Stressed Out

One of the very first questions on the I-130 form itself asks who you are filing it on behalf of. You would tick the box next to "Spouse" for this question.

So, in other words, they automatically determine it's the IR/CR-1 visa you need based off of what you fill out? I'm assuming it's the only visa available for immigrating spouses of US citizens.

Good to hear. Thanks for the advice!

Our saving grace is the fact that I left everything I owned in the United States (work home family friends everything) to actually MOVE to Morocco and marry my husband and I never left not even for a short visit until after he got the visa.

Yeah, we've gone back to US a few times on vacation to visit family, but we've gone together there every time. Except for last July I went alone in only a week's notice after I found out my mother had two heart attacks and was in the hospital, (husband couldn't get off of work) but I'm sure I could get her to retrieve the medical records to show why I travelled alone that one time. And I still have a bedroom with all my stuff still in it with twin beds for whenever we visit, so it's not like we don't have a place to go when we move. Only reason I sold my Mercedes was because it had about $8k worth of work to be done on it to fight away the rust that was catching up on it and it wasn't going to be driven while I was gone anyway.

But I'm sure now with my parents having their own company, giving us a place to stay and being willing to hire us into their office we shouldn't have a problem with the I-864's.

Alright, glad I asked, hehe. I know what it's like to apply for a visa and find out certain information at the wrong time. Happened with us when we wanted to pay via money transfer for my husband's tourist visa just 5 weeks prior to flying and we found out the day before our appointment the transfer would take 3-5 business days. (German banks like the money to circulate a bit before they transfer it into the second account) I was so stressed out to find that we'd have to reschedule our appointment, our hotel reservations, etc.

How long do you think it'd take with DCF if I did everything right? I know it has to do with which country and which consulate, but would you say 6 months - a year for DCF? Either way I know it's a heck of a lot faster abroad than applying within the US.

Sorry I just remembered that with the I864 your parents will need to provide THEIR income tax documents and also proof of income and proof of citizenship for the main co-sponsor. Also the last 3 months of bank statements. That is all they required for our co-sponsor.

I noticed that on the normal I-864 form there was a field saying "I'm the first/second of two joint sponsors". Is that the field we both fill out, only I fill out first and my parents fill out second? I don't know for sure if there's a difference between co and joint in this case.

And as far as proving my domicile it's definitely going to be more than just my voters card, haha. Also going to setup a bank account again when I go back next time on vacation. Going to change my name finally on my SSN card and take some photos of my grandmother's furniture that's in storage and waiting for us to use it in an apartment or house. Still maintain my driver's license and my mom's going to print out a company letter stating they're going to hire us once we arrive, so I've got some good ties to the US.

And good idea with the IRS email, I'll have to keep that in mind when the time comes to apply. Thanks again for the juicy information!

Since your husband will be authorised to work immediately when he immigrates, it is fine to mention that there will be a job for both of you. Bank account is a great idea too. Did you vote in the USA or abroad (via the embassy or whatever)? If you voted in your home district, the local county clerk should be able to print something out saying you are registered to vote there.

I voted abroad using an absentee ballot. But, I have my voters registration card with me at all times, so that should be enough I guess. So you're saying we don't have to apply for a work permit - it comes along with the green card for spouses?

Thanks for the info.

You will need to show INTENT TO RE=ESTABLISH domicile in this case. This can be things like buying a house in the USA, enrolling kids in school, getting registered with recruiters, being in touch with a real estate agent, flying over for a vacation and getting your drivers license renewed and voter ID etc.

I was thinking I could renew my driver's license one more time. I voted in the last election, but can I get some sort of paper proving my voting history? I guess reopening a new bank account would be wise as well. Also could get my parents to write (on official letterhead) that they plan to hire me into the family company once we move there. Should they also mention hiring my husband as well, or is that unwise? (Don't you have to apply for a work permit afterwords, or does it automatically come with a spouse's green card?)

*bump* I was hoping to get some second opinions on this.

