George & Roth

Hi @CaroY , sorry that your thread has delved into what it has become based on your OP. Replies around here tend to be pretty snarky but also helpful and to the point. 
 
I will commiserate with you as I struggled mightily through the waiting for my wife to get her visa (K-1) processed as we have a son together and I also planned to stay in Cambodia long-term which changed rather abruptly. I always did the Facebook video calls but it is never enough, and it is not only the missing my son and fiance but also worrying that I am so far away if they need my help or what if something bad happens. 
 
I will not debate about if it is fair or not to have visa with young kids process faster, but I will say I wish that was the case very much. I wrote to the president & white house even, I received a return call from the USCIS based off of my letter to the white house. Even though I may have gotten a person more senior to call me I still needed to wait for the visa. I called USCIS a number of times, I even cried once and the nice person on phone had their voice cracking a bit like they would cry with me. I also made an infopass appointment in NYC. 
 
To add to my distress, my son had a leg injury and couldn't walk. Went to the doctor who gave diagnosis of "I can't see anything wrong." My son did not walk for over 6 weeks! And I was so far away i was losing my mind! I flew back to Cambodia and flew my son to see a specialist in Thailand, confirmed it was just a bad strain and also was able to see my son and my fiance. 
 
My only suggestion is for the US individual to fly to visit if financially possible, but if not just keep up with the calls as you said. 

We cope the same as a military family copes
we spend quality time with the child (ren)
We talk and write as much as possible to the spouse
We send gifts and make sure the holidays are special for the family 
We let the child(ren) know the dad or mom is special and loves them
 
and we do all immigration asks us to do to speed the process 
an example is to pay the fees at the NVC stage promtly so the process is not held up by the petitioner
there is a lot of work to be done/  do it so your family can be together

****Thread locked as requested by OP. Please do not start another thread as a continuation of this one.

Hi @CaroY , sorry that your thread has delved into what it has become based on your OP. Replies around here tend to be pretty snarky but also helpful and to the point. 
 
I will commiserate with you as I struggled mightily through the waiting for my wife to get her visa (K-1) processed as we have a son together and I also planned to stay in Cambodia long-term which changed rather abruptly. I always did the Facebook video calls but it is never enough, and it is not only the missing my son and fiance but also worrying that I am so far away if they need my help or what if something bad happens. 
 
I will not debate about if it is fair or not to have visa with young kids process faster, but I will say I wish that was the case very much. I wrote to the president & white house even, I received a return call from the USCIS based off of my letter to the white house. Even though I may have gotten a person more senior to call me I still needed to wait for the visa. I called USCIS a number of times, I even cried once and the nice person on phone had their voice cracking a bit like they would cry with me. I also made an infopass appointment in NYC. 
 
To add to my distress, my son had a leg injury and couldn't walk. Went to the doctor who gave diagnosis of "I can't see anything wrong." My son did not walk for over 6 weeks! And I was so far away i was losing my mind! I flew back to Cambodia and flew my son to see a specialist in Thailand, confirmed it was just a bad strain and also was able to see my son and my fiance. 
 
My only suggestion is for the US individual to fly to visit if financially possible, but if not just keep up with the calls as you said. 

Hi @CaroY , sorry that your thread has delved into what it has become based on your OP. Replies around here tend to be pretty snarky but also helpful and to the point. 
 
I will commiserate with you as I struggled mightily through the waiting for my wife to get her visa (K-1) processed as we have a son together and I also planned to stay in Cambodia long-term which changed rather abruptly. I always did the Facebook video calls but it is never enough, and it is not only the missing my son and fiance but also worrying that I am so far away if they need my help or what if something bad happens. 
 
I will not debate about if it is fair or not to have visa with young kids process faster, but I will say I wish that was the case very much. I wrote to the president & white house even, I received a return call from the USCIS based off of my letter to the white house. Even though I may have gotten a person more senior to call me I still needed to wait for the visa. I called USCIS a number of times, I even cried once and the nice person on phone had their voice cracking a bit like they would cry with me. I also made an infopass appointment in NYC. 
 
To add to my distress, my son had a leg injury and couldn't walk. Went to the doctor who gave diagnosis of "I can't see anything wrong." My son did not walk for over 6 weeks! And I was so far away i was losing my mind! I flew back to Cambodia and flew my son to see a specialist in Thailand, confirmed it was just a bad strain and also was able to see my son and my fiance. 
 
My only suggestion is for the US individual to fly to visit if financially possible, but if not just keep up with the calls as you said. 

