jan22

She was. OP posted the denial notice. It was, of course, a 214(b) refusal.

They can be served concurrently once the second J-1 program has been completed and the person has left the US. Any time spent in the home country between the two program could not, of course, be applied to meeting the requirement for the second program. So, the second one essentially “resets the clock” back to zero but the time accumulated after the second J-1 applies to both. Important note — the home country residence must be tha same for the two programs. If there’s a different home country for the second one, the two-rear residency requirement must be met for each country in that country, which can’t possibly be done at the same time.

Are you/your spouses from a country that permits multiple marriages? If so, you may have more problems than others have expressed here. You said you are not divorced from the first wife and have not physically separated either, if I understood correctly. You plan to divorce her and immediately petition your second wife. Since you are still living with the first wife up to now, if the home country allows multiple marriages, this will likely cause questions about whether your intent is to divorce wife #1 (but still maintain a relationship with her) in order to immigrate wife #2. If you cannot convince the officer this is not the case, the visa will likely be denied under 212(a)(10)(A), as it is illegal to immigrate a spouse(s) to practice polygamy. If not from a country that allows multiple marriages, there may be some questions asked about possible dual relationships, or marriage strictly for immigration purposes, but it might be easier to convince the officer as to your intentions.

What I said was go to the interview and have the officer adjudicate whether there actually is a ban. It is actually very difficult for someone on a student visa to accumulate unlawful presence/overstay, so there quite possibly isn’t a ban and a visa can be issued. The officer would not be “turning a blind eye” if, after reviewing the information, determines that there was no overstay. Your scenario is, IMO, so extremely remote in this case that even in the current climate it is very close to fear-mongering If the OP is still unsure, they could request a delay in visa printing — might not be done, as the officer would reassure that there was no ban and everything was good to go. But it may not be enough reassurance for them. Pushing the interview — taking it out if the normal processing stream — could result in it falling between the cracks and a long delay for an interview. There is no guarantee that it would be right after the ban is up.

That is not a risk if the visa is not issued until after the potential ban is up.

Or, you could go to the interview if it’s scheduled before Jsnuary and find out if, in fact, you have a ban. If you don’t, and everything else is good in your case, you’ll get a visa. If you do, they will give you a 221g refusal until either a) you get a waiver approved, or b) the ban is over. You do not have to apply for a waiver just because you went to the intervie. You can still wait out the ban, which will overcome the 221g refusal much sooner than getting a waiver, and the visa will be issued. You might have to update your medical; however, that’s likely still cheaper than the waiver fee.

As I said in my previous post, you cannot enter on a visitor visa (B2) with an intent to immediately apply for Adjustment of Status without being willing to lie to the immigration officer about the reason for your “visit”. While you might be admitted, it will likely cause you immigration issues every step of the way after that, up to and including the possibility of a denial of your I-485. in addition, it is to your benefit to go through counselor processing and get a visa. It will likely be less expensive (the fee for application versus the fee for a AOS, the fee for the medical for a visa versus the Civil Surgeon medical fee in the US, etc.). Most importantly, it will allow you to legally begin your life in the United States from the day that you enter with your immigrant visa versus waiting months for work authorization, etc.

You need to change it to consular processing and depart the US before the end of your authorized stay. It will be several years until your Priority Date (PD — the date your petition was filed) is current and a visa number is available for you. People whose petitions were filed by January 1, 2022, are those who now have visa numbers available. This has been the current PD for visa processing since October 2024, so it’s moving slowly. There is no way it will become current during your authorized stay, so there is no way you can adjust status. When a visa number becomes available, you will proceed with consular processing. You cannot enter the US as a visitor to adjust to permanent residence status (unless you lie to the immigration officer at the Port of Entry).

A couple of points for you to consider: If you were, in fact, selected for DV Fiscal Year 2025 as you stated, your Priority Date will have to become current, your Adjusment of Status filed, and all approved no later than September 30, 2025, the end date of DV 2025. Therefore, your planning would seem to be unnecessary, since you would have permanent residency (assuming your DV Adjustment of Status is approved) NLT the end of September, within your authorized grace period. If you were, instead, selected for DV 2026, your Priority Dare will not become current in September 2025. The program doesn’t begin until October 1, 2025. Your concern listed in #3 is something I would be concerned about. By filing the request to change from one non-immigrant visa status to another non-immigrant category while you know you are definitely planning to immediately file for an Adjustment of Status to permanent residency might well cause concern to someone at USCIS reviewing your case. There is a possibility that it could be considered a “frivolous” application and quickly denied. And, perhaps even more troubling — if your applications is quickly reviewed and refused (unlikely it will be reviewed quickly, but…), you will be considered out of status from the date your H1 ended, not the date of the denial and you may not be in status from which to apply for an Adjustment of Status. Consulting a really good immigration attorney with knowledge of changes of status and also DV timing/filing would likely be useful to you.

If your son entered the US on an immigrant visa (IR-2), in the physical custody of the American citizen parent (you), and is residing with you in the US — he is now a US citizen under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. You can take evidence of his entry as a US permanent resident and a completed passport application to a passport acceptance office and get him a US passport. Please do this for him before you make any decision about or take action toward leaving the US.

