Lara826

This is just my opinion but- I would just write your story and don't over-explain for things they aren't asking you. If they have questions they will ask and then you can explain. For now focus on the evidence you have and leave it at that. I lived abroad with him for 3 years,1 in same apartment, and the apartment was in my name as well as all the bills, so we didn't have any evidence. I just said we lived together when I wrote our :"story", we listed the same address, and it was never brought up or questioned. Include any other evidence you have such as pictures, plane tickets, passport stamps, etc...

I would agree with baron on both accounts. I don't think most states will make an adult take driver's ed. She would have to study for her written test, then when she gets her temps, practice driving with a licensed driver until she can pass driving test (at least in Ohio that's how it works)

My insurance cut off was sometime the past November, but we got married in May. I just send a marriage certificate to the HR person at my job and my husband was added mid-year. A lot of insurances allow you to add someone for "qualifying events" such as marriage, birth of a child. Check with your HR dept or insurance co, if that is the case she may be covered as of your wedding date.

good luck!

We sent just the record from his doctor with his vaccinations hoping they'd accept it but of course they didnt! We got a RFE, went to a civil surgeon with the letter, which was not even written in English (obviously the vaccination names are the same), from his childhood doctor in his home country, along with a flu shot record he just got from a local drug store, and the civil surgeon transcribed it for us. I think it cost about $60 for us. We did have to call around to several civil surgeons because some of them insisted and argued with me that he needed the medical exam again which of course would cost another few hundred dollars. We finally found one that knew what we were talking about though.So just make sure you explain exactly what you need when calling them and don't let them tell you that you need another medical!

Good luck! Be patient and remember in the end it will all be worth it

Unfortunately there is no way to expedite You can explain your situation in your cover letter if you wish however that doesn't mean they will take it into consideration.

Once she gets the K1 visa she can come into the US anytime within the 6 month period. So say the wedding is 3 months after she gets her visa she can wait to come, as long as she enters before the visa expires.

The advanced parole for us took about 2 1/2 months after filing to recieve it, if that helps at all. Everyone's case is different though.

Sorry there is not too much good news for you here.

Good to know. It was definitely a pleasant surprise and one less thing to worry about

Glad it went so well! Welcome to America! My fiance travelled by himself to come here, POE Philadelphia and he also had a pleasant experience with friendly people. There are both good and bad experiences with POE, being prepared for a difficult interview makes the pleasant one that much more of a relief IMO

My husband just got his two year green card in the mail last week! We applied end of June. And much to our surprise we did not require an interview, I thought an interview was pretty standard. After we reached the 6 month waiting mark we starting semi-bugging USCIS with a few phone calls, made an "infopass" appointment where they assured us we would get the card in a few weeks, and we did. I have no clue if this had any affect on it but we are certainly glad the wait is over!

Just out of curiosity... how many people out there had an interview vs. no interview before approval?

If you are coming in March, and applying shortly thereafter I would guess you wouldn't need a flu shot as long as you have all your other vaccinations in order. We applied for AOS in June and got an RFE in October for vaccinations so even though we applied out of flu season when it came around for the RFE the civil surgeon said he had to get a flu shot.(note- when he got his physical in Madrid, the civil surgeon told him he would take care of the vaccination stuff in the states, and did not fill out the form, which is why we got the RFE)

Did you have the civil surgeon from your home country fill out the vaccination form? If yes you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If not you may have to see one here just to do that as we did. We brought in a copy of hand written note from his childhood doctor (the note was in a foreign language even... yes we were taking a gamble) but our civil surgeon filled out the form based on that. He was missing the flu shot and one or two more so we had to go get them and come back.

My husband got his flu shot at a local drugstore clinic and we just brought the documentation they gave us to a civil surgeon who filled out the vaccination paperwork. He had to get other shots as well, such as the Dtap, and we got them all at the same place. The lady who worked at the front desk of the civil suregon pretty much told us to go anywhere else and come back because they would charge us a crazy amount if we got the shots there! We handed in our paperwork, waited for the civil surgeon to call him back, he signed the form in front of the civil surgeon, gave us a sealed envelope, and we returned that with our RFE, and done!

I just posted a new topic related to RFE..

I am a Canadian who lives about.. 30 minutes from the US border.. and my boyfriend lives about 20 minutes from there.

Luckily for us.. we get to see eachother pretty regularily through this process...

My questions is- I thought that send 5 photos for proof of meeting in the last 5 years..was going to be sufficient since we live so close together...

But now i'm seeing that is secondary evidence.. and I'm worried i"m going to get a big RFE..

Just wondering if anyone has gotten approved solely off of photos?

If you are worried about it not being enough evidence, you could include statements from friends or family members that you spend time with vouching for your relationship (they will have to be notarized), and if you ever stay at hotels or get tickets for an event or something together, could include that. Also ask for passport stamps when each of you cross the border to show that you are seeing each other, etc. As far as whether just photos will be enough, I guess it will just have to depend on the officer and how convinced he is you are a real couple.

