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The online i-130 still has some known glitches, but since they are known, they seem not to present any big problem. You save a few bucks too. Otherwise, it's just personal choice.

If you filed in August, it is very likely you will have completed the required two years by the NVC stage anyway, but the requirement must be fulfilled before the visa is issued, not some other earlier time.

Having started looking into where to live, is nice evidence. I have a friend who has lived in the Philippines with wife and step children for 11 years. He looked into a VA loan for a house. That will be his domicile related evidence.

One recent pay stub, will be sufficient evidence of current income. No need for employer letter. It's pay stub OR employer letter. Pay stub is actually better. Use official instructions instead of artificially contrived advice. Even official instructions say six months of pay stubs, but that is an artifact. Most pay stubs show year to date income, and have for decades. There are exceptions, but not with government jobs.

There are two places for the beneficiary's current address on the form. Yes, in English, except for the second place where name and address in another alphabet is required, if applicable. Romania uses the same Roman alphabet used in the USA, but they do use some special characters. Only of those characters are part of the name and address would the "native alphabet" section be applicable.

Always best to declare and document assets when income is marginal.

For the "reader" do note that no US Immigration forms use the term "Last Name". The field is called "Family Name" with (Last Name) in parenthesis. There's three spaces for names. "No Family Name", and "No Middle Name" are the correct entries if those names don't exist. Many older people from Indonesia, for example, only have a single name. I've known many people with two middle names. In that case enter both middle names in the middle name field. The kind of error mentioned above is pretty common and the Consulate will deal with it properly. The sooner the correct name is entered properly, the better though.

Your 401k should carry the day.

A Consular Officer must be convinced your parents will be supported by you or by themselves instead of the American taxpayer. It seems they are fully able to support themselves, so concentrate on showing that they can, and how they will.

If applying for a green card and applying for an immigrant visa were the same thing, I wouldn't have mentioned it. The I-864 instructions don't specifically say equity in the primary residence is not liquid. They tell what IS considered liquid. It's our collective knowledge that tells us equity in the primary residence is not accepted, because it isn't liquid. Read the definition of what is considered liquid. Read all of it and interpret it literally, and you'll understand that selling your home and using the equity to support an immigrant "harms the sponsor". Sounds to me like you hired a lawyer not familiar with family based immigration. You must become an A-Student of the entire I-864 instructions to understand context, but how to use assets of the intending immigrant are covered on page 10.

Check in agents when leaving the USA do not concern themselves with a person's re-entry to the USA. Their concern is whether the have the needed authorization to enter their country of destination. When checking in to come back, their could be a problem, but the traveler can carry a copy of the regulation that indicates the stamped visa can be used as a temporary green card for a year. They could carry a printed scan of the green card that's waiting for them at home. On the US side, no problem with entry.

From notice to interview date is usually a few weeks, not a few days. The shortest I've seen is 3 weeks, and that's unusual.

I'm confused about how you got an interview so quickly. Sounds like an adjustment of status instead of a visa interview. Please clarify. No, you cannot file your tax return before the end of the year. Your equity in your primary residence is not considered liquid. Time to become an A-Student of the I-864 and it's separate instructions. If you are not a well qualified sponsor, you'll need a well qualified joint sponsor.

First, let's clear up what is meant by "Principal Applicant". US Citizens are "Petitioners", never applicant's or principal applicants. Each parent is a "principal applicant". Second, equity in the primary residence is not considered to liquid. This is made very clear in the I-864 instructions. Third, really should be first. The petitioner is not applying for anything (said that already) and his parents are not applying for green cards. They are applying for immigrant visas. Yes, their wealth can be documented and stated. The I-864 instructions describe how to do this. Become an A-Student of those instructions. Not having done so already is why you are in this pickle. Just meeting the minimum for assets will never work, no matter how liquid they are. If you're not well over that amount using the immigrant's assets, you'll need a joint sponsor.

The primary evidence the petitioner is with you, would be in their passport or boarding passes.

It's not more paper. You just give the information asked for about the children. To leave it blank would not be truthful. It's ok for something to be unknown.

Correct. It's a question. Answer it. If you don't know your A number and/or Naturalization Certificate enter zeros. That means your evidence of US Citizenship is your passport. You don't actually need your Naturalization Certificate. No actual consequences for misplacing it as long as you have the passport.

If asked, that's your explanation. You changed your signature. No big deal. They do look like the same person's handwriting anyway.

She can re-enter without the card. If the card comes before she returns, you have the option to send it to her. I probably wouldn't do that. If there are issues upon re-entry, she can tell them you are waiting in the terminal with the card in your pocket.

No. That's the way it worked until 2006. Now, they cancel the I-129F once they join the two. Only reason to file the second petition is to hope that when they join the two, they go ahead and approve the I-130 only. The K3 visa has been virtually unavailable for more than a decade.

Just to clarify, "lockbox" is kind of an insider term. You are filing with an intake facility. They have a PO box address, but they also have a physical address. Only USPS can deliver to a PO Box. It's called a "lockbox" because it has a number, but you don't walk up to it and open it like a regular little PO Box. Those aren't big enough for the amount of mail they get. If filing from Mexico on paper, use the physical address and DHL, UPS, or FedEX, etc.

Yes, the stipend amount goes under your current annual income. If you don't know whether you are considered employed or not, ask the organization paying the stipend. Typically, stipend income is not taxable, so not "wages". It's your personal income though.

You see that under the affidavit of support. The context is that you add a household member and their income, in order to qualify as sponsor. Unless your son or daughter's income is needed and they are completing an I-864a, you have no reason to do that.

Then they will see there were four visits total, two of which were after the marriage took place. I don't see a problem with them understanding the situation. People have lives to live. If you met once and married on the first visit, then never saw each other again, that paints a very different picture. If she can visit again before the interview, that is obviously better than not visiting. Otherwise, it is what it is.

Unless you meet the three conditions mentioned at the top of the EZ version, you must use the I-864 instead. That's the difference.