StarGirl

Actually I have to disagree with people who are saying that that's the man who needs to fight for a woman. What about the other way around? If you KNOW that he is the right one for you, you NEED to fight. First of all, you need to look deep into your heart and ask, what it is that you want. After that  - start thinking how to achieve it. If you believe that your happiness is with him - put all yourself in fighting for him. You might lose in the end, but you will know that you have done everything possible. Now, when I am saying fighting, it doesn't mean I am suggesting you becoming obsessive controlling person. Fighting is figuring out the way how to prove him that you are the one he needs. It might be that it will help both of you to live separately for a while. Someone has suggested that excitement of waiting to be together was the key factor in your relationship. And once this factor was taken away the relationship started crumbling. Think if you want to chance living apart. Think what is the best for you. And then FIGHT. Either to be with him, or to find your happiness with someone else. And never-ever give up!  

I feel that I need to back up those who feel that OP's story is well... fishy.
I am Russian. I have been learning English since I was 7. I have US college degree and US Master's degree. I lived in US for a good while. But by no means my English is so flawless as OP's. I read through all her posts and I couldn't detect EVEN ONE Русицизм. If your English is so perfect after only two years in US, thumbs up girl, you must be genius. If that's the case, I suggest you putting your brains to digging yourself out of the situation you are claiming you are in.

I feel that I need to back up those who feel that OP's story is well... fishy.
I am Russian. I have been learning English since I was 7. I have US college degree and US Master's degree. I lived in US for a good while. But by no means my English is so flawless as OP's. I read through all her posts and I couldn't detect EVEN ONE Русицизм. If your English is so perfect after only two years in US, thumbs up girl, you must be genius. If that's the case, I suggest you putting your brains to digging yourself out of the situation you are claiming you are in.

Because you didn't fill it in correctly, you should be at either California or Vermont Center, not at Texas, that's just the place your petition was initially filled to.

The quoted 5 months is a goal -- not a promise or a guarantee. Realize there are IR1/CR1s that have waited 6-7 months just at the USCIS stage.
Don't wait around doing nothing, keep yourself busy and focused on other things. No need to get yourself worked up over the wait -- because you're still gonna have to, well, wait.

What about the "Precious Heart" of the foreign spouse who comes here having given his/her "Precious Heart" to a USC, only to be viewed as a potential fraud and scam artist every step of the way during the ENDLESS immigration process?

Technically, chats & logs are not required for potential approval of the I-129F petition. However, Haiti is a tough place from which to pry a visa, so some front-loading of the petition may be called for (USCIS sends the consulate what you send USCIS). Check the links atop every VJ page: Embassy Info, & Reviews: Embassy.
Do NOT (do not! do NOT!) EVER submit any evidence with anything blacked out. It will only raise questions. If you front-load now (and certainly later for the interview), go through your chats and pick what YOU want THEM to see. A good sampling from throughout your relationship history should suffice.
Besides eliminating anything that you'd have to black out, be SURE that no item (and no subject-line in the chat log) indicates that you call yourselves "husband"/"wife" -- even if it's in fun. That's a no-no for a fiance/e petition.

Golly, what harsh responses. It sounds more like you are seeking relationship advice rather than immigration advice. She has immigrated with you, yes? That part is done, for now, until she must remove conditions, which she technically can do with or without you.
We are few of us without things we would not tell a near-stranger. Your wife was married to you, a near stranger from what you have said, in an arranged marriage. You told her what you value is truth, and she married you and moved halfway around the world. It may be that once she knew you long enough to think she could trust you with her truths, she told them to you - an act she may have thought would bring you closer, given that you told her a husband and wife can be open with one another, and also perhaps because now, thousands of miles away from her family, she may have felt SAFE telling you these things - and now you find that you cannot bear her truths. It might help you to sort out what is it that bothers you, that she had an affair before she knew you, that she had an abortion before she knew you, or that she did not tell you about these things on your schedule? If your ego gets in the way of your love and compassion, you may lose someone who was just beginning to trust you - your wife. It seems that she need never have told you any of these things - you would not have known, and she would not have risked you leaving her. If you divorce her here, what skills does she have to get on with her life alone? Is she a professional? Does she have sound job skills? Or are you contemplating her returning to her family as a disgraced divorcee whose husband left her because she was not a virgin when she married him? She risked a great deal to be honest with you - she must have grown to trust you since you got married. This may be a great gift, a good thing.
She may have gotten to know you just enough since you have been together for some small time now to have trusted you enough to tell you. Perhaps you can trust her enough to believe that there must be something she values in her relationship with you very much to open up to you now and in this way, since it appears she has much to loose if you leave her. She took a risk in telling you her truth, perhaps you can respect her for doing so, since truth is what you said you wanted to build on.
Marrying you in an arranged marriage, at the urging of relatives, does not sound like green card fraud. It sounds like traditional arranged marriage, approved by the family, and entered into with the honest hope of success. It may be that once you get over your shock, you will see something of great value has grown in your marriage. I just don't believe that someone perpetrating a fraud would have told you this at this time.

