bird&bear

18 hours ago, afortunada said:

Hi guys! Haven't checked in in a while... Just received a letter from USCIS today. Was expecting it to be maybe biometrics for my husband's i-751 which we filed last December, but nope! We just received approval for my stepson's I-130! We're at the Potomac service center... Took a little over 90 days for approval. Petition has been sent to the NVC now.

Congratulations! That's fantastic news! Out of curiosity, had/have you been checking your case online or did you just save yourself the stress and wait for the physical letter to come in?

Texas filer here, still waiting. 

Gotcha. That makes sense--thanks for explaining. 

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Any asylum case would be years away and be held in front of an Immigration Judge, what evidence do you expect?

I don't know, which is why I asked--apologies if I'm misunderstanding the situation. I'm just trying to figure out what the officers meant by "get in eventually." Are the people described in the post not applying for asylum? (I had assumed that they were.) If they are not seeking asylum, then on what grounds are they granted entry? 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and observations. I've never been to the physical border myself, so this was an interesting read. 

Forgive my ignorance, but on what grounds would people waiting around the border like that be granted entry? Both officers you spoke to said that they'd all eventually "get in", but why? Wouldn't they need to show evidence of needing asylum/being a refugee, and be vetted like everyone else? I just find it so frustrating that my husband and I (and everyone else applying for CR-1) need to be apart for a year or more just waiting in the "queue," basically, to be processed.  Nobody likes queue jumpers. 😑

22 minutes ago, ram1009 said:

I am still worried.  Evidence of time spent together has already been submitted.  What's needed now is evidence of an "ongoing relationship" presumably after filing of the I-129F.  Nearly all of our communication is video chat and I've been counting on being able to provide good visual evidence.  I was wrong because it can all be faked so now I have no credible evidence.  You mention "logs" as have others but nobody has told me what logs or where to get them.  I asked some time ago about logs because I'd heard it mentioned and was told then that everybody uses screen shots.  That sounded like an agreeable compromise at the time but not when considering the faking issue.  So, I'm really kind of lost at this point.  I don't know what USCIS expects when video chat is how couples communicate which I would guess is prevalent.

If you guys can squeeze in at least one more visit between now and your interview, I think it's generally recommended to do so. If not, just go with what you can provide. As I said, there are many before you who have gone through the same with similar evidence at the same consulate, so I'd search the forums to see what they have done. In particular, check out your country-specific forum--they'll have a lot more detailed insight into what is generally expected by the COs there. Every consulate is different--some are very demanding and picky, others are less so. If you have an "easy" consulate, then I doubt you have anything to worry about.

For call logs, I can't speak for others, but the below image is kind of what I was talking about. It's a screenshot of our FB Messenger chat (which we rarely use, as you can see lol). The chat displays when the call was and how long it lasted. I know for a fact that Skype and Naver Line do the same, and I'm pretty sure WhatsApp does too. I think that's as close as it's going to get to what you're looking for.

Hope that helps. Good luck on your journey!

7 hours ago, ram1009 said:

You're right and I feel pretty stupid to admit that I've spent so much time trying to do something properly that I forgot how easy it is to fake.  Now i don't know what evidence I can offer that can't be faked.

I agree with arken--I think you're worrying a bit too much about this. Just provide screenshots in whatever capacity you can (if you can't find an app that provides program-timestamped screenshots, do you think anyone else can/has?). Concentrate instead on providing evidence of time spent together in-person, as the general consensus here is that this type of evidence is stronger. Assuming you are a K-1, according to the VJ guide, that means copies of passport stamps, airline boarding passes, hotel receipts of trips together, etc etc. Screenshots and the like are supplementary. Just include a few screenshots of videos + call logs from whatever app you've been using to communicate.

If you're still worried about it, I'd use the search function here in the forums to search for what other people have included as evidence. That should give you a good indication of what works and what doesn't. Just remember that lots and lots of people have gone through this process here--there's almost always someone who's had a similar situation to you and has been able to make it work.

