stellar7225

Hello everyone! My brother is going to be our co-sponsor. He graduated college 3 years ago (therefore, no income and no tax return) but has made great money (well over the limit!) the past 2 years (so he DOES have 2 years of tax returns).

Question 20 states: "I was not required to file a Federal income tax return as my income was below the IRS required level and I have attached evidence to support this."

Should he check this off because he didn't file 3 years ago or does this only apply to the most recent tax year? I don't want a checked box to automatically send our application to the "no" pile if we are referring to 3 years ago but I also don't want my brother to accidentally misrepresent himself!

Thanks, guys!

I will check into the 2015 tax transcript. We filed in January and I hadn't done my taxes yet. I was worried because the RFE states to either have a joint sponsor or use assets...it didn't leave room for me re-proving my ability to sponsor.

Thank you for your answers. I know what I have to do and appreciate your responses. I think I really just needed a place to get some sympathy from others who wish they could shout a big #### you to USCIS once in awhile!!

I'm a teacher. I submitted past 3 years tax returns (with only summer part-time work income...I was teaching in Spain and earning euros), all pay stubs up through time of submission (mid-January), a copy of my contract and a letter from my employer stating that I was an employee in good standing. I also submitted a letter explaining that I did have income that was earned abroad and showing my bank statements of earned income. I don't think I'm going to be able to add anything else....

Again, I get that I "can't win" here against the government but I just can't wrap my head around this. I think it's ridiculous that someone with a steady job that meets income requirements could be forced to use a joint sponsor. I will do it but I'm mortified to ask my family for this kind of help.

I'm a teacher. I have a contract from the school district.

It's not that I don't "accept it", I just don't understand it. There doesn't seem to be any real rationale. I called NVC and they just kept saying they "couldn't comment". Such a waste of time.

Responsible? In what way? Proving you have 19K of income for 2 people doesn't sound responsible to me at all.

I have income and a contract. There is nothing short term about my work.

This may end up being more of a rant than asking for advice. We just got a RFE (or RFI, I suppose) asking for a joint sponsor or proof of assets. My income is well above the poverty line, but I just started work last summer. The income I made since starting my job (for half a year, basically) is STILL over the poverty line. Previously, I was living with my husband in his country working abroad so, even though I still submitted 3 years of tax returns, they reflect very little US income.

I have someone I can ask to be my joint sponsor but I am so confused...why is this happening? I searched for information for HOURS to be sure that current income over poverty line=it's ok that past tax returns are not over the poverty line. Is this not the case? Why do they even bother asking for current household/individual income if they are going to reject you based on previous tax returns? Wouldn't current income and a job contract be better than only tax returns?? GRRRRRR!!

Hmm...would she be changing her name in Spain too? I am not going to change my name simply to avoid the headache of later having Spanish documents not reflect my American documents. And I think it would be weird to have my husband's last name if we were living in Spain, just cuz that's not customary there. If she is only changing documents in America, you might want to look into how that will affect her if you guys end up in Spain later.

I don't have answers to most of your questions except I do know that she can only put her birth name on a marriage license (at least in MA!). Later, the marriage certificate will show any name changes due to marriage.

Hello! We are going through the Spain consulate, but this might be something that applies to many consulates, hence me asking in the general forum.

My fiance used his National ID card to order a copy of his birth certificate online. It says "electronically signed" and has signatures on it and a stamp. It also says "the authenticity of this document can be verified online using code: XXX". Will a print-out version of this suffice at the interview? My fiance had asked for a hard copy and was told that he could only get an electronic version online...not sure why haha maybe just the employee that day was feeling lazy or maybe that's true. If the electronic document is not sufficient, would he be able to print and notarize the document? The embassy asks for an "original and a copy" so unless they will take 2 copies of the electronic one, we need to figure something else out. Thanks, guys!

Just letting you know my experience so you have more reference:

We got our approval notice on June 26. The physical NOA2 arrived in the mail on July 2. We haven't had any more letters or anything by mail, but when I log onto the USCIS website, I see the same thing you originally posted and it says "On July 13, 2015 we sent your application to the NVC" or something like that. So it looks like they do notify (at least online) once for approving it on their end and another time for sending it to the NVC! Good luck!

i called and they asked for our NOA2 date right off the bat. when i told them (it was 2 weeks prior), they wouldn't even search for my application. they said to call back after 35 days. we're in spain too!! good luck

Ahhh...ok. I did call them after 2 weeks (today marks 3 weeks) and they said to call back after 35 days. I'll call again in another couple weeks. Thanks!

