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On 3/6/2020 at 2:53 PM, MalinRonja said:

Just a short note:

 

I sent a letter explaining the situation with the new form and the application to request a credit report circa 3 weeks ago by mail. I sent it as a registered letter from Germany, but put my future address as sender and also told them I don't live there yet.

My fiancé told me today that he received an answer from them today. They sent a letter stating that no credit score exists for me.

 

Maybe that information helps some of you 😆

Great! I hope that I get one of those eventually since I also sent in that form in a similar way. I sent it about two weeks ago now.  I also already sent in my AOS packet, so now if I have an RFE, hopefully by then I will have an official letter back saying there is no score! Thanks so much for sharing! 

24 minutes ago, Ruan & Emmanuel said:

Hello guys,

 

I came across the I-944 form and I had a hard time filing it.

How do a K1 visa holder fill the form since as new immigrant we (beneficiaries) do not have credit score, assets, and filled tex returns?

Is there any filled form available as example? 

Hello, 

As you may have noticed further up in the thread and on related threads, this is a problem we are all encountering and are unsure how to solve.  Since this form just came into effect last week, there are no examples yet because no one has successfully filed and gone through the whole AOS process with it.  We are the ones to do that first and share our experiences! I am sharing another thread here where we are all discussing the credit score issue that it might be helpful for you to read through: 

While we don't have the definitive answers about how to do this, we are all willing to talk through how we interpret the form and the questions for our K-1 situations.  If you have specific questions I can try to share how I am thinking about doing it! 

Just wanted to update for Chicago people.  Saw way earlier on thread from 2014 @M J recommended Dr. Askari. My husband used her on Friday and all went well.  She was kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. Price has gone up a bit from before, updating things here: 

Chicago - NW Suburbs

CS Name/Office: Ruhi Askari, M.D.

Address: 3433 Kirchoff Rd

City/Town: Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

CS Tel. No: (847) 870-0506

Date of Service: 1/28/2020
Cost: $95 (for vaccine transcription only)
Turnaround Time: Same day, appointment required

I can share that I used a civil surgeon I found on the "Civil Surgeons that don't rip you off thread" 

Dr. Ruhi Askari

3433 Kirchoff Rd, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

(847) 870-0506

My mom took my husband there because I had to work.  They had no issues with the vaccination transcript, to the contrary Dr. Askari was super helpful.  $90 for the transcript.  Highly recommend! 

On 3/1/2020 at 8:24 PM, Sbrisa said:

I can assure you that even having the SSN dosn't make things better unfortunately. I got mine a couple weeks ago, but I can't get a credit report & score cause every credit bureau's free check I tried (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) gives me an error even after putting my entire SSN. Me and my husband contacted Equifax by calling them and the lady was very polite, so she suggested we send an e-mail to Equifax requesting a document that declares I don't have a credit score, cause that's what USCIS wants in the end, but they haven't answered yet and she said it could take weeks that we DO NOT HAVE.
My I-94/status expires next week, so me and my husband would like to send the whole AOS application by this coming friday, but we are missing this stupid credit score thing. I haven't cried as much in a while as I did last week.
Sorry about venting but I think you can understand the level of frustration we are facing 😔. I feel like we are USCIS's new cavies and obviously nobody can help us cause we are the first applicants that will have to face this enormous change.

I'm so sorry, and totally understand, its very stressful.  I sent in the paper form by mail last week, but I am concerned about how long it might take to come back/if it comes back at all.  I have come to the conclusion that I am going to send in my application with a letter explaining that there is no available card along with all of the error messages that I screenshotted and will print.  Then, I am just going to expect we might get an RFE, and if we do, hopefully by then a credit score will be in place and/or I will have gotten some sort of written response from the companies.  And maybe an RFE will not happen! 

This is not sound advice, just my way of dealing with it because I do not want to delay submitting.  

Edited to add: if it works, then it can become sound advice for others! : ) 

11 hours ago, cymbalseatguitars said:

have a couple questions, perhaps some of you will be able to help me out. I'm based in the UK, about to enter the USA on the K-1. 

 

Obviously I'll ultimately be filling out the I-944. 

 

1. Would my US-based spouse's assets count towards the 'household income'? (she owns a house/car, no mortgage/student debt)

2. Obviously I'm quitting my UK based job in order to move. However, the I-944 asks for my income. My understanding is that the I-944 is submitted at the same time as the EAD application (meaning my income would be 0 at the point of application). Am I missing a trick here? Is there some way of getting eligibility to work prior to submitting the I-944?