I'd personally sue USCIS if they would start treating couples with kids as more "legit" and putting then in front of the que, in front of other people. It would be incredibly UNFAIR. Also crying about it to the USCIS and White House? Lol what? 
 
Sorry but the kids aren't miracles and no one else beside you care about them nor is willing to treat you better because of it. 
 
Incoming this thread being closed. 

Hi @CaroY , sorry that your thread has delved into what it has become based on your OP. Replies around here tend to be pretty snarky but also helpful and to the point. 
 
I will commiserate with you as I struggled mightily through the waiting for my wife to get her visa (K-1) processed as we have a son together and I also planned to stay in Cambodia long-term which changed rather abruptly. I always did the Facebook video calls but it is never enough, and it is not only the missing my son and fiance but also worrying that I am so far away if they need my help or what if something bad happens. 
 
I will not debate about if it is fair or not to have visa with young kids process faster, but I will say I wish that was the case very much. I wrote to the president & white house even, I received a return call from the USCIS based off of my letter to the white house. Even though I may have gotten a person more senior to call me I still needed to wait for the visa. I called USCIS a number of times, I even cried once and the nice person on phone had their voice cracking a bit like they would cry with me. I also made an infopass appointment in NYC. 
 
To add to my distress, my son had a leg injury and couldn't walk. Went to the doctor who gave diagnosis of "I can't see anything wrong." My son did not walk for over 6 weeks! And I was so far away i was losing my mind! I flew back to Cambodia and flew my son to see a specialist in Thailand, confirmed it was just a bad strain and also was able to see my son and my fiance. 
 
My only suggestion is for the US individual to fly to visit if financially possible, but if not just keep up with the calls as you said. 

There is no better data regarding I-129f approval rates than what USCIS, itself, publishes........like it or not..........it seems you already have reached some conclusion in your mind, and you are searching for data to justify it.......
 
I-129f approval rate for FY 2018 was 73.49%......

Would you ask a fox how many chickens it had killed in the hen house when nobody was looking?  I don't trust ANY numbers published by politicians especially the group currently in power in the US and especially on the issue of immigration.  The VJ page in question has a lot of information on it.  What would motivate someone to go to the trouble of producing that much false data?  I feel safe predicting that the report you furnished spends most of it's time patting USCIS on the back and demonstrating how fair and unbiased they are.  I'm a firm believer in the old joke about how to tell if a politician is lying.

And we have our newest member born Feb 22nd 👶🍼
 

 
 
Our son turned 4 on Feb 21, so 1 day difference in birthday from his little sister.  Given both were almost born on the same day my friends joked that 9 months before must be my birthday 🙈
 

And we have our newest member born Feb 22nd 👶🍼
 

 
 
Our son turned 4 on Feb 21, so 1 day difference in birthday from his little sister.  Given both were almost born on the same day my friends joked that 9 months before must be my birthday 🙈
 

And we have our newest member born Feb 22nd 👶🍼
 

 
 
Our son turned 4 on Feb 21, so 1 day difference in birthday from his little sister.  Given both were almost born on the same day my friends joked that 9 months before must be my birthday 🙈
 

Not sure if anyone checks in here anymore from our old group but we are finally getting married in May! What a long and winding road it’s been to get here! Next step...more paperwork of course! Hope everyone is doing well! 

And we have our newest member born Feb 22nd 👶🍼
 

 
 
Our son turned 4 on Feb 21, so 1 day difference in birthday from his little sister.  Given both were almost born on the same day my friends joked that 9 months before must be my birthday 🙈
 

She's not a tourist who's considering to cut her overseas trip short.  She's about to move back to her home country.  There's more to a move than packing her suitcase and buying a ticket.  Preparing a move takes time and effort to prepare, and a usually also quite a bit of money.  She needs to make sure that she's got a place to stay back in her home country; she might have stuff that needs to be shipped; and she'll definitely want to find a lawyer here who will represent her interests in the upcoming divorce.  All of that needs to be arranged before she leaves because she won't be allowed to return in the foreseeable future.  I can understand that she'd like some help with that, especially as she seems to be short on cash.  That's my take on "prepare my back trip in good conditions". 

When my wife’s parents bothered me (Cambodian) I just use beer and feel better. Need to have at least 3 though. And no tequila. 

I am writing this to help anybody else out that entered to get a license that entered the USA on a K-1 Visa. It matters very much which office you go to. I am leaving out all the details however I had SEVEN visits to the MVC/DMV and about EIGHT phone calls to the main MVC office.
 
