US Immigration from Vietnam

My wife and I married within the 90-day K1 Visa window, but now we need to file the i-485, and from what I gather, we must file the I-693, even though some sources are not clear on whether this is required. She has had Hepatitis B since birth, but has managed to be healthy with regular checkups for her entire life with no treatments. We did not expect a problem this entire time, as most resources indicated it was not a disease that prevented K1 Visas from being rejected. However, during this process of filling out the i-693 and researching the medical exam, I found some disturbing information from Google searches:

A positive Hepatitis B diagnosis can lead to the rejection of an I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) application, but it's not a guaranteed rejection. Applicants with communicable diseases of public health significance, including Hepatitis B, are generally inadmissible. However, there may be exceptions or waivers available.

AND

Can you get a green card if you have hepatitis B?

Individuals will be deported if they are found to be positive for hepatitis B. An immigration policy may exist that appears to deny extended stay visas or work permits to people living with chronic hepatitis B, but you can challenge this with a letter and health report from your doctor.

During K1 research, I found statements such as:

Generally, Hepatitis B should not be a cause for K-1 visa rejection. Most applicants living with Hepatitis B are not considered ineligible for immigration. The USCIS considers health issues, but they do not automatically exclude individuals with Hepatitis B.

Why would the policies not be consistent? Why issue a K1 Visa and then reject you after marriage?

We are blessed in that my wife is now pregnant, but is there actually a chance that she will be rejected and deported?

I am in a state of panic, especially given the current immigration doctrine. That is not a political statement, but simply an observation of heightened scrutiny of all types of applicants and increased deportation for various reasons.

Let's get the May 2025 party started!

LPR wife just filed her N-400 application and I fed her all the evidence docs. On USCIS we got the receipt number and oddly it says "error retrieving case status" (its ALWAYS something, lol)

Checked egov.uscis and it says "case was received and receipt notice was sent"

Hopefully the error resolves on their end tomorrow... and that biometrics gets reused.

Hello,

We are hoping to make our case as strong as possible by uploading the most that we can (without redundancy). What are some of the best forms of (unsolicited) evidence that one can upload onto our myUSCIS account to increase our chances of approval?

I know with the current administration, that it is highly unlikely to get waived, and that every K-1/CR-1/IR-1 case will most likely be interviewed. In the past, the California Service Center (and other offices) sometimes attempts to process I-485 applications without an interview. We just want to improve our chances of approval under this new current administration.

Thanks!

- Tony & Nhi

Hi all, good evening! I've been helping my wife gather our documents for her naturalization application. She is the applicant, I am the USC.

So far we have the following, other than the application form itself:

REQUIRED DOCS
- Her green card + her acceptance letter
- Our marriage certificate
- My birth certificate (proving my citizenship)
- My divorce decree

BEST SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
- Tax return transcripts from the last 3 years, we filed MFJ
- Utility bills with both names on it
- Health insurance with both names on it
- Auto insurance with both names on it
- Homeowner insurance with both names on it
- Property tax bills with both names on it (hers was a shortened version of her legal name)
- Beneficiary designations with her name on it
- Her own bank and credit card statements (not joint, but shows the same address we lived at for 3 years, and she is an authorized CC user)
- Birth certificate and CRBA for our child (both names are on both docs)
- My driver s license and her REAL ID learner s permit (both show the same address)
- Mortgage deed with both of our names on it (waiting for the corrected deed with her full legal name, it should be ready in a week or so)
- Preschool enrollment papers for our child, both names on it
- Plane tickets for POE in June 2022 as proof we came here together as a family
- Change of address form submissions and confirmation receipts (both AR-11 from her and I-865 from me)
- About 10 photos of our life together in a single pdf

OTHER EVIDENCE (that I'm leaning on not submitting)
- shared cell phone plan

- shared Amazon Prime family account

- a work order/receipt for a home appliance purchase that I let her take the lead on I mention this only because it shows a paper trail that helps link her finances to mine.

Now here are my questions:

1a) Is it a bad that we don't have a joint bank account? We honestly never felt the need for one. But we have everything else. Is that enough to overcome not having a joint account?

1b) Should we bolster the case for our financial co-mingling by submitting our shared consumer stuff? Thinking stuff like shared Amazon Prime, family cell phone plan, etc. But at the same time it feels like overkill to me.

1c) Is a Will and Power of Attorney helpful in the absence of a joint bank account, or is it not going to add much to what we already have?

2) Are we required to submit passport style photos? Some places say you do, but other places say only if we're applying from outside the U.S. which we're not. We plan to file online if that helps.

3) We have NOT been out of the U.S. for longer than 6 months at any time since we all came here in 2022, but we DID take a 3-week trip to her home country to visit her family last year. The N-400 form does ask if we have taken any trips, so should we attach plane tickets showing a round trip along with our supporting evidence? Just to make sure there is no question that we weren t out of the country longer than 3 weeks.

4) Last thing, we just found out my wife is pregnant and we're expecting our second child sometime early December. That's a little over 7 months away so there's a non-zero chance that they might schedule an interview or oath ceremony at the same time she would give birth. Generally how lenient is USCIS on rescheduling for reasons around giving birth?

THANK YOU for getting this far, I know it's a lot but I'm very grateful you read all this and I hope to hear from you if you have any insights!

My Vietnamese Wife's name consists of 4 Names (Last Name, Middle Name, First Name #1 First Name #2). Example: Nguyen Thi Thu Trang
Essentially, her Vietnamese first name is "Thu Trang".

On her K-1 Visa, I-94 Entry Doc, Foreign Passport, and Marriage Certificate, it lists her Last Name as "Nguyen" and Given Name as "Thi Thu Trang".
She would like to go by "Trang" (First Name #2) on her future ID and documents, instead of "Thi Thu Trang", as listed on her current paperwork.

During her entry into the U.S. a couple of months ago, customs officers were calling her "Thi" instead of "Trang".

Rather than a Name Change, can we just change her name Name Ordering, so that it can become:

Last Name: Nguyen
Middle Name: Thi Thu
First Name: Trang

Or do we need to wait until her N-400 Citizenship Process starts until we can start the name ordering change?

Thank you so much!

- Tony