carmel34

You entered the US with ESTA in March 2023 and did not leave until August. You overstayed so ESTA is now gone. Hopefully your letter to USCIS, requesting a change to consular processing worked, once the I-130 is approved you'll find out. Since you initially filed the I-130 with an adjustment of status application (I-485), there is a chance that you'll have to file a form I-824 (can add a year) to send the approved petition to NVC then to the consulate abroad. Your US citizen husband can visit you in your country during the process.

When he returns to the US, make sure you help him get the very best medical care you can afford, a psychiatrist, and a good therapist. In Miami you should be able to find qualified Brazilian doctors and counselors who live there and practice. If you really love him and want to be together, you will do everything you can so that he gets better. It can be done. My Brazilian husband was terrified of driving when he first arrived in California nearly five years ago (he had never driven a car before), and had an awful time adjusting to life in the USA, but with the help of a good psychiatrist and a Brazilian therapist, he overcame his anxiety and eventually got his driver's license, a job, and is now a US citizen, very happy. Good luck!

If you're in Richmond VA, I would suggest picking them up at Dulles airport. It's only 2-3 hours by car depending on traffic of course.

From your post in December of 2023 you mentioned that you got engaged in October. Is the person you are engaged to in the USA, or in Jamaica? Did this come up during the B2 visa interview when you were denied? Having a fiancé(e) in the US could make it difficult for you to get a tourist visa.

You received two emails for the two separate cases, yes of course he has to attend his interview, and you attend yours. He will need his own medical as well.

I assume you will return to the US together after the wedding. If so, and you go through the same line together at the POE, it increases the chance that they will ask questions about your relationship. If so, be completely honest. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. Korea is not a high-fraud country so you should be okay.

Send the letter to the same USCIS office address on the 48 month extension notice (I-797), and request that they convert your joint I-751 to a divorce waiver. Include a photocopy of the certified divorce decree, all pages.

At this point you wait to hear from the CJ consulate for next steps. CJ is very backed up, it may take many months before you get an email regarding the K-1 visa interview scheduling. Check the Mexico forum for posts regarding the long wait time.

The F-1 visa denial is now part of her permanent record. ESTA will very likely be denied because of this. She could apply for a B-2 tourist visa to visit you for a few weeks and then return home, but given her track record and a boyfriend in the US, that could be difficult as well. If you really want to be together, either file an I-129F petition for a K-1 or get married in Spain and file an I-130 petition for a CR-1. Both take about the same amount of time, 1-2 years, before she can enter the US. Visit her in Spain as frequently as you can during the long wait.

No. He applies on his own. An invitation letter could reduce his chances as it shows stronger ties to the USA than his home country. He has to be absolutely truthful on the visa application and include all relatives in the US and his actual marital status. Nothing fake or omitted.

You should consider filing an N-400 for naturalization. Doing so could speed up the I-751 as it has for many here on VJ, request a combo interview.

This does not seem correct for Pakistan or any other country. What is your source? Of course there have been many cases here from Pakistan, both spousal and fiancé visas that have been approved. Both take longer than most countries because of the extended background checks/administrative processing, but the 4-5 years vs. 18 months is not supported by data. In fact, K-1 can be more difficult for Pakistan beneficiaries, but each case is different. Photos are not required if you have other evidence of meeting in person in the two years before filing an I-129F petition. You should visit a few more times after filing the petition while waiting for it to be adjudicated (15-18 months), take a few photos of the two of you together, and your beneficiary should take them to the K-1 visa interview.

The I-134 asks for income and assets for both the beneficiary and the petitioner. With a combination of the petitioner's income (you say is insufficient but not by how much), and both petitioner's and beneficiary's liquid assets in US dollars, you may be OK, but it is hard to predict without the specifics. Read the I-134 and the I-134 instructions very carefully. Attach evidence of the assets (bank statements). A joint sponsor would be safer, but if you don't have one, hope for the best. Good luck!

