TucsonBill

Personally, I think the lawyer would be a waste of time, unless you happen to get lucky and find one that has dealt with this exact situation before. You don't see this kind of thing here in this forum often, and I read most of the posts. Hopefully someone with a similar situation may be able to advise you, but I think most people who have this kind of thing happen drop off this forum. I hope you'll stick around and let us know what happens, I really do. I'd like to see a person like this get deported, and a permanent ban from the US.

If this other relationship with the other guy was in Taiwan, how did he get here? I understand you to say she's with him in California? This part has me a little confused. Also, did you meet her family, mom, dad, brothers, sisters... these aleged relatives in California? What do they think of her behavior?

I gota run now. Sorry your Christmas has turned out to be such a miserable day, but you have to look at the bright side I guess, is all you can do...

My understanding is that the I-134 is not legally binding, and if she does not marry you within 90 days, then her visa expires and she becomes an illegal. Just be thankful you did not marry her and file the I-864 for the AOS because then you might really be on the hook.

Bill

What a nasty trick! Thats lower than pond scum!! Don't fall for it again is all I can say... I'd definately report her for immigration fraud. You might even play along with her game so she won't have the chance to run and hide. I would call Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) at 1-866-347-2423 first thing tomorrow.

Bill

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! I am hoping we will all get to spend Christmas next year with our loved ones.

AJ1

Hey AJ - LTNS Glad you finally got your packet 3.

Merry Christmas to All!

Bill

You need to move on to the next forum "Adjustment of Status (Green Card) General Discussion" here on Visa Journey,

and start your AOS journey

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=7

and CONGRATULATIONS!

Bill

The same thing happened to me when I called the automated line. I got a letter from the NVC on the 20th of december saying in a week it would be forwarded to the embassy. I called everyday, it kept telling me we have no record. So after three days I called an operator and they told me it was sent to the embassy on the 15th of december.

Did it arrived at the embassy yet?

I wonder too...

In order to contact the embassy, you need the new case number assinged by the NVC. You need to keep calling and calling if you actually want to speak to someone at the NVC. My case proceeded rather quickly at the NVC stage, although some have gotten hung up there. I'd suspect your case may have already been forwarded to the Embassy by this date - I'd send an email now and then at least if you can't get though on the telephone, you'll get an email response. I also received a letter form them in the mail.

Bill

Thank you so much for your reply, what exactly is the "Consulate Stage"?

Again, it would serve you well to read the guides here, or look at other peoples timelines. After you file the I-129F with the necessary documents, you may receive an RFE, (request for addtional evidence), in the event the adjuticating officer wants to see something you did not initially present. Next, with luck, your petition will be approved (you will receive your NOA2 approval letter, or Packet 2), and your case is forwarded to the National Visa Center and there they will do a background check on you. This process can take anywhere from 2 to 5 months, or even longer if you hit any snags. (Some have even waited longer).

Assuming all goes well at this stage, your case then gets forwarded to the embassy and after they process it, they will send your fiance Packet 3, the contets of this packet vary a bit by consulate, but generally it will contain the I-134, instructions for your fiances medical exam, (and her daughter), and will contain some forms that have to be filled out and returned with a check list, and other forms, like the I-134 that must be presented by your fiance on the date of her interview. This process can take 1 or 2 months - usually.

Once you complete the necessary forms and return the information form packet 3 to the Embassy, they will then set your fiances interview date and send you Packet 4 which will contain more instrictions for the date of her interview. The time for this to process can take 1-3 months - usually.

Consulates require that the I-134, police reports, employer letters etc are 'current' and the definition of 'current' seems to vary by consulate. I have seen some say it must be within the past 3 monts, others say 6 months - so you may or may not have to redo the I-134, police reports, tax returns, letter from employer etc.

Bill

I have gotten so spoiled reading Gary's report each week, I go through withdrawal when he does not do it...

