sn0skier

My wife has had the CR-1 visa for about a year now and we traveled to her home country of Chile. I had to come home early for a job interview and the plan was for my wife to only stay for a few extra weeks before coming home to Miami. However, there is Zika in Miami now and so we are scared to bring her home as she is pregnant. Hopefully I will get hired at the job I interviewed for and we will move to New York, but if that doesn't happen we may decide to have the baby in Chile. It seems like if your travel is under a year with a IR-1 visa then you are in the clear to come back to the US without a re-entry permit, but I'm having trouble finding if this time period is the same for a CR-1 visa. Lots of old posts seemed to say the requirement was under 6 months for a CR-1 which would be cutting it close for us, but I'm not sure if that information is updated. If we should apply for a returning resident visa (SB-1) is that something we should begin work on now, considering that the baby is due in November so we would plan on returning early December?

Thanks for your help.

I can't imagine the visa is valid when the passport is expired or invalid (through name change for example) though either.

The visa remains valid until its expiration date, even if the passport expires, however, if you want to use it you need to travel with the old expired passport with the visa and a current passport.

Other visas are canceled when an immigrant visa is granted.

Thank you! I don't need to tell them or show them the visas for them to be cancelled, it just happens automatically, right?

I'm probably just being paranoid, but my wife has recently received her Immigrant Visa, and I feel like I heard somewhere that at some point of the process she was supposed to turn in any old visas (maybe just if they were still valid?). Anyway she didn't, and still has a valid B1/B2 visa in an old passport.

Should I be concerned?

I know that lots of websites will only allow you access to personal information if you are inside the country where the website is based. Since you are trying to access your documents outside of the US the IRS might be blocking you. If you can access a SECURE!!! VPN in the US, you might want to try doing that and seeing if you can access your documents through there. My university has one, and lots of international corporations have them, so if you those options you can try that. The other thing you could do is get someone that you trust in the US to try and access them for you.

This may not be the case, and someone else can correct me if they were able to access the documents he wants while outside of the US, but it is worth a try.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong about this, but at any stage of the process anyone (including you or your husband) can translate the documents as long as you are capable of doing it, and sign a statement saying such on the translation. So if you can I would just translate them myself, if I was you.

We can buy a ticket that the dates can be moved somewhat easily. Is it against the rules to buy the ticket before you receive the visa packet, or just not recommended?

Also, plenty of jobs are posted before they are available, and employers often work with people who have clearly stated that they are not available to work until a specific date. We may be thinking about a different class of job.

My question was answered in the first response and no one since then has had anything useful to add. If there is a moderator please feel free to close this thread.

It is illegal to look for work while in the US on a tourist visa. So it is not true that " Anyone can look for work any time they want." Also, I think that you are the one who needs to work on your phrasing and common sense.

Can my wife legally look for work before she arrives in the US after she *fingers crossed* receives approval at the interview? Or does she have to wait till she actually comes to the US?

So my expedite request went through and my case has been forwarded to the Embassy. Thanks so much!

One question, I sent a request over email to find my original mail, and a sent in a new AOS form. Do I have to worry about these at all? Will they be forwarded to the embassy if they are received in a week or so, or do they just get put in the garbage?

I forgot to mention the best part. My package arrived there on April Fools day. I swear to go if this is just some big joke...

I mean, it's not likely, but what a coincidence.

Well, it's actually a bit more complicated then that. I originally submitted my Affidavit of Support, along with my wife's DS-260 supporting evidence, and my Grandma's Affidavit of support as the sole joint sponsor. Turns out I left my household income blank instead of putting a 0 (all of my income was foreign). So they sent me a request to refill the form, which I did immediately and sent in. I tracked it through DHL and DHL says it was delivered and has a signature of "G Peters." After not hearing anything for two weeks I contacted the NVC today and they said they have no record of having received this package. They said that I need to send an email with a document from DHL showing a signature that proves that the NVC has it, at which point they will start to look for it. But of course it could take them 45 days to even read this email and then they might not find it.

I want to just send in a new document, but I was holding off on filing my taxes so that everything will be right on the document I sent, and if I send in a new document, it will have to include my tax return for 2014. I filed those taxes today, but I was told that I have to wait until the IRS has reviewed my tax forms until I can send in 2014's tax returns.

The third thing I was told is that I can petition to have my case expedited, in which case I can just bring my tax documents to the Embassy here in Chile. I have what seems to me a good reason to have the case expedited: first, the NVC lost my documents, which has greatly delayed the process, and second, I am supposed to start a Economics PhD in the United States on the 1st of August which will make it difficult to be here for the interview if it is too late. Are these good enough reasons to get a case expedited?

