ibhitchin

I'm sure it will be noticed, but how much effect it has on your application is up to the individual interviewer.

If I were the interviewer, I would be thinking three things:

1. Nobody voluntarily pays more tax than they have to.
2. If the guy wants to pay his "fair" share, he can file "Married filing separately" and pay the same as single.
3. This guy does not think of himself as married.

I would recommend your husband look into ammending his prior years returns to change the status. I don't know the details, and he is better advised to contact a tax professional about doing that. I do know he will need to apply for an "ITIN" for you, which is a substitute SSN, so it is not just a matter of changing the form. But it is number 3 you have to be most concerned about, it may only require some additional reassurance to the interviewer, or it may be of deep concern to him/her.

I don't know what the tax transcript will reflect for an amended return, if it doesn't show what it was changed from, you are golden, the interviewer won't even know. So do the amendment first.

The only logical thing to do is go to the interview as if you had never gotten the call. The worst that can happen is the call was not bogus and the interview does not happen. If you don't go, the worst that can happen... you don't even want to think about! Minimize the downside. Furthermore, if you are there, they MAY just interview you just because you are there.

USCIS definitely DO call, and DO leave call back numbers. Last year when I was waiting for my interview, I recieved a call, with a call back number, to move things UP. Maybe they are more secretive when delaying things, but that number got me direct to the desk of the agent who interviewed me.

I still have to find a way to get that young man a good bottle of Port!

I wonder what Visa they imagine he is staying on? No extensions and no 90 day reporting? Or are they just ignoring the massive fine he faces on departure.

Sorry, a little too jaded by the immigration processes (both Countries!).

3-4 years ago the fee was $404.

You paid the $230. Why are you complaining still? You won't be required to pay more.

I think you just want to vent and complain to be honest.

Completely irrelevant info from 3-4 years ago... Brilliant.

Disingenuous irrelevant opinion as to my motivation... You'll just have to imagine how much I don't give a ####### what you think.

There is an ignore function on this board, I suggest you use it.

RE Fees:

The fee for the IV used to be $404.

So $325 doesn't sound so bad now does it?

Considering the fee used to be $230, yes it sounds just as bad as I thought.

I don't know where you got the $404 from, unless you mean at some time in the more distant past, not what it is being changed from? As far as I am concerned I don't care what the fee was the day before I started this process, only what the fee was on the day. The fee I should be paying is $230. I know because I just paid it this morning. Now if my interview is scheduled for after Dec. 12 I will be forced to pay $95 more - a near certainty with the slow as molasas in January process. The scam is alive and well, raising the prices mid process, when they are responsible for the delays, is unethical as far as I am concerned.

It's not misinformation. I waited 68 days for my IV bill ಠ_ಠ

It is when you consider Cindy is talking about business days. According to her, I would be looking at mid October from mid July. It sure as **** better be mis-information.

I was not given an estimate for 261 times the second time I called, because it had been processed "yesterday", but that puts me at 31 Business days, or 45 calendar days.

That is time to get the 261 reviewed, provided the idiot I talked to was not lying, I don't have any idea how long to get from that to a IV bill being ready - its already a week. Maybe they should think about using computers, they would speed things up... oh wait.

The IV bill depends on the 261 NOT the AOS.

Processing the 261 is supposed to take 30 business days from date of submission. I submitted on the 18th and was just told two days ago that my 261 was reviewed "Yesterday" However that has yet to reflect on my status page, and obviously there is no IV bill yet.

I was told a week ago that 261's were taking 60 days, but that is not correct. There appears to be one operator propagating this mis-information "Cindy" I think. If you get her try a different operator.

AOS package, and IV package reviews are currently taking "... at least 60 days" and that was calendar days, and starts on the date of acceptance by NVC - 8/7 in your case. So may as well get a refreshing beverage and sit back, this is going to be a while. :-(

RE Fees:

The fee for the IV used to be $404.

So $325 doesn't sound so bad now does it?

But it does make a mockery of my conspiracy theory!! I thought the IV fee was 265 though!?!?

I should appologize for my negativity and cynicism last night, but my wife was almost in tears when I was telling her of the doubling of the wait times. So difficult to remain positive.

Seems like there's a possibility we're going to pay $325 for IV fee.... Argh.... I do hope this fee increase means speedier service for all cases. Argh. Too much waiting, it is.

Possibility, no. Its Guaronteed. You watch, they will raise the fees and clear the back log... without hiring any new staff. They are just pushing as many people over the brink into the higher fees as possible right now.

By January/February timeframe these long wait times will be a thing of the past (60 days to review a 4 question form... BS!), of course the people that had to endure it will also be gone, and not prone to "female dog in heat" about it.