From here your petition will travel to the NVC where it will take up to 3 weeks to process before being sent on to Moscow. There it will be given a case number starting with MOS. You will need this number in order to schedule your interview.
What I did was to call the NVC daily...at this point they will tell you (if you speak to a live person) that it takes up to 15 business days to get into the system. But...it varies. I also wrote them at NVCinquiry@state.gov . What you are interested in is getting your case number. When you do this, use as the subject the NOA case number - starts with EAC if you went through Vermont. In the body of the letter include your name and DOB and her name and DOB. I simply asked for the status of the case and the number. I also attached a scan of our NOA2. This got the best response.
You will need to go to http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/ and create an account. A word of caution, I had thought to go set up a trila account so I could guide Ira through the process...but this site is not conducive to making trial runs. Two pieces of information become unchangeable once you enter them...her passport number and her name. Once locked in, this information can only be changed by the site admin. I mistakenly used her internal passport number and they made me send a scan of her international passport in order to change it. They told me that creating multiple accounts would cause problems. Fortunately the support staff is helpful and seemingly available 24/7. (I work nights and was calling at 7-9pm EST) The phone menu is in english, but they will answer the phone in Russian..I just asked for English as my Russian is not quite enough for this.
One piece of information on the Embassy site is outdated. The visa is no longer paid for the day of the interview but prior to be able to schedule. It then takes two full business days for the bank to input the payment information into the system. After the bank enters the information into the system you can schedule your interview. The good news is that when I was talking to the people back in late October, the ustraveldocs people told me that the first available date was Nov 1! It seems that there is no real backlog or difficulty in getting an interview date. We chose our date because her son will be out of school that week, but she could have chosen earlier. Not many dates were not available.
Packet 3 is all online now....the following links will have all the information you will need
http://moscow.usemba...ov/fiancee.html
http://moscow.usemba...packet4-eng.pdf
Here is the number for Embassy visa services that you can call locally (718) 425-8337. Another thing to do is have her call them and they too can walk her through in Russian if she needs.
http://moscow.usemba...contact-us.html
She should have already requested her police report as this will take the most time to get. Also in the meantime, getting all of her vital docs (birth certificate, divorce decrees...anything of this nature) translated into english. As long as her docs are in Russian, they do not need to be certified translations.
Tracking your package from the NVC to the embassy is found in this thread. You will need the date they tell you it shipped and enter it in the DHL tracking site as shown in this example. In the screenshot, they had told me my petition shipped on the 20th.
http://www.visajourn..._1#entry4970692
I hope that helps

They state 2" X 2", they actually mean it. Give them what they request or expect problems.

one post removed for being just flat out snarky.
two other posts removed for quoting that post and for responding with personal attacks.
one additional post removed for quoting one of those personal attacks.
now either provide the op with some meaningful advice or don't post at all.

This happens to many people. I have two computers with different operating systems in my home and could not print from either one. My fiance also has two computers with different operating systems in his home, same thing. (One uses Firefox the other uses IE for browsing.)
I tried to print it at work, same thing. He went to an internet cafe that used a different version if IE and BINGO! Worked like a charm and took him all of 2 minutes. (I am guessing that every single safety protocol had an override by the kiddos checking out naughty stuff.)
They know this is a problem and because enough people have success they don't care to fix the glitch.
The online form is fillable only and not saved in any way, I believe.
Another option,t(hat I found afterward) is to do an internet search for that form and download it from a different site. There are several lawyer sites that offer forms like this as part of their advertising to attract you to their sites. Get it from one of them and possibly that would work for you.
Good luck.
Edited to add: Each embassy requests things the way they want it. Some want things in duplicate, others don't. Do what YOUR embassy paperwork says to do and don't worry about someone from Mars or Jupiter telling you that it HAS to be done this way because that is what s/he had to do. (Some want copies, some want singles, some want it mailed, some want it in person, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't...)