The fourth thing they told me is that if there is another error on another form that I submit that they will just forward the case to the Chilean Embassy anyway, and I will have to bring the documentation to the interview. Can anyone confirm this? Is there any drawback to this? Do you think I can just send in my 2014 taxes right now, and if the NVC gets to them before the IRS that this will count as an error and the case will be forwarded to the Chilean embassy?

Any advice for what I should do? Should I contact my Senator?

This is a nightmare. All for a blank in place of a 0.

Thank you, that is very helpful.

Bump.

Anyone have even a rough range of time or can point me to somewhere on this website that might have records of this/a guesstimate?

You will have to file the same IR-1/CR-1 process as everyone else, I believe, but you may be able to get the first stage of the process done quicker with DCF - see this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf

Note that even if you can't file directly withe the consulate, often times processing at USCIS is quicker for citizens outside the US, though this seems to depend on which USCIS service center your case gets sent to. You can search the forums for more information.

For more information on the process generally, see the guides section of this website.

I have recently submitted my AOS/IV package. I sent in the rest of the NVC forms and payments October 10th or before (it's on my timeline). Any idea how long I can expect to wait to know when my Interview appointment will be? I know the time between NOA2 and the interview can be quite lengthy for Chile (average 204 days right now), but the NVC has confirmed that they have reviewed everything else and just need the AOS/IV package.

Thanks!

What is the most recent tax year right now for the I-864. Is it 2014 because we are now in 2015, or is it 2013 until April 15th, 2015? I really don't want to have to do my taxes before I send in this document, as that is going to take some time.

I'm sorry, but I'm trying to find information on how long we can expect to wait between the time when we file the IV application and the affidavit of support with the NVC and an interview in Chile. I tried using the timeline section, but either I'm confused or this information isn't available. The NVC website says that it will take 60 days to process the DS-260 (IV application). Is this a minimum, maximum, or estimate? How long between when they finish processing and the interview date? If this information is available in the timeline section can someone point me to it?

Is there a reason to not apply for the VWP as well though? Does applying to the VWP get rid of the B2?

USC living and working in Chile for years that recently got married to a Chilean citizen. We then filed our I-130. I need to move to the states in the next few months and my wife wants to come with me for the beginning of the marriage (we are having the chapel ceremony right before we leave) and then return while we wait for the I-130 process. Chile recently got on the VWP and my wife's passport expired around the same time. This passport had a B2 visa in it that is still valid. She got a new passport that works with the VWP, but, as the B2 stay time is longer, is there any reason it would be beneficial to apply on the VWP too? Would there be any drawback to applying for the VWP?

Side note: if the 1-130 process requires us to be back in Chile before the stay length limit, we would like to do that, hence, we don't want to buy the return ticket earlier than necessary. Does she have to have a return flight ticket with a set date when she enters the country on a B2 or VWP? Is it risky to not have one?

So I called the SSA (on hold for 57 min! by that time I was looking forward to breaking the 1 hour mark) and they told me that the printout I had will be her SSN, though it cannot be used as proof. I guess with that confirmation I'm going to just use the number and not worry about mentioning the lost card in a note.

Thanks so much guys. It's not that I'm worried about it being size A4, it's that I'm worried about it being a different size than every other piece of paper I will include. I'm worried that people won't notice and at some point someone might go to staple some papers together, and the thinner A4 page will fall out somewhere. I just think it will be better to have everything the same size so as to inconvenience whoever is going through the packet as little as possible. On the advice received here that original signatures are only required on the forms, and upon reviewing the I-130 instructions, I think I'm going to include a copy. I think it will be fine, as everything else is a copy anyway, and it doesn't even say that it has to be signed on the instructions (just "sworn to or affirmed by"). If it goes terribly wrong, I will let you all know so no one does it in the future.

Thanks for your help, even if I only really listened to the response I wanted to hear ;-)

I had my brother-in-law write and sign an affadavit as to the bona fides of the marriage as required by form I-130. He printed it on the A4 paper, but everything else I have is on letter sized 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. Can I copy his statement and use the copy in the packet, or does it have to be with the original signature? Do any signatures in this first stage need to be originals, or can they all be copies of the original documents?

We are currently filing out the G-325A for my chilean wife (I am a USC). We don't know what to put for the SSN because she went through the process to receive one while she was working at Boreal Ski resort in 2005 on a J-1 Visa, but the card was never received by my wife or, apparently, by Boreal as they promised to forward the card when it arrived, but never did so. She did, however, receive a letter about a month after applying for the SSN acknowledging the application. In this letter there was a statement that said "Our records indicate that Social Security Number [###-##-####] is assigned to [Wife's name]. Your Social Security Card is the Official Verification of your Social Security Number. This Printout does not Verify your Right to Work in the United States."

To me there are 4 ways to approach this situation, and I would like some advice on which is best.

1. Put in the SSN from this letter, and attach a note explaining the situation along with the relevant letter.

2. Leave the SSN area blank, and attach a note explaining the situation along with the relevant letter.