awaywego

We are both abroad (DCF, but same AOS paperwork as NVC), so the US parents will be acting as joint sponsors. My understanding is that the I-864 and I-864A forms need "wet" signatures, so can't be transferred electronically. I was thinking it'd be handy if we could bring back the forms ourselves the next trip home to avoid the cost and worry of international tracked document post. I'm not quite sure whether this plan works.

A couple (hopefully quick) questions: 

1) Which AOS documents need to be originals, and which could potentially be transferred electronically?

2) Is there an age where filled-out forms become too old? For example, if a form is dated 1 April, and the interview is on 1 July (made-up dates), could the date on the paper be an issue?

Thanks!

I have not heard of Frankfurt asking for evidence that a foreign marriage was registered in Germany.

Registration of a foreign marriage is possible, but no longer required by the government (see these FAQs on marriage outside of Germany, in German). This bit you read likely pertains to other countries with different systems. My guess is that this is one less thing to worry about in this pile of stress.

Hi! There are two different sets of translation requirements for Frankfurt DCF, depending on which area you're dealing with.

For the USCIS portion of the process (I-130 and accompanying documents), anyone who is proficient in both languages can do the translations into English. Plenty of people on VJ have done their own translations or asked a friend. The translations must be "certified," which in this case means that the translator adds a little block of text certifying that he/she is proficient in both languages. The text is in this USCIS FAQ.

For the consular portion of the process at Frankfurt (I-864, DS-260, etc), official translations are required. At this stage, documents in German no longer need to be translated.

I have a valid Aufenthaltserlaubnis, although these days it's just a little ID card (elektronisher Aufenthaltstitel). Do they really require you to have this officially translated?

I have seen posters say they didn't translate the Aufenhaltstitel and had no troubles. However, the instructions say to translate everything (and our petitions seem to end up in Rome), so I personally did.

Also, for proof of marriage, would the CRBAs from our children (which have both of our names, etc) be enough? We also have shared bank accounts, a rental contract, a Anmeldebescheinigung, as well as a German marriage certificate - but what all do they really need? Is it enough to have the first/last pages of a rental contract translated? Ours is like 15 pages long :-)

This list sounds good. It actually sounds much like ours I would suggest adding a small selection of photos spanning your relationship, with each family, friends, doing couple/family things, in different places, etc. However, you likely have enough as is.

I translated our entire Mietvertrag because I never sorted the "how much do they need" question. It was...an experience.

(We prepared our packet earlier this year but have pushed back filing. Life happens.)

My question exactly is, how many of those things do they really require? It just says "examples" and I was trying to hear from others' experiences what exactly they sent in before I start translating random documents and mailing them off. Has anyone JUST sent in their (translated) German marriage certificate?

It can be a bit frustrating, but, as each case is different, there's no specific requirement list. It's more providing quality evidence that together shows a marriage for the sake of being together vs a marriage for the sake of a visa.

A Frankfurt DCF poster last year sent in only her marriage certificate and received an RFE asking for evidence of bona fide marriage. I've heard of people filing other places who can send just the marriage certificate with the I-130 and don't need the evidence until later in the process, but it seems we need to include both with the I-130.

When necessary I have stuff mailed to my parents who still live in the US, but I don't know if that qualifies as "maintaining a domicile".

You'll address domicile with the I-864, so long as you're still living abroad at that point. The options (provided you don't work for the military or a US company) are either to show that you have maintained a US domicile – your stay in Germany is temporary – or that you intend to reestablish a US domicile no later than the date the beneficiary enters. There's more information in the I-864 instructions, the NVC FAQ on the State Department website, and many posts here on VJ.

Hope this helps!

Hi guys, thank you all so much for your answers!

I have flown into USA with my cat 3 days ago.

As you could see in my original post, I was worried sick about everything, but in the end the experience was very good and I was truly surprised by how smooth everything went.

First of all, the airline I traveled with (LOT Polish Airlines) didn't care at all about the pet carrier - nobody checked the dimensions. I had a soft-sided carrier that was 9cm too high but I knew that I could push down on it and it would fit under the seat in front of me. At the check-in desk they only asked to see the one document from the Polish veterinary agency that states that cat is good to go outside of EU.