But how can they expect couples to have to live separate? That seems more suspicious to me than me being a resident in Germany. I can tell you right now that I personally have z-e-r-o income from the US since Germany is my home as of now. So, how am I supposed to file this?

Hey there. I'm just doing some research on the IR-1 visa we'd like to apply for in a couple years.

I want to know exactly which Affidavit of Support we need...

I live with my husband in Germany and am wanting to move back home in a couple years after he's completed his internship here. Since I'm not a resident of the US I can't really qualify as support for him as we're both going to have to save up money to move. My parents, though, are more than willing to take us in until we find jobs and an apartment. Is it possible for them to fill out and sign an Affidavit on our behalf or is this going to be a bumpy ride? Also, which form is it exactly? There's a bunch of them with A's and W's at the end.

Hackers

Well I must say that with the insane waste of energy my parents use up each month in the US by letting their dogs in and out of their 8,000 square foot home, we pay only about $60 less than them with our 61 square meter apartment here in Germany. And we've probably got the cheapest bill on the whole street.

It's true that the representative/senator has nothing in his power to "help" you, but I think most of the people on here are a bit too negative against letters from constituent departments. Like you said, it couldn't hurt you. It's worth the shot since it could possibly put a small green flag on your application with them claiming they believe it's legitimate.

I still strongly believe that my husband's visa was approved on part of them faxing in a letter for him. He's never overstayed nor broken any laws in the US or Germany, but the fact he had a terminated work visa and one denied tourist visa would means they would have questioned him a lot more than they did. They knew he had a US citizen as a wife this time (which is normally looked at as immigrant intent), but they didn't even look at his documents. I don't think the guy could've been in such a lazy/good mood to hand out a free visa to someone with a red flag like his.

However, they can't write it to a specific person working at the NVC office. The only thing possible for them to do is to fax them a letter stating they believe your case is "quite legitimate" to ask the interviewing officer to simply take a bit more care with your case. (They include your application number and passport number to verify they've been in contact with you)

So I'm assuming there's nothing I need to settle with the airline BEFORE driving to the airport next month. (My guess is that it's like an ESTA and is pre-programmed into the passport's number) Either way, we'll be able to check in easily with this, right?

I'm not 100% sure how they do this, but the departure is registered nonetheless.

Well I know to travel under the VWP you must have an E-passport, so I'm assuming when the airline personel enter in your info into the computer when handing you your return ticket then you're recorded into their system as having "checked out".

And great advice on the stamping. I'll have to remember to tell my husband to have that done in London. They say online themselves that they sometimes have issues processing the I-94 forms and that's why they even came out with the ESTA program in the first place. So, better safe than sorry.

I just did a little research. Obviously passangers travelling with ESTA's instead of visas don't even have to worry about the I-94, so that's why we never received the form before?

I know it's important that the government realizes that he's left the country when he flies out and that's why they have these I-94 forms you fill out. We've flown many times together, but since his past ESTA was denied we had to get him a visa to fly with me next month, so this is going to be our first trip to do with a visa of any kind.

My question is basically this:

We always had to surrender his I-94 at the POE, so do we need to worry about "filing it officially" that he's gone back to Germany when we leave after 3 1/2 weeks? Or do they take care of that for us at the POE in Dallas?

I would think that, ideally, we should surrender something to the check-in personel when we leave, but we've never had to do that before and he has no red flags to speak of right now.

Sounds like we're noobs, but just with this visa stuff since he's from a VWP country.

We met on YouTube.

So sorry you're having to deal with this. Best resolution I can think of is for your US fiance to come and marry you in Italy (a civil ceremony abiding by both Italian and US marriage laws) and use the marriage to your advantage. If it's a legit marriage then there's nothing that can stop you from moving to the US on a green card. (Though I would wait 3 years since you'd only get a temporary one in the first 3 years)

It pains me to say this, but I must agree with the others that it's more unlikely that your ESTA would be granted or that your B-2 visa would be approved. I wouldn't suggest throwing away 120 Euros just to have someone hand you a 214(b)form and give you even more red flags to overcome in the future.

letters from congressmen have NO influence over a CO's decision....remember, Congress is in the Legislative branch of government; State Dept is in the Executive branch...thus, no congressman is empowered to tell someone from another branch of govt what to do.