These fee increases are a scam as far as I'm concerned. The fees should be stable through the process. I submit my 130, whatever the fees were on THAT DAY, is what I have to pay when I get to each stage of the process. It should be treated like a contract. Period.

yes i saw pay fee in the IV part but the aos fee is still blank ... well i've just completed and received a confirmation of ds 261

Yes, That page has 3 sections, one for the 261, one for the AOS, and one for the IV stuff. My 261 section has shown "Completed" since I submitted the form, but I am still waiting for them to review it (I think they are waiting for the page to yellow around the edges before they start!) once they do, that status should change to something like "Accepted", and they will begin generating the bill for the IV package. NVC told me they are currently running 60 business days to review, I am at a little over 30 business days.

When we filled out the 261, I also paid the AOS bill, it has progressed from "In Process" to "Paid", and I have submitted my AOS package, and it is in the process of "Dry Aging" in their inbox. NVC said they are taking 60 CALENDAR days to review - from date of acceptance, so my clock should already be ticking.

In the third section, for the IV package, it shows a link called "Pay Now", it will take you to a page which lists the AOS bill and its details including status and a select checkbox, and similar info for the IV bill. The info for the IV bill is all blank and there is no select checkbox. I expect that will change when they accept our DS-261 (with the yellow edges). They are quoting 60 days for the IV package as well. I was too depressed and forgot to confirm if that was Calendar or business days.

BUT the AOS, and IV packages are separate independent paths. They diverge at the 261/aos bill e-mail, and rejoin at the end of review of whichever takes longest. The IV path includes the review of the 261 and is sequential. The AOS is reviewed in parallel and without checklists will complete first, so that 60 day clock runs at the same time the 120 days is running for the IV bill.

Obviously the IV package is the crittical path for the process - unless you don't mail your AOS package before the IV bill is paid and the IV package is sent.

i've completed the choice of agent .. so i'm expecting a mail from nvc of ds261 ?

I don't know what you mean by expecting mail from nvc of ds261. I assume you mean notice of accepting the 261?

NVC is claiming 60 days from date of submission before "accepting" a DS-261. I just called, I'm at 30+ days, which was the previous rediculous wait to have a 3 question form "reviewed". Personally I think they are deliberatly delaying in order to force as many people as possible to be hit with the new higher fees. But then I'm a cynical realist.

You should have gotten an e-mail to pay the AOS fee at the same time it became possible to fill out the 261? If not that is what you will receive next. Pay that, send in your AOS package, and wait for the 261 to be accepted, then the IV bill will be generated.

That's where we are now. If there is something to be done during this time I don't know what it is.

You are wrong in many ways here. A notary isn't required simply because they don't do translations and never have anything to do with the content of a document. They verify signatures only.

An engineer would never be used and would not stamp anything outside of the discipline they are trained in.

There is no stamp required to be a certified translator. In Thailand you can pay a translator and they will use a stamp because they think it looks good but they know nothing of the actual requirements of the U S embassy.

I did not mean to imply, and I certainly did not say, that you could take a document in need of translation to a notary, nor to a PE.

What I did say, was that in the same way that a notarized document will get a Notary stamp, and the same way that a reviewed and approved Engineering document will get the reviewing PE's stamp, a translated document will get a translators stamp.

Since receiving your reply, you have prompted me to check what we have for our documents, and that stamp bit is not entirely correct, it does not come from the translator. As it turns out you can have the translation done by anyone, but the translation stamp is affixed and signed by a single (gov.?) authority, after reviewing and approving the translation. That is what we have on our documents that are sitting in an overnight envelope in the US, waiting for a IV bill receipt to be added to them.

Ning, you allude to additional requirements of the US Embassy, would you mind expanding on that. If indeed there are further requirements, what precisely are they?

(1) I can not say for sure, because my documents have not even been sent, let alone reviewed and approved, but, I view it as something like a notary public, or Professional Engineers stamp. The stamp IS the certification with the signature.

Like I said, my docs have not been reviewed yet, but I can not see anything else they could want. I hope.

(3) They are probably ignoring you because THEY don't know what you are talking about. If it is like I say above, then as far as they are concerned, they already sent what you are asking for with the translation, any further communication is asking for trouble!

That last bit there is my opinion, Thai's seem to clam up rather than try to clarify a situation.

I will be curious if someone tells you different though... I will have to get on my horse and quickly find the cert. for my docs!!!

If she's been in the U.S. for a year, then her IR-1 visa is probably expired. They're usually good for six months. She should have received a 10 year green card in the mail approx. one month after arrival. You have the option of sticking it out in the U.S. for roughly 3 years from the date on the green card until she can get U.S. citizenship That way she can come and go as she pleases on her U.S. passport. If not, then she'll be looking at applying for tourist visa if she wants to come back and visit the U.S. The green card is meant for people residing in the U.S. Trying to use it as a part time visa is good way to get turned around at POE and forced to take a long flight back to Thailand.

