Nataly222

Hi all I’m not sure if this has been answered before, has anyone noticed any exceptions to the ban on non essential travel? Specifically Mexico- USA 

my husband and his uncle are bringing back his grandmother from Mexico this week. Her husband passed away about a week and a half ago and due to obvious reasons she is not emotionally stable, they do not want to leave her in Mexico right now they believe she needs to be in the USA with her extended family over here. she has a valid tourist visa and will be taking a note from her doctor I’m assuming her husbands death certificate etc anything that might help her case. She will be crossing at the CBX in Tijuana to fly from the San Diego airport 

my question is has anyone heard of a CBP officer making an exception like this, travel northbound is currently only for citizens and residents due to coronavirus travel bans. I feel like they USUALLY have discretion to all that but I’m not sure in this case. Looking for a little glimmer of hope 

I've considered it but on such short notice none of whom are bilingual can get the day off :/

any other experiences? interview is tomorrow would really appreciate any advice related to the topic! dont know whether to take my mom as backup or not... or if its of absolutely no help O_O

Went to the Tukwila location for my wife's AOS interview. I believe it needs to be a third party interpreter. We were in a unique situation in which they separated us for the first part of the interview. This would have been a problem if I was the interpreter. Personally I wouldn't bring an infant, since it may add more stress.

Did/is your husband currently taking ESL classes? If he isn't, it's a good place to start learning English. My wife learned quite a bit, and was able to pass the AOS interview (I realize it's too late for your husband).

Thanks for your advice such short notice Dont know how possible it is to get a third party... I know family members are iffy too.. I thought about taking my mom just in case I absolutely don't find anyone but I kind of feel like it would be almost the same as not taking anyone at all :/

Yeah he hasn't started any classes We are currently looking into barely starting that, really should have started it as soon as he came here..

Not sure if im posting this in the right place but I have a few questions for anyone who has been to interviews at the USCIS in tukwila, WA. But any responses from anywhere still appreciated

Anyone dealt with interpreter situations?? My husband speaks spanish and almost no English.. Has anyone experienced them letting you the U.S. citizen spouse be the interpreter? our interview is wednesday and I didn't prepare for that part unfortunately didn't think about it. Yet I've ready many experiences where they allowed the spouse to interpret..

Also, anyone experience taking an infant to an interview I've read it can help and read that sometimes it's not a good idea, I'm split between !

you can find consulate specific reviews here:

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Mexico&cty=&dfilter=5

thats a link to the mexico ones. there are tons of reviews. i literally just posted one. good luck!

so I have googled many times about how to go about the birth certificate translation and have seen most people just translate it themselves with no problem.

I followed those instructions and even included the written statement that im fluent in both languages, I ended up getting an RFE requesting a birth certificate translation. so, im assuming that was not enough for them. (my husband is the one adjusting status from K1, seattle)

what is the best way to go about getting a certified translation? Im having trouble finding where to do it in person for a decent price and im also seeing a lot of websites where you can submit them but are they reliable?

thanks in advance for anyone who can help

hi all, i have a question about filing for adjustment of status.

so we are filing from k1 for my (now) husband. we got married within the 90 days (his visa expires next week, november 28th) and now we are working on the AOS packet, i am ready to send it in but have one small problem.

our joint sponsor cannot provide us with his proof of citizenship since recently he applied for a passport and handed over his certificate of naturalization, he does not have any other copies and needs to wait until they mail it back to him which could take up to another 2 weeks.

i'm aware we dont neccesarily have to file for AOS before the 90 days since its just the deadline to get married but i dont want to wait another 2 weeks to file it.

Is it okay to send the packet without our joint sponsors certificate & send it in as soon as i can? will i just get an RFE or am i risking to get the whole packet outright denied, don't want to waste the money.

Approved!!

We had a bit of trouble I would say... First we had an issue with the supporting documents for the I-134 of course, they asked for proof that our co sponsor was a resident and of course he did not send us that even though I asked him to :/ so there was an issue there but it got worked out.

Total the interview was about an hour long. They questioned him about our relationship for about half an hour then sent him outside with a pass to bring me in because his CO wanted to question me too. She sent him to sit down and questioned me for about half an hour... He messed up a bit on the timeline the first round of questions so this raised a flag for her I think.

Anyways it was all worth it in the end!

Today was Biometrics for us... All went well but now I'm dealing with a major co sponsor problem...