Hey Lara! I have a question... I thought the Affidavit of Support will only be used during the interview of the fiance? Does this mean I have to include AOS when I file for petition?

Hi,

Yes when you file for AOS you will need the Affidavit of support. This is when I got the RFE because I did not include income tax forms. In fact, my (then) fiance brought the affidvait of support to his interview at the embassy (in Madrid) and they didn't even want it, they said to wait until he gets here. I imagine Madrid is more relaxed that some places but he did not hand it in during his interview. Hope this helps!

Why does he 'have' to leave? He has as much right to stay in the marital home as she has.

Well, he wouldn't have to leave. But he can't make her either. You are right- they both equally have the right to stay in the marital house. So if he does not want to be in the same house with her, he would have to leave. At least until something got worked out down the road with the divorce, etc....

You can apply for SS card when she gets here, with passport and I 94. You do not need to be married yet. We just went there with his docs, filled out the paperwork, a worker processed it, they didn't ask us anything or give us a hard time and it was done. Once you get married you apply for AOS and employment authorization and advanced parole if she wishes to travel), you will then get employment authorization/advanced parole card in mail (his took 2 months) and many MANY months later you will a green card (seven months for us but I think we got lucky)

Like others have said, she is now a permanent resident in the US and can remain there at least until the expiration date on her green card, at which point she will have to apply for a 10 year and that will be on her. You have no right to make her leave the country, as USCIS has granted her permission to be here. You should treat it no differently than if you were married to a US citizen. You are her husband not her immigration officer. So what do you do when any marriage is not working out? You talk to the person. You get a divorce. You could not make that person leave your house, the state, country, or do anything else. Talk to her about the situation, and if she is not willing to leave than you would have to leave. Talk to a lawyer about it, see what you can do to remain in your house, if you want a divorce, get a divorce. That won't take away her right to be here. It will be up to her if she stays, if she applies in two years for removal of conditions, and up to immigration if they grant it.

Also be careful with dates on forms! I downloaded some of my forms off visajourney and although the new forms were EXACTLY the same I got the entire package sent back to me. It was only one form that was expired and I got a new one off USCIS. It can be confusing because some forms that are the most recent don't have a future date and some forms will have a future expiration date. If you are not sure about the right date check the form on USCIS. Visajourney has been extremely helpful and right on with most info, but when I send my I 129F (about 2 years ago now) there was at least one form that was expired.

I got a RFE asking for my income tax form for the previous year. I had a letter from my employer (and I work in a goverment office) with my salary, length of employment, etc as well as paystubs. I thought that would be enough, but got a RFE about 6 weeks after my filing date requesting just the one previous year's form. I sent my 1040 and W2's. Sent it, and my local office confirmed with me the other day that everything looks ok at this point.

I don't know how much this will help you, but I submitted a letter from my employer and paystubs. I got a RFE and had to provide the previous years income tax statement. My guess is that with paystubs and income tax forms from several years you will be fine. I

Hello!

So it´s finally almost here; our K1 Visa has been approved and his flight is on Tuesday! I have a few questions about the POE. Just to give some background info: He is a Moroccan citizen, and Spanish resident who got his visa from the consulate in Madrid. He will be travelling Madrid to Philadelphia to Cincinnati (POE Philly).

First question: He speaks English but it is not perfect and he has a heavy accent. And he will be very nervous. Would he have the option of having someone speak to him in another language if the situation gets to that point?

Next, when he applied for and was given the visa I was working at my old job. I started a new job in November. All of he info he has in his visa packet regarding my employment if from my old job. Do you think this will be an issue when they are asking him questions as he is passing through immigration? It is too late to mail it but would it be helpful to email him a scanned letter from my employer for him to take with him? Any other tips on how to handle this situation? I have also moved since then, and my old address will be on there.

Also, do you think it would be wise for me to contact the airport or immigration to let them know of the situation in advance? I tried to look for contact info but am struggling...

If there are issues with him, will they call me or let him call me?

Lastly can anyone who has been through this point already let me know some questions or what to expect? Especially someone who has gone through Philly.

I know this is a long post. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated!

I was in a similiar situation, as I had been living in Spain the three years before I came back to apply for the K1 visa. I called the IRS and it did not take me long at all to file back taxes. They basically told me that know that foreign countries don´t always keep records like we do so just to fill out my best guess. IF you were living there at least 330 days of the year and made less than 90,000 (I don´t remember the exact amt) you shouldn´t have to pay anything and just file form 2555 foreign earned income exclusion along with your 1040 for each year. It didn´t take me long at all, it´s just a formality. I just called the IRS and the guy I talked to was seriously so nice about, he said things like, yeah we understand that when you go abroad you don´t think about it. I just started my job when I applied and had been working there less than a year when he got approved. I had a co sponsor just in case but they didn´t even want those. You may want to consider a co sponsor to be on the safe side, but I think as long as you show you have steady employment or can take care of your spouse you should be ok.

