nbanik1987

On 3/3/2019 at 8:34 PM, afrocraft said:

It's not clear at all that you exceeded 6 months per trip abroad at all. You should be fine, although USCIS could still review your application for continuous residence for trips under 6 months, especially if you filed taxes stating you were a bona fide resident of a foreign country.

Thanks for your response. Actually, I didn't file my taxes as a bonafide resident since my employment in Europe is a fixed 2 year position which disqualifies me from claiming tax exclusion under bonafide resident clause. 

Hi, 

   I have a somewhat complex situation and I was wondering if you guys could give your opinions/suggestions: I have been a permanent resident since September 2015 as a spouse of a US citizen. I resided in the US until September 2017, when I left for a job (a fixed 2 year position) in Europe. Of course, I acquired the re-entry permit before I left. I came back to the US for Christmas on December 15, 2017 and stayed until January 7, 2018. I then went back to Europe, again I came back to the US on June 26, 2018 and left on July 14, then again I was back in the US on Dec 2, 2018 and left on Jan 14, 2019. I will be back for good on June 22nd this year. During all this time, my wife lived in the US in our rented apartment which is in both our names and and worked her job. Also, both our cars are on both our names and in addition some of the utilities are on my name. We of course filed for taxes jointly last year and will also do so this year and pretty much did everything that a regular long distance couple would do. From the dates, it's clear that I slightly exceeded 6 months my trip abroad two times by a few days. From https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html 

Quote

1. Absence of More than Six Months (but Less than One Year)

An absence of more than six months [more than 181 days but less than one year (less than 365 days)] during the period for which continuous residence is required is presumed to break the continuity of such residence. This includes any absence that takes place prior to filing the naturalization application or between filing and the applicant’s admission to citizenship. [11] 

An applicant’s intent is not relevant in determining the location of his or her residence. The period of absence from the United States is the defining factor in determining whether the applicant is presumed to have disrupted his or her residence. 

An applicant may overcome the presumption of loss of his or her continuity of residence by providing evidence to establish that the applicant did not disrupt his or her residence. The evidence may include, but is not limited to, documentation that during the absence: [12] 

•The applicant did not terminate his or her employment in the United States or obtain employment while abroad.

•The applicant’s immediate family remained in the United States.

•The applicant retained full access to his or her United States abode.

While I can clearly establish the last two evidences but my concern is with the 1st point which clearly disqualifies me. My question is does any one know whether I can apply for Naturalization after 18 months of returning to the US (to establish continued physical presence) or do I need to wait 24 months + 1 day to establish continued residence again, according to 

Quote

3. Eligibility after Break in Residence

An applicant who is required to establish continuous residence for at least 5 years [15] and whose application for naturalization is denied for an absence of one year or longer, may apply for naturalization four years and one day after returning to the United States to resume permanent residence. An applicant who is subject to the three-year continuous residence requirement [16] may apply two years and one day after returning to the United States to resume permanent residence. [17] 

Another related question I forgot to ask was, can I send them the re-entry permit renewal application package while I am abroad and then come to the US for biometrics? Or do I need to be physically present in the US when I send them the application? 

Thank you all. 

Do you know how can I get the re-entry permit once it's approved? Can I request it to be sent to the US embassy in the Netherlands or can I have someone authorized to mail me the re-entry permit once it's been received at my US address? 

28 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Is thissomething you discussed with your Company Immigration Lawyer, hopefully one familiar with abandonment issues.

Not sure, what you mean. I don't work for a company nor do I have an immigration lawyer. 

Hello, 

    I am a green card holder and I have been working in the Netherlands since September 2017. My work contract there is for 2 years. Before leaving the US, I had applied and got approved for the re-entry permit. But that re-entry permit will expire in June 2019, and my job contract is until September 2019. Needless to say, I am planning on applying for renewal of my re-entry permit. My question is, if I apply for the renewal while being physically present in the US (which I know I have to), is there a way I can request to expedite the biometrics service? Second, can I go back to work in the Netherlands once my biometrics are done? 

Thanks

Hello, 

 I am a permanent resident. I recently renewed my Indian passport and so I have been issued a new passport number. I still have my old passport ( now cancelled) attached to my new passport. I was wondering whether i need to notify the USCIS about the change of my passport number. 

If yes, does anyone know which form I need to use?

Thanks

Thanks! I received the welcome notice on Saturday Oct 3rd and my green card on Monday.

Thanks everyone!

Hello Everyone,

I had my interview today at the Jacksonville Field Office and within 10 mins the officer approved us. I would like to thank everyone who answered my questions patiently.

I came to the US in 2010 as an F1 student, met my wife via Match.com in March 2012, started dating, got legally married on Aug 27, 2013, had the church wedding on Dec 27, 2014. Filed I-130 in April 2014, got approved in June 2014. Filed I 485, I 765 and other related forms in May 2015, biometrics in June, got RFE on I-864 in June, answered back in July, got EAD approval in end of Aug. Interview scheduled on Sep 29th 2015, approved on spot.

