DSB27

10 hours ago, Amelia21 said:

Hello  this situation is not related to myself however a friend of mine that is stressed I’m hoping someone that has knowledge of US laws could help me out .

So she migrated to the US , both her and her husband were shopping in Walmart and they had a few items at the bottom of the Trolley they had a lot of items so a few items were missed they were stopped at the door and instantly realize they didn’t pay for the stuff at the bottom the items  weren’t bagged or anything . The young man escorted them to a self check out aisle and checked all the bags and allowed them to pay for the items then allowed them to leave . No police or any other employee were involved they paid and left . Will this come back to haunt them in the sense of immigration ? As in is it possible that although they paid for the items Walmart could decide to press charges later on ? They cooperated and was nice towards the worker and they said the worker was pleasant as well 

This sounds like an honest mistake, I don't believe it could be considered a crime.

I don't think that any U.S. immigration agency would even be aware of it, since it was simply resolved in the store.

On 8/5/2020 at 2:18 AM, Fullbien said:

Hi All! I have a question about domicile (I am USC, we're doing the CR-1 for my spouse, at the NVC stage). I am currently living abroad with my spouse, and our process/lives have been upended by COVID much like the rest of you I'm sure. I am here on a "professional visa" which expires in November. The plan was for us to be in the states before my visa was up, so this should have been a non-issue, but the embassy here has been closed since March, no idea when it will open again, and I do not expect to be out of here before 2021 anymore (even if they were to miraculously open and give us a visa appointment, inter-provincial travel is not allowed at the moment so we couldn't even get to the consulate 🙃). From what I have heard from local lawyers, since I have had this "temporary resident" professional visa for 2 years, the next step is to get a "permanent resident" visa, and it is unclear whether I can just extend my visa and remain a "temporary resident", but it seems that it may not be an option. I need a valid visa for work (so I can't just leave and come back on a tourist visa to buy a few more months). 

My question is the following: If I were to get a "permanent resident" visa here, is it likely to count against my claim of US domicile, and affect our US visa process for my husband? I have a bank account in the states, requested absentee ballot for 2020 general election, and have a valid US drivers license. I honestly have no interest in being a permanent resident here, and I'm not sure how the US govt would even know, but I really just want to be able to stay with my husband and stay employed for as long as it takes for us to go through this process. I don't want to make a hasty decision that could adversely affect us in the future.

Any thoughts/experiences are welcome. Thanks!

My wife was a permanent resident in New Zealand, we both live here, and her claim to US domicile was accepted, so I don't think it necessarily counts against you.

You want to think long and hard about whether going forward with this is a good idea.

As has been mentioned, one key factor is that you will be financially responsible for her and the child for a long time, even if you two divorce.

1 hour ago, SETETA said:

This seems to be what their US Embassy in New Zealand's website refers to: 

"

June 3rd Update for U.S. Citizens

Update: American Citizen Services Appointments Now Available 

At New Zealand Alert Level 2, routine American Citizen Services appointments are available for the following services:

 

U.S. Passports

Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA)

Federal Benefits Processing

 

Visit the this website for information on scheduling your appointment.  Notarial services remain unavailable at New Zealand Alert Level 2.

 

Additional services including notaries and appointments to renounce one’s U.S. citizenship may become available again once New Zealand enters Alert Level 1. We will announce any relevant changes via email and on our website once these services have resumed.  Note that the decision to resume all Consular services does not correspond directly to New Zealand’s Alert Level 1 and the resumption of services would not take place immediately.  Current restrictions on services are due to constraints in the United States and affect all U.S. consulates and embassies around the world."

 

I would assume that this means that there are constraints that are related to the worldwide pause on visa services and the EO. I guess we will find out more over the next couple weeks as the EO expires (will it be renewed?) and more countries relax restrictions.

 

 

There is a more recent notice than that of June 3rd on the website; but I contacted the Embassy directly.

3 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Information I share was directly from the Secretary of State himself.   Whom do you think has the possibility of being more accurate?

I'm not particularly interested in guessing games.

I've reported the information that I've received from the officials, and people may do with it what they will.

7 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Rather than perpetuate something you know isn't true,  why not read the reopen plan and determine if NZ has accomplished all the requirements.m (it's more than just the covid situation under control). A careful read would show that phase three is just becoming a possibility in the most perfect scenario 

Not sure what your problem is mate but "perpetuating something you know isn't true" is a funny way of categorizing the sharing of information received directly from the relevant local US Embassy.

9 hours ago, payxibka said:

POTUS proclamation has nothing to do with the suspension of routine visa services.   

Not according to the US Embassy in New Zealand, which has recently said that they will not be able to proceed with any visa services until: (1) the suspension of visa services globally has lifted, and (2) the Presidential Proclamation has expired. This is so even though the Proclamation clearly doesn't apply to our case, being a spousal visa. It has nothing to do with the local local conditions either, as the Coronavirus has been eliminated in New Zealand and things are essentially back to normal.

18 hours ago, SummerF said:

Not the same but am waiting for an interview in Auckland I dont think there is very many NZers on here but hopefully they go along with OZ!

We're also waiting on an interview in Auckland! Got DQ back on 14 March.