Just to expand on the idea of sticking it out until attaining USC. There are additional requirements for qualifying that are impacted by being outside the country. The soonest you can naturalize is 3 years of LPR, but a certain percentage of that must be physically present in the US. Also, trip duration of 6 months or more outside the US, WILL be questioned at the interview - mine was 6months and 2 weeks, and I was asked about it. Also there are ways to get your qualifying time reset to zero (I don't remember off the top of my head what that is, but I think its trips outside the US of 6 months or more - your time in the US would be considered from the return date of the extended absence. You don't have to wait a full 3 years again, but you have to wait the minimum number of days out of the last 3 years to qualify again. If that makes sence! )

I don't remember the exact numbers - where I have given numbers they are correct, where I gloss over a number its because I don't remember exactly, but I want to give you an idea of what kind of gotcha's they can throw into your N-400 path! I would advise you to look at the official guidelines for exact numbers and explanations.

I naturalized starting about this time last year, so the process is still fairly fresh in my mind.

One last thing I almost forgot. One year outside the country puts you in jeopardy of having them demand the card back, but even trips of shorter duration (over 6 months up to a year) put you at risk of having to defend your residency status.

And while I am cleaning up loose ends, I never did hear back from the embassy.

I e-mailed them back on July 20, and except for the automated "We got your email" response, I have gotten nothing from them.

Thankfully we are just days away from picking up the PC, my worry now is that I will not get the IV Bill before the PC, and THAT will be the hold up!

Thanks again for all the help!

S&N

OK, nobody wanted to take a shot at this...

I asked the NVC, and have come to my conclusion, although they did not come right out and tell me the answer (its a legal document therefore they can not tell me what to put on it, you'll have to make your best guess and the person reviewing it will decide if it's right or not!!!)

However I got the strong impression it is supposed to be after deducting for unavoidable expenses, which I was already pretty sure of. So as you can see in my other post, I have enlisted some co-sponsors.

Thanks for everyone's time.

Keep in mind that you could call several times and get diff answers. Also NVC doesn't approve or deny the AOS, just accepts it and checks for completeness. The consular officer is the eventual decision maker.

Best of luck.

Yep, in fact my second post on this thread was about my call from last night where the NVC rep said I would only need one 864A... which left many un-answered questions!

This has the feel of being right, as does the joint sponsor route you suggested, but this has the advantange of fewer fields to fill in and therefore fewer chances to be wrong.

Once this gets past the NVC, I will be much more confident, because I am sure I can show that the numbers are correct and sufficient. My lack of confidence is born of there being no clear "right" way to format things, and what forms to use, where to put individual numbers ect. Especially after a very close reading of the instructions has pointed up an inconsistency between the instructions and the directions on the form itself. If you are curious, it regards the individual income section and totaling the figures. The form says My current income goes in line 5, my first co-sponsor is in 6c, and 2nd in 7c, and so on, then total line 5, 6c, and 7c (and the others for the rest of your co-sponsors). The Instructions say to copy the figure in line 5 to line 6c, then add lines 6c,7c, 8c... like that.

Now that I have written it out like that, I think that is another question for the NVC help line!!

OK, here is the straight poop, right from the horses....

I am to file the 864, which we already knew., filled out as follows:

• Part 5 Question 7 (same household sponsors) is 2 (parents).
• Part 5 Question 8 (total of household) is 4 (2 parents and my wife and I from ).
• Part 6 Question 6a,b,c name, Mother, income estimate as shown on her 864A Question 10.
• Part 6 Question 7a,b,c Name, Father, income estimate as shown on his 864A Question 10.
• Part 6 Question 10, total of part 6 Q' 5,6c, and 7c.

My parents each file an 864A filled out as follows:

• 864A Question 10, an ESTIMATE of each individuals expected income this year. Will be different for each person (probably), is an estimate, no lengthy splitting of income required, does not need to match any number on the Tax Transcript. And since exchange rates and COLA's are not too predictable, a good faith best guess is acceptable.
• 864A Question 11, each of the last 3 years TOTAL house hold income from the tax transcripts. Will be same same for Mother and Father.
• Both parents will use the same figures from the same Tax Transcripts.

Simple right.

OK, that is from the NVC helpline. I will follow up with what way I file, and what the result is... when and if I know a result!

Thank you all again for the help.

Sorry for the absence, my day got hijacked by an overly excited wife armed with a home pregnancy test!

I thank you both for your impassioned advice, and as I understand it, both have the same requirement of figuring the split on their (the parents) income. I can take either path, because the relationship and living arrangements allow for filing 864a's or since there are almost no restrictions on WHO can file an 864 (after getting past the citizenship/LPR requirements) I can file two 864's and one 864a. The main difference being the effect on household size (3 vs 4), and resulting effect on the 125% amount, neither povery line is a concern when I addin or consider, my parents income - they are well above for either household size.