Timeline for the above statement to be true will take 6 years if all goes well: 1. Get married in Thailand via Utah Zoom marriage, January 2024 2. After marriage certificate arrives, file I-130/I-13A online from Thailand, February 2024 3. I-130 petition approval, approximately May 2025 4. NVC stage, DS-260, August 2025 5. CR-1 visa interview, approximately November 2025 6. Enter the US on CR-1, December 2025, become an LPR (legal permanent resident) 7. File I-751/ROC removal of conditions, September 2027 8. File N-400, naturalization, September 2028, request combo interview with I-751 9. Combo interview, N-400/I-751 maybe September 2029 10. Oath ceremony, receipt of naturalization certificate, November 2029 11. Apply for US passport, November 2029 12. Receipt of US passport, January 2030, then the spouse will have the same status, US citizen with a passport, free to travel/live abroad, visit, etc.

The processing times for naturalization have been very good lately, some cases are done in 4-5 months nowadays. If this holds or even speeds up, you could have a combo I-751/N-400 interview in November of 2025, that's only six months after your May 2025 potential plan to move to Sweden. Why not wait those six or seven months to be done with USCIS and leave with a US passport? You'll be able to come and go much easier, either to live/work or to visit as a tourist.

Yes, it is an employment-based green card, you will be an employee for the company who sponsored you. Employees are paid and receive benefits and have taxes deducted automatically based on the W4 that you will complete when you start working. A W2 is the form you receive in January for the previous year, it is a record of wages paid and taxes deducted. You will be an employee, not an independent contractor.

Yes, this is correct. You complete the I-130A PDF, save the file, and upload it as an additional document when completing and submitting the I-130 online. When you refer to AOS and I-864, it is clear that you mean the "affidavit of support," not "adjustment of status," also referred to as AOS so this is where some responses may have been confused. The first step is I-130 and I-130A. Then you wait a year or more for the petition to be adjudicated and sent to NVC (National Visa Center), which can take 1-2 months. When your file gets to the NVC, you will be asked to upload a completed I-864 (affidavit of support or AOS) with supporting financial documents for the primary sponsor (spouse), and any joint sponsors. You have 1-2 years from filing the I-130/I-130A to figure out financial sponsorship and US domicile for the US citizen spouse. The NVC stage also requires the DS-260 and uploading of some civil documents. You can also upload additional evidence of the marriage relationship at the NVC stage. Good luck!

Please confirm that the I-130 was approved (and NOA2 received) in a month or less. If so, it is a very rare case unless DCF.

You have the NOA1 so all is normal, nothing to worry about. Online case status is not important and often inaccurate. Now you just wait... patience is key. You won't hear anything for many, many months maybe a year or more while the petition sits in a pile and collects dust.

Yes, it will look bad. Joint sponsor is a much safer way to go.

Whatever you do, don't overstay the terms of your visa. Go back to France before the J-1 expires. An overstay on your record will cause problems down the road. You can apply for another visa from France as others have suggested (F-1, K-1, etc.).

If you file the I-130 petition now, it's possible that the IR-1 visa will be approved by October, 2025. You can do the I-130 petition online, so do it ASAP. Have you maintained ties to the US? After the I-130 petition has been approved (maybe by May/June 2025), you will need to complete an I-864 to show your financial sponsorship of your husband (or find a qualified joint sponsor in the US). You will need US-based income for the I-864. Also you'll need to prove US domicile or intent to re-establish domicile, so do more research on that. Have you been paying US income taxes while living in the UK? Have you maintained US bank accounts, residence, voting registration, driver's license? Sometimes the US citizen spouse has to move back to the US without their spouse to establish domicile and start earning sufficient US income to qualify for sponsorship. Good luck!

They want to see hard evidence that you live together at the same address and that you co-mingle finances. Joint checking and savings accounts, all bank statements, all pages, from marriage until now. Both driver's licenses showing that you live at the same address. Utility bills from the date of marriage showing both of your names if possible. Auto insurance showing both names, etc.

An expedite request is free, so give it a try. Make sure to focus only on the medical reason, and include lots of documentation from doctors, psychiatrists, etc. Chances are they will not approve an expedite but if you don't ask you won't know. Also be aware that an expedite at the petition (USCIS) stage does not mean instant visa approval--it only means the petition may be processed a little faster. There would still be the interview stage at the consulate abroad.