What I didn't realize is that the security agents want the cat to go through the body scan completely "naked" (=no harness, no collar, nothing). So I took the cat out of the carrier, I took his leash and harness off, no problem there. The problem was with his collar. It's not a regular fabric collar but an anti-parasite collar that he's wearing now (we just put it on him 1 month ago and it's good for 8 months). The problem is, it only goes one way - you can put it on, but to take it off you need to cut it. So I told the security agent: "I can take the collar off but I will need to cut it, do you have scissors?", she said "No". But at the same time the other security agent who stood on the other side of the body scan said: "It's OK, just walk with him through the scan", so we did that. The scanner beeped, because the cat had his metal name tag and a little metal bell fixed to his collar, so the agent just patted the cat down, and he was good to go!

While we were on the plane (9h 40 min) the cat was in the carrier under the seat all the time. The airline policy says that the pet needs to be in the pet carrier under the seat during taxi, take off and landing, but there was really no room to put him anywhere else during the flight. He was super calm. He behaved like a little angel. He didn't make a sound. I gave him him water and snacks to eat, but he didn't want any. I didn't use any tranquilizers (I was told by the vet not to), but I did use cat pheromones. I sprayed the cat carrier 15 minutes before we got into the car to go to the airport and then again halfway through the flight. I also lined the bottom of the carrier with material that would soak any pee (I got it at a pharmacy), but he didn't pee or poo during the flight.

When we got to POE (Chicago), I of course had to declare that I have a live animal with me. I didn't need to take him out of the carrier at all. The CBP agent just asked to see the cat's documents, so I handed him the whole folder, which contained the letter from the vet in English with all of the info about the cat--his health and immunization record, his booklet with all the shots he ever got and the document from the Polish veterinary inspection that said he's OK to go abroad. My cat was never micro-chipped. He didn't need to be micro-chipped to be able to travel to the USA. I figured that the micro-chip from EU might not be compatible with the US system, so we will get him micro-chipped here.

Thank you so much for this great post! I hope Frankfurt doesn't ask us to take off the harness. I have horrible visions of a scared animal with a fondness for tiny spaces getting lost in a giant airport. Good idea to keep the medical records accessible in case they're requested.

Your post reminds me of a couple things:

Our cat also didn't eat, drink, or potty until we got to her new home, even though we offered a bit of dry food and water in one of those plastic on-board cups. (We also put "puppy pads" in the carrier in case.) The first thing we did was show her the litterbox and shut her into that room with a small bowl of water. That got her potty bearings, gave her access to water (more important than food for survival), and let her be somewhere quiet that didn't need much exploring while we unpacked and sprayed the rest of the apartment with pheromones. She was allowed out after she'd had some water and used the box. She spent the next few hours exploring before finally eating something.

The EU and US do have different microchip standards, which means that a US reader won't properly read a EU chip, and vice versa. (Our cat has a dual microchip, which the vet was able to special order.)

Hey there.

Just immigrated two days ago and we flew 13 hrs total.

No tranquilizers.

We had issues with the carrier (Delta) too but we just got a soft one with a hard base and had no issues.

The plane was an Airbus 330-300

I had to take him out of carrier so they could scan it and I walked with him through the metal detector..then in the US they checked him for drugs. YES you read that right.

They just ran a special strip of paper over his fur and my hands then put it in a machine.

Just grab him by the scruff of the neck tightly. And the leash is a good idea.

Some airlines have embargoes on animals traveling in the cargo hold in the summer. Delta did due to the high mortality rate.

They didn't even check him (other than drugs) at the POE. No vet no health book.

Make sure you register his microchip with the USA rfid registry when you get here.

Happy travels!!

Thanks for posting your POE experience! Was there anything extra beyond the drug swipe? (When we flew from the US, the TSA agent told me that test was for explosives residue. Fancy machine.) I worry about the waiting and huge number of strange people/noises/smells/space with an animal that's already been through a lot, and I don't want any surprises on top of that.

