bird&bear

I wanted to thank everyone for their support, it's been such a whirlwind for me and my family! I retained an attorney not long after this happened to begin my annulment, it was filed before Christmas  Definitely a nice gift to begin to move on with my life!! My ex's ESTA indicates he's longer eligible for the Visa Waiver program, and his interview was cancelled yesterday,  applications to adjust his status have been denied as of today! I have not received any paperwork acknowledging that my affidavits were withdrawn yet- but I will follow up, I know its complicated with the shutdown.  I'm glad I acted quickly, and the government did as well! I feel free of all of the stress and many issues I dealt with during the marriage, and I'm getting past the anger over the betrayal and taking time to pamper myself and enjoy life with my family and once the annulment is done I have plans to take several wonderful vacations around the world now that I have one less person to support financially

OP, from time to time we get people on VJ who are good souls hurt by bad decisions.  It's hard to see.
 
But when you see those good souls get through the bad times, come out the other end and start on a path that will get them the happiness they deserve, it makes me smile.
 
I hope that good times now find you. 🙂

How a Government Shutdown Might Affect your Immigration Practice
Home » Resources by Issue » How a Government Shutdown Might Affect your Immigration Practice inShare Congressional authorization for government spending is set to end Friday, January 19, 2018. To avoid a Federal government shutdown, Congress would need to pass a temporary or long-term spending bill before midnight.
If Congress is not able to pass a spending bill today, certain government agencies would temporarily close or reduce operations. Generally, non-essential Federal employees would be furloughed, but operations related to national security and law enforcement would remain active.
Here is what you need to know about how the shutdown would impact immigration-related agencies and offices:
Department of Homeland Security
USCIS: USCIS is funded by filing fees, so the USCIS is expected to continue to process immigration applications as normal. Some field offices have already issued statements indicating they will maintain regular operations.

Also I found dream wall to be mildly amusing. 

Layers. Always dress in layers.

Thank you all so much for your input!!
 
Denmark and Iceland sound like excellent plans; we've never been to either and Denmark does come up a lot on the "easiest elopement" search results! (Hawaii would be amazing! But a bit of a trek for both of us-- I am on the east coast!)
 
@tomuk I appreciate your warning/concern. All of the subsequent research I have done confirms what everyone else on the thread has said about the legality of marrying on the ESTA and returning to the home country. My partner would also bring evidence of ties to his home country (lease, letter from employer, return flight tickets, etc) if that is the route we choose. He has visited me a number of times, under a valid ESTA, and never overstayed so has a good "track record" if that matters at all! I will keep you all updated on the route we chose and our CR-1 timelines!   
 
 

Definitely not correct. Source: I did this, and my UK spouse (now my ex) not only had no problems when we applied for the CR-1, he's now a citizen with zero issues. We were living together in London but wanted to get married in the US. So we flew over, married in Vermont, and after the ceremony (and a brief vacation) we returned to the UK together. He was completely up front with CBP when he entered on his ESTA (it was the VWP still back then) and said he was coming to the States to marry his American fiancee, with whom he lived in London, and then return back to the UK. Stamped through, no problem. Filed the I-130 and got the CR-1 about 5 months later through direct consular filing.
 
The problem comes when you come over on an ESTA to marry with the intent to stay and adjust status. No one here is recommending that route (and to do so would be in violation of the TOS). Coming for a visit with the intent to marry and then depart, after which time the I-130 is submitted, is absolutely fine. The question is one of intent. Think about it -- there would be no US destination wedding industry to sell to other countries if that were not the case! People come from all over the world to have a Vegas wedding, or get married on a beach in Hawaii. As long as they came in without the intent to stay permanently in the US, there is nothing wrong about getting married in the US as a tourist.
 
Either the immigration lawyer didn't know what he was talking about, or you didn't understand what the lawyer was saying.  