I have too missed Garys report, but as I am in the uk at the moment, I thought my timing was off, then it became Monday and I realised he is probably having fun with his family.

I gave him the day off for Christmas

Bill

You should read the guides here. I never heard of anyone submitting the I-134, police reports etc with the I-129F. These kinds of documents have to be "current" at the time of your finace's interview and that is normally when you present them. Depending on how your petition goes, if you have already aquired these documents, it may well be they will not be considered 'current' by the time her interview rolls around.

You should read the guides here before submitting your I-129F.

Make sure you put the names, dates and places on the backs of the photos, and it would be a good idea to include copies of bank statements and credit card statements showing purchases and cash withdrawals while you were in the country of your finace.

Bill

My fiancee has been reading posts here for some time but this is our first post.

I believe that thru our investigating that we have completed all required documents and supporting evidence and we are planning on mailing them to the Nebraska Center tomorrow. If anyone is willing to look my list over and make any suggestions it will surely be of help to us both.

If there is anything else I should include, or a document is listed as a copy but it should be an original, or if anything isn't listed as notarized and it should be .. please let me know.

http://www.fiddlers.us/visapackage

Thanks,

Don Roach

Illinois

Big congrad to you guys and thanx Ultimoxo for the indept story of the interview.

My fiance inteview is coming up and she just got back from picking up her police report. She called me up after she got home after a 10 hours bus ride and said they made a mistake on her mom's D.O.B. with just a few days left till her interview there's no time to get it fix. The place closed down on the weekend and she'll have to travel to Thailand a couple days ahead cuz she'll have to pick up the correct vaccination record from the hospital. OMG we're freaking out right now. I just hope that it's not a big issue. Someone please tell me it's gonna be alright.

I just had Pao check her police certification, and it just had her passport number, no DOB of her or her parents. It's just a short statement to the effect that she is not have any behavior endagering the peace and order or the security of the state.

I would think that such certifications would be in some sort of standard format. The fact that your fiance's has her mothers DOB is confusing to me.

Bill

CONGRATULATIONS ULTIMOXO!

You must be thrilled! I am so happy for you and your fiance. Thanks so much for the info on the interview, it makes me feel better

EVOLUTION:

I think I'd take the police report and present it, along with the other letter you have, and chances are they wont even look at the birth date. I'd have the replacement already 'in the works' just in case.

Bill

Ok Alex. I can always leave it blank since I'm going on the interview and fill it in there if need be.

Its not uncle Sam I am worried about.

So... who is it you're worried about?

Bill

5.7 is 2.2 inches. My fiance's were 4.5 x 4.5 cm as is the standard passport photo size in Thailand and were accepted. I've never seen anyone get an RFE over the passport photos... but ya never know.

Bill

My fiance lives in St Petersburg Russia. Does anyone know a photographer, where an approved Passport photo? Possibly guidance on how to find a photgrapher in St Petersburg. I appreciate the assistance.

Any travel agency should be able to direct your fiance. Passport style photos are a set, international standard. She could also contact the agency of the government that issues passports for a recomendation.

Bill

Whilst there are those where a simple one line answer to Q18 has sufficed, there are also those that have received an RFE for further details on how they met in person that established the relationship.

There is no standard format. You can use letter form, timeline etc

Tip:

Use Q18 to describe in some detail of how you met in the required 2 year period that established the relationship. The evidence you then submit should support those details. Boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel/credit card receipts, rental receipts if ever lived together etc etc are primary evidence. Photos are secondary which support the primary evidence. What one should be aiming for is creating an image in the minds eye of the adjudicator......a complete picture. Look outside the box for evidence that shows you both in the same place at the same time. Each case is different and one should submit evidence accordingly, not just rely on the standard unofficial list.