Hello everyone!

So my fiance's K1 visa got approved in October, however due to some circumstances he will not be able to come here until the first week of March. It expires April 2. My question is this: I know we need to get married within 90 days of his arrival. However, can that 90 days go beyond the expiration date of the visa? Or is it a situation where whatever comes first(ie within 90 days or before the expiration date). So does this mean if he comes in March, will we need to get married by April 2 or will we be able to wait until May? Thanks!!!

Great! I live close to the west side near Cheviot, are ya close?

Living abroad is not my expertise but I am sure someone soon will give you some really good advice. What kind of evidence will you both have in your name while living abroad if I may ask, besides a lease agreement of where you will reside?

As far as U.S. evidence, add him to your car insurance plan, get joint bank accounts, home/apt/lease agreement with both names, health insurance plans together, bills like utility, cell phone, cable, etc., if you have any life insurance add his name as a beneficiary to the plan. You will also need to file taxes jointly as this is good proof too.

My husband's sister won the lottery visa last year and came to the States and stayed 4 months roughly. She didn't like it here and flew back to her country where she was living. She decided to come back as she knew she had to in order to maintain residence and keep her green card. At the POE in Chicago, she was given a really hard time for like 3 hours as to why she was not living here and trying to work and find a job and show some proof that she is living here. I would just have all my ducks in a row and have strong proof of everything you need for this living abroad and going to college. Like I said, someone hopefully soon will give you some strong advice and it doesn't seem to be impossible for you to travel and live abroad as long as you keep good documentation and show proof of a bona-fide marriage. It's sad, but I believe his sister is going to give up her green card, because during her last interview, the Border Patrol told her next time she may not be so lucky and may lose her green card if she continues to travel abroad and not reside in the US as this is one of the conditions she must abide by. She just didn't like it here and felt that Dubai was a better place to live and some of her sisters lived there too and she was giving up a great job as well.

So how often have you visited Morocco?

I am closer to Dayton, a little less than an hour north of Cincy. We haven´t really decided what we are doing yet as far as going abroad, and he is obviously going to be living here for a while after we get married so we will just have to make sure we have everything set up beforehand. His main concern and reason for wanting to go abroad to study is that he won´t be able to find a job with his degree, so he wants to get a masters. And masters are a fraction of the cost in Germany. I guess I will just have to play it by ear, I just hate not having a definite plan.

I have been to Morocco about 3-4 times. I am going to visit my fiance in mid August so I may be going back, I haven´t seen his parents for awhile. Or him, for that matter. We thought about living there briefly but finding good jobs there would be difficult. But I love going there, his family and friends are always so friendly and I love the food. Have you been there often?

Yes, I am in the Cincinnati area

When/if we live abroad, we would be living together, so I would assume we could get all the same evidence, we would just have to translate it into a different language. If we returned to the US at least every 6 months, and maintained a residence, credit card bills, etc here do you think that would be enough?

Hello everyone,

My fiance and I just got out NOA2 for the I 129F last week and are anxiously awaiting for everything else to start moving along. My question is related to after we are married with the K1 visa, we are guessing the wedding will be around Christmas or January. He is looking to start his Masters degree, but after researching the phenomenal cost of degree in the US, he thought about going to Germany (where he did his undergraduate). I told him to start it while he was waiting, but that he needed to come here and stay once the visa got approved, and then we would look into going back. I also found a scholarship for my area of study for Americans who want to masters in Germany, and want to apply for it (obviously no guarantee of getting it). If by some miracle I did get it, I would go in Oct 2013 (about 9 or 10 months after getting married). And of course, since we have already been apart for so long he would want to come with me to finish up his masters there. A few questions that I have looked on USCIS and different pages but have not found exactly the answers I am looking for are this (I would call them, but I don´t feel like waiting just for someone to read information to me I already read online to me).

How long after the marriage will the AOS take/he be allowed to leave the US without having problems with re entry? How much time would he be allowed to be outside or the US without risking his residency getting taken away? Since we would be over there for studies would that make a difference? We plan on living in the US once we finish with our masters, and living together over there. Now I know it may seem like a better idea to just wait until we are ready to stay here permanently, but if I am able to go depends on a scholarship (about 1/3 get it), which I obviously can´t depend on at all. In the mean time, we would like to follow through with the K1 in case that plan doesn ´t work out. And if we do both go abroad and his residency does get taken away, how hard will it be for me to apply for him to come back since he will then be my spouse of over 2 years? Or, if my scholarship doesn´t get approved, and he continues with his masters (he will do part online if I can´t go to Germany), would him having to go over there for a semester without me affect his residency? Will having previously filed a K1 affect our ability to do a K3? Any advice would be much appreciated. I know it sounds like I´m all over the place, and I kind of am.... I just hope someone can make enough sense of this to advise me