55 minutes ago, VMikaele said:

Interesting, yea they just said what I uploaded wasn't valid and that I needed to upload a valid Police Certificate. Someone said they just marked the Police Certificate as an unavailable document and in the comment section said that it was sent directly to the embassy. I'm trying that now to see if it works.

You won't be able to upload a valid New Zealand "Police Certificate" because that isn't a document that exists. The outcome of the section 14 vetting process will be sent to the Auckland Consulate regardless of what you do in CEAC.

I'm guessing that the person who looked at your case at the NVC just didn't understand the process as it pertains to New Zealand.

43 minutes ago, VMikaele said:

So I ended up doing this and it got rejected. Any other advice on what to upload for the Police Certificate?

This was the advice that I specifically received from the US Consulate in Auckland, and was accepted by the NVC.

Did you receive a reason as to why the document you submitted was rejected?

The police certificate is not the same for every country. You can't get a New Zealand police certificate before you've got your NVC case number. It's not the standard criminal history check that gets done when you (for example) apply for a job. It's the police vetting process: https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/businesses-and-organisations/vetting/vetting-process-visas.

11 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

That was already advised, but is not dependent on whether assets are used or not.  No need to list and document any assets when income is clearly sufficient.

It's dependent on whether the sponsor's income is sufficient or not. Here it is, so OP's mother does not need to file an I-864A as a household member as advised, correct?

If she does, then I've done it wrong because my situation is the same as OP's.

15 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

...Your mother files an I-864A as a household member....

Doesn't her mother only need to file an I-864A if her mother's income or assets are being taken into account in arriving at the sponsor's income or assets figure? Wouldn't her father's I-864 be sufficient since it seems that he earns over $100k in his individual capacity?

3 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

Not sure what  your concern is regarding .. the NVC tier 1 operator doesn’t have anything to do with the case tracker site and really doesn’t  need to even know about it. They see what is on your CEAC case and what you see on the CEAC case login. If you have already uploaded the documents you won’t see any  case status change until it is ready to be sent to the consulate .. documentarily qualified  or case complete 

CEAC's case portal says that I have submitted all of the required documents. CEAC's visa status update page says that I have not submitted all of the required documents.

My concern is that I need to know whether or not I have submitted all of the required documents.

I completed the DS-260 on CEAC and submitted all the required civil and financial documents for myself and sponsors shortly after. However, when I go to the Visa Status Check tool (https://ceac.state.gov/) I'm told that my DS-260 has been received and the next step for me is to submit the other already-submitted documents. The documents say submitted in the actual CEAC portal. I called the NVC and the lady I spoke to didn't even know that the NVC had a visa status check tool... 🙄

It also says to mail or email the documents, which contradicts what the NVC has told me elsewhere about uploading the documents directly.

Anyone know anything about this?

2 hours ago, DETROITKIWI said:

So you are not required to have an interview date with embassy to apply for police check?

It was one of the civil documents required to be uploaded to CEAC after completion of the DS-260 (Visa Application) form. I imagine that you could apply for the police check as soon as you have case number from the NVC.

2 hours ago, Shakila Dahal said:

Thanks for the reply Daniel. 

 

Just one more question, how long does vetting processing take before the NZ police report is sent to US embassy. 

No problem.

It was very fast. I submitted my form last Saturday and received confirmation that it had been emailed to the Auckland Consulate on Monday morning.

Here's what I did:

Once the New Zealand Police have completed the vetting process, they send you a confirmation that the results have been sent to the Auckland Consulate. I uploaded that confirmation in the police certificate box on CEAC.

The NVC says: "You must bring the exact original of any scanned document you upload to CEAC that NVC accepts to your immigrant visa interview. Failure to bring the exact original you uploaded to CEAC may delay the processing of your case".

I (the applicant) uploaded everything to CEAC, including all of the documents from the petitioner and a joint sponsor.

Does the NVC actually expect my joint sponsor in the United States to physically mail to New Zealand things like her drivers' license? Or is it just getting at things like my and the petitioner's birth certificate.

Anyone have any ideas on this?

It seems pretty stupid for the NVC to require a document that doesn't exist...

Hi there,

The required police check form for New Zealand is a form that you request from the NZ Police, who then forward the results to the US Consulate in Auckland. The Police never forward the results to the applicant.

In light of that, I'm wondering what to do for the CEAC page that asks for a police certificate to be uploaded. Should I just "submit" all my documents on CEAC with the Police certificate "missing" (if that is possible), or will the NVC/Consulate upload the relevant document themselves? Perhaps I should call the Consulate/NVC and ask what to do? Though it must be a common problem, at least for all New Zealand police certificates.

I really don't want to get the process wrong, as I know that procedural errors can add weeks/months to your application...

Thanks very much!

After submitting Form DS-260 online there's a section to upload various documents (passport, birth certificate, police clearance, marriage certificate). One required set of documents is "photographs".

Does anyone know if this refers to any particular kind/size of photograph (e.g. a passport photograph) or just any photograph of me in general?

When the affidavit of support asks for the tax return for the three most recent tax years, does that currently mean 2019, 2018 and 2017, or 2018, 2017 and 2016? As I understand it, the 2019 tax year is complete, meaning that 2019 is the most recent tax year. But many people won't have all of the required information until several months later, and I don't even think the IRS is accepting 2019 tax returns yet.

Anyone know the answer to this?

Thanks.