Paco415

I have a 19 year age gap with my spouse. I’m older. I don’t anticipate a problem, particularly since we’ve been together over 3 years, married almost a year. Just sent the I-130 a month ago. Our evidence of bonafide marriage is particularly strong as well, I think that will matter more.

Any word on when this embassy will reopen? I understand all visas are being processed in Bogota, Colombia? Anyone been processed since the closing that can offer some insight? Thank you!

Where are you having your NOA1 mailed to? The Philippines?

FINALLY! A RECEIPT NUMBER!! 😝

Got the text today and noticed check was cashed as well. An IOE number. Now expecting my I-797 anytime soon.

I am just relieved to receive some contact from the black hole ... 🙊 😁

Trying to be patient here.

No word from USCIS since my I-130 was delivered by USPS on Nov 14. Check not even cashed yet. While I realize the wait for this visa will be longer, I would feel less anxious if they would confirm that it's in their hands already. Feels like my whole petition went into a black hole.

Now I am starting to regret not filing online (ironic because I am usually the first one to embrace advances in technology 🙄).

My I-130 was received in Phoenix on 11/14 per USPS tracking, when should I expect a response from them? I also sent a G-1145. Check not cashed yet. I’m pretty patient knowing I’ll have to wait a year for this to be done but I’ll feel better knowing it’s in their hands already 😫

9 hours ago, Quarknase said:

Hello house,

 

Online filer, November 12th here. We're F2-A because I'm only a permanent resident, but since the number of filers seems small for this month I'll just join to follow your progress

How long before you can become a US citizen? Then I believe you can upgrade your petition for a CR-1 or IR-1.

My I-130 was delivered today (11/14) to the Phoenix lockbox, now eagerly awaiting notification from USCIS that it was actually received. I’m paranoid until it gets into their hands!! 😫

Yay, more people! Good luck to everyone's filing!

And by the way, I have MET my deadline!! The I-130 petition will be in the mail TODAY!! 🎉🎉🎉😍

6 hours ago, ArunK said:

Hey @Paco415, you aren't alone :). Good luck with filling your petition.

 

Our petition was accepted on Nov 6th. In the waiting game now.

Alright!! Welcome @ArunK! I am jealous that you're already in the process. I cannot wait to get this off my hands lol, it is 99% complete, just waiting on two pieces of information and it is good to go! But Nov 12 is my goal mailing date, let's see if I get everything done by then!

Could it be possible I am the only Nov 2019 filer? 😁 LOL! Just keeping the thread alive here! I am about 4 days away from mailing the whole thing out! Waiting on one affidavit and some information to complete my spouse's I-130A and will FINALLY be done!

15 hours ago, HalfWayMark said:

Or 3), if you're employed, see if your employer will add your spouse to your policy, effective on date of immigration. 

 

This has been my concern if in fact my spouse arrives to the US and this silly rule is still in effect. Outside of an open enrollment period, I have been worried about what to do. Can I add my spouse to my health insurance outside of an enrollment period by considering their entry as an immigrant a qualifying event? I have never seen that anywhere.

Lmao! I am glad I found this thread, I was confused about the two myself!

Interested to hear the experiences of petitioners and beneficiaries from Venezuela who are pursuing spousal immigrant visas. I understand that the U.S. embassy in Caracas is closed indefinitely and that all consular processing is being done in Bogota, Colombia. I heard that there is more bureaucracy involved now that Colombia is handling cases from Venezuela, so I would like to hear more from people that have been experiencing this (not just for CR-1 and IR-1 but for fiancée visas as well), the consular reviews are not too helpful for recent info, thank you!

Thank you for this information. My spouse is Venezuelan and will possibly need this once we get to that NVC stage which for us will be months from now (we are submitting I-130 by next week). I did notice that this post is from 2015, I am just wondering whether this will be just as effective now in 2019, almost 2020 to be exact since so many things have happened since your post, especially a change in U.S. presidency.

On 10/24/2019 at 10:06 PM, Senior Frog said:

thanks for your reply 
i think we both need to know what we are going into since we are partners, so if one of us being here in VJ searching digging and looking for information will be knowledge for us for our life (if you mean by saying " she should know what she's going into/the next steps/what to look for, etc." that she need to know what she must know after the approval and application done)
thanks again for your attention. 

I believe your partner needs to understand the full implications of sponsoring you for an immigrant visa, as it is not as simple as sending a lawyer documents and boom, you can apply for a visa. Notwithstanding the amount of evidence your partner needs to show the government in a I-130 petition that your marriage is legitimate, your partner also needs to understand that they will be required to submit an affidavit of support on your behalf during your application process for that visa (after the I-130 is approved). Meaning, the affidavit is supposed to show that she has enough resources to make sure you do not become dependent on U.S. public assistance after you have been granted permanent residence, and this is apparently valid for a 10 year period thereafter (anyone, correct me if I am wrong in understanding this). I mean, since you are married, I am sure there is an unspoken understanding of this kind of support, but this is what the government will want to know on paper.

My spouse and I have about 3 years worth of WhatsApp chats which when I downloaded them from the app equated to over 2,000 pages in PDF form … 😨. Obviously not sending all that, much less translating all that lol. I am choosing excerpts from each year that document our ongoing relationship. When it is all said and done, we are talking 10 pages total to be submitted, including translated pages and the affidavit of translation (which happens to be a friend of mine I trust that speaks Spanish, and who I trust wont oogle at some of our lovey dovey conversations lol). I read somewhere that I as petitioner cannot sign such an affidavit which is why I am having a 3rd person do it. I am grateful for that, as I have enough on my plate with the rest of the petition (photos and other documents as evidence of bona fide marriage).

I am making progress. Looks like I might be able to file this thing by Nov 12 at the latest. Can't wait to get this off my hands already, long overdue!

This is also my sly attempt to bump the thread lol 😁 … I am sure there are more of you joining soon! 

9 minutes ago, Hannahl4211 said:

My husband was then one who filled it out (I am from the UK, he is an American citizen), but I’m pretty sure he just left it blank whenever it was currently ongoing. These forms are read by a human I would assume due to the nature of them, so I think they would come to understand it left blank as ongoing. There was no option for “present” or “current. But We shall see!

The form does not allow me to proceed to the next screen without entering a date, cant leave it blank. This is the issue I am having.

7 hours ago, Hannahl4211 said:

We filed online on Friday night as planned, and I was actually really impressed and would highly recommend! For that question we left it blank as it has no end date. So much easier to have everything online and less worry about things getting lost etc!!

Hannah, I went back to the online form and noticed that yes, it does now let me proceed with a blank marriage end date. However, I could not do that with a present address and present employment. Did you just enter the date of the application? This part definitely does not allow me to proceed without an end date for each. I even tried entering 00/00/0000.

1 hour ago, Hannahl4211 said:

We filed online on Friday, and we just left it blank, as it hasn’t ended yet. I would highly recommend the online form. It’s very well constructed and concise! 

The form would not let me proceed without filling that entry out, perhaps they fixed it and I should try again?

On 10/22/2019 at 7:22 PM, H&T said:

You must mail your paper. There is NO online filling for I130 or K1-k3.

Updating here to say that NOW there is online filing for I-130.

The online form has its quirks, like making you put an end date to your current marriage without indicating "'present date" … so I am going to stick to paper for now unless something magically changes soon before I file.

The online form has some "kinks" in it, so I am reluctant to use it right now and this is the month I am filing as well. For instance, the form requires you to put an end date in the question that asks you about your current marriage. Obviously there is no end date but it doesn't let you do otherwise! I will stick to the paper one for now.