CVGetz

Congrats on you being approved. I had 217k cash with 12 months bank statements. The USCIS says the U.S. consular "may" consider assets. In our case, the consular did not consider it and looked at my no income. We are a family of four so that may have factored in to it.

Thanks. I wish they'd give information, any information at all, about when they would or wouldn't accept assets in place of income.

Just got an approval today based entirely on assets (and less assets than you, but still more than enough for the requirement). I'm very sorry it was rejected for you; I wish I had some clue why that could be. Best of luck with regrouping and moving forward from this setback.

Birth certificates saying they were born in Mexico, or Mexican birth certificates?

There may be a difference. In some countries, when you become a citizen, you get a birth certificate from that country. That does not mean you were born there; it just means that the concept of a birth certificate is slightly different in those countries. Another difference: an "original birth certificate" might have an expiration date after which is not valid, because it might get "amended" with additional non-birth-related information such as a marriage. The US is different; for us, a birth certificate is only about birth. Many people born American but outside of the US don't get US birth certificates; they get CRBA certificates instead.

So unless something fishy happened with the records, there should be only one birth place, and it should be the same on however many countries' birth certificates they possess.

On the one hand, you say $15,000 was an "estimate". On the other, you say you "didn't make anything close to that". Do you mean that you expected to make around $15,000/year in the time after you had filled out the I-864?

I have always found form I-864 confusing in that it seems to conflate past and present income (for example, the idea that if you are working in a certain way now, then that should be reflected in last year's return.) I hope others on this site understand it better than I and can explain it to you. In my case, my future amount of income was uncertain, and I had other ways to meet the requirements, so I put $0 and attached a letter of explanation along with evidence that my job situation is changing... so far so good (case complete; waiting for interview to be scheduled; YMMV).

In the instructions they say, if you do not include last year's tax return because you did not have to file it, to include instead a letter of explanation. Did you? What did you tell them in this letter?

As for if you will receive a checklist, is there any better answer than "wait and see"? Regardless of if this comes up as a checklist or in the interview, you need to be prepared to explain yourself (and possibly give documentation) about the following things:

- what is your actual income?

- why did you not file a tax return last year?

- why did you fill out the I-864 in the way that you did?

Be aware that you need to file a 1040 for every year where you had earnings of at least $400 from self-employment.

When I called about my case, I was told that they will schedule the interview first, and then send the package afterwards. Have they told you your interview date yet?

Don't want to be a fear-monger, but if you're considering moving around inside the US with a significant amount of cash, you should be aware of the risk of civil forfeiture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States#Traffic_stops

You should report everything in USD, based on the exchange rate when you received or paid the egyptian pounds.

Read this page for more information: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Currency-and-Currency-Exchange-Rates

I am still concerned by the absence of N/A on the CEAC site. Probably it is linked to the automatic email, but other people have a fairly quick validation.

What about you ? did you check the CEAC site ?

I did check the CEAC site, on the 12th and the 13th. It showed, for the AOS fee, "PAID" on the 12th and "N/A" on the 13th.

I wouldn't worry about it, though, if you don't see the same thing with your case. This isn't an official part of the visa process, it's just a quirk of the NVC's software that people have noticed. From what I've read on these forums, I think many people have gone through the process fine without it showing "N/A" for the AOS fee. The important thing is that you have case complete. (Congratulations, by the way!)

Hi all,

my wife called Monday and the agent confirmed that we have a case complete.

(with still a checklist regarding 1 typo in the AOS of my bro in law, but we will anyway still be sent to the embassy and we will have to show the updated document)

but... still nothing received, and still no N/A on the CEAC site.

any one experienced the same delay ?

thx

When I called yesterday, and was told our case complete had been on the 12th, I was also told to expect an email mid-December telling us the interview date, which will likely be in January. That is to say, we had received nothing yet because the next thing to receive is the interview date, and they haven't scheduled that yet.

Just found out today that we got case complete on Nov. 12:

09/28/2014: last scan date (online DS-260)

(no RFE)

11/12/2014: case complete

11/13/2014: AOS payment showed as N/A in system

That was 45 days, or 44 if you count the last scan date as the next working day, Sep 29.

I think you'll be fine, because my son had almost the exact same situation, and we had no problems at all.

My wife and son each have 4 names. Here in Cape Verde names are organized by "personal names" (1 or 2) and "family names" (1 to 4). (That is, the second name of a "David Jones Smith" would not be considered a given name like in the US.) I've never been sure what the "right way" to translate this into "first, middle, last" is when they want a full official name. My wife has one personal and 3 family names, and my son has two personal and 2 family names. On all the CRBA-related forms, I put all names the same way you did:

First name: the first one

Middle name: all the ones in the middle

No problems or comments at the interview, and my son got his CRBA. Hope everything goes well for you, too!

Ok, so those who are already citizens are not considered "accompanying". Thanks!

In the "required documents" to be submitted to NVC as part of the immigrant visa application, does "accompanying family member" mean what it means in plain English, or does it instead mean "accompanying family member who is also going through the visa/green card process"? The Dept. of State doesn't make it clear which interpretation is correct on their site:

The applicant and each family member accompanying the applicant must submit a photocopy of the biographic data page from their respective valid passport.

Send a photocopy of your (and any family members’) biographic data page from valid passports. This is the page that shows your name, and your date and place of birth.

Do they mean those family members who will move their residence together, or those whose immigrant visas are being processed together?