desmond&molly

I can understand why you're concerned since the second date could make it sound like you entered the US with the interion to get married.
I had a slightly similar case. My lawyer put the first date on the paperwork. My passport had a stamp and I-94 saying I arrived at Chicago airport (I'm Mexican so I did have a visitor visa). The I-94 was valid for 3 months. About 2 weeks after arriving I went to Toronto for 1 week. When I entered Canada my passport was stamped with entry visa for Canada. The bus driver told me not to turn in I-94 since I was coming back and within the original time limit. When I re entered the US (3 weeks after arriving at Chicago) the US immigration officer listened to my explanation. Checked my passport, both Canadian & US stamp, visa and I-94. Gave it all back to me WITHOUT writing or stamping anything and waved to the next person in line.
So you see case is different from yours but I would suggest that you put the first date in paperwork. Submit the copies of your passport pages and if it comes up then you have a valid explanation. If writing the explanation on a separate page makes you feel more comfortable then go ahead.
Good luck!

The I-130 is a petition saying I'm so and so and based on this relationship I want the beneficiary to be a lawful Us immigrant. The I-485 is the beneficiary saying this person petitioned for me and since I'm already in the country and I'm in this particular category and came in legally I want to change my status from "whatever the current status is" to legal permanent resident. The idea is that both are adjudicated or decided at the same time since they relate to each other.

Yeah you need that mailbox to have the right names. I put my name, her name (married) and her name (maiden). I missed the I-130 NOA letter because there was nothing on there.
This site needs to put that in the 'guides' section. It doesn't help to have a good package that results in nothing because you don't have the name on the mailbox
Good luck you'll get it sorted out!

You can't. You could request expedited processing on your EAD, however. Sometimes these are approved if you have an official offer letter in hand.

Wife just got approved. Walked out with a handshake and a letter stating she was approved and GC is en route.
I could write a long post about it but instead I'll say that I think we got a good IO, he was hungry (last appt before lunch), it was a Friday, and we *really* had our game together. Her dressed professionally and me in a nice suit and 12" stack of documentation and bringing interpreter despite ability for my wife and I to converse in spanish/Italian did not hurt either.
I told him that I would keep passing him artifacts off my 700 page stack until he told me had enough. That lasted for about 1 minute. He was all set. He said I was the first person to bring him every text message ever sent between petitioner & beneficiary
Note that my situation was a bit 'red flag' given recent prior divorce and short courtship. So this result exceeeds my expecations.
Thank you to everyone who has either offered a comment or advice in all my posts (there will be more soon enough) and for those whose posts I was able to search on.
This site is truly a gem in a sea of misinformtion.
We are looking forward now to spending less time wading through this process and more time being married and happy
Thanks again.

I used to be so patient! I taught 2nd and 3rd graders for God's sake LOL..I didn't think I would start losing it this soon, I'm happy I'm able to be with my husband as I wait, can't imagine what others are going through being apart

I'm not at all saying don't give them advice but some people are very harsh about it, basically callingthat person stupid... I have actually seen that. A simple "not a good idea" and an explanation would suffice. No need to be mean to people.

Don't have personal experience with this situation but I imagine that having overstayed for 18 years they will ask about work or how he earned his living. Probably ask where he worked, how he was able to withou papers (like did he use false information or ids) and about paying income taxes. But that's just my speculation. Good luck to Your parents and is good idea to post about their interview for people in future with this situation.

Let's not all get our panties in a bunch over this new policy. This is political trickery - nothing more.
Remember that this is the same president who presided over the deportation of more than 800,000 illegals in two years - more than any other president in the history of the United States over an equal time period. He claims this was to curry favor with Republicans in order to get them to go along with some sort of immigration reform bill. And what sort of immigration reform bill did he think he was going to get if he had to kick 800,000 people out of the country in order to get it? Did he think a bill that required that sort of #######-for-tat payoff was going to include some form of amnesty? Not a chance!
This latest move is unilateral, and perfectly timed to coincide with the upcoming election. He wants Hispanic voters to conveniently forgot those 800,000 he sent packing, and remember his new executive decree (since he doesn't have the power to change the law) that only criminals will be deported.
His past history belies his motives. Don't let this fool you. Whether you're an advocate of compassionate treatment of illegals with a path to legalization, or staunchly opposed to any form of amnesty, this sort of executive trickery isn't good for anyone. It was bad when Bush did, and it's just as bad when Obama does it. This guy flaps in whichever direction the political winds are blowing. If he's reelected you can expect to see this policy changed. He has nothing to lose by alienating Hispanic voters after the next election because he can't run for a third term, and his past history proves he's not bothered by deporting people en masse. If he's not reelected you can STILL expect to see this policy changed. Republicans after overwhelmingly in favor of enforcing immigration law.
In the meantime, what is really different? Are illegals now given a path to legalization? No. Are they getting any sort of long-term promise that they won't be deported? No. The only thing they're getting is a temporary reprieve, as well as the chance to apply for a work permit. As long as they're here and working, might as well get some tax money from them, right?

here's a link to the memo http://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure-communities/pdf/prosecutorial-discretion-memo.pdf
as you can see the date is from June 17. So the only "new" thing is that this discretionary review will be applied to deportation cases already in process. And remember any immigrant (even in exeptional cases naturalized citizens) can be put under deportation proceedings. So there's every sort of case including long time permanent residents, asylum seekers, overstayed visas, people rejected for adjustment of status that as we know leads to being put in deportation proceedings.
Anyway without getting political, the policy is about reviewing cases as gray rather than black and white. so instead of a huge backlog of 300 thousand cases that go on for years, rather saying these are the worst (criminals, repeat overstayers or border crossers, possible terrorists) let's process their cases first and setting aside those that except for being undocumented are not a threat. Very important - those cases set aside DO NOT end, they are closed FOR NOW and can be reopened at any time. The person's immigration status does not change - some may be eligible to APPLY for a work permit but that's not guaranteed. So they won't be getting green cards or be able to apply for citizenship, etc.
Of course there's the whole political side of it, why is it being done now (cuz of elections) who is it meant to appease (immigration reform activists) etc... but that's a whole other thread that sadly still can't seem to happen in a civilized way

So it sounds like the best situation is to leave before she accumulates the 365 days of overstay and then just accept the 3 year ban - which is not that long a time specially since she doesn't have family in the US. With a chance of a waiver if she reapplyies through marriage with US citizen.
But before she leaves or before the interview whichever is first, send a letter requesting a withdrawl of the petition & AOS. Make sure she keeps evidence of when she does leave as evidence for the ban.