Sure. Since you have already petitioned and submitted letters of your intent to marry after she enters into the US with the K-1, you are in effect committing visa fraud. If you DO do this, then you can quickly send a notarized letter to both the USCIS and the Embassy asking for the K-1 to be cancelled. Once you recieve official notification that it has been cancelled, takes a few weeks, then you can begin the CR-1 visa for your new spouse to enter the US......with more money being sent for that petition and a longer time period to wait for that to be approved than for the K-1.
Basically a not a smart idea but some have done it.
If you try to pretend you are not married and can get the K-1 and then she enters the US, when you go to AOS, your fraud will be vetted out and most likely the AOS will be denied, deportion proceedings will most likely begin and she could be permanantly banned from ever entering the US. That is a really not smart idea.

Hello All
I had a great opportunity Saturday evening to have dinner with and spend several hours with a director at the VSC. He is currently in charge of the department that handles I-751s among other things. His wife is an adjusicator that handles YOUR petition (if it went through VSC). His wife is Russian, arrived on a K-1 and is now a citizen. This man has worked for USCIS for many years and was at several local offices before being assigned to the VSC. His wife is a friend of Alla's and we were all at a dinner party for several American/Russian/Ukrainian couples Saturday. We had a long chat, he was very open and helpful. We talked about a lot of the things we see here on VJ and I was trying to remember all the "usual questions" I read about and pin him down for some answers. I also have asked him if he will give an "official interview" for VJ. He said he will check out the site and I will call him later this week. So, anyway I will try to cover what we discussed, he was quite frank and direct in his answers, not rude, not at all, but he knows his stuff and answers without hesitation. It turned into an impromtu and fun "interview" with me trying to remember all the hot button issues I see on VJ
I told him that the number ONE and number TWO "complaints" I see are Why is the VSC taking so long and why can't we get through to you guys?
Why is VSC taking so long, what happened? I was approved in 58 days!: We had problem with labor last year and lost many workers, we hired more last November and it took some time to get them trained. Some of the petitions were sent to California and we also assign people to different tyopes of visas. They will concentrate on one tyoe, get behind on another and then shift many people back to the other type. Lately we have shifted many, almost all, adjudicators to I-129fs, so that should make people happy. They will do that until they get caught up. Summer is a busy time for I-129fs, usually about June we get slammed with them. The winter or early spring is the slowest time for I-129fs, but then it depends what they have everyone working on also.
OK, why can't we get through to you? The 1-800 line is useless. Those are contract employees and they are trained to select answers from a menu of 14 answers. They pick which one is best for your question. There are thousands of visas being processed at any time and everyone is special and everyone has special circumstances and if we had direct lines we weould do nothing but field requests by petitioners to give them priority, we just can't do it. How would you feel if your petition got bumped because some woman called and cried on the phone and then her petition got moved up ahead of yours. We simply have to operate in a way that avoids any chance of fraud, corruption or unfairness.
So what about some people get approved ahead of others? Sme petitions have problems or delays, we do not hold back others for this. If an adjudicator has problems, he puts that one aside or sends an RFE and goes on to the next. The next one may be clean and gets approved right away, in just a few minutes, they adjudicate 15-20 petitions a day per person, and the ones with problems may wait weeks for the petitioner to respond to the RFE, or maybe it is a name check they are waiting for. Petitions are assigned as they arrive, when we are working on those petitions, but they do not go out the door in the same order they came in.
G-325a, Signed or Unsigned? Unsigned.
WHAT? Ok I have seen the memo but lots of VJ members got RFEs for unsigned G-325s, what gives? They do not have to be signed,they can be signed at the consualte interview. Some adjusicators haven't read all the memos, we get hundreds of the things, and maybe they make a mistake. If you want to be sure there is no mistake, sign it. Or send a letter expalining why it is not signed and request it be signed at the interview. Do you have that memo?
It is on the VJ website somewhere You can print a copy of that and send it with the I-129f and G-325a.
Fiancee intent letter? Signed or unsigned? Signed.
What about a faxed or emailed signature? When I was adjudicating, if I could see a signature, I accepted it, but many adjusicators will not. Signed is better.
Lawyer or no lawyer? For what?
Enough said. Now a hot issue, a very controversial one. There seems to be a trend in some countries of foreign men marrying American women and the women are considerably older. There is always a question if this is a problem. It never seems to be a problem for older men/younger women (My wife is 13 years younger, his wife is also considerable younger than him) Is it a problem? For us, USCIS, no. "Free to marry".
What about the consulates or for AOS or I-751? Consulates do what they do, it is not USCIS, some of them are bastards. Kiev is easy, they approve everyone (laughs), they used to be bastards but they got easier since they first started doing those in 2005, before then you would have had to go to Warsaw, you know. For AOS if they can prove they are legitimate we do not care about age but anything that is "not normal" for the culture will draw suspicion. They probably will not get a no questions asked interview (I had told him our AOS was "no questions asked")
What about birth certificates, some people have trouble getting them? This is a problem for us also. Some people, especially our younger staff, think all the world is like the USA. I remember one, when I was in the Kansas City office, the beneficiary was from Viet Nam, she was born in 1954 there was no birth certificate. The CO asked me about this and I looked at the file. I said "Do you know what was going on in Viet Nam in 1954?" She looked at me, straight faced and said "What, their computers were down?" If a birth certificate cannot be obtained they can usually get something from a church, a village official, something, and send that with a letter of explanation. Or just their passport and a letter explaining the situation (this applies to AOS more than I-129f as beneficiary birth certificate is not required for the petition, but I wanted to ask anyway, it seems a common question here)
What about extra documents? Proof of relationship? We don't need it, only that they have met for the fiancee visa.
What about the consulates? Consulates do what they do, as I said, some are bastards. They get whatever we get when it is sent on. I can't tell you what NVC and consulates do, I know some are terrible and some are really easy, but I do not know all the details of each. Kiev is easy, western Europe is easy, Nigeria is horrible, but you would not believe the scams from Nigeria, I get jaded. I am surprised a lot of them get visas and then we have to deal with them.
I have to ask for a collegue, Ecuador? Bastards.

