kkg

Yes, I know what state is associated with what Service Center.

But should I use the one associated with my primary or temporary or maybe the one were we currently are living which is the temporary?

I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks,

Thao and Steve

based on my personal experience, i used the service center based on my temporary residence (where i work) because of the same reason that it will be easier for me to take the BIO and also for attending interview and other things in the local office. but its just my opinion and may be other people in the forum can provide more insights.

My wife and I have our primary address in NJ but are temporarilly living in KY for a year now.

We own a house in NJ and apt in KY. We file all of our taxes based out of NJ and are cars are registered in NJ.

One suggestion in the past was to fill in the mailing address on the 751 as our KY so the BIO appointment would be made hopefully in Louisville.

Does this sound reasonable?

Also, what Service Center should we use?

Thanks,

Thao and Steve

sounds reasonable.

* Vermont Service Center (VSC)

Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia

* Nebraska Service Center (NSC)

Jurisdiction: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming

* Texas Service Center (TSC)

Jurisdiction: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas

* California Service Center (CSC)

Jurisdiction: California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam

ok in this case, the customer service representatives at the USCIS wont give u any additional info. they will reiterate the same stuff u saw online. however, u should still call them immediately. what they will do is since ur case has taken too long, they will note down ur case and will look in to whats going on and they will send u by mail a report regarding whats going on with ur case within 30 days. atleast thats what happened in my case.

One more question: they say that tax forms, alone, are not sufficient evidence that your tax returns were received and processed by the IRS.

So the tax returns are not enough? Should I get transcripts?

people with expertise in IRS on this forum should help u with that. here r my 2 cents. send copies of federal, state and local city (if applicable) tax forms filed along with any acknowledgement from IRS. along with it, if u get a refund, it should have been credited directly to ur bank account or u should have recieved a check from IRS. if u owe the IRS then u should have that particular check cleared from ur bank account. in either case u can get the info from ur bank. send this along with those filed papers. if USCIS wants to investigate ur case further on tax issue, they may contact IRS directly and they should have the info within seconds. llets see what other folks on this forum think.

They also said that the documents submitted do not reflect the duration of the marriage. I do not have travel itineraries because we drove to wherever we went and hotels we booked were in one name. It doesn't prove that we were both there.

I think that my husband is going to call the USCIS tomorrow to explain the situation and get more info about what we need to submit to be approved. Do you think it is a good idea?

We can also put all the bills in both names, put my name on the car titles, but my only concern is that it will not reflect the duration of the marriage.

of course he can call USCIS, but i doubt he will get a personalized answer. u may instead consult an attorney just to prepare ur RFE package.

also loli, i just dont understand what do u mean by duration of marriage. of course, u have ur marriage certificate and when u got ur conditional residency. this should show them how long u have been married. may be i am missing something here. get some notarized affidavits from family and friends stating that they are aware of u guys being married for so long etc, which might help u. SEND COPY OF 2006 JOINT TAX RETURNS. also, please submit any updated financial stuff that u previuosly sent with current active dates on them. how about any recent photos with family and friends.

NSC is currently processing sep 06, 2006. NSC is sure a bit slower than other centers but urs is along the tail end of a normal distribution curve. i would definitely make a call to the customer service (800) 375 – 5283 and see whats going on. did u check ur online status by putting ur LIN number. what does it say?

thanks guys.

The letters are only an example of proof that can be submitted.

I did not even bother getting these letters, since they are the weakest proof you can submit.

More important is financial proof and shared assets, like health and life insurance shared ownership of cars, apartment/house, and accounts with both incomes.

I would concentrate on these things.

I submitted my package without the letters and was approved, without any RFEs.

i totally agree. u dont have to send affidavits. but if u r planning to, please notarize. it takes only a few minutes to get notarized.

Throwing travel itineraries in the mix isn't what they are looking for, UNLESS it can be shown that the expenses of the trip were shared by the two of them.

good point cassie. thats why travel itineraries are sweet. they show which parties travelled and the cost for the travel. it doesn't have to be shared expenses as long as one party paid for both of them and the person who paid can attach his credit card bill for that period as proof. also hotel bills for any vacations is also helpfull.

But they aren't asking for additional random things, they specifically asked for evidence of joint assets/liabilities. Why bog it down with extranneous stuff not requested in the RFE?

i dont think it is a extranneous or random stuff. the additional "marriage-related" evidence wouldn't hurt and should supplement ur application if u have "limited" comingled assets.

A joint bank account is a must..... or have a good reason for not having one and strong evidence showing you both pay household bill from each others accounts....

