Jason-Sasha

There's no set window of time for adjusting status. No need for explanations. Thanks for your info.

Ok, so our son will be celebrating his first birthday soon. And finally we are ready to adjust status! I am nearly finished with the paperwork for this stage. I noticed today on USCIS.gov that there is no fee for the I-864. HOWEVER, the Department of State requires a fee of 70.00 when reviewed domestically. Does this mean anyone applying within the U.S. must pay this fee? A bit confusing. thanks for the assistance.

Hello VJ!

I can't imagine how you've grown since Sasha and I last posted. It's been so long, in fact, that I cannot remember. Sasha arrived here with her K-1 visa last March. Our first year together in America is coming to completion. Our journey lasted quite a long time, but now seems like a distant memory fading to black. I remember the agony we felt, day and night as the months passed slowly. VisaJourney was our savior. Thanks to this community, we were able to bypass common mistakes, interact with countless others in the same boat, and survive the lonely nights....with hope. With everyone's support, we made it. It's a year later and so much has happened.

Sasha and I were married shortly after her arrival. I had a roommate up until she came and the transition was pretty smooth. She moved in and Matt moved out. Sasha went to work almost immediately. She had been here and worked here twice before (2005, 2006) so here transition was a piece of cake. She could work for 90 days while we adjusted her status. Nothing to it. Ahem. The financial transition was very smooth at first. A two income household became a two income household. No problem. We barely got through the first month before discovering that we were going to have a baby. It was something that we dreamed about for a long time. So we were delighted by the news. But we knew the reality. That filing for adjustment might be delayed. Planning for a baby happened quickly and took every bit of time and money. When Sasha's work authorization expired that two income household became one, with added expenses. I wish I could say that I was prepared. I thought I was prepared. I was wrong. I work in hospitality, in a vacation destination city. My income has always been pretty good. No 2 years are ever the same for me, but 2008 was the worst. And 2007 was nearly my best. Go figure. I'm 34 and have seen several economic shifts since I started working in the late 80's. Ups and downs. But I've never really been personally affected. Aside from the typical inflation. I was single, renting, moving from state to state. Mini-recessions seemingly skipped right over me. Irony is a fickle bi.tch.

So, we spent the summer and fall preparing. Meanwhile my income is decreasing and savings have dwindled. By winter, Sasha was deeply pregnant. Due on the 20th of December. We postponed filing for her adjustment, until after she had the baby. We really had no choice. There were other priorities that jumped to the top of the list. I'm not normally one to spout off about such deeply personal things like finances and social standing, but unfortunately these details are pertinent to the questions I'll be asking at the end of this post. My apologies.

The holidays were approaching quickly. I worked more and more as the year came to a close. The baby's room was ready on time. We were very excited to be a family. And a bit worried, understandably. From the beginning of the pregnancy, which we discovered later was just about the moment her luggage passed customs , we had no medical insurance established. It just happened a little faster than our private adjustments. Know what I mean? Prenatal care was paid out of pocket, since no insurance company would accept us with a "preexisting condition" at a reasonable rate. What a difference that made in quotes. Understandable. I just never had to consider that before. Out of sight, out of mind? Oh yeah. Luckily, we were able to pay reduced rates for her prenatal care and frequent appointments. By December Sasha was being seen weekly, and our home was taking shape for a family. Her due date came....and went. We were ready. Then the thought occurred to us. Taxes. We went from 2 incomes, not-that-bad economy to 1 income, pregnant, uninsured, collapsed local economy. Yes, Taxes! It was our one hope of getting ahead again. By this time, we couldn't afford to file for adjustment. not with everything going on in our lives. But we knew that finally filing would allow Sasha to get back to work. Not right away of course. If Alexander managed to make his entrance before New Year's, a tax break. that added tax refund would pay for the adjustment, the new medical (forgot that medical exams expired after a year. Sasha had hers in January last year. Rats.) ,the HPV prevention (#######? ...Amazing) ,and any other little expenses. We estimate our total cost for this step to be close to 1500 bucks.

Alexander entered our world on December 29th. He's absolutely perfect. We're both so in love with him. He's changed us instantly. I don't need to tell you that it's simply amazing. And on top of it all, he gave us a second little miracle. I used to hate tax season as a single man in a tipped profession. Yikes. Now I know the secret. But seriously, Alex is nearly 10 weeks old now, and he's growing so quickly. And his development is facsinating us. My sweet Sasha has become a wonderful, loving mommy. You should see the way they look at each other. It's my favorite thing.

It's March and we're ready to proceed. Finally. But now we have some serious questions. Maybe you can help us with a bit of info.

1) When Alex was born Sasha was granted emergency medicaid to cover the cost of her hospitalization (nearly 5 days). During our K-1 process we filled out an Affidavit of Support. Basically, this is a document that protects Uncle Sam from supporting an immigrant. I've never been one that needed assistance from the government for anything. Now I'm worried that accepting emergency medicaid will hurt us. Of course, my wife cannot be approved for any other type of assistance because she's not yet a permanent legal resident. She's here legally because of her visa and our marriage. Will we have any issues because of this emergency medicaid? Will they even know?