What about changes? Are there any in the works? Is Obama ouching you guys to work faster? I am not sure Obama knows we exist. There have been no changes and no pressure other than the usual workload and shifting things around. I do not expect any immigration changes in the next year or two, at kleat not in rules or amnesty or anything like that. I do expect FEE INCREASES within the next year...across the board.
How much more? I cannot say, that is not my area, I just hear talk.
He added, "We try not to deny petitions, people really get angry and make lots of trouble. Denials usually come at the consulate or maybe AOS or sometimes even with the I-751. If we deny someone we need good reason, if they meet the criteria, we will approve it, they just have to give us what we need to approve them."
So how can I speed up my petition? You can't really. If it gets to be too long and if you can get a congressman or senator to call, that will get some action, but half the time those guys dont'' call or they do and the petition has only been there 3 months. Sometimes one falls through the cracks, gets overlooked, we are human. A congressman can get through and get them to dig it out if it has been too long, but I wouldn't call that "speeding it up". That's a fix for whn it is too slow.
we talked for some time more, about 5 hours altogether, briefly interrupted by Alla every now and again who had her own questions about the I-751 procedure which I posted in that forum, about VJ and other topics (his Navy days) He said he will check the site and gave me his home number. He said "call anytime but not 3 in the morning" I asked about an interview or answering prepared questions, he said possibly, he will check the site. He said many internet sites are advertisement for immigration attorneys or instructing people on how to pull scams, I assured him he would be very pleased with VJ and he thinks it is great that there is a good site for information and advice. (he never heard of VJ before this)
I can also say, that speaking to him, I heard so many of the same buzzwords or advice that I have seen right here, this is really a great site with some great folks giving some really great info.

Maybe not NZ, but what about moving to another place in the USA? It's a big and diverse country! Maybe you'll be more comfortable on the West coast, with a more relaxed vibe and more job opportunities in a big city?
You moved to a different continent to be with your husband, I think he could consider moving States to help you adjust!

That lawyer simplified things quite a bit. Applying for a tourist visa after getting married is legal and some end up with the visa. However, it shows a strong tie to the US rather than home country. What the lawyer told you is basically to get married, apply for tourist visa, come to the US and adjust status. It's not only bad advise of skipping a few steps, it's suggesting immigration fraud. That lawyer will probably not assist you when his/her advise backfired and you're left with the mess.
Getting married, applying for a tourist visa.. Go ahead and try. Even with a fiance petition out there(depending on the foreign fiance's country) you might find yourself in denial after denial. ON the bright side, a denied tourist visa isn't a negative factor for your process unless the foreign fiance have been digging for any kind of way into the US.
The petition can't be upgraded if you decide to marry. Think of it as a contract. Your part of the deal is that you remain legally free to marry until your fiance enters US and marry you within 90 days. Anything before or after that, and the K1 is void.