They don't want to/ say they can't send us anymore documents than I have... All I have is the i-134, 3 pay stubs and 2 w-2 forms... The interview is tomorrow. I'm really stressing out now.

Ok, maybe i exaggerated with "freaking out'.. lol

It is his interview but you asked the question and i suppose you will relay the message to him, won't you? or your partner can do the asking.

So, my answer to your question is , don't worry about a second hand smoke.

If your partner doesn't have a drug-related conviction or charges on his or her record, and has no drug-abuse, you don't have to worry.

Like I stated in my first response, "be prepared to explain yourself" no matter the situation.

Oh yes I will tell him not to freak out I'm sure he's slightly stressed right now since he's the one going through the process.

Thank you for your response I suppose you're right, he doesn't have any past drug convictions and he has not admitted to actual drug use and we know the test will come back positive so he will most likely be okay

I just see so many get denied for drug related topics even if they're century old situations or small things. I figured you never know what the CO's response will be

I had my Medical yesterday and the appoinment was at 10 And i was done almost at 3 :-/ good luck with the rest of the journey

It ended up taking 3 hours... Wow 10-3 that's horrible!

The woman who scheduled the medical gAve me an hour estimate so the 3 hour wait absolutely tortured me but he finally got out... Glad it wasn't no 10-3 though O_O

Oh well.. One step at a time

You are freaking yourself out based on speculation.

If it comes up at the interview, be prepared to explain yourself. No one here to tell you would happen to your process . Stop stressing...

I wouldn't say I'm freaking out, actually just calmly asking a question brought on by curiousity wondering if anyone has been through a similar situation.

Also, I won't be explaining myself, it's his interview not mine

My fiance had his medical today and he told the doctor he has never smoked but about six months ago had been in a second hand smoke situation in a car with his friends... I repeat, he didn't smoke that day but was around marijuana.

He doesn't do drugs and we are 110% his test is going to come back negative. He did talk to the psychologist, she asked him about this and he told her the same story.

Can anyone tell me if Is this going to affect him getting his visa??

Day 1 of the interview journey for us.

Just got to juarez this morning and I've been waiting for my fiancé to get done with his medical exam for about an hour now...

Not going to lie this wait is killing me already I can only imagine how it will be Thursday at the actual interview >_<

Less than one week left for our interview now! Heading down to juarez on Monday to get a small head start, getting nervous.

Our co sponsor has yet to send 75% of the documents I requested of them, somebody told him he only needed to send the i-134 and he believed them very stressed! But I'm determined to get all documents from him.

Also... We did have to change co sponsors last minute and I'll be filling out the new ds-160 tomorrow with the new names... Someone at the consulate when I called advised me to just take the new confirmation page and old one to the asc appointment and that it would be fine? I forget if I asked this already but Anyone know if this is true I'm so stressed out about multiple things!

Hi all,

No real updates here but congrats to all of those who are Finally reaching the final few steps! I know I can speak for all of us when I say this has been a stressful process.

We are no immigration lawyers so congrats to those who have been able to get through the process successfully on their own...

1 week and 2 days to go for me and my fiancé to jump on a bus and head up to the Juarez embassy. I'm now about to be 7 months pregnant and my stress level is at a max with all of that and this so I'm so ready to take him to the states with me and hopefully we can be together for the birth of our baby. Plus In the past half year I've only seen my immediate family 1 month out of all of that... It's been 3 months now since I last saw them and these pregnancy hormones have me on emotional wreck status about that, I love my grandma and my fiances family but I'm so ready to go home. I need taco bell, red robin and my moms lasagna. We are currently waiting for some family members to come from the states with the I-134, supporting documents, and copies of the I-129f/ NOA's etc that I left at home in Washington... That's pretty much all that's left so we can be completely organized paper wise. Fingers are very very crossed!

I personally never imagined filing for anything like this for anyone at 22 years old or ever! When I met my fiancé over 5 years ago I was on vacation visiting family in Mexico.. he was about 14 years old and trying to convince me that it wouldn't hurt to give him a kiss because my at the time boyfriend was in the United states and "wouldn't ever find out about it" his efforts didn't work out for him that year hahaha... Oh life

Sorry for the rambling, I'm down to the last steps and it's really bringing out some deep thoughts, I'm sure I'm not the only one experiencing this haha. good luck everyone!

