grrrrreat
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Posts posted by grrrrreat
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I was reading this post with great interest and it ended. Is there an update? How did the interview go? Did you get your GC?........
This is an old post but it looks like he successfully adjusted. I think his initial problem is that once you are in removal proceedings, USCIS cannot grant an I-485. Only the immigration court can grant an application to adjust status. Here's the quote from the field manual:
In the case of any alien, other than an arriving alien, who has been placed in deportation proceedings or in removal proceedings, the immigration judge hearing the proceeding has exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate any application for adjustment of status the alien may file. USCIS may adjudicate an adjustment of status application filed by an alien, other than an arriving alien, who is in removal proceedings only if the immigration judge terminates the removal proceedings.The best thing in this situation is to file the I-130 and ask the DHS lawyer to agree to dismissal of the removal proceedings with the immigration judge's consent. Once that happens, you are free to file I-485 in the normal way.
Based on OP's description, the immigration judge delayed the proceedings but did not terminate them pending approval of the I-130. As a result, the lawyer should not have filed I-485 with USCIS initially. Hopefully DHS did eventually agree to terminate the removal proceedings and let OP file the I-485 normally (probably once I-130 was approved). If not, you can still file I-485 with the immigration judge.
One important distinction is that you're not normally eligible for ancillary benefits like I-131 and I-765 if the I-485 is filed "defensively" (in removal proceedings) rather than "affirmatively" (with USCIS before removal proceedings begin).
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Also the alien spouse should NOT leave the United States; if they do it will result in a ban from the US for several years.
Actually, the BIA recently decided that an adjustment applicant with advance parole could leave the U.S. temporarily without incurring an overstay ban. I would pay attention to see if the decision holds up, but it's good news for people with overstays who may have to travel: Matter of Arrabally, http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol25/3748.pdf
OP, go ahead and file I-131 for advance parole. Before using it, carefully assess whether the Arrabally case continues to be good law to determine the risk of incurring an overstay ban. Most people would probably still advise you to forego traveling outside of the U.S. unless the risk is outweighed by the urgency of the need to travel.
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hello everybody
I am a total newb on this but here goes, I am currently residing on the california my mom filed my I130 and I have been given a receipt date of 10/18/2002. I dont qualify for the 245i but i am in process, now I have heard a lot of people telling me that I should've gotten my working permit by now. Mind you my mom was a resident until recently and now she has become a us citizen, I do have a lawyer but he keeps telling me that I have to wait until my acceptance date on the i130 comes up. Now I am not sure what to do????? I am currently 29 and I have been waiting for over 10 years and no progress.... Any help or opinions will be greatly appreciated or a finger pointing to the correct direction.
What country are you from? Have you or your lawyer informed USCIS that your mom has become a U.S. citizen and submitted proof of her naturalization? What is your status now?
Unmarried adult children of permanent residents are in the F2B category. Here are the priority dates that are current now for that category:
15APR04 for all countries besides Mexico and Philippines, 01JAN92 for Mexico, 08DEC01 for Philippines
If you have informed USCIS that your mom is a U.S. citizen, you are now in the F1 category. Here are current priority dates for that category:
22JUN05 for all countries besides Mexico and Philippines, 15MAY93 for Mexico, 01JUL97 for Philippines
If your priority date is now current AND you are currently in a lawful status, then you can file an application to adjust your status. You can get an EAD while the I-485 is pending and before you receive a green card. If your priority date isn't current, then you can't adjust your status yet.
If you are not in lawful status in the U.S., then you'll have to come up with another way to get an EAD. The program just announced by the government allows you to defer removal and get a two-year EAD, which would be renewable as long as the program exists. The application process will be open within 60 days. The requirements are:
Came to U.S. under age 16
Resided in the U.S. continuously for at least five years before June 15, 2012
Are currently in school, graduated high school, got a GED or are an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces
Have not been convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanors
Are not above the age of 30
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Thanks for all the replies. So it seems like getting married now seems to be the best solution? She doesn't want to go through with a k1 - feels we'll be apart too long, she would need to find a job back in the Ukraine, doesn't have a place to stay (i guess her parents have a real small place with no extra room anymore) and the fact that she is already here seems more logical and cheaper in her eyes. is there even another option to keep her here longer (just to be a few more months for us to really make sure we aren't rushing into marriage) without overstaying illegally and without doing a k1?? Is there a k1 type of visa she can get while in the US? That would be perfect - no need to go home, allows us to not rush things etc. Her visa officially expires mid July, so an overstay or a marriage seems imminent with the later seems the most logical unless there are other options I am not aware of. She originally tried to change her status to school status but seems to have ditched that idea for financial reasons and dealing with the imcompetant college registration employees who kept giving her the run-around.
