Gretch

Has anyone requested and gotten help from their US Representative recently? I sent in a request a couple of weeks ago and haven't heard anything yet. When I petitioned for my husband in 2016, I asked for my congressman's help (application was being held up at NVC due to a USCIS error that had him flagged as previously denied/deported) and heard back much sooner. But it's a different representative and a different world this time, and this one has more celebrity than the last one. She's an immigrant herself, so hoping her office will be sympathetic.

I'm applying for my little stepson this time. I'm sure everyone's trying this but I laid it on about uncontrolled covid and school interruption. I applied December 2020, still NOA 1 only. Texas SC.

I had an idea that applying for a minor child was going to sail through in no time at all!

Sorry if this is a common question; I haven't found the answer.

Four years ago I brought my husband over on CR-1. Now we want to bring his 8-year-old son. Is it more expedient for me to apply for my stepson, as a citizen, or is there no difference in this case between citizen and permanent resident?

Thanks!

My husband's NOA arrived today. WAC, check cashed November 23. I called about two weeks ago and was told USCIS doesn't send duplicates and we would have to do the passport stamp (extremely puzzled about why the rep would lie about this; I told her what she was saying was not true, she said SHE was USCIS and she knew the truth, not anyone else). I did the e-request the same day, a couple of days later got the email that we would be sent the duplicate as a courtesy. I think that was January 8 that I called and did the e-request. The NOA that arrived today is the original, not a duplicate. It was mailed January 11. Hard to say if it's coincidence or my call and e-request moved things along.

I called USCIS today because we hadn't received a receipt notice. To my surprise, after the menus and messages I got through in about five minutes. The lady was very nice and gave me the receipt number (WAC 199--), but when I said we hadn't received it, she said "USCIS does not send additional copies" etc etc. If my husband needed proof of his green card extension, he would have to go to the local office.

I said that was crazy, many people had told me they had the same issue (nondelivery of receipt) and USCIS said they would send another copy. The employee was ADAMANT that USCIS doesn't do this and that going to the local office was my husband's only option. She repeated the same script three times. I said "What is it that people are receiving then?" and she repeated the script again.

Now that I have a receipt number I'm going to do an e-request, but what on earth happened there?

I'll update my timeline, but for now-

mailed 11/14/18 (Phoenix)

per USCIS, received 11/16/18

per USCIS, receipt mailed (I know this really means "assigned") 11/21/18

checks cashed 11/23/18

spoke with USCIS regarding nondelivery 1/8/19

3 minutes ago, beachboy95 said:

After reading through I see that my situation is not unique, I just don't want to get refused. Would going through pre-clearance in another city yield better results? I think we have sufficient evidence of return. 

I don't think preclearance will matter. Your evidence sounds fine, but you don't address the most important thing--what country your wife is from. All the evidence in the world probably won't admit someone from Ghana or Yemen.

Yes, that's probably why.

No, that's awful! What country is the applicant from? Something is very wrong. Have you contacted your US representative and senators?

What kind of visa does your wife have? Brazil seems to be a little hit and miss--more denials than Europeans, fewer than Africans. Getting the visitors' visa in the first place is generally the more difficult part, so if she's already got that or a different visa, she'll probably be okay. I have known Brazilians with visas turned away by border patrol, though, but one was for appearing to have communicable disease and one was a too-frequent visitor. I wouldn't worry about an elaborate story; just tell the truth. Do you have job documentation for her? Feelings are mixed on going through immigration separately or together. You can get behind her in the no-green-card line if you want, in case there's any question, but I believe they don't want you to actually go up together. I haven't done that part myself, though.

Sorry, just saw your edits. I think with that visa you'll be fine, as long as she's never overstayed, etc. I think the place on the entry form is for people who all have the same visa type? I can't remember, but just follow the directions exactly.

Just want to make sure you know you've still got a ways to go? It sounds like you're waiting for NOA-2, which means you're a long way from having CR-1 approved. Good luck!

2 hours ago, mlcmed said:

How's everyone else holding up? This whole waiting thing is slowly killing me. 

Wrong topic, my friend! We were the people who filed in January a year before you. I hope almost all of us are done now. My husband has been in the US almost five months. Yes, the waiting was hellish, but so worth it. This is likely the longest waiting period you'll have, right now. Good luck.

