RT&MB

On 1/10/2022 at 10:11 PM, millefleur said:

Left my husband's birth certificate in his home country. It's old and partially crumbling, just didn't seem worth the risk to schlep it here. We brought a translated copy with us. But we have a trusted place to keep it back in his home country so I guess it depends on if you have that or not. The translated copy was enough for the rare occasions that someone asked to see his BC.

 

For vaccine stuff, we just used the paper he was given at the medical. Haven't had any issues with showing that to doctors as proof of vaccines. No one ever asked for original records. His mother has all the originals back home and we'd have to pay to get it all translated so it just didn't seem worth it.

 

For school records, my husband enrolled in a college here so we needed a lot. We brought his high school diploma, his college transcripts (he was a transfer student), plus course descriptions of all prior college courses completed. We used all of these documents and having course descriptions of prior completed classes helped him shave off nearly 2 years from his studies here.

 

He also brought his driver's license form Russia but it was useless here, even with the additional international driver's license. US has it's own road rules so you need to get a new DL's here and pass the test unless you are lucky enough to be on the narrow list of countries where the US does recognize your foreign DL.

 

Agree with @TBoneTX to get anything now that might be hard to get later. Especially court records and divorce stuff, if applicable.

 

 

Thank you very much!

On 1/10/2022 at 7:31 PM, Coco8 said:

Birth certificate 

Copy of diploma if you have college or high school. Some jobs could ask for it.

Vaccine information (in my country we have a vaccine book)

 

I don't think I've needed anything else. 

Thank you very much!  

On 1/10/2022 at 8:48 PM, TBoneTX said:

If not a vaccine book, bring 2 (or 3) originals of a page of records from the clinic, stamped or signed accordingly.

 

Divorce & adoption records, if applicable.

In general, multiple copies of any official document that would be difficult, impossible, or expensive to get from afar.

 

If not too late, get or renew driver's licenses (this can pay off).

If not too late, renew passports.

Thank you very much!

Hi Folks,  

It's taken us nearly 4 years but she finally has visa in hand for her and her 15 year old daughter.  What documents did you bring - e.g. Original Birth Certificates, Drivers License, School records, etc.    What did you wish you had brought with you?  

Yes - it appears to just be a designation.  We have 01, 02, & 03 added to the end of our case for our K1 and two K2's on the case.  

She doesn't want to file for Bankruptcy if that's the only issue.  That has a 10 year impact on her credit score.  Having a vehicle repossessed would have a 7 year impact and be viewed much more favorably than a bankruptcy. 

It will impact you in ways other than immigration.  In the beginning you'll need her to be a cosigner on any loans you take for a car or furniture etc.  You'll have to pay a higher interest rate because of her bankruptcy.  When the time comes to buy a home you'll both have to be on the mortgage which again means a higher interest rate.  It's doable but not pleasant.  

You can't schedule an interview at the US Embassy at the moment.  I've been checking every few days.  This is message as of this morning for a K1 interview.  

5 hours ago, Del A. said:

Hi all! I came here on K1, been married since October, and now thinking about establishing myself financially as early and as quickly as possible. So I'm posting here to get tips from you guys: what are the best ways for me to build my credit, considering I cannot work yet (pending EAD) and might not have to work in the future anyways? (such is my arrangement with my husband)

I did a bit of research and the first things (also the easiest) that came up are 1) Get a secured credit card; and 2) Get my name onto my husband's bank account as an authorized user (not sure how this works in the technical sense). I'm not exactly finance-savvy so I was hoping you guys could give me your two cents worth, if you be so kind. Also, if anyone here has been in my situation, perhaps you could share your experience and takeaways.

Thanks in advance and everyone stay safe and healthy in these times of uncertainty. ❤️

- Del

Your credit score is based on a number of factors.  The first and foremost factor is payment history.  Get a small credit card with a low limit to start that can be increased over time because the 2nd factor is credit utilization.  But always pay your bills on time.  Pay it off every month if you can so that you're credit utilization is at a minimum.  Meaning that if you have a $1,000 credit card and your balance is $900 your utilization is 90% which is bad but if you pay it off it's at 0% which is good.  But you have to use the card too so you're making payments.  Then it becomes length of time, credit mix and credit inquiries from lenders is a factor.  

It'll take time to build up a credit score so be patient.  

8 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

You’ll need to check your airline policy, most are being lenient with change/cancellation fees at present. 

(Whether or not uscis will be lenient on an overstay is another matter entirely, especially if she’s been here before all this and saw all the travel warnings etc. No one really knows how they will handle it. Standard procedure is to cancel the visa on day one of overstay.)