We did a ten-hour flight with our cat in a soft-sided carrier under the seat on the window side (farthest from the weird smells and noises). We didn't do tranquilizers, but we did spray the carrier (and new home) with pheromone spray. We also brought a small blanket that smelled like home to cover part of the carrier during flight. The cat wasn't happy, of course, but she did calm down after a little bit, and we're pretty sure she even slept a good chunk of the flight.

We have a harness that the cat wears whenever she leaves the house. When going through the metal detector in security, I had one hand through the harness in case she tried to bolt for somewhere dark and small. (She held on to me like a lifeline. Poor thing.) The TSA agents gave me a bit of priority so that she would be out of the carrier for as little time as possible, which was nice for both of us.

Sorry I can't help much with the bag. Ours fit the airline's regulations, so we didn't need to worry about the height issue. It was a snug fit, though. (Small Sherpa bag is reportedly 22cm; Lufthansa max 23cm.)

P.S. There's a good chance that we'll do POE with the cat. I'd love an update for how it goes for you, in that regard.

Oh, and what EA & AM described sounds exactly like our photos. (We haven't applied yet, but thought we might this year.)

For additional documents, we have included our wills and anything else showing the spouse as beneficiary. Many other posters include evidence of communicating (email, Skype, phone records, etc), but that is maybe not as useful for couples who live together (so communicate face-to-face).

There are two sets of requirements for translations for the Frankfurt DCF process.

I-130 packet: Documents that are not in English should be translated to English. Anyone proficient in both languages can translate, but the translations must be "certified," which is a block of text at the bottom of the page. See this USCIS FAQ for the text block.

IV packet: Documents that are not in English or German should be translated by a registered translator. There is a list on Frankfurt's site. (I am sure they have stamps )

I'm so glad to hear this! I wish you the best in your new home.

Unless Bangkok has special rules, the petitioner only needs to fulfill the DCF residency requirements at the point of the petition. While many DCF petitioners do stay abroad until their spouses are able to move, it is also fairly common for the petitioner to move to the US ahead of the beneficiary in order to set up a home, find/start a job, etc.

Fill out the I-864 with the current addresses. Your spouse won't need to address domicile separately, as he is again living in the States.

Sorry that I don't know the answer to how you would change your address at this stage. If no one is able to answer, you could ask the embassy. (The answer might even be that you send the new address directly to them.)

To me this sounds like a nice amount of evidence. The NVC Process wiki has a section with examples of evidence and a sample letter. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth a look.

Each embassy has its own level of strictness on domicile, so you might also want to look at reviews for Seoul or to search for Seoul and domicile to see if you can get an idea of how much evidence others have provided.

Whether the scrutiny has gotten stricter since 2012 or not, I can't answer. But from personal experience, this really isn't a problem.

My ex wife filed an I-130 in February of 2012. I entered the U.S. three times on ESTA between the initial filing and my CR-1 interview. Twice for two-week visits and once for a six-week visit. Some takeaways:

- No message will pop up on CBP's screen saying "I-130 in progress. Deny." In fact, the first time I entered (a few weeks before NOA2), the CBP officer only asked me if I knew "people here" to which I replied a truthful but generic "yes." This was at EWR.

- Entering with your spouse isn't necessarily a metaphorical immigration death sentence either. I entered with my ex and her grandmother once after a cruise, and the officer asked how we were related, whether we had filed paperwork and when I was going back to Norway. No problem. This was at YVR pre-clearance.

- The last time I entered was 2 months before my interview, after NOA2, while the case was at NVC. I entered with my ex, and the officer asked straight out "are you planning to do your interview there, or will you adjust status here?" I told the officer I was waiting for my interview to come up in a couple of months, and the officer stamped my passport. This was at LAX.

It is my experience that if everything makes sense to the CBP officer, you have nothing really to worry about. Don't volunteer information unless asked, and give truthful answers if and when asked. Ultimately, you are allowed to visit while waiting for an immigrant visa, you're just not allowed to visit if you intend to stay. Their job is not to prevent legitimate visitors from entering, but rather prevent people from trying to immigrate on non-immigrant visas.

This is a nice explanation of what I have read around the forum. To add slightly more recent experiences...

