Team_Healey

All I can say is keep copies of everything requested. Sometimes they asked for the same documents over and over again. Anything signed keep a copy for yourself as well. Lots of paperwork but when the LO is working with the underwriter back and forth it helps to know you gave everything they requested without a doubt. Every Underwriter has their own checklist in doing their final approval, sadly at first we got stuck with an underwriter who wanted more than we could offer them at the time for the green card. Our 2nd local underwriter let us know what we had was enough! I hope your process goes smoothly!

Yes, we were approved while on conditions. The key for us was using a local lender and a really hard working realtor on our side. It was a long and daunting experience but when it finally wrapped up in our favor all was forgotten! Also, looks like we will be needing our stamp this coming month since it is taking way too long for my Husband's new card!

On 6/30/2017 at 0:26 PM, Abby&Mario said:

Ack, I haven't logged on in a while. Congratulations!!! Hope you're enjoying your new home after quite an annoying process.

 

I agree with you--we're working with a local lender and so far are having a great experience. We've made it to underwriting and now they're asking for the green card, which of course we'll send along with the I-751 form. Fingers crossed! We haven't had any hiccups yet. Actually, my husband was wondering last night if they had forgotten he was a green card holder! I'll post again later to tell everyone what happened.

Nice! Please keep us updated! I hope everything works in your favor! 

On 5/1/2017 at 9:14 AM, bcking said:

Congrats!!! I'm sure you are very excited. My wife finally "moved in" this weekend after coming over, so we are also in "new home" bliss (even though I've lived in it for 3 months...I've kept it quite bare while waiting).

 

Still strange about the loan vs title thing. As I said my wife's name has been on the title since the beginning, but not on the loan. Doesn't matter though if you can change it later.

Exactly! Really strange, today we had my name added onto the title once we had the title come in to us from the mail! Took us maybe half an hour to do but everything wrapped up nicely! Home owners bliss can now start and the stress of filing the I-751 for my husband can now start! 

Thank you again everyone who helped me out on this thread. I really hope this can help anyone else that may be in the same predicament! 

Final Update!

Closed today and got the keys in our hand! 

According to our Realtor the lender mentioned they did not really need any of what the previous underwriter asked for! 

Very happy everything tied together in the end!

But since everything has to basically match the loan paperwork, my name can not be on the title yet!

We have to wait until we get the title in the mail and then add me to it but they said it will be no problem after that. 

Now to move, the move itself seems easy because of the mess we went through to get the home in the first place! lol

Local everything is so much better!

We secured a pre-arroval and a lender before we went house hunting with an online recommended lender, but for everyone on our boat, please please please get a local Realtor and ask for local lenders they recommend and go from there! I thought getting the pre-approval was a good idea but it seemed to set us up for a long and failed process in the beginning.

Now to move in and celebrate our family home.

Thank you all for the responses! I hope this thread can help anyone ever finding themselves in this situation. 

We were both living abroad when I filed my Husband's I-130 for CR-1. Being away from the US for about 6 years meant my credit was basically too thin of a file.

We did have since moving to the US a year worth of credit history and both lenders took into consideration our overseas employment to fill in the 2 year work history requirement.

**Sorry for the double post, internet is bad from the storms at the moment.**

1 hour ago, Abby&Mario said:

Please keep us updated! My husband and I are about to start applying for mortgages and we're in a similar boat. We sent the I-751 in October, he had biometrics in December and we don't expect to hear anything for another six months based on processing times. The difference in our situation is that we will both be on the mortgage application, and we have already completed the two steps of the I-751 and are just waiting for approval.

 

I assume there's a reason that you the USC are not on the mortgage application with your husband. (I understood from your first post that he is the sole applicant; correct me if I'm wrong.) If not, perhaps a joint application would help calm the lenders' fears since he's a flight risk in their eyes, but you probably aren't. I know you're not working, but do you have a credit history? Maybe either of you alone would have trouble, but with your powers combined...

 

Best of luck to you!

Hello, Abby&Mario, 

Sorry the topic was not updated! It has been a hectic couple of weeks since the last update!

We had an Infopass appointment to talk to an officer at the OKC USCIS Location to explain to them our predicament. 

The Officer we spoke to just verified that we had a legitimate green card and that was all that is basically needed and felt bad that it was not acceptable. They further explained that the date on the green card was for us to file our I-751 and also there was no way that they could write a letter explaining the lender the process. (The lender wanted a letter from them to explain why we could not get the temp I-551 stamp to extend by a year) lol

The Officer said they can't do so because they would have to hire 300 more people just to write letters because they are asked for quite a lot. She then handed us the I-751 Filing Instructions and wished us luck. 