As far as figuring the split, I think what my parents do is take each check stub, from every month, and for each foreign pension, figure out the conversion rate (since the checks are in foreign denominations) and add it all up. Since you don't need to send evidence of claimed income to the irs, they don't care so long as what you claim is at least what you are liable for, there is no 1099 or other tax record from the pension authority. The FBI and the DOJ might definitly care about unsubstantiated income due to money laundering concerns, but that is a separate animal from what we are talking about.

Since the NVC will be open for questions again in about 2 hours, and I have already missed the Post office for the day, I am going to try calling them again, and hopefully my phone will hold out for the entire call! I will post what they say afterward.

Thanks again.

You = I-864

Whoever makes more between your parents = I-864

Other parent = I-864a

I don't see what that gains me.

This scenario would be helpful if I did not live with my parents, then it would be non-household family member joint sponsor (864) and THEIR household family member co-sponsor (864A). But then we are still left with the split of the income issue.

I did not explicitly say that I live with my parents, but I do, it has been my official residence on taxes for a couple of years. In going through the 864, with this arrangement in mind, I can see that this may solve the household size problem though, I just can't seem to think straight right now.

It is 2am here, and my brain is swimming on this subject. If I am missing something, I appologize, I will look at it again more thoroughly in the morning. Thank you for your replies.

OK, acording to NVC, I only need one 864a form, and that will list the total income only, no need to split.

I was cut off before I got to ask how that affects the house hold size question on the 864! If I say its 3 with joint filers that is obviously not right. If I say 4 and list Mother and Father, what the hell number do I put for individual income in EACH FREAKING LINE! I don't know if I am over thinking the problem or what, but it seems to be a box with no exit.

Hello,

I have asked my parents to co-sponsor with me, and they have agreed.

They file Jointly. Their income is comprised of many different bits SS, pensions and FOREIGN pensions.

Since they have both agreed to co-sponsor, that comprises the totality of the income shown on the Joint return. My Dad assures me breaking out the individual components of the income would be neigh on impossible, at the very least a massive PITA. Given that ALL of the income from the joint return is being pledged, either through my Mother or my Father, and the difficulty of separating it out, can I make an arbitrary split, just so long as it adds up to the total on the tax transcript?

Failing that, can I include only income that is easily divided, even though it does not add up to the total on the tax transcript?

I am on the line with NVC to ask this question, but all of their operators are currently assisting other callers... and they look forward to speaking with me!

Thanks in advance.

Lets see... the crash affected our system AND the redundant system.

What are your plans to avoid having this happen again?

We are going to have 2 redundant systems.

Good thing we have rocket scientists working on this!

Didn't it strike anyone there that the update/upgrade should be applied to the "redundant" system FIRST, tested and approved, THEN applied to the main system!! Just what the F is the redundant system there for anyway!!

If I seem a little bitter and angry... well you're very perceptive!

Hi VJ,

I am in the process of filling out my AOS for our cr1. My only source of income is from renting out my house. If I take the amount of the rent check and multiply by 12 my "income" is a bit over the 125% requirement. However, due to deductions/adjustments (otherwise known as Schd E) my "Total Income" on the tax transcripts is VERY much lower, much lower than the 125% to be sure.

My question is, what number do I include in part 6 line "5. My current individual annual income is:" , the 12*(the rent) or the figure from the tax transcript?

The instructions do not say to use the figure from the tax transcript, that is asked for separately a couple of questions later. I realize the examiner is going to see the lower number, but with other evidence I think a reasonable person would conclude that I meet the 125% guideline, and have a better than average chance of avoiding the welfare lines. (the other evidence consists of highly paid work history, education, home ownership - albeit without a licenced appraisal, so its not included in assets). Or maybe am just fooling myself, and the examiner is going to look at the tax transcript, and say your income does not meet the guidelines... here, have a nice checklist for your troubles.

BTW, even if I have to enlist a joint sponsor, my question would remain which number for the P6L5 entry to avoid a checklist for having the "wrong" number.

Thanks in advance,

S&N

For what it's worth, I would strongly recommend getting the Police Clearance started soon as you can. We got turned away because we didn't have a cover sheet from the Package 3, but we went back with the NOA-2 and that worked. You might be able to jumpstart it with just the NOA-1. However be aware, the PCC MAY list the NVC case number to which it applies, and you don't have that yet (we don't have our PCC yet, so I can not tell you if it does or not!)

A safer option would be to wait until you have the NVC Case number, then take the NOA-2 you will already have, and use that to get the PCC. Write your BNK number on the NOA-2.

If we had done that as soon as we got our NVC case number, I would have the PCC in hand already. It takes 15 days. But that's business days, and with all the holidays in Thailand, it could be a while. We are just over 3 weeks. That is a process you want to lean forward on!

Best of luck.