No. If you're not sure about marrying, she can try to change her status to B-2 (tourist) using form I-539. But she will have to prove that she doesn't intend to stay permanently, which can be difficult. Anything she says in that application can be held against her when she tries to become a permanent resident, and misrepresentation can get her banned from the U.S.
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Thank you for the advice and sharing the details. Actually I don't have any plans to travel outside USA as of now and can wait for next few months before the GC comes therefore seeing the information required in I-131, I didn't fill it out. Hopefully EAD/GC processing will go normally. Hoping for the best! Thanks again.
Because I-131 is free and most people have some chance of being called outside the U.S. on an emergency basis (i.e., a sick family member), I would recommend filing it anyway. You don't need to specify travel plans on I-131; those questions are optional.
If you've already sent in your packet, you can wait until you get your NOA1 and file I-131 with a copy of the NOA1. It will still be free.
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Hello,
First of all thank you very much to visajourney and all the people who been posting good information and helping with the questions. It all has been very helpful to me in preparing the application for concurrent filing of I 130 and I 485. I am on H1B and my wife is a US citizen and a student (unemployed). We are currently not living together as my wife's is almost near her graduation and staying at the same place where her school is. I have tried to document most of the things and I am almost done with the forms and need help to verify if everything is included in my cover letter. Please see below and advice if anything is missing. Thank you very much!
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USCIS
P.O. Box 805887
Chicago, IL 60680-4120
June 12, 2012
Dear Sir/ Madam,
Please find enclosed concurrent filing of forms: Concurrent Filing of I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status), I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization)
Petitioner (U.S. Citizen): Name
Beneficiary (Alien Spouse): Name
Contents include:
1. Form G-1145 E-Notification of application/petition acceptance
2. I-130 Petition For Alien Relative
• Check payable to U.S. Department of Homeland of Security for $420 filing fee
• Copy of all the pages in the passport for U.S. citizen and petitioner
• Copy of birth certificate for U.S. citizen and petitioner
• Copy of marriage certificate
• Form G-325A, biographic information, for U.S. citizen and petitioner
• Passport-style color photo of U.S. citizen and petitioner
• Form G-325A, biographic information, for beneficiary
• Passport-style color photo of beneficiary
• Evidence in support of a Bona fide Marriage -
Letter explaining our relationship history, marriage, and our future plans together
Itineraries for our trips together and to see each other.
Copy of joint bank account statement for the period Apr 2012 - May 2012
Copy of our credit card account statement for Jan 2012 - May 2012
Selection of pictures that document relationship and marriage
Phone Calls and Texts summary.
3. I-485 Application To Register Permanent Residence Or Adjust Status
• Check payable to U.S. Department of Homeland of Security for $1070 ($985 I-485 filing fee + $85 biometric fee)
• Copy of latest and valid I-94 form
• Copy of marriage certificate
• Birth Certificate of beneficiary with additional documents -
Letter with details for no name in the birth certificate.
Copy of original birth certificate
Copy of Translated Birth Certificate (in English)
Letter of translation by mother of beneficiary
School Passing certificate showing the name and date of birth
Passport copies showing the name, place of birth, date of birth as well as father's and mother's names
Copy of Indian Permanent Account Number (PAN) showing the name, date of birth and father's name
• Form G-325A, biographic information, for beneficiary
• Two passport-style color photos of beneficiary
• Sealed envelope containing form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
4. I-864 Affidavit of Support
• Additional information for question 25 (question left blank in form with no option selected as petitioner is unemployed and income of principal immigrant/beneficiary is being used).
