grrrrreat

My wife entered on B2 visa. I assume she doesn't have an A# to enter?

Thanks for your help.

B2 holders don't have an A# unless they've applied for another kind of benefit before or they've been placed into removal proceedings.

My next-door neighbor recently received her greencard after a 7 year battle with immigration. She has been in the US on a tourist visa since 1991.

Anyway, she physically has her greencard in hand, but her lawyer called and told her not to buy her ticket to visit family in her country because they need to file the paperwork to close her deportion case before she can travel internationally. Has anybody ever heard of not being able to travel with a valid GC in hand?

First off, would immigration issue her a greencard if she was in the process of being removed? As soon as she told me, I told her that it smells fishy and that her lawyer is shady.

A couple days later, she was going through all the immigration paperwork that she had received and in there was a letter she received from immigration about 9 months earlier that said (paraphrasing) "Both parties have agreed to terminate the deportion proceedings. Unless an appeal is filed within 30 days, the case is closed. Signed, xxx Immigration Judge" My neighbor speaks poor English so she didn't realize what the letter even said when she got it. The lawyer is CC'd on it, so she got it too.

So, it looks like the lawyer is trying to bill her for more hours supposedly working on closing the deportation case that has aready been closed. Any advice? Obviously, I told her not to pay them another dime. Would you suggest going further to report the lawyer? Who do you report it to? State bar association?

thanks for any advice.

Why are you assuming that the lawyer is trying to cheat the person? While removal proceedings are pending, USCIS can't approve an adjustment of status, but the Immigration Judge can. If the IJ grants an order adjusting status, the immigrant can take it to the USCIS office to get a Green Card. You haven't provided enough information to tell, but maybe the IJ granted the Green Card and the removal proceedings weren't formally terminated, so the lawyer is just being careful to get the IJ to terminate them before the person travels.

Yes, didopage is correct. No explanation needed when filing with a pending I-485. However, are you sure you need the AP? Page 1 of the I-131 instructions mention L-1 visa holders not needing it to re-enter during a pending AOS > http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-131instr.pdf

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based to AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visas ~

Yes, L-1 holders can be readmitted even without AP during AOS. However, my view is that L-1s should still file I-131 as a back-up. In the event that the L-1 becomes invalid for some reason (like changing jobs), they can still use AP. Filing I-131 or I-765 doesn't itself invalidate the L-1. However, actually using either an employment authorization document or advance parole will invalidate the L-1. This rarely matters, however, unless there is some reason the I-485 is denied, and the alien won't be able to rely on the L-1 to keep their status legal.

Ah, so we did file for this. I was thinking parole as in something to do with the criminal system. Weird.

Advance parole is similar. It means, if you leave the country we will let you come back, although without any formal status until adjustment is complete. That is, we will "parole" you back into the country. Similar to when a prisoner is allowed out of prison on "parole".

He will get stamp of I-551 permanent residence at POE in his passport which is valid for 1 year.

I am thinking not to pay $165 bcoz after POE I am going to apply for us passport for my son.

Any advice please

They may not give him the I-551 stamp if he hasn't paid the immigration fee, so why not just pay it?

Hi,

I have a question. I got married in May while I was on an F1 visa. I am still on an F1 visa, and I have only been working this last semester. I have already applied for the Adjustment of Status, work permit and travel permit, and I have already had my biometrics taken. My question is: If I don't renew my I-20 now is there any risk that I will be refused the adjustment of status or the work/travel permit?

No, expiration of the I-20 won't prevent you from adjusting status. But how are you working legally? If the I-20 is allowing you to work, and it expires, you won't be able to keep working until you get the EAD or Green Card.

Hey! Can anyone tell me if they have spent time back in the UK with their USC husband after receiving your green card? We're hoping to be in the position to be able to spend up to 3 months with my family in Scotland this winter. Just wondering what kind of interrogation my husband might get when we enter the UK?!

Thanks!

Why don't you try posting in the regional discussion boards for the UK instead of here, since this is related to UK immigration procedures, not US immigration.

