zinger143

Thank you! That is where we are at, he got the document no problem (took awhile with the holidays) and has to send it via DHL (who are closed because of the holiday right now), but then we just are waiting to hear from the embassy.

Thank you! That makes sense, and makes it easier!

Thank you! This is exactly was I was going back and forth about. I used the exact wording that I was a certified translator, but I wasn't sure for his police certificate if they would allow it. THANK YOU!

This is actually quite typical around the world, just crazy for us to imagine. Put down whatever address she has, so if all she has is the neighborhood and city then that’s her address. My fiancee’s address is just that, the neighborhood and city without a number or street. The embassy/ consulate is most likely used to how their country does it, and my fiancée has to use DHL to send and receive documents. I’m sure they have something similar.

If you don’t get married within the 90 days then you can’t adjust their status, and they can’t legally stay in the country anymore. If they were found to be here by authorities they could deport them and it would not be on you financially to supply their way home.

As NLR stated the I-134 makes sure that you are able to be their sponsor or have someone to co-sponsor with you before you file AOS and have to fill out the I-864. Imagine if you brought them up here, married them, and then while trying to AOS you find out you don’t meet the requirements for the I-864 and they had to go home? Your first question would be why someone didn’t tell you that at the beginning before you started the whole process…. Enter the I-134.

I was looking for the AOS here in the states after the k1 is approved

If you are planning to move back to the United States in 2015 and his parents address will be the place you will be living then yes you would list that as his residence in the US. He may not be there right this moment, but that is his US residence and where the papers should be mailed to. You can start the process while he is in Taiwan and as long as his family can email you scans of the NOA1 and NOA2 then you should be perfectly fine. You can mail the petition from anywhere in the world as long as he is a US citizen and does have a US address. When I was overseas and staying in Bolivia I used my parents address because that is where I lived before and planned to live upon my return. So as long as that is the case with your fiancée then there shouldn’t be an issue. Just make sure the address you list is actually an address he has lived or plans to live upon return so if at any time they asked to see proof of residence he would be able to provide that easily.

Additionally it mentions that if you are living abroad you still send your petition to Texas:

http://www.uscis.gov/i-129f-addresses

According to the instructions:

Any document submitted to USCIS with information in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full English translation. The translator must certify that the English language translation is complete and accurate, and that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English.

I am able to do that, however, I was wondering if anyone has had any problems translating official documents and getting flagged, or had any issues. I would have to translate his birth certificate and then his police certificate that states he was charged but not convicted of crimes. I am confident in my abilities, but will the fact that I am the one translating the documents cause any red flags or issues, or will they simply have a Spanish speaker look it over for acurateness and if it's right move along. I would assume for things like the police certificate they're not going to take my word on it....

Ok, stupid question perhaps, but in order to do the adjustment of status you must fill out the I-864 affidavit of support which requires you to include your most recent tax return. I was planning on getting married right away in January and filing, but I will then have to wait for my taxes to be processed and returned to me for 2014 before I file correct?

If I'm reading that right, once January 2015 hits I will need to use the new 2014 tax return. My school district (my employer) gives us our W-2’s normally within two or three weeks after the new year and then I can do my taxes, but that is going to slow down my process to file. I just wanted to make sure I was correct….

yes and then they will confirm his citizenship

You should post a question on the country specific forum if Mexico requires them to provide a certificate of singlehood. If they do, then Mexico would not issue it for your fiancée and it's a moot point. If they don't require that certificate then it would be up to how the Mexican embassy would interpret those divorce papers. Ask in the country specific forum if anyone has had success emailing the embassy and getting answers. You could email the embassy and explain the US lawyer is saying the Mexican decree of waiting a year wouldn’t hold for US law and ask if they would also interpret it that way.

Depends on your state, we brought his passport and birth certificate and had no problem.

Depends on the embassy, for the Bolivian embassy he had to get a certificate that declared he was single and not registered as married within the country. It is an official government certificate. Each embassy is different, so they will let you know if you need one.

Thanks, I will have him get a few copies!! I did title this wrong, he was charged/arrested but not convicted/found guilty. So we of course disclosed everything and now are getting the official record where it says he was not convicted or held in prison for any length of time for those charges. The embassy told him exactly what the title of the document is called, so he went and found out from the government it takes 3-4 days to process. So Monday he is going to get it, and I will tell him to get multiple copies, good idea!

It wasn't an issue, they fixed it!

He went and they told him which document to send via DHL to them, so all went well just have to send that document and we are good!

So we did the entire ds 160 and AFTER it was submitted (OF COURSE) he realized his birthday is wrong. Can they fix that at the interview or do we have to redo the entire thing?

you can't reopen it once you submit it so I'm thinking it's easier to tell them it's wrong and have them reopen it so he can fix it. thoughts?

