AlinaB

Check the older forums July and August. There are people in there that are adjusting from F1. I don't think it matters.

Of course it doesn't "matter" =)

But it would be more helpful for them to look in a forum dedicated to their topic (as well or instead of).

;-)

I am F-1 too and using OPT. But my OPT will expire this month.

Isn't F1 a student visa? The AOS from student/work visas have their own forum. This is for families and our timelines will be different from yours. Perhaps look here instead for a better idea when to start worrying: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/138-adjustment-of-status-case-filing-and-progress-reports/

Where did you file to ?

Chicago ?

All the best

Yep! Chicago via Express mail :-)

I am just popping on so that I can get thread updates. We already received our NOA1 (see my signature). Fingers crossed that RFE doesn't happen!

For an 129 F, once the visa is issued, your fiancee has 60 days to enter the US and then 90 days to marry. The next step is AOS - which you could get an advanced parole (i.e. permission to leave and return to the US) within only 2-3 months, but expect at least a year for the green card. During this time, there are certain residency requirements for your fiancee. You could in theory get the the US as fast as possible, get married as fast as possible, and apply for the AOS as fast as possible - but I would expect that she still probably won't have a green card until December 2017 (at the earliest).

For both the 129F process and the AOS process - you will have to make above a certain minimum in order for her to be approved. The government website states that it does not just look at income either, they take into account age, health, education, work history, etc in order to ascertain if someone can be considered the supporter. In your case, I would suggest searching for joint sponsor for both this and the AOS.

Here are some details about the 864 https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html

I am sure they have one for the 134 form as well.

Your two biggest problems are your need of a co-sponsor and your job outside of the US, where I assume your fiancee will want to live with you. You have a lot of research to do.

The instructions state you can select all the boxes that apply to you. If it will not allow you to mark more than one when filling it in your pdf reader program, then yes, simply hand-write in an X and other info needed there.

Provide documentation of ownership and value of all assets. Read the instructions about using assets. You will need an appraisal for property. For savings, show the last 12 months of bank statements to show that the money has been there for a while. You would need 3 times the income amount in assets, but hopefully they accept the new job's current annual income being above the requirement plus the fact that you have rental income and assets too. If your documentation is solid, then you should have a good chance of your I-864 being accepted.

And if the AOS was denied because of not having a joint sponsor and your job being too new for them to accept, your husband will not have to go home. You could refile, and by that time you would have been at your current job for a longer period of time. Just wanted to let you know that, since you seem worried that your husband will have to leave.

Doh! Right - the tome of instructions that I should have by now memorized... Thank you for that.

I read the assets section extensively and I think I have everything I need. I can absolutely provide bank statements, but I got an official letter from my bank that lists my current balance, and my average monthly balance on all accounts for the last 12 months. I have seen conflicting reports as to whether this is sufficient or not. And of course the instructions are not clear on what they consider the best support. I know that for the K1 visa process, the consulate didn't even accept my statements. They were handed right back to me at the window and they only took the bank letter. But, AOS is a different process. Thankfully, the 3x amount is not a problem in the slightest. My rental property is in a booming area and I have been smart with savings over the last 20 years. Fingers crossed that everything combined is enough!

And finally THANK YOU for your last paragraph. Honestly, I really believed that if we were denied that we would have to start all over. It has been a terrifying thought for me and my husband. Being a scientist, I am fastidious with details and paperwork, but if they would not accept my new job + assets, no amount of filing things perfectly would help. You lifted an enormous weight off my shoulders.

Tonight we intend to sit down with everything and build the packet. Hopefully we can get it all ready to go within the next week. I love this forum, I cannot imagine this process without this support network.

1.) You are only required to have one shot in a series marked off on your form. Post from last night on same topic > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/609770-aos-interviewconfuse-about-form-i-693help-please/?p=8304595

2.) Just include all the information in your attached explanation of why you were not required to file taxes those years. Stress that you were a student and will be receiving your PhD soon, but have recently gained employment earning well over the 125% income requirement and that you are able to sponsor your spouse so that they will not become a public charge. Provide letter from employer and all the pay stubs you have so far. They may or may not accept it.