• Copy of principal immigrant/beneficiary’s IRS tax transcripts and W-2 forms for the year 2011, 2010 and 2009 along with 1099-T for 2009.
• Copy of principal immigrant/beneficiary's pay stubs for last six months from the period Dec 2011 – May 2012.
• Copy of evidence of employment from principal immigrant/beneficiary’s employer.
5. I-765 Application For Employment Authorization
• Two passport-style color photos of beneficiary
Thank you very much!
Signature -
Name - Name
Date – 06/12/2012
Address - address
Phone - number
Email - email
I noticed you seem to be filing I-765 but not I-131? Is there a reason why?
You can travel outside of the U.S. with your H1-B as long as you remain in status on it. Similarly, you can continue working on it while you're in status (and wouldn't need an EAD). That is why I'm questioning your need for I-765 and not I-131. If you intend to use the EAD, you should know that using it technically puts you out of status on your H1-B and prevents you from using it to travel. If you are getting the EAD as a backup in case you go out of status on your H1-B, you should also get advance parole using I-131.
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So I'm completely done, everything is one envelope, I just need to hit the post office tomorrow.
One more quick question: Everything I have read says to send via USPS with receipt requested/delivery confirmation. But... I didn't think they could do delivery confirmation to a PO box?
They can.
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One other question - you refer to the 4 year old as your child. Is this your biological child, and if so were you a US citizen when the child was born? Even if the child was born outside of the US and you were a US citizen at the time and are the biological parent of that child, then the child is already a US citizen. I just wanted to be sure you knew this, in case it applies to your circumstances.
This is generally true, except that a child born to only one U.S. citizen abroad is a citizen only if the parent had satisfied the physical presence requirements when the child was born (5 years including 3 years after age 14 inside the U.S. for in-wedlock children, 1 year inside the U.S. for out-of-wedlock child). Even a child born to two U.S. citizens is a citizen only if either parent had resided in the U.S.
For children of U.S. citizens, there are about two options. The first is if the U.S. citizen didn't meet the physical presence requirements at birth but now does, and the child lives outside the U.S., then the parent can apply for expedited naturalization. The child will receive a visa for the purpose of traveling to the U.S. and becoming naturalized. This is N-600K.
The other option is for the child either to receive an immediate relative visa or to adjust status to lawful permanent resident. The good thing is that, under the Child Citizenship Act, a child who becomes an LPR and is living inside the U.S. in the custody of U.S. citizen parents acquires citizenship by operation of law, without being naturalized. So the immigrant visa or status adjustment actually results in the child becoming a citizen.
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I just did three separate checks as I treated them as separate applications and fees: one for the I-130, one for the I-485 & one for the Biometrics; but I really don't believe it makes any difference.
The best way is to send one check for I-485 (including biometrics) and one check for I-130. The reasoning is that if for some reason your I-485 was rejected, they could still process I-130 and cash that check. If they were in the same check, they would have to send everything back to you.
There's not a good reason to divide I-485 fee from biometrics though.
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Well, it's a bit complicated because it depends on what you intend to do.
Being engaged or married doesn't mean you can't enter the country. People visit their fiancé's and spouses on non-immigrant visas all the time, as long as they can prove they don't intend to immigrate. For you, proving that might be tricky, but then again they might not ask.
The big issue is that a TN is not a dual intent visa, meaning you can't enter on it planning to stay. So if you plan to adjust status and get a green card, leaving and then entering with that intent would be illegal. Filing while already here when you didn't come here with that intent is fine, and leaving once you have approved AP is fine, but if you were to leave and re-enter on the TN technically you should still be planning to return home and file a CR-1 for a green card.
I agree with the possible intent problem. It may never come up in the process. Intent isn't a good enough reason to deny adjustment. On the other hand, there's always a chance you'll get questioned at the border about your intent, and if you were to misrepresent, there might be problems. So there's a potential risk.
USCIS has debated making the TN visa a dual intent visa, which means it wouldn't be illegal to enter with it if you have the intent to immigrate, but the proposal hasn't been implemented yet.
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I would lose the manila envelopes and just paperclip each form together, and then send in one large envelope. The first thing USCIS will do is take the forms out of the package and put them in the same file (or route the I-131 and I-765 to another center for processing).