Whilst evidence of an ongoing relationship is not a requirement at the initial filing stage, it can be beneficial to those from high fraud countries (eg the philippines) to do so, or if there is anything that could be a red flag that may cause issues at interview stage. This evidence should always be very carefully scrutinized especially emails & chat, to make sure there is nothing mentioned that may be construed in a different way then it is meant. Also make sure that any photo evidence submitted of any ceremony cannot be mistaken for a marriage ceremony which has in the past caused issues and denials.

Regarding the hotel/credit card receipts (which I sent), I got an RFE wanting to see actual bank statments and credit card statments showing cash withdrawals/purchases made in my fiance's country during my last visit to see her. Others have also gotten RFE's for their fiance's birth certificates, (which forntuately, I did send, translated and certified, the first time as was recommended on another web site). Some have gotten by without the birth certificate and its hard to say why they seem to want it for some petitions and not for others.

Bill

Question about I134. I will fill this form out, hopefully, by mid jan. My income for 2006 will be around 90K.

In my case would this be all I would have to indicate on the affadavit? I could leave my savings, 401s and all that off the record?

And then what sort of back up would I need? Just my W2?

I have no real estate, just money buried and I would rather leave that undisclosed at this point.

Thanks.

Read the instructions, the only back up you need is the letter from your employer. Many have suggested taking pay stubs and tax returns, but I dont see that requested anywhere in any of the instructions we received. I'm sending them anyway just in case they're asked for, but I'm not going to have her volunteer them.

In regards to the other, hehe, if its buried in 401k's and bank savings, you can bet Uncle Sam already knows about it anyway

Bill

Hi all

We need assistance on a question on the I-134 form

Lorry is filling these out now so I can take them back with me after my Christmas visit

and have them ready for my interview

She's unsure about a couple questions and how to answer

Do You have other personal property, The reasonalble value which is ?

She lives in an Apt Do they mean all her personal belongings like furniture ect.

She has no realestate as being an Apt dweller.

Also Question 11

Does she intend to support me (the Fiance ) with room, board

and money and for how long

Does she put we intend to marry and she intends to support me monetarily and provide room and board forever a we will be married

She won't have to support me so what does she put for the answers

Thank All

Allie

I think, (and I'm guessing), other personal property in the sense which could be used for an affidavit of support, would be expensive collections of jewelery, stamps, coins - or better yet more liquid property like gold coins, (eagles, maple leafs, etc). Anythings she might own that does not fall into the other categories that could be converted to cash.

Regarding 11, I would say that you plan to marry and support each other permanently.

Bill

If London requires the I-134 , I would assume they will send you an I-134 in your packet 3.

If I understand the requirements properly, the pay stubs should indicate your ability to maintain your income at its current level and tax records and/or an employer letter indicate your past history of employment. Combined, those items give an accurate indication of past and present work patterns and in that hopefully allow them to gauge your stability as a sponsor. My thinking on it says that, say you had a job that provided sufficient income to sponsor an immigrant in 2006, your tax records would indicate that as would an employment letter. Now lets say you lost that job on Jan 1 2007, obviously you wouldn't have the ability to qualify as a sponsor, but that information wouldn't be indicated on your tax return/transcript. That's where current pay stubs as well as an employment letter provide a clear indication of the circumstances.

I don't think the instructions CLEARLY indicate a cut and dry requirement of what's required as evidence but I would imagine pay stubs reflecting a couple months of steady income would be beneficial.

Ok, I went and looked and found this:

"An applicant for a fiancé(e), Kii or V visa is not required to file an affidavit of support, form I-864 at the time he or she applies for the visa."

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/faffidavit.html

That is the page I read on the UK, and it does go on to talk about the I-134 as being an 'option', depending on the circumstances.

I'm also getitng this thread confused with another thread in the "Foreign Embassy" discussion. In that thread, I did make it clear that pay-stubs may be beneficial as you say, I just dont believe in automatically giving them information that they dont ask for. Nothing I received from in my Thailand packet said tax returns were requred either. I have given Pao my tax returns and my pay stubs, so that if they request them at the interview, she can provide them

Another poster in that same forum, had his fiance's visa denied based on tax returns he provided, and its questionalbe whether or not the tax returns were even required. Thats a case where perhaps providing evidence the embassy did not ask for, wound up leading to a denial.

