yairzick

Visa is for my spouse, not parents, as noted in the post. 

If we get denied at the port of entry this could be a very expensive and painful. 

We had stayed outside the US for 2.5 years.

Hello all

My spouse has a valid green card but has stayed longer than 1 year outside the US. The embassy has told us that we cannot apply for a returning resident status (SB-1), as ours is not a life/death issue. My question is: we need to resubmit an I-130; do we need to abandon the green card prior to submitting the application?

Thanks!

To update: I have just reentered the details and the message disappeared. Conclusion: the ELIS website is buggy, so take care when entering your details.

After we've made the payments, I logged in again, and the website had a notice saying that "there was a technical problem processing your request"

Has anyone encountered this before?

I would be careful about not paying the fee, even if your child is the child of a US citizen (as is the case with us). Read here:

http://www.uscis.gov/forms/uscis-immigrant-fee

Different people have different bottlenecks, but for us the thing that really delayed the process was taxes. If your soon-to-be husband hasn't filed his US taxes properly this could become a major pain (I had to hire an accountant, and it took a while to figure out). One of the things that your partner would need to prove is that he can financially support you when you are in the US (the affidavit of support I-864). If he can't (due to low income), there are ways to supplement income using assets, but the most surefire way is to get a sponsor (a US citizen that has a high enough income). This is done to ensure that you don't become a welfare burden.

Also - he needs to have a permanent address in the US (a domicile) in order to sponsor you. If not, he needs to show intent of moving there (a job offer, plane tickets, a lease on an apartment).

Another thing that you will need to consider is criminal certificates: you need to get your criminal records from every country you have ever lived in for more than 6 months after you were 16. You mention New-Zealand, Australia etc. (don't get them too early though, I believe they need to be fairly recent). I would find out how to get them and what you need to do.

Good luck!

The package we received was quite clear about this - if any document is not in English you must provide a notarized translation (that is, by an attorney or by a certified translator). Also, make sure you get criminal records from every country you ever lived in for more than 6 months (in fact, to be safe, if you ever had residence in a country, it's better to get your record from there).

OK, so the embassy replied me, telling me that indeed the only thing they're waiting for is the criminal records. Here's to a happy ending...

Thanks! We have those too. I'm wondering if there's some other annoying document we may have missed, or anything that they may ask for later on.

Hi all,

My wife just had her interview in the Singapore embassy, and was told that she needs to get criminal records from all countries that she previously resided in (Israel and Australia). Needless to say, this was quite frustrating to see we missed that. What I want to ask now - what else could we have missed? Here's what we submitted

1. Marriage certificate

2. Passports of wife and children

3. Birth certificates of wife and children

4. Criminal record from Singapore (missing Israel and Australia)

5. Completed forms I-864's for wife and children, with it attached

5.a Tax return from 2011-2013 + bank transcripts from Singapore for 2013+ 2014

5.b letter establishing employment and salary in the US

6. Receipt from kindergarten in US - to establish domicile in the US

7. Singapore Identity card of wife

Is there anything else that we are missing? We tried to follow the instructions in the letter from the consulate carefully, but unfortunately missed out on the multiple police certificates part.

Thanks!

Just don't pin a lot of hope on this -- it is unlikely to be approved for DCF; if children (even young ones) were a reason to approve DCF, a HUGE number would apply for the exception to no DCF filing where there's no USCIS office..

But, while it's being decided, you have time to gather all the support info needed and have the I-130 ready to send immediately to the lockbox.

Hope all works out well for you.

Well, good news! We got approved for DCF. I got a phone confirmation on Monday, and a formal reply today. For the sake of future petitioners: we said that we have two boys aged 1 and 2.5 years old, and that it will be very hard for my wife to take care of them alone, since we have no family support in Singapore. Moreover, our elder son has asthma and would not do well in the Singapore smog (which usually appears some time in June-July). We attached a letter from his doctor detailing his condition and medical history, as well as the usual stuff (copies of passports, birth certs, personal IDs, marriage cert...). Here's to more good news along the way and a happy new year!

yalrzick,

Regarding the DCF, you will have to have an extreme circumstance. In my case I was overseas for 3 years as a DoD

Civilian in Singapore. My reason for DCF was it would be an extreme burden financially both to my wife and I if she did not get her visa in time before our PCS back CONUS as well as the U.S. Government. I typed a letter, along with my gov't orders and contacted USCIS, military line and they escalated my request to a level II tech who in return asked me to fax the letter to a POC at in Laguna Niguel, California.

Within a month things went by very quickly and 2 months later after biometics, interview and physical my wife received her green card from the US Embassy in SIngapore. We started the process in August 2012 and received the green card in April 2013,1 month before our PCS date. It took a lot of work I was up every night calling USCIS and Dept of State for 8 months and taking off of work a total of a week with the physical, biometrics, notaries and interview. Along with that about $200 in shipping fees back to CONUS for verious paperwork submissions. A total of about $1500 for the whole process.

Another thing was my wife was pregnant att the time and we stated that in the request as well.

In your case you may have a chance. The thing is you have to go through USCIS and expedite, the US Embassy in Singapore does not handle CR-1 only by case by case. Your statement needs to be solid and referenced. Send as

much documentation as you can, give dates, names and your financial situation. VJ is a pretty good site this site helped my wife get her green card and saved a lot of time. Your family will be okay the best thing to do is start the process as early as possible and stay on it everyday until the green card process is done. Another thing your family has to enter to US

6 months after the medical examination, once you enter you have to stay 2 years before the PR green card is issued.