How do you guys know when USCIS sent your application? I got the NOA2 and have seen that the USCIS website has updated to reflect that, but I don't know how to get a specific date.

We had a NOA1 date of Dec 30 and got approved on June 26...less than 6 months! Looks like they are picking it up a bit!

Thank you for your answer. It does help hearing others experience. Also, Congratulations on getting your NOA2!!! I keep praying that I can hear some good news soon. I wrote to my congressman and senators to see if they could help put the pressure on them lol. All I can do is wait and pray. Congratulations again. When did you receiver your NOA1 if you don't mind me asking?

Our NOA1 was on December 30. I see you're at TSC and applied about a month after us...hopefully you hear news soon! I was expecting not to hear for another month or two based on other VJ members, but looks like they got to us quickly. Good luck!

We just got our NOA2 yesterday! And we had only sent in one trip's worth of boarding passes (for me and him) and a few black and white photos. I suppose it depends on the consulate...maybe some are stricter than others. But I had interpreted the guide to mean "proof of physically meeting" as just that. Boarding passes are proof. No need to send more stuff and overwhelm the person reviewing your file.

The guide from the USCIS website doesn't say photos need to be in color. It just says "photos" with the info written on the back. I sent in black and white photos cuz we didn't have a color printer and, based on other topics on this forum, black and white isn't a problem. But again, as everyone is saying, that is secondary evidence. It can't hurt, but it won't establish having met in person within the past 2 years.

An American friend of mine married a French girl in the US before moving back to France with her. She never had to file any paperwork because they were never planning on living it the US. Are you planning on staying more than 3 months in the US? If not, you don't need to file anything to get married in the US. Your fiance can come on a tourist visa and then you can leave without filing the paperwork.

Note that I have no idea of tourist visa restrictions for the Philippines. Maybe you need to file something to come and have a ceremony in the US, but if you are not going to live in the US, you shouldn't need a visa for your fiance to come at all.

You are supposed to bring copies of the original documentation that you sent in (the entire i129f packet), which would include your original evidence. They ask for more evidence, I suppose, to prove that your relationship has continued. You sent in more evidence already so you have already proven that, and if you go to the interview with your fiance, that is even more proof. Considering that most people wait at least 6 months from application to interview, there is always a chance that the relationship isn't real or isn't continuing. They ask for more evidence just as proof the the relationship has indeed continued.

I have a lot of experience with visas for studying and working abroad and I can tell you first hand that you should ALWAYS have copies of all original documents. Honestly, I don't know why! They have your documents so why would they need copies?? Good question haha. Sometimes they ask for them, sometimes they don't. It really just depends on who you get at the embassy and your luck that day. But it is much better to have the copies if you are asked for them. Imagine if they ask for your original packet contents and you don't have them! Better to be safe than sorry!

It's "old" information because the update was November 30. But it says that as of Nov 30, they are processing June 6th.

A few people have mentioned conflicting information and the possibly inaccuracy of the VJ website timelines...if you look at the USCIS website, the processing times as of the last update for CSC are 5 months and TSC more or less 5.5 months. It's still not "fast" but it's better than what we see on this site.

We got our NOA1 on Dec 30 and are stressing too! We are living in Spain together and were hoping he'd be able to come to the US mid or late October. I will go home to look for work first (I'm a teacher so I need to be back by August). But if it's going to be super delayed, I'd rather stay in Spain and work one more semester abroad and then have us go together at Christmas. It's hard to "not plan anything concrete" when so many factors are dependent on your travel plans!

Ahh, good to know it was out of my hands then! Otherwise I'd be kicking myself. Good luck to everyone!

Any idea why I was given the Texas Service Center if I'm from MA then? I'm seeing how fast the Vermont Center is and wishing our application was sent there! I thought all of the applications had to go through Texas so that's where I sent it initially. Maybe I should have sent it to VT directly?

Thanks, guys! Great idea!

Hello everyone! Just signed up and very excited to be here and get this process overwith! I listed my fiance´s address as mine (via a "care of" address) because he wasn´t sure where he was going with a new job. He now has a job and a new apartment, and I will be joining him at the beginning of June (we are both living in Spain). I tried to use the change of address link on the USCIS website but it appears that is only to change my address, not his. Anyone know how to change the beneficiary´s address? The good thing about jumping on this now is that I will still be living in our old apartment until the end of May so if there is any delay in processing, I can still get mail for him. But after that, everything addressed to him will need to go to the new apartment.

PS: I tried calling USCIS but was put on hold and long-distance calls are $$$! If the answer is to call, I will suck it up and call back but if there is an easier way, I would appreciate input