOA with two different A#s on them.

Can anyone tell me: Which A # do I use for her when filling out the joint sponsor forms for the RFE?

Do I use the original one that we filed with that's on one of the two I485 forms (the recepit page NOA form I797C) and the EAD form?

Or do I use the new A# that is on the second I485 form (with the online instructions I797C) and on the biometrics form as well.

The RFE she received has the new A#.

I would think to use the new A#, since it's on the RFE. We are planning to upload the documents for the RFE electronically once we have everything ready to go.

I'm just confused as to why 1. there is a new A number and 2. Why isn't the new number on the EAD as well?

Has anyone else experienced this with K2 Visa holders at this point in the process?

For reference: we sent in both the I484, I 864, and I765 for both of them in the same package all together (with tabs to keep the two applicants separate.)

Also, there's no A number listed on her USCIS online account home page, but the RFE document linked has the new number.

Also, concerning EAD timelines, does anyone know if the ETA for decision will shorten once the joint sponsor docs are accepted into the file? It's currently listed as 7 months.

Lastly, I did this back in the middle of Nursing school crunch time and everything feels a bit overwhelming atm.

So forgive me, but I'm just asking for a refreshing reminder... If memory serves correctly,

Do I fill these forms out once for my husband and then just make a copy for my step-daughters file?

I can't remember but I think that's what I did because I she is listed under him on the I864.

TIA!