J Laredo

We’ve been married for 12 years.  I lived in Mexico the first 8 of them and have a well-documented marriage with him on my US taxes the last three years. He received his visa in early December and entered the country. when I saw it I see it says IV expires May 25, 2020. I had to call US CIS about something else so I asked them about that and she maybe we would need to do a 751 to remove the conditional status. I assumed he would get a 10 year visa, but this is only 5 months!  i’m hoping this is a mistake or it’ll be different when he receives his green card in hand, because it’s about another $600 to do this if we have to. Why would they only give him a visa for five months, or is this something different? 

20 hours ago, savana said:

After my case placed adminstrative proccing . Today changed to refused i dont understand i proved to them all the evidence i know my wife 4 years visited  me times  i gives them all the evidence  they ask for . Chat log weeding pic ...they didnt call me or say anything   visa type is ir1  . Am confused 

They’ll send you a letter with reason for denial in about two weeks. You can find out why and hopefully fix it in time. we received a permanent denial a year ago, and our senator helped us get another appointment and my husband was approved the second time. 

On 12/9/2018 at 4:06 AM, WaterLeaf said:

Go with this option so it doesn't get accidentally stolen or go missing for some reason. And less complicated to deal with...

 

The other options I have no experience and can't answer them. Sorry!

On 12/9/2018 at 12:35 AM, ABC0607 said:

Hello, my marriage-based green card interview got scheduled so I am asking these questions..

I am currently moving a lot because of job issues, which means I do not have a stable mailing address for USCIS. 

Here are the questions..

 

(1) Can you guys tell me if USCIS sends green card to your mailing address or physical address? 

     If they send it to mailing, I am going to change it to my parents' house or friend's house so that I won't miss it.

 

(2) Have you guys used usps holding mail service and it works for USCIS? If so, I might use it.

 

(3) Is it okay to have mailing address and physical address in different cities? For example, Mailing address in New York but Physical address in Texas or something. 

 

 

Thank you will be waiting for your response!!! 

They are sending my husband’s green card and soc sec cards to the wrong address because that’s all they had listed at hus entry on Friday evening. I had updated my address when I moved two years ago! New ds260 and everything. Do you have any idea who to contact to avoid this before it happens? I don’t kniw which entity to even call. Thanks!

My husband entered the country for the first time Friday evening. The officer said he didn’t have my new address listed and was required to send the green card and soc security card to my old address. (I had changed it on everything two years ago and we even had to have a second interview, so my ds-260 was completely updated so don’t know why that happened🙄 )  So now it will all be returned to sender. Anybody have a suggestion on which office to call or what to do to try to head off this debaucle? 

6 hours ago, Unlockable said:

Invitation letters do not help. It is an immigration myth. Your father must show strong ties to China. Letters are not even looked at during the interview.  They hold no value as evidence.The process is pretty straight forward. The immigration officers want to know what ties your father has that compels him to return to China. They could care less about why he wants to visit the US. If he can prove strong ties, he will have more success than a letter.

Absolutely true. Happened with my husband, and he used to have one years ago. we tried twice. We had to apply for an immediate relative visa. At the time we hadn’t wanted that but now we’re in a position to have it so it’s OK

4 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

I never said “not to get because not required”.. and peace of mind means; as a means of protection, both medically and financially.. 

 

unfortunaly not everyone is in the same situation such as yourself.. it’s easier for K1 than IR myself as an example will have to wait until May 2020 to be added to my husbands policy, and even then my coverage will not start for 30 days post being added...

 

IR visa don’t have the luxury of being added to policy within 3 months of getting married or we end up paying for coverage that we can’t use while, or insurers refuse or charge extra while I130 is processing and then some insurers don’t acknowledge moving to the USA as a life changing event

It isn’t a qualifying event on your,insurance? That stinks. It should be. I assumed it all was since mine is. West Virginia teachers don’t have the best, lol. 

6 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Is it that you can't add him to your workplace plan until January 1?

 

Here is what we did:  my husband (then fiancé)  had a still-valid travel insurance policy when he flew here on the K-1 visa.  We got married 4 days later, and we were able to add him to my workplace plan 9 days after that.

 

It wasn't ideal, but we felt it was the best option to cover him for catastrophic for the two weeks before his coverage kicked in.

 

Btw, my husband's travel plan was one that he purchased in NZ.  I would look for Mexican plans for your husband.

Yes, my work will cover him starting the first of the month after he enters. I saw another post like yours about travel insurance. I use travel insurance a lot since I no longer work in Mexico so don’t have government healthcare but travel a lot to see him these past 3  years. 