Marrying her would put the entire process at a DEAD stop. NO more visa NO more process.
The K-1 is for a FIANCE(E) !! Not a spouse.
If you marry you have to pay new fees start all over again from the very bottom of the pile and file for a CR-1 petition - which has a wait time of close to 1 year.
There is no fast way or faster way to do this.

Restraint order - check
USCIS letter with evidence, sent - check
Divorce filed and sent for signature - check
Now I wait. It's in Gods hands from here.
I couldn't have done this without you guys. I've never had so much support in my entire life.
I owe you the world.

Don't worry about the office gossip, put on your shortest dress with your go to hell shoes walk with your head held high. Smile all day long as if you have just hit the lottery, he is history.
Remember you are walking tomorrow for every woman who have had to endure a situation such as this. You survived. :dance:

I think what the USCIS is referring to is outstanding tax debts from PAST years, not the current tax season. Simply pay what you owe in a traceable way (bank draft, online bill pay etc.) and you will be fine.

I have followed your posts and can only say I'm truly sorry for what has happened. What he did was cruel, intentional, and the fact that he knew this all along makes it so much worse.
Unfortunately, this isn't an uncommon thing to happen, and it makes it all the more important that you don't let him get away with it.
There are some very important reasons that this needs to end with a fraud charge against him:
1. He's a fraudster, people like that don't deserve to know they «did what they had to do, and it worked.»
2. If you signed the affidavit, or you had a Co-signer, you/they are responsible for him financially, potentially up to 10 years. Even if you divorce. Not having him charged and removed could potentially be financially devastating to the person who signed.
3. It's people like him who are the reason that so many of us wait 5, 6, even 7 months just for an NOA2. And even go through hell at the embassy.
4. What he did to you was just cruel and evil. Even if you still may love him, don't ever forget that he took full advantage of that love. He knew you loved him, and he knew how to play you.
Apparently, he didn't know that he's still on a conditional GC for two years. If he knows, he'll try to say you abused him. I'm guessing that might be why he brought police when getting his things. Am abused spouse of a USC doesn't need to be married to you for 2 years to lift conditions. Like other posters have said. Try to get everything you possibly can on him. Make backups of this. Return his GC and SSN to sender with a note saying he vanished a week after arriving, and is no longer available at your address. If more of his relatives contact you, this is the time to get statements from them in writing that he played you for a GC.
Good luck to you. Remember, one person doing this can get you down and make life miserable, but you'll find the right person one day.
Keep us posted. I think I speak for all of us here on VJ when I say we care, and feel for you.

Sorry about your situation, but the I-864 is not just another piece of paper. It is analogous to co-signing a loan - a potentially unlimited amount that the Joint Sponsor would be on the hook for. Look up all the horror stories on this forum from people who regret signing the I-864. If your wife's son receives any means tested benefits, your Joint Sponsor would be on the hook for paying it back. If your brother married a foreign woman, would you want to sign the I-864 and be responsible for paying back those benefits? What if he receives Medicaid and it is for $100,000. Would you be okay with signing the I-864 and treat it as just a piece of paper?
What is the family relationship between your brother's family and this child? He's not your son. He is not related to them at all. Just because your wife married you, it doesn't mean your brother and his family have to put themselves at financial risk to help her - a stranger to them.
If my brother wants to bring his wife and her child to the US, I would give them money and food. But I would not put the financial future of my wife and kids at risk for them by signing the I-864 because I have no control over this child. If my brother got divorced, I would still be on the hook. If this child runs up the bills by using means tested benefits, I have no idea how deep a financial hole I will be in. I bet if he needed medical attention - my brother and his wife would not hesitate to think about paying the bills as long as he got the medical attention he needed. If they can't pay the bills, guess who the US government can come after? That's right the I-864 Joint Sponsor.
I think you and your wife needs to look at things from your brother and his wife's perspective. Why should they put their financial lives at risk for a child they don't know?
If you and your wife ask them to sign the I-864, then they can accept or decline. If you and your wife expects them to sign it, then you are demanding that they sign it. It's not asking - it's telling them what to do.