JFH

*~*~*country-specific question moved from “DCF” to Latin America sub-forum. - question about visa delivery times at the Rio consulate*~*~*

*~*~*moved from “IR-1/CR-1 spouse visa progress reports” to “general immigration discussion” - general question on I-94s*~*~*

How long ago is “just crossed”? 10 minutes ago? Yesterday? 
 

It can take a while to update on the online system. I once arrived by plane for a few days and had returned home before my record was visible on the I-94 system. 

4 hours ago, nyahchen said:

Hello fellow friends in the waiting line! I just came back from the Tukwila office and I am a US citizen.

I'm an Aug 2020 filer based on marriage.

I arrived at the building about 20min before my scheduled time, they let me in. After security check, I waited in the check-in line where the staff checked my appointment notice, took a photo of me and took my finger prints.

The lobby on the 2nd floor was very busy, but I got called in only 5min past my scheduled time. The officer was very nice and thorough. I first did the reading test to read a sentence on a tablet. Then she asked me to write a sentence on the same tablet. Then we moved on to the civic test where I needed to answer 6 questions right out of 10.

Questions I remember are: Name one senator of WA state. How many senators are there? What's the name of the ocean on the east coast? What was the concern during the Cold War? How many justices are in the Supreme Court? We stopped at question #6 coz I got all of them correctly.

After the test, we moved on to more routine questions like where I live, where I work, etc. We spent some time talking about the trips I took outside of the US in the past few years.

And then we stood up to take the allegiance and I was officially a US citizen!

 

I did request a name change in my original application, but the officer said the Seattle office doesn't have the capability to do that, I'll have to get a court order on my own. She then updated my application to say "no name change request" and I received the certificate of citizenship with my original legal name.

 

Wish everyone here good luck! It will be your turn soon!

Congratulations!!!

So her family does not even know that she will soon be leaving the country permanently? 

*~*~*procedural questions moved from “progress reports” to “process and procedures”*~*~*

US citizens do not need an I-130 as they are not immigrating. They are returning. All the need to return to the US is a US passport. 
 

However, any form that asks how many children you have or asks you to list all of your children must include  ALL children, both US citizens and immigrating children alike. 

4 hours ago, Stehar said:

Thanks for your response I was thinking the same, it’s just because it say every child that you are immigrating with parent made me have doubts.

“Immigrating with” is not the same as “traveling with”. 

As the parent of a minor US citizen he is not subject to the current travel “ban” from Europe and the UK. The issue at this stage is getting an ESTA or visa to come here to marry. Getting married here is ordinarily (in non-COVID times) easier as the UKC can come as a tourist and you can get married with almost no waiting period and minimal form-filling. Getting married in the UK would mean you would have to apply for a marriage visa. Unlike the US, the UK does not permit people to get married there whilst in a tourist status.
 

It is my understanding that ESTA is not being approved online at the moment and he would need to go to the London embassy with proof that he is the father of a USC child in order to get approval to travel at the moment. 

There have been success stories on here where imprisoned USCs have successfully petitioned their alien spouses and visas have been approved. 
 

Depending on the crime, the biggest issue here is “married for immigration benefits”. That’s an absolute no-no. If the crime falls under the AWA list then it will be difficult, but not necessarily impossible, to proceed if the marriage is genuine. Which this is not. 
 

Has the person been in prison for the full duration of the relationship? Has money been exchanged? 

9 hours ago, brevig said:

Sorry, I've flown a lot, and never seen a round trip cheaper than a one way for the same destination.  Yes, the one way might be almost the price of the round trip but I have NEVER seen it cheaper.  If you don't mind, as I'm super curious, what is the arrival/destination you are searching that a round trip is cheaper than a return ticket?

 

Also, they don't look at your tickets during the K1 visa interview, so it's not important anyways.  They even advise you not to buy tickets until you are already approved.

From Europe round-trip tickets are almost always cheaper. 

I work for an airline and my job involves pricing, contact negotiation and capacity control on routes, I could give you a very long explanation as to why that is the case in Europe but let’s just say “that’s just the way it is”. 

