Newbie2016

Hi everyone, I applied for my I-485 (adjustment of status) and I'm still waiting for my I-765 (employment authorization). I'm a Canadian citizen and I'm currently a visitor in the US. So my question is: BEFORE my I-765 gets approved, am I able to work as a contractor for a Canadian company IN Canada, while being physically located in the US myself? I called USCIS today but they didn't know and said I should schedule an appointment with their field office to find out, but I was just hoping that one of you might have the answer. Thank you!

Hi guys, I'm waiting for the I-131 and I have yet another question: I'm hoping to go to a friend's wedding in Canada with it, but my understanding is that even if you get the document, you're not GUARANTEED re-entry into the US. Since I'm adjusting my status from visitor (i.e. I have no visa for the US), am I at a higher risk of being denied re-entry? My fear is that they'll say to me at customs that since I have a green card application pending, I have "the intent to immigrate" without having any kind of visa. Thanks.

Thanks for the info! I entered as a visitor and applied for AOS from visitor status (we originally came for a visit but later decided to stay). So right now I'm still just a visitor. I don't even have an I-94 because I'm Canadian and apparently they don't really issue them to Canadian visitors. I thought I wouldn't even be able to get an SSN right now. Is that correct?

Also, Obamacare is not considered a form of "financial aid", right? Since we had to fill an I-864 saying I'm not able to receive "financial aid", I just wanted to be extra sure I'm fine.

My husband is part of his family's health plan, but it's a plan I can't be a part of since I'm over 26 years old.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I just applied for my green card and I'm waiting for it. I wanted to get health insurance, but it's proving to be a little more complicated than I thought. I called an insurance broker and they were only able to find one plan that works for me given that I don't have a SSN. The premium was very high and the coverage was not great. Do I get a SSN when my work authorization (I-765) gets approved? Any tips for health coverage in the meantime?

Additional info: my husband can't add me on to his health plan since he's in a family plan and I don't qualify for it.

Thank you!

Hi guys, for the I-864A, should my father-in-law (the household member) provide:

-a photocopy of his passport to establish citizenship + age

-my husband's birth certificate to establish father-son relationship

-his tax returns to show income and address, which confirms that he and my husband/the sponsor are living in the same house (I'm actually not sure the address is on the tax forms but if it's not, we'll find something else as proof of address)

Is that enough evidence? Or would he also need to show a letter of employment or something else? Thanks again for all your help!!!

Thanks everyone!! Really glad to get confirmation .

Sorry guys I have another question. On the I-485, before signing, there's a paragraph that says "I understand and acknowledge that, under section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as an alien who has been or will be in the Unites States for more than 30 days, I am required to register with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)."

How do I "register", and do I need to? If I submit all my papers before the 30 day mark, would it count as registering? Thanks!

Hi all,

I'm currently in the process of applying for AOS in the US from visitor status. I wanted to apply for advanced parole to attend a friend's wedding in Canada, but I'm reading the I-131 instructions in detail right now and it seems like I would only be eligible under very special circumstances like for "humanitarian reasons" and so on?? Is this correct ? When I googled "I-131 for wedding", it seems like others have done it. Anybody knows what's going on? Would I need to be on a K-3 visa, for example, to be eligible? Thank you!

Hi folks, sorry for all the questions. We're reviewing the forms we filled and I just wanted to make sure I'm filling in the address correctly. When it asks for MY address, as a visitor to the US applying for AOS, do I use my Canadian address, or the address I'm staying at in the US? We thought it would be best to use the US address since I'm here right now, but are they expecting me to use my Canadian address since I'm just a visitor? Thanks.

Form I-130 makes that distinction in some places by asking for "address abroad" vs "address where you intend to live". But on I-485, for example, we listed the US address since it gives us the "in care of" option, and in the instructions it actually said "you must have a US address to use this form". What is USCIS expecting us to fill in? Can I list the US address for myself unless it asks for my address abroad? Sorry for all these really basic questions .

