Shamla

Sorry I’ve left some holes. When he got residency in France, a few months later his home country passport expired. When a person is a refugee they are escaping war and devastation back home which he was facing. Renewing a home country passport can be viewed negatively by the country in which he now calls home (France). For the sake of our paperwork, I don’t want to risk him losing documents. I think it’s better to wait for travel documents from France rather than have them wonder why he’s renewing a passport from a country he is seeking refuge from. 

DS-260 is only available to be completed after the I-130 petition has been submitted, adjudicated, and approved, plus a few weeks for the file to arrive at the NVC, so all of that, plus getting married first, could take a long time depending on when you actually get married.  If you got married today, your 6-8 month estimate before the DS-260 stage at NVC may be accurate, but you are not yet married so add more time to your estimate, to do that and gather documentation needed to submit the I-130.  If you want to minimize time apart, my advice is to get married as soon as possible and submit the I-130, get in the queue for adjudication.  Good luck!

I originally contemplated using WebWed to get married but after researching extensively, it was much easier, more straightforward, and 90% cheaper to go directly through the Utah Couty Clerk. It's the same jurisdiction WebWed uses and you can do it by yourself. YES, it is completely legal and legitimately recognized across the US and therefore anywhere in the world that registers marriages that occur in the US. NO, your marriage certificate will NOT mention anything about online and will look like any regular marriage certificate. YES, you still have to be in person at some point following the marriage to meet the consummation requirements of USCIS, but that doesn't sound like a problem for you. Don't feel like you're required to explain to all of these people here why you've personally decided that getting married online through the US (Utah). It sounds like you have thought it over and it fits your situation.

Here are instructions based on what I did in September: 
 
Apply for marriage license here :
http://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/ClerkAud/Marriage.html
  You'll need you Driver's License for the US citizen and a government ID or Passport for the foreigner as well as each a selfie that is clear, similar to passport photos.
Please carefully read the instructions before applying. You will need to put the county clerk's address as the mailing address for the non citizen during this part.
You'll complete the application and pay $70 or $50 if you complete the free Marriage Counseling they offer.
You'll get emailed the marriage license, and if you followed the instructions on the site which tells you to put the Utah County clerk's office as the mailing address for the foreigner , you will then forward the marriage license email back to them asking them to correct the address to the foreigner's actual address. Then you'll receive an updated marriage license.
Once you have the license, you go here :
http://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/ClerkAud/MarrCeremony.html
  You will schedule the ceremony as web conference. You'll need the marriage license number, the link on the email they sent you, and the names of two witnesses that will appear for the ceremony. You will get a link you can send to as many friends and family as you want to join the Zoom meeting during the ceremony.
24 hours before your ceremony, you'll get a reminder email with a portal to pay the ceremony fee of $35.
During the ceremony, the clerk will send your marriage license in and within 5 minutes, you'll receive an email with a digital certified marriage certificate that you can use for name changes or any other official business in the USA. You'll have a paper copy mailed to the citizen's address.
Additionally, for registering my marriage in the other country, i went and ordered two more paper copies while i was at it so i can mail one back to Utah to get an apostille.
Edit to add what my digital certificate looks like :
https://imgur.com/a/IYAqpma

Hello,
 
Yes my husband (was my fiance) received his visa shortly after the interview. He never moved abroad, and his home from when he was born till he arrived in the US was the same. I think because he had a fairly simple background it was easier to conduct the AP and approve him. Best of luck to you, do not loose hope!

Hi. My husband received an email recently saying that his administrative processing is almost done and that he needs to renew his medical exam and hand in his passport. He just did the exam so we will be waiting anxiously for anymore updates. He had his interview in September 2018 then had been put in Administrative Processing, the only time we saw updates was when an inquiry was sent. Then about a month ago we noticed CEAC was updating on its own and then we received the email from the Embassy. 

No, he's a UK citizen. He's an old punk rock guy with crimes from 40 years ago. (petty theft and a fist fight with another guy) 

Hello everyone,
 
I hope you are all doing well. Any update on your cases?
 

No it’s a great thing, pushing trough a proclamation with no congressional approval and discussion ,with no clear guidelines and instructions how to implement it and as a clearly catch 22 nonsensical situation designed to push trough a political/election agenda is a very very bad thing and should be and hopefully will be thrown out in court.
 
 

The first thing to read is the I-130 instructions.  When you do, you will find that an affidavit of support is NOT in the list of supporting documents to submit.  You'll submit the affidavit of support perhaps a year later at the NVC stage.  THEN, become an A-Student of the I-864 instructions to learn how to use both income AND assets to qualify as sponsor.
 
