DiamondEyes490

1 hour ago, Kyleandandrea said:

This is probably why the I-134a program is going to get canceled. Hopefully my mother in law gets approved prior to the April 25th hearing.

Same. Hoping we get approved before then. Trump-appointed judge, so it's not looking good.

On 2/7/2023 at 12:42 PM, wazzujoel said:

 

Yes, expect to pay 1k in airfare, and then living in Trinidad and Tobago isn't cheap either. Trying to get to Nicaragua or Guyana would be cheaper to live, but I think most flights you find will need to transit between Panama which requires a transit visa and they aren't really given them to cubans anymore. I wish I had better news for you but it's a lot of dead ends no matter what way I look. And USCIS is no help in trying to get urgent support. 

 

I've read stories of people being approved for parole when the sponsor is living in Section 8 housing and is on SNAP (food stamps). 

 

Yet here I am with a spotless record, hold government clearances so I've had more stringent background investigations than anything USCIS can do, hold advanced degrees in Engineering and work for a prestigious fortune 500 company, no debt, own my own home... And my beneficiary holds a dental degree, has plans to practice dentistry in the US after she passes her boards and does two additional years of education in a International Dental Program, and has also never had trouble with the law. Applied on 1/6 and my application hasn't been touched. I've been in line to talk to a Tier 2 agent for 120 business hours which they have told me multiple times I would be contracted within 72 hours. Oh and my case is marked Urgent. 

 

USCIS is awful. I wish I could get some national news to pick up my story. I'd love to put them on blast and show the would just how incompetent they are. Oh and my K1 application has been in process now for 16 months while the bulk of approvals for K1 now are people that have been waiting 14 months. 

 

I wish you a luck but I can't say I have any faith in the US immigration process. I swear their goal is to keep families apart and do nothing to help people that might actually contribute to our society. Sorry Im a little jaded and frustrated right now. 

I lived with my husband in T&T for 3 months while we were waiting for his interview back in 2017. I will warn you that their immigration treats Cubans like #######. (We were initially only given a 30-day visa despite no seeming red flags.) Make sure you arrive there with her if at all possible and have proof of funds, housing, etc. ready for immigration. Also, I recommend checking Airbnb as they offer monthly discounts.

If possible, I'd recommend Grenada instead. A little less developed, but they treat Cubans like royalty (a lot of older people worked with Cubans that built the airport, etc. during Maurice Bishop's time) and a lot safer. Cubans can stay 60 days without a visa. Same rec for Airbnb there.

We have a good friend living with us that is currently going through the CAA process. I can confirm it is I-485 only under that, no I-130 required. I think the other poster was referring to the fact that your in-laws could also adjust under sponsorship from your wife immediately upon arriving. 

So far, from what I've been able to glean (doing this process for my MIL and at least one family friend so far), it should go:

• I-134a (no cost)
• I-765 - $410, currently taking about 3 months to process for Cuban parolees
• I-485 - $1,225 + medical exam

Just file the I-134a soon! There is a lawsuit in progress from 20+ Republican-controlled states, and the hearing date is April 25. The judge hearing it was Trump-appointed, so who knows what will happen.

With older adults, I would 100% do I-134a v. the I-130 given considerations for health insurance. You will need to check the specifics for KY, but the I-134a affidavit is actually unenforceable, so they can conceivably get medicaid, food stamps, and any other program Cubans are eligible for immediately upon receiving parole. With an IR-5 visa, you instead sign a I-864 affidavit of support, which is enforceable, and you are on the hook for 10 years. Filing for AOS via the Cuban Adjustment Act is an additional expense, but if you factor in health insurance, it may actually save you a lot more going this route.

16 hours ago, ExtremeLove said:

Can you explain how she can be eligible for benefits if  USCIS page says the the sponsor has to be responsible for the duration of the stay? Granted I’ve been asking if after the change in status things change, but sounds like you’re saying from the very beginning they could apply for government assistance. Did I misunderstand something here? 

Some states also don't count certain programs as a public charge. For example, medical isn't counted here in California.

We got engaged in 6 weeks after we met and married 7 months after that. Never came up during our embassy interview for CR-1 or during our ROC interview in June of this year. My husband has been in the US for almost 4 years now.

Unless it's a high fraud country (which Italy is not), you have nothing to worry about.

On 11/1/2021 at 5:46 AM, Laorme2009 said:

Thank you! 

If you are transiting via Panama and the layover is less than 12 hours, he does not need a visa at all. (I did that same itinerary to T&T and a few other places with my husband a few years ago before he got his visa to come here).

13 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

Thank you for your response! I think I interpreted that paragraph slightly different based on the previous, in which it said the ban extended to ‘interline’ flights. I’m mainly concerned the US will somehow prevent the booking of any flight from the US with a final destination of Belarus - is this even possible?

 

For example, I live in a small town in Florida so I usually connect in New York before going on to Europe (usually Frankfurt) and then Minsk. Judging by this, that flight would now be impossible to book even through Lufthansa because that first leg is operated by a US carrier. However, do you think flying *direct* to Europe through a European carrier would be possible? For example, Miami to Istanbul to Minsk, booked directly through Turkish? 
 

I think I’m just really not understanding what they’re actually banning here. It feels completely silly if it can be subverted by buying a ticket through a non-US service and flying directly to Europe. In that case, then, how is this not just punishing Americans and Belarusians trying to visit? I’m quite afraid this is going to turn into a situation in which “sanctions” keep being slapped onto Belarus until they’re entirely isolated and we eventually forget about them (similar to what happened after the Russian embassies closed).
 

My condolences on the difficulties you’ve had with your wife in Cuba.