My spouse and I live abroad together and have not filed anything. Our last entry together (USC and VWP) was in 2015. Usually entering is no big deal. Once we were asked if we both live in Germany, kind of like an "I thought so" check. Another time, the CBP officer was not happy about the non-USC's expired student visas from the time period when we met. He looked through the passport a few times and asked questions about those visas, but didn't ask about spousal immigration plans. He also didn't ask to see the return ticket or any other documentation. (We had brought evidence that both of us were returning to Germany, but followed the VJ advice to have but not volunteer.)

The non-USC entered alone for work earlier this year. No problem.

Thanks to those who have responded to my question.

We've just gone ahead and bought our tickets for next month. My husband (the USC) will be flying to Malaysia a week before we fly back to the US so we will be entering the US together (via SFO). My 5 month old son is also a USC (my other daughter and I are not) so I'm not sure if we are able to, or should, go through the immigration line for USCs together with my husband (thoughts, anyone?). We haven't filed anything yet (I'll be entering on my tourist visa) and will be flying back to Malaysia early Nov. I hope we won't encounter any problems. Will update here on how it goes. Wish us luck!

We enter together (USC and spouse on VWP) and always ask one of the officers standing in the immigration area which line we should use. We have been told to do different things each time, so we'll just continue to ask.

The I-130 instructions ask for evidence of bona fide marriage, so bring that with. They will also want a copy of the USC's passport or birth/naturalization certificate in order to show that you are a USC.

For a list of what you'll need for the process, you can look at the lists in the EZGuideSpouse (slightly more updated than the guides). For DCF, there's generally the I-130 step, then the rest together as a DS-260 step.

Thank you!! Yes, the decision that this was not a "bonafide" relationship is of course very confusing since we did submit what I understood to be substantial evidence: photos of our time together, hotel receipts and boarding passes of traveling in his home country that we did together, private text messages to demonstrate an ongoing relationship. I am wondering what else they need to see in order to be convinced? Certainly, we plan to document our residing together and that can easily be done with a lease agreement or statement from our landlord that we are both residents of the house we rent.

I unfortunately won't be any help with your circumstances, but I can address the IR-1/CR-1 generally. I'm not sure what of this might differ for you (e.g., if others have told you to focus on some sort of evidence or to include something specific).

The wisdom here is that evidence of time spent together is good: living together, visiting, communicating, etc. (Sounds like you have this going.) Evidence of intertwining your lives also seems to be on the stronger side: meeting/acknowledgement by families and friends, merging financials (accounts, bills, property, investments), merging futures (beneficiaries, wills, etc). You might find the list of examples in the EZGuideSpouse wiki useful. You might also find it useful to look at reviews for your embassy (review link is at top of page on full site) or to search (also top) for posts from those who went through your embassy to get an idea of others' experiences, as each embassy is a bit different.

As the previous poster mentioned, Ethiopia does not offer DCF except under extenuating circumstances. You can marry your fiance and live with with him abroad during the CR-1 process; the I-130 packet would be sent to the lockbox. If you go that route, there is no six-month residency requirement before filing, but the process can take as long as if you'd filed from the US (edit: which is not too different in time as establishing residency for six months then doing the DCF process). If you stay in Ethiopia the entire time, you'll add some papers to address the "domicile" section of the I-864.

I don't know much about switching from K-1 to CR-1 after denial for lack of bona fide relationship evidence, but I imagine that you would want to pay special attention to strengthening that evidence for the next go-round. (E.g., evidence that you live together.) Other posters and threads will have much more information.

(If anyone is wondering, this is the list of countries with a USCIS presence: http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices )

The sponsor only needs to address domicile if he/she is living outside of the US when he fills out the I-864. Since your husband will be living in the US at that point, it's one less thing to prepare.

There are threads here on how to get any sort of chat history – if you use it, I'm sure some other couple does, as well The wisdom that I've seen here is to submit a selection that spans the course of your relationship.

Police certificate(s) is/are required from the beneficiary at the NVC stage. No need to do anything with that now.

You can try contacting the credit card company and see what they're able to send you. It's likely they have some form letter for these situations stating, e.g., _____ was added to the account as an authorized user on _____. I've seen posts from others who have sent in images of the two cards with the same card number on them. Not sure which would be considered stronger evidence.