Good Luck

Kez

No, it's not, IMHO, no more so than having kids is a must. It's only an indication of such a marriage.

i second that

loli,

first of all don't panic. the USCIS cannot reject u if u have a legit marriage. they will call u guys for an interview if they have somethings to straighten up. there is no way they will outright reject u.

please re send additional evidence such as photos, travel itineraries for vacations together, notarized affidavits from friends and family (may be 4-5 affidavits should suffice), any mails that . did u file the 2006 tax returns (jointly). if so please send them. THEY R VERY IMPORTANT.

none of what you suggest answers the request of evidence of "variety of joint assets/liabilities"

do you own vehicles? Get both of your names on the titles.

has your husband added you to the title of the house?

we received our state tax return cheque in both of our names -- can you provide a copy of something similar like that?

do you have any joint financial investments (savings accounts, Roth IRA, mutual funds, etc)

wills listing each other as beneficiaries could also be helpful.

Good luck!

hi cassie,

sending the joint tax returns for 2006 is extremely important. in addition, she can send additional evidence that i mentioned. it does't matter whether they aks only joint liablity/asset. the point is whether ur marriage is legitimate and how u can prove it. some people dont have much joint financial responsibilities and show other proofs indicating a good marriage. so i would therefore suggest to send any eveidence that u can think of in addition to financial stuff.

loli,

first of all don't panic. the USCIS cannot reject u if u have a legit marriage. they will call u guys for an interview if they have somethings to straighten up. there is no way they will outright reject u.

please re send additional evidence such as photos, travel itineraries for vacations together, notarized affidavits from friends and family (may be 4-5 affidavits should suffice), any mails that . did u file the 2006 tax returns (jointly). if so please send them. THEY R VERY IMPORTANT.

any mails that were mailed to both of u with the same address etc. dont worry if there is any redundancy with the materials u send. its just additional evidence.

Yes, they ask for tax returns for 2004, 2005 and 2006. We did file them together.

The reason why we don't have a join account is because we never felt the need to. And currently I am actually paying all the bills because my husband is starting a new business and we are living off my income. Should we open one now? Is it too late?

but loli if u filed ur 751 last november, there is no way u would have sent them 2006 tax return documents (u would have filed taxes this year sometime between feb-april 2007). please send the 2006 joint tax return photocopies as an additional evidence. also, me and my wife never had joint bank accounts. so it is really not a must to have a joint bank accounts. just send any evidence that u think will make a case that will be aiding in ur application. some of them i pointed out already. please read my post "I-751 nebraska approved, husband wife live apart" and it will definitely make u feel better.

loli,

first of all don't panic. the USCIS cannot reject u if u have a legit marriage. they will call u guys for an interview if they have somethings to straighten up. there is no way they will outright reject u.

please re send additional evidence such as photos, travel itineraries for vacations together, notarized affidavits from friends and family (may be 4-5 affidavits should suffice), any mails that . did u file the 2006 tax returns (jointly). if so please send them. THEY R VERY IMPORTANT.

any mails that were mailed to both of u with the same address etc. dont worry if there is any redundancy with the materials u send. its just additional evidence.

loli,

first of all don't panic. the USCIS cannot reject u if u have a legit marriage. they will call u guys for an interview if they have somethings to straighten up. there is no way they will outright reject u.

please re send additional evidence such as photos, travel itineraries for vacations together, notarized affidavits from friends and family (may be 4-5 affidavits should suffice), any mails that . did u file the 2006 tax returns (jointly). if so please send them. THEY R VERY IMPORTANT.

hi everyone,

my message is for everyone who are in the same situation as mine where husband and wife live apart due to work/school etc. i applied I-751 in august 2006, got interviewed in april 2007 and just received my 10 year permanant residency card in may 2007. on a different note, the NSC is a bit slower in processing than other centers. anyway, the bottom line is "DONT WORRY" that u are living apart. if ur case is genuine it will get approved. me and my wife are living apart for the past 3.5 years. in fact, i got my initial AOS approved for conditional residency in 2004 while we are still staying apart.

what we dont have

we DON'T have joint house leases/mortgages, no joint bank accounts, no joint vehicle related stuff, no joint health insurances, no joint credit cards etc..

what we submitted

travel/vacation itineraries, phone records, some photos, joint retirement plan, employer/school official letters stating our current employment positions, joint TAX returns (very important). thats it.

interview

both husband and wife must attend. took 15 minutes. took some notarized affidavits from family and friends. the officer was very nice. explained our situation. she took a note of it. no hard questions. be honest and be urself. u dont have to pretend. the officers understand that life doesn't always follow as per the USCIS guidelines. at the end of the interview, she did not tell us whether it is approved or not. however, i did a walk-in biometrics the same day. she said that i will receive the decision by mail and eventually my case was approved and got my GC.

last but not the least. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE FOLKS IN THIS FORUM INCLUDING THE MODERATOR FOR DOING SUCH A WONDERFULL JOB AND TAKING TIME OFF THEIR BUSY SCHEDULES AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS. HATS OFF TO U GUYS. U ROCK.

i will try to do my best to stay in this forum and answer any questions/clarifications/doubts to the best of my knowledge. i havent been actively involved in this forum so far because i don't know the outcome of my situatuion till now and any advice i would have given u will be without any supportive evidence. now that i have my case approved, i can provide some insights pertaining to the situation where the husband and wife live apart.

thanks again.