Bill

I'm looking ahead now and wondering about my tax return for the I-864. I am a sales rep with considerable 'Employee Business Expense' deductions, and tax time for me is always a big hassel. To top it off, my fiance's interview is in January, and assuming all goes well, she'll be coming here in mid February and we'd planned to have a wedding here and then go on a honeymoon.

My question is, with all this going on, I may even wind up having to file for an extension before I get my 2006 taxes done. If we file for the AOS before April 15th when taxes are due, am I still going to be required to have my 'most recent year' (2006???) tax return complted before I file or can I use my employer letter and prior years tax returns?

I'm sure questions like this start comming up around the first of every year, so I'm pretty sure some of you 'old timers' here on VJ know the answer to this one... I hope?

Bill

Thailand recently, (as of Nov 1), started requiring that the DS-156 be completed online, and pritned out with a bar code. There have been alot of quesitons about this form on the SAWASDEE2 thread in the "Fiance Visa Genral Discussion Forum", as no one yet has reported back how the interviews have gone with this new form. Have other places been requireing this? If anyone knows, I have some questions:

1. On question 16 my fiance has no fax or pager number, but the blank will not accept anything but numerical entries, but it also says every question must be answered (in the instructions we received) or to put "NOT APPLICABLE" and not to put "N/A" - seems rather picky!

2. In relation to the above, my fiances address has a "/" character in it, but the space provided for the address will not accept the "/" character, (illegal character on the electonic form) - so we had to write the address number like "12 slash 34 Main Street" (so maybe thats why they say to write 'NOT APPLICABLE and not to write N/A' for questions that don't apply).

My over all question is, how damn picky are they really going to be at the interview if you have written information on the form that you could not enter over the computer.

Additionally, I'd like to know of you make a mistake, can you re-do the form. When you save it and print it it gets bar coded, so I think if you tried to re-do it it might mess up the process...

Anyone know the answer to any of these questions?

Bill

Assembling this stuff for the interview is making us a bit crazy. They tell you to do stuff in packet 3 and then in Packet 4, they tell you to do it in a specific way. Example, the online DS-156 and the blanks we are all trying to figure out. They are adamant in Packet 4 about filling out every blank but no mention in packet 3 when they tell you to fill it out. We filled in the blanks that don't apply in pen with "Not Applicable" but I would like to just re-fill it out online. Does anyone know if doing it again online generates a different barcode and make any problems? I would like to just re-do it so as to be sure they don't have a problem with the blanks being filled in with pen. I may just do it again and bring both.

James, thanks for the info on the DS-230 Part II. They say in packet 4 that it is needed but do not include it. I will probably just fill that out too and bring it just in case.

Also, the 2 appointment letters they give are not listed on the order of documents, but I guess you just hand them both over before you hand in the documents.

It would be nice if they had K1-specific packets. The general forms lead to a lot of confusion.

This whole 'online' thing is so new, that I don't think anyone really knows the answers yet. Some items had to be left blank, such as 'pager phone number' because the online form only accepts numerical input in that field which has caused some confusion. My fiance has a "/" character in her address, but we could not put the "/" because the online form will not accept that character either.

I sent a question to the embassy on this issue and did not even get a reply, so I don't think they know either!

Everyone reading this thread that has a similar situation should also email them with these quesitons, perhaps someone will get lucky and get an answer?

Bill

Generally speaking, so far as I can tell, people seeking to bring immgrants from poorer, (3rd world), countries are required to provide the affidavit.

Bill

Man the folks in Canada are gonna be pissed when they find out they didn't get the memo that they have been reclassified as a " poorer, (3rd world), " country.

