PA132

Good luck.

It took my husband about 10 months to finally get his new passport (renewal, not first issue). Basically, any way they could make things difficult... they did. Dealing with the passport office over there has made me seriously appreciate the efficiency of the US government.

The easiest way to get the name change started is by changing the passport name and then updating the information at the visa interview. This means you don't have huge fees to name change when she gets to the USA.

As my husband is currently jumping through hoops for the Indian passport office... I'm not sure that statement is true. Maybe they'll be a lot easier for a wife changing her name, but my husband is having huge issues getting my name listed as a spouse on his passport because they apparently don't recognize foreign marriage certificates (???). Instead, as proof of marriage, they want him to submit a form that is actually intended for women who want to change their name on their passport because they're married. Which makes absolutely no sense in our case. It doesn't apply to him because he's not the wife, I'm not changing my name, and it states that we currently live together, which we don't. So the whole form would be a blatant lie. We're currently trying to figure out ways around this.

My husband once said that he'd like one of our future children to be born in India, until I pointed out that this would doom the poor kid to having to deal with the Indian government for paperwork. That changed his mind fast.

A question on the passport and police clearance:

We filed our I-130 about a month ago and are still waiting on our NOA2. I know it's early in the process, but would there be any harm in getting the passport police clearance now? At least it'll feel like we're doing something rather than just waiting. I wanted to make sure it wouldn't hurt anything if we did. Thanks!

I'd wait till you get the NOA2. I think the PCC is only valid for 6 months, so that might be cutting it close if you get it now.

tell me about online order form and air bill

I had to use Travisa for an Indian visa. My memory is a little vague, but I know I was able to take care of the airbill at the shipping outlet. I believe this is something you can request that they print for you when you mail it (it's just details about the shipment). I shipped it via Fedex in one of their flat rate envelopes, and got them to prepare a second prepaid one from Travisa back to my address which I just folded and stuck into the first one. I didn't have any problems with this, got my passport back in ~ 2 weeks.

PA132, what sites have you been visiting? Does your spouse know?

Well for the last 6 months or so, i'm pretty sure it's all been browsing for this paperwork (and the occasional tv show). These days, I've read so much about Indian passports and Oman police clearances that my head might explode.

Ah... they must be waiting for that...

Probably it's bringing up "relationship" type stuff because I spend so much time on a website that talks about marriage. My husband and I sometimes entertain ourselves by analyzing the ads that come up in our gmail threads. Sometimes they can be downright creepy.

I just noticed an ad banner while scanning the forum... for some service titled "meet locals - go green, meet your neighbor"

I'm wondering if someone just really wasn't paying attention to where they were posting an ad, or if they were hoping to prey on people who are so fed up with this whole process that they give up.

congratulation PA132. no hard feeling that s what we call good luck. did your receipt has MSC number?

Yes it does. I think they all do though, regardless of whether they go to a field office.

Eh... I guess in the end it all comes down to a toss of the dice. And I hate random odds... unless I win

I just thought I'd add:

I got my paper NOA2 today, and it was indeed processed at the NBC. There are no kids involved and I'm not filing from abroad (I'm in MD), so I'm not sure why mine would have gone through faster than other people.

I have three running theories:

• We've been married for 7 years now... perhaps that in itself was enough to convince them it wasn't fraud, and they tossed it in the "approved" pile as soon as they looked at it.
  
• I had an extensive FBI background check done about 2 years ago for my job. Perhaps this made the whole background check part faster.
  
• Gentlemen prefer blondes. They were stunned into submission by my radiant locks.
  

I have this vague guilt about getting through before the people waiting longer... only a little though

#6 says you can't file I-130 if you married your spouse while they were under some sort of deportation proceeding UNLESS they have been outside for at least 2 years after the marriage.

Basically that means that people who got married while being kicked out of the country can't file the I-130 until they've been somewhere else for 2 years, kind of as an assurance that the marriage wasn't just a get-out-of-deportation quick scheme.

So this line doesn't apply to you, you're fine.

NOA2 on Jan 8

On Jan 25 Got email that Interview is on Feb 25 at Mumbai.

Do you mean you got the interview date before the case was completed at NVC? Or did your case just go through NVC really fast?

Malaria IS a communicable disease. It moves around via mosquitoes but that is just an indirect transmission. It is still considered communicable.

You need the right kind of mosquitoes to transmit it though. The mosquito factor is actually a big reason why we don't have malaria in the US anymore. The mosquitoes that transmit it usually bite around midnight, and everyone is usually inside well-sealed houses that they can't get into by then. People bring malaria back from vacations all the time but it very rarely spreads, and only generally close to airports. I doubt they'd bar people from coming into the US because of it.

I actually got malaria the non-traditional way once. I was a lab rat in a vaccine trial.

The things we do for science...

I think it just goes by country. One should be fine.