P.S: i also posted the same in BRITISH EXPATS. so i'll be checking both the forums

751 dates in date order

CSC 09/13/2006

VSC 09/01/2006

TSC 08/23/2006

LIN 08/13/2006

NSC aug 19, 2006

How long does it usually take for that 1 year extension to come. I am waiting for 3 months now and am starting to get very frustrated...just out of curiosity, does Nebraska usually take that long to send it?

Any answer will help

Thank you

u think this is long?? imagine how long its gonna be for getting ur case approved at nebraska. it looks like NSC is the worst among the service centers these days.

receipt date aug 9th, 2006 NSC. still waiting as of today..................

Hi,

I just received a letter from the INS requesting that we send further evidence. I did wonder if this would happen as we dont have a lot of joint accounts. Basically my husband had horrible credit, was in debt due to student loans and we thought it would be a good idea for one of us to have good credit. We lived with his parents for the first year so we dont really have any joint accounts apart from gym mebership, health and life insurance which I already sent copies off. When we relocated to NC the lease was set up in my name as the landlord did a credit check but we have his name on a couple of things.

So right now I am busy finding anything and everything I can find, family greetings cards, letters of support from friends and family members.

We've also been going through some very rough times as a married couple the last 3 months, and we decided to seperate last week. He went back to his parental home in Cincinnati to find work and re-establish himself. My teaching contract runs out in NC in the Summer so I am stuck down here until then. We're still deciding what future we have and don't want to rush into anything. I'll be going up there durng Spring Break to talk further.

We got this letter from the INS the day after he went to Cincinnati, technically we still have a bona fide marriage albeit we have decided upon a trial seperation. Do I list this in my cover letter to the INS? Please advise.

half-pint,

could u please let us know when u submitted ur i-751 (ur receipt date. i guess u applied through NSC). i was curious about the time line. regrading further evidence, dont mention anything about ur seperation in the cover letter as u guys weren't sure at this time point and things might work out. jus gather some more photos, any hotel stays, travel itineraries u have and any gift receipts that u guys bought each other etc.. also affidavits from ur close friends and relatives will also help.

So my husband and I filed to remove the conditions on my 2 years green card.

We just got a receipt notice 2 days ago...

Do you know how long it usually take befor to be approve ?

Many thanks to all

Rejane

NSC is slow compared to other centers. my recipt date was aug 9th, 2006. currently as of feb 20th they started processing applications with receipt date of august 7th, 2006. still waiting..............

TODAY WE RECEIVED MY WIFE'S BIO LETTER AND HER SON'S. WE OPENED HER'S AND IT STATED TO APPEAR IN SAN ANTONIO 3/16/07 AT 8:00 AM. SO WE SAY GREAT THATS ON A FRIDAY AND WE CAN SPEND A WEEKEND IN SAN ANTONIO FOR SOME FUN. THEN WE OPEN HER SON'S BIO LETTER AND THEY WANT HIM TO APPEAR ON THURSDAY 3/15/07 AT 9:00 AM. THE HOTEL BILLS ARE ADDING UP NOW.

HAS ANYBODY ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM WITH SEPARATE DATES? I WOULD LET HER SON DRIVE BUT HE JUST TURNED 7. IS IT POSSIBLE THEY WILL DO MY WIFE'S FINGERPRINTS ON THE SAME DAY AS HER SON'S APPOINTMENT. I KNOW THE NOTICE GIVES YOU THE OPTION TO RESCHEDULE THE APPOINTMENT BUT WHO KNOW'S THE SAME THING COULD HAPPEN.

worth to check the appnt center. since it doesnt take that long for the procedure, a good soul at the center may understand the situation and accomodate both at the same time.

"in general", from whatever i have seen its taking around 6-7 months for the results from VSC. also keep checking ths USCIS web site for current processing dates which will give u an idea.

whoever did biometrics, please tell me how long it took. i have to be at work in 2 and a half hours after the appontment, so i need to know whether i will have enough time.

as far as i understand only i have to go, not my spouse?

yes, only u have to go. it won't take that long at all for the actual procedure (probably 5 min). just go ~15-30 min prior to the appointment. u should be o.k. this is my experience.

congrats and what a relief. hope NSC also moves in the same way.