The job is new, so even if you are earning more than enough to meet the requirement, they could still ask for assets or a joint sponsor. You may want to get a joint sponsor lined up just in case.

Thank you very much for helping me clarify these two things. We will likely get his second shots anyway, but avoiding Civil Surgeon at this point is key.

May I ask a follow up question to my I-864? Firstly, thank you for warning me about the RFE. I have been terrified about how new the job is. I will absolutely include a letter. Thankfully, I also have assets totaling way over the requirement due to savings and real estate and you can see my average balance has remained high for extensive periods of time. I will be including that information in the hopes to avoid a joint sponsor - because there is no joint sponsor. This has been made 100% clear to me months ago. If the US gov requires one, my husband goes home and we start all over. Now my followup question: I also receive income from one of my rental properties. The PDF form forces me to choose either Employed as or Self employed, not both. But, I can fill these both out and simple hand write in my X's correct? I will be including the rental agreement along with the my employer paperwork.

Hi everyone,

It is finally that time! This forum has ben so helpful and I cannot imagine this process without all of you!

Here are my questions:

1. In http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551080-immunizations-ds-3025-or-i-693/ It lists the exact, specific way to get a waiver to not need to see a Civil Surgeon. My husband can chekc off every box except, the MMR has only one vaccine done on the day of the visit, not two. We verified beforehand (I thought) and were told only 1 was necessary. Thoughts? Clearly we are grabbing at straws here to avoid a visit, but I would really like some input.

2. I-864 - Now that I am in the last year of my phd, I got a really great paying job that started in August. But, my AGI from 2015 was $0, 2014 and 2013 are also lower than 125% poverty line. I was going to fill out Part 11 with an explanation that I was conducting research in Indonesia (where I met my husband) and wasn't able to work from part of 2014-all of 2015. Is this a red flag? I was also going to attach a more lengthy letter and my formal tax form that says I was not required to file.

Thanks in advance!

My husband was in a similar situation as you, he completed his PhD prior to us proceeding with a K1.

When we applied for the K1 he had only been working for a month or two at a job outside of academia. We had no problems, he got a letter from his employer stating that he was a full time employee, what his wage was (well over the min requirements), and his start date.

We have applied for AOS with his having worked 9 months in this position and so far so good.

Also as mentioned above, if you have not filed taxes while you were in school then include a letter stating so and that you were not required to file due to not meeting the IRS threshold for filing. Since the AOS asks for the previous 3 years of tax info.

Of course I can't speak to the new job with AOS, but with the K1 we had no problems. Mostly they want to make sure that you can support your partner without them drawing on public funds.

I would suggest starting putting together the paperwork now then waiting until you have a month or so at your new job, get a letter from your employer and copies of your paystubs. It takes some time to put together your paperwork so use the time now before you start your job to get that sorted, then just slot in your employment info after you start your job.

Thank you! This was also very helpful. Thankfully, I am extremely organized and have everything minus the time sensitive stuff ready to go. So we won't need to rush around and gather much at all. I found the K1 process to be surprisingly simple considering what people here talked about. But I think writing large grants and fellowships for the last 6 years has made me immune to the paperwork horror others experience.

That specific job is brand new. It does not matter what field, or if you have worked in the same field before.

Please understand that if you file right after you start your job (before you've been working there for 6 months), you'll be RFEd and will end up having to use assets or a joint sponsor, which you say you categorically don't want. When you are RFEd and fail to come up with either of those, the AOS application will be denied.

What's worse? Waiting 6 months after you start your job & then file or file right away and be denied?

When an AOS application is denied there is a real possibility that your spouse will be put in removal proceedings. You can fight that, of course, and ultimately most likely successfully, but you'd need a lawyer and a lot of money.

