thatsmygsp

It appears to me that USCIS started pumping out NOA's like crazy right before their furlough started. Thankfully!!  

On 6/16/2020 at 2:14 PM, thatsmygsp said:

I-751 mailed on June 7, 2020. Checks deposited today, June 16, 2020.

 

And away we go! 

Received NOA on Saturday, July 11, 2020.

So now the REAL waiting begins. 18 months is an awful long time. Hopefully we will get this taken care of before 18 months pass, because we have full intentions of filing for citizenship in August 2021.

Good luck to all!

43 minutes ago, Diane and Chris said:

 

I’m confused. Why would you send your marriage certificate?  They already have that information and know that you’re married. You are not required to send a copy of your passport either. They only ask for a copy of the front and back of your green card. Nothing else. 

Why send a marriage cert? Evidently they have asked some applicants for it (again) at I-751 stage. Dunno, but thats what I have read here. 

Why send a copy of the passport? That one is easier - to show USCIS that the applicant has changed their last name on their passport to that of the spouse, which may be evidence of a bona fide marriage. 

13 hours ago, valentinasc said:

I'm curious to know if any of you received a letter from USCIS as a "reminder" to Remove Conditions. I haven't and my window to apply opens up in 5 days.

We did 

9 minutes ago, sebastianshaw said:

https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-revises-interview-waiver-guidance-form-i-751#:~:text=Generally%2C USCIS officers must interview,unless the interview is waived.&text=There are no complex facts,require an interview to resolve.

 

CR1 visa people for sure will get interviewed now because the principal petitioner was never interviewed, for others who got it through AOS (CR6) it will be waived only if their case is deemed very strong on those 4 factors mentioned on the memo , 

 

My interpretation crux is that as per earlier Bush era memo of 2005 it was rare to be interviewed, and u were interviewed only when u had very less evidence or inconclusive evidence, but now the bar has been "raised" and officer has to be convinced that the 4 points in the new memo are met. 

Got it.

So basically, COVID changed nothing (formally) regarding who gets interviewed for I-751. That being said, I hope they are secretly lowering the bar at least a little. 

We did K1 and had a joint interview 2 years ago, and I think/hope we meet the criteria to have this AOS interview waived. 

Thanks! 

So,  everyone talking about USCIS waiving the barometric interview got me thinking. 

Is there any evidence that USCIS is waiving I-751 interviews altogether?  I thought  recall this White House saying at one point everyone gets interviewed but did covid change that?

I am sure this is a hot topic around here these days but I just don't know. Thanks for any responses to this. 

55 minutes ago, doggieandsam said:

hahahaha nope, it's stated on the uscis website: "When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric service fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request." also read a post on here from folks who received biometrics waiver notices about the fee not being refunded.  

Ha! 

I KNEW IT!!

2 hours ago, kpmartini said:

Just an update for anyone who’s interested- I just got off the phone with a USCIS live agent and they confirmed that if the case is updated with fingerprints being applied, the biometrics appointment will be waived.

Will they refund the biometric fee?

7 minutes ago, doggieandsam said:

hahahaha you have more mental strength than i have then. if that was me i would have been worrying myself sick thinking it will get lost along the way.

I figured first, very little actually gets lost in the mail and second, we have plenty of time to re-file if it actually does get lost. We had copies of everything and I didnt send some extra thick packet with photos etc etc anyway. Mostly finances. 

That was my thinking. I gambled and won

2 hours ago, doggieandsam said:

is june 7 the date you shipped out or the day your package got there?

Sorry, it was June 8 (Monday) not June 7. 

2 hours ago, doggieandsam said:

hey, i'm also in Washington, DC. will follow your timeline! if you can, can you please update your timeline?

OK, cool.

Let me check and see how to update my timeline... 

1 minute ago, Nafisa & Bryce said:

Sent off our packet just now! As I was standing in line at the post office I found a new thing to worry about-whether the packet would be damaged in shipping! We didn’t put any filler in the box 😳 Always something to worry over 😂

 

4.9 lbs for us. We used 3 large binder clips to hold everything together, and sent in a large priority mail box. 
 

I expect it will be at least July before we hear anything, since it isn’t expected to arrive at the lockbox until Friday. It is a weight lifted to have that packet off my hands though. Here’s hoping this is the last packet we have to send to prove our relationship is real! Best wishes everyone! 

GOOD LUCK!! 

2 hours ago, doggieandsam said:

is june 7 the date you shipped out or the day your package got there?

June 7, 2020 was the date I dropped it at the post office.

I know I am cavalier,  but I didnt even send it certified. Just dropped it in regular mail

I-751 mailed on June 7, 2020. Checks deposited today, June 16, 2020.

And away we go! 

13 minutes ago, izavox said:

I think it looks to be enough, they do love joint financial statements and ownership.  

I'm also not sure if I'll include photos - they also didn't care much for that during the interview, but that might depend on the person interviewing. Did you include plane tickets or evidence of traveling with your wife? 

I included nothing like photos or plane tickets or any of that. I mean, if I have her on my insurance, what does it matter that we went to NYC together? BF/GF travel together, only spouses are on each other's insurance. And credit cards. And bank accounts. 

After reading through a few of these threads, I do wish I had include 1) a marriage certificate and 2) a copy of my wife's passport with her name changed. 

Mailed packet on June 7,  2020. Nothing so far, checks not cashed. I didnt send it certified which I guess I should have, but we have plenty of time. We still have like 80 days to file.

