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1 minute ago, Roel said:

If you're married than it would be a spouse visa... Takes about a year to process. But again, if you're going to leave again after a year of living in the US, what's the point?

He'd risk losing the green card again.

 

Tourist visa wouldn't be good for you in that situation, since there is a clear intent to live in the US and I assume he'd have no real ties to his country at that point...

Your plan won't work in a long run. Might have to convince him to stay in the US for few years, get the citizenship and then travel as much as you want.

 

 

 

 

I don't think I could convince MYSELF to live in the US for a few more years. 

I figured it would be a spouse visa, but there'd be no point to doing the green card all over again if we KNOW we won't be there for long. So there's basically no options. We either live here until he gets citizenship (which is a moot point, because he won't) or never come back here, which doesn't sound so bad at this point, but I'm from here and I'd like the option to be here. 

1 minute ago, Roel said:

Then living outside of the US is also not an option for you. Best for you to do is have him give the green card away, spend all the time you want in other countries and apply again once you really to settle down in the US.

 

If you proceed with your plan, he will lose the green card either way.

 

But we may come back after a year of travel. We can apply for the re-entry permit with the intention of being gone for one year. We may have to come back and work for a bit. It's just too hard to say right now. 

But either way, it looks like we'll lose it, and I'm pissed. Now is not the time for a rant, but boy could I go on about the disaster of US immigration...

In any case, if we wanted to come back for just a year after losing the green card, what visa would he come on? If we only plan on being here in the US for a year, what would allow us to just be here? He most likely won't have a job set up before we come, so I don't know if a work visa would be the thing. Any ideas? 

16 hours ago, KierenHby said:

Come again.. why'd he chose to become a US permanent resident?

Yes, this does seem dumb. However, we were going on information that we were told EVERYWHERE - by lawyers and here on visajourney, along with experienced friends and acquaintances - that doing it was the best thing for our situation. 

We were living in china and wanted to come to the US so I could get teacher certification. We were already engaged and were told that we would not be able to live together as a married couple in the US for 2 years without him having residency. If he came on the visa waiver program and left every 90 days he still wouldn't be able to legally work or drive, and it would be considered visa fraud. In the end it took a year for him to get his employment authorization anyway, and it was miserable. 

Essentially, we wanted to do things the legal way that would allow us to, you know, be together and live and work like a normal couple. 

Hindsight is 20-20, though, and this whole process has been more stress, hassle, and expense than it has been worth right now. 

20 hours ago, Roel said:

Even with coming back every few months or year or so, they might just as well take the green card away and tell you to apply for the tourist visa if you don't want to live in the US.

Not sure why people would risk it like that after going through the long and expensive process of getting a green card.

 

How about just wait couple of years until he can apply for the citizenship. As a citizen, he can be out of the US as much as he wants.

 

He already has dual citizenship with Ireland and the Netherlands and does not want American citizenship. He would have to give up his Dutch citizenship and does not want to do that. Citizenship is not an option for us. 

My husband just got approved for his green card - yay! However, we are a a very travel-loving couple and we like to live and travel abroad. We met in China (he is from Ireland) and we are getting ready to go on another long-term travel, hopefully for a year. 

I know that it is tricky being out of the US with a green card for even 6 months without people thinking you are surrendering it. 

Our tentative plan is to travel for a year starting this July. After that year we will either move abroad so I can teach at an international school  or come back to the US so he can get his full teaching certification as well. We don't have any intention of NEVER coming back to the US, especially considering that I am a citizen, but we would like to continue to live the life we love. 

What are our best options here? Will he really have to return every 6 or 12 months in order to keep his status? We really do not want to have to go through this process all over again later.  

Help? 

I'm sorry you're feeling stuck! 

My husband got here in Jan 2016, we got married in Feb, and applied for EAD, 131, and AOS immediately. Everything was approved in June, but we didn't get biometrics appt letter until August. The appt was for September, and we received EAD in end of October. 

We only JUST got a letter for our AOS interview, to be at the end of March. So it's been a year from applying to interview. Talk about stuck! 

However, based on your timeline, it seems to be going faster than ours, so hang in there! Texas is a lot more congested, so your wait shouldn't be too bad from here. 

Keep calling USCIS to check in. we called probably twice a month. 

16 hours ago, kenshinta said:

Hello there, I'm preparing my I-485 package, which will include Form I-765, 131 for K-1 Visa. 