The actual instructions will be more helpful to you as a starting place than anecdotal writings.  Once you've studied those instructions, you many still have questions but you'll have a better foundation from which to ask them.  Without studying the instructions, you have no way to know what it is you don't know or need to understand.

As the old saying goes the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If nobody says nothing or speaks up nothing surely will happen. I prefer to be the squeaky wheel. 

But you're posting making implications that if you're 20-22 then it's not a good decision and it probably means you are simply enamoured with the idea of going to the USA. HOw do you think this makes people feel whose husband is 20-22? My husband is 22 and he is the US citizen. Not only was I not gthat enamoured with going to the USA, I had to give up a counbtry I loved because I would not have been able to sponsor his visa there.
I really wish age gap partners who are over that age 25 landmark that most americans seem to think constitutes an adult would stop doing this. I've experienced it myself on forums that are supposed to offer support. I don't experience it in my home country, where it seems to be considered that 18-21 is the landmark of becoming an adult and if you're 21 and don't act like one you're called immature. I don't experience it on non US internet forums. I do experience it on the wider, US populated internet in spades. Why is a 24 year old a child to many Americasns. They most certainly are not. They are 1/4 a cebntury old and to depress many... 1/3rd the way through their natural lifespan.
I hear this stages in life thing too, it confuses me. What does it even mean? Because as far as I am concerned any adult who is willing to settle and be faithful is a viable partner. I am working and my partner is in uni. I am having to wait for him to finish uni. I am scared to death of getting old while he finishes uni. I still can't see any better partner than him and would not pick and choose anhyone by their age or status in uni. I am willing to wait for him to finish but I'll be sure to be with him while he does.
When I was 15 years old I wanted more than anything to find a partner to settle down with.
When I was 20 I wanted the same thing.
I liked nerdy guys who liked computers and science. I still do.
When I was 20 I wanted more than anhything to live in Japan. It took me 8 years to get myself in a position of affording it. I had to come home 4 years later because I love my husband. at 35, I want more than anything to live in Japan with my husband. It's not really changed.
You are judging people based on your own situation. How you were at 20. I knew at 20 I wanred to settle down. My husband wanted to settle down, and has had several steady relationships since he was very young.
As for what you like in appearances changing, neither me nor my husband had any idea what the other looked like when we fell for each other over IRC then X-box Live chat. I can confidently state it would not have mattered whatever he looked like.

Seriously though I feel like posting about my automatic doubt of most mundane pairings that always fit the criteria followed by society in every thread ever posted on every forum where people are posting to say they got engaged, married, had a kid together. I feel like doing that because every time somebody posts about a relationship that does not fit that norm you get these "Are you sure they are not using you" and "you can't have the same types of interests" and "you are not at the same pklace in life" kind of posts.
Hey how do the "always fit an acceptable age bracket" types know that their spouse is not using them to please their parents/society, because they mioght be homosexual or social climbing or whatever, never hear about that with age gap relationships because nobody seeks a huge age gap to fit in, do they!
I always hear about the stage of life garbage too yet it never matters to the regular crowd does it that the vast majority of them STILL marry in older woman-younger man pairings where the man has likely progressed furthur in life than the woman. Hey, we're not all sporting a set of parents with the deep pockets to send us to uni either. Not everyone goes through that process, the northern working class of england for example - many if they go to uni go to uni late on their own savings. I'm pretty much at the same stage of life as my husband though I know a lot more about managing finances and the junk you have to go through re taxes and garbage like that, know about managing household income. Doesn't matter jack that he has less experience. How petty to assume you automatically have some resent for a person having less experience, that a marriage might fall apart for it.

hey everyone! finally a place where i can meet olderwomen with younger men yayyyy! my husband is 14 yrs younger than me, we been together 3 yrs now and were almost finished with nvc , thank god, whewwww! i dont see where an age difference should be an issue.people get crazy abotu this and it really is narrow mindness imo!i can be here in usa meet man my age and get treated bad, and actually thats the storry of my last marriage hehe, theres good and bad in all countrys and in all ages and all races, marriage is a risk wether your close to age, same age or big age difference, my mom and dad were married 20 yrs ,, perfect couple and now thier divorced so no one can read the future, imo if the couple can show goood evidence of a bonified marriage , criminal background is good, and all things like that check out then give him the visa or her the visa,, let these familys get together and be happy!no one can read whats inside a mind or heart,, except maybe the spouse, but how can a consulate or any stranger look at someone for 5 minutes and say wow your useing her!!! talk to them for 10 minutes and assume this?
we have been with our spouses for long time now, know them more than anyone probably so wouldnt we be able to consider this or not more than them??? sorry for the rant but at times its very sad to see and think how manyyyyy couples have been seperated because of someones opinion that they are useing them for visa and then deny them,anyways rant is over time to be nice goodluck to all on your journey and god be with you all!

