BackWhereIBelong

First off, I realize there is no definitive answer for this, so heuristics will have to prevail, and any real experiences or other guidance would be most appreciated.

The question is about having adequate connection plus first-time entry interview time.

Having passed her overseas US embassy interview for the CR1 visa, we are trying to plan my spouse's trip into the US. Spouse has traveled to the US many times prior on VWP.

There are no direct flights to the final destination, there is always one connecting flight. The first POE airport choices are DFW, MSP, DTW, ORD, ATL, each having various connection options of 3 hours or more. We are probably ruling out ATL and ORD, and preferred airports are DFW and MSP.

Some of the factors are of course plane arrival delays, the amount of people going through the same process at that time, efficiency of the interviewers, etc. 

What have been some of the experiences for the timing for the start-to-finish interview/vetting process, and are there any recommendations for the entire interview + connection time allowance?

Thanks very much in advance. 

Having tried to do this on my old PC (the one I was able to enter text when I first did the I-864 some time back), and being able to do so yesterday, I now I see the problem I am having on my new PC (top brand,  came with Adobe, W10, latest versions of all 5 browsers I use, etc.).

Both browsers I use on the new PC for official things such as this are the same brand browsers that most things things work best in general, but only display the pdf and do not allow entry, whereas it works in same browser on the old PC (which I rarely use as it is very unstable).

On the new PC I can enter data into the pdf using Chrome. 

We've had issues with our whole CR-1 process and got sidelined. We're at the NVC stage and trying to finish the DS-260 & I-864 packet.

I had already done most of the I-864 but had some info pending which was needed to complete that form. Long story not relevant for this....  As a result, I can't remember how I did that I-864 online or in some editor. When Googling for it some sites such as PDFRUN offer it, but on my PC I got a security warning about it and don't know about trusting it with all that personal info.

Question: How to edit the I-864 pdf form from the official website, or, how are other people doing this?

I searched this forum but didn't find it, apologies if this is covered already somewhere but am racing to get this done now that I have the needed info. 

Thanks in advance.

Travel from Japan or the US to Singapore is not short, practical or affordable.

To reiterate the question for a better response, has anyone here on VJ been through this? While this situation is not very common, it is also not completely unique.

We are at the NVC stage of the CR-1 process. We need Police Reports to proceed.

We lived in Singapore and spouse is back in Japan, I am in the US. 

Singapore Police require hard copy fingerprints from Japan in order to provide Singapore Police Certificate of Clearance.

Japan Police do not provide fingerprints on their stationery but will provide just fingerprints on paper. I fear that alone may not be acceptable.

Any suggestions? 

Why do some people get a 6-month visa? ESTA gives 90 days

Hi,

Just sharing my experience today (just arrived the US this morning and got in fine). I am a Malaysian holding a B1/B2 visa. Arrived this morning with my family (including my USC husband) and was told we could all go through immigration together.

Questions asked:
(1) What are your relations? (we're married)
(2) How long have you guys been married for? (since Nov 2015)
(3) How long will you be here for? (2 months)
(4) Do you have any ongoing immigration process? (Ongoing no, but we are starting one soon)

At that point he also asks if I have a return ticket (yes) and asks to see it. After checking it, he gives the OK and stamps a 6 month stay allowance in my passport

I am a bit worried - CR1 process started about a month ago while wife was and still is out of the country.

She will visit in a few weeks on ESTA VWP as a tourist.

She bought a round-trip ticket where she returns on Day 90.

While that is within the limit, I would have preferred she scheduled her return a couple of weeks earlier. To change the flight costs a lot, so wanted to check here if this will compromise her entry to the US.

Thanks again, and an update.

Wife contacted an Acceptance Advisor in Japan, they will charge the equivalent of USD $350 and say it will take 3 months.

This seems outrageous - does this seem right to anyone here?

Can we really not get this done in the US?

Thanks again, and an update.

Wife contacted an Acceptance Advisor in Japan, they will charge the equivalent of USD $350 and say it will take 3 months.

This seems outrageous - does this seem right to anyone here?

Can we really not get this done in the US?

Thanks again, and an update.

