9 hours ago, centric23 said:

OP never said he wanted to get married while she's here visiting.

He said that in the very first post. That he's hoping fiance can come on the B visa, then she can get parole (?) to visit her country to clean up her life.

To me, OP is just trying to get money in exchange of marring someone for GC.

He's talking about red flags for the embassy, making he's marriage legit (???).

I don't buy it.

Why can't he fly to Colombia and marry her there?

He's post its a red flag.

I wore dress pants and a shirt for our AOS interview.

As for the suits, I actually got my first ones that would fit me in Man's Warehouse. The deal was two for $100 and that included tailor work.

Again, I don't think you need to dress up like you are going for a wedding. Business casual is what you have described in your original post.

Good Luck!

13 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

 

In a nutshell (because there are exceptions), you can’t take a car into America that wasn’t built with the US market in mind – unless it’s at least 25 years old. 

 

Don't bring it and if anyone says they will ship it and its legal ,  watch for it to disappear 

Of course you can bring any car to the US. Some of them will require little bit of work. I know people who were doing it for a living. Buying cars around the Europe, and actually sending them off to US from the port in Netherlands. 

Also, I see in the area Skoda Octavia (by look 2010-2015 model). That is pretty rare car in Virginia.

As for the tax, there should be some law that you don't pay the tax or it's just something nominal. You need to search for it.

I know that if I wanted to take my car to Europe (while moving there as a resident) I wouldn't have to pay the tax there. I guess there is something similar for people from EU moving to US. Search for it.

I would start from scratch and do it yourself. Going with the lawyer again will add a lot of unnecessary time to the case and fees.

It has happened to me last year at the local grocery store! I've used self check out station, packed everything (or so I thought) and went to the car.

When I was packing stuff to the trunk I saw chocolate bar that was at the back end of the cart. It was something like $2 candy, but I felt so bad and went back to the store to pay for it.

The person who was working on all 6 self check out stations was surprised that I've returned to pay for it.

But I felt better paying for it

So it happens to the best of us

Mine was also very long time ago, but I had to dig it out for my wife's application. The disclaimer was actually a stamp next to the photo stating: "Do not make color copies".

I don't know why it was like that.

1 hour ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

 At the time, it was also illegal to make copies of the naturalization certificate. Some people would get the certificate back after the dept of state would process their passports but some did not. I was one of the people who did not get it back. I have never cared to replace it. I just renew my passport before it expires and that's it. 

It was never illegal to make naturalization certificate copies. It was illegal to make 'color' copies of the certificate.

After you extended your visa, did you return your passport to the embassy?

I think you keep refreshing the page looking for appointment slots and that's why you've got this error.

What posters above meant by keep checking for open slots, it's not to refresh the page 20 times per minute

A lot of us had to deal with this scheduling nightmare.

You didn't put the embassy country in your profile, but if the embassy is in different time zone, you should try checking for slots at the embassy opening time.

For us (Thailand), I had to check for slots around 8pm EST. When I was checking in the morning and during the day, there was nothing available.

Don't give up and keep checking

On 3/14/2021 at 1:06 AM, Mackenzie Owens said:

Would it not be likely that as the situation of Covid gets better that the K1 visa returns to its normal 8 month time frame? I understand the benefits to CR-1 but, I don't know how we can get married in a 2 week trip. Is that even possible?

When was K-1 8 months time frame? I did mine in 2018 and it took 12 months. Maybe on a rare occasions it took someone 8 months, but the average was year+

I've paid with money order purchased at the post office. Didn't have to worry if the check would cash. Purchased it at the same time I've sent the packet with all the forms to DHS. Got NOA two weeks later.

You can arrange your personal translator to be available via phone. Don't relay on the people from the government.

The requirement is that the translator on the phone will submit document stating that he/she is fluent in English/Spanish (in your case).

That's all.

I've hired a lady from Texas over the contracting website. She emailed me that one pager with the statement about her ability of speaking fluently Thai/English.

I've submitted this document to the officer at the interview, but we didn't have to use her.

It's up to you if you want to have phone interpreter or not.

Good luck.

For our interview we've arrived 15 minutes before our interview and just made it in time. The line to get to the building was about 10 people deep, but it took them about 15 minutes to process everybody. So we were cutting it short.

If I were you, I would arrive 20 to 30 minutes before your time.
 

8 hours ago, Juaco said:

What are the requirements for a phone interpreter? The USCIS interview letter only said to have a phone interpreter if require. My wife only speaks spanish. We are scheduled for the Atlanta office.

The requirement is in the interview schedule letter. Phone interpreter should send you a signed letter that he/she can fluently speak English and Spanish.

That's all.

8 minutes ago, joybe4me said:

This is wrong. I will find the right people and do something about it. I will state a fact again...I didn't have to give my original birth certificate the first time I applied and there would have been no great inconvenience to me to get one. I would have still been able to apply for a job and supply the right documentation to work. Work would not have been withheld....It is wrong and I believe unconstitutional even.

Unconstitutional? Probably millions of people have sent original and they survived. I survived too. The chance of it being lost is slim to none.

