Singers

Count me in for this thread too. I just finished filing my taxes for this year so everything is the most recent info they could possibly have.

May the games begin!

Thanks everyone. Now that I've been surfing VJ for awhile (and actually managing to respond to postings!) I've gained a lot more knowledge and confidence.

We've gone ahead and filed for AOS. Especially since our K-3 hasn't been touched since it was submitted!

I would think it would qualify but how do you know they lost it? Did they send you any documentation?

Basically, anyone can visit their spouse in the United States as long as they can show they will return to their country and not just stay in the United States and adjust their status that way.

To ease your travel worries, here are some tidbits to help:

1. Make sure you have never overstayed your tourist visa.

2. Have a return ticket (if you're flying)

3. Keep your visits to a reasonable amount of time. (What exactly is reasonable depends on the Officer at POE but basically if you're visiting for months at a time you're going to raise some flags. How many people do you know can afford to take months worth of vacation if they have a job back home, bills to pay .. you get the picture.)

4. Always bring proof with you that shows you need to return to your home country (eg letter from work stating you're returning X day, mortgage statements etc.). Just in case you get that Immigrations Officer that is having a bad day.

5. Remember, letting you into the country is entirely at the Officer's discretion! Always be polite, and answer (briefly!) any questions they ask you and ALWAYS BE HONEST.

Most of the time you should have no problem. I think lawyers tell people they cannot visit because they don't want to be left looking bad if you DO get turned back at the border for some reason. Its a Cover your backside philosophy.

That's exactly what I meant. I don't know anyone on here that was going to stay for such a long period of time (in my case my husabnd wanted to stay for 2 months on the Visa Waiver Program) without raising eyebrows at the POE.

Of course I realize people come and go with an I-130 in progress. But his intent was clearly for his wife to stay here until the paperwork cleared. You can't do that. (theoretically) The Immigrations Officer made that very clear to us when we were stopped. There's a big difference between 2 weeks here and there and six months!

You can just put exactly what you told the forum. Even though AP has on ominous tone, it is rather harmless and easy to apply for. I want to go on vacation, visit my family while waiting for my Adjustment of Status to be approved based on my marriage to a USC. That's all you have to do.

To clarify: You are technically NOT ALLOWED to stay in the US while your paperwork is being processed for the K-3. (My husband and I found this out the hard way.) A tourist visa is for tourists not to 'hang out' with the intent of eventually staying here when your paperwork clears. A distinction the Immigration Officers take very seriously!!

As I have come to learn there are two reasons for this: One, if you are denied a K-3 visa for any reason, it is a lot harder/costly for the US government to deport you rather than just deny you entry in the first place. (That part is a no brainer.)

Second, as a spouse of a USC, there is nothing stopping her from adjusting status once she is in the US. It is a weird loophole in the system that essentially lets you bypass the whole K-3 process, but your spouse has to be in the country first. This is why they are very harsh when it comes to people visiting their spouses in the interim.

If you can manage to convince the Immigrations Officer at the POE that she WILL go back to her country and not stay here then she can 'visit' for the whole length of the tourist visa. (My husband eventually came into the country on a tourist visa but not very easily!) And please know THEY WILL HAVE ALL HER PAPERWORK IN FRONT OF THEM. I can't stress this enough. Do not try to lie about anything. Tell her to say she is visiting family (grey area) not friends. They will get VERY suspicious if they see a I-130 filed and she claims to be visiting people other than you. This could be deemed as misleading and they WILL put her back on the next flight home.

we are starting to look for ob/gyns under my insurance. the one that is nearest to the hous, ie the most convenient, is not 'board certified'. Is that like a really bad sign?

Daniel

:energetic:

Not only do you want to check for board certification but you also might want to check where they have admitting rights. Most ob/gyns have a hospital affiliation where they have 'rights' to admit patients etc. (ie the hospital lets them practice medicine there.) All the doctors I know with hospital affiliations are board certified.

So I guess the question is: If s/he isn't certified, where would s/he have you admitted when you go into labor? Or who would they 'hand you off to' at the hospital?

I think what you are asking is: No, it will not affect your Advance Parole application. The purpose of the advance parole is to be able to leave the country WHILE your AOS is in progress. This includes if your petition is held up by an RFE. So you will be able to go to Mexico to visit once your Advance Parole application is approved.

Your doctor will/should put the reasoning for not receiving the vaccinations on your paperwork. Whether this will trigger an RFE or hold up the approval of your application until you are able to get the vaccinations, I don't know. Maybe someone else that has been in this situation can help.