IMHO if assets and a joint sponsor are out of the question then your only viable alternative is to wait to file until you have been at your job for at least 6 months and then file. People have done it after years & years of overstaying. The risk of your spouse getting picked up in the meantime by ICE is extremely small as long as you stay away from the southern border. In all my time as a visitor then AOS applicant then GC holder, no one ever asked me for proof of my immigration status, not even when my husband was driving (I was in the passenger seat) and we got pulled over by the police.

I see. You have a very valid point. Do you mind if I send you a pm? I promise not to bombard you, I just don't want to plaster my financial info on a public website. I think you might be able to get a better picture of my scenario. I am curious about the comments below from someone else too. That I file in August and if I get an RFE, can later supply sufficient evidence. However, you give me the impression that their RFE will demand a joint sponsor, not just a resubmittal of further financial capability.

I would personally go ahead and file and sent a letter from your employer along with bank statements and your savings... They won't straight up deny your application if what you send you isn't Enough proof then they will give you an RFE for more financial evidence around 6-8weeks after filing the AOS... You then have 90 days to respond to the RFE which is more than enough time for you to settle into your new job and provide more financial stability proof if its needed

Thank you, this was also not something I had considered. I need to get as much information as possible before making my decision. I appreciate your (and everyone else's) comments immensely.

Your credit score does not matter at all. Like others stated as well, a brand new job won't do. Your choices are either waiting until you had a job for at least 6 months or using assets or finding a joint sponsor. Any USC or LPR can be a joint sponsor as long as they have income that's at least 125% of the poverty line for their household count plus one.

I appreciate your reply, however, as I have stated multiple times, a joint sponsor is 100% out of the question. Not an option. Cannot happen. Is not even a teeny blip on radar. So please, if everyone could stop suggesting this, I would appreciate it.

Also, I still have not gotten a direct answer to the question regarding "brand new job" vs "new job in the same field". I have read elsewhere in this forum, that a job being new is not a big deal when it is in the same field. I have a Masters, will soon have a PhD, and have worked in academia for 6 years. Does my job really qualify into this "brand new" category.

Forgive my constant questions and pushing, but I feel extremely uncomfortable waiting 6 months to file as it will be 6 months late, anything can happen to his family in that time and we would hate for him to not be able to go, and it delays his ability to work. I am just really surprised that someone with my strong work history, education, and financial assets would be considered a risk with a job that is not new to my field, but only new to me.

Whoops - thank you everyone. I'll try to get a mod to move this post.

Just for starters, as i stated before, a joint filer is a 0 possibility.

To make things more interesting, I have heard that the gov's biggest problem with a new job, is when that job is out of the blue and outside your experience. I have worked in academia for 6 years (while getting my PhD) and my future job is in academia. So although it is new to me, it is not new to my field of expertise. What are people's thoughts on this?

As for the assets, 60k is a tad over what I could supply, but one of the homes I own was recently appraised by the county for twice what I owe. Does this make a difference?

My fear with waiting of course is that my husband has to delay getting into the work force and/or that something will happen in Indonesia and he will need to rush down there before we actually submit his AOS. OR that filing 6 months after we get married is not a good idea and will be frowned upon. (Though from what I have read here, the timing does not seem to be too big a problem.)

Finally, I had also heard that you credit and history matters as well. Both of mine are stellar and show a person with solid, stable finances.

I guess my biggest fear is - what if we are denied? Will they automatically RFE for a join sponsor or will they flat out deny and send my husband packing? This will likely be the biggest factor weighing in on our AOS timing.

I am surprised at the lack of response, did I post this in the wrong forum? My previous posts have gotten tons of help. I have reviewed all the documents and posts on the site already, but I believe that my situation is a unique one. Does anyone have advice?