My husband is the only one on the application for the loan because he is the breadwinner in the family as of now. I am a stay at home mom for the time being until the kiddos are off to pre-k. I did feel though, once the first lender could not do much for us that I should have been the one to work and my Husband be the stay at home dad! lol

Apparently we passed underwriting and our loan was approved but they would not fund until they saw we filed our I-751 for the lender's guidelines.  It was literally the day before the 3rd closing date that they bombed this on us. Just bad luck. 

As for our local lender, it is looking positive so far! Our closing date is for the 28th, the signing for closing is scheduled for the 27th. I am hoping by this point nothing falls through.

The local lender process went so much faster it seemed a lot easier as well. 

As for your process on getting a loan, your letter of extension you usually receive after filing your I-751 is enough for most lenders as well, even if you do not have your original green card or your new one has yet to arrive. 

7 hours ago, bcking said:

Very good news! An idea what your rate is going to be on the loan? I wonder if they are penalizing you guys because of your situation. I wouldn't be surprised

No idea yet! But at this point, I won't be surprised at all either! It does not seem like our LO has chosen to release any other paperwork we sent in so I resent everything to the new lender myself. Just doing the whole process again! Still biding our time and hoping the situation turns itself around. 

Update as of today:

Got an e-mail from LO stating that the local bank will try and fund us and then sell our loan once we give them the required documentation that we filed for removal of conditions later. LO is releasing Loan ID and documents to get funded today. Contacted Realtor and he has asked the local bank for another pre-approval letter for the loan to give to the sellers.

If this luckily goes through as she says, we are finally looking up! 

Keeping everything crossed but still that feeling of probable defeat looming in the background! 

7 minutes ago, Fmab Wasenob said:

I heard it delays the process significantly. they will find out as you do have to go to a medical appointment prior to the Embassy Interview. in that medical appointment theyll either ask or test you + theyll give you a lot of vaccinations that probably arent good for a baby's health so it's probably best you inform them. It's a dilemma either way. I'd probably ask a lawyer 

I would not go so far as to say it is a dilemma, for one, they are in the beginning of just filing their I-130 form, usually takes a while to get anywhere close to getting your medical examination to be done. It is most probable that she will give birth to her baby before that process. Also, it is hard to say that this delays the process, as many other factors can and will delay the process. Pregnancy for couples, especially married is a natural and foreseen thing for the IR-1/CR-1 Visa. The only delay can be up to the mother, if she does not want to get the chest x-ray done until the baby is born and then complete her Visa, that is also an option and it is up to her. 

As for the vaccinations, https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume8-PartB-Chapter9.html read section Pregnancy or an Immuno-Compromised Condition on what should be done. 

There is plenty of time to get the necessary steps completed before your arrival to the USA. You do not need a lawyer for the free information available to you on the actual USCIS website. 

What you may need to do is just a bit of research, get your regular check ups for your baby and yourself in the meantime, your case usually can not be expedited unless there is a complication in the pregnancy, so depending on how fast your consulate works you may want to get into contact with them via e-mail and ask some of these specific questions, it is free and you actually talk to one of the officers in that location. 

But one of the more important things is to remember to get your baby's CRBA and U.S. Passport. 

https://au.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/birth/crba/ 

https://au.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/birth/transmit-citizenship/

On 3/18/2017 at 10:58 AM, MyMistaLovaLova said:

Chase decline my husband and I due to insufficient credit on his part. Granted, we only was opening a joint checking account. I had already a personal savings and checking account with chase with money in each account. 

 

Nonetheless,  VISAJOURNEY users advise to go open the joint account at Bank Of America. Everything was so smooth. In which case I would suggest for you to do the same. Your NOA1 replaces your i-94 so use the letter in the meantime and for the account.

I second Bank of America as a possible alternative to Chase. I am so tired of banks at the moment by the way, they make it so hard for anyone not a US Citizen. All that my husband and I did was make an appointment with a Bank of America Bank Representative and she just needed my husband's driver's license and social security card. I also provided my license and social security card (which I have not changed to my married name) and they accepted it. Your last name does not usually have to be the same as your husbands as that is a personal decision to be made. They opened a checking and savings account for us that day, with both of our names. 

