GhQuestions

I wasn't sure how to post directly in the Ghana portal. Ghana has moved over to a new interview appointment platform that has been buggy since it launched Aug 26th. Has anyone been able to successfully add a Case ID yet?

The money you're going to spend on lawyers and failed attempts to get this visa would probably be better spent on buying your girlfriend plane tickets to come visit you in some picturesque European university while you do your MBA there. 

4 hours ago, jan22 said:

USCIS requests DNA to prove the relationship in several high fraud countries for cases where there are no supporting documents available or can't be trusted.  The test kit is sent to the Embassy and the collectiin taken under consular officerobservation. 

 

If done proactively (i.e., before requested by USCIS), it is important to be sure the lab sends the results directly to USCIS, labelled with your case number.

As I mentioned in my reply to @randy32, there's a part of the I-130 where you can upload DNA results as part of your initial application. That screenshot I posted comes from within the I-130 application I'm preparing on the USCIS site. Not sure if this is something new, but the AABB lab we called from the approved list seemed familiar with it. Since we will be submitting the results as part of the initial I-130 filing, there won't be a case number until after it's submitted. 

Perhaps the allow DNA tests as part of the original submission now to get ahead of the issue and prevent time wastage with followup appointments. But it's part of the official I-130 form now that you do online if you don't have supporting documents. 

7 minutes ago, randy32 said:

DNA testing is done when requested for by the embassy not before.

 

I have not heard of USCIS or NVC asking for DNA testing if the beneficiary is outside the country.

 

Also trying to time immigration process is practically impossible these days

When you submit the I-130, there's a page where they ask for evidence of relationship, and the final box allows you to submit DNA evidence (screenshot below)

To update, we called an AABB approved lab and have scheduled the tests, so I guess I'll continually update this thread with how it goes in case someone else ends up with the same question one day. He'll be tested here in the US, the kids will go to a lab in their country, and it's all kept within chain-of-custody. Should have the results in less than 3 weeks. 

Hi everyone, 

We're working on bringing my husband's teenage sons (from a previous relationship) to the US now that he is a citizen. One is 16, the other 14, and I really want them to do their first entry between the ages of 16-18 so that they are citizens upon arrival and get 10 year passports the first time around. We are planning to submit I-130 for the older one now and I realize that this is actually a dangerous timeline now with how slow things go. 

They will definitely need to do DNA tests because none of the other evidence they ask for is possible to get (they don't have baptismal records, the school records from young childhood don't exist, etc.). I've heard that there's a backup of getting the DNA tests done at the Ghanaian Embassy right now. A few questions:

(1) Does it make sense to apply ASAP and wait for the USCIS to demand the DNA test?

(2) Or is better to submit the application along with an AARB approved DNA test, even if that means waiting 2-3 months to submit the I-130?

Other questions:

(3) Can we submit the I-130 (like, today) and then update the application with the DNA results once they become available?

(4) Does the testing HAVE to be done at the Embassy, or if there is an AARB approved lab in the country, can the two of them visit there together with their passports and have a chain-of-custody process done there? He visits his home country every few months to see the kids, so he could possibly do this in July. 

Thanks for any help!

He didn't say when/where he worked. Does the work restriction apply (1) during class time only, or for the entire duration of the visa and (2) does it apply only to work in the US, or to work at home as well? If the work was performed in his home country, for a company/person in his home country, while he was there, when class wasn't in session, this seems like a gray area. 

5 hours ago, Fr8dog said:

Read the RFE again. Mine said the same thing but when I read it again I noticed they listed what they had on file. All of that was from the AOS. All my ROC evidence went missing. I had copies and sent those and all was well after that. Also make sure you show that both you and your wife are at the same address, include copies of both drivers licenses not just yours.

That's a really good point about checking what the RFE said, and good eye for catching and realizing that they'd just not even looked at what you sent for your ROC. 

We sent in my husband's ROC around October 2018 and just got it in the mail this week. But his case status online still shows the latest action being his fingerprinting in April, so you can't really trust that. Also, we're in the same region as you. 

We filed his N400 this week. The 90 day rule does apply for the N400 as well, and you don't have to wait for the I-751 to be approved to file it, so if you're ready go ahead. However, perhaps I'd call about the I-751 to see what's going on. If there's something about the already provided evidence they aren't OK with, you might want to make sure your N400 evidence is even beefier. 

Have you had any issues prior to this that might explain why it's taking them long to review your file?

@Wiseman239295, do either of you have retirement accounts at work? Like 401ks? Or do you have retirement accounts at all, like IRAs? We had similar issues showing "joint living" because I had to open stuff in one state before my husband could join me, and then we moved into an apartment where all utilities are covered, so nothing in our name. 