 

Edit: Unfortunately, I noted this footnote:

 

*"*2 The prohibition would apply to sales of passenger flights between the United States and Belarus, whether the flights would be operated directly or indirectly, including flights that would operate nonstop from the United States, or involving third-country intermediate, behind, or beyond points, including any service provided on an interline basis. The Department will not look favorably upon operations that seek to evade the requirements of this Order. The Department reserves the right to pursue those involved in such operations through enforcement action. "

 

I think they are just trying to ban the sale directly from the US. As long as you pay via a non-US site, I think you will be fine. It'll be up to the airlines and ticket selling sites if they actually decide to comply (and even if they do, I can assure you someone else will pop up overnight). It's sad to say but I have seen it 1,000 times with anything involving getting around the Cuban embargo- the difficulty and scarcity of getting tickets, etc. mean there is a money making opportunity and people will 100% take advantage of it. Yes, people in Belarus will suffer and people who just want to see their loved ones will be punished with red tape, higher prices, etc., and I am sorry for that. (Welcome to the club...)

As for the enforcement, there is like a .00001% you as an individual would see any blowback by going to Belarus or just buying the ticket. It'll be like it was with Cuba pre-Obama opening. Companies would get fined at times for violating the embargo but no individual was fined for going to Cuba as a tourist since George W. Bush's first term. It's scary and it sucks, but you will be fine aside from having a less than ideal flight itinerary.

I think you missed a key paragraph:

"The directive - under consideration for several weeks - is mostly symbolic since relatively few tickets are purchased for travel to Belarus from U.S.-based travel services."

So I think you are fine?

As someone married to a Cuban, I can tell you that a lot of these so called rules have a way around them (although it's not always cheap) and individuals very rarely see any consequences.

6 hours ago, Locito said:

Congrats! How did your interview at the service center go?

Totally painless. I'll paste my review below for you. You'll have nothing to worry about

We got out of our interview a few hours ago. It was only 10-15 mins and entirely painless. Our interviewer was a younger Asian guy who didn’t speak Spanish but he was fine with me translating a little bit when my husband needed some gaps filled in.
He asked where he went when he was out of the country in May. He had a checklist of docs and asked if we had kids or a house (based on that). He then wanted joint leases, taxes, health insurance, pics, and joint accounts.
He asked me what I did for a living.
He asked my husband both our names, bdays, and current address.
He asked about a pic of me with my mother-in-law and stepdaughter and if we had both gone to Cuba together then.
Then he went off on a tangent about Cuba since he’d watched some Youtuber who went there.
And boom he went to print out the approval letter.
As he was typing he asked how we knew each other and if we would be petitioning for my stepdaughter in the future (I got the impression he was honestly curious).
Case updated to New Card Being Produced 3 hours later.

Card just arrived  All done!

I'm going to take a break from this site until my husband is ready English-wise for citizenship.

Good luck everybody!

1 hour ago, KAMN said:

Yes definitely bring the passports. She specifically asked for them

Thanks! You mentioned photocopies of the passports. Was it just biographic page they wanted?

37 minutes ago, KAMN said:

We had our interview today and the case was approved. We arrived at 7:45 AM in Hartford, CT. The interview was pretty simple. Just some questions right from the application ….things like verifying names, Date of Births, social security number of my wife, date of marriage etc. She very briefly reviewed the supporting docs we had brought with us and compared to some stuff we had sent in as part of the application. One thing to remember doing is to bring a copy of the originals. Most of our supporting documents were printouts but there were some originals (bills, passports, id's). Be sure to bring a copy of these. She went and made copies of the passport/ids but wasn't very happy about it. Otherwise she was polite and the interview lasted about 15 minutes. She said card will arrive in 30-45 days! Is that accurate? Also, received the email that card is being produced

Off to the N-400 Journey. Good luck everyone!

Did you both bring your passports? I (USC) made sure to put my original birth certificate in our folder but I haven't tossed in my passport.

57 minutes ago, uktoHou said:

I got my Receipt text today we're assigned to MSC, 

 

I'm from Texas so I expected to be sent there,

 

Hopefully we hear something with regards to biometric soon!

 

Thanks,

We’re you CR-1? Most CR-1s get sent straight to MSC.

I thought that everybody in this thread would be very amused by my immigration attorney trying to convince me that getting an ROC interview is exceedingly rare and therefore I should pay him to come with us.

I responded to his email with a link to the Dec 2018 change in guidelines that make CR-1s ineligible for an interview waiver 😂

577 pages. Lawyer used a box to send it. 

I managed to get our date via the online chat but the letter may have been lost by USPS. I'm curious to see what it says you should bring.

13 minutes ago, Mill&bill said:

congrats. did you apply for citizenship? Is it combine interview?

No, we didn’t.

1 minute ago, Locito said:

Congrats!  I noticed we have the same service center. Hopefully we'll get our interview in Santa Ana within the next 12 to 18 months.

 

Could you please write in this thread and tell how was your interview experience? I am interested because I had a horrible InfoPASS experience at the Santa Ana Service Center last week, and was hoping that the lady from downstairs isn't one of the officers who actually interview people  

Absolutely! Hearing that I really hope she doesn't interview people either!

3 minutes ago, FK1 said:

That’s great news! What was the date of your last update? Mine has been stuck on ready to schedule since Oct 21st,2020

Oct 21 as well. It all depends on your local office it seems.

One thing worth noting is that our processing time is line with the I-485 processing for Santa Ana (our local office), so it might be worth looking that up for your office to get some idea.

Just got notification today that an interview was scheduled. We were stuck on Ready to Schedule Interview for 7 months.

Just got notification that our interview has been scheduled  We were waiting just under 7 months since it changed to Ready to Be Scheduled for an Interview.

Processing time for All Field Offices is finally going down each month! It was up to 45 months at the height of COVID!

P