gearheadgeek

Hang in there.  Waiting is hard.  We had delays which made the wait longer.  One was because my (now) wife had lived in many different places since she was 16 and it was not possible to get a police report from all of them.  She found a place in Moscow that could generate an acceptable report but when she arrived to pick it up, she discovered that the place was being raided by the police.  So, she started over.  I had enough vacation time that I could visit for a week every three months.  Spending a week together helped keep the relationship fresh and helped us tolerate the wait.

42 minutes ago, Roel said:

K1 is for fiances of US citizens. Not stepdaughter.  

 

I130 is the only way. 

 

Also if you have questions create your own topic and don't hijack some old one..

Surely stepdaughter can look for a husband???   

The question was about K-1 processing time.  I thought that was the subject of this thread.

Is there anything more current than this? I filed I-130 petition to bring my wife's daughter over years ago.  Since Trump, the line has practically stopped moving.  Maybe two weeks advance in the last six months.  Since she is still 11 months away if the line were moving, she is thinking maybe a K-1 would be a better idea but I fear that it might suffer from Trump also.  Hence the question.

My wife's daughter, over 21, is now unmarried (she got a divorce) so we would like to change her status on the I-130 we filed. She should move from F3 to F1. Does anyone know what we need to do? I would assume send a copy of the divorce decree somewhere, but to whom?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Carl

It's only part of Ukraine where the situation is bad. Large part of it is a good as it was. Question is, where does she live ?

She lives in the east, but I am not sure a large part is a good as it was. In the east, they get electricity for two hours twice a day. This does not happen in the west?

Is there a Plan B?⛪

Not well developed. It would involve finding her a safe place to stay in Ukraine and sending her money to live on while USCIS processes a K-1 visa.

Carl

To the extent of finding an "American husband" for immigration purposes only is fraud and really won't fly well with officials. You did mention she had met a nice man and they intended to get married. I'm sure you're aware that if she enters the US with the intent to marry and adjust when she's in the US on a tourist visa, that would be fraud, also.

My heart goes out to you and your wife's daughter. Not an easy situation, for sure.

Yeah, I know it is fraud, which means they would have to wait a reasonable time to make it appear less like fraud and cross their fingers. I have nothing agains the K-1 process - obviously that is how I brought my wife to the US, but that is rather difficult in this case with no place to wait and nothing to eat the time it takes for the K-1 process.

Thanks for the sympathy. It is a really ugly situation.

That is the long term plan? Find an American husband as the solution?

Surely there are more logical ways to work on immigrating to the US other than depending on this woman to find a man for a green card?

If there are better ways, I would like to hear them. Daughter-in-law and son have no place to live and no source of income in Ukraine. The mafia took their business, her husband joined the neo-nazis instead of looking for another source of income and as a result they lost their flat. I filed the I-130 for them a couple years ago, but they are still ten years away from getting green cards.

Carl

So what is the longer term plan?

Daughter needs to find an American husband, just like her mother did

1. His Mother? Not sure how it works from where he is from but at 5 in the UK he would be going to School. Why is he not returning with his Mother.

2. There are no guarantees but a rule of thumb is stay out as long as you are in, at least.

No, five is too early here. We want to keep him here because of the situation in Ukraine. Mother will eventually return after finalizing divorce. At this point, they no longer have a home in Ukraine.

I was afraid out as long as in might be the case. If son can stay here, she has a reason to return earlier.

Carl

A few questions

IF the son is granted an extension, what will he do? I do not believe he can attend school so how will he learn to read and write (since you state that he cannot do either)

If the son's extension is not granted, who will accompany the son back to the Ukraine?

If granted, he will continue to play and enjoy himself. He is 5, so school is premature. Maybe pre-school or day care kind of thing. Not official school.

If granted, his mother would come back to get him in maybe six weeks. Or Gramma can deliver him if necessary.

Carl

My wife's daughter and 5 year old son (wife's grandson) are visiting from Ukraine since May because of the bad situation there. Their five year visas have three years left. Their I-94s expire Nov 15. Daughter needs to go back to Ukraine and finalize her divorce. She has met a nice man here and he wants to marry her. We had grandson for six months two years ago.

My questions are:

1) We want to keep grandson here until his mother returns with an I-539 extension. Is that possible? He obviously does not read and write, so who should author the the I-539? What is a reasonable reason for requesting the extension?

2) How soon can her daughter safely return to the US without getting turned back at the POE?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

BTW, I never finished my timeline. Nadya has been here since 2007 and is a citizen now. These have been the best years of my life.

Carl

if it is possible and is easy to do I would change the name on the ticket...

you are always supposed to book the tickets in the name used in the passport....

Live and learn. It is not a mistake I will repeat!

I called LOT and was told that they can/would not reissue, but that this happens all the time and if we have the marriage certificate along, all will be okay. I asked twice and got the same answer both times.

Thanks for the replies.

Actually, this question is about travel after a green card, but there is not topic for that. If this doens'nt belong here, please move it to the appropriate forum.

I just got screamed at because I bought tickets to Ukraine in our name, Kreider. Nadaya says she will not be able to travel because she has a Unrainian passport as Ankusheva but the ticket says Kreider. Obviously her green card says Kreider and we should take along the the marriage certificate just in case. So,

Do I have to change her ticket to Ankusheva?

Will we need the marriage certificate along with the green card to get back into the states?

TIA

Just wanted to add a final footnote to the saga ....

Nadya recieved her green card in the mail 13 days after the interview!!!!!

Yes, we danced around the kitchen!

You know I think that the majority of interviews are very easy and simple, there are just cases when things get pretty crazy and we remember those better. I have friend who went through the interview and said it's quite overrated.

