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YecaCruz

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Profile Information

  • Gender
    Female
  • City
    Mandan
  • State
    North Dakota
  • Interests
    Cats. Farming. Jesus. Chocolate. MacGyver.

Immigration Info

  • Immigration Status
    Naturalization (approved)
  • Place benefits filed at
    California Service Center
  • Local Office
    Saint Paul MN
  • Country
    Nicaragua
  • Our Story
    Met July 2010 while I served in the communications department for Castillo del Rey in Nicaragua (my fav country in the world). This was my 6th trip to this country. Officially dating as of Sept 15 of 2010. Left to go back to US October 1, 2010. It's been long and hard but also rewarding to have to get to know someone without the distraction of just being "physical". We continued to chat through facebook, emails. Back then he would walk to a cyber café to video chat at least 3 times a week until we were able to go apple and then do facetime. We facetime almost every day. He asked my parents THE QUESTION Nov of 2015. K1 went super fast and he was on ND soil Feb 5. We married in the courthouse the same day.

Immigration Timeline & Photos

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  1. Same. I'm the paralegal of the Cruz home lol. Good luck in the process and if you think of it, let us (or me know) how it goes. It would be nice to have someone to compare notes with especially since we both are from Nicaragua...well my husband is anyway...I'm 100% chela!
  2. Congrats on getting them through the parole process. Marriage to a US citizen or asylum are probably the only ways the will be able to "stay" although the former is not a guarantee unless you can argue a strong, positive case. Right now, I don't see that there is a renewal option after the 2 years are up. That would be nice as things probably won't change in 2 years. I helped out friend/husband's brother-from-another-mother submit his asylum application last weekend with several 3rd party documentation supporting country conditions and a 2 page declaration. I helped him write out the declaration and translated anything that was in Spanish. Before you do so, I suggest the "political asylum lawyers" youtube channel. There are a TON of great guide videos and tips; and it is worth spending a few days acclimating yourself with the different parts of the process. Asylum doesn't seem DIY and it's probably totally worth getting a lawyer to help out but neither us nor our friend has thousands of dollars to drop but with enough research it is possible. If this is the route your family will take the application must be submitted within 1 year of them being here.
  3. This guy gives zero fluffs today; it's not like he pays the mortgage!
  4. agreed. MX primary language is Spanish so it makes no sense that they would need anything translated from Spanish. I just wanted to answer if they need a professional to translate docs, which they don't and can save money.
  5. I can't even compare to why we chose K1 in 2016 due to the current circumstances, and it obviously worked out for me with a miraculous processing time of barely 3 months and an equally miraculous processing time for his green-card (see signature) Given that processing times right now really yield no difference between the 2 options I would echo what many others are stating; get hitched now! You already know that you guys want to take that step and you have a huge advantage of being together now. Having to involve yourselves in immigrations will of course complicate things a bit and certainly take the luster off of something that is so wonderful. Try to zoom out and get the bigger picture which are the many previously listed disadvantages and costs of the mandatory steps to be taken if you go with a K1. I looked at everything with USCIS glasses on for a while because that's just what I had to do with citizenship as the end goal. My wedding ring is a cheapo stainless-steel thing and while its nothing to look at but it's very significant for me. I would think your family will be thrilled to celebrate your marriage no matter how much later it is from the ceremony. Save even more money and splurge on a nice ring for your 5 year or 10-year anniversary if that is something of importance to you. Good luck in coming to a decision!
  6. Made turkey first time ever. I think I left in the oven too long as it was just starting to dry up. Lesson learned! but people went back for seconds so must not have been too bad. All the lefse is gone and they compared it to a very similar Nica treat (though not made from potatoes). Ate up a huge cauldron of rice in less than 24 hours and fried up some beef and leftover-turkey Nicaraugan tacos with a repollo salad and sour cream (and ketchup which I chose to not put on mine). Finished off the weekend by cheating and ordering pizza...we were all tired of the kitchen at that point hehe!