Hi folks,

Has anyone yet filed for their spouses since DOMA was rescinded in June?

We filed our paperwork for adjustment, permission to work, permission to travel, etc.... On July 10th, had the biometrics appointment on August 9th and feel hopeful that things will continue moving along.

We are wondering about current time frames until the interview with Immigration.

We are still in awe that we are actually able to DO this!

There have been many people who applied right after DOMA was held unconstitutional. Unfortunately, there's no expedited processing for people who were waiting for that to happen. Your application is in the same queue as everyone else's. It might be helpful to review adjustment of status timelines and progress reports to compare your case with others (note, not IR-1/CR-1, which is the visa for people who are coming from abroad). If you have already done biometrics, you should be receiving the combined advance parole/employment authorization card soon.

Hi,

Does anybody here petitioned a minor child recently and been approved? My son is coming on the 19th and was advised to pay $165 immigrant fee. I'm a USC so this automatically makes my son a USC when he gets here. My question is do I have to pay for the $165 because technically he won't be needing the green card and that fee is for the green card right? I can use that $165 fee for his US passport application already. Will this affect his impending entry here? He is 16 yrs old btw. I'm trying to contact USCIS assistance and still waiting for an actual person to answer. Any infos will be much appreciated. Thanks!

He will need to pay the fee. He needs the Green Card to prove that he was admitted as a lawful permanent resident. You will need to submit the Green Card when you apply for his passport.

I guess I am just confused then. People are talking about filing for AOS while he is there on a visit, which I thought wasn't allowed. I thought the marriage had to be done on the same trip (which appears to be missing from the part that you 'quoted' me on).

Why bother with a spousal visa then if you can visit, change your mind and then AOS? I am just obviously very confused.

I took out that part from the quote because it's not accurate. A spouse of a USC can adjust on a visit to the U.S. whether or not they got married in the U.S. "on the same trip". Maybe you are thinking someone who gets a K-1 fiancee visa, in which case they do have to get married after they enter. But OP has been married for four years, so he obviously doesn't have a K-1 visa.

A spousal visa is designed for people who wish to immigrate to the U.S. Visitor visas are designed for people who wish to visit. Someone who visits and then decides to stay can adjust status. I am not sure why you're still confused.

I understand that. What I meant was I thought you could only adjust status from within the USA after you came in for a visit, got married and decided to stay all on that trip without planning it before said trip. Otherwise, what is the point of going through a spousal visa, if you could just come across and immigrate from within the USA? I realize that you can marry anywhere and then get a spousal visa.

Again, where and when you get married is not relevant. The other parts of your second sentence are correct, i.e., "you can adjust status from within the USA after you came in for a visit and then decided to stay all on that trip without planning it before said trip". The point of applying for a spousal visa is for people who are NOT in the U.S. and wish to immigrate.

I thought that you could only adjust status from within the USA if you married in the USA and the intent to immigrate wasn't there in the beginning? I thought that once you left the USA, you would have to file for a spousal visa. Maybe I am wrong, but I think this way as being described here is a slap in the face to all of us who are doing this the proper way.

The location of the marriage has nothing to do with immigrant intent or eligibility to adjust status.

hello thank you for answering...is this correct? if applied WITH I-485, I-765 would be free?

coz i looked at the filing fee exceptions and i didnt see c9 as an exception..please confirm....anybody? thank you so much

It's on page 5 of the I-485 Instructions on the right side under "NOTE:". I'm not sure why it's not also in the I-765 Instructions.

Hello.

We are ready to file, the envelope is ready to be sent out on Monday. However, before we do, we'd like to ask you for your experiences if your spouse was here on an F-1 visa and had filed any form with immigration prior to 5/25/13 as "SINGLE", while they had been already married in a same-sex marriage, ie. F-1 spouse filed for CPT or OPT I765 as single while actually under state law being married.

Did you attach a letter explaining that you complied with the DOMA at that time or just did not mention it at all? If you did not, did you get any RFE about that?

What type of evidence of bona fides did you attach? Approx. how many pages did you send? Did you have any affidavits or just relied on your own pics and whatnot.

