Sooz

For the I-864 you'll need a US resident or citizen co-sponsor. Your husband doesn't need to fill one out or provide any proof of income, as foreign income doesn't count.

Besides the I-864, your main hurdle to get past will be the 10 year bar. Misrepresentation and overstay of more than 180 days is not forgiven to spouses of US citizens, however, a waiver is available. It'c called I-601 and is your only chance of getting past the 10 year bar. Filing the waiver is one thing though, getting it approved is quite another. You'll need to prove extreme hardship to yourself and/or your children and good reasons why you absolutely cannot live with him in South Africa.

Waiver applications are approved only if the extreme hardship grounds are severe enough to "overcome" the seriousness of the reasons for the bar.

Btw, you say hehas no criminal record in the US or SA, but he does, and you need to disclose this when the time comes for his IV application. He has a marijuana conviction in SA as you stated. Even if it's from the 70s and may not show in his criminal record anymore, not disclosing it is still considered fraud.

Good luck and best wishes.

Hi

He had all criminal records expunged (been over 30 years and he served no jail time) and has zero record on his SA Police Clearance...we already sent it in. The only thing I'm having problem with is whether he has to come clean with the IRS? I already have the I-601 and the I-212 filled out and ready to go, we can't hand it in according to the NVC until after his interview which then they will tell him he's inadmissible. The US Consul seems to think he'll have no problem being "approved", according to them we are a fairly simple case. The sponsor we have makes millions a year and has already turned in all paper work.

Thanks for the response, do you know anything about the IRS?

Okay, here it is; I met my South African husband in California 25 years ago when he arrived [1986], though we have only been married 4 years [2008] (he was there on a 1 yr tourist visa) got taken to jail shortly after he arrived for "Visa fraud" [he had a marijuana record in the 70's in SA, he checked NO crimes] he was given a voluntary departure and never left (we also have 2 sons, 1 together 23 years old). Fast forward 2009, INS came to our house and put him on ICE, after a month he was deported back to SA. I moved there with him. Oh, I forgot to mention he has a 10 year ban now.

So now we have over come many hurtles, the I-130 to getting it all the way to NVC and the dreaded I-864...So since I don't live there right now (USA) we got a sponsor. My husband has never paid taxes because he was flying under the radar sort to speak, he didn't have a SS#. So the NVC sent me a check list and they said he needs to fill out the I-864A and I have to fill out the I-864 for the year 2010, well I didn't make any money because I live in SA and my husband supports me and he has never had any tax returns from the USA. I went to the US Consul in Durban the guy told me he needs to come clean with the IRS and admit to the years he worked under the table.

Does anyone know anything about this and how the heck am I supposed to fill out the forms for the two of us?? Please any feed back would be much appreciated. *Sorry it's so long but I had to give you guys all the facts.

PS: He has no criminal record in the USA or South Africa and we have IR1 status.

Thank you!

Peace and good vibes!

Welcome to VJ! I am sorry about the circumstances which brought you here.

How did your husband enter the USA? Did you try to file for Adjustment of Status (AOS) after his marriage to you? Is there anything written in his passport (likely a series of numbers and letters)? The difficulty of the waivers will depend somewhat on the circumstances, so the more you can tell us about that, the better.

Has your husband had a visa interview for his IR-1 spousal visa yet? Normally, the waivers are filed at the embassy after the visa is denied; as you petitioned for him a year and a half ago, he should definitely be at interview stage by now. The problem I can see is that to get approved, you need to show that it would be a hardship for you- the USC- to live in another country, and as you already live abroad, that could be difficult (not liking it there doesn't count as hardship). Hopefully, having sons in the USA will help with that.

Getting a waiver approved (which is NOT easy) can take anything from a couple of weeks to a year- usually a few months. If he gets approved, the visa should be issued within a couple of weeks after that.

My husband lied on his "entrance visa" back in the 80's. He had a marijuana record here in SA and they asked him if he had a record in any country on the plane before it landed in the US and he said NO. So that's VISA fraud.

That's why he was given a voluntary departure in the first place. He has no other criminal record in any country now, it's been expunged since then. We filed the I-130 and the USCIS site says we are in line for an interview but that was over 7 months ago...probably not knowing that we should have filed the I-212 and the I-601...on his deportation papers it says he's inadmissible for 10 years.

I'm not expecting to get out of here for at least another year +...I guess.

I'm sorry you hate our country so much, I love it here, but hate being apart from Joe so much more. Good luck with your process.

I don't "hate" it here, I'm not in the USA anymore that's all. It's the same if you like it here and had to live someplace else that wasn't by choice. It's the lack of freedom. Plus SA is screwed up, the country is beautiful the system and people suck. (I actually like the blacks more then the whites, they're nicer).

Hello,

I'm frustrated but still plowing through.

Here's my story I hope someone has an answer...

I met my husband in 1986 (I am a US born citizen) we have been together ever since. We married in 2008 in the sierras after 22 years. We have two son's both citizens of the US whom are now adults in their 20's. Back in 1988 my husband was given a "voluntary departure", he never left because of me.

So moving to October 2009, after living and making a life in the US for the past 23 years all of a sudden the INS shows up and puts my husband on ICE.

He was deported to South Africa a month later. We have packed up our whole life and are now living abroad in a country I don't want to live in. I've been here since January 2010.

I'm not a lawyer, we couldn't afford one and the one's we did speak to said he had no chance because of 214(a) inadmissibility and they never offered any advice on which forms to file, so we only filed the I-130 so far and that was over a year a half ago.

I recently found out that we need to file the I-601 along with the I-212 and it asks questions like "if were to move to your "home country" etc. all the questions are like that. WE ALREADY DID MOVE AND IT COSTS US OUR LIFE SAVINGS!!! Geezz...anyways, I feel bad for not knowing what to do, but like I said I'm no lawyer, thank god for these forums.

**I just want to add my husband has lead a clean life with NO criminal records anywhere. The only crime was not leaving the USA.

So my question is...

I'm getting all the required papers, photos, evidence, etc. together right now and SO do I have to file the I-212 and the I-601 in the same package (they want everything file in duplicates). I send all copies and no originals correct??

AND if I go to the South African Consul here should I file it with them or send it to USCIS California Service myself?

And last question, How long do you think it will take and does it also take time to get a VISA after approval?

Please someone help...I'm so sick of it here, I miss my SONS, family, my friends and living my California life style that I've know all my 45 years.