CF41051

Approved last week!  Applied in Jul 17, received 18 month letter about 1 month ago, then just got approved.  I wish everyone else luck and a speedy approval!

Thank you!

Hello,

I'm a USC (not of Indian origin) and my wife is an Indian citizen living in the US with me and we recently applied for her citizenship.  Can anyone let me know when we should apply for OCI (before or after US citizenship is granted)?  Also, we have a 10 month old and I was wondering if I can/should get the OCI for him as well.  We will be traveling to India next year.

Thanks,

Brian

thank you!

Hello,

I'm getting ready to submit my wife's ROC forms and evidence in a couple weeks and my original plan was to put each piece of paper in a clear plastic sleeve and put everything in a 3-ring binder.  However, I ran across some info that says don't put in clear plastic sleeves and don't hole punch.  I wanted to check with others to see exactly how do you neatly package hundreds of pages and keep everything in order?

I appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you,

Brian

As others have said, the costs will vary a lot. It really depends on where you live and what type of quality of life you want to have. For example, you could probably find a 2 bedroom apartment for $400, but you might get shot at coming home from work..... And that same 2 bedroom apartment in a nice safe neighborhood might be closer to $800=$1,000 and up. Since you're coming here with your wife, I would strongly advise you to make sure you only find an apartment in a reasonably safe location.

As for the other bills, it all depends but here are some estimates:

Apartment: $1,000

Electricity: Plan on $100 for a first floor unit and up to $300 for an upper unit (heat rises)

Water and Sewer: plan on $50-$100

Tv and internet: $100

Cell phones: $100

Car insurance $50-$75

Car payment? All depends on what you buy

Gas; depends on how far you drive but it's about $2.50 per gallon now. Assume $100 per month if your commute is only 10 miles or so

Food: depends on how well you want to eat but I would budget $300-$600 per month. You can eat cheaper, but only if you buy cheap food and cook at home. If you want to go out to fast food, it will be $15 for both of you. Want to go to a cheap sit down restaurant it will be at least $25. Both want to get a steak at a chain steakhouse it will be $50.

Incidentals: $200

Cushion: $200

Using my above estimates would say you need about $2,200 on the low end. And this would not be living all that well, you would basically be in the low to middle/low class lifestyle. I didn't factor in any entertainment, car breaks down, etc.

If I were you, I would just assume that both of you will need to bring home (after taxes, insurance, etc) a combined $2,500 to even have a shot at living a decent life. If I were you I would bump that up to $3,000 so you can have some extra room.

My above estimates are just a general idea and can vary depending on where you live. The biggest variable is the apartment. All other expenses will be fairly correct for any market.

Good luck!

Cali is expensive as well. I would go with Texas or Georgia.

Start doing searches now to see what jobs are available. I would recommend using Indeed.com and entering different cities, etc., to see what comes up.

Depends on your experience and what you're looking for. I'm in accounting and can tell you the national unemployment rate for accountants is extremely low (around 1%) so the market overall is very good.

If your background is in banking, then go to NYC or Charlotte. If your background is in manufacturing, then go to an area heavy in manufacturing.

Do some research on this forum........

Start getting all the documents ready while you wait for the NVC.

Congratulations!

I would definitely remove the part about being glad to have him as your husband. I would be cautious with hubby/wifey stuff..... you probably have many pages of chat, why not just pick something examples that do not have hubby/wifey? Keep it simple.

As for your ring, if it's an engagement ring I would wear it. When my wife went for her k1 interview in New Delhi, they asked about if she had an engagement ring then they asked to see it. So if you have an engagement ring, wear it proudly. If you have a wedding band, I would leave that at home.

You have a great shot at being ready for September, but it's a risk. You can be in AP for a long time plus there's no guarantee you will get the visa. With that being said, I'm going to assume your fiance cannot get a refund for the tickets so you might as well keep them for now. If you have all your paperwork, do everything correctly, and can readily answer the questions they ask you there's a 90%+ chance you will be fine.....

The last name is changed simply by using it, there's nothing to do in court. File the AOS using your last name, then go from there.

You might be excluded from paying taxes on the income you earned outside of the US. Start by reading this: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion

Yes you're right, the taxes are only required over $100k. We are trying to establish if this is combined income or not (that's the big question!)