 

I've got a decent career in financial services, so I won't have any issue getting a job that satisfies the income requirements, but I only have a few thousand in savings, so there's no Earthly way I'd be able to demonstrate assets in lieu of income that satisfies the criteria. Seems counter-intuitive that I could be penalized for not having income when I don't have the legal opportunity to even pursue employment (but it's immigration, so nothing surprises me!).

 

Any advice is massively appreciated, my other half is besides herself with worry about it!

Since this form is so new getting definitive answers here will be challenging.  

However, remember that this form is being used to adjust status from many situations, not just K-1 and family based visas, so the questions apply to different people in different ways.  Entering on a K-1, yes, you will not have income because you cannot legally work.  To answer part one of your question, yes, you should definitely include your spouses assets as household income.  100% yes.  

As someone with good education and work background, and with a spouse that has a strong income, you have a lot of positive factors weighing in your favor as far as the public charge rule goes.  By the time you enter and get married and get ready to file, some people will have more concrete experiences with getting the forms in to share as well. Keep checking back and I'm sure more and more info will appear! 

8 hours ago, brainless69 said:

ready for the next question already... 🤣 suspect I won't be the only one with questions regarding the i-944 as its brand new. 

i'm guessing the answer for Q1. is No Q2. Yes is GCSE a high school equivelent? 

These questions are specific to the person so I can't really give you a blanket answer! Coming here on a K-1, I would assume that Form I-140 does not pertain to us.  

As far as number 2, again its specific to the person and really all about what you can prove.  For my husband, the answer is no, because he has no record of finishing high school and didn't formally finish.  Not being from Europe, I don't know much about the GCSE but I googled it and found this "5 GCSE passes at grade C or higher are considered the rough equivalent of a US High School Diploma (without Honors or 'Advanced Placement' (AP) classes). This will be sufficient for a student to gain entry to less selective US colleges and universities" 

So I guess it depends what your scores are? Sorry I can't help more.  I think you would need advice from someone in your specific region on that one. 

But, by the way @brainless69 even though we are not exempt anymore we will figure it out! I am planning to file by the end of the week.  We will figure all this new crazy stuff out together! 

28 minutes ago, brainless69 said:

Hey March 2020 filers, am currently filling in form i-485 and on the new form for question 62 Declaration of self sufficiency. whats the correct answer? the laws changed end of February however Illinois ( where i am based) is exempt.

I will not be claiming benefits of any kind and i understand i will need to fill in form i-944 regardless as a k1 visa holder... just not sure whether its a yes or no tick.

 

Thanks for the help!@

 

Illinois is NO LONGER EXEMPT! I am from IL too.  We are included now.  You need to tick "No" 

2 hours ago, J&S12 said:

That’s good to know. The instructions and questions on the form aren’t very clear. 

I know what you mean! I'm on about my 10th reading or so and finally feel like I'm starting to really understand it! 

1 hour ago, J&S12 said:

This topic is a concern for me as well, because if they're wanting the credit info of the USC then mine will not be good due to my first marriage/divorce. 

The form doesn't ask for the credit info for the USC, but it does want detailed information about their assets and financial resources.  

1 minute ago, Letspaintcookies said:

That's probably because the SSN is too new. It takes about 90- 120 days till that's not a problem anymore. At least I have been told so by my bank 

Yes, that's definitely why, which I know/understand - but it does not solve the problem of the new I-944 requirement to show proof that you do not have a credit report.  By nature of the K1, 90-120 days after getting the SSN is a much longer wait than the "comfortable" time to send in AOS paperwork. 

6 hours ago, LBee1592 said:

Do you have a SSN? I mean, how did you try to get your credit report online? When I try, it tells me that SSN is a required field to proceed.

My husband applied for one immediately upon arriving as a K-1 and he has one.  However, I still get all of the error reports too.  It seems the best option from calling and speaking to representatives on the phone is trying to request one by mail.  They will have to send *something* back that says they can't issue one, and hopefully that can be used.  

My trouble now is that I need to prove our address as his address to request by mail and so far don't have any bills with his name. Grrr! 

26 minutes ago, Jessica58789 said:

Hi, guys, I am filling form I-485,  about item 61, not sure what should choose, Yes or No, or not need choose?  the old I-485 doesn't have this item.

