G. Rod

Hello everyone, thank you for being so helpful in the past. I now have a question regarding bringing over parents who are in another country. I'm not exactly sure what else I have to fill out besides the 130 form.

If possible I'd like to know which forms to fill out for both visiting and to live here. More importantly to live here, thank you very much!

Thank you all so much.

Now, does it matter if we send original copies of her Birth Certificate and Criminal Record , or do they accept copies??

Oh, wow. Really? I didn't know that. She would like to apply with her now married name, so if it's easier, when she receives her EAD, that would be the best time to go in to a SS office??

This has been bugging me to no end, any help would be greatly appreciated. We've already married, are about to send off our permanent residence papers, but I have no idea when is a good time for her to apply for her social security card.

Does she apply in person at a local SS office?

Will she automatically get one due to filling out the work permit form?

You don't need to mail anything with your application like the K-1. If you have an interview, you present it then.

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I greatly appreciate it

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Now, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to create a new thread for this or not, but I am wondering if when we're filling out the form for the travel document, and we don't have a set date as to when she'll visit her country because we want the travel document for in case of an emergancy or something, what would we put in the "date of traveling" box??

Drivers license with the same addresses on it? Any insurance cards/bills or invoices, perhaps car or life insurance? Joint bank accounts, with the copies of the statements showing you not only share the finances but also the same address?

Yes! This helps alot, but:

This is not needed. The only evidence of marriage you send with the AOS paperwork is a copy of your certified marriage certificate.

If you have an interview then you would take evidence of living together and co-mingling of finances and accounts.

Really?? That's quite the load-off, hermano. If this is the case, then it appears we're gonna be just fine.

Hello, some of you have been more than helpful to me in our journey, now it seems I'm left wondering something out loud. For our K1 visa process, we had to mail in evidence that we've met in person and such, now that we're trying to get our stuff together for the permanent residence package we're hoping to mail out soon, do we require evidence that we are living in the same household??

I imagine we do, so this is were I'm at a loss since I cannot place my wife on our rent or utility bill because we have a mutual understanding with my brother and pay give him the money that basically takes care of our rent and utilities. Does anyone have any suggestions of other pieces of evidence?

I've thought about making a written statement signed by my brother in which he states how long we've been living in the house we live in and that we pay him for rent and utilities. Would it help if this statement was notarized or does it matter?

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing what you guys and gals suggest.

Here's the guide http://www.visajourn...content/k1k3aos

And this other guide, made by Vanessa, is very complete and detailed http://www.visajourn...-list-included/

To avoid any confusion, you only need to send one check for $1070.

Many thanks for this!

Alrighty! Thanks to all the generous info so many of you provided, we're off to a good start getting our forms ready for after the wedding.

Is there a set list of what needs to be sent along with the check aside from the forms?

Like:

Her (the petitioner's) birth certificate?

Letter from police station?

and so on and so on?

We submitted all that stuff back when we mailed in our I-129F, but I'm not sure if we have to do it all again.

Her AP that you apply for with the I-485. If you apply for the EAD and AP you will most likely get the EAD/AP combo card. http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f5d28bcbf851e210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=6abe6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

She needs that card to re-enter the US. She will need her passport and if her passport is in her maiden name, the ticket needs to match the maiden name on the passport. She can bring a copy of her marriage certificate with her in case she needs to show it with her EAD/AP since it will be in her married name.

Ah, sorry for the late reply. Thanks again, Jay-Kay. Wouldn't know what to do without ya.

You can expect to take a breather and vacation from immigration. Relax and enjoy your married life together!

Your wife will receive a 2 year conditional green card. It works the same as any other green card. She will be a legal permanent resident and you will not have to worry about filing immigration papers for almost 2 years. In the 90 days before her green card expires, you will need to file for ROC: http://www.visajourney.com/content/751guide

Whew, sounds good, Jay.

What documents would she need if she wants to visit her country while she is waiting for her Green Card?

The $1070 total fee breaks down to $985 filing fee plus $85 biometrics fee. After filing, you receive a letter for getting the biometrics. It will tell you what to bring, which local USCIS office to go to and the date and time of your appointment.

Thanks, Jay. That simplifies it so well for us. Appreciate it greatly.

What can we expect after filing these three forms and aquiring a Green Card?

Yes, you can marry in the last month. You just have to marry within the 90 days after she enters the US. 90 days is not 3 months though. It is exactly 90 days.

She will fill out the white I-94 form on the airplane or at customs/immigration when entering the US. The CBP officer will staple part of it in her passport with a stamp and date for 90 days later. The K-1 visa becomes null and void, and her status will be based off the I-94 at that point. You send copies of the I-94 with your AOS paperwork.

