Cadence

The reason why I suggested you wait to file until you guys moved into a new place together is because the officer who interviewed me and my husband gave us a very hard time about why we had different addresses on our I-485 and I-130. At the time of filing, we were kind of like you. We had separate residences, but I was over at his place all the time that in a sense I had "moved in". Documentation-wise, it was not so and it will not be interpreted that way by the officer. Even when I had officially moved in and had filed a change of address with USCIS months before the interview date, the officer was not interested. He focused on why our initial addresses were different. He said that based on the address alone, a different officer could have denied the application. 

I really can't stress this enough. Give yourselves less of a hurdle and either add her to your lease or wait to file until you guys live officially in the same place (proof being driver's license and lease). 

As for the bank account, think of it this way - virtually any "couple" can make a bank account together. It's one of the easiest "fake" relationship evidences. So just having one is not enough. Showing regular transaction history on it would be good to show it's legitimate at least. 

As for your other question about EAD (i-765) - you can work as if you had a green card with the EAD. Only thing that sucks about it is that if your green card application is denied, your EAD is terminated and you can no longer work legally.

1. Yes. IOs seem to want documents with both your names on it. So things like bank accounts, lease, bills and such would be good evidence. My IO almost denied my application because he saw that we submitted 2 different addresses for the I-130 and I-485. He kept asking why we didn't live together. It will be on YOU to show on paper why the heck you guys aren't living together. It has to be painstakingly obvious. Personally I'd just wait to file until you guys had moved into a new place together and make it easier on yourselves. 

2. No need.

4. She still has to file an I-864 since she is petitioning you, but since she doesn't meet the income requirement, she has to have a co-sponsor who can and does meet it. Your future job that you don't even have does not count for anything. 

Adjusted from F-2, can back up everyone's answer here.

You said it's been 3 years since you've been married, so she is well past the CPR stage and all? Did she apply to be a citizen? There's no retaliation you can have against her immigration status just from the details you have provided. 

Best thing you can do personally is think about whether or not you want to remain with this woman who is so jealous that she cannot recognize your love for your daughter is a separate love for a wife/life partner. 

If he's in the country, wouldn't you do AOS instead? CR-1 visa is for people to enter the U.S. from another country based on marriage. (correct me if I'm wrong!)

If he does AOS, he can't leave the country unless he has AP in hand and that could take ~3 months or more. Is he prepared to buckle down with you, or have business at home to wrap up such as job/house/car, etc? If he has to be in France to do so, CR-1 once he's in France would be the way to go.

I listed the professional pharmacy organizations I belonged to. IO never brought it up.

Bona fide stuff isn't extra. It's you establishing your eligibility to file for the I-130 petition. People bring further/more proof of bona fide stuff they've gathered from time of filing to time of interview. 

Wait could be anywhere from weeks to months. You'll see how long I waited if you look at my signature. 

As per instructions of the I-130/I-485, you were supposed to submit them with the paperwork long before the interview. They ask for it because that is the bread and butter of the I-130; you and your husband need to establish a relationship as a married couple beyond doubt to USCIS to show that you guys are eligible for the marriage-based AOS. 

Assuming you sent in everything within the RFE window, you shouldn't be worried. They warned you plenty that failure to submit required documents could mean a delay in processing, and that's what's happening right now. I waited a while before I got an interview letter after my RFE response was received. Chances are you may have to as well, since we filed at the same field office. 

Residency, rotation, doesn't really matter. The point is, it's still something you can either frame as partly out of her control in being able to pick a site closer to you, or as a great opportunity that she didn't want to give up because it concerned her future career and you both agreed it'd be something temporary. You seem to have plenty of documents with both your names on it. That's great. What about your driver's licenses? Do you both have the same address listed?

Why not get some documentation that backs up your narrative? USCIS officers aren't stupid and they have probably heard of many cases where a spouse had to move temporarily to do something related to school or work. They will understand your situation if you explain it to them. Understanding and having document proof are not the same though. Don't worry about being apart. Worry about showing documentation that you two have a bona fide marriage (having insurance together, power of attorney, lease, bills, etc.) and that her rotation situation is temporary.

Is she still on your lease? She may have moved for the rotation, but that's temporary. Where is her 'home'? Having her on your lease and utility bills will help with that. Show that her move was for the purposes of making her transit to her rotation site easy and is only temporary. What about rules about rotations from her school? Her school must have some guidance documents on the limitations of picking/being assigned rotation sites? For example, my school has numerous documents posted to show that site selection is geographically limited for accreditation reasons. If not, your wife could even ask the rotation coordinator if she/he wouldn't mind writing an affidavit/letter stating your wife has to go where she is assigned. What about your job? You said there's zero presence in the town she went to for someone of your background. You could show your current salary, your level/years of experience, what your industry is to try and back up why you wouldn't want to drop your current position to move with her. 

I meant I-765, not I-766. Slip of the finger!

I also came on a B2 visa then switched to an F-2. Been in the U.S. ever since until I got married and adjusted status recently. If you have questions, hit me up. I can try to share what I can of my own process and experiences. 

Do you mean to say your visa will expire in 10 days, but you plan to get married in 5 days? 