I'm just baffled at the number of times I've read of people not receiving the RFE letter OR the interview letter.  Why is that?
 
Seems suspect to me.
 
Especially given the myriad ways we have to communicate or give information these days!  Its unacceptable that they wouldn't be able to mail a letter from the US office to a US home and further if they're SOOOO incapable and the mail is SOOO unreliable well there's plenty of other ways to get the information from Person A to Person B.
 
Why do they have an online case system when it doesn't give the information - it doesn't update?  Why am I signing up for email notifications when they aren't going to use the system they established?  You can call them on the phone via their info/help line but they won't actually be able to give you any information!  I mean there's a baseline level of competence and they can't seem to meet that low bar?
 
And yes I realize sometimes things go ok.  But one of the things I keep coming across here is case after case of people who aren't being given the information and then they pay the price.

One question about this post office theory.
 
Didn't the NOA letter come correctly?  Didn't the biometrics letter deliver without problems?
 
What about the EAD and AP assuming that was applied for, didn't that arrive at the correct address without incident?
 
ALL of those are addressed to the petitioner.  But I keep reading over and over that RFE's or interview letters aren't received.  Those are "lost in the mail"
 
Am I supposed to assume that somehow the post office and USCIS can deliver these other letters to my home without issue and then somehow after 4-5 months pass, without moving, they somehow can no longer deliver?
 
It doesn't add up.

I was in the same position as you. I am 25 yrs older than my husband and don't look my age. We have been married for 4 yrs with him finally arriving in the U.S. a jear ago. His first interview did not go well at all so I took a year off from work and went to Syria to be with him to prove it was ligit. His second interview I was there for and he recieved his visa to the states. When we arrived home I immediatly went back to work and we set out to get his 10 yr. green card. He got his green card 2 months ago. All this time he was saying how happy he was and how much he loved me and when he went to work he would help take care of us. Then boom 2 weeks ago he came to me and told me he didn't love me and he never did. All this was just for one thing and that was a gc.
I am not saying your husband is like that. I never would have thought mine was either. (I met his family and he was not raised that way. They are some of the finest people I have met.)
I am saying however to protect your self. I still love this man with all my heart even after all the ugly things he has said and done to me. I don't want to see anyone go thru the hurt and pain I am going thru now. And once a green card is given it will be too late.
Good luck to you! My prayers are with you.

Yay Bella!! :dance:
Congratulations!!
All is well in cougarville, FL!!
Hubby is here with me too and also EVERYBODY loves him too!! How funny they change their tunes once they see our SO here and how well you mesh with them...so age ISNT a factor, just how you act is!!!
Have fun!
Andrea

Hi cougar clubbies!!!
Update on Bella: HUBBY IS HERE IN THE US FINALLY!!!
He arrived in Chicago and went through immigration/customs at O'Hare on the 17th and everything has been fantastic since then. We had a couple of strange looks when we went to the Sears Tower (when the heck did they change the name to Willis-something-or-other) and were waiting in line to ride the elevator up to the top. Interestingly enough...they were from tourists that appeared to be international.... I don't know if it was our age difference, his nationality, his height or the combo-pak--but we both found it amusing.
I am pleased and surprised that we have had no weird looks, comments or derogatory remarks in KY and that so far everyone has appeared accepting, amiable and very friendly toward my hubby.
Interesting to me that people felt more comfortable voicing their opinion while I was alone and waiting for his arrival but now adore him when they meet him--I feel like saying "I FLIPPIN' TOLD YOU I MADE A GOOD CHOICE!!" LOL
Hugs to all and hope everyone is well in Cougarville.
Bella

Thanks to everyone. It looks like I have two choices. 
1. Ask the consulate about residence status. 
2. If he has to wait for asylum acceptance and his legal residence is what’s accepted then wait for that to happen and then at least at that point we can travel to Denmark for the marriage.  
3. If we can begin the CR1 while his review paperwork is going on then marry in Italy and move forward that way. 
 
If theres anything I’m missing please add. 

No

I think you have misunderstood.  It is perfectly legal to come to the US via a tourist visa with a plan to marry a US citizen...as long as the new spouse leaves the US before the expiration of their I-94.  What is fraud is planning to come to the US, marry a US citizen and stay and adjust status.
Whether the tourist is allowed to enter the US and the length of stay is determined by the officer at the border.