I also know for a fact you can add a second person to your bank account by filing a document through the Bank rep. They will add this person on a bank account and it automatically becomes a joint account. 

If they won't add both of you at the same time, I can only recommend to add yourself later through this method. 

27 minutes ago, Dutchster said:

Everything is too processed here and most of it is not even FDA approved. It worries me a lot, so I try to find food that not super processed. My grandmother in law used Kraft singles, yuk! Horrible horible horrible 

Agreed, when shopping for groceries now I look at the labels and try to find things with less preservatives and colorants as possible. My husband loves junk food and doesn't seem to care now that he is in America!

It is like the opposite for me, an American living a somewhat clean eating life in NZ that I started to feel better and actually tasted wholesome foods and ate tons of vegetables, and my husband a New Zealander coming to the US and his eyes become as big a saucers looking at the chips and dips section. I was sure after a year it would taper off but he seems to be an eating tourist for now.  

17 hours ago, TarKenkari said:

All, Thanks for the advice,

 

The tough thing is that my wife no longer has a lot of the typical things to prove domicile (US Bank Account, Drivers License, etc) as she has been in NZ for over 10 years now. I guess a general frustration is that we cannot seriously pursue job offers or home leases until we have confirmation that I have a visa, yet to get the visa we need these as proof.

As long as you can show e-mail correspondences to prove you are trying to establish some sort of connection to life back in America. I would suggest going through Zillow and finding a Realtor and provide conversation in obtaining a home or in looking for rentals.

Tax filing, make sure she had filed her US taxes with the IRS all those years while living abroad! This is a major one, they will ask about this if you have not and why. You can always amend taxes and order all those transcripts for your application.

You can try and learn if your wife is still somehow able to renew her Driver's License in the State that provided it. Some do renewals online and make it easier, others have forms you can fill out if you are an American abroad. It takes some time to get them to send you the renewed card by the way!

Voters Registration kept current as well, you can register to vote while abroad to also show you have a connection to the USA while abroad. 

Even if you do not secure a job while abroad, just e-mails confirming you are trying should be enough. 

Contact a local bank (where you will be settling down in the US) to see if they can open an account before your arrival, if they say no this correspondence can still be used as evidence of proof of trying to establish domicile.

They really want to see your effort into proving you are trying more than anything. They do know it is difficult to do much while outside the USA which is why they usually accept e-mailed quotes and such. 

11 hours ago, TatiMRosario said:

So I recently got married to my childhood sweetheart who is from the Dominican Republic, we got married this past march and are ready to start the process to get him his visa! We're in our early 20's and I've tripped there quite often, there are pictures money transfers, phone records you name it we have it. I'm just a little nervous because this is my first time doing this. He has applied independently previously for his visa and was denied due to his young age at the time. I was just wondering about current processing time. If I do it now will he be here before the year is over? Which one should I do k3 or cr1 ?

CR-1 Visa will be the process to start looking into for your situation. You already have much of the evidence already! Processing times can vary, I suggest looking up users from the Dominican Republic and look at their timelines for their CR-1 Visa it can be very helpful and you may connect to someone in the same situation! Good luck!

17 minutes ago, Transborderwife said:

I cannot stand American cheese!  

I can totally see why that is now! I used to eat those horrible square kraft singles like they were cocaine as a child in the USA. We use sugar to disguise anything with no taste haha, I feel duped! 

First off, Congratulations! 

I would like to mention that this process can be long and most likely your baby will be born in Australia! Not a bad thing, take advantage of the Health Care there while you can as it is expensive to give birth in the USA. I go by experience as a US Citizen who gave birth in NZ to our first born. I was scared as well and thought I would have to return to the USA to give birth since I did not know at all what it cost to give birth in NZ. Lucky for me, NZ partners and their pregnant foreign partners are covered and the midwife appointments, labs, ultrasounds and even the birth were entirely free! *My little heart burst when I found out*

After your little bundle of joy is born, please file to get your baby their CRBA! Certificate Report of Birth Abroad, it is essentially the alternative to the US Birth Certificate for a child born abroad to US parents. 

Other than that, this will not in away be a bad thing. In fact, it is very good! This will in no way slow down your process as your child will be a US Citizen once you get the CRBA. You will still be the only one on your application to enter the USA as an immigrant. 

I can suggest that visitations while pregnant can be done, but if you are far along there can be some problems. After 8 months you should sit tight to avoid any complications, both for the pregnancy and POE as you will be heavily pregnant. 