I have everything ready but while doing the cover page, I noticed many people list their marriage copies and passport copies under multiple categories.

Do I have to turn in multiple copies of the supporting document for each form ( 485, 765, 131, etc) or I only have to attach 1 copy of each document to the first I-485 form in the package? 

Also, I already had my passport photos taken when applied for Visa before, can I re print it or I have to re-take new photo to get the receipt for which proved it was taken within 30days

 

Thanks 

 

When I submitted our package, I made copies of everything for each form. I'm not sure if it was necessary but I made sure that each form had each doc it needed. I then clipped each form and accompanying docs separately and sent them together. 

We did this about a year ago and we just barely got our letter for an interview. We are in Houston as well

Congratulations!

If I may ask, how did you check your status online? We have used the Receipt number from the NOA1 for the EAD, but when we put it in, a dialog box pops up and says:

• My Case Status does not recognize the receipt number entered. Please check your receipt number and try again. If you need further assistance, please call the National Customer Service Center

(Fiance is Irish, living in Beijing)

Hi all! After my fiance's interview, he was asked to submit a document. It turns out that we were unable to provide that document (a police check from Belgium. he was never registered there, so we couldn't get it).

After several terrible "live chat" experiences with typical Chinese "customer service" people, he received an email asking him to send in just his passport. This was the form email about submitting documents, and the only document listed on the part where it says to send in more documents was the passport itself.

He expedited it there about 2 weeks ago. How long does it normally take to receive the visa (or passport with denial) after sending in additional documents?

On what basis was he in belgium? Work? Student? Something else?

He was working at a hotel there.

My Irish fiancé needs a background check for the time he was living in Belgium. Thing is, he was not registered with the town hall, and both the Belgian embassy in New York, and the Federal Public Service Justice office in Belgium have told us it's impossible to get it without that registration.

We were preliminarily approved for the visa, we just need this one document. Does anyone know if:

1. It's possible to get a background check without the registration, or, if not

2. They can issue some sort of official notice that he wasn't registered so he can't get the check, and if so,

3. Will the U.S. Accept it in place of a background check?

Any help is great! He had his interview on Monday Nov. 16 and was preliminarily approved. We just need this one doc. Help!

How did they tell you to deliver the document? New appointment?

You can contact your congressman and ask them to contact the State Department liaison (they have access to people you don't and they exist to help you with exactly this kind of thing. Make sure you call the local office not DC)-- ask the State liaison what to do.

You can also get married and go that route, go through the embassy in Ireland or have him visit you on VWP and figure it out from there. Or wait and see what type of documentation you can get, or again go to the EU threads and see how others handled this.

You sound the opposite of calm when you say "eff this place" and "decide" to move to the other side of the world in the face of a minor setback, through which many people are trying to help you.

You're right. I'm not calm anymore. But to explain a little, he and I met in China four years ago and were living there together for most of that time. I've been back in the U.S. For 4 months, so it's not that I'd just up and go, it's that I'd up and go BACK. I don't know if this helps but moving across the world wouldn't really be such a drastic move, and it's getting to sound like the most reasonable and lractical thing to do. I just want to be with him.

I have heard that contacting a congressman doesn't actually help, that any emails or letters aren't actually read by the right person. But I will check it out.

We are to mail in the document along with his passport back to the consulate in Guangzhou.

What exactly did you mean about going through the embassy in Ireland? And would t getting married make us start the whole process over again and we'd be apart even longer? It also wouldn't get rid of the background check requirement, would it?

Thank you for your help. I really do appreciate it. This is just so frustrating. We've been together over 4 years and had our wedding (non legal, but with ceremony and party and all that) in June in Thailand, our families came, we consider ourselves married (this did not affect the outcome of the interview- they were fine with it, because it's not legal yet). For over 4 years the longest we'd been apart since the day we met was 3 days and 2 nights. This is miserable for us. We are not doing well, emotionally speaking.

I apologize for the grumpiness. I appreciate all of the help from this site, and all the members here. We wouldn't have gotten even this far witho it.

His Belgian friend is going to try to get some sort of "not registered so no check available" document, but he is flaky and neither of us have been able to get through to the office there to ask about it.

The number for the consulate in Guangzhou doesn't answer any calls, and all of our emails and things have come up with a copy-paste answer that doesn't answer the question. (Basically, "you should have been given a list of documents to send in with your passport after your interview. Follow that")

We simply cannot get through to any human beings, and it is so frustrating. The only human was e woman at the be,Gina embassy in New York who gave me a flat no.

