VisaCode

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

How do you front load a B application?

 

I own property in the UK, I live in the US,  so has not worked with me.

What are you even talking about? I'm not going to get into some pedantic discussion with you negative Nancy's. Who owns what and where is irrelevant. I gave an example illustrating a concept in general terms. If you can't wrap your head around it, that's not my problem. I can explain it to you, not understand it for you. My advice was to the OP and they can take it or leave it. Whether you understand it or not really doesn't concern me.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with front-loading a visa application. And people who think CO's only look at the documents that are asked for are crazy. You can find plenty of examples on this site of them looking at social media and other publicly available info. Nothing wrong with putting more info right in front of them. If they don't look at it, you're no worse off than before. 

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

What is this magical document?

 

Why is it not asked for as part of the application process?

I have no idea what the documents might be because I don't know the brother's situation or even what kinds of documentation he might have available. That's for them to figure out. But if I were trying to demonstrate my ties to the US, I might include the HUD-1's from the property I own, labeled for examples, "HUD-1 residence", and "HUD-1 rental property". I might include the articles of incorporation for the business I own. All sorts of documents you can add into your file and label them so anyone looking at the file can form a more complete picture of what I'm all about. It isn't rocket science.

32 minutes ago, Yvonne90 said:

I also wanted to clarify that my question wasn't really about money issues. I just wanted to know how long I had to be employed to be a sponsor. I do appreciate the feedback, though, and I'll look more into the CR1 process.

What was your taxable income last year? Length of time on the job is only a very small part of the picture. If you've just started a new job making similar money to what you were last year, no problem. If you just started a job making several multiples of what you made last year, that's gonna raise some eyebrows.

It sounds like your brother's application was weak and he could have made a stronger case. That's unfortunate. Instead of waiting to be asked for proof, your brother should volunteer as much evidence as he can. Whatever documents shows property ownership, proof of his job, etc... They may be denied again but all you can do is try again. And try to make a stronger case that your brother's family have compelling reasons why they would return to their home country. And that case needs to be made "in the file", with documents. Don't plan on being able to explain it at the interview. Try to make it obvious to the CO before they even walk in the room.

The original will be in whatever language it is in. If that language isn't English, you will need to get it translated to English. For every document the embassy asked for, if it was in Indonesian, I had it translated. I found a service online to do it. I had my fiance send me pictures of the documents and I sent those to the translator to get the certified documents. For 5 documents, with both PDF and printed hard copy versions, I think I paid about $75. Pretty painless process, altogether.

I also initially started on RapidVisa then decided to go DIY. Having completed the K-1 process, I see that RapidVisa was asking for things that would later be required on the DS-160 in the embassy stage. The thing about that is the DS-160 appears to be electronic-only now. At least at the embassy we chose, the only option we were given was the online version. So I'm not even sure how RapidVisa would have handled that.

By the way, what ultimately turned me off on RapidVisa was when I emailed them with a simple question ("M fiance only has one name. How should I use that to fill out your forms?") and the person responding didn't seem confident in their answer. That was a big red flag for me. I started googling and decided to DIY. I don't regret it.

2 hours ago, x_driven_x said:

She's not even in the US yet, was just thinking ahead. I think you're right though... might be best just to do surname after marriage to keep it easier all around while there's still more paperwork to do and travel needed on her Ukrainian passport.

The best thing to do is call the court clerk that handles marriage licenses and ask. Usually, the same court that does marriages also does name changes, so the clerk should be well versed in the procedures required for both in your state.

The visa, once approved, will be valid for 6 months after the date of the medical exam. So unless you and your fiance are just super eager for them to hop on the plane as soon as they get their visa, the ticket doesn't have to be short notice. My fiance's visa was recently approved and she's not flying to the US until the end of next month. Right now she's training her replacement at work, closing accounts, tidying up some paperwork, etc...

5 minutes ago, missileman said:

You were in the military......If you are over-prepared, you are fully prepared.....should be every filer's goal.

 

EDIT:  I think this change is targeting those people who just want to throw something at the immigration in order to give them some breathing space....those folks shouldn't be filing, anyway.

That does seem to be the primary target and motivation. But if you read the memo itself, it lists 2 classes of cases that it advises cases be denied: 1) Statutory denials, and 2) Denials based on lack of sufficient initial evidence. Under the second class based on lack of evidence, it gives the example of:

Quote

For example, family-based or employment-based categories where an Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), if required, was not submitted with the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485).

Now, that might seem like a very big oversight. At the same time, thinking back to when I was putting together my packet to send to my fiance for the embassy and had everything laid out on the table in triplicate putting the packets together (2 to send to her [That old military thing: two is one, one is none*], and one for my records) it was quite the task keeping everything straight. And even after checking and re-checking, once I mailed the packages, I kept second-guessing whether all the right documents had made it into the correct envelopes. Because Murphy's Law is real, someone is going to get screwed. No doubt about it.

* Fun fact: only one package made it. The other is still lost in the system somewhere.

2 minutes ago, florida racer 73 said:

But If you read the instruction and follow them this will not happen, check, double check and triple check before sending, this is the petitioners responsability, not uscis.

Yeah and if you've never measured twice, cut once, and still screwed something up, you're better than any person I've ever met. Bully for you.