Anyway, I didn't include any photos or anything from our wedding etc etc because they didnt seem to care about any of that stuff during our K1 interview. What they seemed to really want to see was banking finance and insurance info, so I included joint taxes, two joint credit cards, joint primary checking account, engagement ring insurance in wifes name, a joint loan, that she's my 401K beneficiary, her name on the lease of our old apt, her name on the house insurance we just bought. 

I really think that should be enough. What say you? 

I got through the entire process using this website and google -  and without hiring a lawyer. That being said, I am a lawyer. Ha.  

But seriously, a good lawyer may make a difference if you are in a hurry and want to make sure you dont make any mistakes and delay your application in any way. But I really dont think a lawyer will make or break your application (meaning, be the difference between acceptance and denial), if you are a semi-meticulous person and not trying to perpetrate a fraud. And its true, some lawyers suck. So try to get one who knows what he/she is doing.  

Good luck!

55 minutes ago, Andsco said:

No, I didn't get any RFE and I don't think I will need any..let's say that I am extremely organized and checked every paper I gave like 5 times haha flight tickets of both of us from coming to the US or him coming to Spain, flight tickets of trips we made together, hotel reservation where both names can be seen, letters, passports with stamps etc..and besides that then none of us ever got married, none of us have kids, none of us have background..everything sign, pictures with his family, my family, our trips to other countries..we never met on a dating site so another thing that should not give trouble..and all the other papers needed in there. 

I am like you, no clue why are they taking so long for such a simple case. People told me I should wait until the 5 month and if I still got nothing, then send an email. Somehow I see at the moment anyway too many people having the same problem with waiting that long 

I'm so so sorry.  I would be going CRAZY if I were you. I would call them every day. Good luck!! 

18 minutes ago, Kiki-G said:

Probably closed the rest of the week. The snowstorm was no joke. 

2 hours ago, visamountain said:

I'm going to go ahead and assume that in the midst of 4,058 cases that I am not the only porcelain, slightly SA tan beauty who will one day have a different kind of beautiful babies...and ask a few questions.  I've dated outside my race before, but I've never married before.  Are there decisions you are making before he or she arrives (mostly speaking to the she petitioners intending to marry a he beneficiary)?  By that I mean, I live in America, and at the end of the day this is still south, so I think about things and ask questions.  Will I always need to be the one driving at night?  How important is it that he never tells anyone at work where we live?  If I want to raise our children without sharing walls (apartment), should I buy a house now by myself, because renting will be too hard with him in the picture, because friends of mine tell me I could be rejected based on the color of his skin?  How long must we live at the address I wrote (my address) on every document?  Is it just until we marry or until adjustment of status?  My lease for my car is almost up, should I keep it and keep paying it off knowing as soon as we are able, I want to be home raising our family?  We don't plan to wait to have children, and I do intend to work one more year if I must.  I don't mean for these questions to be taken any other way than from the heart of a woman who loves her husband to be Is there anything else I should be thinking about regarding race?  Decisions we can make together, but actions I should take alone?  Ideally, we want to live in peace, but though this is not Africa, it is not always a peaceful America.   

I can help with a few of these questions. He can drive at night. I am 46 year old AA and from the south and never had any problems. I have been pulled over for no reason a few times, but that was during the day, in California and Oklahoma, and after I had a really flashy car at the time (mistake). I would be very surprised if you have anyone at your job harass you for being in an interracial relationship. Interracial relationships are everywhere these days. So no, I wouldnt worry about telling folk where you live. It is VERY illegal to discriminate based on race in housing. And these days, people usually just want tenants who will pay their rent and wont trash the place. Again, I dont think that will be a huge issue for you. The address for the visa apps, I dont know. Lease time for car, I dont know. Race in America, especially the south (but not the deep south) I know well. You should be fine. There are always little racial things that happen, but you should be fine. Nothing that should disrupt your happiness in a permanent way. This is from a AA who dated many white women in the south, starting in the 1990s. Things are much better now. Good luck! 

I just checked the DHL website - its possible I am not doing it correctly but according to my search, the NVC hasnt shipped ANY packets to ANY consulates or embassies since March 10th.

Come on NVC, get with it!! The CEAC says "in transit" but they mean "still here, actually" 

This is really interesting to me. My fiance might answer in a similar way - depending on the way the question is asked. I know she loves me, and I know she wants to marry me. BUT, she is really afraid of being in the USA (all the news about immigrants these days, who can blame her), she is afraid of being away from her parents, and her culture, and lets be honest, we have never lived together so she is afraid maybe I am not what I seem. So, I could see her answering honestly the way this guy did. But she wont.

Maybe the Tunisian guy is a scammer. But usually scammers know what to say. 

55 minutes ago, MajaMukanowska said:

Thanks <3

 

Looks good!! 

Good luck!!

25 minutes ago, MajaMukanowska said:

Got my RFE... Remember when I said my paperwork was the neatest thing ever?
Yeah. On my side.
I left part of the I-129f for Doug.
Unchecked box? More like a million.

 

I included the 34a. in a separate addendum. Should I write anything in those 3 lines in the form like 'see the addendum?'

LOL. I hate to laugh at you, but your fiancé!! I would kill him ??

February 16 NOA2. Called NVC this morning. They received my packet yesterday. Finally!! No case number yet. Good luck to the February 16th NOA2 folk. We are well on our way!

17 minutes ago, tann said:

247 days from NOA-1. Still not Approved. We worry with my fiance. 

No reason for that. You should definitely call ... or at worst re-file. Ouch.