Wife contacted an Acceptance Advisor in Japan, they will charge the equivalent of USD $350 and say it will take 3 months.

This seems outrageous - does this seem right to anyone here?

Can we really not get this done in the US?

Thanks, and I want to take this advice, but the IRS site says that as of 2015, overseas US Embassies no longer provide tax services, an ITIN is an IRS / tax construct, not an CIS/NVC/Immigration construct.

Claimed my wife on my/our taxes as she does not work, does not live in the US, and I support her.

The filing got rejected for no SS#.

Called IRS, they said to get her an ITIN and amend the tax filing. Of the 8 or so people I spoke with after hours on th ephone, some said they could adjust without refiling, some said had to refile.

IRS said to appear at the IRS office, so made an appointment, went.

Was told when there that, as wife returns to her home country from her VWP visit, to apply for the ITIN there (not in the US). Would have to amend and refile. Then my claim of her as spouse will be valid.

This, from the IRS:

Taxpayer service, formerly offered at the foreign posts of duty, is no longer available. Please send your tax forms and correspondence to the applicable address indicated below.

thank you!

(as always....)

If Petitioner is USC and chooses "Birth in US" for question 13, do we need to put anything in question 14 or 14b?

For Beneficiary, is non-resident alien, should "Alien Registration Number" be the passport number of the beneficiary's home country?

If Beneficiary has no social Security number, should question 9 be blank, n/a?

Last few moments before completing the CR1 pack!

Hi again, I've read somewhere that when supplying photos of us together that they should be signed, but I can't find where I saw that some time ago.

I made collages of various photos - trips, family visits, wedding, and I created sheets for each collage page explaining the date, place, occasion, people in the photos.

Do these need to be signed by us both?

Really great to get such good help from this forum, hope I can pay it forward when this Kafka-esque experience is over. Scary that it's only just beginning...

thank you!

just some pre-posting jitters that I will miss or mess up something....

In the VJ forms I didn't see this but thought to ask just to be safe.

Include the G-1145 in the I-130 pack, or send it separately?

Thanks all

Does it matter if we prepare forms (I-130, g-325a, etc.) single- or double-sided?

Thanks for the responses. The reason I asked as I asked this when I visited USCIS and wanted to hear others' experiences.

I was told to leave blank.

On forms I-130, g-325a, and others, there are some fields which are questionable or are not applicable.

I have heard from some to leave these blank, others, n/a.

Due to the exacting nature of those checking these documents, I just want to get it right.

What is the consensus here on this?

thank you both

My wife and I got married in Japan 10 years ago at the equivalent of a Justice of the Peace (at a kuyakusho, a local ward office). The US embassy provided an affidavit and I was told that this official marriage in Japan is recognized in the US. We have the official Japan paperwork for that.

the name of the document translates to Marriage Registration, a legal and binding document.

A couple years later we got married in a church. From that we have a marriage certificate from the church.

As it was hectic, because we were living overseas at the time, we traveled to the US for our wedding, were only there a short time, etc. we did not file our wedding with the county. Either we forgot or thought we didn't need to. So we do not seem to have a US marriage license.

Our Town Clerk's office said our particular church knows the process very well and would not have married us unless the prior paperwork was in place, that being the Japan Marriage Registration. The Town Clerk's office has no record of our marriage.

In order to submit the CR1 papers, we have the church's marriage certificate, a photocopy of the Japan Marriage Registration, and an English translation of the Marriage Registration.

Question 1:

Do we need a US Marriage license?

Question 2:

If what the US Embassy in Japan, who are quite good, was correct in saying that Japan marriage is recognized in the US, what is the mechanism for that?

Great, thank you

As we lived in Singapore and are now in the US (husband/USC) and Japan (spouse/alien) we need both Japan and Singapore police reports for the IR1 process.

Before we left Singapore I tried to get the police report, but they said they will only do it when I send them a request from the Immigration Authorities which states my spouse's name. As we (intentionally) had not started CR1 then I didn't have such a request.

I am trying to streamline the process where I can, this will require a fair amount maliings of back and forth across the planet.

What kind of such request from US authorities can I expect, and at what stage?

Is there anyway to get this early?