I read somewhere on this forum that using travel insurance is not good if you are a permanent resident of the US. Meaning our new permanent residency people are not eligible and travel insurance won’t pay if they know you are not just “visiting.” I was tempted to try this anyway, but ***removed*** that advertises here appears to have good policies. I just talked to them and they told me “make sure you put in his home address as Mexico” so I guess it’s the same issue. You can’t sign them up and say they are residents of the US. ***removed*** has pretty low deductible, and pays at 100% after that, so I think I’ll go ahead with that. Specifically the Patriot Plan. They don’t bandage you up and send you back to your home country, I don’t think. 

I, too, am just concerned about the catastrophic. 

I just tried to use the United Health Care that advertises on visa journey. I need a policy for my husband for a couple of weeks until January 1. They will not cover anybody that has not been in the United States for the past 12 months. So that’s crazy that they’re advertising when it’s not going to work for many people in this circumstance. Does anybody have any suggestions for a company that offers a short term catastrophic type policy? 

27 minutes ago, J Laredo said:

Thank you so much! This is just what I was looking for. A catastrophic plan is perfect. We only need it for 17 days, so hopefully nothing bad happens. Definitely not worth risking it though and having no coverage. 

OK I just tried to sign him up and this doesn’t work.  I even called and they confirmed. The problem is you have to have been in the US for the last 12 months to get this insurance.  so it excludes immigrants that are just arriving. I’m gonna have to find something else in the next three days.

On 12/7/2019 at 8:53 AM, geowrian said:

I can't vouch for the company itself, but my friend recently used this type of short term insurance to cover the gap until his ACA plan starts on January 1st:

https://www.uhc.com/individual-and-family/short-term-health-insurance

 

It's basically a catastrophic plan - not "good" by any means, but a little better than the paper they're written on (which is not the case with most similar plans that I've seen).

Disclosure: I have no interest in the company, no referral, etc. I'm just relaying what a friend did for a 1 month plan to cover a similar gap.

Thank you so much! This is just what I was looking for. A catastrophic plan is perfect. We only need it for 17 days, so hopefully nothing bad happens. Definitely not worth risking it though and having no coverage. 

15 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Here is what we did:  my then-fiancé had an existing one year travel insurance plan from NZ which covered only urgent/emergent care vs pre-existing/routine.  It was a one-year plan and still valid when he entered the US on 10/17/18.   We got married four days later on 10/21.  The next day we submitted the paperwork to add him to my workplace plan since marriage is a qualifying event.  His coverage kicked in 9 days later on 11/21.

 

Worked out great for us.  He never had to use the travel insurance.

 

 

18 hours ago, yuna628 said:

Travel insurance is not viable. You are immigrating not visiting. Also insurances like this, and this also includes things like temporary short term and insurance specifically marketed toward new immigrants ARE NOT ACA compliant, the coverage is dubious at best and I cannot recommend it to anyone as being a particularly useful use of money.

 

Does your new spouse not have insurance you can be added to?

 

While some people do buy short term coverage (again it does not offer prexisting coverage and may not provide adequate service, and further still may NOT be accepted by most doctors), others do choose to go without until they marry.

 

My best suggestion is to get your SSN shortly after arriving (not required for insurance but it will make life easier), marry as soon as possible, and either have the spouse add to their insurance or file AOS asap and use the marketplace exchange.

My husband is entering the US next weekend. I can sign him up for my work insurance on that Monday, but his coverage won’t be active until the first of the month. I thought I could get him the travel insurance that I always use after I moved back to the US from Mexico (and went to see him on long visits.) 

so this won’t work do you think? Like I should go to somewhere like Blue Cross or other carriers and they might be able to give us a short term policy? I stupidly assumed it would be easier because I saw the ads for fiance health insurance on this site. I didn’t think that it would be different for spouses.

My husband arrives next weekend and I cannot cover him on my insurance until the first of next month. I saw elsewhere in the forums that we cannot use the fiancé temporary health insurance that is advertised because he is already considered an immigrant.Same thing with using travel insurance. Does anyone know of any other options? I suppose I’ll just have to go to a marketplace agency, but don’t know if they will do short term policies. 

Our case was held up by documents in Mexico being incorrect, which we had not been aware of  before. It took eight months to straighten it out. We noticed this right when we were getting ready to pay all the fees and send the docs. So it was all delayed 8 months.  I did pay the fees before that, I think. The ds260 is time consuming so start on that before the last minute.  It was no problem delaying stuff that long though. Like the other person said you do need to keep in touch with them with calls or emails (which I would document) and not go more than a year without communicating. 

