Zabalex

We've added a couple more minor things, but apart from what I've mentioned, there isn't anything else to add. Planning to send in the package by the end of this week. Hopefully, it'll be enough this time around.

Hey everyone!

We are finishing assembling our package and wanted to post an update here.

This is what we were able to gather (in order of appearance in the package):

• RFE's letter first page.
• Cover letter detailing all the attached evidence, including explanations for every item.
• Copy of our last year's lease, the one that we sent them already, except this time we highlighted both our names on it.
• A letter from our last year's landlord, confirming that we were both living at that address.
• Homeowners' insurance for the old address with both our names on it.
• A letter from this year's landlord, confirming that we are living at our current address.
• A new lease for next year with our current landlord, with both our names on it.
• Bank statements from a joint account dating back to 2015, when I was added to the account and up until now, including every single expense and showing the co-mingling of the assets.
• Credit card statements for the past two years, showing all the expenses.
• A letter from our bank, explaining that I was added to the credit card as an authorized user, because the credit card statements only have my wife's name, despite us both using it.
• Tax return statement from 2015 and 2016, showing that we filed our taxes jointly and also showing our addresses. (We've already sent them the 2015 one, but somehow they assumed it was from 2014)
• My wife's family phone bill with me added to it.
• My wife's benefits explanation paper from her job, showing me as her beneficiary on her life insurance.
• Plane tickets receipts and hotel reservation for our trip back in May.
• Dental bills from 2017 showing both our names on them. (We've already sent them our dental insurance policy before)
• My mother's letter, notarized and translated, stating that we lived together in her apartment back in Moscow before moving to Korea together.
• My wife's former employer's statement from Korea, explaining that we lived together in an apartment he provided while she was working there.
• Receipts of the flowers I've sent to my wife to her work several times.

We have a few questions we wanted to ask here.

Do you think the above list would be enough for them this time around?

Is it okay to highlight our names and dates on all the documents, so they don't accidentally miss it, like they did before?

My wife is thinking about attaching the I-751 form again, although I don't think it's necessary. What do you think?

My Green Card extension is expiring in February 2018, do you think they'd be able to process our case before that point?

Thank you very much!

1 hour ago, mindthegap said:

 

Actually, I ran into this at my interview.

Had hundreds of plane boarding passes, but they only have day and month on - not year, so was asked what use they were when they didn't show the year of travel.

Thankfully baggage receipts DO have the year, as well as the date and month, and they were still stuck on to the back of the boarding passes.

Oh, I bet this is what happened to us too. This time I'll make sure to include all the dates.

11 minutes ago, Lemon23 said:

That makes sense to me that's why you did not file for i-485 AOS, lets hope and pray that you will not get an interview for your ROC. Good luck!

Thank you for the kind words!

1 minute ago, Lemon23 said:

Now I get it, so you did not file i-485 (AOS-Adjustment of Status) since you came here already as CR-1 so I assumed your wedding took place outside the US? so your wife filed i-130 for you as alien relative that's where you got your CR-1, or your wedding happened in the US and you guys decided to live in another country and decided to live here in the US that's why your wife filed I-130 for you so you can enter and live here in the US.  So this is different process than AOS, I'm not sure if interview for your ROC is still required since you had your interview already for your i-130 outside US and you came here as conditional resident already.

Yep, that's right. We got married in Russia, moved to Korea because my wife's visa was expiring and we were still waiting for the I-130, had our interview there, got a CR-1 and then came here. But since we crossed the border about 2 months before our second wedding anniversary I ended up getting a 2 year GC. 

19 minutes ago, Lemon23 said:

If your interview in Russia is for K1 visa then that is different interview for AOS and ROC. mostly if your interview was waived for your AOS then most likely you will have an interview for your ROC.

I got a CR-1 visa after the I-130 form interview. My memory is a bit fuzzy, sorry if I am getting confused about things. I definitely didn't have an interview here in the US though.

1 minute ago, Cocoza said:

I know you would have had an interview but i meant having an Interview HERE in the U.S for AOS process. Again, i might be wrong. 

Ah, got it. Makes sense.

