SusieQQQ

That’s interesting, because in the UK they are (or were at any rate at one stage, no idea of that’s changed), and pretty well paid at that - I know people who did that to save up for big long distance overseas trips, etc.Maybe OP should investigate the UK as an option.

This is an important question to answer correctly as it affects the answer. Maybe your friend should start an account to be able to answer the questions. insurance - well, what insurance is the mother on now? That’s what will answer the question. I assume she is on insuranc as it would be extremely reckless to have a parent living here uninsured. If they filed i485, does the mom have AP? If yes, she can leave and come back. If no, she can leave but will have to complete the visa process abroad. (Is the i130 approved yet) if no i485 filed, mom has been here without authorized stay and would incur a ten year ban when she leaves.

Well this is probably among my top ten most interesting questions asked on VJ. Never heard of there being a shortage of subjects in the US, and I doubt the stipend paid would be enough to cover accommodation/food expenses for anyone. But I’d be interested to see if there is a definitive answer.

Funny you should ask, I’ve actually had 4 B visas as a sensible adult, the first two were one year expiry each and the next two ten years (the second of those ten years I did not hold to its expiry as I got a green card in the meanwhile). On the first one, which I got as a just-graduated student, these were my actual experiences: entered, stayed 5.5 months of the 6 months given, left to travel elsewhere for 4 months, returned one month before my visa expired, again given 6 months to stay, stayed 3 months of that (NOTE this put the stay past the visa expiry). Applied again a couple years later, given another one year visa, the next time i applied after that they gave me a 10 year visa. And 10 year expiry again after. Zero negative impact from using almost the entire stay the first visit - and they let me back in a few months later - and more important and relevant in the context of the question of this post, I stayed beyond the expiry date of the visa but within the i94 and was TOTALLY FINE. Just like the official DoS extract i posted above says, but that you didn’t want to read, everything was fine. As you say, I hope that experience is helpful to people who need reassurance that the official Dept of State info does actually work in practice and once you are admitted it is the i94 date, not visa expiry date, that matters.

I mean yes but you’re going to an awful lot of trouble to just find out your own biographical details which is all that is really on the forms. The applications themselves are not visas and are not your travel history, so I am going to assume you have actually asked for those extra details as well and not just the application history as you said in the first post, otherwise the exercise is pointless as regards your ”immigration history”.

Actually … an LPR who has been absent for longer than 180 days IS seeking admission, pushbrk is correct on this matter. This is why some lawyers advise LPRs not to be absent longer than 6 months despite the 12 month timeline for deeming residence abandoned. Section 101(a)(13)(C) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(13)(C), lists the situations in which a person who has been admitted as an LPR can be regarded as seeking admission: (i) has abandoned or relinquished [LPR] status, (ii) has been absent from the United States for a continuous period in excess of 180 days, (iii) has engaged in illegal activity after having departed the United States, (iv) has departed from the United States while under legal process seeking removal of the alien from the United States, including removal proceedings under [the INA] and extradition proceedings, (v) has committed an offense identified in section 212(a)(2), unless since such offense the alien has been granted relief under section 212(h) or 240(a), or (vi) is attempting to enter at a time or place other than as designated by immigration officers or has not been admitted to the United States after inspection and authorization by an immigration officer.

The airline is instructed to board holder of an expired green card if it was a 10 year card. See official CBP links I posted earlier.

Yes but you don’t need details of what was on your ds160! You know what visa type was in your passport. You know your trips from your passport. The only reason to ask for details of what was in the 160 is either being worried something was false or lawyer trying to find more time to charge. I am the person who sought immigration benefits lol. Got my green card, then got my citizenship. I know the process.

That’s kind of odd, never heard of submitting applications being considered part of immigration history. Actual visas received and trips to the US are the only things they ask details of when immigrating, not what you wrote on forms years ago. (said as an immigrant with 4 previous B visas who’s been through the process)

You’ll probably hear back from NVC pretty soon Current case review time: As of 12-Oct-22, we are reviewing documents submitted to us on 15-Aug-22. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html How long it takes between then and an actual interview date depends on the backlog at the embassy.

ok, I’m going to admit I misunderstood before, I thought you had left 4 years ago (and still had a before expiry green catd), not that your actual physical green card expired 4 years ago. Perils of reading late at night. That said, CBP manual is the go-to for what they instruct airlines to allow you to board with. It says , p28 https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Mar/2019 Carrier Information Guide - ENGLISH.pdf Cards with expired I-551s may be boarded without penalty if the card was issued with a 10-year expiration date. There is also a memo to carriers that specifically instructs them that it is not up to them to decide if someone has valid LPR status https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Dec/Reminder- LPR Boarding 20210305.pdf It repeats th above, Expired Permanent Resident Cards: Ten-year validity • LPRs with an expired I-551 may be boarded without penalty, provided the card was issued with a 10-year expiration date. and explicitly also says Airlines should not be determining admissibility of a travel outside the parameters of the document requirements. And there are phone numbers for CBP. So the bottom line is that (assuming your green card originally had 10-year validity), you can take it to the airport and demand to be boarded in accordance with CBP guidance. If they resist, insist they call their regional CBP liaison. The fact that you applied for ESTA did make this more complicated, but the airline doesn’t have to know that.