Here's a list of what I provided from our cover letter, with identifying info removed. My husband's ROC was approved with the evidence below, and there was no interview:

·       A copy of the front and back of Green Card

·       Copy of the front page of our car insurance policy 

·       Copies of a 1095-C from, a 1095-A from [state], and a 1095-A from [state], showing my husband as a covered individual on my health insurance policies from work and later the healthcare exchanges of the states we have lived in.  

·       A current bill from our current insurer, ___ , showing expenses for both of us on the same bill

·       A screenshot of our family Health Savings Account, showing my husband as the sole beneficiary as well as a copy of our debit cards from the account

·       A screenshot of my 401(k) showing my husband as the sole beneficiary

·       A voided check from our joint bank account

·       A copy showing the backs and fronts of credit cards from a shared credit card account

·       A copy of our joint federal tax return for 2016

·       A copy of our joint federal tax return for 2017

·       Screenshots of my personal Facebook page showing posts from our first and second anniversaries (I made my page is publicly accessible if you need to verify)

·       An invitation letter for [husband] to perform at an event at my alma mater and a copy of our reservation for that stay

·       Flight reservations for our mutual friends’ wedding. We misplaced the original invitation but I included an email conversation showing the “Save the date” 

·       Flight reservations to visit our friends’ vacation home in

·       Flight reservations to visit [state] before our move here

·       Flight reservations, hotel reservations, a copy of husband’s Schengen visa, EU entry stamps on both of our passports, to visit _____ for the _____ Festival

·       Pictures of us together 

I also included the following explanation (this is verbatim with identifying info removed):

• I wanted to also clarify that joint utility accounts are not included in our evidence because I had to move to [state] to start a new job before my husband had been approved for his CR-1, so all of the accounts were set up before he had a Social Security number or permission to be in the US. Since we’ve moved, we have been living in a rental where utilities are included in the price, so all internet, electricity, water, gas, and trash collection bills are in our landlord’s name. Additionally, our cell phones are on a family plan with the rest of my immediate family, so we don’t have a cell phone bill addressed to us. 

So, we were missing a lot of the stuff you were but it turned out OK. Are either of you active on social media? Do you have anniversary posts, wedding posts, etc., with a lot of likes and comments? Every time we submit something I make screenshots of posts like that with all the comments expanded (which shows that your marriage is known about by lots of people). Do you have pictures together at functions like weddings? Personal mail addressed to both of you (like invitations, thank you cards, Christmas cards, etc.)?

4 hours ago, Thegirl said:

The answer is YES it does say Ever and apart from the examples say OTHERWISE even a volunteer would answer yes. Yes the explanation will clear it up. It would be much worse to lie.

Yup, I ended up answering "Yes", explaining the situation, and then in the area where you can include additional evidence I included screenshots from the official program photographers webpage showing him teaching. Hope it doesn't cause any issues.  

We're filling out my husband's N400 and there are a few questions in the Moral Character section (Part 12, #16) that have me wondering how to answer.

Sorry I never came back, got caught up at work. To update info for other people in the future, in case anyone is ever interested:

We applied for an exception to do DCF and in Amsterdam and were granted permission to do so.

• When we got permission we were told to file I-130s in person a week later. We did so.
• We received packet three in the mail less than two weeks later, immediately sent that we were ready for interview, and received a date about 6 weeks later (this was this past Tuesday)
• He got put into AP for a week, and was approved today. We don't know what the AP was about. Questions they focused on were his ex and children with her and whether I know about them (I do, we lived together in Ghana for years), whether he had ever had police issues in the US (he never had, but they kept asking over and over).

Regarding moving to another forum, I think his country of origin is still relevant, especially given the suspicion that Ghanaian passport holders have to deal with. Neither of us are Dutch, even though we went through the Amsterdam consulate.

Anyways, it all worked out now. I need to update my own chart and then I'll fill in the formal timeline so the datapoints come up for other people.

My husband had his interview today at the Amsterdam Embassy and was issued a white slip with Administrative Processing checked, and no request for documents. They did not keep his passport, but told him that he should probably expect to hear from them within 2 weeks.

He could not think of any specific moment in the interview that signaled what set them off.

Most resources I can find that have to do with 221(g) white slips are for H1-B visas, not CR/IR-1. Also, I've seen some sources say that white slip means it's being sent "back" to USCIS, but we filed directly via an exception, so I'm not sure to what extent USCIS has been involved at all up to this point.

Any ideas or advice? Anyone else get white-slipped by Amsterdam in the past?

Uhm, you can bring it with you, however our Embassy (Greece) didn't accept it up front. They wanted us to first get approval of I-130 and then gave us the links to everything else.

That said, approval of our I-130 would have been only 6 days IF we didn't get an RFE which set us back two months!!