8 minutes ago, Cocoza said:

Just my opinion, I am guessing that you didn't go through AOS here in the U.S. I might be wrong but based on my understanding, if you didn't go through AOS and have an actual Interview for that process, you would most likely get an interview for ROC. Again, i might be wrong. Just go with all new documents you have, i'm more than 99.9% sure that it'd just be a formality because you didn't have an AOS interview. It's no biggie!.

We had an interview in South Korea (had to move it from Russia because that's where we were living at the time), I am not sure if that's the same one though. Good point, though. Thanks for letting us know!

10 hours ago, Mrsjackson said:

Resubmit the lease and this time highlight both you and your spouse's names on it. They're busy so try and make it so that they don't have to do too much searching. 

 

Also, make sure the letters you send (mother + employer) are notarized if possible. 

 

Thanks for the advice! We'll try to get them notarized. I am guessing if we don't, those letters won't have much weight, right?

9 hours ago, islandgirl80 said:

Submit the monthly statements..from 2015 to recent if I were you. Submit the monthly statements, they want to see if you two are co mingling your finances. Ask your wife to write a letter, that is what my husband did..he wrote an explanation letter for the evidence that we do not have. Submit the 2016 tax return transcript. Submit the credit cards statements too..if you will add pictures put captions and dates. 

Will do, thank you!

14 minutes ago, lesly87 said:

I think for a lot of officers this is a "check the box" exercise. I don't think there is anything to worry about. Your new list looks quite comprehensive to me. Do you mind me asking, what is your NOA1 date? 

Thank you for the kind words! I-751 receipt date is 11/14/2016.

26 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

You can't send what doesn't exist.

Send what you have, and a letter if you feel the need. Anything that has a)both names on, and b) has a date on, will be useful.

 

What you must not do, is not respond, as you will be denied.

Thank you!

14 minutes ago, Lemon23 said:

I believe the USCIS saw the inconsistency here that's why they sent you an RFE. One is the joint account since you only sent the statements for 2016, they want to see the co-mingling assets and liabilities from the whole duration of marriage, meaning since day one of your marriage until the present, two is the fact on the first lease apartment agreement that you sent, your wife is only on the lease agreement without explaining I guess why you're not on the lease agreement. Explanation letter on each documents that you will sent without your name is big plus to them, specially if the explanation is from the US citizen which has big role on I-751 application.

Makes sense. The thing is, my wife added me to her bank account as soon as we got here, which was in 2015. We got a joint credit card in 2016 only. But I see how they'd want to see as much evidence as possible. As for the lease agreement, my name is there, but I guess they didn't see it. Thank you for the advice!

Hi everyone!

We filed our joint I-751 in November 2016, and this week we got an RFE. Which is quite surprising, since we've made sure to include as much evidence as possible.

A bit of background: I am a Russian citizen, my wife is an American citizen. Got married in 2013, lived in Korea in 2014 while waiting for my GC, moved to the US in 2015. Lived together with her parents until March 2016, then moved to a new place (that's the lease we sent them),

in March 2017 we moved yet again and got a new lease (this is what we are going to send them since we didn't have it before).

Moreover, in the RFE letter, it almost seems like they either ignored or overlooked some of the evidence. Here's what they say:

Quote

You submitted copies of your joint tax returns from 2014; a copy of a joint bank statement from 2016; copies of your joint health insurance policy from 2015 and 2016; a copy of a lease from 2016 with only your spouse's name listed as tenant; copies of plane tickets for an undated trip; and photos.

The thing is, in the copy of a lease form 2016 beside my spouse's name there is also my name under the "Use of property section", it's right there on the same page. I am considering resubmitting that and underscoring both names, just in case. Is that a good idea?

We also sent them copies of our IDs mentioning the same address where we were living in 2015. (Her parents' place)

Here's what we are thinking of submitting now:

• Copies of our joint bank statements from 2015, 2016 (unless I shouldn't submit the same year twice), 2017.
• Copies of our joint credit card records for 2016 and 2017.
• A new lease for 2017 with both our names on it.
• My wife's life insurance with me as her beneficiary.
• Plane tickets for our trip we took earlier this year.
• My mother's written statement saying that my wife and I lived together in her apartment in Russia from August 2013 to January 2014.
• My wife's former employer statement saying that we both lived in Korea in an apartment provided to us by him while my wife was an English teacher there.