I can't think of any app that does this. I think @Bill & Katya presents a good solution. Another solution would be to take a screenshot of the video chat while you're talking, and then take another screenshot of the chat messages afterwards. In some apps, such as Naver Line and Facebook Messenger, it will show a message that says "The video chat ended" and have a timestamp on that. Put together, that could be considered evidence that you chatted at xyz time/date.

Often people on VJ will tell you that chats/photos are all secondary evidence, however, because they can all be faked. It would be easy for someone to just photoshop the time/date on a screenshot, for example. So while chat evidence will be good to include if you don't have other forms of evidence, I wouldn't stress too much about how you present time stamps.

Good luck!

48 minutes ago, Rexxx said:

hi guys.

 

just update here!

 

Since I am in the military, I called to request an expedite back in April, it took a while for me to get all the documents.

 

After I finally gather all the additionally documents and I drafted a letter myself and signed by my supervisor, stating I may deploy anytime soon (which is the fact) and some other stuff, 

I send in the documents on 10th May, TSC received on 14th.

Guess what? I called USCIS today just wanted to ask question regarding to change my spouse's last name, they told me it is kind too late I have to ask to change when the file get to national visa center.

 

I was shocked, like wait what? why.

 

and she told me, because the peition is approved!!! on 16th May.

 

I am not sure if this because i have that IOE receipt number, or the letter from my supervisor actually worked,  but it is approved!  

However, myUSCIS still have nothing.

 

Can't wait to tell my wife about the update!!!

Congratulations! This a fantastic news, and I'm so jealous lol! Best of luck on your next steps! ♥

Looking at Texas, it says 8 to 10 months for the spouse of a USC but 5 to 7 months for the spouse of an LPR? That's... weird. I'm not sure I trust these numbers... 

As others have stated, you can always keep a bit of money in your Canadian savings accounts. This can be especially handy when/if you go back to visit.

For transferring money over (for both the initial move and for paying off debt), as missileman has said, bank to bank wire transfer may be the most straightforward option, depending on your bank. When I moved back to the US from New Zealand last year, I used a service called TransferWise, as they had the best rates I could find at the time (better than my bank). There are other services that do transfers, like CurrencyFair and Curexe, but I haven't used them and so can't vouch for them. I'd check out a few different options, figure out which has the best conversion rate AND transfer fees, and go with whatever is simplest for you.  (Alas, more research!)

Hi @SSorensen! I was just wondering what you and your partner ended up doing and what your result was? We are still waiting for our NOA2, but my husband has a similar case (category 1 of fence and Clean Slate Act), and I'd love to know what your solution was!

Thank you! 

6 hours ago, kaylem115 said:

Hi everyone!

American nanny living in France, applied on behalf of my French husband.

 

Married: 02/15/2019

Package Sent from France: 03/05/2019

Package received at Chicago Lockbox: 03/11/2019

Credit Card Charge  + Text notice : 03/14/2019

NOA 1 received in the mail to US domicile: 03/19/2019

 

Nebraska Service Center 😕

 

I am moving back to Orlando in July where my husband will join me to travel during the summer vacation on an ESTA. Looking forward to having you all here with me to share the excruciating wait with!

You and I got married on the same day and sent the i-130 package in the same week! I love it. Hopefully by our one-year anniversaries we'll be reunited with our husbands? Maybe?

Welcome to the thread--and to the long wait!

It's annoying hahaha. I just printed it out and wrote it in. I'm not sure what more you can do, and honestly it's probably easiest. 😊

1 hour ago, canadavisa22 said:

I'm just going to consider myself a March 2019 i-130 filer as my case was received on 02/28/2019.

 

I seem to have gotten the short straw as my file ended up in Nebraska. The long wait begins...

 

We live overseas together, filing from Canada. 

Welcome to the thread! We're all going through this together and it's great to have people to talk to about this.

I'm sorry to hear your petition ended up in Nebraska, but you never know what could happen! The processing time estimates seem to be changing all the time (Texas went from "6-8 months" to "7-9 months" recently... >_>) so the most we can all do is kick up our boots and wait it out... Good luck, and it's good to have you here!

