patrick33

The waiting is tough, I went through the Montreal consulate 4.5 years ago for an IR-1 visa. The whole process took about a year. It felt like forever when I was waiting, but looking back on it, it went pretty quickly. 

Montreal is a really nice city, when your interview comes around I'd recommend spending some time there to see the sights, if you've never been. Good luck!

I'm definitely not the most qualified to answer your questions but I'll try, so you might want to verify yourself to be sure.

1 - I would include the address you stayed at in the UK

2 - If you don't know the specific move in dates, give it your best guess

3 - If the internship was paid I would definitely include it, if not.. would probably just include it anyway?

4 - I would give your mothers last name, whatever it is right now, I don't think it says mothers family name at birth?

5 - If a section doesn't apply to you, I would simply leave it blank

It sounds like you have a lot of great evidence, you're probably just stressing out for no reason. My spouse and I were very stressed out throughout the process as well and had no reason to be, everything went perfectly. Good luck!

I thought there was a period of authorized stay for applicants who file for adjustment of status (who are of course eligible to file for it), even for those who apply for it on B visas? 

You should be able to apply 90 days before your eligibility date, which is 3 years after the date you became a permanent resident. There should be a date on your card, that says "resident since", that is the date you became a permanent resident. 

I believe somewhere on the USCIS website, there is a calculator where you can enter the date you became a permanent resident, and it will tell you when you are eligible to file.

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

You need the passport that had the visa you used to enter the country on at the start of your process. Contrary to @Mollie09, my interviewer looked at both the passports that I used from (permanent) entry to interview. 

This happened with me as well, they needed to see the passport I used when immigrating with the immigrant visa inside. Canada doesn't usually send back old passports, so if I didn't happen to have it I'm not sure what would've happened. 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you should be able to get married and stay in the US through the adjustment of status process. You should look at the guide for it on this site. You should probably get married and try to file your application before your J1 status expires so that you are not out of status. Once you receive the notification that they have received your application (its called NOA1) you're then in a period of lawful stay until they make a decision. You can stay in the US during the processing. 

This is my understanding of it, although I may be wrong. You should refer to the guides and go from there. Good luck!

Canadians are issued B-2 visas at the border, it is strange. So I guess they are lumped in with the VWP except they don't have to apply for the ESTA like the other visa waiver counties have to. You just show up at the border with your Canadian passport, and they stamp it and write B-2 in it. This is from my experience when I visited with my Canadian passport. They wrote a departure date as well, which was 6 months from the date I entered.

If you intended to only stay for a few weeks, but they gave you 6 months by writing the date in your passport, or by writing nothing in your passport and just a stamp or stamp and "B-2", you should be good to stay for the 6 months. I don't think you can stagger those 6 months though, like for example, stay for 2 and then leave for a month and then plan to come back to spend another 4 months. I mean you could, but each entry will be assessed individually by the CBP and if they think you're spending too much time in the US they'll deny entry (and maybe ban you? I don't know for sure, probably wouldn't be that dramatic).

The safest option is definitely go with the IR-1 in my opinion. Don't overstay your visits, visit when you can, and the processing time will go by quickly. Good luck!

You'll most likely need to sponsor your son for a green card. Once they arrive in the US as a permanent resident, if you are a USC by then, then they automatically become a USC. 

It looks like your timeline is incomplete. If she has her green card, you would be on the hook for the I-864. If not, I don't think there are any other legal/financial obligations. Best of luck.

1 minute ago, designguy said:

So they live there illegally? Doesn't seem very smart to interview for a US visa while living in a country illegally

I totally agree lol. Wish I could find where I had seen it. Probably doesn't apply in this persons case though.

1 minute ago, designguy said:

Are you living at that address now? If not then you obviously can NOT list an address that is not your home address, as your home address. That would be called lying.

You cant consulate shop

That is what I always thought and that is what makes sense to me. But I've heard that people interview in countries where they once had legal residence, it expires, but they still live there and interview in that country. Can't verify this, but I've seen it posted by others.

1 minute ago, ChimpNL said:

I'm not a legal resident in Canada but have lived there for a time before coming to the US, so definitely have more ties to that country than my home country. 

 

Can I file a Canadian address as my home address ?

