beloved_dingo

What in tarnation... First of all, "unskilled" workers are just as important to the economy as "skilled" workers. If companies were full of C Suite executives and had no entry level/blue collar positions, they'd fail pretty fast. Next, you can't categorize whether someone will "benefit" the American economy just based on their immigration category, but even if you could, are you saying that a woman who immigrates through marriage and becomes a stay at home mom while her spouse works, has no value? That, because she does not have a job, she should have less priority even though she is the spouse of a U.S. Citizen? Does an illegal immigrant who works and pays taxes have more value than the parent of a U.S. Citizen who immigrates legally and retires? The value of a person, immigrant or not, should not be tied directly to their skills or productivity. If it is, that leads down an ugly road.

I never implied it did. Not sure what the issue is here, and OP seems aware that they need to spend more time together in person.

Just keep in mind that @Mike E and I are agreeing that you need more time in person to successfully obtain a visa. The rest is semantics.

While I agree that OP needs more time in person with their partner, and have already stated as such, you are living in the past if you think real connections cannot be made online first, and lead to a long term/lifelong relationship (whether platonic or romantic).

A lot of people meet online these days. At least they have actually met in person before pursuing marriage, unlike some people we see here on VJ. @Marruecos I agree with others that your best bet is to do the CR-1, and to focus on spending as much time together as possible. Morocco is a difficult consulate and time spent together, in person, is the best evidence of a bone fide relationship you can get and can help overcome the difficulties of the consulate you are dealing with.

You're very welcome! For a household of 2, 125% of the guidelines is $24,650. $34k would very likely be sufficient in that case. However, if either of you have dependents, that could drastically change the situation. Here's a link where you can view the chart: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

This is not accurate. The only required return is the most recent tax year. From the instructions: You must provide either an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year. If you believe additional returns may help you to establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your Federal individual income tax returns for the three most recent years. It then goes on to say: As stated previously, you must submit an IRS transcript or copy of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year... and: If you were not required to file a Federal income tax return under U.S. tax law because your income was too low, attach a typed or printed explanation. So a few points: Submitting 3 years of tax returns is optional Submitting the most recent tax return is required unless the individual was not required to file a tax return. If the individual was not required to file, they must include an explanation as to why (very easy in OP's case to explain this). For W-2 employees, current income is king, not income reflected on past tax returns. @KseniyaG You have a few options here: Type up a written explanation as stated above regarding not filing taxes, and accrue paystubs at your current job to show current income. You technically only need 1 paystub, but I personally would be more comfortable with around 6. If you need to delay at NVC a bit to get enough paystubs, you can (as mentioned by others). Type the explanation as stated above but wait for your nursing job since it pays better, and delay at NVC until you have at least 3-6 paystubs. Delay at NVC and wait until you file 2024 taxes to avoid the "no recent tax return" issue altogether, and provide 6 paystubs for your nursing job. Get a joint sponsor to alleviate any of the concerns pertaining to your income. You would still have to submit your own I-864 as the primary sponsor. If your current pay puts you even remotely close to the 125% threshold, I would go with option #2 or #3. Being over the guidelines isn't necessarily enough to guarantee that your I-864 will be acceptable, so better safe than sorry. Just mentioning that because you didn't state whether your new job is comfortable enough pay-wise to not be a concern. However, if that is not relevant then it really just depends on what option you are comfortable with.

Not sure what you mean. If I were OP I would leave sleeping dogs lie at this point, but never apply for citizenship. But I think he should have informed USCIS of the divorce while the I-751 was pending. However, now that ship has sailed.

It's been happening here and there lately - I'd say over the last 6 months. Some people get the biometrics reuse and online access code first, then a few days later the extension arrives. Typical USCIS weirdness. I was just reading through this thread - happy you at least got something you can use without too much of a hassle!

"Any other address" means any other address other than where you currently reside. Your current address should have already been entered in another section.

You know, it's funny because I also don't see anywhere USCIS explicitly states that you must inform them of a pending divorce, but the way the guidance is written, it's like they assume that is a no brainer that you need to inform USCIS (see bold portion below). But without clearer language, it kind of gives people like OP a loophole. I don't agree with taking advantage of it, though. If you are in Divorce Proceedings but are not yet Divorced If you are still married, but legally separated and/or in pending divorce or annulment proceedings and you filed a waiver request, we will issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) specifically asking for a copy of the final divorce decree or annulment, if applicable. If you are still married, but legally separated and/or in pending divorce or annulment proceedings, and you filed a Form I-751 jointly, we will issue an RFE specifically asking for a copy of the final divorce decree or annulment and a statement that you would like to have your joint filing Form I-751 treated as a waiver. After we receive the final divorce decree or annulment within the specified time period, we will amend the petition to indicate you have established you are eligible to apply for a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on the termination of the marriage.

