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My wife entered the US last year in June on a K-1 and we married within the 90 days however we never did her AOS but we're getting things ready now. I saw somewhere that if you don't do the EAD in the first 90 days then you just have to wait for AOS to complete. Is that true? 

Also, are there additional papers we need to file or missed out on?? 

So far we have the I 485, I 864, DS 3025, and G 325 ready. Can she still do the EAD? Will it allow her to work before the AOS is complete? 

My state requires my wife's foreign passport and recent I94 as part of proof of identity for a state ID. The admit until date is past because of the "90 day rule" however we did get married before that date but since it's past the "90 day" mark on the I94, will that cause a problem with getting her ID?

My wife has her PI passport and temp GC. Her passport expires in Dec 2016. Does she just renew her PI passport to be able to travel or is there a special US one she has to apply for?

Hey there, first of all, congratulations!

Just a few things I learned as part of the process that I wanted to share.

- There might be another cost - medical exam/vaccination sheet filled in by a civil surgeon. It is something we were not initially calculating with, and there was a lot of confusing information about it everywhere on the internet. If your fiance received a full medical exam as part of the K1 procedure, and got all the required vaccines, USCIS should have her records on file, as she will hand them over to the immigration officer at the PoE. If you have a copy of the vaccination sheet from her overseas medical, you can send that with your AoS application. Otherwise, you might need a transcript from a civil surgeon in your area. The cost of it depends on where you live and what the civil surgeon charges, where we live they were insisting on redoing the full medical for 400 dollars. So in the end we sent in our AoS without a vaccination sheet, hoping USCIS will look for the records from my overseas medical and not send an RFE, and it seems to have worked Later on when you are dealing with the AoS forms, this will make more sense.

- I only applied for SSN after getting married, and got it issued to my married name right away. It seemed more practical this way, and I have not had any issues because of it, just saved us another trip to the SSN office.

- We were only able to open a joint bank account once I had a DL

Thank you. I am saving the replies because the first hand info has been great!

Just a few more hours and she'll be here!!

The reason why many people choose to get the SSN before marriage is because the SSA will be able to see that your fiancee is here based on their maiden name. Many people have had issues after marriage and end up getting the SSN when the EAD comes in and the US government finally has that married name on file.

So the choice is yours, but I suggest SSN in maiden name then change it afterward with the marriage certificate or EAD.

Most states require some sort of legal presence document for a DL or state ID so generally it's best to wait for the EAD. That gives you at least a year before it expires anyhow if your state is one that bases it off of the length of the legal presence document.

File the I-765 and I-131 with the rest of the AOS forms. EAD allows her to work, and get a driver's license, and the AP allows for travel outside of the USA. Lots of people have not gotten AP and later regretted it.

Thanks. We're definitely planning on the AP. We're already planning to make a trip back there later this year. That's why we're trying to get things done right the first time around to avoid possible delays.

Bookmarked this. Mine is arriving in August

Congrats!

I-485 has a filing fee of $1070. It's I-131 & I-765 that are free when filed together with the I-485. You should file the I-131 & I-765 WITH your I-485 so in the same packet.

Ahhhhhh....got ya. Thank you for clearing that up. Are there any other fees I should expect initially or will filing the I-485, I-131, and I-765 be all we need for awhile? (besides ss card, and marriage cert)

The visa "dies" upon entry in the USA, legal status is dictated by the I-94 (for the 90 days), print a copy of the I-94 out from the CBP website after arrival.

SS card can be applied for any time after arrival up until a couple weeks before the I-94 expires. Doesn't really matter if you get it before or after marriage.

Get married

Then start AOS https://www.uscis.gov/i-485

You can apply for the I-765 (authorization to work) at the same time as the I-485 FREE. Usually receive this 2-4 months after filing.

You can file for the I-131 (travel authorization - for outside the USA, more so an emergency card) FREE also.

Thank you very much. Is there any special way to apply for free. Or is the paper process just naturally free of cost. I thought I read somewhere that filing for everything runs about $1200.

Also, when should we file for the I 131? We're planning to go visit her family and have a wedding celebration sometime this winter as our honeymoon.

Congratulations

Thanks.

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow my fiance will be arriving from the Phil and we're trying to stay on top of things and not miss dates for filing things so we have some questions.

First of all, this site has been truly invaluable in guiding us thus far and even reading others' stories has been helpful and encouraging, so thank

all of you in a thousand languages.

So up to this point, we've been able to follow the guides, etc but we're unsure which order to follow from this point. Some guides show/say to wait to apply for a ss# and then apply for marriage cert, then marry. But we saw another that referred to doing some other step BEFORE the ss#. Can someone point out or give us a basic quick order to do things. I have a job set up for her already, so getting papers for that is important. Also, we don't want to miss the 90 day mark on her visa. Also, I thought there was 2 steps we should file together but I lost which ones were meant to be done.