This also can avoid certain errors. When you think about it, you're filing I-130 and I-485 concurrently because your I-130 is what entitles you to file I-485, so I wouldn't want them to get inadvertently separated (like if someone at USCIS thinks they're getting 4 separate applications). The same thing for I-131 and I-765.
You'll note that USCIS Lockbox filing tips says to keep applications together with paperclips and doesn't mention separate envelopes:
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So I printed out the I-693 form online because I forgot to get one when I ordered the rest by mail. And I notice that the barcodes did not print out at the bottom of it like the other forms. Can I still use the form without the barcodes or is it important?
Why'd you order the forms by mail? You can get them all online.
Yes, it's okay to use the I-693 you printed.
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Or she can file I-539 to change her status to B-1/B-2, which will get her couple of month of legal presence, and not to worry about overstay. Since Ukraine doesn't have 2-year requirement, should be easy task.
To change to B1/B2, you have to prove that you do not intend to stay, which will cause problems when she files to adjust status several months later. Please be careful about instructing people to misrepresent immigration forms.
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not getting SSD no more what is the income guide line for just him and her
not getting SSD no more what is the income guide line for just him and her
$18,912
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Hello all,
I'm still on my K1 journey, but for planning purposes, I have a question about AOS. Once he has the fiance visa, can my fiance come to the US, marry me and then apply for AOS while abroad? We have a complicated situation since this year I am applying to medical school and wont know where I'll be going until the next summer so there is no point for him to come here to search for a job when I might get accepted in a different state and we'll have to move. But we kinda didn't think that through before submitting the I-129F and we should be getting the NOA2 in the next month or two so we don't want to throw all that waiting away for nothing. So we want to know if it is possible for him to come here on the visa and just marry me and apply for AOS and then all the others like work authorization. And then go back to his country and continue working for his current job (and I'll join him there after my interviews) until I know where I'll be. Does he physically have to be in the US during the process or would this be allowed. Of course, for his address we will put my address.
Thanks
No, he has to be inside the U.S. to apply to adjust status, and once he becomes a lawful permanent resident he has to maintain the U.S. as his permanent residence. In addition, he can't leave the U.S. until he gets advance parole or the adjustment is complete, and he has to be in the U.S. for several steps of the adjustment process. So if he isn't ready to move here permanently, you should delay the K-1 process.
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What we did was we applied for an extension of my B2 Visa and was approved ntil May instead of Feb. We decided to do this because we know it will take time for us to prepare for all the papers since we are not planning to get a lawyer to save money. True enough, It took me almost 3 months to finish all the papers plus the time to save money.
If you do get questions, don't say this. You are essentially admitting that you applied for an extension of your B2 status so that you could have more time to become a permanent resident, not because you had to extend a temporary stay in the U.S., which is the requirement of a B2 extension. It's also inconsistent with the reasons you said you gave below in the B2 extension, which was to tour more of the U.S.
Take this opportunity to pay closer attention to the forms you are filling out and to the statements you are making as part of your immigration process. You can be banned from the U.S. for misrepresentation.
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IC 34-28-2-2.5
Contents of petition
Sec. 2.5. (a) If a person petitioning for a change of name under this chapter is at least seventeen (17) years of age, the person's petition must include at least the following information:
(1) The person's date of birth.
(2) The person's current:
(A) residence address; and
(B) if different than the person's residence address, mailing
address.
(3) The person's valid:
(A) Indiana driver's license number; or
(B) Indiana identification card (as described in IC 9-24-16) number.
(4) A list of all previous names used by the person.
(5) Proof that the person is a United States citizen.
(6) A statement concerning whether the person holds a valid United States passport.
(7) A description of all judgments of criminal conviction of a felony under the laws of any state or the United States that have been entered against the person.
(b) A petition under subsection (a) is subject to Indiana Rules of Court Administrative Rule 9.
As added by P.L.61-2010, SEC.2.
I'm sorry I missed that! It's plainly unconstitutional. I wonder if anyone has ever challenged it.
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Hello !
I am so grateful for all the guides and help here on the forum. We are still in the process of filling out those forms!