He had an attorney that represented him and they dropped the charges - he wasn't in jail for long at all because he had witnesses that saw him that night and her that night on opposite sides of town and was with them all night, even her family testified against her and she dropped it. However it still showed up as an arrest and when he went to get it cleared or the paperwork saying he wasn't charged they wanted a crazy amount of money for it and said it would take over a month. We've been round and round with this and he has traveled twice now to pick this up and they gave him one story after the next and finally today I said forget it lets see what exactly the embassy wants because no one in that country has any idea what they're doing when it comes to getting certifications. Everyone has a different set of requirements and the lawyer said he could get it for $1000- and I said no let's see what the embassy says. I'm praying they see that on the police certificate it has nothing about him being charged for the rape, just arrested and that will be enough. Since it happened so long ago that's why their department is making it sound so difficult because nothing is on computers and its a hot mess- plus they're all corrupt and want money every time they do something for you. It's getting really annoying - so at this point I guess he may not be here for Christmas and we are just going to have to see what the embassy says Thursday- from what I'm hearing on here he most likely will require more paperwork. I assume they would hold the visa pending that additional paperwork and then process it once he submits those documents. We shall see... I really wanted to surprise my daughter on Christmas with her dad

It would take too long to get the paperwork that says he wasn't convicted- my thoughts were if he was convicted that would show up on the police certificate, but it's not so that's his evidence that he wasn't charged. At this point we're going with what we have and see what they say, but I am trying to ease my nerves...

Question, our K-1 interview is this Thursday the 18^th. We were waiting on the final police certificate, and we got it, and I have a question. It says on there that he was arrested for rape but he was never charged and was cleared because there was no basis for the charges. We wanted it to be cleared off his record but they wanted over $1,000 and it would take us after his interview date. However, he wasn’t charged for the rape and was cleared and released because he didn’t do it, the arrest will put a red flag up, but shouldn’t affect us in the visa process because he wasn’t charged correct? On the DS160 we should say he was arrested but not charged, no lying at all because we don’t want to raise any flags, but as long as he wasn’t charged having the arrest on there shouldn’t affect his odds correct?

His ex did it to try and get full custody of their daughter many years ago, and now she's willing to say that the charges were false, but since he wasn't charged I said that shouldn't be necessary....thoughts?

Do you speak his language? If so you just translate it yourself and put a statement that it was translated by you. That is what I did for mind. I wrote it in Spanish and then I wrote it in English and he signed both letters that I translated and I never had a problem. At this stage for those type of letters it is sufficient to have them translated by someone who states that they are proficient in the language. You have to have a statement saying that you swear you are fluent in both languages and sign/date. I could get the exact language for you if you need that I used in mine. However if you already did it then no worries.

There are only two doctors in the entire country that the embassy gives out that are “allowed” to do the physicals, one is on one side of the country and one is on the other. I don’t know if that is why they can charge so much, but it’s ridiculous. However, yes, I received the names of the doctors straight from the embassy.

So my fiancée just went to get the price for the medical examination and vaccinations and was told it was $500 total for the physical, vaccinations, and blood analysis which now includes Ebola testing. To me $500 is ridiculous, obviously I have to pay it, but has anyone else had such a pricey physical or the new test for Ebola?!? He’s in South America by the way if that helps rule out anything! I have him and his daughter so that's $1000 when I thought it would be more like $300 a person.

Depends on your filing center. I was in California and I was approved in 4 weeks for the NOA2 which is insane, but others have to wait much longer which is unfair. Texas is running longer. I submitted in September and his interview is December 18^th but I didn’t have any RFE’s. It depends on your processing center and they are quite different unfortunately.

You can’t file for abandonment until they’ve been gone for at least a year. Annulment can be done based on the fact you were married under false pretenses and she only used you for a visa. I got an annulment before under these circumstances. I looked into the abandonment but it was too hard to prove and took too long, but the annulment was very straight forward and it’s less expensive than a divorce. You need to do it immediately so you can prove your case and while your wife can fight it the sooner you start the better. Since you don’t know her address you just post it in the newspaper and it serves as her notice, it depends on the state but it has to be posted for 60-90 days, then you can move forward. That’s why you need to start this process now. While you’re hurt and wish you could make the relationship work, she obviously isn’t interested in working things out and being with you because otherwise she would have tried to make the marriage work and bring her family up at the same time. You deserve better, and you need to document everything that is going on right now so she can’t say another story later, it seems that she’s done her homework on how to turn the tables and make it seem like your fault. Since she is threatening to call the cops if you don’t file her AOS you need to be careful she doesn’t get something on your record just so she can file her AOS with the VAWA. This has to be about you protecting your future now. Contact a lawyer, ask about their retainer fees upfront and what their standard protocol would be for this situation. Get details upfront about what is and is not included in their fees and what the process would be so you know what you’re getting yourself into. If she wants to fight, she’ll need a lawyer, if she doesn’t have the money she won’t be able to do that. Don’t file the AOS and commit to supporting her because then you’ll be stuck supporting her even if you aren’t together and she’ll be able to bring her family up on your dime.