Just a few words of advice on your "research" project, from the perspective of an academic researcher, university level.  From your original post, it sounds like an undergraduate class project at a university in the US, not a PhD thesis.  Given this assumption (please correct me if I am wrong), some have criticized your proposed method using "case studies," and your "biased" point of view in beginning your research.  To these criticisms I would say that a case study method of data collection can be very valid, providing that the case studies are real, thorough, and rich in detail.  To be an effective and convincing source of data, case studies should be based on personal, exploratory interviews with the subjects, so you should seek out specific VJ users who have been denied tourist visas who are also willing to be interviewed by you.  While you may have a biased point of view on the subject, as is normally the case with many research projects, make sure your questions for the case study interviews are not biased or leading.  Try to be open minded about what you are hearing and just collect information.  Have your professor approve your research method and interview questions beforehand.  Make sure you have a clearly-stated research objective before you write the interview questions.  I cannot overstate the importance of a clear, concise, research question before you begin.  What is it that you are trying to understand?  Write the interview questions with this overall objective in mind.  Ask a few people who have been refused a tourist visa from a variety of countries, recently, to do an interview with you by phone.  Record the interviews and transcribe them.  Analyze them for themes.  Keep in mind that this type of qualitative research has limitations as far as what conclusions you can draw from it.  Case studies are good for generating broad insights and not for digging deeply into a specific subject.  They are good for understanding a subject matter, leading to and informing additional, more quantitative research that might include a survey, actual secondary data from the Dept. of State, etc.  You are unlikely to be able to develop any meaningful policy conclusions based on a qualitative method like case studies.  So just realize the limitations of your method and you'll be fine for a university class paper.  Attach your transcripts to your paper, as well as your questions asked.  Ask your professor for advice every step of the way.  And good luck!  

Hi @Ahegao,
 
I am interested in your research results as it may help us and others have a better understanding of the processes and policies set in place for non-immigrant visas to the US. However, may I offer some academic advice? Based on the above in bold it seems you have already entered this project with a biased mindset. I was taught that when approaching a project, one must have an open mind. You mind should be like a blank sheet of paper. By you making statements like, "biased" and "whatever arbitrary" reasons", you have sort of set the tone of your project. As many of the experienced members that have posted in this thread have already informed you, that may be legitimate reasons for restrictions on visas.
 
There are two extreme views on how immigration should be; 1) heavily restrictions and limitations on immigrants and 2) 100% open borders with no vetting process in place. To be honest, neither one of those views are a viable solution. So countries try to find a middle ground. Of course there are certain countries that have better options to enter the US than others. In your second posting you stated that the program should be revisited to so that there is not so much bias towards allies. How else would a country determine who is a risk or not? A simple analogy is that you may invite your closest friends over to your home for dinner often. You may not do the same for people you don't have a common connection with like a stranger at a bus stop. But if you want to extend the invitation to that stranger at the bus stop, you certain would (or should) get to know them a little better first. (I like to use home or house analogies 😋)
 
The best source for your report is immigration itself. Have you tried reaching out to immigration personnel to share their experiences of dealing with certain policies? It may be a correspondence over email but at least you would get another perspective of things. I don't know how long you have been on VJ but I can tell you, that I have been on here for about 4-5 years and I have seen my share of people trying to scam the US immigration system. I have a better understanding of the vetting processes that occur. 'Tis true that there are countries that are plagued with fraud. Like @gsdc23 stated, Haiti has a high refusal rate. But Haiti is drastically suffering economically. The risk of a person using a visitor visa to come and stay/live in the US is higher a person from Finland which has one of the best economies in the world. My wife is from the Dominican Republic and I have visited there many times. The DR has an immigration situation with Haitian immigrants.They share the same island and is only separated by a mountain. But the DR's handling of Haitian immigrants is bad...
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/24431/how-a-broken-migration-policy-has-divided-haiti-and-the-dominican-republic
So yes, US immigration policies are not perfect but they can be a heck of a lot worse.
 
Lastly, I want to say that visiting the US is a privilege, not a right. This goes for just about every country of the world. There are countries US citizens can't roam freely. Many people who have had a loved on denied a visitor visa often say, "not everyone wants to come and live in America". This is true, but the many suffer because of a few. To use another house analogy, you don't lock your doors because of the many people who don't want to break in your house, you lock them for the small few who do.