Congratulations on the approval and it's always a good thing to be prepared anyway.

LOL!!!! You know Murphy's laws - If you are prepared, you won't need it, but if not, you certainly will. Yes, I would highly recommend being prepared even though my experience was easy. All it takes is for the immigration agent to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, to have had a fight with his wife on the way out the door, to have gotten a traffic ticket on the way to work, etc. They are human and their mood is subject to external influence just like the rest of us.

My last traffic ticket was because I did not slow down when I passed a trooper writing someone else up. I was on the cruise and a few miles over, but he ran me down and wrote me up for 19MPH over, 1 short of losing my license. He was in a bad mood and I ticked him off, so he nailed me to the cross. Fair? No, but what are you going to do?

Actually, your experience sounds very typical. Ours lasted about 20 minutes but that was because the officer made some copies for the file (photos). Like you I was shocked at how easy it was. In my case, I was sure something was wrong because it was so easy and quick.

Now you just need to wait the two years to remove the conditional status. Review the form I-751 for things that you need to begin doing now.

Congratulations to both of you.

I don't think ours lasted more than 10 minutes. I was stunned. On reflection, I really think perception is the key. His job is to make sure it is not a sham marriage to circumvent immigration laws. If it looks suspicious (me 64 with a super hot 25 year old babe), you need tons of proof to convince him. If not (we are about the same age - both old), he does not need all that proof to make his decision.

Thanks for the tip re: I-751

Thank you all very much!!! We are very happy campers!

While doing research here on AOS, it was obvious that experiences differed, but I was not prepared for our experience. Well, I guess I was over prepared.

I spent days printing photos, gathering origionals, double checking against the list on the appointment NOA, etc. Since Nadya's English is not that good yet, we took along friend as an interpreter. We arrived 10 minutes late with my stomach churning. The drive to Indy took longer than anticipated with stops for coffee, etc. I handed in the invitation letter and was told to take a seat - we would be called in a short while. "short while" turned out to be maybe 2 minutes. We were ushered in, and the agent seemed gruff and abrupt, which did not help my stomach. He started with the pledge to tell the truth and identiy checks. The interpreter and I used driver's licenses and Nadya used her passport. The agent asked Nadya a couple questions from the I-485 (was she tossed out of the country or a communist, etc) and if she had children, then what their names and ages were. He asked her for her (our) address. He asked me my name and address. He asked if we had taken a honeymoon, and I replied that we couldn't take a serious honeymoon until Nadya got her green card, but we had taken a trip to Niagra Falls. Which was true, but it wasn't intended to be a honeymoon. He spent a lot of time looking at the file. Then he chatted about my work as a software engineer, how most of the people he sees are from northern Indiana and how they should really have an office up there, and such. He pecked away on the keyboard and said Nadya was approved and would get her card in 2 to 4 weeks. He apologized for having to take the card from her passport that she received when we landed (I-74???) and said that she would soon have a green card so it would not matter. He did not stamp her passport with I-551 as the guides here suggest. He never asked for photos, any proof of relationship, any origional documents, or anything from the 1" thick packet I had assembled. I was stunned, relieved, joyous. Maybe it helped that we had brought an interpreter who was obviously a friend. Maybe it helped that Nadya and I are only 4 years apart (60 and 64) instead of me being old and her young. I really have no idea why it went so well, but my point here was how different our experience was than what I expected after reading this site. Again, YMMV.

The rules seem to be different in different areas. Backstory: Nadya had her physical at the American Medical Center in Kiev, took the sealed envelope to her interview at the embassy and handed it to them. She eventually received her sealed packet and we delivered to the immigration officer at O'Hare who said the second page of her medical information (the I-693A) was missing and to call the embassy. I did, they said call the hospital. I did, they said we were out of luck. So I had to track down a local USCIS approved civil surgeon and make an appointment for a new physical and immunizations.

The instructions we received from the doctor's office said we must go to the county health department and get TB and STD tests done, and bring the results to the appointment. The doctor took that, did a physical exam, gave chicken pox and tetnus vaccinations and gave us a sealed envelope for her interview on Monday (yep, finally here) and an unsealed copy. The copy contained a copy of the result letter from the county health department and the I-693 and I-693A.

I don't pretend to understand why our experience re: doctor and health department is different than others detailed in this thread, but so it is.

.... but it is true! I sent the I-485 packet April 23 prepared for a nine month wait. We just got the NOA today with an interview date of 16 July!!! There is hope, folks!

A Civil surgeon can do tests to determine what vaccinations are needed here in the states, and then can do the vaccination supplement.

Are you saying he can verify with tests that Nadya has already had the necessary vaccinations and then fill out the I-693A to take to the interview?

Yes they can do some tests to determine what vaccinations are needed and then do the vaccinations needed in order to fill out I-693A.

I talked with a Civil surgeon and he only wanted to confirm 3 vaccinations, tetanus, varicella, and MMR.

Thank you very, very much!!!

Underneath the photos of the smiling couples at the top of VJ is a link.

Embassy/USCIS reviews.

Click on that.

Thank you very, very much!!!

You may want to look in the FAQ section.

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-aos.html#6.11.2

That is my point. Some info in that FAQ is dated. Some in that particular item do not make sense, and some do not agree with what I have read elsewhere. Why? Is there a variance from center to center? What is real? I guess what is real will come with the AOS interview notice and I will just have to wait until then to prepare.

We have sent the I-485 package and wonder what to expect next. What I have read so far is conflicting and does not seem to agree with the I-485 instructions. What is the correct story? What information is needed at the interview, or what do I need to prepare and take along.