That's all we can get at the moment. Do you think that would be enough? Do the written statements from my mother and my wife's former employer have any value here?

Thank you!

I've emailed the Vermont Service Center about a month ago about this and got a reply from them yesterday.

Here is what they said: "Your filing is not necessary at this time and our electronic systems have been updated to reflect the change.".

I am not sure what would've happened if I didn't contact them directly, but at least it's confirmed now.

Hi , The same thing happened to my husband. He entered the USA on 01/15/2015, and he got a letter saying that he entered on 08/11/2014 (that was actually the date he got his green card approved) We sent the forms and everything they asked for just in case, now he has his biometrics appointment for this week. His green card is set to expired next year too. I would recommend that you go by the letter they sent you. Just make sure you send a copy of that letter along with all the documentation.

Oh so they are actually processing your application then? That's interesting. Maybe I should try sending mine earlier then too. Thank you for letting me know!

When you file you have to provide copy of green card anyways, so they'll see the correct date on it.

True, that's what I thought as well. It just bothered me in case the letter is automatically generated and they think I've entered the US four months earlier than I actually did.

For anyone wondering, I've followed up with a Tier 2 representative at USCIS over the phone. They said to file the I-751 when it's due and essentially ignore they "typographical error" in the letter. I guess that is what I'll do. Hopefully the fact that my GC has the correct dates will help.

Thank you for the response! I just hope their database is not wrong somehow. Wouldn't want to lose my GC because of the border patrol putting the date in wrong.

I hope the CBP didn't enter your date of entry wrong.

I would follow up to be sure with an infopass, but otherwise I agree, that isn't the correct date.

Damn, I hope that's not the case. The stamp does say the right date.

Thanks for all the replies!

Hey everyone!

I've received a rather strange letter from the USCIS about removing the conditions from my 2-year green card by filing the I-751 form. The letter says that I've entered the United States as a CPR on 10/17/2014. However, that is not true. That date is the date my CR1 was issued. I've crossed the border on 02/07/15 which is correctly reflected on my green card.

So now I am not sure if I should be worried. The expiration date on the green card is 02/07/17, which means I should apply for removing the conditions in November. But according to the date in the letter, I have to apply in July already.

Any advice would be appreciated. So far we've tried calling the USCIS but they said they couldn't help us.

The date (10/17/2014) USCIS mentions in the letter is the date I've received my CR1 visa, but as I said before it's not the date I've actually crossed the border.

Should I ignore the mistake in the letter then?

Hi everyone!

I just received a letter from the USCIS saying: "Our records indicate that you entered the United States as a conditional permanent resident (CPR) on (10/17/2014)..."

However, that's not the date I've entered the country. I've entered the country on 02/07/15, that's what it says on the green card as well. The expiration date on the card is 02/07/17.

Now I am confused as to when to file for the removal of the conditions - 90 days before the date USCIS mentions or 90 days before my green card expiration?

I know that generally it has to do with the date on the GC, but the letter threw me off a bit.

Thank you!

You are missing the most important thing--spend time with your wife --and create a filing system to begin saving documentation for the ROC phase and naturalization if you go that route. Easier to do this as you go then to scramble around in almost 2 years trying to find certain items. Have you wife add you to her emergency contact list, health insurance, beneficiary to 401(k)s, bank accounts, credit cards, etc. You have a two year break from the USCIS so enjoy, but prepare for your next dealing with them.

Good luck,

Dave

We were lucky enough to spend the waiting time together in South Korea. Transferred the interview from Moscow to Seoul too. So now we are both going to the US.

But yes, we were planning on preparing all that documentation, thank you!

If you want to start working immediately you can go to the ssa office and they will tell you about the process. In 2to 3 weeks u will get your Gc. Sometimes ssa office want to see the Gc. Good luck and welcome to the new life.

Thank you!

Hey everyone!

I'll be arriving to the US in a couple of days with the CR-1 visa and was wondering if I should go straight to the SSA office or if I should wait for 3 weeks first.

I did opt in for the SSN on the DS-260 form.

Any advice?

Thanks.

Great, thanks!