Sorry, I forgot to update this last month. Just a lot going on- we were hit pretty bad by hurricane Michael  
Anyway for anyone interested immigration wise- they printed the boarding foil in his passport, very similar to the K visa in quality- so price/quality wise I guess was justified. I was anticipating a plain old piece of paper or a stamp- so a fancy page in the passport made it sting a little less. Boarding foil had an expiration date (a few weeks) and seemed to be a one time use travel document. Hes not traveling again anytime soon. Also mentions 551 status but says its not proof of status. Have sent in i90 and waiting for receipt. Apparently to get a replacement SS card you need proof of status so once receipt comes we can go get a stamp and then to SSA. (his DL was a non issue, I was able to order a replacement online but to get one at the DMV with a new pic- which he wanted-he needed proof of status)
 
On the personal side- the car was not found until 3 weeks later about 2 hours away. It was locked in a parking lot, so who knows if they were planning on coming back for it to use it more or if they were done with it and just left it. It got towed back to their local police station and Dad was told to come down and bring the keys. Well.... we find out Dad only had one key- the one that was in the car! So Dad had to get in touch with the dealership and get another key which took time. Dad asked if the wallet was found in the car and the response was the car was locked so they didnt know. (stranger and stranger) Why the police didnt force the door open- no clue. They were fine with waiting for him to get a duplicate key so they could open it and process it before releasing it to him. 
 
Finally Dad was able to get a key and went down and sadly no wallet. No empty wallet, just nothing. I was hoping they would take what they wanted and leave the rest but no such luck. Dad also got a 5000$ bill from a gas station credit card and called to ask if we knew why. Turns out Dad had kept a credit card in the glove compartment that he used every now and then for gas and forgot it was there. He is very old and this was just the final proof that he needs help and cant be alone anymore. For those that dont know the banking system there is much more advanced then here in the US. They have had chips on the cards that need a pin forever- where it just recently started to be used here in the US. So how did the thief manage to use his pin protected card? Easy. Dad had written the pin number on a piece of paper and taped it to the back of the card cause he couldnt remember it. Sigh. So many calls trying to help him with the bank about this. 
 
As for my lovely husband- we had a discussion about what could have possibly given him food poisoning. He had a goodbye dinner the night before at an expensive restaurant with friends and family and was 100% sure it was the pork. No one else got sick though so I pushed him harder to try to figure out what it was. Previous to that dinner the last thing he ate was a ham and cheese sandwich he bought at a gas station (!). Here in the US I do not let him eat gas station food because I just dont trust it, but when the cats away the mice will play..
 
He insisted it could not have been the sandwich because their gas stations are very clean and thats just not an issue there. But then it came out in the conversation that he bought the sandwich the night before and brought it up to the bedroom upstairs around 2am. He didnt feel like eating it so instead of bringing it downstairs and putting it in the fridge he HUNG IT OUT THE WINDOW in the bedroom justifying the cold nighttime temperature was sufficient. It sat hanging out the window from 2am until 3pm the next day when he got up and ATE IT.  Ham, cheese and mayo in the sun from sunrise to 3pm and he eats it and then blames the 50$ pork dish at a gourmet restaurant. Anyone want a slightly used husband?? LOL> But its all good. Again sorry for not updating sooner.
 
 
 
 
 

Congratulations! Best wishes to both of you, and good luck on your journey together from here on! ♥

Actually - we DO know he was arrested and convicted of assault.  He caused bodily harm, was fined, and kicked out of university. It was because of this violent assault the US denied him a visa to visit the US.   Instead of learning from his mistakes - he verbally assaults people online every day.  Clearly he has anger issues and I hope USCIS rejects his application and waiver to come.  

We got married yesterday!   We eloped to a Pacific Northwest island, and miraculously were able to have our little ceremony in a beautiful garden......outside, in October!  
 
We wanted to thank VJ for all the support and answers to questions along the way, particularly @Greenbaum, @geowrian, @Naes.   It sure helps to have advice from friendly folks further along in their journeys.
 
On to the next chapter!  ❤️

It is fine.  Photos are secondary evidence.  Proving an ongoing relationship is not needed until the interview at the consulate.  You only have to show proof of having met once in the past two years, and passport stamps are better for that.  We didn't send any photos at all, and were approved after 185 days, no RFE. 

You should see what my husband's French accent does to the ladies at the DMV.  ridiculous

To OP and others who have posted on this thread, the time apart from someone you love more than anything in the world, plus the complexity and uncertainty of the US immigration process, sucks.  Every country has its laws to protect its sovereignty and borders, and those of us who fall in love across borders have to deal with all the bureaucracy.  The emotional strain is awful.  But we have Visa Journey to come and ask questions of each other and vent and show support for each other.  It really does help to know that others are struggling with the same issues, fighting for love, crying after the sad goodbyes.  Hang in there everybody.  If you really want to be together, you will find a way, somewhere, sometime.  It's all worth it to be with the one you love!