I am reluctant to abandon my status here, as it did take so much effort and time. But I am curious to see what other people think of the situation (I keep going back and forth in my mind)

The poster that said to speak with a good tax accountant is giving you good advice. There's a lot of complexity. Here's a link to the IRS where you can at least start your research. It looks like if both spouse's meet the qualifications then you can add the exemptions: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion-1

Here's another link: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion

Good luck!

You might want to check on the requirements for having to pay US income taxes. Yes, you will have to file no matter how much you're making. However, you will only have to pay taxes if you make above $100k USD, give or take a little (not sure if this amount increases for married couples). So I wouldn't let this be a major factor in your decision if you're under the threshold.

Wrong.

Correct.

You can apply for the AP but will have to pay the fee. When applying with AOS you don't need to give a reason but since you're applying afterwards I'm not sure.... I would guess it's the same though.

ok, thank you

I've been researching this as well since i will be going through the same process in a few weeks. Basically, here is what I understand:

1) apply for her SSN prior to marriage, in maiden name

2) get married

3) apply for AOS and AP/EAD in new name

4) once you get the AP/EAD cards, go to SS office and get a new SS card with married name

5) start using married name on everything

I think that's all there is to "legally" changing her name.... Basically just start using it.

the only other variable is what to do with the passport name

I personally would not send 50 pages. I frontloaded some as well but I don't think you want to irritate the USCIS officer. You just need to show proof of having met, that is all. There is a list of items to use for proof somewhere on here that you should look for. Basically, boarding passes and hotel receipts are the most important and are primary proof. Pictures are nice but they are only secondary proof. If you want to include some FB chats and skype logs you can, but I would only put a couple pages total. Heck, I didn't send anywhere close to 50 pages for my fiances interview and we had over 75k fb messages and hundreds of hours on the phone. Prove your relationship, but don't be obnoxious either.

If it were me, here's what I would send:

1) Copies of all your boarding passes and hotel receipts. Make sure these are labeled and easy to follow, don't just send random copies of junk. You want to make this as easy as possible for the USCIS so they spend as little time as possible reviewing your file before approving it. Make things easy for them.

2) 5-10 pics of the two of you at different places. Include pics of the two of you with her family and friends. Make sure you label each pic with date, location, and who is in the pic.

3) Cope of engagement ring receipt, if already purchased. If not, no big deal.

4) If you want to send proof of relationship such as fb posts, messages, and skype logs, I would limit it to 3-5 pages total. Again, don't make life difficult for the USCIS or they might make it difficult for you.

Also, rather than worrying about the above stuff, you would be better served to be double and triple checking your application to make sure everything is done correctly. You would be shocked how many people get RFE's and denials because they didn't follow directions and provide what was asked. Keep asking questions, everyone on this site is here to help and if you have a question, then many more people have that same question.

I'm not familiar enough with your embassy so hopefully someone else can help. I would just keep trying to get in touch with them. Wait as long as you have to on the phone. It's a long shot, but it's possible you're already at the embassy. For me, I was never notified when my file made it to the embassy so I didn't find out until I contacted them.

I wish I could offer more help. If contacting the embassy doesn't work, then get your senator/congressman, and anyone else you can think of involved. The one thing I would not do is accept their standard "keep waiting" responses.

Phone (Turkey): +90 (850) 252-6355
U.S. Based Callers: +1 (703) 439-2348
Skype ID: usvisaturkey
Website: www.usvisa-info.com

Are you sure your case is still at the NVC? Sometimes they get sent to the embassy and people don't know. I would reach out to your embassy just to make sure they don't have the case already.

Also, do you have everything ready for the embassy interview? If not, use this time wisely and get absolutely everything in order so you're not wasting time and delaying the process even longer. Make sure your fiance has a birth certificate, police clearance, passport that is valid long enough, medical (if possible to do early), etc. In some countries it can take a long time to get these documents so make sure you're all ready.

thank you!!

In order to be on the safe side, could I just go ahead and get married but hold off on the name change until after getting her SSN?

Actually, you were blaming the USCIS for trying to clear the check 4 times in one day...........

Good luck!

Hello,

My fiance was recently approved for her k1 visa and will be in the USA in a couple weeks and we're getting married at the end of January. I was wondering, what should be the timing of the SSN, AOS, and name change?

She will only be in the USA for a week before we get married so I will not be up against the 90 day clock or anything. I'm trying to figure out if I should get her name changed before applying for SSN and AOS, or if that might cause too many issues. Or, is it easier to not change her name until we get further down the process.....

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks