rushter

If you haven't sent it out yet....

I'm expecting the same kind of RFE for my case. My wonderful new love life took a major dive the day I came back from my first visit to my wife in 2002... and that was financial disaster. It's taken me until this year to get everything up to snuff to actually file for an aos. For the last two years we can show 125%.... but 2003 is hosed. But who cares about 2003 and only 12 grand... I showed them 'progress' and stability for the last two years.

Now, Your letter is excellent, however you're a little emotional in there, and a bit too verbose. You want to logically argue your position from a position of STRENGTH.

Look at page 2 paragraph 1. Find a way to get rid of it.

Page 2 paragraph 2. Too verbose. Give facts only.

Think Like screw you guys, here's where the buck stops.

The rest, reevaluate the statements. Think like a lawyer. You're going up against a person that probably has an inferiority complex anyway. At the top of the letter, label the evidence you're submitting... something like this:

RE: RFE (RFE / Case Number) Dated xx/xx/xxxx:

Exhibits:

A. Original RFE from USCIS, Verification of 125% Income Requirement

B. Letter from Current Employer, XYZ Enterprises

C. Previous Employment Paystubs: 02/01/2006 - 06/06/2006

D. Evidence of Out of Country Presence, Passport/Visa Photocopies

E. Evidence that I'm going to kick yer butt if you don't approve this thing.

To Whom it May Concern:

We are good people and you are totally misguided in even THINKING that we can't sustain ourselves, we kick butt and by golly we're going to prove it to you right now!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Don't actually write that, but THINK like that when making your case in writing. Think from a position of STRENGTH.

Remember, you were asked for an RFE! You were not denied.

Even if they deny you I believe you can still appeal your case - but get an experienced lawyer and get it done right, don't run away. (I've got one if you need it).

If you've already sent it off, then you may be ok as it stands. It depends on whether the person reading and examining your evidence thing has had his coffee for the day or not.

hope this helps!

There's a lot of posts about this subject - For Russian spouses you need to make a real 'command decision' here.

If she's going to want to go back to her country anytime soon, the issue of traveling freely will end once you file AOS with her married name because her passport(s) reflect her original name, not her married name.

So, once she gets her green card, (in her married name), she will need to go home to change her internal passport, then her international passport to her married name so she can come back to the USA.

Why?

Because the I94 / Visa will be invalid (and I94 removed at aos) and for one reason or another the way I've read the threads... the Russian folks won't let her come back to the USA (board a plane) unless she has a valid visa in the same name that's in her passports! Apparently the RG does not recognize name changes here with regard to a usa permanent resident card.

Think about it...

Wife reenters Russia with her passports in her maiden name.

Wife expects to leave Russia... her passport no longer has a valid visa to the USA.

Her only proof is a green card in her married name.

The RG says... kharasho... nyet!

If her green card was in the same name as her passport(s), then it would be smooth sailing. No hassle at all.

Otherwise, you're screwed.

Considering the ####### involved, name changes aren't worth the trouble imo. After all, it's the love and real relationship that are the most important.

I'm going to try not to be an as shole in this post.

You're from Malaysia, and your wife is USC... You only have one other post that id's your country of origin.

The uscis btch was playing you guys for a fool in my opinion - (she was playing with your head); that is, if you've explained everything that you went thru considering your english skill level. (I'm not berating your english, just trying to understand if you've actually said 'everything' that happened, often times small details omitted can have rather large implications).

Now, since you've posted this with limited historical information, you're asking for an answer that probably doesn't exist.

Your wife petitioned you to come here, or your wife the usc is married to you the foreigner, and yet she isn't proactive enough to counter this dumbass interrogation with plausible answers. Just one or two words...

like: 'She than ask who live in the previous house.'

My wife answer; daughter and uncle.

Now listen, if your wife only has two words to that question to answer... this doesn't make any sense. There has got to be more to this - I know this is an interrogation of sorts but that's their job. An interview is also a conversation... defend yourself if necessary... interact. Work the situation to the most favorable results.

It almost sounds like both of you walked into this interview feeling like `suspects` of a crime by the militia not wanting to say much of anything for fear of being incriminated.

Was it YOU or was it your USC wife that filed the AOS?... (filled out the paperwork and did the homework to figure out what to do?)

This interview stinks imo.

It could be though, that the bogus questions were more to get some kind of response/interaction from a dead tree (you guys) that didn't exist in other places.

With the limited information that you've posted here, that's the best that I could estimate. You sound like a straight up guy, but if you folks came off like cold dead fish at the interview (the way you describe it here) then I wouldn't be suprised if the adjudicator asked you how tall the world trade center was in 2003.

This is why they have interviews. To 'adjudicate'... to judge who you are, what you are and why you are trying to adjust to legal permanent residence status, and if it's within the definitions of the law. The interviewer's comments about 90 days/sooner than 90 days could be taken two ways:

"just wait until you get your denied notice and we'll see if you guys are real or not"... or...

"ah hell I'll approve this aos; maybe in a week or so after a good day when I'm in a good mood".

Who knows.

You've got 3 months to fix this. I'd get on the phone with the airlines to see what they can do - (possibly open up the ticket date or set a later date).

Fixing a ceremony/vacation problem is a lot easier than fixing an immigration one.

This is a can-o-worms topic...

Here's some references:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14301

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12446

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5615

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10375

I listened to LOTS of sentimental music and cried a lot. Kept her photos on the dashboard in the car, photos stuck on the computer monitor... screen saver... etc. Worked like a workaholic... started and didn't finish a lot of wanna be projects, hmmmm. Dreamed, and dreamed...

Created a second person personality (her)... that was like she was always with me and what I would talk about, especially driving around town, or going shopping. Ughh... there was a tough one. Going shopping and looking at flowers for sale or cards and stuff - sometimes just seeing them and thinking about sending something like that I'd have to turn my back to get the tears to stop.

Think about it in another way - that this is all a very good thing. The longer you can endure like this the stronger you will be in the future imo.

rotflmao icey...

Seems as if all of the points of the thread are going haywire with what should be looked at and considered by the consulate. Consider Kathryn's post as very informative:

My husband has been divorced twice. At my K-1 interview, the interviewer asked about both of these divorces and when they had occured, even though I had the divorce decrees with me and had handed them to him. He asked to see the originals - I had made copies for them - which I had and at the end of the interview he handed me back the originals, looking rather pointedly at them, and said "So, what do you want me to do?" I was quite taken aback but responded, "I want you to approve my application and give me the visa". He looked me straight in the eye and said "Are you sure you want to do this?" as if he was waiting for me to change my mind. I unhesitatingly said yes, and he sighed and said "alright". I have no idea what was running through his mind but got the feeling that he didin't like the fact that my then fiancee had been divorced twice. I was glad that I did have the details of both of those marriages to know why they failed (one lasted 2 years, the other one 22 years), but I was shaken by that question.

My fiance went thru the exact same in her interview regarding my previous marriage as well as the condition of my daughter who is disabled. She expected it though... and it didn't bother her in the least bit. Questions about HER previous marriage also came up...

However, the folks at the consulate were VERY nice about it, and respectful to her; (suprising considering the questions).

Divorced, once or three times... just be prepared for the questions. Being informed is cheap considering the alternative.

Please don't fall for the panic syndrome method of operation. I can understand how you feel as my wife and I were separated for almost 2 years after my last visit and it took that long for me to get my finances in order and get her k1 properly filed. Even after it was approved and she had her visa in hand, it took another 3 months to get the plane ticket for her and her son to fly here.

You guys are VERY LUCKY that you're so close to each other, and can meet as often as you have.

I don't know how to explain this... (I'm just a man), but after we got married all of the antsy'ness went away and we settled down a lot. Feels a lot more secure, both of us do, after being officially married.

One thing that helped a lot was that she worked full time, had to take care of her son and keep up her house there by herself (so she was busy too). We talked 2-5 times per day, (she had a cell phone which made this easier), and emailed almost daily. We sent photos back and forth via email... I had a web cam set up so she could see me live and all that. Our long separation almost seemed routine, although she did exhibit some stress from time to time of the hassle of doing the man's work at her house and actually being full time mom and dad at home without me being there. It was not easy.

Her stress became mine by a factor of 10X... But that's the way the ball bounces in this business.

If you're not working and are capable, you might want to try to find a part time job to help you while away the time after all, if your mind has too much time to work, it'll definitely over-work itself into un-necessarily stressful situations.

Just a few thoughts...

PS: I'm not sure if you can visit here with the K1 pending... Not the expert, but If you have to apply for a visa (with a k visa pending), then I don't think you can do it; (but with Canada, no visa should be necessary anyways). If you try to come over the border without one and they know you've got a k1 pending, then it's their judgement call if you plan on visiting without returning. Someone else like yodrak would know better.

This almost sounds like it has its roots in the 'urban legend' arena.

From reading hundreds of accounts of performing an aos based on situations like this, my opinion would simply infer that the uscis follows the letter of the law and procedures as they are written at that time. Inferring personal bias at adjudication (USCIS has an absolute fit) by any of them in the process to the end results that you state (takes FOREVER and a Day) is just not within the mechanisms of the system.

Of course, someone at the uscis could 'lose' a document somewhere, perform a needless rfe when the evidence is actually there, etc... but it seems to happen more often with folks that went the normal procedural route than those that came in (to the US) and did something different.

The USCIS is a black hole. The only places that shed light on the workings of it are actual user experiences you will see posted here and other forums. In your specific scenario, there are not so many, but most that are posted are those that are successful and quite happy with their results.

Where all bets are off though, imo, is overseas at the consulates which operate under the department of state and have their own set of jurisdictional priorities and processes. There is a thread somewhere here where a person entered, married, and aos'd under similar circumstances that you state. They attempted to get family members to come to the usa to visit and the consulate turned them down in a millisecond simply because the first person came thru and adjusted using a tourist or similar visa type.

All that shows is that your history can follow you (even if you aos under dissimilar circumstance from your entry visa) and you should be prepared for any future adverse reactions from what you decide to do.

listion IDIOT!@ zz

I love it!

Well, something wasn't right. They found (or decided) that something wasn't right... He got turned back.

This is a real sad situation for you but have you examined all of the possibilities that would turn a person around at the POE? You are blaming YOURSELF, and you shouldn't be.

Yeah, and I dated my tax return signatures with 2007 instead of 2006...

Where the heck did that come from!

Hopefully nobody will notice!

Well perhaps those attempting to analyze the situation should look carefully at the timeline? As the USCIS and DOS is paid to do?

(If you disagree with me on the 'appearance' of the whole thing, then fine, but something(s) just don't make any sense here).

July 31, 2004- USCIS received my petition

April 12, 2005 - Petition and Waiver to meeting face to face are denied

(This should have never happened, much less applied for IMO).

THE NEW JOURNEY HAS BEGUN

April 19-26, 2005- Visit in Germany (first time ever)

..... (snip).....

Aug 29, 2005- DS230 and another form was returned to my fiance for completion

Sep 1, 2005- My fiance returned everything

October 28,2005 -Administrative Review

(So what was the reason for Administrative Review? Any info in it?)

November 7-15, 2005- Vacation in Germany

December 21, 2005- Contact my Senator again.

JAN 2006- Decided to send an email to the Consulate and received a reply that our application is still pending.

FEB 27, 2006- I wrote another letter to the Senator again

MAR, 2006- I called the Consulate and received information that my fiance had a scheduled interview for Feb 20, 2006 and failed to show-up

Your kidding me right? Failed to show up?

MARCH 18-30 - MY THIRD VISIT TO GERMANY

You're certainly paying YOUR dues in this effort...

MARCH 20, 2006- Interview

MARCH 29, 2006- we turned in everything for them to process the visa, they promise it will take 10 days

VISA IN HAND!!!!!!!!!

Then shonjaved chimes in:

let me say this Atlanta is the worst POE for Muslim immigrants.

Ok.... So this fellow is a muslim. (Really? I can't see where it was previously indicated anywhere).

He refused to sign a biographical information form at the poe, and was subsequently denied entry.... needed a translator???

Hunh?

I would have to say on it's face, it's obvious that it's not immigration law compliance that's the issue, but whether the person intends to comply with immigration law, or comply with the laws of the usa.

First by applying for the no meet face to face thing... Good Gawd, that alone takes an act of congress to pull off - you obviously solved the problem by travelling to meet him instead - SEVEN DAYS after the denial? It's not like it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that the waiver was bogus in the first place since you went to meet him so quickly thereafter.

Second was that he allegedly didn't show up for a scheduled interview in his home country. After you had petitioned him... (The only real reason I could imagine someone missing this interview is a death in the family or the death of the beneficiary! - but at least they would reschedule the thing!)

Third he refused to sign a biographic information form at the port of entry. And he needed an interpreter.

Who did what wrong here?

Hell I'm no big fan of immigration legislation, but this pattern of behaviour is literally spitting in the face of the folks that are employed to enforce it.

All I can see are red flags.

Why did this behaviour take place to begin with? Why on earth did you attempt to petition to avoid meeting face to face?

Go ahead burn me to the ground for my comments, but something just stinks here.

Nobody's taken a stab at this post yet... so I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I have absolutely no idea on how to answer this question based on ssa regs... but, I think it would be quite logical for you to submit an EAD so she can get an approval to work, which would give the ssa a quick resolution to the issue of whether or not to give her an ssn/validate her legal status.

It sounds like it boils down to one thing.. a reason for the ssa to realize her legal status. As it is, with no ead app, you haven't provided one.

Historical experience dictates that with the antiquity of the system, an I-797 as needed by the ssa, may actually be the I-797C... I don't know. But the EAD application is easy enough to do, so why not.

Heck fire if anything happened to you she'd need an authorization to work to support herself in the future unless you left her so much money in life insurance you're worth more... ahem well you know what I mean.

Why not check out the 797 vs the 797c (or call the ssa and ask?)

Dunno.. wondering too.

Hi Stina,

You mentioned that you do not have idea where I am getting and/ or from and if you go to this link http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=k1k3aos and if you check Assembling the I-485 Package: Checklist , and go to Line 7 you will see what I am talking about .

Thanks

Repeating/rewriting USCIS instructions and representing them as somewhat authoritative without legal review or at least putting in the appropriate caveats is somewhat dangerous imo.

That statement:

7. A copy of the intending immigrant's birth certificate and/or passport along with English translation. (If in any language other than English)

IS OUTRIGHT MISLEADING!!!!!

Petitioners should read the freakin REAL instructions!

I'll go ahead and respond to my own post.

Kim,

Imagine the day that your fiance is getting on the plane with all his APPROVED papers and documents in hand... next stop is USCIS POE Inspectors.

Now... are you 100% sure that there won't be an issue that will cause him to be turned back?

100%?

IT HAS HAPPENED.

This is no fun and yeah we'd all be happier if we'd just send in one paper thingy that said... send me my husband/wife, and we're good to go.

They never see it that way. And 'they' is what controls your life right now... and just about forever - at least until you get a 10 year break with the unconditional green card.

Kimlbs:

There is no possible humanity to cancelling the issuance of the Visa AFTER the appointment and AFTER the approval

It happened to my fiance/wife in 2004. The damned embassy/State Dept can do what they want. Just because you feel it's wrong doesn't make it wrong in the eyes of the usg.

However, for you to say that there is ALOT of people that have been waiting ALOT longer is bullsh!t and pure ignorance on your part. And for you to tell her to that she is not the only one in the waiting club is just stupid. THERE IS NOT ONE OTHER PERSON THAT GOT APPROVED AND HAD THEIR VISA REVOKED AFTER THE FACT...........So......she is NOT like anyone else and your attitude sucks.......OHHHHH you irritated me with this post.....

Ye speak with closed mind.

Your should lay off. Immigration is NOT some open and shut book like you claim. It changes. The law changes. Embassies and agencies constantly react to those changes in the law.

What the guy says is FACT.

Stop being offended by a single poster based on your own slam dunk step by step process of your own experience.

Immigration IS HARD TO DEAL WITH AND EVERYBODY HAS THEIR OWN SITUATIONS. That's why the process is controlled by humans rather than computers. And this statement by LenJay:

Your not the only one in the waiting club. Stressing over it isn't going to help any. It's better that it happened now, instead of flying over and being denied entry at the POE because it was no longer a valid visa.

I was going to just write a quick salute to.. because he's right. Until I saw your flaming post. You're wrong so Be nice.

The truth is difficult to deal with; the dream of the relationship is what keeps it going though.

Just wait until you hit a roadblock with the uscis/dos and then others will be trying to help you out here - then maybe lenjay's posts might make a lot more sense.

Cheers and best of luck to you. I hope you don't hit the same sorry ### roadblocks that so many of the rest of us have.

Now beeee nice motu. heh heh.

Legally I'm sure you're right. I don't think they have any legal means to delay a petition because a personal check was used.. (as long as it is a legal monetary instrument in the usa in us dollars).

I think what was being conveyed is the idea is that it's just a little safer to use an instrument that's already been paid for such as a money order, cashiers check, bank check, certified..etc...

After screwing up my own aos I was so po'd I paid 18 bucks for 4 separate certified bank checks, (aos, aos, ead, biometrics), and I am 100% certain (unless the bank goes bankrupt!!! ) that those bank checks will clear and will never cause me a problem. Now if I had used my checking account and got more stupid and lost my atm card, or someone ripped off my checkbook and rapes my bank account....

which would cause a personal check to bounce, then there would be a definite problem. (You know there's actually a thread around here somewhere about someone worried about the funds in his account and when the checks will hit the bank!)

Yikes!

So... there's a certain degree of personal insurance for $18 that I can live with and while I gave up the ability to determine if they've been cashed (via the traditional tracking means), I'm happy that they'll definitely clear regardless of what happens to me!

B)

And you named your new cat "Topher".

Lol.

I hope that was after TG in T70S.

He rocks!

I have no idea where your reference for "and/or" comes from but clearly on page 2/3 of the I-485 it states the following:

Initial Evidence.

You must file your application with the following evidence:

Submit a copy of your foreign birth certificate or otherrecord of your birth that meets the provisions ofsecondary evidence found in Title 8, Code of FederalRegulations (CFR), 103.2(B)(2).

Copy of passport page with nonimmigrant visa.

If you have obtained a nonimmigrant visa(s) from anAmerican embassy or consulate abroad within the last year,submit a photocopy(ies) of the page(s) of your passportcontaining the visa(s).

You must submit both.

If your existing K1 medical exam was done within the last year, then you don't need another medical. Pay close attention to I-485 instructions. It sounds like you got side tracked on something else.

Additionally, from the way I understand it, (done in practice with the uscis), if your vaccinations/medical is out of date, and they want it, they'll rfe you for it.

This medical/vaccination thing always seems to be the one thing that's a wild card for everyone. Not needed, needed, required/not, rfe, or bring it with you to the interview. There seems to be a million different results with the medical thing regardless of what the law/forms dictate.

Good luck.

Well yours as far as I can tell is about as close to a true textbook K1-AOS case that I've ever seen.

Esp considering your timeline.

Good luck and rest easy. At least if you get deported you don't have far to go you know.

haha!

Just kiddin!

PS: Wow, Keith looks like some kind of a rock star ya know.

The G-325 needs to die.

I say keep the 325 and add check boxes at the bottom:

This is for an I-129, I-485, I-76x, blah blah...

Then eliminate the other 400 forms instead.

PS: G325 color coding doesn't matter. Use plain white cheap stuff.

The colors were for those that were fond of it prior to the paperwork reduction act.

Paperwork Reduction Act??? Wotttt????

... and how annoyed you'd be by possibly waiting for nothing

Classic. Just classic!

Hmmm...

Now I know it was a good idea we didn't change the wife's last name.

You say 'file copy'.

If you're referring to a photocopy of what you submitted to the IRS for 2005, then that's what the USCIS wants. Otherwise they'll send you an RFE.

Anticipate anywhere from next week to Christmas.

This is dependent upon if all of your ducks are in a row when you submitted your application.

If you do like I did and do a royal screwup and forget something, you'll see your checks back in the mail within about 3 weeks.

Whatever you do... DO NOT LET THEM BOUNCE!!!!!