nekotakacho

You’re welcome! The new I-134 just takes some time getting used to, just read the instructions super carefully and, when in doubt, follow what’s logical. Like I said there seems to be an inherent contradiction in the instructions for Part 3 Item 15, but other than that, everything else was okay. Best of luck and thanks to everyone here for the assistance!

Hi! I hope I'm not necro'ing this 'old' thread, but there's one question on the I-134 that's still unsettling me. In Part 3 Question 15 (from the Petitioner's perspective), it says that "information about assets that are not based on employment should be added in item Number 15, and not in Item Number 20." 
 
This makes little sense. Item 20 then proceeds to ask about "assets available to you," and the drop-downs are all assets that aren't related to employment (i.e., bonds, savings accounts, etc.). What, then, is the instruction in 15 asking me to do there? Presently I have written "$0" as income contribution to the beneficiary annually in 15 but that doesn't sit well with me; I've read the other threads as suggested and I'm afraid the embassy will just look at the number in Item 15 rather than including Item 20 (but if that's the case, what's the point of the Asset section)?
 
Separately, do we already count our fiancees as dependents for the purposes of the form? Thank you so much in advance.

You'd be surprised to learn how many asylees visit their home countries regularly.
I won't hint at how since it's against TOS to discuss illegal activities. 
 

Indeed. I would guess low chances for both groups of people in any event.
 
But immigrating to the US is a very low priority for Russians trying to escape the regime. Plenty of more accessible countries. I speak from experience of dozens of my friends and family members. 

Plenty of Russians are coming to the USA on B2 tourist visas and applying for asylum. and yes, you must be in the USA or at a POE to apply for asylum. Most Russians with B2 visas are already here in the USA now. Our friend from Siberia came to Miami last week because he had been arrested walking the street in Moscow. He was arrested for protesting but he was just walking home from work. Now he is on a black list in Russia which makes him unemployable. He spent a week in jail over this. He’s pretty upset.
 
The Us embassy in Moscow has been closed long before this “war” and has completely robbed the Russian people of hopes and also money. Literally US embassy stole their money on pending applications. We lost our money, and so did thousands of other people waiting on applications. 

We re-applied for my wife’s parents to get B2 visas in Budapest. We booked their appointments last September for this July. It was hard to find an appointment slot. They will fly through Turkey to meet us in Greece, and then to Budapest for their interviews.
 
I am going to encourage all our Russian friends and family to expedite their cases as well.
 
 

I’m not concerned.  Your timeline says you had an I-485 interview.  So you likely will not get an I-751 interview.  
 
If you do, you have choices.  Personally, given how long your vacation is, I’d take the 3-7 days out of it, and fly back to USA to attend the interview. Meanwhile sign up for usps informed delivery, start saving money for extra plane fare, and identify a trusted friend or relative who can check your mail one a week for critical mail from USCIS. 
 
Hopefully a green card will show up for you while on vacation.  

Not Mexico unless the immigrant has one of the following to qualify for residency 
 
How to Become a Mexican resident? You have close family relations in Mexico. You have found a job in Mexico. You intend to retire in Mexico. You start studying in a Mexican educational institution. You have amassed at least four years of temporary residence and now qualify for permanent residence. and then the cost is"
    Temporary resident for three years $8,376 MXN Temporary resident for four years $9,927 MXN Permanent resident $5,379 MXN   no 2 year one so she would need to go for the 3 year to get her thru from petition to interview (Mexico has a huge backlog)

Thanks, hopefully everything holds stable enough there through Monday. I'm sorry to hear about your situation and your visit. I lived in Russia myself for years; this is a terrible, unjustified humanitarian tragedy. And I feel for anyone else who is going through something similar! Best wishes.

I never claimed (or asked) about any expedited services / refugee status, or anything like that. I never considered or mentioned such a thing. I don't think we're at that point by any stretch. (Although, it could go there for Russians, too, my main objective is to avoid such a scenario altogether) I was just responding to another poster who was questioning why I felt she should exit the country, why I felt she may not be safe to stay. Was not related to our process.

As for the residency point, I have tried to contract embassies, but no response thus yet. It can be a bit difficult, as is probably known. I wish the requirements for that were made clearer, but perhaps it's up to the embassy to clear it. Maybe I could try calling again. 


Thanks for the response.

I don't really want to get into a debate about why it is or isn't safe there -- but, the prospect of a foreign invasion to Russia is certainly not what I think of as the reason for her not being safe. There is, again, a rumor that martial law will be enacted this Friday. Unfortunately, all flights are sold out. I strongly regret letting her return to the country. (But, fate is fate)

I don't imagine it to be not complex. In fact I do imagine it to be very complex. That's why I try to cut out anything I can where I can in order to get to the essence of what really needs to be done, and what the real options are. 