If you are the only case, chances are they will work pretty fast on your case.

They did NOT ask for any evidence of bona fide marriage from us but we also have a child together (not sure if this is why).

We also submitted everything in person too

GOOD LUCK!! :)

Thanks for your response! I guess I'll try and have everything ready just in case. Time is of the essence so I'd like to do everything I can to get this all done ASAP.

Will they tell us if our I-130 is approved on the spot, since they're asking us to come in person with the originals? Or do we still have to wait to be notified?

Also, do you mind mentioning what was missing with your application that set you back? Just want to make sure I don't make the same mistake

Thanks!

Hi,

I (USC) and husband (non USC) have an appointment to submit I-130 in person next week (we were granted a DCF exception at the Embassy in Amsterdam).

They told us to bring:

• I-130,
• G325 for each of us
• original marriage certificate
• original divorce certificates
• passports (obviously)
• local residence permits
• one picture each

This seems like a sparse list.

1. Should we bring other evidence of a bona fide relationship, or is this not the stage for that?
2. Expanding on Question #1, are we allowed to submit the I-130 and DS-230 with evidence all at the same time to speed things up, or do we have to wait for something to happen after the I-130 is approved?

Thanks!

Hi GhQuestions,

I have a friend who was married traditionally but both agreed that the marriage will not work so they went their separate ways. My friend finds his\her way to the US and after sometime falls in love with a USC and they marry.At the interview, it was revealed that since he\she was married he/she had to procure the divorce decree. Problem is that not all traditional marriages are registered and there is no way to prove when the marriage is dissolved. Long story short, my friend had to had his/her dad write a letter stating that he was there when marriage was contracted but he is also aware that marriage was dissolved since the husband/wife's people performed customary rites that the marriage had been dissolved. The former spouse had to also write a letter to attest of the same. both were signed and had to be notarized by the court in the city where the marriage took place. It then was brought to Accra for the Judicial Service to place their seal of approval on it and further, the Ghana Embassy in Dc had to also endorse it.

It is a huge headache that said friend went through to acquire all of this. So if this man is willing to prove to you that he has truly left said wife, then my suggestion is you have to talk with him that this is the process. Also, he has a child, the courts in Ghana has to be satisfied that he is taking care of his responsibility. I would add my voice of caution as others have already. Open your eyes and if something does not feel right do not dismiss it.

Good luck

Yeah, I know Ghana is one of the places where they inspect every detail, which is why I want to make sure this is taken care of ahead of time. Is there any mechanism to do this legally through "wajo"?

Traditional marriages don't have certificates of marriage and are good in Ghana but the U.S. don't recongnise tradtional marriages and a legal marriage. A friend of mine had a traditional one in Ghana but when he filed papers for her he had to file as a financee application....

There's a line in the DV lottery instructions (I applied on his behalf last year) that makes me suspicious:

"On your entry you must list your spouse (husband or wife) and all unmarried children under 21 years of

age. You must list your spouse even if you are currently separated from him/her, unless you are legally

separated (i.e., there is a written agreement recognized by a court or a court order). If you are legally

separated or divorced, you do not need to list your former spouse." I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading that common-law marriages and traditional marriages count as "married" in these cases.

Also, haven't people been rejected for K-1's because they showed pictures from the traditional engagement and the embassy mistook it for a marriage ceremony?

And since they already have him on record twice as having been married when they issued his prior visas, wouldn't they demand to see proof of divorce in order for him to be eligible to apply as my fiance?

For calling your SO, I find it's actually cheapest to have them call you from within Ghana. Vodafone to U.S. works out to something like 9 cents a minute. And the sound quality is usually more clear. However, for other situations, I use Rebtel, it's 18 cents a minute, and I prefer it to calling cards because you can see a record, down to the second, of every all and how much it cost.

Hi everyone! New to VJ but I've been lurking for a while.

I have been dating a guy from Ghana for some time and it has reached the point in our relationship where I'm thinking about marrying him in the future. In the relationship he was in before he met me, he had a child with the woman and performed a traditional marriage at the baby's outdooring. He has had multiple visas in the past, for short stays, to a few different countries including the U.S. In all cases put down "married", so it is now "on the record" with the U.S. embassy here. He left her, and no longer considers her his wife, but I doubt his considerations will be enough to satisfy an immigration officer.

In order for us to get married, he will have to divorce the woman. My question is, since traditional marriage is recognized as legitimate on some U.S. forms, do they also recognize a traditional divorce as legitimate? And how would one prove a traditional divorce since it would happen outside of the legal system? Does he have to go through some kind of legal process as well to satisfy U.S. immigration to demonstrate he's no longer married to her? What would that be? I'm just wondering what's the best way to help him go about this.

Thanks for your help!