GreenMetro

Well my wife's interview was in Japan. Her Japanese documents had to be translated into English...

Finally my wife got her interview today at Tokyo embassy and was approved. Within 5 days she will have her passport and visa. Then a few days later she will finally be home. After almost a year and a half of waiting I can say its about time. Now it seems like the time apart was worth it? LOL. To those still waiting your day of good news is coming. Hang in there

We never even got a checklist. Just a link with a bunch of documents listed. We just sent all of them.

Emails will take forever. I found the late evening in the middle of the week is the best time to get through. You just have to be persistent.

We sent our documents via USPS express mail. 2 months later the post office still cant find the package we sent. If you want your stuff to get there pay the $80 and FEDEX it overnight.

Hi VJ members, we are currently filling out i-864ez, and we are not sure what to put on #18:individual annual income. My husband filed as MFS for tax year 2013. He received wage increase since two months ago, and obviously, this increase has not been reflected on 2013 IRS tax return yet.

Im trying to help my hubby to fillout i-864ez but I'm not very familiar with the tax return forms in the US, I hope you can help me....

First question is:

1. Where do we get the answer for #18- are we going to refer to 2013 IRS tax transcript(total income), or do we refer to his recent paystubs which show the increase?

*I'm thinking he should get a letter from his employer stating his current annual income.

I have some other questions:

2. Btw, if we are including paystubs in the AOS package, do they need the originals or just photocopy?

3. I saw some posts saying the beneficiary's alien number can be found on NOA2 hardcopy? Is that true? Coz ours only showed my husband's (petitioner) A number. He is now a USC.

4. On 1-864ez #14: My husband has been a citizen since 1997, if he ticks the box for "I am a US citizen," does he still need to put his A-number parallel to the second option which says "I am an LPR"?

Thank you so much everyone. Have a good day!

1. #18 I took my monthly pay x12. That was good enough for NVC.

* an employer letter is a good idea. I added a recent one to make my process go smooth. Your HR or boss should be able to hook you up.

2. Photocopy stubs will work. Keep originals for the interview just in case. OR just add in your federal tax return for the prior 3 years. NVC informed me that the Tokyo embassy would not give my wife an interview if my 2013 taxes hadn't been filed. Tokyo embassy confirmed that when I called them. Filed my taxes and submitted the most current 3 year federal returns. No issues and my appointment has been set. Might be worth looking into.

3. My wife's alien number was on our NOA2. However we put N/A and had no issues.

4. check US citizen

Hope this info I gave you helps. Good luck in your journey!

NVC took the full 30 days to review our documents...and its 30 business days. Ive spent an additional 30 days at NVC due to the post office losing our documents.

I wanted to file an extension as well. However after calling the embassy that will do my wife's interview I was told that I would have to file prior to the interview. Looks like I'll be doing an amendment once she gets here.

Just got the letter from the embassy. Got approval notice for k3 from uscis and the next thing we got about it was the embassy letter about 2 weeks later.

Well put. And props for actually going through and sending this out instead of sitting idle and complaining but doing nothing. Hopefully more will follow suit and raise some hell. USCIS is nothing more than a bunch of lying shitbags. And the bad part is they get paid to do it!

K3's do get through. The Tokyo embassy had my K3 a week and a half after USCIS approved the petition. Never got any sort of notification until the embassy sent my wife a letter to begin the processing. We had to call and email the embassy to cancel the K3 to go with the CR1. USCIS= clueless. And I usually average about an hour on hold with NVC. Sad lol.

NVC will tell you they have 30 "working days" to input your case to get you a case number. Mine took almost the entire 30 days to get input. I called every Monday and Friday to see if it was input until i finally got a case number. Now I'm waiting for my first AOS payment to process. Hopefully by tomorrow that will be done and I'll be on to the next step.

items that didnt fit i just hand wrote in. wasnt an issue

They recieved my case 3 Feb. Got a case number 12 March. They say 30 business days...

Just want to check regarding how K3 is being processed since I've read in here that it's seldom used now and that USCIS tend to just put together the I-129 and I-130 together. I thought it should be a better visa since it expedites the spouse but it seems not?

Please clarify or enlighten me on this. We are about to file ours very soon.

Thank you!

K3 will cost you more money and paperwork in the long run. However if your primary purpose is to be with your spouse ASAP and your not worried about time or money then you should file for it. Heres my story based on first hand expierence/ I hope you find it useful

In April 2013 I filed a I-130 petition for my wife. August 2013 I filed the K3 with the same hopes you have. Members of VJ (one that has replied to your thread) gave me the advice of K3 being obsolete and that i was wasting time pursuing it. My I-130 and K3 were both transfered in December 2013 from MSC to NSC. They were both approved in mid Janruary 2014 about 4 days apart. Add that up and thats very close to the 5 month average approval time for a K3..I-130 not so much. My I-130 is currently still at NVC waiting input and a case number. My K3 has been at the Tokyo Embassy for about a month now. And its still there because we are going the I-130 route for personal reasons. Bottom line is it took me about an hour and the cost of postage to file the K3 petition. Some good advice is to do your own research and decide what is best for you. Personally I would stick to the official websites (USCIS, State dept, etc) for information about visas. It wont cost you a thing to have that K3 option on the table. And if NVC did loose our file we would have the K3 and would start that process right away.

Whatever route you decide to go I wish you luck. Personally I would always have as many options as I could, especially if it wont cost you.

Just wondering what the expierence is so far with NVC. They recieved my file on 3 Feb but havent input it yet so i can get a case number. How long did it take to get your case number?

Update: NVC has received my I130 case about a week after it was approved. Still sitting at NVC awaiting input. My K3 however is already at the embassy. My wife just got a letter today. Just wanted to share since I know some of you are wanting the K3 to fast track your way to your loved one. There is hope

The two petitions will be matched together, approved at the same time (on the I-130 timeline), then the I-129F will be administratively closed at NVC and you will be on the CR-1 path whether you like it or not.

To start with the K3 is obtainable. Being matched? Not necessarily true either. Administratively closed at NVC for K3? Nope. Anyone that wants to apply for a K3 should do it, it may pay off for you. Don't listen to the VJ rumors about K3's being obsolete or unobtainable. How do I know? Last April I filed an I130 for my wife. Last September I filed a K3 because we got tired of waiting. More than one person here on VJ tried to tell me that the K3 was obsolete and that I was wasting my time. In December my I130 and K3 went to NSC. In January they got approved on different dates. Now my I130 is sitting at NVC waiting to be input. My K3 is at the embassy being processed. Is the K3 still obsolete? Apparently not.

a good accountant will be able to file your taxes without a ssn or tin for your spouse...

It wont speed up your process at all. I filed a K-3 about 4 months after filing my I-130. I filed the K-3 because it was free for me to file it and because I didn't care about the higher cost in the long run. My K-3 and I-130 got approved a day apart. It didn't speed up the process or slow it down. In theory the K-3 is a faster route, but that's only if USCIS does the job of approving petitions in a timely manner. Which they don't. I can say from personal experience that you have nothing to loose by filing a K-3 except for a little of your time and a little money later on.

Congrats GreenMetro!

Just checked USCIS website, my alien registration was first changed on Nov 27, 2013. Now it says alien registration number changed January 16, 2014. Hope I get a decision today or tomorrow. @ NSC

if your alien # has changed regarding your 130 then you will prolly be approved really soon. with mine i was approved the following morning. i have also read others with the 130 alien number being changed and they were approved within a few days..hope you get yours soon too!

I'm 100 percent sure they are not approving k3's if there is a I-130 in the pipeline......I wonder if TSC know how much they are despised right now

K-3's are being approved. My 130 and 129f were both approved today at NSC...

Chatty Kathy lol

Thank you and I will. I'm sure your approval will be soon as well. It just depends on the baboon that processes it

Finally got our approval at 7:15 this morning. Timeline updated as well. I kinda figured NSC would take the full 60 days but they didn't. My transfer was 43 days in. For those waiting I hope your approvals come soon as well, that way you too can be one step closer to being complete again.