4 hours ago, solipsist said:

I'm having my immigration interview Dec 24. I'm being petitioned by my mother I'm 44.

I admitted to the doctor during the medical that i've tried marijuana in the past but I'm not a habitual user. My last use was 2014. Now they're putting me up for psych evaluation.

Am I going to get denied?

Regards

You get a psych evaluation even for tattoos. My husband is a scuba intructor with a tat of two dolphins frolicking in waves. He had to have a psych for that. We were denied the first time due to something else. We were granted another interview and got approved. They made him have another psych for the damn dolphins. They make people have psych evaluations for silly things. That’s nothing to worry about. Clarify with the psychologist what you said in the medical- it was infrequent and not habitual use.

On 10/22/2019 at 3:38 PM, DAWme said:

You finally got you visa issued?

Yes!

On 10/22/2019 at 7:42 PM, Villanelle said:

Drug charges are a very specific issue with USCIS. From what I understand you dont need a conviction to be denied and they can deny you if its suspected you are a drug trafficker. . If any immigration officer "knows or has reason to believe" that a person has been involved in trafficking in controlled substances,that person is inadmissible to the United States. This includes individuals who aid, abet, conspire, or collude with others in illicit drug trafficking. I think its a good sign that you are getting a second interview and I do hope you are successful!

Got the visa approved at the interview Tuesday. Officer told him the bogus

drug thing was “case closed” for them. Score one for the good guys. 

11 hours ago, DAWme said:

He was denied due to the "false" drug charge? how did you know that this is the reason? and there is no other "undeclared" offenses? they did not recommend waiver even if it is 19 years ago? about the passport, how can a seemingly "sophisticated" process  just misplace a passport, this is worrisome!

They send you a letter with the reason for denial. Read the other post from this morning. A waiver is for when you actually did something wrong and you’re asking a pardon for it. So that didn’t really fit, and the “reason to believe” thing the other poster mentioned is liberally applied. it is a permanent denial. An attorney cannot fight it but one can present additional evidence oneself. 

10 hours ago, Villanelle said:

Drug charges are a very specific issue with USCIS. From what I understand you dont need a conviction to be denied and they can deny you if its suspected you are a drug trafficker. . If any immigration officer "knows or has reason to believe" that a person has been involved in trafficking in controlled substances,that person is inadmissible to the United States. This includes individuals who aid, abet, conspire, or collude with others in illicit drug trafficking. I think its a good sign that you are getting a second interview and I do hope you are successful!

That is exactly the circumstance stated in the denial letter. He was exonerated by the Mexican federal Supreme Court. That wasn’t good enough for USCIS.  He had paid a worker at his dive shop his salary that day,  who later in the day bought a gram of cocaine. My husband had left the island for the mainland hours earlier. There were many lies spun by the buyer and the two dealers. They later recanted when they knew it wouldn’t help them. They had been observed in the purchase and use by a district attorney.   They finally admitted my husband had nothing to do with it. But all that earlier stuff is in the files and made USCIS question his involvement. 

1 hour ago, DAWme said:

You finally got you visa issued?

No he was denied for a false criminal charge he had. Took 5 months to get the denial after the appointment. I don’t think they really read the files well and said he could have  been guilty, which he was not, and the evidence was clear. Full exoneration.  I contacted  my congressman to ask him to urge that thorough consideration be given to our case.  I also sent the court files translated into English and just found out  two weeks ago that we get another appointment next month. I hope they see the light this time, but I don’t want to have false hopes. 

Interestingly, when they sent us the denial letter, they said the passport was in the package, which it was not. I emailed them three times and each time they said they had sent it back for sure. They sure did not! About two months later I received a phone call saying that they had it and they were sending it back. At least they found it. I’m tired of dealing with this system. 

1 hour ago, Adrianadomin said:

It might be because Juarez has a long list for interviews. I’ve seen people wait a long time to get their interview. I would contact the consulate and check at various times of the day to see if there’s an opening for an interview since some people might cancel! Good luck.

Gosh, hope you’re right and we actually get an appointment sometime! I can’t get a phone number to talk to a real person. I did call a number that I found for the consulate and got a representative but three times in a row they patched me over to the same information line that was listed in the letter, before I had a chance to tell them what I needed to know. Just cut me off. That number is just recorded information on visa types. which is an informational recording about who is eligible  for different visas. The fourth time in the road that I called, I got they “we’re closed”  recording. Maybe I just caught them when they wanted out! I will totally take your advice and keep checking all the time. When we had our first appointment it took 5  months to get it after our approval date, but that’s when they scheduled it for us and then just notified us of when it was. That was in early 2018. This is new for us. Thanks! 

