Gretch

But really, isn't this what SHOULD happen when there is a delay through the fault of NVC? This poster isn't having his case pushed ahead of other people, the case is being caught up to where it should have been in the first place. It isn't slowing other people down.
I read this wondering if I should also ask for expedite, since I also had a possible 4 weeks added to my waiting time through no fault of my own; but even though I think my reasons are at least as valid, I'm afraid the request would be denied and possibly add even more time on. It's rough watching pretty much everyone else with scan dates later than mine forge ahead.
I wonder if the expedite was granted because of NVC's initial error, rather than because of the reasons outlined.

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.

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.

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.)

Oh, Shelinny... he has already been dishonest with you from the first moment, when he met you using a fake profile. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Yes, there are real relationships coming out of every country including Ghana, but this one has ALL the red flags. As others have said, including the one who started this thread, it is extremely rare for a man from sub-Saharan Africa not to want children. I lived there for a year and never once met such a man. I was uniformly greeted with something like pity because I don't have children yet, from both men and women, and was urged to do so. While the cultures are not the same in every country and ethnic group, that seems to be a constant. The purpose of marriage is to have children; in fact the purpose of LIFE is to have children, and provide for them. I'm not kidding, there are even many Catholic priests who have semi-secret families.
It's one thing if a man already has some children and says he doesn't want more from his new wife, but I would even greet that with suspicion.
If a man was known to be infertile, he might have trouble finding a wife in his own community and THAT man might be interested in a bona fide marriage with a woman who couldn't have children either. (It would be rare to know this unless the man had had some kind of severe accident or disease that caused obvious damage.) That's a rare exception I can think of.
People sometimes ask me if my husband had wanted to come to the US before we met. I tell them, I would consider it a red flag if he'd told me he never wanted to and was only willing to move to be with me. I think the majority of the younger generation has at least considered it, and in my experience, think they would want to immigrate to the US--at least on some level. It's also a lot of pressure to put on a relationship, for one person to change continents and cultures and leave their entire family behind for the sake of one person. I'm happy that my husband is also looking forward to career and educational opportunities here, in addition to continuing our life together and starting our family.
I wish you the best of luck in life but hope that you will seriously rethink this. The process is so expensive and that's just the fees you pay at various steps--nothing compared to the difficulties that can come up if someone comes to the US for fraudulent purposes.

(By the way--I know this post is almost 2 months old, but it is not at ALL unusual that someone might lose their job if they say they're taking time off to visit their spouse! I don't know how things are in Canada, but welcome to the US! The majority of people I know would lose their jobs for such a thing. If you don't have vacation time--and at my job, they can deny your request to use your vacation time and say you'll have to try to schedule again later--you can't just go, unpaid. People lose their jobs after missing a day of work to take a sick child to the doctor!)

I can't advise you specifically on whether you should have filed taxes for the last few years, but there is a place on the form to explain that you didn't have to file taxes and for you to give a reason. So the first step is to do research on whether you should have filed (look at all sources of income, irrespective of whether it was earned abroad; use irs.gov). If you determine that you were okay, as I think you might, forget it and when the time comes, state that you didn't make enough income to have to pay taxes. I think you mean that you plan to file taxes for 2016 (which, yes, you fill out in 2017).
There are lots of foreign freelancing blogs out there so I'm sure you can find the basic info you're looking for there about how to go about filing the 2016 taxes.
I don't think it will matter as far as your bona fide relationship, etc goes. If your co-sponsor has plenty of resources, that will cover you; and the taxes are just a financial matter, not related to the rest of the application--that's my understanding.

People file K3's because they are still listed as a visa on the USCIS site and their explanation makes it sound like you can be together faster. Were you an expert on these things when you first thought about filing ?

