van1234essa

thank u for letting us know! good thing I/we haven't filed any yet. maybe if ever i couldnt visit him there(US) nor he cant visit me here(KSA) we should meet elsewhere probably in our home country to be with our child too.

thank u for letting us know! good thing I/we haven't filed any yet. maybe if ever i couldnt visit him there(US) nor he cant visit me here(KSA) we should meet elsewhere probably in our home country to be with our child too.

Yes do that and then you can file. Just make sure which visa you want. Both have good and 'bad' sides. I can only advise you to read, read, read.. Good luck

Well, it can be overcome by a trip to visit. Either way, they need to meet to get married or meet to qualify for the K-1. A trip is inevitable.

Haha you sure are right. I made it sound more dramatic than it is. Sorry.

Yea the two definitely have to visit either way.

Yes big problem. You HAVE to have met within 2 years PRIOR filing. It's a requirement that can hardly be overcome. They won't accept your papers

my boyfriend and i are planning to be together. weve been in a relationship for 3 years, we are blessed to have a baby girl which i gave birth 2yrs ago. i was pregnant when he went back to the US. during those times , i am not yet legally separated. my annulment was filed just a year ago and waiting for it to be granted. i am working now in abroad(ksa) while we are waiting for the right time. but as time goes by, i feel so lonely and wanting to be with him even just for a day. i cant wait for forever not to see him right next to me. we wanted to go through in legal process to be together. but now, we are thinking what is the best plan to do , i want to visit him and be with him desperately even for such a short period of time. we know he cant petition me as his fiancee bec i am still considered married and not as free as a bird. what is the best thing to do? will i try to apply a tourist visa together with our child? or just wait until he can petition us in the right time? but honestly, i know in my heart that i need to be with him soon, and i cant wait too long . (i love him so much )

Have you guys met face to face within the last two years? Because that's definitely a requirement. At least for the K1 visa

I AM FROM CAMEROON AND MY WIFE IS IN THE USA, SHE ARRIVED THERE ON THE 29 JULY 2013 AND SHE IS ABOUT FILLING , MY PROBLEMS IS THE ONLY PROFE I GOT IS E MAIL AND SOME WESTERN UNION RECIEPT , WILL THAT BE ENOUGH AS PROFF OF RELATION SHIP??? PLEASE ADVISE .OR IS THERE ANYTHING MORE I WILL NEED??

I assume they will at least expect SOME pictures of you two, with family, friends, on trips, etc..

How about receipts of things couples do? Dinners, fun activities like bowling for example.. How about phone records? Hand written letters or cards? Package slips from gifts sent to each other? Video chat records?

There gotta be more than emails and western union receipts as a married couple. That seems awful little.

Fairness is a matter of opinion. I made a statement and did not advise the OP on what to do. There was no need for you to say, "I already see what way you would choose." Maybe I misuderstood your point and perhaps I can do a better job using the quote feature, but my initial response was only to this part of your post:

"Now there might be people that say you're fine and uscis will approve your AOS anyways cause they do so with many cases. But that doesn't mean it's right and fair to other couples that do it the right and legal way. You basically would jump in front of all these couples that patiently play the waiting game. So yea I would consider that as well."

See, misunderstanding solved and nobody harmed.

And never would I have said that you advised the op, just saying I wouldn't advise to do something I, myself, find immoral and that's why I sticked with my point at that time that it would be just plain unfair to not care about that.

I apologize that you thought I tried to get at you personally. I don't take this too serious, more with a pinch of humor.

It's funny cause I got my noa2 for the k1 at the very last day of what vj suggested. So it was pretty spot on. With the ead and ap it was the same. Always at the very last minute to not be out of the suggested time frame.

There is no call for that. I would appreciate that you refrain from impugning my integrity and morals as you do not know me. I commented generally on one part of your post. No need to get personal. Thank you.

Maybe that's the problem? You didn't read my posts very well. I said in each and one of them that adjusting from VWP without intention upon arrival is perfectly legal and those can adjust status all they want.

It's the ones that immigrate with intent to stay and lie, that are being 'unfair' to others.

You just generally said it's not illegal to adjust from VWP, when it actually can be.

And if you think THAT is debatable or opinion, then I, with no disrespect, don't mind at all that I don't know you

Her uncle doesn't have any children but he is married. So he would need to show that he can provide for me (even though I earn a lot more than he does), my fiance and his wife for 10 years. My fiance will be starting a new job but if I am to live there it won't be in Orlando.

You don't need to count your fiancé. She is a us citizen and can still get public benefits. It's just you that can't. So it's just the uncle, wife and you. So a household size of 3.

It is not illegal to file AOS from VWP and the issue of fairness is opinion and debatable.

It is very much so. If you're telling the immigration officer upon your arrival with VWP that you are planning to stay I dare to bet all I have that you won't be granted admission to the usa. So in order to even get in the country you would have to lie. Lying to the government.. Mmh.. Legal?