We reached the office 15 mins ago for the 10:45 am interview, as we were stuck in Jacksonville traffic. Even before we could sit in the waiting area, the visa officer came in and called by my last name (at around 10:35 am ), he was a very pleasant man in his 50s. He took us to the office, made us take the oath and sat us down. After giving him my passport, driver's license and my wife's driver's license (didn't ask for passport), he cross checked whether I really don't have a middle name. He then verified the spelling of my name and then asked me my parents' names; I even spelled it for him. He smiled. Then he went through the yes/no questions, and then he said that it's good that we were married for over 2 years. He then asked to see if we had anything else to show him. My wife had made scrapbooks with all the pictures, our first date, first anniversary, legal and church wedding etc. My wife started going through the pics (me just sitting beside her quietly ) and naming everyone (she was super excited to go over the pics). The visa officer was very happy to see the pics and would exclaim "nice","very nice". My wife went through most of the pics and then I guess the visa officer got bored he said, "that's all very nice, I am going to recommend your green card be approved for 10 years, and you should receive it in 3 weeks". That's it, escorted us out and shook our hands. We were out by 10:50 am.

We walked out excited, sat in our car, made phone calls to our parents, and headed to the nearest Cheesecake Factory for our celebration lunch.

As long as it says something about allowed to work with permission from DHS you won't have to renew it unless you change your name or something like that and if you do it will still be the same number on it.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have had this SSN since 2010 when I first came to the US as an appointed Teaching/Research Assistant at my university, and I am still a student and continuing the same job.

Thank you guys!

Hello,

I received my EAD card in mail, my AOS interview is scheduled on September 29th. I was wondering do I need to renew my SSN. I already have one based on my employment at my university, and since I am not applying for any job until I graduate, so I was wondering.

Thanks

Chicago.

Hi,

We mailed our I-485 and I-765 package on May 1st via USPS. We received an RFE for financial reasons on May 27th. We responded and they received the package on July 5th, today my online status says "Case is Ready To Be Scheduled for an interview". Does that mean all our documents were OK and we won't receive any more RFEs?

Thanks

Thank you @Anh map, @Damara and @newacct. That was really helpful. I was really frustrated with this form.

-- also-- Line 7 part 5 specifically states fill out if only siblings parents or adult children using 864a (this is not you) PLUS you do not count anything twice..

Agreed! But the instruction says to put me (intended immigrant with income towards the annual household income) line 7 Part 5.

Following the instructions person 1 is your wife and person 2 would be you (the qualifying immigrant using their own income) Totaled on line 10 and checked off on 12.

SO since you are not the sponsor you are not 6- the sponsor being your wife is 6 , you are 7. (you must show proof of your income)

But for line 10, am I not supposed to add all the income of line 5, 6c, 7c, doesn't that count my wife's income twice?

Could you be reading some older instructions? Be sure that the form instructions match the form version that you are using. I think that is what is confusing you.

There is a big, bold warning on the form in section 5: DO NOT COUNT ANYONE TWICE. If a petitioner is filing for a spouse beneficiary they do not mark the spouse box that appears directly after the self box. The spouse beneficiary is already accounted for as the person being sponsored.

Check your forms again. Be sure the instuctions have the same date as the form (look in the bottom footer on each page).

I don't think so, look here http://www.uscis.gov/i-864

Hello,

I don't know if this has been discussed before. But I feel there is some contradicting info in the I864 instructions. Our situation is the following, I am the intended immigrant, my wife US citizen is the petitioner/sponsor. She is adding my income in the total household income.

The instruction says

6. Annual Household Income

This section is used to determine the sponsor's household income. Take your annual individual income from Item

Number 5. and enter it on Item Number 6.c. If this amount is greater than 125 percent (or 100 percent if you are on

active duty in the U.S. military and sponsoring your spouse or child) of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for your

household size from Part 5., Item Number 8., you do not need to include any household member's income. See Form

I-864P for reference on the Poverty Guidelines.

The first two lines make absolutely no sense! Logically, it seems I should put my name and income in item 6 and then total my and my wife's income in item 10, and also check item 12 and leave the names field blank. What do you people think?

Also this

b. If you included the income of the intending immigrant who is your spouse (he or she would be counted on Item

Number 7. of Part 5.), evidence that his/her income will continue from the current source after obtaining lawful

permanent resident status must be provided. He/she does not need to complete Form I-864A unless he/she has

accompanying children.

Why should my wife enter me in Line number 7 part 5, when she HAS to include me in line 1 of part 5, and then count her once, and then following this instruction, enter me again in line 7, so in total there will be 3 people in the household, which is wrong! We are only 2 people.

Hmm won't let me edit....

Anyways seems I was a bit wrong in my thoughts to you so just want to offer what I think may be more helpful.