If you read the instructions referenced there it explains in detail who is exempt.  K-1 Filers are not exempt.  It is for refugees and people filing under other special circumstances.  

9 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Have you tried to get a report from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

 

It will return a page that says no credit report found if it can't find it. Then you can print that as proof.

 

From your post I think you don't have a social security number? If you have one something should show up. Even utility companies report to credit agencies now, I think you should have something unless you haven't been in the US long enough, usually 90-120 days. Then I'm not sure how to go about it. But I know at the website it will say no report found, and then print and send it in.

Hi, 

Just wanted to share that my husband has a social security number and I got an error message when I tried to look up his (lack of a) credit report.  Will be continuing to work on this over the next few days. 

42 minutes ago, Zaraliaya said:

So this form, wants tax returns and credit scores, and debts, and assets and benefits -- Which I understand, but, if I only just moved to the US, and don't have a credit score, never did US tax returns, obviously don't have any US debts or benefits, or assets, or pretty much any income because I am waiting for my EAD to work to make any sort of income, what am I to put for any of these answers?

 

Do I put 0/NA or am I putting all the info from my SO and all their stuff?

 

OR can I just give them all my Canadian versions of these things (tax returns, credit score etc)?

 

I don't apply for AOS for another few months, but looking at it for future reference gives me a headache 'cause I won't have any of these things. Are not having these things just going to get me denied, even though its not my fault we can't have most of this automatically?

These are good questions, and I'm curious to see the responses.  Those of us adjusting from K-1 have a different situation than other groups using this form as well. 

It's tricky because since this form literally only became required today, there are no people that came before us to share experiences and give advice.  The first of us that send it in will be the people to be able to share experiences about how things turned out.

However, it does seem that people with lots of experience on the site/forum are better at interpreting directions and might be able to share opinions that come from a more educated place than those of us doing all of this for the first time!   

1 hour ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Thank you so much! Well It’s actully literally same form as the old one! I will just do it that way and hope for the best! 

It's not QUITE the same, there are some changes to the formatting and a couple of different questions (I just used my old one to fill out the new one now that I've missed the deadline and noticed a few small things) but yes - the main difference from before to know is the new form i-944 with accompanying evidence which it sounds like you don't need to do, which is good! 

9 minutes ago, Letspaintcookies said:

Just saw it st the USCIS page. Illinois is not longer excluded. The new rule is in affect there too from today on.

Yes, I saw that too - oh well, nothing I can do because we don't have our marriage certificate back! 

I'll definitely be a March filer now, time to start learning how to do all of this! 

On 2/19/2020 at 10:56 AM, HispanicLover said:

Will this emailed letter from NVC work?

Ashley NVC.pdf 19.35 kB · 7 downloads

The answer is definitely YES - but I'm assuring you know this now! 

I was super hopeful that we were going to file in February, but we are still waiting for both our marriage license and the medical stuff to get finished up. 

I am very lucky because I live in Illinois and it seems for the moment can continue to use the "old forms" 

I have pretty much everything ready, just need to add the marriage certificates and the i-693 transcription info as soon as we get it.  Hoping we can get it all sent off before they announce that Illinois gets told to move over to the new stuff as well.  

But I might be one of the first new March filers in that group, whenever it starts, at this point! 

Congrats to everyone that has filed so far. 

Yep, totally will next week, just thought it couldn't hurt to ask! 

8 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

https://my.uscis.gov/findadoctor

Hi, yes I know about this tool, tons of doctors come up from the Chicagoland area on the tool, and many other VJ members have shared stories of civil surgeons from this list charging big fees and refusing to do the vaccination portion of the i-693 without another medical exam and TB test, etc.  I was hoping for a recommendation for someone who has gone in to one and had a good experience in the past year or so as most of the threads are outdated.  

Hi all, 

I am looking for any recommendations for a Civil Surgeon in Chicago area that anyone has used recently for Vaccines only.  My lovely fiance did not get all of his vaccines before he came over.  I want to get his missing vaccines out of the way but read a lot of old threads about horrible experiences.  

It is so fun to read all of these approvals! Congratulations all! Now on to our next step of the journey with AOS! Hope to see a lot of you in those forums.  I'm trying for end of Feb or early March to get mine sent in.  

I got a warning about that one day and backed off after that because I was scared that would happen to me! 

I don't really know but I feel like I remember it saying that I had 2 more chances.  I just did it once a day after that because I was nervous! I hope it's unfrozen now!