Had my interview yesterday in South Africa, 30 minutes from entering the Consulate I was done and on my way. APPROVED! :-) so happy!

Congratulations! So exciting

2 & 1/2 weeks to go for us, hoping to get the same news!

Hey all, I just received my case number from the NVC

I have a question though, on the DS160 under travel information it asks for the Application Receitpt/Petition Number.. Is that the number provided from the USCIS or do I use the case number provided to me by the NVC? I believe it's the USCIS number, however I want to make certain. Any light on this would be greatly appreciated.

So.. Personally, I put down my USCIS receipt number but I've searched this and it seems people have done either one (nvc case number or uscis receipt number) and have said they had no problems so I think either would be fine.

I have a question for anyone willing to chime in here...

I filled out and submitted my ds-160 with the joint sponsors I believed we would be using and now they aren't sure if they can be the joint sponsors anymore. I believe they are already co/ joint sponsors of another relative of theirs.

Does anyone know if that would be an issue? To sponsor two different people?

Also, anyone know how to go about changing information on a ds-160 after submission??? I called my embassy but the guy seemed pretty clueless I don't know if I trust his answer he said if I decide to change sponsors that my fiancé can just take the i-134 with the new information and all new supporting documents on the day of the interview...

Nataly222 we have the same date for the interview, good luck, and I don't think it will affect scheduling the interview before receiving packet 3, from what I have read on the Juarez consulate, good luck! Hopefully this wait will be over soon!

Awesome good luck to you too!

I hope you are right

Slight update to my case:

Since I'm in mexico with my fiancé and am recieving my mail at home in the U.S. My mom just notified me that I recieved packet 3 today (the so called "invitation" letter with instructions on how to schedule appts and all of that) so considering I have already scheduled my appointments im all set and just need to continue organizing all my paperwork for August 13th.

Heres hoping the the scheduling my interview before recieving the packet thing doesn't affect me. :/

I jumped the gun and assumed we'd be able to schedule it this week. I will be in France with my fiancé from August to December anyway, I was just hoping to get it out of the way ASAP. Anyway, hopefully we get this cleared up next week, and I learned my lesson: don't assume things will go as planned when it comes to immigration! Haha.

And that's the thing: nobody told any of us French/American filers either that it wasn't okay to schedule the interview prior to receiving packet 3. If you're at all unsure, please check with your embassy.

I see well I'm hoping the same doesn't happen to me as what happened to them... I've just read so many times that it's okay! Does calling the embassy help? I know sometimes they don't help at all with questions they seem to be slightly clueless sometimes.

Well goodluck to you hopefully you can get an interview soon and a secure one considering you are the same embassy as that incident

Ah. Well I hope that doesn't cause issues for you! I wish they would provide a link to the DS-160 only in packet 3 (and not before) to avoid all this confusion.

As for us, we received packet 3/filled out the DS-160/prepared all the paperwork/scheduled the medical about 1 month ago, but didn't schedule the interview yet because usvisa-info was only scheduling July dates, and we wanted a date in August when we'll both be in Paris and can do the interview together. We didn't worry about it and assumed we'd get that date because we check the available spots every day. However, 1 month later, August dates are still not available on usvisa-info, and we're getting anxious. The Paris embassy is not reachable by phone, only e-mail, and even there they aren't responding. The only thing they've done is post a message on their contact page saying that they've been affected by the recent technical problems.

Edit: I should also add that I took this up in the regional forum, and they assured me I'd be able to schedule August dates by now. Ugh.

Kikibozu, I thought we had the same interview date? August 13th.

Well I had no idea about this story it's frightening me a little because I have already filled out my ds-160 and scheduled my interview... I read around that this was okay to do. My embassy isn't paris its juarez, Mexico but regardless im a little worried now they should really specify better. Nowhere have I read that it isn't okay to go ahead with the process without recieving packet 3 because I've heard of people never even recieving packet 3.

maybe I'm doing things in a bit of a rush but if I were to wait for packet 3 my fiancé would probably risk not being able to be in the states in time for the birth of our baby... >_< slightly stressed out now

Hi my country is mexico, I think are procedures might be very different im not required to send anything in all We have left is to go to the interview and take these documents with us.

Also, I don't have sufficient income which is why I stated we will be using a joint sponsor.

Regardless, thankyou for your advice I'll look into letting the joint sponsor know about getting pay stubs.