14 hours ago, Vvee said:

Email, still waiting for the mailed receipt. About the stamps, that's a valid thing to consider. I wonder if photocopies of them are enough. I also need to think about the passport thing, mine will expire sometime in 2020 and as the process takes so long, I was wondering if I should renew it early. Do you know if USCIS has to be notified about a renewed passport? Having employment must help a lot, I've seen many posts about people getting through with a letter from a supervisor etc. My problem with tuition is that we do not have to pay for university studies in Finland, so I have very little to show for it. I might ask a professor to write me a letter and see if that's enough. I was even thinking of renting an apartment just to have more ties to show. We even called CBP and they said such a letter could show ties to Finland, but they cannot guarantee entry. Which I knew already, so probably will just go for it and hope for the best, after getting every possible slip of paper that might help.

My husband is coming to visit this year as well. This will be his 3rd visit in less than a year, so I'm a little nervous he's going to get asked questions. New Zealand is VWP country though (and I believe Finland is too!), so I don't think you or he will get much trouble from CBP.

I think he is planning to bring a letter from his employer, some recent paystubs, and a copy of the NOA1 (once I receive the mailed version). I think a letter from your prof wouldn't hurt! When I was at uni, I had an advisor who would help me plan out my entire academic career and make sure I met all the requirements for my major--does your uni have someone like that who'd be able to vouch for you as well? That might help show that you've got long term plans back home... 

1 hour ago, afortunada said:

 

During this process for my hubby, patience was NOT my strong suit... I was one of those people who literally refreshed webpages probably 60 to 70 times a day waiting for things to happen. I think it was almost slightly helpful that I didn't find this website until about four months in to our USCIS wait, though, because once I joined here is when I learned a ton more info and learned about new ways to obsess about every little part of the process haha. Everything you're feeling is perfectly normal! 

omg are you me?  I'm exactly the same--checking VJ all the time, adding to my notes constantly...

In other news, you were totally right--it's been a day since they charged my card, and I just got the text! Yay! Texas Service Center, if this place is right. Now to settle in for the long wait.

2 hours ago, afortunada said:

 

You should still get e-notification! I also put my cover letter first, but I did indicate on the cover letter that the G-1145 form was attached. I then had my check payment as tab 2, and tab 3 contained G-1145 + I-130. So there is still hope! I didn't receive a text until a day or more after the withdrawal hit my bank account.

 

EDIT: Additionally, you can call in about one month after your petition was delivered to get your case number. Trust me, it feels "exciting" to have it, but it makes NO difference! Your petition is still just sitting... and sitting... and sitting... Along with the rest of ours So don't fret, dear!

Thank you so much! It sounds like we have the same set-up for our package, so fingers crossed I receive a text today or Monday!

1 hour ago, Vvee said:

It could be interpreted that way as well 😁 They could be more specific, I think! I am already preparing for the next steps, we are currently reading about filing taxes and it is so frustrating. So many forms, so much mixed information, so many exceptions, and many things do not apply with a foreign spouse... After all the reading I've done, I feel like I should be on my way becoming an expert on immigration and taxation, yet I feel so confused and discouraged when I glimpse at the forms in the next stage.

 

Well said! Feels exciting to get it, but the excitement quickly fades away when you realize you won't be hearing from them in a loooooong looong time  I installed the case tracker app and played around for a while but realized it won't be too informative until we are getting closer to getting the NOA2.

Logically I know it's a whole lot of waiting either way, but I'm dying to know which service center we'll be processed at... I'm a naturally anxious person and this process is my worst nightmare lol (I've got spreadsheets and spreadsheets of checklists, timelines, etc... They both help and worsen my anxiety hahaha). I know it sucks for all of us, but at the same time it's so comforting to know that I'm not alone and we're along for the same ride!

Thank you both for your kind words. ❤️ I'll do my best to breathe and be patient!

