Dbkrantz

Need help - husband's Oath Ceremony Letter was drafted and sent on USCIS website on July 22nd for an interview on July 22nd (1 hour after the notification came through). 
 
Obviously, there was no way he could make it to Newark (which is an hour away) when he was already at work! We sent them a message and tried to call but nobody has been helpful. What happens now that he missed the oath ceremony date?

Number one piece of advice is :
Don't be afraid to ask questions.

When you are stressed, sometimes, it's overwhelming and nothing makes sense. It took a while to wrap around the process, and it would not have been possible without asking people. There is no stupid question and it's better to ask and relax than freak out about something.

Direct consular filing is when you can file your petition and do the whole process within the embassy and therefor not having to go through Chicago. It is generally faster (4 months maximum for DCF compared to 9-12 months for the regular process).

The requirements are generally having lived legally in the country for at least 6 months and being married.

That seems like more than enough, but, do you have any pictures of you two with family? that would help.

If you are doing DCF, most consulates requires 6 months residency for both of you, which means that your wife has to live in Seoul for 6 months before she can start applying for you.

The good news though, is that generally, DCF can be completed in about 4 months.

Hi,
I was a student, so I didn't have any income and I wrote a letter explaining why I hadn't filed tax returns in the past 3 years and attached it to the affidavit of support. For this, they were very appreciative of that explanation and thanked me for the letter at the interview.

Since you are a freelancer, you have two options. Either your income was too low to justify tax returns, in this case, you should consult the rules below, which you can find online on this website: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf (page 3 and 4). If exempt to filling taxes then you should write a letter explaining why that was the case.
Single dependents—Were you either age 65 or older or blind? No. You must file a return if any of the following apply. 1. Your unearned income was more than $950. 2. Your earned income was more than $5,950. 3. Your gross income was more than the larger of— a. $950, or b. Your earned income (up to $5,650) plus $300. Yes. You must file a return if any of the following apply. 1. Your unearned income was more than $2,400 ($3,850 if 65 or older and blind). 2. Your earned income was more than $7,400 ($8,850 if 65 or older and blind). 3. Your gross income was more than the larger of— a. $2,400 ($3,850 if 65 or older and blind), or b. Your earned income (up to $5,650) plus $1,750 ($3,200 if 65 or older and blind).

im no where near the end, this is not even worth it anymore, im not willing to loose my marriage and my husband over this either, the us is just a country just like any other, we tried my I guess it not meant to be for us to live here, I wish everybody else on here the best of luck on their journey truely from my heart because I know how everybody worked hard for this, god bless you all in every step of the way till the end of this journey for all of you, but its not worth to stress for and stay away from my husband and loose my marriage for me !!! my life with him and being with him Is worth way more. I didnt realize it was going to be like this, I wish I never left him and stayed with him back home and didnt start this process at all...

you should be thankful you got a visa and are in the U.S. with ur significant other.......some of us would just about kill to have at least that

Congratulations!!!! I somehow missed this before now!!!

Yes.
As you can see "if currently married, enter 1" is in the list of people NOT sponsored in this affidavit. Since you are sponsoring your spouse, you should enter 0 because your spouse IS being sponsored as opposed to NOT being sponsored.
So yes, enter 0, instead of leaving blank because leaving it blank, they might think you forgot to fill it in.

I did this affidavit for me and my husband: for part 5 question 3:
You put one for "persons you are sponsoring in this affidavit".
Then next to that there is "persons NOT sponsored in this affidavit" which would be 1 for yourself since you are the petitioner. Since you are sponsoring your wife, you should enter 0 in the "if you are currently married, enter 1" since the spouse was already counted above.
Which means that the household size is 2.
Question 8 needs to add to 2 since its your household size.

Hi !
1. Just in case, income has to continue while you are in the US to qualify, which means that if you are sponsoring your wife and counting work done in Europe that will stop once you are in the US, income cannot be used.

I would add any assets you have, just to be sure you are above the poverty line. Every little helps.

2. I am not sure living rent free will qualify as housing benefits, since, to me, housing benefits is help from the government. I would not try to use that. Although, you can always get a letter from your parents explaining the situation and point it out at the interview.

3. I see that you are doing DCF in Italy. As the sponsor, you are legally required to fill out an affidavit of support, which is, for you, form I-864. Remember that this form allows you to use assets from the intending immigrant, if that is something of interest.
Let me know if I can help in any other way,
Good luck,
Deborah

Hi,
The status update will always say ready, even if your forms have not yet been logged into the system. Mine said "Ready" all along but when I called DoS they told me they were waiting for my forms too be logged.

I would call DoS to make sure that everything has been logged and whether or not you've been assigned an interview yet, or not. Let us know what they say and we will be able to advise on the next steps.

Some savings helps. Every little helps to prove that you are above the poverty line. If you would like, send me a message with your current income + assets and we can examine together whether or not you would need a co-sponsor.
Yes, Christmas in the US is possible, I am sure you will be approved in no time.

Hi,
You can already call DoS to see if you might have an interview date assigned. In rare cases, the interview date is given on the day of the forms being logged. This doesn't usually happen but it might.

If not, you usually have to wait about 10 days - 2 weeks to get an interview assigned.
Let us know!

Hello to you all,
I just wanted to share the London DCF news concerning Government shutdown, in case some of you were worried:
http://london.usembassy.gov/servicenews001.html
So far, it seems that the visas will not be affected by the shutdown. Good!
Have a lovely day,
Deborah

Hi everyone,
One message to say my husband's visa was approved and issued today!

Thank you for all the people here who have been able to help. A bit over 3 months ago, I had no idea where to start and now his visa has been printed and we are waiting for his passport! Very grateful to have found this site!
Huge special thanks to Lost_At_Sea for being so helpful and nice! A major thanks to Nich-Nick for your major help and for calming my nerves, and TomandCatie for our great conversations! Couldn't have done it without you three!
I will continue to help as much as I can and pay it forward from now on! I am no expert but I made it and would be happy to help anyone who has questions!
Thank you again,
Deborah & Kevin

Your post you mentioned about second chance, second chance for what? to have by your side a loser,a weak man and scumbag? really? you deserve better. Divorce him and move on.

We were approved today!!! YAY!
I just wanted to write and say THANK YOU! To every single person who has helped us on this site through the process! 2 months ago I was firing a lawyer who tried scamming my husband and feeling like we had NO clue what to do next! This site is the best thing ever! Definitely going to tell everyone I know about it!
Special thanks to Lost_at_Sea, Nich-Nick and Dbkrantz for putting up with my incessant questions/nagging.
We couldn't have done it without you guys!

Well, if it's been a decade, you should be fine. I was nervous for my husband's medical as well, and for the blood test although I knew he wasn't taking drugs, so don't worry too much about it, you will be fine! And almost done too !

Hey guys,
Just saw this article about an American journalist moving back to New York after years in London.

I think it offers a good perspective on the joys of both countries and the differences in culture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/opinion/sunday/ta-ta-london-hello-awesome.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&smid=fb-share
Hope you enjoy,

Hey guys,
Just saw this article about an American journalist moving back to New York after years in London.

I think it offers a good perspective on the joys of both countries and the differences in culture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/opinion/sunday/ta-ta-london-hello-awesome.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&smid=fb-share
Hope you enjoy,