erinwall

Wow. So sorry to hear this.

My husband's green card has now been in process since we filed the 485 in early September 2014. He got his EAD in mid-October...which is what he used to get a driver's license, a job and several other important things. I previously understood that ONE MONTH before the EAD expired, we should renew it, if we hadn't gotten the green card by then. This is making me think we should file now, in case it take 5 months. Ridiculous.

Igor,

I totally understand. Similar situation here.

DO NOT include your family members as part of your household. There are other ways to include their financial support.

At the end of the day, I ended up meeting the 125% guideline, so I didn't need other support, but I did have some friends lined up, similar to you, who were willing to submit an affidavit on our behalf if we needed it. From people who have done this process before you or me, I have heard two different ways of going about this:

1) You complete your own Affidavit of Support (AOS) and submit all supplementary documentation. You also have your brother complete a separate AOS and provide all the required supplementary documentation. Send both of these to your fiance(e) to bring to the interview.

2) If your brother, by himself, makes more than the 125% guideline, and if he is comfortable with the burden filing an AOS put on him (if he trusts you), he can complete the AOS, provide all the required supplementary documentation and you can send that alone to your fiance(e) to bring to the interview.

I know Option #2 works; I don't know if Option #1 is viewed as strange or not by the U.S. Embassy, but reason tells me it wouldn't be. It's your call.

As far as dependents go, as long as you are not married, your fiance(e) is not your dependent, so you should be putting "none" on line 8 of the I-134 (AOS). Do not include your fiance(e), nor your brother, unless they definitely depend on your for support.

Thanks, everyone. After a couple emails to the US Embassy in Nairobi and a phone call, we were able to ascertain that they simply hadn't prepared his visa yet. I don't know if they forgot or were just long delayed beyond the turnaround time they promised (one week), but he just pickedup his visa on May 12 (approved during his April 28 interview). So...guess it takes awhile sometimes. Thanks for the comments and support.

Igor, no need to worry. Your household size is one currently (you) and will be two when your fiance arrives. Unless you claim your family members as dependents on your taxes (which you said you don't), you don't even need to tell the USCIS about them. They're irrelevant to the affidavit. I myself live with friends and I didn't include them on my affidavit, though we share household expenses. Same deal for you. Sweat no more!

Eek. I hope that's not true! A lost passport and visa...? That sounds like a major problem and a flaw in a pretty important system!

Hi everyone.

My fiance went for his K1 interview in Nairobi April 28. After a couple easy questions, he was congratulated and given papers telling him his visa was approved and letting him know he would be notified online to pick up his passport in about a week. It has been ten days and the status on the CSC Kenya website has not changed---no airbill number from DHL yet, despite the fact that he's been registered for DHL service since March, when he scheduled his interview appointment. I have emailed the email address the documents he was given recommends, to no avail. No response yet and it's been several days. Does anyone have experience with this? How long did it take you to actually get the visa?

Thanks.

Would have been awesome to get a link to that new forum...

Seau055,

You don't need to worry at all about your income from last year. There is no place on Form I-134 where you need to enter that info, and a letter from your employer is all you should need (you don't even need the pay stubs). I just submitted my AOS (through my fiance when he went for his K-1 visa interview April 28) and there were no issues. Like you, I had very little income in 2013, due to being with my fiance in Africa for most of the year. However, I have a job now, and that was sufficient for the officials. I also listed my savings and the value of my car on my form. I don't have other assets, but if you do, listing those is always helpful. For each thing you list, though, you should submit proof that your claim is valid (such as the Blue Book value for your car, or a statement from your bank showing your savings account balance).

Because of my 2013 income (and my current income, which isn't great), I was worried my fiance's visa would be rejected. But there were no problems at all. He said they barely even looked at the AOS. Just filed it (and didn't even want the supporting documents, like my employer letter!). It's my guess that, by the point you get to the interview stage, they pretty much know if they're going to approve you or not, and unless you do something silly, like not prepare the AOS at all, they're not going to scrutinize it during the interview.

All that is to say: Do a good job with it and include all the documents they request, but don't lose sleep over it. The petition was your biggest hurdle!

I hope that helps,

erin

Jworld34,

1) You should use your wife's legal last name. If you want to avoid any chance for confusion, list her legal last name, followed by her maiden name in parenthesis, as in this example: Smith (Nelson). That way, both names are present to avoid the possibility of confusion or any accusation that you two are trying to pull something on the officials.

2) I don't know about the AOS for the IR-1/CR-1 visa. I processed an AOS for my fiance's K-1 visa (Form I-134), and he had to bring that with him to his interview, along with supporting documentation. For your visa, though, the research I've done seems to indicate that it doesn't matter who files the forms for you, or where they originate from as long as you file the AOS with form I-485. If your parents are going to mail them for you, they just need to be sure they're mailing them to the right address, according to your situation. If you haven't already, read the USCIS' information on Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-485.

3) My fiance did his medical exam (in Nairobi) three weeks ago. He said it was fine, but then again, he's a guy and the Dr. was a man. I'm sure there was less to be uncomfortable about than for women with a male Dr. As the previous respondent mentioned, my fiance also had blood tests, vaccinations, chest x-rays and a comprehensive medical exam, covering his whole body. He didn't mention it being wierd at all.

The process for making your medical appointment does not give you the chance to choose your Dr. You choose your clinic, but not your Dr., and even then, your clinic choices are limited to the U.S.-approved clinics, which in our case, was only one in the whole of Kenya. So, basically no choice.

My fiance's exam was a two-day exam, about four hours each day (not the actual time with the Dr., but the waiting and such). I believe it's the same for all immigrants. The medical visit is something you arrange with one of the U.S.-approved clinics. You can only arrange the medical visit after you have made your interview appointment (or received your letter with your appointment date), and then, when you go to make your medical appointment, it must be at least two weeks prior to your interview date (to allow for any follow-up). I would advise you do your medical as soon as possible so that you have maximum time to address any issues that come up before your interview. Otherwise, your interview may be delayed. (An example: When my fiance was in the waiting room at the Nairobi medical clinic, he met another African immigrant who had had his visa interview delayed 12 weeks because when he was screened for TB, there were signs of the disease. The U.S. would not let him interview until he had taken certain medications for 12 weeks. This delayed his process and cost him a lot of money in treatment, I am sure.)

I hope that helps!

erin