3 hours ago, Vvee said:

Yeah, it did say to clip the E-notification form to the front of the petition 🤔 Well, in any case, because you were charged it must mean you'll get the receipt one way or another. Probably have to wait for it to be mailed. Fingers crossed we will both get the mailed receipt next week! 😊

Looking at the guides again, you're absolutely right! Agh, I'm a doofus (the g1145 itself said it should be placed on top of "the first page of your immigration forms" which I presumed to mean the i-130 form itself!). Definitely going to ask the community here to check all my next steps, as I could have sworn I had the order right... It's such a shame that a tiny switch makes such a huge difference. 😣

Wellp, the wait continues! 

4 hours ago, Vvee said:

I tried searching for a thread discussing the payment methods, but with little luck. I think my husband paid with a debit card and would be interesting to know if that makes any difference.

 

It has been quiet over here! Has anyone got any updates? 

They finally charged my credit card at about 6am PDT on 3/14, but who knows how much time actually elapsed between them having our petition in hand and then charging the card. 

Still no notification, though... Maybe it's because I put my cover letter on top of my enotification form? 😭

Hi @Desbaez! I'm in the same boat--just sent the i-130 off last week.

We've both got a long wait ahead of us (as adil-rafa said, a year or more probably) so lots of time to prepare. I've been studying/prepping using the NVC guides here and here. They appear to pretty much list everything you will likely need, including tax transcripts for the past 3 years, info about the DS-260 and DS-261, and info about the i-864. They are super super comprehensive!

I would start by figuring out which version of the i-864 you will need, and review/pre-fill it out so you know what information and documents you will need at the NVC stage. Same goes for the DS-260, since the guide says it can take up to an hour to complete. At least look at them, so you can gather any info you will need later, now. Use the above guides to at least start making a list of what you need and when you should request for it.

I put together a spreadsheet for myself, so I know what I need, what I already have, and when I should request other things. I have a poor memory, so things like these help me stay organized over the looooong months ahead.

Good luck!

I need to stay away from this thread--it's killing me waiting for our NOA1! 

UPS delivered on the 8th... so it should be soon, right? Hah! It's only been like 3 days... How am I going to survive the next 8+ months? 😅

Good luck, everybody!

5 minutes ago, lucy 242 said:

From what I understand it's line 6 on the 1040, meaning we put 24000 but I am still not sure, am I right? what about the deductions?

I'm not a tax expert, full disclosure. But the way I see it, tax deductions are there to allow you to reduce the amount of income that you are taxed on. This is not necessarily applicable to immigration, because immigration isn't interested in how much you're eligible to be taxed on. All they are interested in is what your (or in this case, your partner's) income is, in order to determine if they make enough to support you. So that's why deductions aren't really a part of the i-864, I believe.

Hi! I believe that they look at Total Income for 1040 and 1040A, and Adjusted Gross Income for 1040EZ.

From the instructions for i-864:

Quote

For purposes of this affidavit, the line for Total Income on IRS Forms 1040 and 1040A will be considered when determining income. For persons filing IRS Form 1040 EZ, the line for adjusted gross income will be considered.

https://www.uscis.gov/i-864

However, please take a look at the instructions and the form yourself to be sure.

Hi! 

We sent our i-130 package on 3/7. 

UPS delivered on 3/8.

Now just waiting for NOA1. 

Thanks for creating this thread! 

I'm shocked that your partner's union insurance does not consider moving countries as a life changing event. The ACA (and my own employer provided insurance) considers moving countries a life changing event. 

If your GP won't write you a letter (which I'm also shocked about, that seems very cruel!), what about a letter from a local government office to prove you had coverage?

Alternatively, you could, as you said, go the employer route. Since you are moving in 5 weeks, I assume you will no longer have your current job? Loss of job may qualify as a life changing event. 

I would ask your partner to call the rep again and ask what your options are. If moving countries does not qualify then what does? What evidence do they require to prove you are losing NHS coverage? Insurance companies and plans are very specific, so I think that may the only place you'll get accurate answers unfortunately.