PolskaKielbasia

56 minutes ago, nastra30 said:

Yes, you'll need to do everything for her. Completing the process at NVC and mailing all relevant documents to her. You'll also be informed of interview dates and pass that information to her. You can also add your spouse's email address to CEAC when you get to the NVC stage so least you have two people receiving emails- one person as a backup in case of anything.

That is awesome and a big relief, thanks!

My stepdaughter's I130 was just approved, and we got the letter from USCIS saying "we're forwarding to the National Visa Center, wait 30 days before contacting us..."

My question is: at what point does my stepdaughter need to be in contact with the Dept of State or other relevant govt department? She is 10 years old and doesn't have an email/phone number, and the mail system in her city is notoriously unreliable. I did provide my (petitioner) phone and email.

In general, is it possible for me to do everything here in the US, have my wife forward her all the relevant info (via WhatsApp), and just have her take the medical & interview once the petition gets sent overseas? Or will there be intermediate steps that need her direct involvement?

Thanks!

Can you drive in the night before, stay overnight at a hotel close to the office, and then drive back?

Here's a funny story from another forum of someone who had the intent to adjust on a B2 when he came into the US with his wife:

Quote

 

My wife and I did it a bit backwards, though. She had a B1/B2 visa, so we came to the States and then applied for a green card within the 6 months. It was my understanding that once you apply, the time limit on the visa is waived and she can stay until she's accepted or denied. However, at her green card interview, the agent (who was terribly rude and seemed to have mood swings during the 30 minute interview) said by doing this we broke immigration law, and basically forced my wife to admit to this before we could finish the interview process.

 

I don't know if she is right that we broke immigration law or not, but that interview was awful. She made it sound like my wife was going to be denied because of the way we chose to do it. We were sweating bullets and shaking. Then, after another mood swing, the lady politely said congratulations, walked us to the door, and said we'd receive the green card in a couple weeks. One of the worst experiences of my life.

 

I've heard of at least two interviews not being completed, but that was due to communications issues - either the petitioner or beneficiary didn't speak English well enough to communicate with the IO and they didn't bother to bring an interpreter. One ended up waiting something like 6 months for a re-schedule 😓 .

I believe your AP needs to be approved before you can leave. I wouldn't leave until I had the card in hand to be safe. 

15 minutes ago, Sachin tendulkar said:

Congratulations!

i have a question. how long did the whole process taken for you guys after submitting the package

Right around 13 months from when USCIS received the case to the interview. But our field office is one of the slower ones.

32 minutes ago, Gaiden79 said:

Hey guys, hope you are having a great day. I just a few questions regarding my current bonifide marriage evidence.

 

1. I have several pictures of my wedding in the philippines along with family photos, how many and what sizes is good to send? 

 

2. The rest of the evidence I plan to include is a birth cert of my daughter born in the philippines, chat logs from messenger, passport stamps showing i lived with my wife for nearly 2 years while in the philippines, and lastly receipts from Xoom showing i have been sending her money for support since I left.

 

How does everything look? Thanks!

When we had our interview, the first thing we showed was our daughter's birth certificate and when I reached to pull out more stuff the officer said "that's all I need to see" LOL. 

6 hours ago, pamawemo said:

MSP April 2019 filer here so a long way to go. But I thought I would ask here if anyone has experience with obtaining a MN driver's permit and license.

 

We have our NOA1s for the I-485, I-131 and I-765. My wife's I-94 expires June 6. Since we are not expecting her EAD until August or September, she'd like to work on learning to drive this summer. She has never had a license or really driven at all. As I look at the MN requirements, it looks like we might have an issue. Her passport and I-94 are in her maiden name, her SS number is in her maiden name, her health insurance and joint bank statement are in her married name. And we obviously have the marriage certificate.

 

But DPS requirements say she has to have applied for a name change on her SS before they will accept it. But it's my understanding SSA won't change her card into her married name until her I-765 is approved. Is there a way around this so she can obtain her permit and hopefully her license this summer? Thanks for any insight!

Honestly I've found the best thing is to simply go into the DMV and ask. They will not answer calls or respond to emails and information online is pretty contradictory. 

Just an FYI if she gets a license now, it'll only be valid until her EAD expires.

Just got the notice that the green card is being produced. So we're finally done with USCIS for a while! 

My wife and I had our interview super early this morning after a lengthy wait. My wife adjusted from a B2 visa.

Interviewer was super friendly. The interview was maybe 20 minutes, and about 15 minutes of that was spent going over the I130/I485 forms. We needed to make numerous changes to the forms since we moved, had a kid, my wife used AP so the had to update her "last entry" date, and so on etc.  Then just a few questions about how we met, plans for future, and we spent a few minutes talking about kids since we all had infants. No questions whatsoever about "intent".

He recommended us for approval, but said since he's new he needs a supervisor sign-off and said we should expect something this afternoon.

We got a copy of the exam for our records as well as the sealed envelope.

7 minutes ago, missileman said:

Actually, there has been at least one poster who said ICE agent came to his door to warn his wife because she had not filed for adjustment of status within the 90 days after arrival..........it isn't common, but it has happened.

Wow, first time I've heard of this. I guess going by the book K1 overstayers are fair game.

