Patricia n Nathan

Not quite.. that guide is for passports returned to the embassy if not picked up by the applicant from local VAC\BlueDart location.

Yup, I see that now. I think I was reading a bit too fast the first time around.

I just was on the US Travel Docs website (http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-loc-passportcollection.asp), and from what I can see they only return Immigrant passports once a week (on a Thursday). Is that true?

Hello,

Just wondered whether the US Embassy in New Delhi still has phone storage facilities outside? I know they had it in the past, but I just drove by it today and didn't see the lockers. There is no parking near the embassy so was going to take a cab to the interview, but obviously would need my phone to order a cab to pick me up afterwards.

Any one who has been interviewed in the last couple of months, your input would be appreciated.

Thanks

60 days since Scan Date and new news yet. NVC closed today. That Jack Frost has been very troublesome these last few weeks.

60 days since Scan Date and new news yet. NVC closed today. That Jack Frost has been very troublesome these last few weeks.

Interesting... however, some concerns are raised by the suggestions.

Firstly, MFJ most certainly would add a tax burden on the NRA spouse. From what I understand, this would mean that if the NRA spouse has earnings abroad, they need to declare their income, assets, capital gains, etc. to the IRS - and probably pay US tax.

Even if you are retroactively changing the previous 3 filings, all of the NRA spouse's income, assets, gains, etc. (in the previous 3 years) will come under the purview of the IRS.

Secondly, ticking MFS or Single in the Filing Status. Can anyone share from their personal experience if they were rejected or put on AP, simply for putting Single instead of MFS? And for that being the only reason for the Officer to suspect fraud.

In our case, when my USC spouse joined a new firm last year they filled the W4 (Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate). In that form the IRS clearly mention "If married, but legally separated, or spouse is a nonresident alien, check the “Single” box", and so we checked the "Single" box.

We were in a bind when filing the 2014 Tax Return as to what to put in the Filing Status. We only got married last year, so this is the first time we were having this issue. I was against MFJ, as I had only been in the US for less than 40 days last year and was not interested in paying unnecessarily additional tax. My spouse initially tried to file under MFS, but could not do an e-filing without providing the NRA spouse's SSN. So, we decided to put Single on the 1040, basing our decision on the directives given by the IRS on the W4.

Now, in no way do I suggest our course of action as being the correct one. We would consider amending the 1040 (plus, State returns) if we encounter a trend or come across a fact that immigration visas have and are being denied solely on the basis of the USC putting Single in their Tax Return.

As for me, I will carry a sample W4 form to the interview. And if questioned, I feel I can argue our decision. Many people might not feel confident in doing so, and that is perfectly justifiable. After all, these Officers are required to scrutinize documents and facts to weed out fraud cases.

For those with Indian passports, do we have to include both the page with photo/passport no/issue date/expiry dates AND last page that contains parent's/spouse's name as part of Biographic page of Indian passport for NVC?

Submitted a copy of both on same sheet of paper.

Thank you AnnaMaria. Makes me wonder why that slipped my mind

We'll update with their response.

Police Certificates are generally valid indefinitely, as it is true to the date it was issued. Therefore your wives Police Certificate truly reflects her police report as per 2003 and 2006 in the jurisdictions of those respective countries.

However, the US Embassy in India does clearly state that the certificate is valid for one year from the date of issuance. In our case if we had one from 2006 or earlier, we would probably need to get newly issued police certificate.

We are in the process of getting a police certificate from the UK (where neither of us are living) for the beneficiary. They seem to have a easy enough process to obtain one. However, I am sure most other countries are not as simple.

The Indian Embassy in the UK does issue such police certificates for any person who has ever lived in India. My first suggestion to you would be to get in touch with the local embassy of the countries in question, as this is probably not the first time they have had to assist with a Police Certificate.

Best of luck

Hey Forum,

We were hoping we could use you all as either a sounding board, and better yet, get suggestions from other couples in our situation.

A bit of context, we are a same sex married couple awaiting the CR-1 Spouse Visa/Green Card. The beneficiary is from and in India.

We are looking into getting the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) from India and are stumped on the Marital Status portion of their e-Form.

We are legally married in the United States (New York), but unfortunately the Indian Government probably doesn't recognise this marriage as it is technically not legal in India. In the eyes of the Indian Government, the Indian citizen is probably still Single.

They are two possible ways we can overcome this hurdle but both have their own pitfalls.

Firstly, we could state Single for the Indian citizen (beneficiary) and hope that the US Embassy and officials coming across the PCC do not judge the case on the basis of the Indian PCC stating that the beneficiary is single. However, we are not even sure if the certificate states martial status (anyone able to provide insight?). If questioned during an interview, we can try to explain the reasoning behind putting Single. However, if a judgement on our case is made before an interview and taking into the fact that the PCC shows the beneficiary as single... *gulp* well, we don't want to think the worse.

Secondly, we could state Married for the Indian citizen (beneficiary) on the form. However, we are then required to enter the full name of the spouse. The pitfall with this being that the name of the spouse will reflect the same sex as the beneficiary. This could lead to trouble with the Indian official, if they want to be a jobs-worth and/or homophobic. And if they are being a jobs-worth, they could also question why the name of the spouse is not reflected in the beneficiary's passport. Yup - Indian passports do have a space for that. We have read that the only document required for issuance of PCC is the passport, but luckily no marriage certificate.

So this is the dilemma. We would be grateful to hear from other forum members on their experience and with suggestion. Thank you.

And best of luck with your applications

Thank you for your reply and suggestions.

We are considering waiting till at least the NVC stage to see what happens, as per @Boggy1974's experience it should resolve itself.

Hi,

We just received our NOA1 (I 797C) via mail and noticed that Pat's (beneficiary) middle name is not mentioned. Nathan's (petitioner) middle name has been initialed, but no mention of Pat's middle name. Now I have read a few posts on this from 2010-12, and the general consensus is that it doesn't matter.

Pat's passport does have the middle name under the 'Given Names' section. We would also like the Permanent Residence Card and SSN to show the full name. Just for consistency.

Should we raise the matter now or would it resolve itself during the Immigrant Visa Application process?

Thanks,

Pat