Keep at least one copy of whatever you return to the court when you describe your ineligibility!  Put it with your important immigration papers.

Your reply came in together from the one of the HR lady from the company that offered me the job and you both gave me a quite welcome confirmation. (: thank you! I can't wait to start working, yay.
And I'll definitely go tomorrow, make sure everything's okay and get the SS number.

Update: I went to the Social Security Administration office this morning so leaving here what happened, it might help others.
Reminder -- I am on a CR-1 visa, so I already have work authorization. I was only missing the SSN.
I went there and explained the situation, and it was confirmed to me that there was no pending "request" for an SSN on file (whatever, man, I clicked that damn button to ask for it, RAWR), so we did a new one. Clerk told me that for I-9 purposes, having the receipt of a request for SSN works as replacement for the SSN card itself; and that is in fact confirmed in the i-9 instructions. Here:
"If an employee is unable to present a required document (or documents), the employee can present an acceptable receipt in lieu of a document from the Lists of Acceptable Documents on the last page of the form."
(page 4 of the i-9 here http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-9.pdf )
List C includes the Social Security Number Card, on page 9 of the same document.
My husband came with me at the Social Security Administration but he literally did nothing, so he could have stayed home. I provided my passport and my original birth certificate, nothing else.
Now the last doubt is whether the "two forms of ID" they want me to take on my first day of work are ones I can provide. Here's hoping it all goes well, I emailed the HR lady! (:

I'm a CR-1 and had my Temporary I-551 Visa since my Immigration on June 16, 2018 (Payment sent on June 14, 2018) and it's now been over 120 days and I still haven't received my actual Resident Card in the mail.  

 I've been monitoring  https://my.uscis.gov/account/ for changes and still shows "In Process" 

I've inquired online and went to my local USCIS office via INFOPass appointment today and both were of no help.  
 
How long is everyone waiting for their actual card to arrive after immigrating?  Does anyone have any pro tips on expediting the card?

My primary reason for wanting to get the actual card is the temporary I-551 isn't being recognized as a form of ID at a specific bank that I'd like to open an account with and it also has been a struggle getting a drivers license at the California DMV believe it or not but that is processing at least.  ProTip for immigrants the RealID Drivers License process can take up to 90days.  I haven't attempted to get a job yet in the USA ( I work out of country still) but I can only imagine the temporary stamped/visa I-551 is a weaker form of ID in that process too.  

Yeah, you should be fine! I worked as a paralegal intern for an immigration attorney during grad school and I always felt so bad for people with straightforward cases who were paying for counsel. If there aren’t any issues with a case, I was the one who handled 90% of the process while the lawyers just look over the forms and sign them and do face to face consultations. Don’t be one of the people paying that much to have a well trained and capable but unpaid intern complete their forms!
 
If anything does end up getting dicey (VERY unlikely) you can always look for help later.

This is the cover letter I sent with my NVC package:
 

NAME
ADDRESS
Email: EMAIL
Phone: PHONE
 
Dear Sir/Madam,
 
Please find enclosed my IR1 visa forms and associated supporting documentation.
 
NVC Case number: ACKXXXXXXXXXX
Applicant: MY NAME
Primary Sponsor: SPOUSE NAME
Joint Sponsor: SPONSOR NAME
 
Documents enclosed:
1.    NVC Welcome letter document cover sheet
 
Section 1: Supporting Documents for MY NAME:
2.    IV Application Cover Page for Case ACKXXXXXXXXXX
3.    Photocopy of passport biographic page
4.    Photocopy of birth certificate
5.    Photocopy of marriage certificate
6.    Confirmation from the New Zealand Police that Police check information has been sent to the US Consulate in Auckland.
7.    DS-260 confirmation page
 
Section 2: Affidavit of Support from SPOUSE:
1.    AOS Cover Page for Case ACKXXXXXXXXXX
2.    Photocopy of signed I-864
3.    Proof of US status - Photocopy of passport biographic page
4.    Proof of intent to re-establish domicile
5.    Photocopy of 2016 Federal Tax return and related schedules
6.    Proof of assets
 
Section 3: Affidavit of Support from SPONSOR:
1.    Photocopy of signed I-864
2.    Proof of US status - Photocopy of passport biographic page
3.    Evidence of Income
a.    Photocopy of 2016 Federal/State Tax return and related schedules
b.    Photocopy of 2016 W2 form
 
Regards
MY NAME
 
I hope this helps

Hi All,
 
This is my first post but I thank everyone who has provided information on their experiences to make the visa process easier on this site. I wanted to share my mistake  / unknown factor which may help those who have lived in New Zealand in the past and are applying at a US Consulate other than Auckland.
 