We can both travel to countries including Mexico, Montenegro, Turkey, Argentina, Chile, Armenia, pretty much all of the resort islands...

Your posts give the the impression that individual Russian citizens are being penalized directly by foreign governments -- this, so far, is pretty much untrue across the board. (There are a handful of countries, however, like the Czech Republic, and one of the baltic states, that have stopped issuing visas) Visas to the UK, and EU, and even the USA, are still being issued actively, for instance. She is free to go and live in any country where she would be a worker, for instance, although that might not be a residence permit, but a working visa. 

The problem that I face now, is finding this person who can say "This IS my pay grade"

My brother in law and his wife entered the US earlier this year on B2 visas. Within a week upon entry, my bro in law had a Texas drivers license, and it was only valid for the dates on his visa. He planned to leave originally. They had their baby in June, but we no longer speak to them. We hear this information through the family back home.
 
Fast forward now, he has decided to overstay the visa, and have petitioned (w/ a lawyer) to remain here. They use coronavirus and the newborn as the reason to not go back home, and remain here.
 
I read on the USCIS website that a US citizen can sponsor their parents only if they are over 21 years old, which obviously this newborn baby is not. 
 
This is the USCIS website regarding sponsorship:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A1en.pdf
 
Is it still possible they appeal and get a green card or citizenship or even granted to stay in the USA? We are hoping they just go home but it seems they have other plans.
 
What is their options? Can they be deported? Obviously the newborn baby cannot be deported.
 
I think they have to wait for a judgement before being technically status of overstay now? Am I able to do anything to stop their application,  or contact USCIS about it? 
 
** also, this might be better off posted in the family forum instead??

My brother in law and his wife entered the US earlier this year on B2 visas. Within a week upon entry, my bro in law had a Texas drivers license, and it was only valid for the dates on his visa. He planned to leave originally. They had their baby in June, but we no longer speak to them. We hear this information through the family back home.
 
Fast forward now, he has decided to overstay the visa, and have petitioned (w/ a lawyer) to remain here. They use coronavirus and the newborn as the reason to not go back home, and remain here.
 
I read on the USCIS website that a US citizen can sponsor their parents only if they are over 21 years old, which obviously this newborn baby is not. 
 
This is the USCIS website regarding sponsorship:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A1en.pdf
 
Is it still possible they appeal and get a green card or citizenship or even granted to stay in the USA? We are hoping they just go home but it seems they have other plans.
 
What is their options? Can they be deported? Obviously the newborn baby cannot be deported.
 
I think they have to wait for a judgement before being technically status of overstay now? Am I able to do anything to stop their application,  or contact USCIS about it? 
 
** also, this might be better off posted in the family forum instead??

An EB5 requires $1 million dollar investment in the USA. If she had a million dollars we would all be living in Greece laughing at you Americans lol 

My brother in law and his wife entered the US earlier this year on B2 visas. Within a week upon entry, my bro in law had a Texas drivers license, and it was only valid for the dates on his visa. He planned to leave originally. They had their baby in June, but we no longer speak to them. We hear this information through the family back home.
 
Fast forward now, he has decided to overstay the visa, and have petitioned (w/ a lawyer) to remain here. They use coronavirus and the newborn as the reason to not go back home, and remain here.
 
I read on the USCIS website that a US citizen can sponsor their parents only if they are over 21 years old, which obviously this newborn baby is not. 
 
This is the USCIS website regarding sponsorship:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A1en.pdf
 
Is it still possible they appeal and get a green card or citizenship or even granted to stay in the USA? We are hoping they just go home but it seems they have other plans.
 
What is their options? Can they be deported? Obviously the newborn baby cannot be deported.
 
I think they have to wait for a judgement before being technically status of overstay now? Am I able to do anything to stop their application,  or contact USCIS about it? 
 
** also, this might be better off posted in the family forum instead??

And not that well planned to be honest. 🤪

They are headed for trouble.  I see no grounds for them to legally remain in the US as immigrants.   Yes, they can be removed after the expiration of their I-94s.  They need to go home. 

IMHO they are going to end up with a multi year ban.  

My brother in law and his wife entered the US earlier this year on B2 visas. Within a week upon entry, my bro in law had a Texas drivers license, and it was only valid for the dates on his visa. He planned to leave originally. They had their baby in June, but we no longer speak to them. We hear this information through the family back home.
 
Fast forward now, he has decided to overstay the visa, and have petitioned (w/ a lawyer) to remain here. They use coronavirus and the newborn as the reason to not go back home, and remain here.
 