Hi there,

We just married Saturday, have a bit of a unique situation, and are hoping to get some advice. I (the US citizen) am currently not employed; I am a PhD candidate (with a Masters degree) whose TA position ended May 16th. I was extended a job offer to begin July 1st. However, it is in another state and I probably cannot start until August 1st. But I will have a formal job offer in hand and can get a letter from my employer if I need. Additionally, I have more than enough in savings and in real estate to qualify without a job, HOWEVER - I do not feel comfortable relying on this at all. I heard that AOS is more stringent than the K1. I would prefer to use my job income to be on the safe side. So what do the more experienced people think? Wait to apply until I actually start my job in August? Apply in a few weeks and supply letters and bank info and mortgage info? The big fear of course is that we will be denied.

In case you are curious, when we applied for his K1 visa I was living in Indonesia (conducting research) and also not employed. We used my dad's income as a backup and had no problems. This is not an option for the AOS, nor is it possible to ask anyone else.

Thanks in advance

HI everyone,

I honestly don't know what we would have done without this forum to help. He has his visa in hand and his ticket was purchased to come to the states!

I want to give back by sharing our experience in the hopes that it can help others. I am a woman and my fiance is a man, from Indonesia.

For our 129-F packet

We used a 2" binder with clear pockets

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. G325 A (one for me and one for my fiance)

2. 129-F application

3. Statement of meeting (I did not address it) & (both of us signed it)

4. Intent to Marry (both of us signed it)

5. 6 photos of us together. All printed on photo paper with the dates and descriptions on the back

6. one blog post from each month I lived in Indonesia and 3 where I mentioned his name (names highlighted)

7. Copy of every single page of my passport

8. Copies of all of my permits to live and research in Indonesia

9. Copy of my invitation letter to conduct research in Indonesia

10. Prenuptial draft

11. My divorce decree (over 7 years old)

12. Check

You can see from our timeline that we had no RFEs and things progressed smoothly

For the K1 interview:

First I will list the things they took, then I will list the other things I brought but they did not take

We used binders but they took everything out of the binder. So perhaps just organize things for yourself.

1. Exact copy of the 129-F 2" binder (I listed this below in the did not take column, but please make sure your fiance has this regardless. It is vital.)

2. DS-160 confirmation page

3. International fiance birth certificate (real and photocopy)

4. Translation of fiance birth certificate

5. Sworn translator statement

6. International fiance passport

7. I-134 (2 signed copies from both me and my consponsor)

8. Cosponsor paperwork (tax return only - self employed)

9. My sponsorship paperwork (last 3 months bank statements, letters from bank, tax return, statement from employer, rental agreement for rental property, home value assessment from my county tax office)

10. 6 more photos of us from October - December (marked with dates and basic information)

11. Updated intent to marry (signed by both of us)

12. ticket stubs from our vacation in the Gillis.

13. Cash for the visa fee

Papers brought but they did not want and handed back to us:

1. phone call records

2. text message records and their translations

3. signed prenuptial agreement (neither the bahasa nor the english version)

4. copy of university diploma

5. 129-F binder

Please check the embassy page on here for a full review of the interview itself.

Hi and thanks for starting a thread for Indonesia! Wow, documents were processed really fast for you, amazing!! Did you have any issues or did things go very smoothly? Any tips for us?

We just got our NOA1 on 2015-12-11 and hoping it will also be processed quickly.

Glad to hear things are going well for you and good luck with your interview

Wulan & Ian

Sorry for the delayed response, things have been a bit hectic. We experienced no hiccups yet on our journey. He passed the interview and is just now waiting for his passport to be mailed back to him.

Feel free to message me with questions if you have any. I found the Jakarta embassy to be quite helpful as well in the process.

Crazy times! The interview was the 14th and it was over in a snap. We are now just waiting on his passport to be returned to him, hopefully in a week or so.

Thanks for the help everyone! We will post some more details later to help out those in the future.

I know every embassy is different, but for people searching on the Jakarta embassy info, I have found them to be quick and kind. The respond to emails within hours and made sure to give my fiance an interview date early enough so that I could attend. =)

I hope everyone continues to have good luck and speedy processes!