If you marry and take the spousal visa route: It generally doesn't matter where you're living, so long as you address domicile when it's time for the I-864. If living inside the US, this is not an issue. If living outside of the US, you'd either show that you maintained US domicile or that you intend to reestablish no later than when the intending immigrant enters. (Some consulates are more strict than others.) If you want to look into this, the I-864 instructions has a section on "domicile," as do the NVC FAQ page on the State Department's website and the NVC Process Wiki on here.

(I don't know the requirements for the fiancee visa route, sorry, so someone else will have to address that.)

I think I've posted this in a similar thread before, but here's what we did when we moved internationally.

We went through everything and asked ourselves:

– Can we ship this for less than it costs to replace?

– Does this have sentimental value, i.e., is it irreplaceable?

If no to both of those, into the donate/Craigslist pile it went.

If yes, we asked ourselves:

– Will we need this now, or can we bring over later?

Depending on that answer, we prioritized what to pack in our suitcases.

Sponsorship:

– The intending immigrant spouse's income can be used for sponsorship in certain cases (see I-864 instructions), but only when it is continuing employment from the same employer. Unfortunately that means that neither your husband's current job (will not continue) nor the offer from your father (will not have continued) will count for sponsorship.

– Assets can be used for sponsorship. The requirement for a spouse is 3x the difference between income and income requirement (125% of the poverty guideline for the household size, see I-864p); if using only assets, it's then 3 x 125% x poverty guideline. There are some restrictions on what can be counted as assets (see I-864 instructions), and some consulates/COs are reportedly picky about the location of assets.

– A USC, US national, or LPR domiciled in the US can act as joint sponsor. The joint sponsor has the same requirements that you do: he/she shows income/assets sufficient for his/her household size, including the intending immigrant (see I-864 instructions). That person's household member might fill out an I-864A to join in this sponsorship (see I-864A instructions). Reportedly, though it is not required, some consulates/COs request the I-864A from MFJ partners even if the joint sponsor is qualified to sponsor alone.

Domicile:

- There are a couple of options on how to show this. For your situation, look at showing that you *intend to reestablish* US domicile no later than the date your spouse enters the US. There are examples of evidences in the I-864 instructions, plus more in this NVC FAQ. For what to give them, you could also think of things that one would normally do when preparing to move, like looking for jobs, a home, school/daycare for the kid(s), preparing to move belongings, etc. (You have mentioned that a few of these are already set – great!) As others have noted, each consulate has its own level of strictness on domicile. To get an idea of what it will be like for you, perhaps you can search for posts on VJ by others who have filed from Australia and addressed this requirement.

DCF:

- Since this has been brought up, just to clarify: DCF is not typically available in Australia, as there is no USCIS field office located there.

This page, on the State Department's website, outlines NVC's requirements for police certificates and military records, etc.

You can use the "Reciprocity by Country" search box for each country to see how to obtain the records your husband will need.

I am not familiar with the procedure for obtaining records from countries that no longer exist. My guess is that your husband will request his military records from Tajikistan, but hopefully someone who knows the answer will reply.

Congrats!

I've read many times that the approval for Frankfurt's DCF actually comes from Rome. Dunno why.

If you still haven't heard from them, try the bottom link in my signature (visible on full version of site). It's the page on Frankfurt's website that has the next set of instructions.

Welcome!

You can DCF with Frankfurt if you have had German residency for the six months before filing. From what I've seen around here, the process tends to take three or four months, though it can be less or more depending on the case. See the links in my signature for information directly from their website.

For the Affidavit of Support, your mother can serve as joint sponsor so long as she meets the criteria (income at 125% of poverty line for the household size). You'll also look at showing either that you have maintained US domicile or that you intend to reestablish it no later than the date your spouse enters the US. The I-864 instructions have more information on both of these, and there are many threads on VJ that go into more detail.

Agree with the previous poster. Also, if it helps, you're already showing some shared expenses in the form of bills in both names:

c. Electricity bill with both petitioner and beneficiary listed

h. Receipts received as payment from Marriage Celebrant (presuming both names on bill)