No problem. My husband was legally divorced only a month before we were married (had been separated for a couple of years) and I filed the I-130 a month after that (as others have said, it takes time to get all the proper documentation together). We had known each other 11 months and had been a couple for 9 months when we got married. None of that seemed to be an issue at all. I think religious differences mostly come up these days as an issue when a Muslim is marrying a non-Muslim, because that's generally frowned upon on both sides if people are sincere in their religion and in their desire for legitimate marriage. If you're both from more or less Christian backgrounds (as most people in both Chile and the US are), or Christian and Jewish, no one is likely to blink an eye. As others have said, an eight year difference isn't a big one, especially when the man is older than the woman.

I also don't think your husband's reported "lack of ties" to the US will create any problems. And no one here cares if a person voted or not. He should probably go back and renew his driver's license if possible, though! (Depending on the state, may be able to do it without leaving Chile.) Not for immigration purposes, just practicality. Make sure he follows the tax laws for expatriates, too. It's good that your future FIL has agreed to be co-sponsor but hopefully he makes well above the minimum--people have run into trouble when it's too close.

2 hours ago, MDS said:

Just got to the US and everything was great, CBO was a lovely man and no problem at all. I arrived at JFK and everything went just perfect. Coming back to my country in a week. Just be honest, answer every question truly and you will be just fine. We are not doing anything illegal so be true to yourself and you got it!. 

Good luck to you all!

 

Nope. I'm happy that you got in but that's incredibly naive and privileged. Many honest people who are doing everything legally have been turned away or detained for lengthy questioning. You're from Europe and just by statistics I'm guessing you're white--but even those aren't guarantees. 

Enjoy your visit.

They can do anything they want. You don't have to be breaking a law, they just have to decide you're trying to illegally immigrate, which is also a thing people do. Yes, many people visit no problem, but others are turned away, and your scenario with a newborn, a uhaul, and no job is pretty extreme. For the majority of us visiting wasn't even an option, so if you feel like you're not getting much sympathy... it's because we've been through it.

People are being turned away for much less than that. Honestly I think it's crazy to try. You could find yourself banned from the US until your green card comes through. Best suggestion I can offer is to take a separate car or fly, but if your wife is giving birth to your baby, I imagine she's not up for driving the road trip... frankly I can't imagine moving with a true newborn! And even coming separately is definitely no guarantee you'll be allowed in. They don't really care about the return ticket. Anyone can buy one. You have a lot more reason to be in the US with your wife and newborn than to be in Canada.

Three years is an irrelevant age difference either way. Don't worry about that at all. (I'm also three years older than my husband.)

We didn't have anything unusual or any great abundance of evidence--pictures of us in different situations throughout our relationship, wedding pictures, me with his family; wedding cards and letters; receipts. I frontloaded and sideloaded all that. My husband brought a few newer pictures to the interview, along with the originals of all the documents, but they didn't ask to see anything at all.

I bet you'll be okay, but be prepared for the worst just in case (as far as their questioning goes, I mean). Supposedly the immigration process is sympathetic to domestic violence situations (I don't have a lot of confidence in such things at the moment, but that's what I understand) and I think they will understand that reasoning. You ask if they will judge you for your previous marriages and I don't think that will be the problem--divorce is so common in the US. The question, which I think you understand, is whether they will think you're just dying to move to the US and will marry anyone to get there, therefore this current marriage isn't bona fide. It helps that (as I understand) you have been back in Germany for several years and presumably have had a life and a job there. I don't think anyone considers Germans to be desperate to move to the US the way they think of people in poorer countries. I don't know anything about visa overstays, but I'm sure it will help also that you've visited three times since then and followed all the rules.

My husband and I have both been married before and I was concerned about red flags on both sides. My marriage ended seven years ago but it was a same-sex marriage and I thought the CO might be suspicious and ask why I was marrying a man now. (Obviously this is common enough, but I was still anxious about it.) My husband had been separated for years but only started the divorce process after we got together, and his divorce was finalized only a month before our wedding. I thought that would look suspicious. No proof he and his ex had been separated except for the blessedly gossipy divorce documents, which spelled out every personal detail--if it had been an American-style divorce document, there wouldn't have been any proof at all. And he does come from a poor country. But the CO didn't ask a single personal or accusatory question--he just asked basic facts about dates, etc. Still, I'm glad my husband was prepared with answers for any question we could think of regarding our previous marriages, why our wedding was small, why no one from my family was there, etc.