I am having a problem with the following question on Form I-130:
No. 15 "Name and address of present employer"
I am a F-1 student working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) at my university, and so would I put down the University as my employer on I-130 form ? I am legally employed through the university as the TA is less than 20 hours. I am just worried that the USCIS officers may assume that I am not solely on my F-1 visa status.
Thanks for any input !!!!
Put the university as an employer. USCIS is aware that F-1 allows certain types of work. And working is not a disqualification to adjusting as an immediate relative anyway.
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He should get a co-sponsor
If his SSD payments exceed the income guidelines, he doesn't need a co-sponsor.
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A few questions about this process:
Once a parent of a US citizen is in the process of adjusting status from B2 to green card (submitted I130 and I485) while in the US, does this cancel their current (10 year) B2 visa?
In connection to this, are they allowed to travel outside the US and return using the B2 visa while I130 and I485 are being processed?
Thanks!
Yes nonimmigrant visas are cancelled after you apply to adjust status. You can file an application for advance parole (I-131) that allows them to travel during the process.
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This should be an interesting read for you:
Hey! Thanks for posting my post with the link to that case. I was starting to think that nobody noticed it.
I honestly am not sure that it will have much effect on OP's case. The case says that leaving the U.S. with advance parole is not considered a "departure" that triggers the 10-year ban. It doesn't say anything about someone, like the OP, who leaves the U.S. WITHOUT advance parole. By negative implication, someone who leaves without advance parole should be considered to have "departed" for the purpose of the overstay ban.
Another thing that that case says is that an adjustment applicant who leaves and doesn't have a valid return visa is inadmissible to the U.S. under section 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). Now, inadmissibility under that section can be waived by the Attorney-General for adjustment applicants (usually by issuance of advance parole).
Bottom line is that USCIS policy is that an adjustment applicant who leaves the U.S. without advance parole generally abandons their application, unless the alien has a valid dual-intent return visa like H-1 or K-1. I don't know of any general exceptions to that, and this is not a do-it-yourself immigration case anymore unfortunately.
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I did not request a copy of the law or statute from the attorney because it did not say how we could, it said how we could not.
He did say it was not a matter of where you live or where your residents was. It was a matter of citizenship. A US or Indiana State court can not change the name of a Philippine citizen.
In fact we will eventually have to have her Passport updated. It is very likely the Philippine government will consider it to be an illegal name change request if we don't change her middle name.
I am 95% sure that both the lawyer and the biometrics officer are wrong. As to the lawyer, state courts cannot deny most benefits to residents just because they do not yet have U.S. citizenship. The right to change your name is not reserved for U.S. citizens (like voting or serving on a jury are). Here is the Indiana statute governing name change request, and it does not mention proof of citizenship: http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title34/ar28/ch2.html The court could require that the person be residing in the state.
Likewise, it's extremely doubtful that the biometrics officer is well-versed in law governing name change, or USCIS procedures about what name goes on a green card. I would just wait until the interview--as long as she isn't changing her name to something that's not on the certificate, it should be sufficient proof of whatever name you want to adopt.
As for Philippine law, I don't know anything about that.
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You should attend the interview regardless. You might find that the local office wasn't advised on the change and you will still continue with your interview. This has happened more than once. Just as people have been denied for not attending the "first" interview, the denial was overturned but it added more stress where none was needed.
I'm sorry I think this is terrible advice. Most likely thing is that OP will be turned away as there is no longer any interview scheduled. Even in the doomsday situation you describe, OP has solid proof that the interview was cancelled.
If there's any doubt that the local office doesn't know about the cancellation, OP should feel free to call them. But I think it highly unlikely that there's an immigration officer somewhere that's going to be waiting on him on interview day.
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Thank you...
I will. It seems that for this forum this is something new. But hopefully my info helps others.
This forum doesn't specialize in very complicated immigration problems, and most would consider adjusting after EWI to be that. We also don't get too many TPS immigrants either.
I-485 - need to answer YES on part 3 - C - 1b
in Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas
Posted
Include any records you have of the fine and proof of payment, if it's not already in the records. In addition to putting an explanation of what you did and what happened.