  7. It will be a very gringo Thanksgiving at casa Cruz in good 'ole NoDak to give our Nicaraguan friends a taste of the upper Midwest festivities: turkey, stuffing, cheesy/creamy hashbrown taters, veggies, apple & mini pumpkin pies, along with lefse or as I describe it to them - the Norwegian tortilla. I gotta include part of the ND food traditions thanks to overwhelming majority of us having German or Norsky roots. Turkey stuff on Thursday followed by a weekend of gallo pinto, Nica tacos, pollo a la plancha, rice up to our ears and all the Nicaraguan foods we can manage to churn out of the kitchen in a limited amount of time. Pics to follow!
  8. get a family member/friend with sufficient salary and legal US status to be your wife's sponsor for the CHNV program. When you ask them, make sure they understand that they are not committing to sending a monthly check or anything like that since you will be the one providing for her - you basically just need them since he/she would fulfill the "living in the US" requirement as a sponsor. Relatively speaking, this will be the quickest way to get her paroled into the US legally; quick meaning months and not years. From there you can then file to adjust status/green cards et al. The sooner you get the ball rolling on that, the better the chances are to maybe have wife's sponsor approval by Feb. No promises but get it done asap. Have you approached your employer and explained the situation? Perhaps they could reconsider renewing your contract in the current country given the circumstances?
  9. no, relationship is not a factor as long as the sponsor and beneficiary kind of know each other - aka no human trafficking going on, if you are still talking about the CHNV program. My parents sponsored a friend and her family that they've known for 20 years.
  10. They may have changed the CNHV program since we did it; though I am not sure since I am not following it too closely anymore. Back when we did it for my brother-in-law in March, it was 30k total for all 4 countries. 1/2 to be processed in order and 1/2 to be processed randomly. the I-134a follows the poverty guidelines so there is indeed either minimum income based on the household size OR minimum amount of assets needed from the sponsor. There is no income requirement for the beneficiary/you wife and you can put $0 for her. There is also the option to have numerous co-sponsors if needed.
  11. Processing time was about 1 month when this program first came out. I saw people getting approved within 2 weeks - it was absolutely mindblowing. Now it is taking much longer due to the huge, growing backlog but definitely not 2 years. If you are looking for something relatively quick this program would probably be the best way to get her to the states legally and then legally adjust via marriage. Make sure her Nica passport will not expire during that time. As someone mentioned you will fill out the i-134a online for her as her primary sponsor, upload supporting documentation, and wait! Another option is send her to Spain if you have to go back and then lose the residency. Nicaragua and Spain have this funky reciprocal agreement that they don't need visas to go to each other's countries. If she would want to work she'd have to go through whatever the process is. Avoid going back to Nicaragua at all costs; the country is such a mess politically and economically right now. I feel so bad for the people that have no option but to live under the Ortega regime right now.
  12. A THREAD ABOUT CATS!!??? YES!!! PLEASE allow me to join this thread. Cats have been in my life throughout my short 34 years of life. I was the cat-lady at the farm that cared for the all the barncats, walked in the shelterbelt with a whole gang following me, found most of the new litters, and had names for all of them...even the un-tame ones. Here are our two doofuses Mac and Minino. Hand raised since 5 days of life after their mother died.
  13. echoing what many others are stating. File the N400 to get that process going since that is your ultimate goal. You'll have at least a month's notice if not more between receiving the notification and the interview. You'll also be able to see the interview notice from your USCIS account in case you are out thus you'd be able to plan accordingly and fly back.
  14. no problem. The first things I did with my then-husband when he got here was add him as an authorized signer (to help build up his credit) and add him to as many bills and accounts I could think of: banking and retirement accounts, apartment rental lease, phone & utilities, car insurance,. If they questioned why I would state that it was for immigration purposes as proof of shared finances to support his change of status. We also created notarized durable and medical power of attorney documents. Good luck! If all else fails, take your accounts elsewhere and let them silly bankers know you are going to find someone who better serves your needs. Get them where it hurts lol. Would be even better if it was a bank across the street or something!
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