When you enter initially 30 days after they will mail you a CR-1 green card. After the 2 years you must file a change of status to PR. Within the 2 years you are allowed to leave the US but must stay in the US more than the country you are transiting to. Another option is if you need to go back to Singapore they do allow you to leave and maintain residency in the US up to 2 years but they is a form you have to fill out and biometics and your spouse will have to stay in the US until at least the biometrics are completed then they can go back to SIngapore and receive the 2 year waiver at the US Embassy in SIngapore.

I wanted to give you as much info as needed cause even after the green card, circumstances arise and this information will see you thru it.

Hope this helps

Thanks! We applied for a DCF yesterday, hope to hear from them soon, so that we could get this mess moving. I hope that having two very young children qualifies us... Here goes nothing

My wife has just had 2 expedited petitions approved via USCIS and NVC. The only thing we were able to pay in between the process so far is the AOS Fee of $88. We have not turned in Packet 1, 2 or 3 yet. The petition is on it's way to the US Embassy in Singapore. We have completed the medical examination/immunization, police reports, and have all documentation, both official and certified copies. My wife and I have roughly 45-60 days to obtain her visa before we are schedule to leave Singapore back to the U.S. Can someone explain the timeframe and procedure(s) once it makes it to the Embassy until we receive the visa? Thank You.

Hello, how do you apply for DCF in Singapore? I want to apply for my wife and children. I'm thinking of going with the line that the children are very young and parting with them will be very hard on everyone? Will I find a sympathetic ear?

I'm a Singapore permanent resident an my wife and kids are Singaporean (I'm the USC).

Hi, could you give me some tips on how to apply for DCF in Singapore? I have a job lined up on 28th April and I have a wife and two young children I'd hate to part with for a really long time...

Yeah, we're now thinking that this whole process is not worth it. I'll do my postdoc and they will visit occasionally on a tourist visa, and I will visit them. It's ridiculous, I'm like a tourist in a country that I'm a citizen of.

Yup (or another country).

This might be arranged. Being a postdoc I'm sort of expected to do research visits, so it could work out. So, here's what I plan on doing

1. File an I-130 for my wife and kids, need to attach intent of staying in the US documents. What kind of documents would be relevant, anyone knows?

2. Wait for reply, NOT apply for a K-3/K-4 visas.

3. Travel to the US by myself. I think that I will not go in April 28th, but rather a month later, May 28th (my hosts are ok with that).

4. When I'm there, I'll wait for a bit (a month or two) and see where things stand. If I see that there's no way that this will work out soon, then I'll go on a research visit to some other country (maybe the UK, I have some friends/collaborators there that would agree to fund me). My family can join me there. Or, maybe I'll just go to Singapore on a research visit if that is possible.

I understand that there is an issue with this, since my wife will need to be in Singapore for the visa interview. Do you know if she MUST have the interview in Singapore? Can she do it in another country? If not, then she'll need to be physically present in Singapore anyway. If I understand correctly,

If my employer allows it, is it ok for me to stay in Singapore for a month or two? Will they give me trouble for going back to stay with my family while the case is in progress (I will maintain my employment and my address).

Oh, mirimilo mentioned the selective service thing. I'm not applying for a job with the TSA, how is this relevant?

Leave proper. Going to Canada/Mexico doesn't count to reset their stay count (that's a loophole the US closed a whole back).

So, if I want them to be with me for the time that the visa is processed, they'll need to fly from Singapore and back. Wow.

Ah, no. VWP folks don't get too much hassle. When they visit, they should travel with documentation that shows they'll be going back again, ties to home etc. just in case they get some stick from immigration.

But, this means that they'll need to leave the US and come back, right? Can they go to Canada or something? We'll be in Pittsburgh, so it's not too far.

Singapore is on the visa waiver program, so they do not need to apply for a visa. Will they be stopped at the airport?

By the way, thank you all so much for all of this really useful information. I tried to find an attorney in Singapore that specializes in US immigration, no luck.

But, will they be allowed to get tourist visas with a current immigration case pending? This is a guess of course, but what is the general rule? I mean, I really don't care what visa they're under in the US, so long as we're together.

Oh, one more thing, what documents do I need to attach to the I-130? Apart from the standard ones (copies of marriage cert, birth certs, passport photos, my social security card), what documents would show that I intend to move to the US? What will suffice? I'm guessing that a letter from my prospective employer, what else? Does it need to be in the original petition with the I-130, or will USICS request these documents at a later point in time?

On another note, is there another, less time-consuming way of getting a lower-grade visa for my family? Say, a non-immigrant visa that will later be converted to an immigrant visa? From what I've read, it seems that the answer is an emphatic no.

On a final note, it is completely ridiculous that getting your family to the US is HARDER for US citizens than for non-US citizens. If I were to renounce my citizenship tomorrow and apply for a work visa, the whole process would have been done in a few months, no hassles. Oh, and I would be exempt from paying my taxes. Although I'm guessing that if I do that, my chances of getting a US visa ever again are slim.

So, my wife and kids won't even be able to come to the US on a tourist visa/any other visa? This is completely ridiculous! I have talked to my employer, and they hope that things will go through smoothly, if not, I may actually need to give up the position. If there are children involved, doesn't it make things faster? One could argue that this is breaking the family nucleus, child benefit etc.

My postdoc starts in April 2014. As far as I understand, my family can come on a K-3/K-4 visa even if they do not have an immigrant visa yet. So, by the time I need to deal with the NVC, I will probably be in the US working, which means that I won't need a joint sponsor, is that correct?

So, when exactly do I file the I-864? with the I-130, or only after I have received the NOA?