alizon

The terms of the I-864 can be enforced in civil court, and apparently, also in family court:

http://www.familylawyerspittsburgh.com/i864-immigration-affidavit-spousal-support/

Touché, I stand corrected...in 2 states out of 50, at least. But the I-864 does seem like largely a moot point if you're getting divorced. If the USC is the breadwinner in the family, they're going to be paying alimony and/or child support anyway. I guess I was imagining a scenario where there was no legitimate claim for alimony, whether the USC would be vulnerable to suit from the beneficiary in an informal separation or even if they were still married (what a fun relationship that would be...).

Anyway, not a lawyer here, just enjoying some speculation.

But the contract is between the USC and the state, which means that even if the beneficiary wants to sue to be kept above 125% of poverty, they would have to get the state to sue the USC on behalf of the beneficiary, don't you think? The STATE has the right to pursue compensation if the contract is broken...I doubt the beneficiary could do it independently. It makes sense that the gov would sue to get back any government support the beneficiary took, but it seems extremely unlikely that the state would spend the funds on a lawsuit just to do the beneficiary a favor.

Instances cited about the USC having to divide their assets with their spouse have to do with laws about marriage and co-owned property, not the I-864. Prenups are frequently overturned, and assets are split, even between USCs.

CASE COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dancing: :dance: :dance:

YAY!! Congrats!!

I got a false RFE for the IV fee yesterday afternoon, despite having paid it on Friday and it already showing up as PAID on the payment portal Monday morning. Seems like even with the process computerized, the left hand still doesn't know what the right is doing!

Thanks a lot, your info really helps. I'll submit all the articles, deaths, etc... I am just worried that opening up the expedite can of worms will come back to haunt me ( I am having immigration anxiety)...but like you said it shouldnt hurt to ask right

Just don't go overboard with the evidence and submit every article published on Egypt's political state in the past year. Be selective and use only what's necessary to prove the argument you lay out in your letter. Imagine that you're receiving this request from a stranger amongst hundreds of other requests: you'd want something that's clear, well-documented, and to the point. Don't let them decide which pieces of evidence out of a stack of hundreds are important, because then I bet they'd just choose to ignore all of it.

If you do that, I think you'll avoid a can of worms!

What kind of evidence do you think I should submit. I see you submitted a successful expedite request? May I ask what that was for and what evidence you submitted?

Do you think my situation may trigger an expedite approval?

Mine was totally unrelated to what you're facing. I'm not really sure what would constitute evidence for that situation, but a letter explaining your argument for the expedite would be a start. Then evidence of the things that you have listed like the embassy threatening to close, maybe a letter from your wife explaining why she fears for her safety? You might even have to explain Egyptian current events for the past year...who knows if USCIS people read the news.

No idea whether it'll be approved or not. Seems to vary some based on who sees your request, which field office, etc.

And when I say evidence of things like the embassy and airports threatening to close, I mean something from a third party (reliable news articles, press releases), not just your word.

Well, my wife is in Egypt, I requested expedite based on the violence and unstable circumstances in Egypt. The US Embassy is threatened to close down, as well as airport closures, etc... that have occurred in the past. I am worried for my wife's well-being and daily safety (as well as the possbility of a military lockdown). So basically they asked for more evidence. I don't think they pulled my file or anything to check it, they just said they were unable to determine if my request met the requirements for expedite and to submit more evidence.

What do you think?

I think you should send in your evidence and hope for the best. I don't think 1 failed expedite request is going to hurt you. They might start getting reluctant to help you after several failed attempts.

Neither stubs, nor employment letters, nor extra years of tax returns (2nd and 3rd most recent) are required, but they are sometimes recommended to help you build the case that you are capable of supporting the immigrant. Since you're saying your income isn't going to be judged enough to support your wife, you probably don't need that extra evidence. Your cosponsor, however, might because they are going to be the ones that the US expects to fulfill the contract you both are signing.

The cover sheet with the barcode can be printed after you've paid the AOS fees on the payment portal. There's a button to print it and a button to email it on the receipt page. (Assuming everyone uses online payment? I'm not sure about that).

PS: I believe that if you're using copies of tax returns (instead of tax transcripts), W2s are required.

Not sure what happened, but you're still within business hours for the NVC operators, so try giving them a call?

It's so boring when the operator wants to check both phone numbers and email addresses EVERY time you call... They say my phone number so fast I wouldn't be able to recognize it anyway !

I know...it gets super obnoxious. And I always get tripped up on whether I should say my husband's name properly or the American way, then the poor operators struggle with both of our names...even after I just said them...

The operator I talked to this morning seemed slightly confused...but she seemed indicate that it was a false RFE for the DS-260 and supporting documents. IV fee was taken out of my bank account this morning, so it should shift to PAID on the site today, and hopefully that means the DS-260 will be available to fill out today as well. We've been ready for it all weekend!