I've heard different things on whether or not you need legal residence in that country, perhaps someone else can weigh in, I'm not sure.

 You give a home address when you file your application, your interview is generally done at the nearest embassy or consulate that processes the type of visa you're applying for. 

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

It is the AMERICAN embassy staffed by Americans. They put US visas in foreign passports all day long.

 

No they won't. The British government might care about his being legal in the U.K., but the Americans aren't really bothered. He just has to meet the requirements for a US visa. I know of several whose UK student visas had expired yet they remained overstayed in the UK to finish their US visa interview. The Americans did not try to check their legal residency or deport them from the UK. Not their jurisdiction.

 

OP-

He can use his Irish passport. Just like people from India residing in London use their Indian passports. And Australians, Nigerians, etc.

Okay, I thought they'd always check legal residency status in the country they're applying in if they are not a citizen of that country. Would it make a difference if a person had legal residency in the past and it expired, versus if they're a tourist in that country and decide to use that countries embassy to process their application?

I guess, what if someone from India has a relative in London. They use that persons home address on their application for their US visa, then when the interview time comes around they fly out there for the interview. If you don't need legal residency in that country whats to stop someone from doing that?

32 minutes ago, MadMax101 said:

How long did it take?

Mine took about an hour.

I have heard the ones in TX can be rather large. Mine in Orlando, FL only had about 70 people.

5 minutes ago, KSVJ said:

I was wondering the same. My thought was, can the London embassy put visa info into an Irish passport when (if) the visa is approved? Or can they only touch a UK passport? I'm trying to stress him out as little as possible since he already has to get the medical and interview in London haha!

Here's what I think, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong because I may well be. If he is a UK citizen and UK resident applying within the UK, he should be using a UK passport with his application. If he is an Irish citizen and UK resident, he can certainly use his Irish passport, and the London embassy can definitely put the visa in a non UK passport in that case. 

Edit: So basically, if he lives in Northern Ireland and is a dual UK/Irish citizen, I think he should be using a UK passport with his application.

If he uses his Irish passport for his application in Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) they'll either want to see proof of legal residence in the UK along with his Irish passport, or a UK passport. If he is applying as a UK resident and citizen of the UK he should probably get a UK passport, would definitely be less confusing lol. I am not sure if he could use his Irish passport along with something like, a birth certificate from Northern Ireland as proof of legal residency. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on this could weigh in. 

Edit: I am forgetting that the UK is still part of the European Union, maybe it wouldn't matter at all?

That doesn't sound ok to me. I've been through the hiring process a few times and was never asked that. Don't know if they legally can or can't, but it sounds sketchy. 

Your son would need to immigrate first, thats why you need to file the I130 first. Once they arrive in the US as a permanent resident, they automatically become a citizen by virtue of your citizenship. You can then file to get them a certificate of citizenship if you choose, and/or a passport.

5 minutes ago, usmsbow said:

 

That law is strictly about title company insurance. If you didn't buy that, and the title company just served as the escrow officer, that's a different situation. In that case, yes, the seller tends to select the title company (at least that's been my experience too). 

Yes, this was the case, the title company served as the escrow officer. 

https://www.wesh.com/article/selecting-a-title-company/4421907#

I was curious and started looking around online about this, and this is a good article from a local Orlando news site (where the OP and I are living). It seems the buyer can choose the title company, and says that many people aren't away of it. It also says that in 98% of real estate transactions in FL, the seller selects the title company. If you want to select the title company you should make that known at the start of negotiations. 

3 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

The seller doesn’t pick the title company in any state.  Federal law prohibits it.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-picks-title-company-real-estate-closing-beverly-bartley

Interesting. In my case, the seller definitely picked the title company.. maybe I got screwed too lol. Good to know.

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

So they won't take the federally recognized ID of a green card. And they won't take the passport in the maiden name + a copy of the marriage certificate (a legal name change document)? Very shady...this is not the norm.

It was like this for my wife changing her name at school. They would only accept FL drivers license issued in her new name, would not accept US passport + certified copy of our marriage certificate. I was very surprised.

1 hour ago, wbeem said:

We picked the finance for the loan. We did not pick the title co. We were not even aware we had an option with this. 

Usually the seller picks the title company. I bought here in Orlando, FL last year.