usmsbow

It's worth giving it a shot imo. If $160 is a burden, then you probably shouldn't visit anyway. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are in their early 20s and unemployed. Both got B2 visas last summer (to the shock of both me and my wife). Edited to add: their interview was short, just a few minutes. Basically they were just asked why they wanted to come to the USA (to visit their sister) and when they hoped to visit.

Yes, that's why my wife was thinking of passing on citizenship. Indonesia doesn't allow dual citizenship for adults, and only citizens can only own property there. She ultimately decided the benefits from becoming a US citizen outweighed any upside to remaining an Indonesian citizen. Another reason is if one has family pressure to sponsor relatives for immigrant visas. One way to avoid that pressure is to not become a citizen. It might sound trivial, but as many threads can attest, some families are really pushy about that kind of thing!

I can't comment on that specific visa type, but the wait time for other visas at the Jakarta consulate is significantly less than in countries such as Canada and India. My in-laws were able to schedule a tourist visa appointment within 3 weeks over the summer. Also, just by reading the posts here on VJ for marriage and K-1 visas, the timeline isn't so bad for Indonesian applicants either. For a country of its size, Indonesia doesn't seem to have many US visa applicants. If I were you, I'd probably go for the "Jakarta option" instead of the Canadian one. Just my 2 cents. This is assuming you don't mind going back to Jakarta for the interview.

Probably 7-10 business days. A week was normal a few years ago, but I think it's a bit slower now due to both USCIS and the USPS.

8 months in, I don't think it would be worth it to get married and file for a CR-1. It wouldn't make it any faster for you to start your lives together. The timeline for CR-1 looks to be about the same amount of time as the K-1 now, so you'd just be doing the opposite of what you're hoping to do. That being said, yes, it is possible. You'd have to cancel your K-1 application then submit the I-130, but it is do-able.

Yeah, the reason ours took a couple months longer than average was USCIS lost track of our application after NOA2, and it took them 4 months to get it to NVC. Once our application reached the Embassy in Jakarta, it was smooth sailing.

9 months to get a K-1? In India? That sounds... unlikely. I mean 6-9 months was the average time when my wife and I went through the K-1 process in 2014/15 (and it ended up being 11 months for us) . It's a hell of a lot slower now.

USCIS is funded by application fees and not an annual appropriation, so its work does not stop when other parts of the government shut down.

Yes, that's my takeaway from this thread, although i'd say there are multiple things lost in translation, not just one. It's either that or some "rogue" USCIS officer (with the former being much more likely).

One letter is different? That's it? I'd say just spell it the correct way. USCIS might not even notice, or will assume it is a typo on your birth certificate.

Canada & Mexico. There might be other countries in the Americas, but those two I'm 100% certain about. Doesn't help with anywhere in Europe.

If you decide to apply for citizenship, they might look at your work history and see you were with your first employer for 1-2 months They might think you "used" that employer, and took advantage of them to get a green card. It wouldn't be fraud necessarily, but it would be suspicious at a minimum (in the eyes of USCIS). If, however, you had documentation showing that the employer didn't hold up their end of the deal (less pay than you were offered, making you work w/out pay, all the things you have mentioned), then USCIS would have no reason be to suspicious. I'll put it like this: USCIS can assume the worst, and it is your job to make it clear that is NOT the case, and you did everything you were supposed to do.

Not big tech. Start ups, like I said. Her new employer is under 100 employees. Don't know about colleague's son, but wouldn't be surprised if it is similar (under 100 employees).

It would be a red flag if you got married and didn't file a joint return after getting married. It sounds like you got married in 2022, so no red flag if you didn't file a joint return in a previous year. And not to be pedantic, but the tax year has "started', but yes, you cannot file a 2022 tax return yet since it is still 2022.

OP, do you have an offer letter? Or any documentation that shows what you were supposed to earn? And I assume you have pay stubs that show you clearly don't make that much? Have you reached out to HR and inquired? Hopefully via e-mail? Point being I would NOT leave that employer until you had documentation showing that they did not fulfill their part of the deal. If you have evidence that you were the one that was duped, then I'd definitely look for a new job right away. if you do NOT have documentation, get it now. Otherwise it might look like you were the one duping the employer, and you might encounter problems with USCIS in the future. https://legalservicesincorporated.com/immigration/employer-that-sponsored-green-card/

FWIW, my wife was laid off in mid-August and had a new job lined up in less than a month. Similar situation with a colleague's son. He was laid off and had a new job w/in 30 days. She's kinda in tech (worked for one start-up, will be working for a different one now) and colleague's son does lab work for biotech companies. Point being, job market is still hot right now in some areas in some parts of the country at least. If you have the right skill set and live in the right area, it definitely is do-able.

No chat logs necessary. Indonesia is a laid back embassy too. Photos are sufficient evidence.

Not sure if it has changed recently, but Singaporeans under 18 can be dual citizens. When they turn 18, they have to give up other their other citizenship to remain a Singapore citizen. The ex is being a dumb ###, but I am guessing he's hoping his daughter will do that when she turns 18.

Depends on your risk tolerance once it's past 6 months. And I admit this is 100% speculation on my part, but I imagine CBP would be a lot more "generous" to a green card holder who had resided in the US for 5+ years, and happened to go abroad a year vs a 1 year resident who then spent his/her 2nd year completely abroad. Honestly, is there a particular reason why you can't just return to the US? And then when she becomes eligible to be a US citizen, then spend more time abroad? 3 years to become a citizen (more or less) isn't that long in the grand scheme of things.