Thank for that info. When you say apply for petition..which form are you referring to? 129f? I looked @ the processing time for 129f for Nebraska Serv Center and it shows that the apps currently being processed are from Jan 2008!! That's ridiculous or that information hasnt been updated correctly. I think my service center is Nebraska since I live in Michigan. Anyway, since my spouse is Canadian citizens and Canadian citizens can come to the US freely, why wouldn't she be able to come to US after marrying me?

Thanks again.

Canadians can't come freely to the US...if you mean come and stay as long as they want. There is a 6 month time limit out of any 1 year period for a Canadian without a student/immigrant/work visa, so your wife will get turned away at the border if the US border agents believe that she is coming across with the intention to stay longer than her allowed time. She is allowed to visit, however, if she can convince the border agents that she doesn't plan to immigrate until she actually gets the appropriate visa. My husband has visited me several times since we got married and filed the I-130 (knock on wood, because he has a short visit planned this week), but he has always been careful to bring documents to prove that he has significant ties to Canada (e.g. his lease, a return plane ticket, letter from employer, etc.).

Thanks for the information Alizon! I will give them a call tomorrow!

No problem! Forgot to note, I don't think there should be any difference between K1 and IR-1/CR-1 at that stage...but correct me if I'm wrong!

Hello Everyone, I received my NOA2 on Jan 10th however when I call the NVC hotline they still say they have no record of my case. Is this normal or is there something I am missing?

Normal. Our case took about 10 days between NOA2 and NVC receiving it, and then another 2.5 weeks to get a case number. If you're only calling the automated system, it will say they have no record of your case until you get a case number (3 weeks or more). If you talk to an operator, they can tell you if the NVC has received your documents before the case is actually entered into the system and a number is generated.

You can file married filing joint and yes you need to get an ITIN number for her. However, I caution you as filing with a non-resident alien spouse disqualifies you for many credits. You should ASK a tax professional that understands this issue.

From what I've been reading, in order to file jointly, you have to elect to treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. Not sure what credits you're saying the OP would be disqualified for, but he wouldn't be filing with a non-resident alien spouse, technically. So if you want to file jointly, you're going to have to deal with your spouse's income as well, though I think you can exclude up to a certain amount because her "tax home" is in another country.

I'm planning to file jointly, and I'm going to a professional to make sure I don't screw it up!

Here's info from the IRS: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96734,00.html

can we just sent the W2 for 3yrs n paystub for 6mos as a supporting docs of our AOS?

need help guys!

Please read the guides and look at the questions other people have already asked...people are reluctant to spend their time answering questions that have already been addressed in several places, especially when the same person is asking the same question repeatedly.

Maybe mods can merge these three topics posted by the same user?

What Saylin said. There won't be any changes in the system until Monday, so just check back then. Most likely, you'll be able to pay. My choice of agent form was accepted on Wednesday, IV bill was partially invoiced (I could click the link, but not check the box) on Thursday, and I could actually select the box and pay the bill at the end of the business day on Friday. I was able to pay with Chrome, so I don't think the browser makes a difference.

Oh no!!! Hopefully it's only because they are waiting on your DS230 package and not something you may have missed in the AOS package.

It could just be a false RFE for the DS-260 and IV package.

I hope you two are right...that hadn't really occurred to me, but the message really put a damper on my day. A representative did say the other day that my AOS package had been "accepted." Whether that means that everything was in order or merely that they were able to open the files, I don't know.

Grr...AVR says something is missing or incomplete, and they sent me a letter about it yesterday. I'll call them on Monday to see what's up, but I guess it has to be something in the AOS package. Grumble. I was so meticulous about it all!

The wiki on DS-230 should reassure you that you have what you need: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/DS-230

Checking the guides and wikis first will give you faster answers than the forum when you have basic questions.

Congrats!! On to the next step

Thanks! I think that's it for me...now it's all up to my husband.

IV bill finally invoiced! Using Chrome to pay worked perfectly well.

well i just want to remind you about my question.

We received the IV FEE BILL thru email from NVC after 10days of payment of the AOS fee. shall we still wait to be generated until it'll available to be paid?

thanks again!

IV bill invoice is not linked to payment of AOS, it's linked to the acceptance of your Choice of Agent (261 or 3032 form). So you AOS fee might have been paid 2 days ago or 30 days ago, but your IV bill will only be invoiced after the Choice of Agent is in your case file. It took them a week to accept our choice of agent form, and now we're in the same position as you, IV bill says we can pay it, but the box to select it is greyed out. You can either wait for it to resolve itself on its own (which it seems to have done for other VJers this month) or call the reps if you're really concerned.

Dear NVC,

I would like to give you lots of money. Please allow me to do so.

Sincerely,

Alizon

Yeah it happens a lot. A day or two later though it's clickable

Yeah, that's what I figured.