If I were you, I would work on getting a W-2 job ASAP and I would go ahead and consider/discuss who might be willing to be a joint sponsor, if needed.

Gross income is income earned BEFORE deductions/taxes are taken out. So if her gross pay on her current paystubs are ~$800 per week, her gross annual income is ~$41,600.

Very common. Proof of time spent together is the best evidence at this early stage. Married couples living in separate countries are not expected to have joint accounts, etc. Edit to add: Boarding passes, passport stamps, and photos together are prime examples of proof of time together.

You do not have to keep the engagement secret. Dinner at a restaurant to celebrate an engagement is not generally a problem, but the issue I see from what you described is having photos of rings put on your fingers. USCIS does not know if that is an engagement ring or a wedding ring and there is NO way to prove you aren't married. I would absolutely not include photos that involve rings, period. Having a casual dinner to celebrate getting engaged is not the issue, announcing the engagement isn't the issue. It's doing things that can LOOK like a marriage or make it sound like you are already married (referring to each other as husband/wife, etc.). Here are threads with these kind of denials:

We went through the K-1 route in 2018 and I also would recommend CR-1 instead. Back when we did the K-1, processing times weren't too bad, so it still made some sense to pursue a K-1 if being together faster was a priority. Now, K-1 processing times are long and take a similar amount of time as the CR-1. Considering that, if you go through the K-1 route you also have to deal with the AOS process to get the green card, which is expensive and also takes awhile. Basically, it's worth waiting 3 months to marry and apply for a CR-1, rather than apply for a K-1 now. I don't think "most people" regret going the K-1 route, but there are A LOT of people who did the K-1 that recommend the CR-1 over it now (like us). K-1s can also be trickier to get in higher fraud countries - you didn't mention where your wife is from so just making you aware of that aspect as well. Lastly, if you decide to do the K-1 anyway, DO NOT do a religious ceremony! K-1s have been denied for this because USCIS can view it as being married, regardless of it not being "official".

Everyone here is responding to the question "does having children with US citizen spouse considered as the strongest bonafide evidence of marriage?" Literally no one said that having children is "worthless" evidence. Just that it is not necessarily proof of a bona fide marriage. Is there a reason this bothers you? Honestly, it doesn't matter if children are strong evidence or not. Choosing when or if to have a child is a very, very personal choice and immigration shouldn't even factor in to the overall decision (other than timing, perhaps). Edit: Mentioning the Costco card is a false equivalence. No one has said sharing a Costco membership is "strong" evidence.

Agreed with others, returning in 2 weeks after 2 month visit will not look good (especially when you're planning to stay even longer than last time). You risk being denied entry and losing ESTA as an option. How long before your spouse is deployed?

Dang, and there's men out there getting pressed that some women like tall guys. Wow.

Our AOS interview also lasted less than 10 minutes and we don't have kids. In fact we were only in the interview that long because our IO was chatting with us about Borderlands (video game). You're making some very odd leaps of logic here. No one is being adversarial, being defensive or showing insecurities? It's just a fact that children do not automatically equate to proving a bona fide marriage. Outside of the scope of immigration, a huge number of children are born out of wedlock or to single parents, etc. On the flip side, not too many people own a house with an unmarried partner (since it's not generally a wise financial choice). In the scope of immigration, having a child is one type of strong evidence, but certainly not the only type. Strong evidence of financial co-mingling is on the same level, imo. I don't think we can definitively say what the "strongest" evidence is, since that is very subjective and probably even depends slightly on the IO/CO reviewing the file. All that being said, people don't get RFEs for not having kids but they definitely do for not having financial co-mingling 😂

Wow! Good for you! USCIS really makes no sense 😅

Also forgot to add - the I-94 in reference to the ADIT stamp is not the same as the I-94 you can access online with your travel history. @Olga&Jared You stated that the letter you received says "USCIS has granted your request and enclosed temporary evidence of your legal status on the Form I-94 with a temporary I-551 stamp". This makes it sound like the I-94/stamp was enclosed with the letter you received. Is that not the case? See these posts for reference of what it may look like:

We were Nov. 2021 filers and got the 48 month extension March 7th. So sorry you're dealing with the USCIS' unsurprising incompetence. I hope you get good news with the N-400 in the next 4-5 months and avoid the hassle of an expiring extension letter altogether.

You're welcome. I believe that can largely depend on the consulate involved.

We were the opposite and have always provided a lot of evidence, including "front loading" the I-129f petition. We've had smooth sailing the whole way through, and my husband is a citizen now. However, what we have in common is your final point - New Zealand and Australia are low-fraud countries. Though I agree that some people, in their effort to provide a lot of evidence, end up in TMI territory and provide USCIS with information that is confusing, conflicting, or raises red flags. A good example - people who send tax transcripts + tax returns and schedules. USCIS does not seem to like the redundant information. They want one or the other.