Oh wow thanks for the info. Intent to deny? I wasn't even aware of it

Guys do you know the expected time between USCIS receiving my papers and calling me for the interview? I was planning to just submit everything EXCEPT for the I-693 because I haven't scheduled a medical exam yet, and just bring it to the interview. But some say it's a good idea, some say it's bad.

Haha thanks everyone for your advice! I really appreciate that you're all trying to give me the best information possible. Sorry, I didn't even think of stating in my very first post that my intention was just to visit because I took that for granted.

Hi everyone, thanks for your concern and your words of caution. Just to clarify, when we entered as visitors, it was with the intention of VISITING only-which is why I never did any research about all of this ahead of time, and hence the confusion . We had a change of plan based on family circumstances.

Ok thanks everyone. Following your advice, we went ahead and got a household member to supplement our income. I now have 2 areas of confusion:

1) household size calculation: the household member who will be included to help us meet the income requirement is my husband's father (a US citizen). Should my husband file the I-864, list me as the principal immigrant, then list his dad as another member of his household, for a total of 3 household members? Under this scenario, my husband's mom and his brother will not be included as part of the household, but my understanding is that this is ok. Can someone please confirm this? Household of 3 and I-864A for my husband's father?

2) most recent tax year: as of now, my husband and his family have NOT yet filed their taxes for 2015. Is it ok (since it's still March) to use 2014 as the most recent year?

Cash. Pure cash in the bank lol.

Thank you all for your responses. So it sounds like my husband will have to say that he has NO income at all currently, is that correct? Our initial plan was to say that we think he'll start earning money soon because of this passage in the instructions (in particular the parts in red):

Item Number 2. Current Individual Annual Income. Enter your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit and indicate the total in the space provided. You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. If your claimed income includes alimony, child support, dividend or interest income, or income from any other source, you may also include evidence of that income.

We were hoping that based on his previous income/employment, we'd be able to claim that we believe he'll have income soon. But from reading the responses here, it sounds like he's not allowed to make "salary projections" without a job offer, essentially, is that correct? I read about how to use assets to quality as a sponsor in the instructions, but in the example they gave, they're only supplementing current income with assets. Does anybody know whether the gov will still be ok with ZERO income and ONLY assets in practice (in our case, cash)? Our taxes do show that we were making money in prior years though.

If we're ok with JUST assets, does the money need to be converted into USD from CAD? Since the exchange rate isn't favourable at all for the Canadian dollar, we'd rather not ... If anybody has any strategies to suggest that DON'T involve a co-sponsor, I'd be really glad to hear them too. Thank you again for all your help.

Hi everyone,

Once again, thank you so much for your replies! They've been really helpful and encouraging. We're done with most forms now and are now filling the I-864 Affidavit of support and we have some concerns regarding our current situation: my husband is self-employed at the moment, with no income to date for this calendar year because we were traveling. However, he was employed full-time for the past 2 years. I read online that in part 6, line 5, when they ask for his "current individual annual income", it refers not to how much he's making at the moment, but how much he expects to make this calendar year. So my questions are:

1) Would it be ok for us to claim that he'll make x amount this year, assuming he'll soon find new employment, and provide tax info that shows he was indeed making money for the past 2 years, at above 125% the federal poverty guidelines? We have about 30k USD in savings but no other valuable assets such as real estate. As for how much he expects to make this year, since it's end of March, would it be safe to assume that he'll make, say, at least half of what he normally makes working a full year?

2) Will they "discount" his earnings for the past 2 years since they were in Canadian dollars? The exchange rate isn't very favourable to the CAD right now so would it make his previous earnings extra bad? Either way, we would still not be below the poverty line. It's just that I worry that if they shave off 35% of his earnings after currency conversion, they may think we're overstating his earning potential for this year since he now expects to earn USD. The dilemma for us is essentially to not understate his income to the point where immigration thinks I'll rely on social security, but also not overstate it without sufficient proof.

3) Would it help to explain our situation in the cover letter, including how we've been staying with family and friends and have minimal expenses?

At the end of the day, my main question is whether we're ok to go ahead given our financial position, or whether we'd have to get a co-sponsor, which we'd really rather not do. Thank you so much for your input!