Believe me, I have been calm. I've done research. There is no plan to be made, at least none where we have any kind if control. I don't know what to do any more. I just want to talk to a person.

Did you have your interview already? Is that the "preliminary approval" thing?

And no it shouldn't be this difficult but it is and K-1s have it pretty much the easiest out of anyone (which for us, at 9 months from application to immigration is *mind boggling*, especially considering that we were one of the fastest in our group that applied through Texas in February).

In terms of Belgium... hrm. You can't be the first EU citizen with this problem. Perhaps try in the regional forum? Also, is it really 6 months? Our requirement was 12, I think (it was actually not applicable but still...)

Yes he had his interview on Nov 16. We had background checks for everywhere he was for over 12 months and the interviewer told him it was actually 6 months. We were preliminarily approved, we just need this one document.

I just called the Belgian embassy in New York and she said it was impossible if he wasn't registered at the town hall. I don't know what to do.

If I have to choose between my fiancé and my country, well, screw America. I am so out of this place.

Just a suggestion- could you get married instead after letting the K-1 expire? Then do IV. Sorry for your struggle.

When exactly will the K1 expire?

Get married and start the whole process over again?? That sounds awful! I mean, we could do that, but I have to be in the US until June. If we don't get the K 1 for him to be here, I'll go visit him for Christmas and spring break (I'm a teacher) and then leave in June to never return, haha. But seriously.

thank you for the sympathy. This has been the worst and most difficult thing either of us has done in our lives, and neither of us are faring very well emotionally. It shouldn't be this difficult.

My fiance had his interview on Nov. 16, 2015 in Guangzhou China. He is Irish.

When we scheduled the interview we were sent the list of documents needed for the interview from the ustraveldocs website. This is what we were sent. http://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn/Immigrant%20Visa%20Instructions%20Oct.%202015%20(5).pdf

We did not know at the time, but they sent us the WRONG page for information. We didn't think there was anything wrong, because it says Immigrant visa at the top. They should have sent us the K Visa Documents list, instead. We didn't know there was a difference. How were we supposed to know.

They are basically the same, except for one small difference. The Immigrant list says we needed background checks for places lived for longer than 12 months. So we got those. The K visa list says for 6 months. Well.

Fiance lived in Belgium for 10 months. We didn't get that background check.

So, we were preliminarily approved, and now we have to send in the background check for Belgium.

Here's the catch. My husband is an EU citizen, who enjoys the freedom of movement and employment in the EU. So he never officially "registered" when he was living there. He didn't have to. But now Belgium is saying that he can't get a background check without having been registered.

We need a document that is impossible to attain in order to get this visa.

We have been separated for 4 months, after having spent 4 years together almost 24/7 (that is not an exaggeration. The longest we were apart before now, since the DAY WE MET was 3 days/2 nights). I am dying here. And am THIS CLOSE to saying screw it, leaving the US and never coming back.

But, are there any Belgians or anyone who has any experience or advice to offer?

The police report is for the country you have lived in. So no need for every city.

But from what I'm seeing it looks like Beijing will only report for his time in Beijing, not for his time in the other city. Does anyone with China connections or experience know if this is the case?

My Irish fiance needs his background check from China, since we've lived there about 4 years. We've lived in 2 different cities. Does he need a check for both of those cities? They are Jinzhou (Liaoning) and Beijing. If he gets one from Beijing will that cover his time in the country, or only Beijing?

Please help ASAP!

I'm a Feb 2015 filer. We received our NOA1 very quickly but haven't heard anything back since....should I be worried? When do NOA2s generally come out? We filed with the Texas SC.

Thank you Greg! I PM'd you!

I am a USC, the fiance is Irish. We met in China and have lived here since then (about 3.5 years).

On the I-129 it asks for mailing addresses--does this mean my/his home address, our actual living address right now, or our current mailing address (we always use my work address for mail). Is this address used to mail things back to us, or do they need to know residence?

Under "info about fiance" it also asks for his address abroad. Does that mean his "permanent residence" in Ireland, or our residence here in Beijing?

Also, on the G325a it asks for "applicant's last address outside the US for more than 1 year". That's easy for me to fill out, but is it the same for him? Like, he's never lived INside the US, so...his last address here in China?

I really don't want to screw up and I REALLY don't want to pay a lawyer to help me figure out our own addresses. Any help?

(also, any tips for overseas met/living couples?)