This is a happy time, enjoy your pregnancy and take care of yourself! If you need to message me to talk just drop a message.

I really love reading these stories!  I need more warm fuzzies at the moment. 

Agreed on the bread... and the cheese! As an American that was living abroad in NZ with my Husband, I just can not forget the nice artisan bread and cheeses! It sometimes feels like a black hole I can not fill and any alternatives in the USA have not met the cravings. Tastes too sweet or no taste at all...  

14 hours ago, babe2012 said:

Thank you so much! And also, for the I-751 form, im a lil bit confused if either to put N/A, NONE or just leave it blank on Part 5 - Information about your Children. Because we don't have kid. 

I know for all of the forms for USCIS that I did not have to answer I would still put in a N/A. They never questioned me about it and it was accepted for my previous forms. I am sure this also applies to any and all forms USCIS has. I would say to put N/A on that part will diffuse any confusions if somehow they send you an RFE requesting documentation of any children!

Quick update, previous LO e-mailed letting me know they will contact the other lender and explain our situation so we won't get into the same predicament with the underwriter as before. He also quoted an e-mail the underwriter from Chase that kind of cringe, "I know you wont be able to find out until the 13th, but if you're able to obtain an I-551 Stamp extending the CR-1 Status, we would be sufficient to approve funding."

They think USCIS can just stamp to extend at our USCIS Infopass appointment, and not only that extend the CR-1 status. 

For those who may not understand, you can not get this stamp (called the I-551 temp) into your passport until a year passes from your extension letter from filing your I-751 form. The reason this is, mostly because it can take the USCIS 6-12 months to send you your new 10 year I-551 (Green Card). You have to make an USCIS infopass appointment to get this stamp when you have still yet to receive your Green Card. 

Also, you can not extend CR-1 status, that my friend is a Visa. Once you enter your POE with that visa, get a temp I-551 stamp on top by the Immigration Officer and in a few weeks to months receive your Green Card, you are a Conditional Permanent Resident! 

There is basically no difference in Conditional Permanent Residency Vs. Permanent Residency, you have the same rights and responsibilities (of course no right to vote). The condition is only that, you must lift this condition off of your status in continuance to satisfy USCIS you are in a legitimate relationship 90 days before your Green Card expires. 

Ok, no more ranting... Just know that the Bank and their Lawyers do not know a thing about Immigration and it takes them up to 3 weeks to figure this out. I know they are doing their best to protect their butts when approving a loan, but the lack of misinformation is astounding and I am sure a lot in my situation will get this kind of response. Let my horror be your guide as I continue to update our very best efforts into securing a home for ourselves and our children.

Rant over.

7 minutes ago, bcking said:

Good luck! I'm sure the realtors have already, but appeal to the sellers hearts. Perhaps it will help? If won't hurt I'd imagine. "Young couple, first home, international couple who are finally living together yada yada"

Thanks! We sure will need it! I have seriously been thinking about writing them a letter, I can really see my kids growing up in that home and going to the school right nearby! 

I will keep updating, and hopefully it will be good news!

8 minutes ago, bcking said:

Well maybe it's just terminology but there isn't a mortgage until there is a loan. So I think the other poster, as well as myself, were just offering up an alternative if it was possible. The OP responded to me though and made it clear it wasn't possible.

 

I will echo again to look for a smaller company. I used Republic State Mortgage, which isn't a "mom and pop" shop but is definitely also not a big bank. They are in several states. They were wonderful.

 

Keep in mind though they can't do magic, so while they may be able to find a solution it may involve either some "insurance" for the period when the spouse is conditional (you pay more during that time), or just a higher interest rate all around. You won't get the "best" deal, since you aren't the "best candidate".

Any and all suggestions are helpful! I have been feeling like almost nothing could happen at that point. 

Luckily as mentioned above, our realtor has contacted a local bank to be the lender, we spoke with the LO at their bank and filled out another application. The sellers realtor is trying to keep the sellers interest for us while this is being done. I feel horrible but we talked to the LO at the local bank and she said none of this was an issue to secure the loan. I am hoping in words again, so here goes nothing at this point! 

3 minutes ago, mallafri76 said:

You said you're wife is not on the mortgage, which is different from OP. If I understand OP correctly, they are both on the mortgage and using both their wages to secure the loan. So two very different situations, as your wife was not asking for a loan.