You left out the bit about applying under b status before. I answered according to what you actually wrote.

ESTA/VWP max permissible stay is 90 days. or they night get a particularly nice CBP officer who lets them in on green card rather than making them go through process again. Admittedly that is a VERY long shot but we had a couple similar reports here before, there was that Russian lady who got admitted as a LPR after 5 years out with no particularly good reason for being gone so long. It is confusing, because on the one hand you are deemed to abandon it after a year, on the other hand if you don’t formally abandon it you could still be held to for example liability to file taxes with the IRS. Seems to be a big grey area around when you actually lose it if you haven’t signed a i407

Pretty basic info in those forms, not sure what retrieval would be necessary for?

I’d suggest first actually applying and getting approved for ESTA before asking all the questions. It takes a few minutes, yes?

Hm, I think definitely not, because the ustraveldocs page that normally talks about interview waivers in the applicable countries, just basically repeats an expanded version of the bit I quoted earlier. https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/ru-niv-visarenew.asp

An excellent question, and there are definitely US embassies in countries where Russians don’t require visas. I don’t see anything on the website about interview waiver options. https://ru.usembassy.gov/visas/ Instead, it says U.S. Mission in Russia no longer offers non-diplomatic visa services due to the Russian government’s April 23 notification prohibiting the U.S. Embassy Russia from employing foreign nationals in any capacity. Russian nationals may continue applying for non-immigrant visas at any U.S. embassy or consulate where they can obtain an appointment.

You don’t seem to understand the difference between visa expiry and authorized stay, the same issue OP had. Suggest you read through the thread. Also explained in Dept of state pages here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visa-expiration-date.html included in the explanation it says (and they bold it to emphasize it) You cannot use the visa expiration date in determining or referring to your permitted length of stay in the United States. They also specifically note you can enter literally on the day the visa expires, so obviously that is not an issue, they don’t expect you to leave the same day again because it’s expiring lol can be used from the date it is issued until the date it expires to travel to the U.S. port-of-entry Additionally, the visa expiration date shown on your visa does not reflect how long you are authorized to stay within the United States. Entry and the length of authorized stay within the United States are determined by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer at the port-of-entry each time you travel.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visas-backlog.html Extract However, the pandemic continues to severely impact the number of visas our embassies and consulates abroad are able to process. The particular constraints vary based on local conditions and restrictions, but include local and national lockdowns; travel restrictions; host country quarantine regulations; and measures taken by our embassies and consulates to contain the spread of COVID-19. … Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of September 30 435,063 Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for October 2022 interview appointments 35,777 Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after October 2022 appointment scheduling was completed 399,286 Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

What do you mean, “add name”? List each other as derivative spouses? Yes of course. And no, an i140 by itself is just an approved petition. It doesn’t give you any status in the US. Has an i485 been filed? When you say visa expired are you literally talking about the visa expiration date or the i94 expiry date?

No. It is a debate over terminology. The specific type of document is not relevant, what is relevant that it is and remains on record.

The reasons you cannot explain are that IR are unlimited immediate visa availability, whereas any F-numbered family preference petition is subject to annual quotas and the derivatives are included under those quotas. These F petitions are unmarried over 21 child of USC, spouse or any unmarried child of LPR, married children of USC, and siblings of USC. Also your phrasing could be very confusing in a forum like this, in US immigration terms “immediate relative” is only the spouse, under 21 child or parent of a US citizen.

Once she is a citizen she can apply for a married child, under F3. The spouse is a derivative on the petition. So are any of children (so yes your MIL’s grandchildren) as long as they are unmarried under 21. There is CSPA protection for the derivative children which you can get into at a later stage but in practice most such kids remain eligible till sometime in their early -mid 20s because of the long processing times at uscis. Bear in mind F3 can take a while, my dad petitioned for one for me in Dec 2008 and I’d still be waiting for a visa off that if I hadn’t found a different way in the meantime.

Yes. Again I refer you to the rules Failure to list all children who are eligible or listing someone who is not your child will make you ineligible for a DV

You’re not understanding something basic here. They will go through the questions in the DS260 with him. Including the ones about kids. Being divorced is also a flag for asking about step kids, that’s how that guy in Joburg got found out - he just totally didn’t think he had to list them so got a nasty surprise. Anyway, it’s only what $800 or so to spend between the visa fee and medical costs for him to find out. Make sure he doesn’t sell up before his interview.