Agreed - check with your carrier.  I had a flight to Manila on Delta that was scheduled to depart on April 2nd.  They rebooked that flight with no penalty to flights that are  scheduled to depart on April 24th and return on May 10th.  They'll let me cancel or reschedule the later flights with no penalty too.  Although my flights are all still viable, I doubt they'll be in a couple of weeks.   

I assume the flight in question is the return portion of a ticket so you probably won't be able to cancel for a refund but they may reschedule with no penalty.  That's a tricky situation too though because the fare will have most certainly changed since you originally booked the ticket. Of course the unknown is what'll things be like in a month.

Regardless I suggest you file for an extension with the USCIS so that you're at least protected (with respect to an overstay) to some degree if the flights are cancelled.  If you don't use the extension there is no harm but it'll be more complicated if there is an overstay with no extension request.  

Fly to Hawaii and get married there.  

3 hours ago, Annabanana316 said:

Hi guys!

 

i filed for tax end of February. I earn little income. 
 

today, i got this letter in the mail

 

what is it trying to say? It all seems very confusing.. and it says property tax credit adjustment. What are they saying? I dont have a property, I’m living with my parents. 
 

do i just disregard this letter or does this letter require action from me?

 

thanks everyone!!!

 

edit: my accountant isnt very helpful at all so thats why im asking here

I have a slightly different opinion - I says that an adjustment has been made to your property tax credit.  Do you file state income taxes in New Jersey?  Did you include a property tax credit on the income tax return?  It looks like you may have overstated that property tax credit and they've reduced your state income tax refund by said amount resulting in a lower state income tax return.  

Metro Manila is locked down so hopefully they live somewhere else and can get a flight out.  

If at all possible have your fiance fly to Hawaii.  You could meet them there.  Once they're in the US then you'd have another 90 days to get married.  Hopefully things will be cleared up by then.  

If you're looking for income verification information then as Kris&Me mentioned your fiance can go to this site:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

Create a login and download a copy of these (return transcript) and (wage and income transcript).  We submitted 3 years worth when we filed for the petition.  You can print them out or save them as a PDF for later printing.  

File for what?  Income taxes?  

For reference you can go to this url to find LBC branches. 

https://www.lbcexpress.com/branches-world

Most of the branches use couriers to pick up packages in other parts of their region.  Here in Florida, they'll deliver a Balikbayan Box to your home and then pick it up the following week when they're running the route again.  

3 minutes ago, AlaMike said:

Yes, just a little North.

I hope this Corona ####### is calmed down by then. And more airlines are do not stop travel.

By the way, I'm in Alabama, just South of Bham.

Yes, me too.  

Nice!  Not to far apart.  There isn't a very large Filipino population in Panama City so I moved down to Orlando last fall.  I need to update the profile.  We wanted the kids (14 & 15) to be able to assimilate as easily as possible.  

Good luck on the interview!!!

6 minutes ago, AlaMike said:

Headed there in April myself. Manila to Legazpi then ending up in Libon.

 

Small world!  Her Mom lives in Bato.  I've been there several times.  It's a beautiful area!  

Delta has flights through Seoul.  I'm going over in April and I'm just hoping we don't have the same situation by then.  

6 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

 

^^^  We did this later.    One of those venue outfits, I would hate to think what it would cost in the states

I know right!  We've already priced it out in Tagatay for 350 people - it's 25% of what it would cost in the US.  

Fair point - it's all the same except for the paperwork...

Why not just have a wedding in both countries?  That's what we're planning to do but for family purposes as opposed to religious. 

We're planning to have a small wedding in the US (you could have a Catholic wedding so that in the eyes of the church you're married) and then a very large one in the Philippines later so that her family can attend.  

2 hours ago, Hank_ said:

 

Beginning of last year K-1 interviews were only one day a week, but they quickly learned that was inadequate and added 2nd day.

 

Before that interviews could be scheduled for Mon-Fri

Thank you very much for the insight!  

3 hours ago, Hank_ said:

Whatever shows up available now may not be available tomorrow.  And openings may show up tomorrow that are not available now.

To Hank's point it changes all the time.  At the moment appointments can only be scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday for a K1 Fiance Interview and the times are only 06:35, 07:05 and 07:35.  That's for each day for the 4 weeks available to schedule.  Is that normal Hank for K1 interviews?  Those are the only days and times available?  

I agree - I brought my asawa a laptop and a cell phone from the US as well.  There is an off chance that the Laptop battery charger is specifically 220V which is what's used in the Philippines but that would be unusual.  Even so the charger could be replaced with a US model.  

May want to ask why he believes that you can't bring the laptop to the US. Does it happen to be a Hauwei laptop?