2) Because 2008 was a poor year for travelers to Williamsburg I was forced to take a second job, to suppliment our income. I'm a skilled carpenter and deck builder so I took a part time job working for a close friend who is a contractor. My earnings in the restaurant were considerably less than the previous year. Partly because I worked less, as I was taking weeks off at a time to complete contracts for this builder. Usually was a better financial decision. Unfortunately, my boss, a close friend, failed to claim my earnings. I was expecting him to I-9 me, as it would add to my earnings, as observed by the IRS. I usually earn between 30,000 and 40,000 a year. When doing our taxes this year, I noticed that I made only 20,000 on paper. Yikes. The poverty guidelines for a household of 3 is over 22,000 for the year. Today it occurred to me that maybe I could have claimed an additional 3,000 in "other" earnings, so my returns would show that I cleared the line. But, here's the thing. My wife only worked for less than 80 days. she did pretty good on paper, considering. Something close to 6,000. We filed jointly. Which put our adjusted gross income somewhere near 26,000. Will the new Affidavit of Support look at only my income for the year, or will they look at us collectively? (does my wife's taxable income add to my total?) Can we just send our original proof from last year's interview?

3) My wife's last full medical was right before her interview in January 2008. It's been just over a year. Is it absolutely necessary to have a new complete medical? And what's up with this Gardasil shot series? Its pretty expensive and as I understand its mandatory for this stage now. Is this true? I believe I spelled Gardasil correctly. The HPV prevention.

I'm sorry this post is so lengthy, but as I said this info was necessary for the questions we have. I don't want this to sound as if we're poor now. but we are definitely living a bit tighter than ever before. We're sure this will all change once Sasha's status has been adjusted. Thank you for taking the time to read this and giving us any helpful info. It's nice to finally be back on VJ. We look forward to talking to all of you!

Matt, thank you for info. It's really useful. I just contacted to one more civil surgeon in our area and she was very helpful. She told me what shots i can have and what shots i can't have now. So now thos part of AOS doesn't seem a problem any more. Still this process is very confusing.

By the way I managed to get the state issued id a week before my I-94 expired. Now my id expired as well but i still carry it with me instead of passport.

Thank you everyone for your responses. We are really greatful.

Sasha

....Another question. Sasha's last name is now different since we are married and her new SS card has been changed. When filling out all of these forms for AOS, should we use her new name? Even though her passport is in her maiden name? Thanks.

I Beleive things have changed recently regarding the medical aspect of AOS so I cannot help with that as my AOS was submitted Oct last year. Others may be able to chip in who have done that more recently.

I think the AOS can be submitted without any problems if the I-94 has expired.

The whole package is sent to Chicago ( if that is the correct office ) - and then it seems to be split up and sent off wherever it needs to be .....

Good Luck....

Thank you for replying. helpful info.

Hello everyone. It's been a while since we had anything to do with USCIS or Visajourney. Sasha and I were married in May and we've been busy working and planning the arrival of our first child. The time has finally come for us to adjust status. The guides here are very helpful, as well as the forums, but we still have many questions. I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. Thank you for any information you can provide.

1) I understand we do not need to provide an I-693 Medical Examination of Aliens Seeking Adjustment of Status, since she came here with a K-1 visa and had a medical exam within the last year. However, USCIS requires a vaccination supplement (I-693A). We cannot locate this form anywhere on the USCIS website. Only the full medical form. What to do?? **UPDATE** I've located the supplemental part "A" for the I-693. Can I print this out and take to the civil surgeon?

2) All civil surgeons that we've contacted say they will only do the vaccinations with a full medical exam and 200 bucks. Despite what we've read here on VJ from members who insist this is not neccesary . What to do??

3) Sasha is pregnant. And she should not receive some of these vaccinations while in such condition. Can this be waivered? What should we do? We can't wait until after the delivery to file this adjustment. It needs to be done now. Both USCIS officers we spoke with over the phone seemed pretty clueless to this question. Should we simply submit a doctor's letter stating she is pregnant and cannot receive the vaccinations? My gut tells me this will just trigger an RFE. What to do?

4) It seems some members have sent the work and travel authorization documents to different offices than their actual I-485. Are we supposed to send everything in one package to Chicago?

5) Part of the checklist for AOS states that the I-94 needs to be valid. However these expire after 90 days of arrival. We opted to wait for filing since it was not required to file for AOS within the first 90 days. Only marriage was required in that 90 day period. Sasha's expired 2 weeks ago. We have seen many couples who chose to wait long periods of time between marrying and filing. Will this cause a problem? she is here legally because we are married and she is allowed to be here through the process. And, of course, she did enter legally through JFK.

Well, that's all I have for now. But we want to thank everyone for their help. Its so damn confusing and the cavemen that work at USCIS are quite robotic in nature, not to mention VAGUE.

Hahahaha. Thank you so much, Jeffery. it's the birthday of our love today. We met on June 22 three years ago. We just finished celebrating. Everything has been great so far. we got married on May, 31 and we also found out that we are expecting a baby. Well, for quiet a while already. It was a pleasant surprise.

