Nat&Amy

4 minutes ago, Me and her said:

I think they will know best when it comes to the public charge rule.  This is a new law, or mandate.  We are really not experts on the matter.  This is my opinion.

I wouldn't trust 3 out of 4 immigration officers to be more helpful than VJ. Knowledgeable? Maybe. But not all. Paying someone to give you advice does not always result in you getting good advice.

You have to click on the Profile tab and edit it. 

My guess is May/June in the best case scenario.

However, going by how fast cases have multiplied in the US, I honestly think this first half of the year is pretty much dead, including for immigration purposes. All the institutions I am part of (college, work, public services) are projecting early September as a likely "things going back to "normal" moment. 

If the form asks for the address where you live, you enter the address where you live. Mailing address is a different beast, so if you want to get all your mail sent to your spouse's address, great.

But claiming to live in an address where you don't live is not okay. If your marriage only "starts" after you have a celebration with your family, then it is an issue that you are sending your AoS now, claiming to be living in marital union when you actually aren't. Be prepared to provide very good explanations.

9 hours ago, Lucky Cat said:

In my opinion, they should eliminate Removal of Conditions, and just issue 10 year cards......

Especially when you consider that a spouse with a 2yr GC can remove conditions with a divorce waiver. Like, really, what is the point of a conditional green card? None (other than making people spend more money, of course).

9 hours ago, fs2439 said:

Hi,

My brother thinks I don't need to wait for AP to travel because coronavirus is an emergency. Do you agree or disagree? You think I would have trouble getting back into the United states?

Thank you

This is not even about agreeing or disagreeing. When it comes to immigration, the only "opinion" that counts is from Immigration themselves, and right now AP is mandatory for everyone planning to leave and re-enter the country during AoS. Until they waive that requirement, leaving the US without AP will result in you being stranded abroad.

5 hours ago, carmel34 said:

working from home is actually awesome with my husband who is still adjusting to his new life in the USA and also works from home, so it is so nice to be together all day and all night, good times!

Too bad that many employers are not offering the option to work from home and the idea of a lockdown is absolutely terrifying for workers that will not get paid for the days they spend at home. 

19 minutes ago, NikLR said:

The 90 day mark would mean she doesn't have any illegal time in the USA.

The way it was phrased, I understood OP was referring to the mythological rule of "only file AoS after waiting 90 days to show there was no immigrant intent". Since entrance was through a tourist visa, and the duration of allowed stay depends on what was granted at PoE, I did not connect the dots. In which case, to clarify: absolutely no need to wait 90 days to adjust status, and it is by far a better option to have a NOA1 while in authorized stay (be it 6 months, 3 or 1, depending on what i94 says). Accruing unauthorized stay is never a good idea.

11 minutes ago, Khevinox said:

Should we get married ASAP and file AOS before the 90 day mark?

Forget the "90 day mark" concept. What determines fraud is intent to adjust while entering the US with a temporary visa, and this was not your case. Circumstances change and that is what AoS is for. Regardless, intent is determined at the PoE. Water under the bridge. Unless your wife lied to immigration at any point, there is no reason to believe your AoS will be tagged as fraudulent.

14 hours ago, Khevinox said:

the way i see it, is easier for her to flight back to colombia get her k1 visa issued and  just come back in. doing what you want to do seems so much complicated, specially not knowing whats going to happen for the upcoming weeks now with this virus.

I entirely disagree. Marrying here and filing for AoS might be the best choice, not only because of health concerns (who would want to go on a long haul international flight these days? And then fly again when their visa is issued? Not only would they have to count on both countries still allowing flights in and out, as they would also have to risk being in airports, one of the hotspots for the coronavirus worldwide), but because at this point, consular processing has been suspended in many (if not the majority) of American Consulates all around the world. That delay alone could mean an extra financial burden, and if one or both countries imposes a lockdown, more hardship is likely to follow.

I am usually all for consular processing but this here is a clear case of change in circumstances that would entirely justify AoS.

In Brazil, the presence of the spouse doesn't hold that much weight. Plenty of couples everyday get approved interviewing alone.

As to college courses, you are free to take them but make sure to follow the guidelines for whom is considered a state resident or not - fees for non residents are usually much higher.

Last year, as I waited for my EAD I spent most of my time at home working on interior design projects, learning languages, taking care of my dogs. I do wish, though, that I had attended more networking events and connected more with people from my industry because when I finally got my EAD, I didn't get called for any of the jobs I wanted, largely due to the fact I could not provide any references within the United States other than my family. So you might want to consider using some of your time to attend events and make connections to maximize your employability when the time comes.

24 minutes ago, Ray.Bonaquist said:

 

If they are coming in ESTA, unless they meet a completely unprofessional biased immigration officer at the port of entry (it happens), they should be fine.

 

Permission to enter the US is never a guarantee unless you are a USC. To claim that only an "unprofessional biased immigration officer" could give them a hard time is an incorrect assumption at best. They have the right to question, take to secondary inspection and refuse entry to anyone that does not overcome the assumption of immigrant intent.