First is more of a rant but see the bottom of this post for relevant info if you want to get your DL. 
 
1)      DO NOT GO TO RAHWAY NJ office
We went in here, they do not know how to handle K-1 immigrants.
·        Incorrectly told her she can drive immediately using her foreign license. Dangerous!
·        Would not issue permit for taking test. WRONG
·        After obtaining permit from other MVC office and passing test they said she is not eligible for license until green card arrives. I explained the absurdity of this and escalated it all the way to the top of the chain (management and coordinator) to no avail.  
 
2)      GO TO Bakers Basin (Lawrenceville NJ)
·        Provide permit to allow for knowledge test with I-94 and SS# as parts of support
·        Provided license after the passed test
·        Screwed up translator appointment but was helpful otherwise
 
3)      Do not trust phone center in Trenton NJ
·        50% of the time they were helpful
·        I was called and yelled at that my wife did not study because they had mixed up her record with someone else who was using a translator repeatedly (5 times) at the cost of the MVC. After I went ballistic they figured out they mixed up her record and apologized profusely.
·        I told them Rahway office does not understand the immigration and I was told it is up Rahway, no set way to handle immigrants across different locations
·        I told them I am confident I can go to another location and receive the license, instead of rectifying the issue it was recommended I try the other MVC. (I did and we did get license)
 
 
 
How it worked for us in New Jersey at Bakers Basin MVC (May vary by STATE!):
A)      You need to first get your SS#.
B)      With your SS# & I-94 you can get a permit to take the knowledge test and after passing get a license issued for the period ended the date of I-94. (We did not do this, skipped to D below)
Bring everything with you (passport, visa, DL from home country, marriage certificate, I-94) Get bank statement jointly right away Add fiance to any lease right away Get fiance a credit card right away (no SS# needed) Get fiance on driving insurance (no SS# needed with progressive) C)      You can get a translator for the test if you fail it once without a translator. Challenge for some is studying the material which is in English.
 She had a bad translator who was not able to translate all of the words (did a combo English/khmer) so was not helpful She passed with no translator by practice of questions and looking up words herself, and I helped as well. For reference, she has a fair level of English not an expert level D)      After you get married and submit your AOS paperwork you can use the NOA 1 (form 797) that you receive for the AOS to get a 6 month license (this is what she received)
E)       Once you receive permission to work (EAD) or the green card you will be able to get a longer license. We will expect EAD is received by this time and use it for next driving license extension.

Thanks for sharing these. I'll keep an eye on them!

And we have our newest member born Feb 22nd 👶🍼
 

 
 
Our son turned 4 on Feb 21, so 1 day difference in birthday from his little sister.  Given both were almost born on the same day my friends joked that 9 months before must be my birthday 🙈
 

My husband and I had the same RFIE about our joint sponsor even though he was well qualified (he made over triple the amount needed). We called USCIS requesting a Tier 2 and we were informed they made a mistake.
 
We resent everything with a cover letter outlinging EVERYTHING. We even sent the Poverty guideline page with the highlighted part of how we met the required income. We attached W2, pay stubs, previous tax returns, and a letter explaining HOW/WHY we met the poverty guideline, what was discussed with the Tier 2 officer (along with a name), and a broken down explanation of our joint sponsor's income.
 
I know VJ Members will tell you to get a new joint sponsor because they did to me also but USCIS accepted our response and we got our green card two weeks ago with no issue. 

Not just getting the green card, this also pushes back the removing conditions and Citizenship. The calculation for when you can file those forms (I-751 & N-400) does not begin until your green card date. 
 
Really not fair for those from slow centers like Houston, can’t be a citizen until almost a year after other locations. 
 
They should do something to balance it out.

I can't read half of this thread, I don't speak/read Thai. 
 
Also, what are the details of your email you are worried about? Tell us and we will let you know if it is important or not. 

I can't read half of this thread, I don't speak/read Thai. 
 
Also, what are the details of your email you are worried about? Tell us and we will let you know if it is important or not. 

I can't read half of this thread, I don't speak/read Thai. 
 
Also, what are the details of your email you are worried about? Tell us and we will let you know if it is important or not. 

And we have our newest member born Feb 22nd 👶🍼
 

 
 
Our son turned 4 on Feb 21, so 1 day difference in birthday from his little sister.  Given both were almost born on the same day my friends joked that 9 months before must be my birthday 🙈