And OP's situation isn't that uncommon. A distant family member of mine overstayed her tourist visa by something like 15 years, married, and adjusted without any issues whatsoever. 

IMO the biggest downside to waiting so long to file was that she basically locked herself into staying in the US. If she had to leave anytime before she got advance parole, well, good luck LOL.

Let's be realistic: ICE and USCIS have historically not hassled people like OP's wife, but there's no guarantee that cannot change overnight, especially with the current administration. That would make me extremely uneasy.

My wife didn't have her vaccination record either, except for a flu shot she got in the US. They just gave her the age appropriate vaccines at the exam (MMR, Tdap, and Chicken Pox) and that was it.

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Losing an I-551 (e.g. green card) would also be a problem too. Surely the advice is not to travel until one has a USA passport.

LPRs can get a re-entry letter or boarding foil from a US embassy. The situation is a lot less clear for AP card holders, who have basically no status.

See: 

1 minute ago, adri80 said:

Hi everyone... I just would like to ask question.. I already got my card for EAD card and Advance Parole card in one card (combination) last month. 

 

I am still waiting the process for my AOS. I know that EAD/AP card can be used for me  if I want to do emergency travel to my home country. I might would like to just it in September. However, incase in not using it to go home but traveling to other country aside my home country, would that be fine? As I heard that better not to use the card if it's not emergency. 

 

You can go for non-emergency reasons. And it doesn't need to be your home country. 

It's "technically" best if you wait until you have the green card, but tons of people have traveled on AP without any issue. And with the AOS process taking 1-2 years in some of the busier offices, it'd understandable someone may need (or want) to travel.

The biggest issues you can hypothetically run into are:

• lost AP card abroad. I believe CBP can parole you in as long as you have your passport and the I485 notice. But you'll have a hell of a time getting the airline to let you board.
• I485 gets denied while abroad. This will invalidate your advance parole and CBP shouldn't let you back in the country, if they go by the book

You will probably be fine.

Last year I filed an I130 for my stepdaughter. The I130 was received July 27, 2018 (also the priority date) and the Notice Date was July 31, 2018. The notice came from the Potomac Service Center.

In January 2019 I received a notice saying that "in order to speed up processing, we transferred the application ..." to the National Benefits Center.

I can't find anything on the National Benefits Center processing times / case inquiry date on the USCIS website. I only see the options: California, Nebraska, Potomac, Texas, Vermont.

When I look at the Visajourney processing times, I130s from Aug 1, 2018 at the National Benefits Center are already being processed.

Any help would be much appreciated. Is is worth calling the National Benefits Center tomorrow to see what's up? Or is there something super obvious I'm missing. Thanks!

People have been approved in cases where the woman is 20-30 years older than the man. You will probably be okay.

I paid to speak to two attorneys before my wife and I filed. Both have 15+ years experience and attends dozens of AOS interviews from ESTA/B2 a year. Both have yet to see a case where the I485 denial was due to "intent". Apparently the issue is likely to not even come up in the interview, or only come up briefly.

Our attorney a several years back did have a client that got an RFE about the intent issue, but they just wrote a letter to USCIS explaining the situation and got approved.

Having said that, the AOS process sucks big time now. 6-7 months for EAD/AP, and 1+ year for the interview in many locations. Since you're already a good way into the CR1 process, it may be better to just stick it out and come back with your 2-year GC around Jan 2020. Plus you can visit again this fall.

4 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. Why did they decline it? Did the hospital not submit the claims correctly?

Unfortunate fact is dental insurance is pretty much some of the worst sort of insurance in terms of junk. It can help for routine care, and lower costs for fillings.. but big stuff will rarely make a dent. Same for vision, for our eye exam and glasses, it barely saved hubby $100 bucks. But there's a lot more I could complain about the nature of extremely scammy and near-monopoly vision insurances in cahoots with eyewear makers. https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-eyewear-vision-plans-20190319-story.html

The biggest issue with dental insurance is the fact that most (all?) plans have a yearly max that they'll pay out, and there are often tons of strings attached. Our company's dental plan has an annual max of $1,200 with a $150 deductible that costs something like $400/year in premiums, and only covers 50% of everything until the plan pays out $1,200. So unless you're spending $2,400/year getting a root canal and crown every year, it really doesn't make sense.

Our local dentist offers a yearly subscription ($370/year) for cash payers that includes 2 check ups, xrays, and cleanings. Those alone are worth close to $300. Also included is 1 "problem-related" visit (eg tooth feels pain, want to get it checked out), and 20% off all dental services. Plus I put everything on my credit card and get 2% cash back and pay it of ASAP.

The sad thing is  a $3k family deductible isn't even that terrible nowadays for a HDHP.

Our company's family deductible is $5k. A self-employed family friend has a $12k family deductible (for himself and his wife) and $1400/month in premiums.

The whole situation is insane. 

4 hours ago, Larisa said:

Hi Juri I traveled on AP last year and everything went well. Just remember that you'll be send to secondary inspection but that is standard procedure and nothing to worry about. 

FWIW my wife was not sent to secondary when she came back earlier this year on AP.

44 minutes ago, missileman said:

I carry the SS card I was issued in 1968 as a teenager......still readable.....not laminated.

 

Why? Is is that hard to memorize your SSN? The SSA explicitly advises against this.