1 minute ago, missileman said:

It is good news if it clears the "place holder" and frivolous cases out of the pipeline.

You're welcome to your opinion. For me, that is a plus, but still not enough to make it good news. I don't foresee adjudicators really gaining that much time from this that it's going to materially speed up processing times.

While I understand the reason and intent behind this change, there will undoubtedly be more than zero people who totally get screwed by it, either because of a simple mistake or possibly even through no fault of their own. Like much of US immigration policy, it's unfortunate that a few bad apples can cause added headaches for people legitimately trying their best to comply with the rules. But that's the system we've got. This certainly isn't a malicious change just for the sake of making things more difficult like the article tries to make it appear. But I wouldn't call it "good news", either.

Good to know about the credit card payment option. I missed that they added that. I pay my statement balance monthly but getting 2% back on the hefty AOS fee will be nice.

Yup, I wish we'd gone CR1 now, for sure. Oh well, "it is what it is", "the grass is always greener on the other side", etc...

You have a "common law marriage" to the man in your home country. USCIS does recognize common law marriage, so you are indeed "officially married". So you really don't have a problem there. Your problem is you will have to officially divorce this man before you can move forward. If he is willing to cooperate, then you may be able to accomplish a divorce easily without returning to your home country. If he is not willing to cooperate, it will be more difficult.

Your fiance sounds like a tool. Is he abusive by any chance? If so, and you do marry within the 90 days, but your spouse will not submit the required paperwork, then you have a very small chance of being successful self-petitioning for AOS under VAWA. But if your fiance is not abusive and won't marry and/or complete the paperwork, then I don't think there is anything you can do.

No, the international terminal F baggage area (which is where he'll be headed if ATL is his terminal destination) is a sterile area until after passengers pass through customs. But as long as he follows the crowd, there are few options to get lost as everything is obviously setup to corral everyone to CPB. They also have stewards at the lines checking passports and trying to make sure people are getting into the correct lines.

You may want to familiarize yourself with the items you are prohibited from bringing across the border, as well, just to avoid any hassle. The POE is where you'll have to declare you're not carrying any prohibitted items and your bags may be checked. My fiance is afraid she won't be able to find here many of the vegetables and seafood she's accustomed to and had grand plans of bringing many different food items and even seeds for starting a garden. She thought I was joking with her when I started telling her all the things she can't bring. It's ok, though, she'll be amazed when she see's our international farmer's market 😁

For the petition, I sent my booking itinerary, boarding passes for a few of the legs (I somehow lost some) of my flights. I sent receipts (both hotel printout and credit card) of the hotel I stayed in. And I sent about 7 or 8 pictures of us together during my trip. I also sent copies of every page of my passport.  As another "extra" I also sent a copy of my birth certificate. It wasn't required since I had included my passport but whatever, it was one more page to copy, no big deal.

If he's about to deploy, it's a no-brainer. Go back home and CR1. He's being selfish asking you to walk out on your life on a moment's notice (if this was really unplanned) right when he's about to be walking out, albeit temporarily, himself. You'll be left behind in the US with very little support network. Just the meager resources on base and, maybe, other wives in his unit.

Only $100/mo? My coworker spends more than that just for his wife's parents cell phones in Pennsylvania. There is a very strong cultural norm in the Philippines that children should contribute back to their parents when they leave the house. It really has nothing to do with the fact that you're American so take that chip off your shoulder. Nothing good is going to come of it. 

If the amount she wants to send is straining the budget (even if it just means you can't save for vacations like you want, etc...) then explain that to your wife and workout an amount that works for you both. But it's unrealistic if you think she's going to agree to not help support her parents at all.

Just now, Roel said:

What sort of on post allowance is that? We were actually loosing money living on post comparing to BAH we'd receive living off post.

Geo-bachelor is when the soldier's family doesn't live near the base. So, if you marry your "friend" from your hometown and she stays there, you get to both live in the barracks and get BAH to help offset the family's living expenses where they are. Yes, if the service-member is legitimately supporting the family, it won't be enough to completely cover expenses. But if she's happy to just get the insurance for her and probably kids, and the service-member gets to keep the geo-bach BAH money...everybody wins! Except the taxpayers, of course.

Just now, Roel said:

Ladies love those military benefits.

To be fair, so do the soldiers. Non-NCOs typically can't live off-base unless they're married. And even if they choose to live on-base, they get a nice "geographical bachelor" allowance which makes a nice car payment or buys a heck of a lot of extra beer at the E-club.

Oh, to be young again 😂

FYI, the fact that your beloved is in the military may actually work against you. marriage fraud is rampant in the military even among US citizens. It's most often perpetrated by non-NCO enlisted men. So that will be another red flag on your petition. Given your ages, I'm guessing your fiance fits that description. USCIS and the military have been working hard together the last several years to curb the high, and increasing, rates of marriage fraud.

But really, there is nothing to do but apply and hope for the best.

As an aside, my favorite super-fast marriage I witnessed in the military was when my unit was temporarily assigned to Biloxi, MS for 2 weeks. In that time, a guy in my unit met the love of his life dancing at a bar and they got married. Cute little redhead. She packed her things in her mustang and practically beat us getting back to San Diego. That was 25 years ago and as far as I know, they're still together.