Best of luck!

How many days were you together in Dubai? Is that the only time you've met? In what way did you meet online? Yes, I think this case may be a hard sell. From the brief details you've given, it sounds like a "mail order" relationship for visa purposes. I'm not saying it is, but be ready to really demonstrate that this is a love relationship. Pictures, communication, etc.

I know this is old, but in case you're still reading, I just wanted to comment--USCIS messes things up all the time. That's likely all that happened here. They had my husband as applying for a waiver of unlawful presence (like an undocumented immigrant would need) when he's never stepped foot in the US, much less applied for a waiver! Clerical errors happen.

I think the OP meant not that people told him to apply for K3, but that he followed the directions on here for applying for one if you're going to do it. USCIS still makes it sound like a viable option.

No. Even the scan date isn't really important to know. You don't have to call at all ( and it won't do any good) until it's been six weeks from the date your documents were received (which may be your scan date, or it may be a day or two later). You might hear something before six weeks, either a checklist or an acceptance, but otherwise they'll just tell you "wait six weeks". Save yourself the aggravation and keep the phone lines clear. They don't use the term "scan date," though--that's just the date someone entered your documents.

My husband was approved! He was in the embassy more than two hours and was disgusted that the interviewer was chewing gum the whole time. (I assured him that even in the US, it's not really acceptable for people to chew gum in a formal business situation like that.) I thought it was funny that that really stood out for him.

He said the receptionist (an American; I don't know if it was truly a receptionist because when I'd been to the embassy, most or all of the support staff seemed to be local) was very serious and seemed to think it would be a problem that he hadn't brought wedding photos. (I'd sent them ahead.) The interviewer was more casual (well, mostly perceived that way because he was chewing gum, probably) but somewhat intimidating in tone. He asked:

--When did you first meet?

--When did your relationship start?

--Are you divorced? When?

--Is your petitioner divorced? When?

--Does your petitioner have a child?

--Do you have a child?

--Have you applied for him too?

--What were you doing in Kenya and during what period? [He spent 3 years in Kenya for school and had a police certificate]

--What will you do in the USA?

--Did you and the petitioner get married? Where?

--When did you last see each other?

He felt like those were all pretty easy questions compared to some of those we found online--no tricky knowledge questions about my extended family or where I went to school or what color my toothbrush is, no highly personal questions about our life together, and no probing questions about either of our divorces. We're close in age and spent time together almost every day for a year before marrying, nine months of dating, so we felt like we had enough facetime, but we were concerned about our previous divorces. He had been separated from his wife for years (without any legal papers), but didn't begin the divorce process until we were already dating, and the divorce judgment was legalized only four weeks before our wedding. We also expected them to question why we didn't have a traditional wedding and why no one from my family came.

The interviewer didn't ask to see any of the documents my husband brought with him: the originals of the copies I'd sent, photos from my trip there in August, an updated "year to date" pay stub from me, or my corrected tax transcript. I had frontloaded with the usual: pictures of our wedding as well as us together throughout the year we'd known each other and pictures of me with his extended family (about 15 total, I think); a letter my mom wrote to his mom before the wedding; some congratulations cards from the wedding shower my American expat colleagues had for me; receipt for our wedding rings; receipt for our honeymoon suite; a copy of some mail from my college alumni association addressed to both of us. I didn't include any affidavits. I then sideloaded at NVC with: a copy of the flight itinerary for my then-upcoming visit; a small selection of our WhatsApp log (about ten messages from each month we'd been apart); a year-to-date paystub; and a printout showing my husband as the beneficiary of my life insurance.

A note about my taxes: I filed them before I read the NVC process wiki, which explains how to file as "married filing separately" even though your spouse doesn't have a social security number or tax ID number. I tried to do it, but couldn't figure it out, so I gave up and filed as single, figuring maybe it didn't matter because I didn't earn any money that year after we got married, or at least, that's what I would say if questioned. I was only thinking of the IRS, not immigration, and later read here that if the NVC/interviewer/etc saw my tax transcript with "single" on it after we'd married, they can take that as a suggestion the marriage is fake. So I filed an amended return, but it wasn't back in time to send with the other papers, and I decided not to delay (again based on advice here). Later I got the updated tax transcript that shows "married filing separately" and emailed it to my husband, telling him, to explain my mistake if they questioned it and hand over the update. But they didn't question it at all. Still, I don't recommend that course of action for anyone! File taxes correctly the first time.