I had a 'real time' scan which was burned into a cd. I wish I had asked how much cost. My doctor recommended a specialist for my first scan and that's what he does as standard service so we went... a month later we got the bill and yikes! I don't think it was worth it to be honest. even though my insurance covered a good chunk of it... I won't be doing that again.

Well in my case I always seem to be the exception rather than the rule... so I don't get my hopes up on what happens to everyone else. (Like my I-130 was approved before my I-129F, which still hasn't moved, despite a whole bunch of other cases where both applications were approved at the same time.)

First off, don't panic. They send applications to different centers depending on the backlog they have. This is supposed to make things move faster. Now, there is an urban legend floating around (meaning it was based on some fact but isn't necessarily true) that transfering to CSC is a good thing and you will be approved without needing an interview.

Just a quick question, in part 3 of the I-485. Where it states, "Have you ever received public assistance in the U.S. from any source..." Can someone tell me what is considered public assistance? Is this related to being a public charge? Thanks, any links would be helpful too.

I don't think anyone could list all the possibilities.. but think along the lines of: food stamps, WICCA program, disability etc. Basically if you needed money (in some form) from the government to survive, you received public assistance.

A K-1 Visa is valid for ONE entry into the US. If she leaves before you get married you will have to start the process over again.

Once you are married, you must file for Adjustment of Status and at the same time for Advanced Parole. If she leaves without obtaining Advanced Parole she will have 'abandoned' her application and will not be allowed back into the US.

Do not lie! If they ask you if you are married (and they will have your immigration status on file) you must tell them you are married. To say otherwise is a serious offense.

I know from personal experience that they can pull up your records and find out if you have filed an I-130. (They did this for my husband.) If they decide to do this and you say you aren't married you are in serious trouble and are guaranteed a one way ticket back home.

I will start with the thought that anyone who can afford to pay for expedited process likely will pay for it. If the numbers are very great things may not speed up as much as people expect even if the extra money is funneled directly into hiring and training additional case officers dedicated to the family-based petitions. The additional fee would have to be significant.

I would agree. Especially since certain countries have a lot more applications than others. The amount of petitions on VJ which involves the PI shows just how one country could still end up being "slow" even with the expedited treatment. There are only so many hours in a day and they can only schedule so many interviews.. etc.

Lucky you! (well, not so lucky to be in your situation but lucky for qualifying!)

Get better soon!

Hi All,

Any feedback as to not having joint bank accounts being a problem at the AOS interview?

We have joint home lease, joint health insurance, joint utility bill, tons of photo's. But have chosen to not add her to my personal bank accounts.

What has been your experience at the interview of what evidence is most heavily weighted?

Cheers,

Pete

I would think presenting all of that information is enough. I wouldn't even mention the bank accounts unless they specifically ask for them.

I'm pretty sure you have to have Advanced Parole to travel under these circumstances because technically he does not have a green card yet. 'Passing' the interview is not the same thing as being granted permanent status.

I do not want to be the wet blanket on this but I really hope you are not getting your hopes up for an expedited petition. Basically unless you are dying, they will not expedite the petition. I was looking into this as well for my own circumstances and was basically told by USCIS that I didn't qualify.

By all means try it (the worst thing they can do is say no!) and if you're successful please let us know.

The only thing I definitely can tell you is that no, your daughter cannot sponsor a petition. These documents need to be legally binding and she is a minor ( and therefore cannot enter into a legal agreement.)

You can do a search for "I824" and you will pull up a couple of threads. Basically we only have one known case of approval and it took 2 months. Everybody else is still waiting?

I like to refer to the I-824 as the $200 blackhole because we've never seen it work with the exception of that one case. Most people find their K-3 paperwork is complete before this form is ever touched/approved etc.

I think the reason why so many people are asking is because there is that RARE circumstance where the person did not know they were coming to the States to get married, had no intent on getting married and suddenly decide to do a quickie wedding. (I guess a surprise proposal is in there somewhere or a surprise pregnancy... who knows) Granted this does not happen to MOST people and the burden of proof is on YOU to prove you had no intent...but this does leave a small window of opportunity open for people to stay. (And if they read through the threads they would know this is possible.)

Now about that lawyer.... I'd definitely find a new one.

They were pretty basic actually. How long was he planning on staying, where was his return ticket. How had he entered the US before (he had a student visa before and a work visa).. had he ever been denied entry... when did we file our paperwork and had I ever filed for anybody before.

I think he literally had ALL the petition info infront of him (he said he did anyway) because he did question me about things on our applications. When did I file, where did I list my place of residence for 2000? etc. This is also another reason why I suspect he knew that our I-130 was approved (and thus giving us a hard time) even though we had no idea at the time.