The ones that are allowed to adjust status after entering with VWP are the ones that had no intend to stay when they entered in the first place. So yes she can say 'I'm just here for vacation' and later claim that it was spontaneous.. But that's not legal nor correct. Visa fraud based on a lie to the immigration officer. And even if her AOS gets approved based on that lie, no person with some sort of morals would want that.

But since you say fairness is opinion and debatable I already see what way you would choose.

I would never advise to do something immoral.

Okay this is new information. Can this be her uncle or is better off being a friend. Also is this likely to affect the application? Is a co sponsor looked down on?

Thanks

It can be an uncle or a friend. Doesn't matter as long as that person makes enough money. But keep in mind when the uncle has a wife and kids the household size counts as follows:

Uncle+wife+kid1+kid2+you

So the income requirement might be a lot higher

Now if it's just the uncle:

Uncle+you

The affidavit of support is a binding document and should be understood by the signing person very well. They are basically on the hook to provide for you for at least 10 years or until you become a citizen (if you choose to do so) so family might be a better option than a friend.

And no, in London a co sponsor is not frowned upon. There are countries where they aren't accepted but UK isn't one of them as far as I know.

Co-sponsors are quite common, so don't worry

Thanks Avery. I am currently in London and she is flying here tomorrow. Can we start the process from London or would she need to do that from inside the US?Also is it easier to just employ someone to process all of this for us to make sure it all goes through smoothly?

Thanks again

Rob

And please don't hire a lawyer if you guys have a straight forward case. Lawyers are a waste of money. This is a do it yourself site and you'll get all the help you need here. We all went through it. Put that money towards wedding/honeymoon

Now if you have any complicated situations going on, then yes the lawyer might be for you.

You also mentioned that currently you are supporting her. In order to get any visa she needs to meet a required minimum of income, to prove that she's able to provide for you and that you won't become a public charge. The requirement depends on the household size. She needs to make 125% of the poverty line for the according household size. If she doesn't, you guys need to find a co sponsor (any us citizen)

Good luck!

Nobody says that there aren't people that actually adjust status from VWP. It's just that there's a difference about how you start the process.

Just take the ones that claim they went on a trip and decided for a spontaneous marriage. Those a perfectly legal to adjust status from VWP. But those that have the intent to immigrate BEFORE actually entering the usa are committing visa fraud. You knew better.

It's a grey area. And it's totally up to you if you wanna take the risk of

1. Not being granted admission to the usa if you tell border control you're here to stay (you don't wanna lie, do you?)

Or

2. Being 'escorted' from the country in the case you're adjustment application gets denied. Cause remember the second quote I posted: People that come on VWP are not allowed to appeal a denied AOS.

Now there might be people that say you're fine and uscis will approve your AOS anyways cause they do so with many cases. But that doesn't mean it's right and fair to other couples that do it the right and legal way. You basically would jump in front of all these couples that patiently play the waiting game. So yea I would consider that as well.

Hi!

This is my first posting but I've been surfing the forums for help & guides and had trouble finding any information on the impact of the Nov 2013 update for AOS applicants who were admitted to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program.

Just a quick overview on my background, my husband, a U.S. citizen, moved to Singapore 4 years ago for work. We met at work 2 years ago, and got married in Singapore after 1.5 years of dating. His office recently re-located him back to the U.S. for work, and I am planning to enter the U.S. on the Visa Waiver Program, with the intention of applying for the I-130 and AOS concurrently.

I understand that previously, it's considered as immigration fraud/illegal if i were to apply for AOS if I enter the U.S. on the Visa Waiver Program.

But with the policy memorandum update in Nov 2013, (link here: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/nativedocuments/2013-1114_AOS_VWP_Entrants_PM_Effective.pdf), does it mean that we can apply for the AOS & I-130 even though I will enter the U.S. with the Visa Waiver Program?

From your link I read this:

"Whether to grant adjustment to an eligible applicant is a matter entrusted to DHS discretion. USCIS exercises this discretion on behalf of DHS."

"But like someone actually admitted under the VWP, a refused applicant is not entitled to appeal or review of the refusal of admission."

From this and all the rest I would say 'no'. This does not say you're good to go and guaranteed to just immigrate on VWP or a tourist visa. You still can get denied and then you definitely gotta leave the country cause you can't even appeal. Not a good position to be in.

And imagine this: if they changed their policy to allow adjustment of status from a non immigrant visa, America will be flooded with fiancées and wifes/husbands that don't wanna wait anymore for their visa within no time, meaning the usa would loose billions on issuing those visas.

Wouldn't make sense

I got the potential interview waiver case letter today. Can't say that I'm thrilled about it. I rather would have an interview than waiting another 6 months...

Parents are going today to get their SSN do you know how long it takes to arrive or do they give you anything saying what the SSN will be today? Or is that wishful thinking & we just have to wait until it appears in the mail?

They say you get it in the mail within 2-4 weeks but I had mine in less than a week. From what others said, that's the norm. So they should get it rather quick.