I was also concerned because there are some places where it says the beneficiary has to provide birth certificates for all of their children, even if they aren't applying for visas at that time. My husband's son doesn't have a birth certificate and it's difficult to get one (we had a long delay getting one for my husband). Some people here said it was necessary and others said it applies only to those who are planning to do "follow to join" which doesn't apply here, so I wrote to the embassy and they repeated that the beneficiary has to bring birth certificates for all children. Since others have told me they didn't do this, and trying to get a birth certificate was going to delay the application far into the future, I decided to go ahead and see what happened; if they said a birth certificate was needed, they would hopefully just put the the visa on hold until it was produced, so we'd be in the same boat anyway. But they didn't ask for a birth certificate, thank goodness.

The one problem we had: my husband had gone for his medical two weeks before the interview (the earliest the clinic would schedule it) and everything was fine, except the clinic said they were out of most of the vaccines and would call him when they came in. He contacted them a couple of times and he got the same answer, and they told him it wouldn't interfere with his visa interview so he shouldn't worry about it. Well, when the interviewer asked why he wasn't vaccinated, he told them exactly that; then the embassy contacted the clinic and they straight up lied, and said it was my husband's fault. (Probably afraid of losing the embassy's business.) He went and got the vaccines after the interview (and showed them that he has a record of text messages from them that support his version of events). He turns in the papers to the embassy today and all should be well; they kept his passport so I'm sure they're going to go ahead and issue the visa.

You've never had a blood test in your whole life??? How is that possible? Spoiler alert: it isn't interesting at all. They stick a needle in, a tube or two or three fills with blood, done.

"I never once got the feeling when we were first together that she was into the relationship just for the financial benefits. She did not ask for presents or gifts, nor did a give her any but a few little things."

I understand this, but everyone has the same feeling. Almost nobody is going to be upfront that they're looking for money. The marriage (or even just girlfriend/boyfriend) game is a "long con" and the other party knows it. They first have to convince you of their sincerity before they go in for the money. Not asking for presents or gifts is exactly what they do.

Unfortunately, it's also what someone who is sincere will do, of course! But in general, I think the other person will "drop" you if they realize you're not going to give up the money and look for an easier mark. Someone who is sincere will stick around.

I don't mean to say that all of these men and women are cold-hearted con artists, though some are. (Also, in many countries there's no stigma to marrying for money; it's considered a smart move.) They might be an average person who thinks "this is a nice guy/nice woman, and it would be great to see some of that American money". If both parties have the same understanding, no harm no foul. But expecting a regular salary is DEFINITELY too much. Actually, saying "I can't afford that, sorry" is a good test of the person.

I notice that you met her through church, and while you didn't say anything further about that and I don't want to make assumptions, some people do have the idea that someone who is religious (especially of the same denomination) is automatically going to be a "good" person and won't treat a fellow church member badly, but that's the wrong assumption to make--people are people.

Good luck with your new relationship but as others have said, be careful. And I don't know anything about you--and will freely say that before my husband, I also had a boyfriend in a (different) foreign country--but you may want to do some self-searching and ask yourself why you're looking for a wife in Russia. What's preventing you from having a relationship with a woman who's already in the US? (I'm not asking for an answer, just throwing that out there.)

Congratulations! I recognized your name from "Interviews today", I'm there too. Been waiting a long time to see our names there, right? Hope this is a good omen for me, my husband's at his interview as we speak.

so happy for you!

My husband's interview is tomorrow and we are DYING. I used to read posts from people who were so anxious about the interview being within a couple of days and I thought, it's all over basically, they shouldn't be anxious... I'm still here waiting for CC! Well, I get it now! I just keep going over it and over it in my mind... did I make any mistakes or leave anything out? The physician seemed so incompetent, did he mess things up somehow? Did I forget to pay anything?

Yes, that's the right form. Thousands of people have done it, don't worry! And I believe (someone else who filed with a co-sponsor please correct me if I'm wrong), your brother only has to qualify for a household of two people, himself and your spouse, because it's assumed you are self-supporting; your brother isn't agreeing to take care of you as well!