There is often a big difference in doing a domestic adoption and an adoption for emigration/immigration. A domestic adoption may give the adopting parents legal parental rights within the country, but not meet the requirements for immigration to the US. If you haven’t already done so, especially if you are considering doing this yourself, you should spend time thoroughly reviewing the following information from the State Department: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Intercountry-Adoption-Country-Information/Philippines.html. In just a quick skim of this information, for example, I saw a requirement that may possibly be an issue for you. Under the “Who Can Adopt” section, it states that there cannot be a more than 45 year difference between the age of the child and the age of the adopting parent(s). Hard to tell about your wife without actual dates, but there was clearly more than 45 years between your age and the child’s age when the adoption was finalized. The above information applies to a Hague Adoption Convention, which is the usual way to do an adoption for immigration from the Philippines. It’s clear that your adoption doesn’t qualify for immigration under the Hague process, but you need to be aware of the requirements because you need to establish that the Convention requirements don’t apply to your adoption. Once you do that, you need to follow the USCIS Family-Based Adoption Process which will include filing an I-130 petition for your child. (Note: The I-800A is used to determine that the prospective adopting parents are suitable as parents for adopting a child from a Hague Convention Country. This is not appropriate for your case, a domestic adoption.). Review the USCIS requirements to see if you qualify for an adoption for immigration under the Family-Based requirements at: https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/immigration-through-adoption/family-based-petition-process and https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-5.

You’re being a little coy about what might be the very reason for additional administrative processing. You have said a coupe of times that you sell and export “a common/commodity used in construction”. What, exactly, are you selling? And, to whom do you sell it? And, when you specifically say it is a “small business” but the “income is still high” — something doesn’t quite match. If you answered the questions the same way on your application and during the interview, it likely raised questions in the interviewer’s mind.

Upload the complete notarial certificate that is described in the link appleblossom provided.

The one year validity of the MRV fee refers to the time period in which you need to make am interview appointment. The appointment and interview do not need to be within the year of MRV validity — once you have the appointment made, the year counter stops. According to the State Department website on Global Visa Wait times (last updated 1/7/2025), there was only a 4 day wait time for a B1/B2 visa appointment in Kingston. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/global-visa-wait-times.html

What shouldn’t come up?? The consulate obviously had doubts about the biological relationship or they wouldn’t have asked for the DNA. Were you married to the mother of the two oldest and have maintained a father-daughter relationship with them? If so, you could petition for the 18-year-old as your step-daughter.

Like most things in US immigration, it’s not nearly as simple as just filing a visa application. You can find general information about international adoption for immigration at the first link below. Thailand-specific information is in the second link. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Intercountry-Adoption-Country-Information/Thailand.html It is likely that, since this will not be a Hague Convention compliant adoption in a Hague signatory country, the child will have to live in the legal and physical custody of the adopting parent for two years prior to being eligible for US permanent residency.

Check the official information on bringing an animal into the US at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel/another-country-to-us-import

A good place to start is to review the State Department info at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employment/temporary-worker-visas.html

She should go to interview with the family as scheduled. Unless she is the principal applicant, the visas for the rest of the family can be issued and she can start the waiver process.

Montreal’s visa operation is focused on immigrant visas.

NVC reviews to ensure that you have submitted some documentation for all the requirements. They do not evaluate the quality of those documents, as they are not authorized/trained to adjudicate visas. They cannot review documents and determine, for example, that they are fraudulent. The final evaluation and acceptance of documentation is done by the officials at the interview.

Similar efforts have occurred over the years in other aspects of consular processing — for example, applications for Consular Report of Birth Abroad applications — and have been extremely helpful in having an applicant ready with all required information at the interview and, therefore, being approved the first time an officer reviews the case at interview. The ultimate goal is for an officer to have to review a case only once, thus freeing them for more cases, or reviews of cases that were previously 221(g)ed, or those that have finally cleared administrative processing and are ready for approval processing. Ultimately, it should help reduce backlogs at posts — but that remains to be seen, depending on any new processing requirements that might be announced in the future.

I am not familiar with Cairo’s current procedures, but I would not leap to the assumption that this is something to be concerned or panicked about right now. When there is an officer review of the details/documentation of a non-immigrant visa case (which a K-1 technically is) prior to the interview, the officer usually either issues the visa or sends an interim refusal until the interview. The interim refusal may suggest additional information to bring to the interview. For example, if someone has applied for a visa under the Interview Waiver program and the officer decides that the person really needs to be interviewed, they will issue a 221(g) refusal and require the person to come in for an interview. They will tell the applicant if there’s a specific piece of information to bring with them. It appears to me that what Cairo is doing is reviewing the case for completion prior to the interview, to help applicants come fully prepared with everything they need to bring. To document the review and what was requested, they issue the 221(g) sheet. Since none of the main areas were checked on the OP’s sheet as far as I could see, it seems to me that they were likely satisfied with the basic documents, but wanted to indicate that documentation of a solid, bonafide relationship is very important — probably THE most important part of the application.. NOTE: If someone has gone through Cairo for a K-1 visa recently and my basic assumption about their process is wrong, please let me know and I’ll reassess this response! About asking for an earlier interview — the date you received is likely the earliest open date. Unless you have a valid reason (other than, of course, wanting to be together as soon as possible), it is unlikely that you will get an earlier date.

No problem — happy to help!

Just to check —- you naturalized before your son immigrated, right? Did he immigrate on an IR-2 or some other immigrant visa? Is he in your physical custody (i.e., is he living with you)? If all of the answers to these are “Yes”, your son became a US citizen immediately after entering as a permanent resident to live with you (Child Citizenship Act of 2000). I would recommend that you immediately take the evidence of a) your naturalization; b) his proof of entering as a legal permanent resident; c) documentation that he is living with you at the same address, and and immediately apply for a US passport for him. It should be the fastest way to document his acquisition of US citizenship. After he has the passport, you can then always apply for a Certificate of Citizenship as a further proof in case the passport is lost, etc. Goid luck!