1 hour ago, Kumar01 said:

Normally, as I've seen before in other cases, a second interview is generally issued personally to you. The first interview is scheduled online, while a second one (if denied at the first interview) is done more on a case-by-case basis generally through email (or sometimes even by phone). So, it's not going to be as formal as the first time around. Long story short, get in touch with the consulate and ask for details. I'm not convinced that you have to go through the online procedures to set a second interview after a failed first.

They scheduled our first interview for us, in 2018. We were approved in Jan 2018 and our appointment was  in July 2018. In admin processing for 5 months before ridiculous denial. This time they’re telling us to make the appointment online ourselves. I can see where we can, on a link which wasn’t there before (on the CSRA site where they give you info on how to send documents etc)  but it says they have no appointments available, just keep trying. Calling the phone number that they give in the letter is a joke. It’s merely an information line. I tried to call the embassy directly and they didn’t listen and three times in a row  they actually connected me with the same phone information line which ends nowhere. Geez. Freaking endless loop. I called the fourth time and got the message that they were closed, so I guess I just got them at quitting time! i’ll try again tomorrow but they make it so darn hard to find out any info directly, even when they’re supposedly inviting you that make another interview appointment. Wish I could get a phone number where I could actually talk to a person about what to do. Thanks for the ideas, if you have any other suggestions please offer them! 

The online interview scheduling tells me there are no appointments available and to try later. My husband was denied and I submitted new evidence. I just received a letter that he needs to schedule a second interview. I can see where they have opened it up for us on the website to do so, but it says Juarez has no appointments available and to try again later. I don’t have experience with this since we received the appointment from them by email  the first time. Does anybody know what this means and if it will actually open up at some point? 

On 11/12/2018 at 7:23 AM, waiting4i130 said:

Hello,

I feel that there is no 1 thread to share experience and timelines for AP.

It's a frustrating time so it might be helpful to share timelines and experiences to get a feel.

 

-----------------

Our case:

Interview (10/9/2018) went very well but was given a white 221g for missing documents - proof of domicile and I864A

Was asked to send my passport with the missing papers.

We provided all missing documents 2 days after and sent the passport as well.

The passport was returned to me few days later.

We have been in AP since.

 

We were planning on being in the US by now but this is not happening now, and it's very frustrating since I am pregnant and wanted to buy a house and get it ready before the baby is born!

 

What has been your experience so far?

 

We’ve been in AP over four months now.We’ve been in AP over four months now.

On 11/29/2018 at 5:59 PM, Mohd Al Said said:

Share my experience with administrative processing maybe it’s gonna help some of you my friend..

 

28/Mar/2017: My interview the co give me my passport back with 221g letter 

28/Mar/2017: Status update to Administrative processing

31/Mar/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

17/Apr/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

9/May/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

11/May/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

14/May/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

15/May/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

16/May/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

05/July/2017: Update date still in Administrative processing

11/July/2017: Created case and updated case change to the same day also change from IV to NIV with Application Received status...

13/July/2017: Update date and go back to Administrative processing ...

 

AFTER ONE YEAR 

19/July/2018: Update date still in Administrative processing

13/Oct/2018: Update date still in Administrative processing

14/Oct/2018: USEM called me to send my passport medical report and some doc ..

 

24/Oct/2018: Update date still in Administrative processing

8/Nov /2018: Update date still in Administrative processing

12/Nov/2018: Update date status change application received 

12/Nov/2018: The status change again to REFUSED!!!

27/Nov/2018: Update date and status change to Administrative processing

27/Nov/2018: Again status change to Application received

28/Nov/2018: Update date status change to Administrative processing

29/Nov/2018: Update date status change to ISSUED ..

                       THANKS GOD ...

Why do they put it as refused first, do you know?   i’ve heard that from somebody wants before . That will scare me if it happens.

10 hours ago, CJlove said:

Thank you for sharing! This helps and congrats!!!!!! 👏👏👏 WOW, your casa took waaaaaaaay too long! I wish you happy journey! One question: Did you case status update date change before issue? My hubby’s case was updated last Wednesday after submitting the supporting document requested during the interview, and it’s been updated today again but still under AP, and under “immigrant visa.”.... 

We’ve been in AP since mid July when we had appointment and submitted document requested. After a couple of initials updates there was nothing until the end of October. We’ve had five since then the last of my November 14. Still in administrative processing. I think they’re just passing our document around because nobody knows what to make of it. Its a long file that shows my husband was completely absolved of a crime he was falsely arrested for.