I read on the USCIS website that a US citizen can sponsor their parents only if they are over 21 years old, which obviously this newborn baby is not. 
 
This is the USCIS website regarding sponsorship:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A1en.pdf
 
Is it still possible they appeal and get a green card or citizenship or even granted to stay in the USA? We are hoping they just go home but it seems they have other plans.
 
What is their options? Can they be deported? Obviously the newborn baby cannot be deported.
 
I think they have to wait for a judgement before being technically status of overstay now? Am I able to do anything to stop their application,  or contact USCIS about it? 
 
** also, this might be better off posted in the family forum instead??

Unfortunately there is no affordable health care insurance in America, unless you're so poor that you get it free, in which case you wouldn't be allowed into the New America. America has the most expensive health care in the entire world.
 
If you're looking for affordable healthcare you'll want to migrate to a civilized first world country like France, Canada or Sweden.
 
 

You're coming from a place of hurt and pain. I get it. But you're generalizing Filipinas in a way that sounds like both you and your wife had expectations of each other that just didn't match reality. You expected a "simple" woman, and it sounded like she expected a "good" provider. It seems that you both resent each other for not living up to those expectations.

It sounds like your wife never drew firm boundaries with her family when it came to money or family support. Before getting married, did you ever have honest, direct discussions with her about how much money she would send home? What were your backup plans if someone in her family had a financial emergency? Exactly how many people were you expected to support back home? What were her expectations about the wedding? How much time did you spend in the Philippines and how much did you know about Filipino culture before you married? 
 
These are all things that the two of you should have talked about seriously before getting married. Or maybe you did, but the priorities changed. In any case, it sounds like a lot of built up resentment on both sides -  yours and hers.
 
I'm a Filipina, and kuripot (cheap), and I still send money regularly to my family because I have a shared responsibility with my siblings to take care of an aging father. Emphasis on shared. But I've set clear boundaries with them: you are only getting X pesos a month, because I'm married now, and I have my own priorities, and they do not include supporting everyone back home. My siblings have their own jobs, emergency funds, insurance and investments, and we all share expenses with supporting our aging father. I was up front with my husband about this while we were dating, and we had our financial plans in writing so that it was always clear.
 
 
 
 
Also, any woman, Filipina or not, whose husband accuses her of infidelity on social media, is not going to be happy.
 

While it's impressive that ZAGS maintains such a detailed list, it could be outdated or have errors. Most likely a quick google search of "How do I get an Apostille in my state" will yield good results for the current process.
 
A note on Apostille services: I've used them before in New York and Florida and it was awesome. I was not living there at the time and had no way to get it myself (sans physically flying there), so I paid a 3rd party Apostille service to do everything for me. The key thing was: they needed the original document. So, basically, I had to send them the original document, and then they took it and got it notarized and Apostilled. They then mailed it back to me. I had no problems and in the future if I ever need an Apostille, I'll probably use a 3rd party again (unless I live in the state.) Just do your homework and look at reviews, make sure the company is legit, and it can be a real life saver for people living abroad/out of state who don't have a way to get the Apostille themselves.
 
And just a note: for those who were divorced in Russia, you don't need anything extra, just the original Russian divorce decree (looks exactly like the Russian marriage certificate except it's a blueish grey color instead of red.) For those who married in a 3rd country (neither Russia nor US), I guess the best thing is to ask ZAGS what they want, because not all countries even offer Apostilles. Requirements will vary from country to country.
 
Thank you for updating us!! It helps a lot and shows that getting married in Russia is still possible, despite the embassy shut down.
 
 
 

My son had a similar situation. He and his wife were married in Tbilisi and lived there for a year after getting married. His lawyer told him to use our (his parents) address . It is now at the NVC stage. NVC assigned my daughter-in-law’s interview to Tbilisi, even though she is back in Moscow now. Now they are waiting for interview date. 

They intend to go as tourists. Currently Israel is not allowing tourists from Russia but they are indicating there will be chartered flights there for Russian citizens in December.

If you plan on listing all your addresses, make sure your wife lists them in her i-130A, too. 
She should also keep a list of all the countries she's visited/stayed in for the last 5 years. 
When she gets to NVC stage, she'll have to list of all the addresses she's lived in since the age of 16 in the DS-260 (so keep it consistent).
The digital nomad life is awesome, but it'll complicate your process a little. 
Depending on where you interview, they might not believe you (the USC) intend to re-establish domicile. So, make sure you either a) move back to the States before your wife interviews or b) set up a lease agreement/ housing to show you intend to move back to the States.