bunkx

Hey guys,

The more I read up on this stuff the more questions I have about all of it... Trying not to freak out but I find that very difficult at the moment, I'm sure some of you will relate

Brief background info: I've been in the US since 2011 on F-1 status. Getting married to my same-sex USC fiance this month in Virginia. We're both in college, I graduate in May, he still has another year. We're getting married early so that I can stay here and work after I graduate. (We decided OPT wasn't an option with the limitations it has, since I'm a psychology major and a bachelors in psychology doesn't exactly qualify me for any job... sigh, what a waste of a degree) So, my questions are...

I will bold the question part of the sentence since some of these got pretty long... Sorry.

1. We know the fees for I-485, I-130 and the biometrics add up to $1,760 after they increase the rates this month. (Given I-765, I-131, I-864, I-693, G-325A and G-1145 are free) How much more on top of this should I expect to spend for things like biometrics photos, medical exams etc.? Just so that we can budget this...
2. How long has it taken you to gather all of the paperwork and send it through after getting married?
3. Do we have to submit a G-1145 for every form or just one for me (I-485) and one for my fiance (I-130)?
4. My fiance has no income, I work as an RA at my university and make about $480 a month but that's going away after I graduate - we were planning on putting his parents on the I-864. I'm not sure how much they make. I could also put a family member who lives in the same town who is a USC and makes six figures, but I'd rather not ask him. I've asked so much of him since I came here, co-signing on pretty much everything... I know we have to submit a I-864 for my fiance as well even if it just shows zero as his income, do we submit other sponsors separately or do we put them on the same form? Also this might be a stupid question but I assume we can't apply for food stamps etc at least until I get my restrictions removed 2 years later, correct?
5. I don't know if I can get a job in the same town after I graduate until he is done with school. He only has another year and is graduating May 2018. How much of an issue would it be if we had to live in different towns after getting married because of my job? I guess I could always try to get a temporary job in town for a year like driving for uber or whatever, but it would help us if I can get a real job that pays well.
6. Even now, because of my job as an RA I'm required to live in the dorms. (Until May 2017 at least) He has an apartment in town but he pretty much spends every night here and we stay at his place over breaks and such. We do not have joint tenancy to show on paper though. Would this be a problem since on paper we seem to live apart? (I'm putting down his address as mine also, since receiving mail is much easier that way. Campus mail center is a nightmare, hope this is okay and not perjury)
7. We plan to change his last name to mine, open joint bank accounts and possibly try to take more photos from now on because we just noticed despite being together for 2+ years we don't have many photos. We just happen to be very camera-shy. Also we plan on a small celebration with friends instead of a big wedding, family attendance would be low considering we are LGBT anyhow. Is this enough evidence of a bone-fide marriage?
8. We are homoromantic asexuals. This means we seek romantic relationships with the same gender, but have no need for sexuality in our lives. This doesn't invalidate marriage in our minds and it is just as sacred to us. We are each others life companions, and are promising to stand by each other until the day we die. So, there are no questions in our minds about "is this a real marriage" or "what's the point if there's no sex" but you can imagine public reaction isn't the same... (Feel free to express your opinion or ask questions about this, I do not easily get offended lol.) However, we are concerned about the interview. I'm not sure how intimate their questions are. What if they ask when was the last time you had sex and we answer with "never"? Would they even understand what an asexual marriage is? It's beyond two friends getting married.
9. Is it okay to just send a binder full of these documents and forms? Or do I have to just put them all in one envelope and hope they can sort it all out?
10. I know it's usually around 60 days for the EAD, but considering we're applying in a busy area like Washington DC, what date should we expect for the interview?

And just to confirm, this all all that I have on the list of documents to send. I'd appreciate if you could tell me if I'm forgetting anything.

• Form I-130
  • Form I-864 of spouse
  • Form I-864 of other sponsors
  • His birth certificate as proof of citizenship
  • My birth certificate (Translated to English)
  • Marriage Certificate
  • Form G-325A for spouse
  • Form G-325A for me
  • Form G-1145 for spouse
  • Biometric photo of spouse
  • Biometric photo of me
  • Joint bank account statements
  • Possibly joint ownership of a car (trying to figure this part out)
• Form I-485
  • Form I-94 Copy
  • Form G-325A for me
  • Form G-1145 for me
  • Form I-765
  • Form I-131
  • Form I-693
  • My birth certificate from the embassy (Translated to English)
  • Marriage Certificate
  • Biometric photo of me (x2)
  • Copy of old passport's ID page, F-1 visa page and stamp pages (was going to expire in June, so I renewed it at the embassy)
  • Copy of new passport's ID page (has no stamps in it - issued this month)
  • Should I include a copy of my social security card and Virginia DL?
  • Should I include old I-20s? At least the ones I can find? I'm not sure where all of them are. There should be at least 3 (high school, community college and university) Also my first I-20 for high school and my B1/B2 visa is on an even older passport, should I include copies of that too?