Congratulations on your visa!!! It's a great feeling to know that all the waiting is in tha past.

Sasha and Jason

Congratulations, Jeffery and Alla. Have a happy reunion and a happy life together. We are extremely happy for you and wish you all the best.

Sasha and Jason

Great info. Thanks. We were worried a little because her visa will expire on June 22nd. And I wasn't sure if we needed to file before that date. We haven't officially dropped the latest news on VJ, but I guess I should tell you all now. We are pregnant! And we are busier than ever trying to get everything just right. So, we thought about waiting to adjust her status. She's concerned about vaccinations and other shots she may receive during her medical for AOS. I certainly do not want to wait until after the birth to adjust status, but I needed to know if we could wait at least some time before doing so. Thanks again everyone.

Its been 2 months since we've posted anything on VJ, so first we'd like to say hello to everyone. Sasha arrived in America at the end of March. we've been very busy with our jobs, adjusting, and planning our wedding. We're getting married on the 31st of May. We decided to wait 2 months from her arrival to better plan all of our goals. Things are going pretty smoothly and we're very happy to be together finally. We have one very big question and cannot seem to find the answer anywhere in these forums...

Each K1 visa holder has 90 days to marry upon entering the country. Everyone knows this. We're marrying within that timeframe. Now, how much time do we have before sending our AOS paperwork and payments? Do they give you a new timeframe, or do you need to have that completed before the original 90 day window??? This is what is driving us a little nutty at the moment. June 22 is the 90th day. We will have been married for 3 weeks by then. But we'd like to wait an additional month before actually filing for AOS, for personal reasons. But we're just not sure of the time limit. And help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks all...

Congratulations, Robert and Elena! We are very happy for you. Soon all of us here wll be with our loved ones.

Sasha

Who gives a damn?? Is it really such a big competition? If this matters to you, then you have issues.

I know I'm a bit late, but ....Congratulations!

...and nice hats Jeff!

Pitcairn Islands , Mox?? Have I missed something?

Hi all!

I think its all in your head.

Congratulations! Great news for you both.

thank you all very much for welcoming me. It's truly the best time of my life now. Jason and I will post more after a while. Now we are enjoying every moment together. Never felt better.

Sasha

Good luck to you and Congratulations!

We're back!! Everything is great. Thank you everyone, for your well wishes. we're quite busy today with many tasks. We'll return to these threads very soon and give details of the POE.

Today's the day!

I'm leaving in 30 minutes for the airport. Will finally get to welcome my sweet Sasha to our new home. I'm so very excited.... I'll meet her in NY and we'll fly to Richmond together. We've been waiting for this day since she returned to Russia in 2006. I remember how broken hearted we that day. Our visa journey had not yet begun and the uncertainty for the future was unbearable. But after a year and a half she will return to our cozy little city. This is like a dream come true that I'm sure everyone here will experience soon, if they haven't already. Thanks again, to everyone of you for making this community what it is. ....

I better go now. Can't sit still.

I am back guys, hello everyone! I know it has been a long time but now i am back and very happy to read about all the good news.

Virgil, Carlene and Lora finally have great news, i am so happy for you guys i was hoping to read this news. I just go internet yesterday and i had to come and check on my VJ-Family.

As some of you know, i entered the US on march 3rd my POE was JFK and i had 1hour time to catch my connecting flight. When i got there i had to wait for about 15 min and then they took my fingerprint and the officer sent me to that office to get my work stamp for 90 days. I went in there and waited for 5 min and got

my passport with the stamp back, then i picked up my baggage and went on the next flight, everything took me about 35 min. I was so happy that finally something went smooth and Mel came to pick us up with roses, he gave my daughter white ones and i had red ones very sweet of him. We had to get married earlier than planed because his job is sending him on a trip sometime next week, so we got married on march 14th. It was just us and my little girl but it was very nice, tomorrow we are going to pick up the pictures, i cant wait to see them. After the wedding we went to the SSN office to apply for the SSN number, we also had the marriage cert with us but they didnt want to put my new name on it. They said they will make it in my maiden name and i should come back later to get it changed. My daughter couldnt get a SSN because she doesnt have a work authorization. They told us to file the Forms either I-766 or I-688B but we couldnt get those forms from no where. We tried to make an infopass to go to local office but it is saying on their website that there is no appointment in order to get forms. Now i am confused, i dont know how to get my little girl a SSN. Maybe one of you guys knows what i have to do or what i can do.

However its good to be back and i am very happy for all the approvals, medicals and interviews that are coming up.

Zee, i am so sorry to hear about your case you have the best attitude someone can have in such a situation. God will see you through, you are great!

God bless you all and greetings from Norfok-VA my new home

Congratulations Syl!! Welcome to virginia. we're practically neighbors.

Thank you, where in VA do you stay at?

I live in historic Williamsburg.

Well, only 24 hours or so before Sasha gets here. I'm immersed in a frantic cleaning frenzy. Its funny how we watch the clock and wish time would move faster when we're waiting for our loved ones, then during the final week, we stress over having not enough time to finish everything! Lol

Happy Easter, everyone!

Congratulations!