My fiancee and I filed for K1 visa in 2017 and I recently attended my interview in Sydney, Australia after the very long wait and thinking I had all my paperwork sorted out a long time ago. All of my documentation was correct and accepted except my New Zealand Police Certificate. I'm from New Zealand but live in the Australia hence I required a police certificate from there and why I was interviewed in Sydney. My Australian and UK certificates were fine following the standard instructions but my NZ one which I applied for through the ministry of justice wasn't accepted. There is a different process I wasn't aware of and nor was the ministry of justice as far as I can tell. I called to ask them originally and questioned whether this was the correct process which they didn't say it wasn't and I requested the certificate for a US Visa and they failed to mention anything.
 
Anyway, this was my mistake, which I'd like others to avoid. What you need to do to get a valid and accepted NZ police certificate or vetting certificate is wait until you have a case number from the consulate you will interview at. Once you have that you can apply for your NZ police certificate at the following website:
 
http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/businesses-and-organisations/vetting/vetting-process-visas
 
Fill out the Section 14 form and send it to here: vetting@police.govt.nz
 
If you email the US Consulate in Auckland it is all explained in their automated reply email (I emailed them to check I was following the correct procedure that the Sydney Consulate had outlined to me). The Q and A reply says the following:
 
Q:  How can I get a New Zealand police clearance?
A:  To obtain a New Zealand Police clearance certificate for U.S. Immigration, the applicant can download and sign a Section 14 ‘overseas’ form available on the New Zealand Police Vetting Service website, http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/businesses-and-organisations/vetting/vetting-process-visas. When you complete the form, please indicate that the criminal record is being requested for the United States of America and reference the three-letter ten-digit case number (e.g. ACK followed by 10 numbers for Auckland) or A#.  The postal address is U.S. Consulate General, Immigrant Visa Section, Private Bag 92022, Auckland, New Zealand. The requestor should email the completed request form to the Police Vetting Service at vetting@police.govt.nz<mailto:vetting@police.govt.nz>
COURT RECORD for any conviction in New Zealand you must obtain the court record from the actual court where the conviction occurred, NOT the Ministry of Justice central office.
NOTE: the Clean Slate Act proviso does NOT apply to U.S. immigration law for persons wishing to travel to the United States.
 
This is great for those interviewing in Auckland as I'm sure they provide this information but I was a bit blindsided. Luckily this process is quick. I have been told the NZ police process these every Friday and send the reports out to the Auckland consulate who will then forward it to your consulate based on the case number you provide.
 
You cannot handle or bring this certificate to your interviewing consulate. You must have it sent to the Auckland consulate and they will forward it to your consulate. You will likely never see this piece of paper.
 
I hope that this helps someone in the future who didn't see this like I did.

We did this once we had the NVC number, be aware though, the police certificate is sent straight to the consulate and expires after 3 months. You only need it for your interview.
 
I included an email trail with my NVC pack showing that I had requested the police check. A note explaining that the police check gets sent directly to the consulate should be sufficient.
 
I’m a kiwi who arrived in the US last week. It can be done

Try this idea, previously posted by the member Darnell:
---
Each city has a chamber of commerce.  Find it.

Once you find it - talk with the secretary - tell her you want a schedule of events and let her know you'd like to attend.

Then - go in person to the Chamber of Commerce Office - talk with the President of the Chamber, tell him/her you want to volunteer at several of their events.

Attendees at chamber events are business owners and sales geeks, all looking for new business.  It usually is an informal-enough gathering where you can approach people and talk with them.

Now, the cool thing about being a volunteer there - is that you will be talking to everyone at least once - you might be at the reception table, you might be at the greeters table, you might help to run the audio/video system - whatever - but - the point is that you can meet everyone there, face to face.
 
Attend 2 or 3 of these, and folk remember you.  When folk remember you, they will remember you are seeking employment and will consider you, because you're just not some name on a piece of paper - they met you at a chamber event and know that you were volunteering, helping out the chamber.

Go Get Em, and Good Luck!

PS - live in a really small town? go to the biggest town that's within 15 miles of your house.