I looked at the instructions a bit closer in detail and it seems you are right, and I understand the confusion. Because you are including your spouse's income, you need to include him in part 5 item 7. It doesn't mention immigrationg spouse because, as you read later in the instructions, they are not required to file an I-864A as long as there are no dependent children. On part 6 of the form, (numbers 6.a, 6.b, 6.c) add your spouse and his income. And then you check box number 12 since he is not required to file the I-864.

My guess as to why the instructions say to put your spouse in item number 7 instead of number 1 is simply because you are using his income to supplement the I-864. If you weren't using his income, then you would just put him in item number 1. I hope this makes sense, it took me a lot of close reading to make sense of it.

So then, doesn't it make the house hold size 3, because Item 1 of part 5 says "Enter the number you entered on line 7 of Part 3" which is 1

Few comments:

1) In the "current income" column, be sure to include the projected total earning

for the entire 2015. Some people make the mistake of only entering

what they have earned up to the filing date.

2) I've seen RFE like yours probably close to a dozen times on VJ site in the past 18 months,

and they were clearly due to not sending in income evidence such as 6 months pay stubs and

employment verification letter. On the employment verification letter, be sure that it includes

a (HR) person that they can possibly contact.

3) Asking for asset or joint sponsor is a result of them not knowing whether your sponsor's

income is insufficient (since you didn't provide the evidence), so it's giving you an option

to make up the difference in an alternate way...ONLY if needed. In your case, it's not needed,

though it will probably not hurt...except for some confusion it may create in why you are

sending in unnecessary joint sponsor.

4) There is nothing wrong to double and triple check, but just realize that...

- the person you will talk to during InfoPass meeting won't be able to assure you of anything

and even if they gave you any verbal assurance, it has no direct influence on decision of your case.

- no matter what, you bear the burden to submit correct info...even if you were using an attorney...

- there are thousands of watchful eyes on this site, and rarely misled advice or guidance goes unnoticed,

so looking back at your previous posting and answers...the correct answers were there all along.

In short, if you submit correctly filled I-864, 3 years of tax transcripts, letter of employment,

and 6 months of pay stubs, at least this financial part should be all good.

Just one final thing, ideally, the letter of employment should include the following:

1) date of hire

2) job title

3) annual income

4) HR (or equivalent) contact person's name, email, telephone, and hand written signature

5) date of the letter

6) this should be printed on the company (logo) letterhead

7) make a copy and send in the original (with the signature)

Thank you so much!

Even attorney's make errors so that is not 100%.

Correct! That's why I am rectifying from different sources to minimize the probability of any errors creeping into the case.

A tax transcript or a complete tax return including all forms and w-2 is required.

Yes, we have them both, just in case!

It is good you have employer letters and paystubs. Sounds like you have everything they need. Just make sure you package it in a logical manner.

Thanks! Hopefully there are no more RFEs after this.

The important question is...

What did RFE requested?

And what did you prepare?

The RFE says :

1. Submit evidence of the petitioner/sponsor's current income:

We have my wife's (petitioner) letter from her employer stating how much she makes and how long she has been with them, we also have her pay stubs from the last 6 months. She doesn't have any other sources of income.

2. Submit all supporting tax documents submitted to the IRS:

We have her most recent W2, her copies of tax return transcripts, tax account transcripts, wage and income transcripts from IRS since 2012, also we are getting all the filed forms from our CPA for the last three years.

3. Submit evidence of assets or obtain a joint sponsor

(This seems strange considering my wife's income is > 125% poverty level. But anyway, the RFE says " Submit ALL documents requested below at one time. Failure to do so will result in a denial")

So we have my father-in-law as joint sponsor, he is filing a separate I-864, he has provided a letter from his employer, his last 6 months pay stubs, his most recent W2, tax return transcripts from IRS for the last 3 years, and also copies of all the forms filed for taxes for the last 3 years. Not to mention, he has his copy of his birth certificate and copy of his US passport.

See earlier post about OP tying himself into knots seeking answers in several posts but apparently doesn't seem to trust.

He received request for I-864, he asked about and people answered but it seems he doesn't trust online answers.

Are you both willing to sign a paperwork saying you will reimburse my $1070 if my I-485 is denied because of lack of evidence? We are all strangers who have converged to this public forum to share our experiences and help each other out, and I am really grateful to all those who have helped me answering all the questions that I asked since I started this process. But I am sorry, I WILL double check everything and anything that I feel I should, especially when the RFE says "Failure to do so (provide all the evidence at one time) will result in a denial".

I'd add your father-in-law as joint sponsor, have him fill out an I-864, send his proofs (including proof of his US citizenship).

Yeah, that's exactly what we are doing. I know my wife's income is sufficient but the RFE says " submit all of the following evidences", and it asks for proof of additional assets and/or joint sponsor. So we are not taking any chances.