I know this is a long post, and I don't expect much from it. If you can answer any of these, it would help us greatly. I can't express what a relief it was to find this wonderful community, at least I can find some comfort knowing I'm not alone going through this stressful process...

Thank you all so much! You all are amazing! I will continue to help others on this forum with the knowledge I gain from this for years to come, it's the least I can do! Maybe this thread can be like an FAQ and help others as well

Hey y'all,

I don't know how many of you have had to deal with this but here goes nothing... I came to the United States when I was about 16, on an F-1 visa. Been here ever since. I went to community college after high school to save money (btw highly recommended, saved about $15k) however according to Turkish law if you go a 2-year institution you can postpone your military service for 5 years. I am now in my last year of college, hoping to graduate in May 2017. I reapplied to postpone my military service, under the 4-yr institution = 7 year postponement law. Approved until December 2019. They sent me a piece of paper (Teblig-Tebellug-Taahutnamesi) saying that it was postponed until 2019, however on e-Devlet it still shows Dec 2016. If I had to travel to Turkey, would I get arrested at the border?

Also, my family lives in Belgium - hence I have little reason to visit Turkey. Not counting nostalgia and emotional reasons of course. What would happen if I simply never paid to waive the military requirement? Would it be worth renouncing your Turkish citizenship after getting US citizenship?

I'm pretty indecisive about this whole askerlik thing... Any help would be appreciated. Simdiden tesekkurler!

(Turkce de yazabilirsiniz - forum kurallarina uygun mudur bilemedim ben)

My fiance and I are planning on getting married in January and will be applying to adjust status from F-1 the same month. I've read many times people submitting wedding photos as evidence of a bona fide marriage. However, we are a same-sex couple. Hence as you can imagine, it's not exactly possible for us to have our entire extended families attend a wedding, not to mention we have decided that a wedding would be too "heteronormative" and decided against it. We would much rather use the ridiculously large amount of money required for a wedding, for a honey moon somewhere exotic! We're also not the most photo-loving couple, we don't take many pictures in general. Is this going to be a problem during the application and interview?

I would go to an immigration attorney ASAP. Even if it's just for consultation. It's usually free for just consulting.

NRT - Narita International Airport

Formely known as New Tokyo International Airport or Tokyo Narita

Be advised, the whole friggin airport basically closes around 9-10pm and you just walk through a weird ghost town through the airport to get to your flight. If you were counting on the airport shops to get souvenirs, good luck! My biggest mistake... Other than that, friendly airport, many smoking lounges lol

Let's continue the theme go for KIX - Kansai Airport near Osaka. Aside from the fun fact that the whole airport is on a constantly sinking man-made island, I've also witnessed someone commit suicide at this airport within half an hour of my first time being in Japan. In terms of transportation, I'd recommend the train during rush hour and bus outside of rush hour, since the bus will likely just get stuck in traffic during rush hour.

So there is no issue at all for him to go and have a wonderful experience!

You should file all documents together and concurrently, the EAD (work authorization) and the AP (travel document) are free to file with AOS, so the total fees will only be the I-130 and the I-485 fees (which are increasing on Dec 23rd, so be sure to double check the amounts!). See the guide here for more questions: http://www.visajourn...tent/i130guide2

That's good to hear that he can go! It would be have been unfair if my greencard application got in the way of him studying abroad since I left him to study abroad in Japan in the past so, it's only fair if he gets to go as well, right?

So just to confirm we would be paying for I-130 ($535), I-485 ($1,140), USCIS Immigrant Fee ($220) and the biometrics fee ($85). And the I-313, I-765 and I-864 are free.

According to this I'm supposed to send $1,980 with my application? Ouch! (Fees adjusted to post Dec 23rd increase)

1 make sure to get your advanced parole approved before you head out of country.

To clarify for the 1st question: I won't be traveling - just my fiance or husband I guess at the time... and I guess what I'm worried about is what if they schedule our interview during that time? Would he have to just fly back for the day?

but thanks!! I'll add the I-131 to my list!

Greetings,

I've been in the US as an F-1 student since 2011 and my fiance and I are planning on getting married in January and hopefully filing for AOS the same month. I have a couple of questions that I haven't exactly been able to find clear answers to:

1. My fiance has will be going to Montreal on a study abroad program in May-June, will this give us any trouble in terms of my AOS application? I know the beneficiary traveling outside the US is kinda iffy but I couldn't find a lot on the sponsor spouse traveling during this process.

2. Do I need to provide the local circuit court with any documents from my home country to get the marriage license? (As in to prove I am not currently married, thus eligible to get married)

3. Can we file all forms (I-130, I-485, I-864, I-765 am I forgetting any?) concurrently? If so, how is the total fee calculated exactly?

4. I was planning on filling out all of these by myself (with help from the internet, of course) - or should we hire an attorney? Seems like an unnecessary and expensive option to us...

Any help would be greatly appreciated~! Thanks in advance!