They have all their paperwork & will try again today.

However I now think that the problem will be they have no SSN?

Do they need SSN to get a driving license?

They are applying for that today.

In NYC I needed my ssn for the drivers license.

Hello,

I and husband(USC) got married in 2012 and we lived together abroad. I had part time work and when we went to HR block to file taxes we were told i dont need to put it in taxes, were they right? i earned about 6500 dollars in 2012 and than around 2500 dollars in 2013. We went to HR block to make sure we do everything correctly but now I am not sure.

Look at the IRS form 2555. It lets you exclude a certain amount of foreign income.

Can anyone out there tell me, when the 3 year to apply for american citizenship begins for my immigrant wife??

She arrived here on 12/12/2013. we got married on 12/20/2013. does her time start from when she arrives here in the U.S., or from the date we got married, or does the 3 year time frame start from the date her green card is approved.

Any consistant answers on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you kindly

Ron

The 3 years are from the time she gets her conditional greencard. There's a time window of 90days before the 3 years are reached, that's when you can send in the application. No sooner than that. So let's say your wife gets her greencard on May 1st, 2014 then she's eligible for naturalization by May 1st, 2017 but you guys can send in the paperwork up to 90 days before that date.

Just wanted to know how long it takes to receive your green card if your application was base to a marriage to a us citizen .entered us with k1 visa and got married.

Can be anything from 6-12 months, depending on if you have an interview or not. In some few cases people wait even over a year. That's why it's important to file for ead and ap at the same time.

Hello,

My wife came here on a K-1 visa. We have since been married and just filed our AOS paperwork.

The question I have is this.

We received 2 different notices in the mail stating that the I-131 filing fee and the I-765 fee was missing or incorrect. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the assumption that if filed together with the complete AOS packet that I did not need to pay these extra fees? An important side note I should include is as follows. On both forms there was one signature left omitted. My guess is my wife just needs to sign and send in. But if this is the case, then why is it telling us the fee(s) are not included/incorrect? They cashed my check for 1,070. ANY help is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Caleb & Adrielen.

Have her sign it, write a letter stating that you filed along with AOS and the fees are not applicable. Attach that and eventually a copy of your I-485 noa1 if you have that. Then there should be no problem. My friend had the exact same scenario happening. But only for the AP. Saying she didn't pay the fee.. Duh. But now it's approved.

On Visa Journey Timelines it says they are processing cases received on Nov 2, 2013. I.e. 119 days from Notice to Interview. Our Notice Date was Nov 19, 2013 so I would assume if there was going to be an interview in the next 17 days we would have received something from them by now?

I typed in the I-485 receipt# on USCIS just now and it just says, "On November 19, 2013, your fingerprint fee was accepted and we have mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Your case is being processed at our NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER location. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you."

So we went for Fingerprints as requested on Dec 16th and recd the AP card about 4-6 weeks ago... but it says nothing about the AOS. Haven't heard anything about the AOS.

Regarding what you wrote about "Just go ahead and travel, they wouldn't have given her AP if they don't want her to travel..."

I'm pretty sure that is false and I'm pretty sure that if my wife were to leave the US it would create a 10 yr ban as we waited 2-3 years before filing AOS, thus she was out of status for 2-3 years.

Ok since you don't want to hear advice from people that actually try to help you I'll give up. Good luck tho

6-12 months seems like an awfully long time. She received her I-512 Advance Parole/Employment Authorization Card about a month ago. My sense is if there were any issues, they wouldn't have sent us this?

Kind of hoping she gets her greencard in March so we can travel out of the country. I know she can technically travel with this I-512, I've read here that it would be a bad idea since we waited a few years to apply for AOS. I.e. we married in the 90 day period required under the K-1 and waited a few years to do the AOS.

Do folks usually receive a letter with interview or a letter stating no interview needed within a few months of receiveing the I-512 AP and Employment Authorization card?

It depends on where your case is, and like mentioned above if you have an interview or not. But if you haven't got any notice yet then there's no way she gets her greencard this month. Check the official uscis site and see what dates they are working on right now. That'll give you an idea.

there are service centers that currently work on May/june2013 applications. That's just an example, but you get the picture.. AOS is a rather long waiting process. Just use the AP for traveling. You will be fine. If they didn't want her to travel she wouldn't have got the AP

My wife had her biometrics appointment for AOS back in December. She is adjusting status from her K1 Visa. It has been 76 days since the biometric appointment. The VJ timeline shows the average timeframe between biometrics and interview as 84 days. When does notice typically arrive? i.e. a week, 2 weeks, a month before interview?

If there is no interview does the green card just arrive in the mail or should we be receiving something in the mail soon stating no interview needed, expect green card to arrive in the next xx days, etc.

Thanks

If your interview is waived you will receive a letter letting you know. But don't stress yet, 76 days seem way too short for interview appointment. Right now there are people waiting for 6-12 months, depending on if you have a interview or not.