We got pics from different trips, print outs of our facebook accounts, joint checking, insurance policies, etc. along with old phone records. It seems like it all came out to about 40 pages of printed copies.

Also, has anyone of you gotten through an interview yet?

Good luck.

P&D

I haven't encountered this situation, but I would not mention it unless you were asked about it. If so, you can obviously explain that you were following the law in effect at the time, which deemed you unmarried. The commenter that suggested the government would treat this as misrepresentation is a bit overexcited, if you ask me.

It is a very similar situation to folks who have been filing taxes as single for many years and all of a sudden will need to start filing married (and should be amending previous tax years if it will get them bigger refunds).

I'm in the process of submitting I-485 (AOS) for my wife here in the US. Before we submit the application, we need to include the vaccination form (I-693) with it, along with a copy of pending I-130 and I-864.

My question is - how long do physicians in the US take to complete the I-693 form?

We have 40 days window between now and when my spouse's vistior visa expires, and we are hoping to get all this in by then and have NOA-1 letter in hand.

Thank you

It takes a few days once you have scheduled the appointment, assuming there are no issues like a positive TB test requiring x-rays and/or treatment. You should just start calling civil surgeons to set up an appointment. Also you should work on collecting any vaccination records she has so the doctors don't have to ####### her all over again. The results will be good for a year (meaning, you just need to finish adjusting status within a year after the form is signed).

To sum it up.... If I return to Canada like I told them (and was planning to at the time) I would likely be refused entry back into the states after a short stay in Canada. That is even if I had supporting evidence of ties to Canada. However, If I stay in America and apply for adjustment of status that should work fine for me and I will not encounter issues at the border in the future for overstaying. This is the best option for me. Is that right? .... . .. .I'm sorry for being redundant. and Thanks again

Technically it's very difficult for a Canadian to "overstay", unlike citizens of other countries. Canadians don't have defined durations of stay (i.e., 6 months). I think what CBP probably meant to imply was that your staying after September (which is what you told them you wanted to do) would raise red flags that you actually intended to immigrate. That could potentially cause problems at your NEXT trip across.

In any event, overstaying is not a problem for adjusting status as a spouse of a US citizen. However, you will not be able to travel between the U.S. and Canada until you have either an advance parole document (which you can submit an application for with your adjustment application) or LPR status (Green Card). If you leave the U.S. without either of those, your adjustment application will be abandoned and you'll be back at square one. Once you have advance parole or LPR card, immigrant intent is not an issue and CBP will not care how much time you've spent in the U.S. or Canada.

Hi we are compiling fo our AOS package and I saw here at VJ guides that we can include the I-765 (EAD) and I-131 (Advance Parole) , now i have some questions:

1. Among the USCIS requirements for I-131 Advance Parole stated that for those who are for AOS, include among documents for I-131 the USCIS receipt that you filed for AOS...which of course isnt present yet because we are to include this along teh AOS..

2. Another is it seemed they included the I-131 in the payment already...so are they saying even if you are not planning to apply for that, you should as well do so?

3. I have read somewhere that the total of $985 for uscis fee is for 3 applications already? which is...AOS, EAD and Advanced Parole? plus $85 for the biometrics which of course totals to $1,070? did i understand it correctly?

For those who just most recently applied...please help....

thank you and GOD Bless

1. Ignore this requirement. This applies only if you apply for I-131 after the adjustment of status application is submitted.

2. I can't entirely understand this question, but you don't need to send any additional payment for an I-131 submitted with an adjustment of status application.

3. The application fee for the adjustment of status application is total $1070. The EAD and advance parole applications are FREE if submitted with or after the adjustment of status application.

The US does not recognize civil unions for immigration visas.

You have two options;

1. Get marry in the UK and apply for a spousal visa. You could do a DCF which will take 3-6 months. Get an immigrant visa and automatic green card upon entry. The immigrant spouse will be able to work and travel internationally immediately.