I get the need to try and understand every detail as much as possible. Our petition was pretty simple. My fiance has never been outside of Indonesia and has never been married, no kids, he is also Christan (which sadly may have helped things). We met in person at the field site where I did my dissertation work. We had tons of pictures together and have been living with each other for several months. I've been living in Indonesia for over a year and submitted proof of that as well. Neither of us has ever been in trouble with the law and we both have college degrees. We organized everything in a folder in our packet according to the table of contents.

Don't get too worried yet. Remember that there are lots of steps to this process and if you or your fiance has been to multiple countries there are more places for background checks. If you have lived in multiple states in the US that probably matters too. Different countries and different states probably have different response times to background check requests. If you have been married before, or had trouble with the law, or met on a dating website, these things could also slow things down.

Then there are the holidays. The people at the CSC are real people. They could need sick days, vacation days, or just have days with more difficult files. I'm really sorry you all got stuck in the waiting game, but I'm sure you won't have to wait too much longer. Ultimately, the CSC helps protect our nation and tries to ensure that engagements are legitimate. It's a tough job.

Thank you so much for this information!

I think one of my biggest concerns is how weird my situation is. For all of the 2014 tax year I had a TA position, for most of the 2015 tax year I was on a fellowship, and this coming tax year I only secured a TA position for the first semester. (You don't find out about fall semester fellowships and TA lines until April). I won't file my 2015 taxes until late January/early Feb, so my 2014 taxes will look really weird compared to this year's income (and next years projected income). Although the rental income is noted on my taxes and has been for the last 5 years. I was thinking of creating an excel spreadsheet that details out my income and assets as they stand, but I also really like your idea of writing out an explanation. I will start drafting that today.

I have all the documents you suggested printed already, except I was only going to give my fiance only the last few months of bank statements. How many months do you suggest he bring? One more oddness to add to the pile, I opened a checking account specifically for my research grants and expenditures. It is almost at 0 now, because my research is over and all this money has been spent. But you do see large amounts of money going from my main bank account into this research account of the course of the last year. Do I need to give my fiance these statements as well? I was awarded very large grants to support my dissertation project here in Indonesia, although this money was never "income" and will not be reflected in any taxes.

I guess I should also email the consulate and ask them. =) It is good to know they are ok to help with all this stuff. I am hoping that my fiance has his interview before I leave the country in a few weeks. We are getting down to the wire, but they emailed me before Christmas for my fiance's info, so it may be possible.

Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates something this month! I just thought I would give everyone an update. The Jakarta embassy received our packet from NVC already and sent me an email before Xmas. No email yet to my fiance, but we hope that he will get the email early next week.

Hi everyone,

I probably won't get a reply here as Indonesia seems rather dead at the moment on the forum. But maybe anyone with past experience will see this.

I am a phd student so don't make enough money for the I-134 ($7,000). But, I have a rental home that brings in $13,200 every year. So that puts me a little bit over.

I also have a decent amount of money in my bank account as well as a home that is valued at much more than the mortgage. I have heard though that sometimes they won't accept assets. And I am worried that they will view my rental home income as income only necessary to pay it's own mortgage. Any experience with any of this stuff?

Also, is it possible to email the embassy and ask them questions? If so, how specific can I get without causing problems?

Thanks in advance

You can peek at my timeline to see an update. I think my packet was mailed on the 16th, but it may have been mailed on the 14th. I am not 100% sure as there is a DHL package on both days. However, the one on the 14th was out for delivery at noon Jakarta time and then was put on "hold" at 5:45pm. I hope (for my or someone else's sake) that it just means they didn't reach the embassy in time to deliver it and they will try again Monday.

I was hoping for more movement before Xmas, but I think we would be very lucky to hear from the embassy by Thursday.

These members seem to have the answer >>> http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/451218-packet-3-jakarta-embassy-split/

This is much more helpful. Thank you =)

Here is what's needed for the interview (packet 3).

http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/visa/fiance_k1_visa.html

http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/visa/req_docs_iv_interview.html

Yeah... this was not really helpful. I have already read this information and would like to know HOW the consulate gets the email address to send the packet. Perhaps I am missing something on these pages and would welcome some more information.