We both are "lists" people (for those of you that can relate) so a clear cut step by step guide would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!!

I won't tell you how to deal with your wifes' family because not everyone is as "stand your ground" as I am, however, as someone that

has dealt with racism in America everyday of my life, I can tell you....get used to seeing and hearing it.

Many people here like to pretend things are "better" but racism, bigotry, and homophobic is alive and kickin in this country and barely even

hidden anymore. I don't know much about how things are where your from, but if it's not something you see often there, you will be surprised

when you come here especially if you develop friendships with people of color or people that are gay.

I've lived in a variety of states and some places aren't as bad as others, but it's everywhere. The best thing you can do is stay respectful

and level headed. Don't expect or even try to change people (family or otherwise). No place is perfect and neither are people.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck.

So now we have to wait for a 221g? That must be what they said they would email to her when they took her passport, but they still haven't sent it.

How long does it take to to send an email.....jeez.

I think it may help to get the clearance at least because it should say that they are requesting it for her visa but I wish we could just get whatever

it was they claimed to have sent in the first place so we don't have to wait longer.

Maybe I wasn't clear...we sent everything that is necessary for a normal police clearance (see original post) and they said they needed an additional "letter" from the US Embassy stating that the clearance was needed for the K1 Visa.

The US Embassy says there is nothing else and directs us back to HK who then directs us back to the US Embassy.

Maybe we just got unlucky and dealt with someone new in HK or at the embassy.

Thanks for the replies. Unless you have information on obtaining a special "letter", we'll figure it out.

Here's the story:

My fiance went to an interview for K1 visa at US Embassy in Manila. She answered all the questions and they took her passport. However, they told her, the police clearance from Hong Kong wasn't there.

We have been trying over and over to get the police clearance done but HK keeps saying they need a "letter". They have been sent her passport copies, the NVC letter, the embassy email she received, and her fingerprints and the HK paper request. They will not issue her a clearance without this "letter".

Then the US Embassy says there is no letter and what we sent should be everything. So we're being bounced back and forth and neither are budging and I'm thinking we're gonna get denied our visa because of one stupid piece of paper after all the (&*($#(&)@ we've been through in this process.

On top of all that, she wants to go to HK to try to get it directly but she doesn't have her passport because the Embassy took it at her interview. ####### are we supposed to do now???

Maybe I'm wrong but, she can't go to HK from the Phil without a passport....can she? And is there a waiver since HK won't give her the police clearance?

I'm sorry, I don't understand what your saying. I don't think she has a HK ID. She already sent photocopy of her passport. What form is she supposed to download? I know she already sent in her fingerprints as well. And the NVC letter we have doesn't say anything about the police clearance.

My fiance lived in Hong Kong for work but is now in the Phill finishing paperwork for a K-1 visa. We are trying to get her police clearance from Hong Kong but when she applied they said they needed proof that she needed it for the US embassy.

On the US Gov site for reciprocity by country it says:

1. his/her Hong Kong Identity Card or valid travel document;
2. the original and a photocopy (for each applicant) of the letter from NVC which contains his/her name and the checklist of documents necessary for obtaining a visa (the one that references the need for police certificates);
3. the original and photocopy of a document proving his/her relationship with the principal applicant for the visa if item #2 does not contain the applicant's name;
4. the processing fee of HK $210 per person - payment via cash, Octopus cards or checks payable to "The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region."

1. we're assuming is a copy of her passport

4. obviously money

?? #2......what NVC letter with a checklist??? My fiance and I have both gotten letters from the embassy and NVC but nothing that resembles a letter with checklist. The NVC letter we have just says its approved and was forwarded.

?? #3......Like what?? I'm sure #2 has my name on it but what else? Intent to Marry maybe?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Thank you all very much. I saved the links. VERY HELPFUL.

I didn't know you could email everything except the I 134. That's good to know but I was also thinking of sending some extra things besides papers that's why I asked about fast and reliable. I've never mailed her anything, usually I bring them when I visit or just send money when needed.

Anyway, thanks again. Hopefully things will go smooth.

OH, just curious.....how much notice is given before the interview? If possible, I was thinking of traveling there to go with her but short notice doesn't help with trying to fly to another country.

I'm new to this so I apologize if my questions have been answered a million times.

My fiance and I just received the paper that says our case is approved and going to the NVC and will then go to her country.....

So here's our questions:

1)Does she need police clearance for countries she lived in that were more than five years ago? (We're sure we saw something that said only the last 5 years but we want to be sure)

2)Where does she get the paper that gets her the medical exam she needs to do in Manilla? (Is that part of what the embassy sends her?)

3)I am travelling there mid-Jan. Do you think our visa approval will be complete by then? (We're hoping she can come back with me.)

4)What's the best/fastest and reliable courier to the Phil? She doesn't live in a major city and getting mail there can be slow.