You can stay and do adjustment of status from your B2 to permanent resident, but are you ready for that? Cost is one thing to consider, but what about your life back in your home country? This process could take 6 months to a year generally speaking. Do you not have any business to wrap up? A job to quit? Documents to secure/grab? You cannot return to your home country without at least obtaining an Advanced Parole document, which may take at least 3 months, if not more depending on your case. You cannot work here without an EAD, which will take generally 3 months. Can your future spouse support you until then and then some? What evidence of bona fide marriage would you have if you kept coming and visiting on a visitor's visa? Are you confident that between now and the interview date you'd be able to arrange all of this? 

It's not impossible, but it's not a light decision to make. Why not take a look at the I-130/I-485/I-131/I-766/I-864 documents you have to submit on the USCIS.gov website first? Read through the required evidence and supporting documents that need to be submitted with your application so you know what you are planning to get yourself into. 

I have a marriage where we are currently long-distance for the majority of the time for one more year. My IO wanted documents to explain why we were long distance even though we were married. He was understanding and kind about hearing how our relationship evolved and came to be, but not enthusiastic about our lack of joint documents such as car/lease. We only had a bank account with both our names on it. We had photos, extensive travel records/ticket stubs and letters we had sent each other, but he said they didn't show why I didn't "live" with him full time as husband and wife. What he tipped him from recommending us for a second interview to approval on the spot were my school documents showing my $10,000/yr reward from my school and room-agreement (as documented "reasons" for why I'd want to attend a school that wasn't local or closer to my husband), and my husband's current hefty salary (as a documented reason for why he wouldn't just up and leave to come live with me). We tried to also support why my husband wouldn't want to leave his current residence with the custody order for visitation with his child, but the IO didn't seem too interested in that, strangely enough. He really stressed showing documents to back up our narrative of why our relationship is the way it is. 

My advice is, grab every little thing you can that has both your names on it, period. If you can make a power of attorney or medical directive thing going, it wouldn't hurt to add to the pile. Heck, get affidavits from as many trusted people as you can. My IO was very generous with my case. Your IO may not be. 

My colleague took her 5 years of transcripts to the interview and was asked for it even though she had not been outside the country in the 5 years before the applying. Have them with you just to be safe?

What happened to your tax transcripts for the last 5 years?

First, congrats on her pregnancy!

Unfortunately, her pregnancy alone is not enough proof of a bona fide relationship. All it proves definitively is that you may have had intercourse with her or donated your sperm in some way. What will help strengthen the proof and your ties with your wife is showing documents that show both your names such as utility bills, car/health insurance, and lease. You've dated and been married such a short time before filing. That's not an issue per se, and it's understandable that you may not have documents that are more than just affidavits and pictures yet. Submitting with what you have is fine, but start gathering documents like lease and bills with both your names on them to be prepared for the interview. 

As much as we'd like to tell you what your "chances" are at a successful AOS, we are not USCIS officers and we cannot read their minds. It's not a great question to be asking or focusing on.

Appreciate it!

Hey VJers, 

Happy new years to all. I am just looking forward into the future to be prepared for ROC. Looking at the form, part 5 asks me to list my children, if any. I do not have any children with my husband and we have no plans to have a child within the next 2 years or ever in the future. My husband does have one child with his ex-girlfriend. I have not adopted her legally. Do I still have to list the child under this section because she is my husband's child or should I not list her because she's not legally my child?

Your bona fide evidences are kind of weak in my opinion. You can go ahead and submit those, but your IO may give you an even harder time than mine did come interview time. I also had cards and travel records, but the IO kept asking for documents with both our names on it that were more than just "hearsay" - aka not from just friends and family. From your story I'm assuming you didn't have enough time to go get a bank account together and what not, but it's a good idea to be very prepared when it's time for your interview. Strengthen your bona fide evidence with documentation (the IO emphasized this so much during our interview) of your names together.

It doesn't need to be a cashier's check. That being said, I sent in mine as cashier's checks and they worked just fine.

I'm not sure? Is your income level insufficient?

As long as the right language is there, you can take it to a notary to witness her signing the document and then have him/her sign it as well. The notary will want proof of ID for her, and possibly documents supporting her ownership of the house mentioned in the document. Notaries can be found in banks or even UPS locations. You can search on the site for some example affidavits if you don't know how to write it.

Like I said, you can file with those but will need to be VERY prepared for the interview. When I filed I only had a single bank statement also, and the IO kept repeating that he was going to recommend our case for a second interview until we started pulling out more documents (which we didn't think were related, but made sense in hindsight). If it'll just be the bank statement (even if the bank records are from now until the interview date), it will not be enough. You need more of which I have already listed.

When did you file your AOS?

I'm not a citizen and I'm able to have bank accounts and such with a valid ID with my husband. As mentioned earlier by someone, you have the option to prepare all of these for the interview, but if that's the case you need to be very proactive about presenting the documentation to the IO. Don't do what we did at ours and wait for the IO to finish his line of questioning to provide various evidence a piece at a time. Basically needs to be like... BAM, here's our stuff. We have a lot of documentation that show things with both our names on it, and we can explain every single one + their relevance/timeline throughout our marriage.