I never said that they can "tell anyone what to do". I simply was saying that a fax from a congressman can be helpful since it shows that you've gone to great lengths to prove the worthiness of your case. I know for a fact that my husband's case WAS influenced by the letter my congressman's rep sent since my husband had a terminated work visa on file, a denied tourist visa and now has a US citizen as a spouse....and the guy just asked a couple questions and within 5 minutes he had his visa. It's worth a shot contacting the congressman. You got nothing to lose and perhaps it'll help out.

If you decide to reapply the most important thing is of course to give the officer the impression that you are financially stable in Ukraine and that you both have work waiting for you when you return. A formal letter from his company showing proof of vacation (or bringing a copy of the work contract you said he has for when he's back home) shows that he's not the only one aware of his travel plans. Even if your father is paying his way, don't bring anything that shows that he himself cannot afford the trip. We made that huge mistake the first time my husband applied for a tourist visa when we were just engaged...he told/showed the officer proof of his father paying for his trip. Last week when we reapplied we didn't even have to show documentation.

Perhaps you can also write to a state Congressman's constituent division like I did. They will want to hear your case of course and if they find it legitimate (as your case appears to be) then they can fax a letter to the Consulate to note his case and to take care with him. That's all that they can do for you, but I strongly believe it makes a difference when you're dealing with the average consular officer.

Thanks for the further offers of advice. We didn't make our original appointment date since our visa payment confirmation hadn't reached us via Email by that time, so we rescheduled for this morning.

Just got home from a highly successful trip to Frankfurt. The officer granted my husband his B2 visa with barely any questions asked and didn't even go through his documents. I learned later that obviously our senator's immigration affairs agent had faxed the consulate a letter stating he believed our case to be "quite legitimate" so not to just finger through his papers like last time. My husband also said that they were much friendlier, both outside at the ticket counter as well as inside. Obviously DHS has matured quite a bit within the last 2 years. He should be getting his visa in the mail by next Friday. Hallelujah!

Well that was quite a long time ago and when all this foreign affairs stuff makes into your life for the first time of course you're going to be confused and make mistakes. He never "skipped the interview" for the work visa...like I said, it simply didn't work out. We filed and the application was sent back to us stating that a German couldn't get that certain visa. Don't ask me which one it was, I don't even remember. And as far as clear communication with the CO. If anyone was being unclear then it was his CO who interviewed him. My husband said he was very rude and didn't look at his documents. It all depends on whether God blesses you with the right CO at the right time.

The appointment is for Nov. 6 at 9:30am. Please pray for us!

Found out yesterday that he's going to have to go through with the visa application as there will be no ESTA redress. Please pray for us that this works out.

Why did he apply for a tourist visa back then instead of just going on the VWP? And here's another important question, when he filled out the ESTA form, did he check "yes" for previous visa denials?

He applied for the B2 since he wanted to stay past the 3-month limit for VWP citizens. And, yes, we had to answer yes to the visa denial question. If they catch you lying then you get a 5-year ban from entering the US, which wouldn't necessarily make things easier.

My mom contacted Senator Inhofe's office to ask for any help they could offer and one gentleman said he'd call the ESTA offices by Monday. He says based on the fact that we even filed for a work visa in the past is probably why we had trouble. (Germans can't get a work visa, and they didn't say that on the website when we filed it) Even so it never was technically "denied" since the visa wasn't available for him and he never went to an interview for it. We simply gave up on that option and switched to the tourist visa, but since he had no strong ties except for saying he was "visiting family friends" the officer denied him.

and before you all wonder why we filed for the work visa back then...my parents own a heating and cooling company and were willing to hire him so he wouldn't just be sitting around while I was at college and all, but when they found out the visa wasn't going to happen they just said they'd pay for his food and boarding for the 5-6 months he'd be there.