LOL - I was going to add "(like Canadians)" right after where I said ," poorer, (3rd world), " country but I didn't hit the edit key in time after I thought of it

Actually, I think the correct term is 'high risk' countries. I honestly don't know why they requre it for Canada, except that its so close to the US border I'd suppose we get more illegal immigrants from Canada than the UK.

Bill

Where does it say to submit "proof of current emloyment and earnings" ?

London, for example, does ask for at least two of the following, to "substantiate the information regarding income and resources" (which sounds similar to what you asked, at least to me). It's important to remember that what is requested varies from embassy to embassy.

* notarized copies of his or her latest federal income tax return;

* a statement from his or her employer showing salary and the length and permanency of employment;

* a statement from an officer of a bank regarding his or her account, the date the account was opened and the present balance;

* any other evidence adequate to establish financial ability to carry out his or her undertaking toward the applicant for what might be an indefinite period of time.

I'd say pay stubs fall into that last category, even if they aren't specifically asked for. Some embassies and consulates may not take even a glance at them, others may specifically request it, some may just take it into context with the employer letter-- I'm not sure if the OP's consulate's website may say that pay stubs are required or not.

I'm personally going to cover all bases and send all of the above, because I feel my bank statement is weak (Thanks for nothing, National City), because the income has changed from last years taxes (about the same amount but part of the income we have is non taxable, and thats covering what we lost), and because the employment situation is a bit hard to understand without having at least 10 sheets of paper that document the exact situation. No guarantee they'll accept any of it or even ask for any of it, but it's better to have it available on the chance they do ask.

As for how many pay stubs I'm sending, technically, it's going to be around 12-15, but as mentioned, my case is a little more detailed than others, and all paychecks are bundled together in groups of 3 and 4 which correlates with the Workmans Comp paychecks that go alongside it.

The topic of this thread specifically refers to the I-134, not other requirements that the particular consulate may or may not have on thier particular instrucion page.

I dont even believe the UK requires an affidavit of support, thus, they have established thier own rules. Generally speaking, so far as I can tell, people seeking to bring immgrants from poorer, (3rd world), countries are required to provide the affidavit.

Bill

I think its a damn shame that congress wants to grant citizenship to the millions of illegal immgrants that are here now

There is nothing in the current proposal for immigration reform that "grants citizenship" to undocumented immigrants. There is discussion about providing a path to legalization (and therefore an option for citizenship down the road) for undocumented immigrants who meet certain requirements.

This is completely unrelated to incompetence or errors made at the consulate level.

Opinions vary.

Where I'm from, legal vs illegal immigration is a hot topic. Granted, my 'visa journey' has been pretty smooth dispite all the problems I had with the "USCIS disinformation line", but I've seen enough people here get screwed by unexplained, unnecessary dealys along the way to know that the process for those seeking to immigrate legally could be improved considerably.

What happened to the OP is like getting pulled over by a cop for speeding when you are driving 25 mph in a 25 mph zone. The cop doesn't deny you were only doing 25, but gives you the ticket anyway. A moment later, someone else comes charging down the road at 70mph and and the cop just smiles and waves...

Bill

did anyone have their fiance sign any of the forms from packet 3 beside the checklist? Looks to me that all the forms will have to be sign infront of the cosular officer. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I signed DS-230 part I and returned it with the checklist. On the interview date, I signed DS-156 at home (I didn't see in the checklist that it's said "do not sign this form"). But I didn't sign DS-156k. I'm sure that it doesn't matter if you sign it or not before you hand the documents to the consulate. If not, the consulate will let you sign at the window anyway.

We got an insert with our packet 3 titled "New Immigrant Visa Processing Requirements" that instruct applicants to mail in the passport style photos and a photocopy of the photograph page of the applicants passport. My understanding is that these new proceedures went into effect on Nov 1, 2006.

Additionally, the visa application has to be completed online now and printed out with a barcode, (per instrucitons in packet 4).

Bill