Congrats!! Where are you applying from abroad or overseas? If from the US, which state do you reside? I have yet to see an Pennsylvania (Philly) approvals, so i'm looking to see if they're even processing.

I'm applying from the US; Maryland, specifically. My husband is still in India. I don't think my file ever left NBC, but I'll post when I get the paper copy.

Just when I'd finally resigned myself to not seeing anything for another month or two...

"On January 26, 2013, your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was approved."

(squealing in delight)

Now on to harassing my husband to get his stuff together for NVC...

I know you can send money from one bank account to another. I did that once by going into the bank and asking... there was some info I needed about his bank account, but I don't remember what, because it was a while ago.

I think Western Union also has an option for depositing money straight into a bank account.

Alternatively, I have also used a service called Moneygram. It's just like Western Union, but I think their fees were slightly less.

So I think I understand why you say you smoke, but is it worth it. Just to relax when a loved one makes you a bit nervous?

I don't actually smoke because of him, I just say that to antagonize. To be fair, he's waaay too fond of blonde jokes. I started smoking because that was the rebellious thing to do when I was a teenager, and I continue because frankly, my life spends a lot of time sucking. It takes the edge off. Yes, I know it may kill me someday... but so might the department of transportation in MD.

I seriously almost died twice today sliding on roads that they didn't bother to salt until 2 hours AFTER evening rush hour. A mere inch of snow, and even the major roads are covered in slush. I used to laugh when they called off the schools down here for half an inch of snow (I grew up in PA where they won't call off for anything under like a foot). Now I've realized they're not total wusses, they just have idiots managing the roads.

he'll drink three or four cans a day sometimes!

If I ate the way my husband does, I'd be a balloon. I soooo envy male metabolism. On the other hand, I cringe to think what the grocery bill is going to look like when he gets here.

My husband likes to nag me about all sorts of health issues. In particular he doesn't like that I smoke... so I tell him it's his whining that drives me to smoke

There's a small part in the back of my mind that dreads when he's finally here because I won't be able to get away with all of my bad behavior anymore. The things we do for love...

Maybe billions of rupees is more doable.

lmao... rupees totally defy my sense of currency. It was so weird watching my husband count his 1000 rupee notes. It looked like so much money. I had to keep reminding myself that each of those was only roughly $20.

I wish I'd known about that foreign income exclusion... that would have given me justification to file jointly anyway. I don't know how much of a difference it will make in my return. I'll be finding out soon, though. I'm definitely filing jointly this year.

Ahhh... big dreams... I prefer to be a little more realistic, myself.

Though I do have this tiny idea of starting up a sport bra business.

However, that was busted when I googled and realized how difficult it is to make a sports bra >=[

Haha it is good to find a good sports bra... I actually realized I prefer to wear a normal one while working out. The sports ones don't seem to do much, and uniboob is just not attractive.

No. Foreign income is exempt up to a certain amount.

It might have to do with tax treaties and things like that, unfortunately I only know for myself dealing with Canada, but perhaps you should look more into it!

You could be screwing yourself out of much needed/earned money.

Hmm... perhaps I'll consider switching for the 2012 filing. Of course since he'll be coming over relatively soon, I'd be switching anyway.

It would have been nice to do that years ago, but he lives in this little fantasy where he thinks he's going to be making billions of dollars... once everything is online... really, it'll be any month now....

~sigh~

He's been saying that for years now.

did you not realize you could file joint whether hubby makes income or not?

Oh I did... I would prefer to file that way, because I'd get more back. The problem would be if he started to make money over there. (Small risk of that, but he still thinks he can get his "business" running. A big source of disagreement between us... but that's a side issue) If he did and we were filing jointly, then he would have to pay US taxes. Of course he will when he gets here, but up until now that wasn't something we were actively planning for. So we don't file jointly so he can leave his options open.

Dumb, yes... but who out there doesn't have a spouse who makes life difficult.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/correcting/ChangeName/ChangeName_851.html

You can get it changed on your passport by applying for a renewal and sending in a copy of your wedding certificate.

It's strange that they don't accept the social security card... but I imagine you were going to have to get the passport changed anyway.

I believe you should be able to file jointly for both years, as long as you are married by the end of the year. I'm not 100% certain on this though... we got married back when I was a student, so I didn't file taxes until a few years later.

In my case, I've been filing as married, filing seperately and claiming my husband as a dependant since he has no income. I know we can file jointly though, I just wanted to keep things simpler in case he ever does start making money over there and I think it's frowned upon if you switch back and forth.

If you go the same route as I do, make sure to send in a letter explaining the extra exemption... the first time I did that, they sent it back to me with a ~$400 bill saying I'd claimed too many exemptions, but I sent a letter explaining it was for my husband because he has no income. They apparently accepted this, and sent the return I'd been expecting with no comment.

They couldn't have devoted that funding to something useful, like, say... hiring more people to actually process the files?

No... that would make too much sense.