2. File for a K-1 fiance visa. You could do a DCF which will take 3-6 months. Once in the US, you have 90 days to get marry. Your spouse files to adjust. During the 2-3 months wait for the AP/EAD card, your spouse cannot work or traveling outside the US would void the process.

Do option 1 if you can. It's cheaper. It's better.

Gay couples can't get married in the UK yet. Although Parliament passed an Act, it won't take effect until next year. So 1 is not an option.

Hey Guys,

My wife's income, based on which she filed her most recent taxes, was insufficient. However, her job was made permanent and she now meets the income requirement. In fact, I (alien) also have a job and on my own can (almost) support our family. How do I go about this since my wife doesn't have a W-2 and tax returns which show that she has sufficient income to support me? will a job offer showing her new income do?

thanks.

You need a letter from her employer stating that he is employed and what her regular income (if not salary, then number of hours and hourly wage). You also need some recent paystubs showing the income.

If you are authorized to work and you will have the same job after you adjust status, you can add your income to the amount you're using to qualify as well. You would need to show that you are authorized to work (visa or EAD card), what your income is, and that your job will continue after you adjust status. She will still need to sponsor you and fill out the form, but you can add your income to the amount youre using to qualify. If she makes enough, it's not necessary.

File Form I-90 for name change.

Together with the divorce decree and the new marriage license as evidence of the name change.

Good day friends hope all is well. Form I-485 request for copy of birth certificate. I am a Canadian citizen but i was born in Ghana. I was born in August 1976, but i can't find my birth certificate so i requested a copy from Ghana my country of birth. I received the copy i requested but the date of registration which is on the original is different from the copy that i received. The Date of Registration on the copy says 25th of march, 2013 which will be 36yrs after my birth. Would it cost a problem or misunderstanding if i send it with my i-485 forms? Please any feedback will be appreciated.

Another question i have is, the Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 103.2(b)(2) talks about secondary evidence such us school records. I have a letter from my high school in Canada, and all that the letter states is that i was a full time student there, my Date of Birth and the dates that was i enrolled and graduated from the school. Is that enough sufficient evidence and if not, what should be the content of the school records they are asking for. Any feed back will be much appreciated. Thank you.

The birth certificate will be fine as long as it contains the correct birth information (date and place). Did you acquire Canadian citizenship at birth? The U.S. issues something called Consular Report of Birth Abroad for US citizens born abroad. If you have a similar document issued by Canada, I would add it.

To anyone looking for shipping advice: Don't waste money on overnight shipping. The process is slow, and a day or two is not going to change things.

Agreed best practice is priority mail with delivery confirmation, which is trackable but not expensive.

I think the applications ask for copies of every page of your and your spouses passport. I also think they ask for any documents (even expired) that your wife would have used to enter the US, which would include her expired passport.

You are wrong on both counts. The I-485 asks for:

My wonderful husband brought to my attention Section C, Question 2 of the i-130. And since we're that awkward paranoid couple who like to check a million times whether we're doing this correctly... My address (beneficiary). I've been here on my Visitor's visa for five months, now. We originally put my abroad address down (Australian address). But, there's no denying that I'm living in an apartment with my husband... in the US... So, is this correct? Do I put my abroad address there? Or the address I currently reside at in the US? I'm sure it's the former, since I don't want to wag it in the USCIS' face that I'm living here and I'm "expecting" them to approve me, or what have it.

Wow, upon reading that, that's hard to follow. Major brownie points if you can get through that and give me a decent answer. It's Friday, what can I say?

Please stop making assumptions like "I don't want to wag it in the USCIS' face that I'm living here and I'm "expecting" them to approve me, or what have it". Just answer the exact questions asked with the truthful answers--there really are no traps or secrets here.

Living in the U.S. at the same address as your husband weighs in favor of approving the I-130, not against. In addition, you HAVE to be within the U.S. to be eligible to adjust status, which you are doing by filing I-485.

If you didn't expect USCIS to approve your I-130, you wouldn't be filing it. Remember you're eventually going to have an interview at which you're quizzed about these facts and details. You need to learn to be confident and forthright, not assume you need to make something else up.