Yes, she stays in the US. She cannot leave without AP or her green card or she will abandon her AOS and you will have to start over with a spousal visa petition to get her back in the US. Once she files for AOS she will be in an authorized period of stay and her NOA receipt from filing the I-485 would be proof of that. It is another reason to file for AOS as soon as possible.

Awesome, thank you, Jay. That about settles it for me.

I assume we get biometrics done for her here before sending the $1070 and all paperwork? Does it matter where we get them done?

It's okay, Saudade. Got it all memorized now.

That sounds confusing the way it is worded. You CAN file for the EAD separately before filing the I-485 to adjust status, but it would expire when your I-94 does, take about that long to be approved and therefore would be a waste of $380. You cannot file for AP separately before filing for AOS. If you file for the EAD and/or AP with a pending I-485, then the fees for those forms are waived. They do not need to be filed together. If you file the I-485 and then decide you want to file for the EAD and/or AP later, the fees are still waived so long as you include a copy of the NOA receipt from filing your I-485.

To the OP: You do not have to file for AP, but the form is short and easy to fill out and since the fee for it is waived because you are already filing the I-485, then you should probably go ahead and file for it too. The wait for the green card is quite a few months now, so better to be safe and have the AP in case something comes up that would make her need to leave the US before her green card was approved. For instance, no one plans for an emergency, they just happen sometimes, and she cannot leave and re-enter the US without AP or a green card in hand. The I-485, I-765 and I-131 are all separate forms that each require you to include the separate documentation that goes along with each one, but they are all mailed together in one envelope to the same address. The $1070 is the fee for the I-485. It is $1070 with or without filing for the EAD and/or AP.

Thanks so much for this. Clears up mostly everything. We'll do this all together for the $1070.

Due to family coming to the wedding from overseas, is it alright if we don't marry until like the last month of the 90 days??

Where exactly do we print out form I-94 and does it get submitted when me send everything off along with the $1070?

She'll be able to stay here legally during the time it takes for her Green Card to arrive?

Yes you need to fill out a new Affidavit of Support using form I-864, this is where the USC sponsor signs the contract with the Goverment!!

Ah, okay. Thank you. Would it be wise to submit one for myself and another for the joint sponser that we're having?

For the travel document, it is better safe then sorry and when filed at the same time as AOS it is free.

Whoa! If we file for a I-131 at the same time we file for AOS, it's free?

If she doesn't plan on taveling back to Belgium until after she recieves her Green Card, can we just skip it?

Congratulations on your K-1

Thank you, Daniel.

Thank ya so much.

Alrighty, so far I'm all caught up. I didn't have a link to this guide right here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos

Thanks to those who posted it up. Looks like we are on the right track, was completely clueless about the estimated waiting time.

Two things still confuse at the moment.

In the AOS guide link you guys posted in this thread, it says an I-864, Affidavit of Support is necessary. Do we fill out another affidavit of support the exact same way that we had it when she went to the interview? Meaning one for myself and another for our joint-sponser the same way?

I'm not really sure what I-131, Application for Travel Document is used for. Does this have to be filled out even though she won't plan on visiting her homeland during the AOS/GC process?

I know in my case, which is somewhat similar to yours, a joint sponser filling out an affidavit of support made the difference.

Thank you so much for the useful info. We are planning a courthouse marriage on last month of the 90 days, would that be too late?

I know I may be missing some info, but could you guys list the forms that we will need to fill out, please. I'd greatly appreciate it everything.

We would need forms:

I-485

i-765

I am not exactly sure what form I-131's use is exactly.

Possible silly question here, would we just need biometrics from her, or both of us?

Call the courthouse and find out the details.

She needs to go to SS Department about 4 weeks after entering and file for SS.

Thank you for this, it answered most of my questions.

Bottom of my signature, click on guide to AOS (adjustment of status) you can file that after you are married. That is the road to 2 year conditional green card. Probably the wait for GC is about 7-9 months after you file AOS.

Oh, wow. 7-9 months??! Will she be able to visit her homeland during that time?

make sure you keep the I-94 form (arrival card she fills out on flight over) you will need it for filing adjustment of status.

I will keep this in mind, but how is she able to keep it, don't the airport officials keep it? I might be wrong here, it's been awhile since I filled one out myself.

Good luck

Thank you!

My fiance attended her interview at the Belgian consulate and she waas approved. She just needs to head back to the consulate to pick up the K1 visa. We have a general idea where to go from here, but would love to her the advice from any of you guys and gals since it's helped us so much in the past.