If it's lost they will replace it for you free of charge. Your newly naturalized husband doesn't have to go to work every day with his naturalization certificate, so there is no point bringing it up that he may loose income.

We also recently had AOS interview. They've told us that the card should arrive within two weeks.

Early next day I've checked the status and it has changed to New Card is Being Produced.

We've received the GC exactly 5 business days after the interview

5 hours ago, Oreshkova21 said:

Hi, we contacted the American embassy

Why? Are you trying to come to US?

Do you have to renounce citizenship in your country before becoming USC? 

Even that your country doesn't recognize dual citizenship (which country?) it doesn't mean that you can't have two.

She needs to register to be able to pay for the interview. Everybody had to do it.

My wife just received her green card

We started the process on January 13 2018, and we had about 8 months delay (COVID and my misunderstanding caused 2 months delay at the embassy in Bangkok).

Thank you all for helping us the way during this DIY journey

10 hours ago, sweethrtt said:

I had my interview August 20th and I feel it went exactly like yours. The interviewer was friendly

but stoic. Our interview only lasted around 20 minutes. It’s been about 3 weeks now and I still haven’t heard anything. It can be easy to think the worst in situations like this. Trust me I’ve had many a sleepless night since my interview. Hang in there and hopefully we both hear good news soon! 

Did you check status of your case online? We had our interview yesterday and today the status has changed to New Card is Being Produced.

Woke up this morning, checked the case status and I see:

New Card Is Being Produced

On September 11, 2020, we ordered your new card for Receipt Number MXXXXXXXXXXXXX, and will mail it to the address you gave us.

On 9/9/2020 at 11:31 AM, rasaco said:

How did the interview go? Did you end up bringing a phone interpreter? We are in a similar situation (Interview in October, we are at the ROC phase, not AOS, and my husband does speak English in his daily life, but this is just way too important of an interview to risk him misunderstanding a question). If you did end up using a phone interpreter, did you choose a friend or a professional? What was the process like of how you got them on the phone once you were there? Thanks so much!

Hi,

Just got back home from the interview. It was pretty simple. We got to the office 15 minutes before the scheduled time. Waited in line to get to the building.
When we got to the waiting room it was maybe 10-15 other couples. Social distancing.

IO were coming in and calling the names. We were waiting about 15 minutes before my wife's name was called. We followed the IO to his office.

He asked for documents verifying our identities etc. The questions were to both of us, but when he asked my wife about something that she didn't understand, I've asked him to rephrase it. He was happy to do it and other questions that my wife wouldn't understand he would explain some other way. He was super nice.

We had our translator/interpreter on stand by waiting by her phone just in case, but we didn't have to use her.

The questions were just about her job, our marriage and IO wanted to see original documents (passports, marriage certificate, etc.).

We were done in under 30 minutes. Received print out that they will review the documents and make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

Again, I can't stress it enough, the whole process today was very pleasant. We were expecting 'bored' government workers, but we've got very nice and pleasant employee.

Also, I've looked at all these people coming in, and they had maybe one folder of documents. We had a tote bag with 7.4lbs of documents I was covering all the possible bases. We don't need more delays and RFE.

So far, following the VJ guidelines and help from other members, we haven't had even 1 RFE from the first time we've applied for K-1 visa

Thank you all for the guidance!

10 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Correct, they couldn't get their phone translator on the phone, an even though I'm sure my wife could have made it thru the interview, the IO didn't want to risk it. IO just didn't want to do anymore work that day I think honestly. When we went back for the rescheduled interview, with a live interpreter on hand, we had the interview with the supervisor that day, and even he agreed the interpreter probably wasn't needed, and he hinted at the fact he was doing all these interviews because the first IO was no longer employed by USCIS anymore. He didn't come out and directly say it, but I think the first IO ended up being fired from her job. I don't doubt it the way her attitude was from the start. Had absolutely no issues with the second interview, and had green card in hand a week later.

I remember your story, that's why I'm little nervous. My wife had her interview, got the job and was working there with customers. I think her English is good enough, but I don't want to take any chances.

27 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

This is incorrect, they won’t even let you talk when they ask your spouse, they sometime separate the couple.

 

OP: any friend can be your interpreter, no close relative though. If the interpreter is not with you at the interview, they will reschedule it. At this pandemic, I don’t know if they would allow more people inside the room.

On the interview letter it says to arrange interpreter available over the phone.

12 minutes ago, JasonGG said:

During my wife's and daughter's interviews in 2018, I was able to rephrase questions in English to help my wife understand.  My wife interpreted for her daughter who was 8 years old at the time.  Prepare yourself by reviewing the list of "yes / no" questions on the application.  At my wife's interview, he rephrased some questions so the answer would be opposite of what was on the form.  Be prepared to talk about your married life and you will be fine.

 

Good Luck - Jason

That's all I would need, just to rephrase the questions if she would be confused by them.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

That's the thing, I wont be the 'translator' as I don't speak Thai, but if possible I would like to be interpreter

I would like to be interpreter between CIS employee and my wife, not my wife --> CIS employee. She can answer in English no problem, but I worry that she won't understand the question correctly.