Therefore, there is never telling whether someone will be fine or not. Sure, it's no news that certain citizens from certain countries tend to be more scrutinized than others (by definition VWP holders are usually the ones that are grilled less at POE, but still, they might be). They might get asked about relatives in the US, ties to their home country. They might not. No one can tell for sure, but if they do, it's probably not due to the CBP officer being an evil employee.......

58 minutes ago, Oldschool1964 said:

can my wife just come over and then file for adjustment of status after 90 days?

File for spousal visa asap. The issue here is entering the country with intention to immigrate when you don't have an immigrant visa. Also, remember: in AoS your wife will not be able to work or to leave the US for several months. What if she needs to go to Canada to deal with urgent family matters? Completely not worth the risk when husband and wife live so close to each other and can visit every weekend.

ETA: as to the 90 day rule, it amazes me that people keep bringing it up but fail to realize that what they are doing is planning to wait 90 days to "prove" they were not planning to immigrate. Fraud at its best, and a real shame that lawyers and so many people continue to give this kind of advice. 

4 minutes ago, kimme79 said:

It's not a problem for me.  I was thinking I could use that as evidence against her with uscis.  She is going to claim she tried to work on the marriage, but her intentions are so transparent.  I also have proof.  That was my mentality. 🤷🏻‍♂️

The best thing you can do at this point is to let go. You are assuming USCIS will be remotely interested in her being with other men - they won't. Again, at some point you endorsed her application for Permanent Residency by saying it was legit, so any efforts to disprove that (and try to prove fraud instead) will be an uphill battle that you are likely to lose. 

It doesn't matter anymore. Had you withdrawn your support before she got her 2 year GC, yes, it would be very hard for her to move forward. Now, it is not, and you have nothing to gain from this situation anyways.

The time to have a say in your wife's immigration process is long, long gone. You say the two of you have nothing together, yet she was able to get a two year GC so clearly the two of you showed something.

Either way, it doesn't really matter now. She can remove conditions with a divorce waiver and if she claims abuse it is - as stated before - completely out of your hands. Time to move on and hope she doesn't claim public benefits just to mess you up financially, since you are still on the hook for the i864.

14 minutes ago, Renatac14 said:

Thank you, my case was approved 3 days ago

Congratulations!

You have been given very bad advice from your lawyers so be very careful moving forward with them. The information you got, that filing for a spousal visa would make you inelegible to enter the States to visit your wife for 18-24 months is the biggest load of BS I have ever heard. Such a thing does not exist.

No one is forced to stay without work for 6 months. AoS is recommended by lawyers as "the path to follow" because that's how they get your money. They couldn't care less if that option is really the best for you (clearly it isn't, and yes, it can get really depressing because you probably won't be able to drive, either, and good luck depending on public transportation to go places, depending on where you live). You could have applied to a spousal visa and entered the country with permanent resident status, but it is what it is now.

As you said, "intent" doesn't matter anymore. To answer your question: it is extremely unlikely that USCIS will give you a hard time during interview, unless you lied about your plans at some point. 

2 minutes ago, jaysaldi said:

The question should be whether you want to go home to the Philippines. 

If the husband pulls off the i864, the AoS will be denied and OP will accrue illegal presence. So it's not exactly "whether you want to go home" - given the circumstances, OP needs to go home, preferably before the interview, to prevent even more damage to her Immigration history.

If you look at my timeline, you will see that from filing to visa in hand, my K1 process took almost 11 months. It made me mad when people said that they got theirs in 3, but that's USCIS for you. They are overworked and understaffed, and as you will find out when you get a job here, it's common practice to have the same person do the job of many (for no extra pay). That certainly applies to many workplaces and USCIS seems to be no different.

I understand your frustration. Distance definitely puts a strain on relationships so when I say "occupy yourself with positive thoughts", it's actually a matter of survival - yours and your relationship's. Do plenty of research, and if you have a career, start trying to connect with people in the US so that the months you will spend waiting for your EAD or GC actually help you find a job when the time comes. Look up free activities in the area where you are planning to live with your future spouse, save as much money as you can now, get busy working extra hours now, because finances might be tight in the beginning.

That might look pointless if you only focus on the "here and now", but the "here and now" is in the hands of the USCIS. In the near future, though, the ball will be back in your court, so it's never too early to start working on that.

2 minutes ago, Renatac14 said:

But for me, right now, the most important thing is the K1, I don’t care about how long the GC going to take, because I’ll be in the USA with my “future” husband, now, I just want to move and finish that situation about to live so far. 

Of course you do, everyone does. But comparing your timeline to others will do nothing but stress you. The K1 process is bad enough as it is so the best thing you can do is keep busy and occupy your mind with positive thoughts.

Good luck, I hope you get your visa in hand soon.

Cases that get to interview stage in 4 months are the exception, not the rule. Back in 2018, I had to see many people, Brazilians included, get their NOA2 and interview before me even though they filed after me, but only expedited cases had to wait less than 3 months for their NOA2.

Many factors might affect how long you have to wait, but the ultimate truth is that the K1 is just a small step in the journey. If you are lucky to move to a city whose local office is fast, the tables will turn and you might get your GC faster than people that arrived in the US months before you (that's what happened to me).