David W. Desguez

Congratulations!

As a married man to an american woman that came to the US under a VWP (they didn't want to deliver me a visa...), I just been approved for a green card myself. The story here : http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/302090-alien-married-to-usc-in-the-usa-under-vwp/page__view__findpost__p__4781356

And yes, if you are under a VWP and married to a USC, you have a pretty good chance to reach the PRS.

Again, congratulations!

Tourist, yes, but the AOS is supported by the petitioner, being my wife. Is it not a family related AOS?

All, thank you for your responses the past few months. I especially want to thank pushbrk for always being optimist and straight forward, very good help.

The option of adjusting status at this point IS a viable one for you but it is a fine line you're walking and you MUST stay until the process is complete. Leaving will effectively abandon the adjustment process and leave you only with the spouse visa route. Be aware that if your adjustment is denied' date=' there is no appeal for those who entered on the VWP.[/quote']

I don't know if the line was fine. I never really felt it. As you said a little bit later in the topic, "adult issues require adult decision". I felt that my case was strong and that I didn't do anything wrong, or against the law. This topic, BTW, doesn't belong here, since as you said, I went for the AOS procedure. And I'm happy to say that it went super smoothly.

Yes, I landed in the USA for the second time in january, again with the VWP, just a month after leaving it. In between I got married. The problem with this system, I guess, is to find the right way. The right forms and to follow the steps. For this, the Visa Journey website and community, has been very helpful. I didn' go for the CR-1 or IR-1, but the permanent residency status. And I got it.

We send the full AOS package at the end of march. The first Notice of Action came in the mail a month after. Not a funny month to wait for some news. April 28th was a nice day. Everything is being process but still, we worry about the processing time. A week later, we received the appointment letter for the biometrics, scheduled for may 25th, 20 days later. Looks like things are going pretty fast now. The appointment goes very fine, pictures, digitales, goodbye. A week later on june 1st, I received my EAD/AP card, also called combo card. It took one month from the beginning of the procedure to the combo card in my hands. Two days later, on june 3rd, I received the convocation for the interview. Spooky. The well known tough interview. It's schedule for july 8th, a month later. July 8th came, a stressful day and a happy ending.

My green card should be in the mail in 1 to 4 weeks. From march 28th, when we mailed the package, to today july 'bastille day' 14th, the whole thing took 3 month and a half. And I was expecting 6 month to a year. Damn, that was fast. If you are confident in your case, this process is far from being as scary as a lot of people want you to believe.

Goodnight and goodluck. Et vive la France!

Everyone, thanks for your fast answers!

However, you seem to have come to the US with the intent on staying, which is a big no no.

He said "since then I live with my wife" which to me does not sound like a friendly visit, it sounds like coming to stay

The reason for my presence here, in the USA, is to be with my wife, since we just got married. I did not planned on staying here when I bought my tickets. I will not say that it is a friendly visit, it's more than that. I do have a roundtrip ticket and my departure ticket is schedule for april 18th, 2 days before the 90 days limit. The Immigration Officer in Newark, where I landed, had a hard time believing my words. He asked me what I've done during my last sejour in the USA (septembre to november 2010, roadtriping the west coast with my now wife), he asked me the reason of my come back, I said that we just got married in France and that I'm here to spend some time with my wife. I do live with her right now, because, well she's my wife and we spend time together, visiting her family, going to San Diego for Spring Break (she's a PhD student). I never thought about "cheating" the system. I came here with the idea of going back to France. And stated that!

What we did is : "Why not start the long process of immigration right now since I'm here." Was it a bad idea? We sent that I-130 and only this one, FOLLOWING the indications of USCIS employee in Phoenix after our first appointment there (early february.) A very kind woman, who never warned us about my situation. I did mention this situation (married to a USC + here under VWP) and they gave us the I-130 form to send. I'm very surprised reading your answers about the fact that my situation, basically, does not allow me to fill any paperwork!

The bold above is the kicker in this whole scenario. If you told the truth and there are no notations in your passport, you're probably OK. You didn't enter with the intent to stay. You changed your mind about staying when you were told by USCIS you couldn't extend but COULD adjust status. You're not allowed to enter on the VWP with immigrant intent but you ARE allowed to change your mind and intent AFTER entry. It's a fine line. Walk it carefully.

I am telling the truth. I'm not here illegally and I DO NOT want to do this wrong. And I realize now, as you say, how fine is the line. I have no notation on my passport. In my mind there was never a intention of "extending" my stay. We did start some immigration paperwork since nobody at the USCIS warned us about the fact that it is not possible. So we started the process, sadly as you say Just Bob, apparently not in a good way. I do not want to jeopardize the start of this, that's why we went, a second time, to ask about the possibilities I have. "If I go back to France, what about the interview?", "I enter the adress of my wife's apartment, where I'm staying during my sejour, if I go back, do we have to change the adress?". I showed my I-797C to the USCIS employee in Phoenix and he told me to photocopy this letter and send it with my passport stamp (january 20 / april 20) and all the other forms. And the fees... I met with an official doctor, got all my vaccins and my sealed enveloppe. Should I stop everything? Am I sending forms and fees against a big wall of bricks?

I'm very confused!

Thanks again!

Hi everyone,

So here's the situation. I'm French and married since a little bit more than two month now with the most beautiful woman. The wedding happened in France, where we were together for the Christmas holidays. We went back to the US on january 20th. I, since then, live with my wife in the Phoenix Area. Without a K-3 visa, I entered the US territory under the Visa Waiver Program. We sent on february 15th the I-130 form, with G-325A for both of us and a lot of documents to prove our new marital situation. We received two days letter the I-797C saying that the I-130 "has been received and is in process." They issued me a receipt number and a priority date (february 17, 2011). Since then, we're waiting. The problem I'm facing is that I will have to go back to France before April 20th (VWP max 90 days). I was concerned that leaving the USA will jeopardize the process of my form I-130.

So we went to our nearest USCISs Office (Phoenix) to ask some questions. The main one was : "Does being 'in process' by the California Service Center allow me to extended my stay more then 90 days." The answer was no. They told us to fill the I-485 to register for Permanent Residence (with another G-325A), a I-765 for Employment Authorization and for my wife an Affidavit of Support. (I also intend on filling the form I-131 for Travel.) As soon as this 'package' will be sent to USCIS Chicago, the employee at the Phoenix USCIS Office told me that I will be able to stay in the USA during that process (but also not able to leave, until 6 month to one year.) A condition that was fine with me since I intend on living and staying with my wife here, in the USA.

So I didn't have any problem to fill the I-485 as "a spouse of a USC with approved or concurrently filed I-130" except part 3 : Nonimmigrant Visa Number, Date Visa Issued. This is my main concern. I don't have any visa (I do not have my K-3 yet), I don't have any number and nobody ever delivered me a I-94 form when I landed in Newark. The US Immigration Officer inspected me (for almost 2 hours...) but did not give me any form. So I filled everything with N/A, stating that I'm here under the VWP. Is that a problem? Except that part, everything went fine.

Now, for the I-765, my concern is my category of eligibility. There's nothing about someone under Visa Waiver Program. There's a category for someone married to a USC but it is under "K-3 Visa" which I don't have. Kind of confused here. I was thinking to go with this one and then I realize that all of this is, of course, a lot of money. I don't want to mess this up.

I guess my question is : Is it ok to send this 'package' before even getting a Visa?

Kindly,

David