Oh, Shelinny... he has already been dishonest with you from the first moment, when he met you using a fake profile. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Yes, there are real relationships coming out of every country including Ghana, but this one has ALL the red flags. As others have said, including the one who started this thread, it is extremely rare for a man from sub-Saharan Africa not to want children. I lived there for a year and never once met such a man. I was uniformly greeted with something like pity because I don't have children yet, from both men and women, and was urged to do so. While the cultures are not the same in every country and ethnic group, that seems to be a constant. The purpose of marriage is to have children; in fact the purpose of LIFE is to have children, and provide for them. I'm not kidding, there are even many Catholic priests who have semi-secret families.
It's one thing if a man already has some children and says he doesn't want more from his new wife, but I would even greet that with suspicion.
If a man was known to be infertile, he might have trouble finding a wife in his own community and THAT man might be interested in a bona fide marriage with a woman who couldn't have children either. (It would be rare to know this unless the man had had some kind of severe accident or disease that caused obvious damage.) That's a rare exception I can think of.
People sometimes ask me if my husband had wanted to come to the US before we met. I tell them, I would consider it a red flag if he'd told me he never wanted to and was only willing to move to be with me. I think the majority of the younger generation has at least considered it, and in my experience, think they would want to immigrate to the US--at least on some level. It's also a lot of pressure to put on a relationship, for one person to change continents and cultures and leave their entire family behind for the sake of one person. I'm happy that my husband is also looking forward to career and educational opportunities here, in addition to continuing our life together and starting our family.
I wish you the best of luck in life but hope that you will seriously rethink this. The process is so expensive and that's just the fees you pay at various steps--nothing compared to the difficulties that can come up if someone comes to the US for fraudulent purposes.

Oh, Shelinny... he has already been dishonest with you from the first moment, when he met you using a fake profile. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Yes, there are real relationships coming out of every country including Ghana, but this one has ALL the red flags. As others have said, including the one who started this thread, it is extremely rare for a man from sub-Saharan Africa not to want children. I lived there for a year and never once met such a man. I was uniformly greeted with something like pity because I don't have children yet, from both men and women, and was urged to do so. While the cultures are not the same in every country and ethnic group, that seems to be a constant. The purpose of marriage is to have children; in fact the purpose of LIFE is to have children, and provide for them. I'm not kidding, there are even many Catholic priests who have semi-secret families.
It's one thing if a man already has some children and says he doesn't want more from his new wife, but I would even greet that with suspicion.
If a man was known to be infertile, he might have trouble finding a wife in his own community and THAT man might be interested in a bona fide marriage with a woman who couldn't have children either. (It would be rare to know this unless the man had had some kind of severe accident or disease that caused obvious damage.) That's a rare exception I can think of.
People sometimes ask me if my husband had wanted to come to the US before we met. I tell them, I would consider it a red flag if he'd told me he never wanted to and was only willing to move to be with me. I think the majority of the younger generation has at least considered it, and in my experience, think they would want to immigrate to the US--at least on some level. It's also a lot of pressure to put on a relationship, for one person to change continents and cultures and leave their entire family behind for the sake of one person. I'm happy that my husband is also looking forward to career and educational opportunities here, in addition to continuing our life together and starting our family.
I wish you the best of luck in life but hope that you will seriously rethink this. The process is so expensive and that's just the fees you pay at various steps--nothing compared to the difficulties that can come up if someone comes to the US for fraudulent purposes.

I'm sorry if I've caused offense somehow. My point is that I don't KNOW what the issues are when an American citizen marries someone from their hometown in Africa. I just know that there are some differences. I get asked by every government official why I would want to marry someone from their country, as if there's something strange and possibly wrong about it. I doubt that happens when, for instance, someone who immigrated to the US from Senegal and is now a US citizen wants to marry a Senegalese national.
Most of the posts I read on this SSA forum seem to be from people who are immigrants themselves, or perhaps first-generation Americans. (I don't know why my "basic premise is wrong", I just stated my impression, and I'm talking about SSA, not MENA.) I was interested to hear from people who have experiences more similar to mine. I appreciate the encouraging words and advice above, which are what I was hoping to find.
If this topic is somehow offensive, it can be closed.

I can't speak to the issue regarding traditional vs civil marriage. Regarding your divorce, I was also divorced in California. I sent in as evidence the final "judgment" papers I got from the court that says the marriage was terminated on [this date]. I never received any other papers; I'm not sure "divorce nisi" is something that is issued in California. Are you sure you sent the final judgment? You mention the paper you sent said the marriage "should be terminated" on [this date] which doesn't sound final.