 

OP, I've heard about this issue before as technically, as a conditional resident, the ROC could be denied and your spouse be forced to leave the US and abandon house and mortgage. I think that's what they're scared of. Not sure who you're using for your loan but often, you'll have more luck with less traditional lenders and outside the bank system. 

Thank for your reply mallafri76,

Totally agreed that the risk for a loan is definitely there! Sadly this lender (Chase Bank) dragged us 3 weeks with no communication through our LO to tell us this. We passed everything else and then this was literally the last thing the asked for the day before our second closing! We started to feel like we were dragged along for a hopeless ride.  

The bigger lenders make it a bit harder with their stricter guidelines for couples in our situation that need the space for our growing family. Not to mention buying a home could be considered a heavy piece of evidence for our relationship as we file the I-751. 

As for an update, our realtor has found a local lender that may be able to help us. This is the last shot at getting our home if the seller is still on board. Other options presented to us by our LO was to rent the sellers home and close the loan once we get our letter of extension after filing our I-751 for my husband. 

I will keep topic updated. Lesson I took is to definitely look into local lenders only when in this position. 

21 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Perhaps it might help if you printed and sent portions of relevant information from the USCIS website, or found and printed information from an immigration lawyer's website.  The underwriter is obviously uneducated as to the process, and no one ever got fired for saying "no" when they were unsure about whether to proceed.

Thank you TBoneTx for your reply,

I have attached some paperwork explaining immigration documents and what to look for about 2 weeks ago. Apparently, as of today our LO got back to us stating that the underwriter took our loan package to their Law Department to sort through everything. They have reached the verdict that we can not get a loan until we file the I-751 form. Our LO has asked us to talk with our realtor and the seller to ask them if they may be interested in renting to us until we can provide the documents for a clear to close and funding. *big sigh* 

Now we must wait for the seller and they may back out of this mess. I hope they continue to work with us but this may be the loss of a home for us! 

2 hours ago, bcking said:

We purchased a house actually even before my wife got her visa. Her name is on the title.

 

However, we didn't include her on the mortgage because it would complicate things so I am technically the only one with the giant loan. Is that possible for you guys? We were still able to use my wife's money (for the down payment). Does your job make enough money to qualify on your own?

 

I would also concur with others who used a smaller mortgage company. Our mortgage did eventually get purchased by a big bank (Wells Fargo), but the personal attention at the smaller place was amazing. They also were able to give us a lot more options that the guy in the large bank just couldn't do it. It was night and day. The big bank offered a great rate but with a lot of fine print that in the end wouldn't have suited us as well.

Thank you for your reply bcking,

Sadly in this case, I am a house wife with our 2 children who are not of school age yet. I feel like it would have been tons more easier if I was able to work as well but our home situation called for someone to take care of the kids until kinder age. 

As mentioned above we got a bit of bad news from the big lenders as they will not proceed until they get the extension letter from filing out I-751 form. Now it is a matter of waiting again, knowing that our LO is trying their best and our realtor has even more work to do. They kept us in the dark for 3 weeks until this decision was made in their department, not even updating our LO. This may really upset the seller, but I hope somehow our realtor can still help us with this home. 

The LO stated he will keep looking for investors that may fund us before we file. I have also been asking around for recommended local lenders and have e-mailed them some questions.

Just glad to finally hear something even though it was not necessarily what we wanted to hear! 

I will keep this topic updated again, to help anyone that may have the same issue. 

Thank you to everyone's replies!

36 minutes ago, cyclone27 said:

Original mortgage was through a Community bank in MD though after a few months it was sold to a mortgage company in Alabama.

 

I think you had bad luck personally

I agree. It went well for the most part and somehow just tumbled from there. Our realtor is also hounding our LO as the sellers want a for sure closing date. (This happened today on a phone call from our realtor when he was trying to get an extension for the 3rd time). 

I will keep this topic posted as it may help someone else in the future! 

Thank you for your reply cyclone27!

18 minutes ago, cyclone27 said:

No issues my wife is on the deed but not on the mortgage. Clear sailing through the loan approval and closing in fact no need to show any ID apart from her drivers license.

Wow! This must just be a stroke of bad luck on us then! I have read that Conditional Permanent Residents were able to get a mortgage on their own no issues. 

Our lender is Chase Bank and I was hoping that since it was a bigger bank they would be used to these types/kinds of applicants. 

Did you get your loan approval through a big branch like us or was there much more luck doing this process some other kind of way? Really curious as well as to why underwriter is asking for so much nonsense! haha