Assuming she has VWP privileges and can therefore visit with relative ease (assuming the costs of they flights are not prohibitive) then I would certainly re-consider your decision to do a K-1 and instead marry on a future visit and start the CR-1 process. She can continue to visit whilst the CR-1 is in process. The benefits of immigrating with a CR-1 vs a K-1 are numerous. I’m from a VWP country and you couldn’t pay me enough to have done a K-1 instead of the CR-1 route that we did.

There is no guarantee you will be granted a 6-month stay upon arrival. The CBP Officer may feel 2 weeks is adequate. A 2-week vacation is more than most Americans take when traveling. 

What ties do you have to your homeland? In order to obtain a B-2 the applicant must satisfy the immigration officer that they have sufficient strong ties to their homeland that the risk of overstay is as good as zero. If you can stay for 6 months, then go to Canada for a week and then want another 6 months here, that suggests you have no ties to your homeland at all. Note that working remotely, even for a company based outside the US, is not permitted on a tourist visa. 
 

Spending more than 180 days in a year here will also draw attention to yourself from an IRS perspective. 

*~*~*country-specific question moved to United Kingdom regional forum*~*~* 

3 hours ago, Kay98 said:

The reason it could interfere with the process is because they may think he’s trying to move here already and/or not return home before everything is approved.

They never suspected that of me in the 40+ times that I visited my husband. 

I do wish I knew the source of this regularly posted misinformation that you cannot enter the US as a visitor during the petition and visa application process. 

19 hours ago, nox5589 said:

Hi Lucky Cat, thank you for taking the time to respond.
We will be responding to the RFE once we print out all the paperwork.
I was curious if I am at risk of being deported in case my i485 got denied if our RFE response is not enough for uscis, especially that we filed AOS very late. I know it's just ifs and buts, but it's a scary possibility.

There are many, many people here illegally in this country for various reasons. Your situation does not even come close to theirs.  You were technically at risk of deportation for the time between the expiration date of the I-94 and the receipt date of your AOS filing but that’s in the past now. Once your AOS application is receipted and a receipt number generated the clock stops and you are in “authorized stay” until a decision is made on your application. Unless you are planning on breaking the law in the meantime, you’re good. 
 

Even if you hadn’t filed the AOS paperwork yet it’s very unlikely that you would be deported purely for the overstay. ICE has limited resources and they have much more serious cases to deal with than a law-abiding spouse who filed late due to financial hardship. 

*~*~*country-specific question moved from “K-1 fiancé visa process and procedures” to “Australia and New Zealand”*~*~*

4 hours ago, Alpa Alpa said:

Today was my interview, unfortunately, they canceled because they didn't have my file they received the wrong file. The officer apologizes to me and she said we will reschedule another time. Is this happen before to someone or just me?

It happened to someone who was there the same day I had my interview. She was told the same thing “wrong file received”. What does your online status show? 

1 minute ago, Rkhan@123 said:

I am moving first other state when settle there then wife will be join in 2 to 3 months. This is bad sigh without wife move?

If it’s for work purposes, no. 

9 hours ago, Trish_ said:

Thank you, all! I think I’ve got enough evidence to go forward with if they ask for anything further at the interview.

May seem pedantic but you are talking about evidence, not proof. You cannot “prove” that the relationship is genuine as that would require someone to be able to read your mind. At best you can bring evidence of a genuine relationship to the embassy but for many places this is not required or expected. 
 

The K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa so the bar is not set as high as it is for a spousal visa. Your real test of whether the relationship appears bona fide will be during the adjustment of status process. For that you will need a lot more evidence than you do for a K-1. 

2 minutes ago, Rkhan@123 said:

This information on Port of Entry Homeland Security officer told me. You can be work on this stamp 1 year. It's mean if not receive Green card until move then address change must. Then my Plastic green card will be come new address.

Correct. But they need to know the new address to send the plastic card there. So you need to complete firm AR-11 to change your address on your file with USCIS. There is no charge for this form. 

*~*~*procedural question moved from “progress reports” to “general discussion”*~*~*

*~*~*procedural question moved from “progress reports” to “process and procedures”*~*~*