She's planning on starting her 90 days in January. Would we have to call our local courthouse to set up our court-marriage?

When does she receive her Social Security card? I'm thinking we just need to go to our local SS office and ask for one there?

What other forms are need to be completed for her Green Card? Just want to make sure I have the correct ones in mind and don't miss one.

Finally, after the marriage and paperwork, what's the estimate to recieve her Green Card if there even is one.

Sorry for the question bombarding, but this is the best place for help.

Thanks again, Jim! That's been on my mind for quite awhile.

Not sure if it's against the rules or anything to start another topic regarding a concern. Both of my topics can be merged if it's against the rules, I'm just pressed for time and can't seem to figure this out.

I'm using the example letter found here http://www.visajourney.com/content/examples as a template to how I am typing up mine, but the part where the example states: "It is my understanding that pursuant to 9FAM 41.81 N3.1 (Period of validity}" has me confused. Is the period of validity my NOA date where the I-129F expires? I'm not sure what "9FAM 41.81 N3.1" means.

You sure you have the correct number? In Warsaw, there is a charge for questions in the general line, but not charge whatsoever for immigration visas (different number) and K-1 is considered immigration

Yes, even this page here states that an immigrant visa information costs the 15 euro: http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Belgium&cty=Brussels

According to this; http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Belgium&cty=Brussels

you send in checklist and DS-230 part I and take the rest of the paperwork with you to your interview.

When emailing, did you put your embassy case number in the subject/title of the email?

Thanks for the info, the DS-230 and the checklist will have to be mailed togther then.

I'm not sure if my fiance is emailing with the case number in the subject/title, though we will keep trying.

About now we've decided to extend the approval notice date, so my main question/trouble is what does this mean in the example extend approval letter mean:

Yeah, I'm using the example letter to extend approval as a template to how I am typing up mine, but the part where the example states: "It is my understanding that pursuant to 9FAM 41.81 N3.1 (Period of validity}" has me confused. Is the period of validity my NOA date where the I-129F expires? I'm not sure what "9FAM 41.81 N3.1" means.

Here is an example form for extending approval: http://www.visajourney.com/content/examples

Yeah, I'm using the example letter to extend approval as a template to how I am typing up mine, but the part where the example states: "It is my understanding that pursuant to 9FAM 41.81 N3.1 (Period of validity}" has me confused. Is the period of validity my NOA date where the I-129F expires? I'm not sure what "9FAM 41.81 N3.1" means.

Sorry for the separate replies...

I've found Brussels quite helpful generally. I had to get my file forwarded from Dublin as I moved during the process and this all went smoothly. They do say when you email them first that if your question can be easily answered in the instructions you receive or online then they won't reply.

We also extended our approval which expired in May. The required a letter from the USC petitioner to request extension. The one time they haven't been helpful actually is in replying to emails about whether the extension has been granted or not. We're thinking positively, and hoping that if there was a problem they would have replied. Guess we'll find out soon!

Really? I think we've e-mailed them close to four times already and no response from them. I hope the extended approval for you gets granted.

Yes, they would have to fill out the I-134.

As for the Affidavit of Support, I agree with what Jim VaPhuong said. The procedure differs from each consulate to the other. Over here in Germany, the consulate just recently changed the whole process; for many years, you did not have to send in any documents (except for the forms you had to fill out) - it was sufficient to present them at the interview. However, now that they have changed the process (since May I believe), you have to send ANY documents (including the affidavit of support, birth certificate, etc.) beforehand via snail mail.

Wait, I'm confused, so both I-134's (the joint sponsor's and mine) need to be mailed to her Belgian consulate or taken with her to the interview? But wait, after re-reading this entire thread, it would seem that some consulates differ in some way. Her checklist noted to only send in the checklist and not any important document, so hopefully it's alright to hang on to her stuff until her interview.

If you cannot get a hold of the consulate in Belgium via e-mail, isn't there a phone number you could call to ask them?

E-mail hasn't seemed to have fetched us any results and there is a 15 euro charge for calling and speaking to a representative which we've done once and none of our questions were answered, we were asked to inquire via e-mail. Quite the waste.

On another note: Our approval notice expires in the beginning of August and I'm still in the process of aquiring the joint sponsor's tax transcript, still need to get this paperwork to her in Belgium for her to take to the interview. I'm thinking I'm going to need a letter asking to extend the approval date. Seems like we're cutting it pretty close and I wish to hear what advice you guys and gals have on this.