Helmut & Bee

My wife applied for her passport on 8 November 2022, and received her passport on 5 January 2023. We still have not received her Naturalization Certificate of any of the other documents back. How long does this typically take?

Thank you,

Helmut.

Somewhat confused about a name change. 

During the AOS, my wife changed her last name to my last name with the marriage certificate. Her drivers license, green card, and social security all show my last name.

Sometime during the AOS and N-400, she decided to change her first name in her home country, in her passport. (Apparently done quite frequently in her home country)

During the interview, the IO stated that he has to use her name in as shown in her her current passport for the Naturalization Certificate, and she will have to change her name through a court later, if she wants to. Is this correct, or should he have used her name as on the green card, as entered during AOS?

[quote There were some adjustments, but we both knew about them beforehand and were prepared to make them.

"Some Adjustments" Those are the most important words. Before anyone ever files the K-1, they must look at themselves, and decide if they are going to be flexible enough to make the necessary changes in their life to make the marriage work. Some people unfortunately jump into marriage without ever thinking it through completely, and not planning on making any changes in their life.

H&B,

Together for 8+ years, married for 5+.

Does anyone has the most recent time limit? we are thinking to apply as soon as we get our marriage license in 2 wks. thank you

We also went through LA. Unless things changed in the last year, he will need to apply for the SSN. The INS updates the information in the computer, so the SSN administration can verify he is legally in the US. This takes about two weeks. He can then apply for the SSN. He must apply at least three weeks before the I-94 expires, otherwise they will not issue a SSN. If you wait too long, he will have to wait until AOS is complete, and he has his green card. (Some SSN offices don't know how to process a K-1 SSN applicant. When we applied, everyone said no, until they called in the office supervisor, who knew where to find the information on the SSN computer).

He will need a SSN to get a drivers license. They want to see the actual SSN card. A copy was not good enough in our case. The K-1 is not valid for work.

H.

Hello

We have a child(15 months old) that was born in her home country where we lived for 2 yrs. prior. The child has a US passport.

A US court will normally not allow a US citizen child to be taken out of the US in a custody case, unless there is clear evidence that the child will do better in the other country. I doubt Columbia falls into that category. So you might get custody.

Being that the child was born in Columbia, she can use the birth certificate to obtain a Columbian passport for the child. Once she gets the child to Columbia, you are out of luck if you want to get it back, especially if she doesnt want to.

She also doesn't need any documents to walk into Mexico with the child. Once there, she can get on a plane to Columbia.

Watch out and get a good lawer.

H.

VJ,

I am sponsoring my stepdaughters (two), and submitted all the forms, and just had one of the I-864's rejected with the comment that the number of immigrants was wrong.

I submitted two 864's. One for each daughter. In Part 2, I listed one daughter, and in Part 3, I listed the sister, with a total count of two immigrants. I also checked the Yes box in Part 3 / 8.

The 864 for the first daughter was accepted, but the 864 for the second daughter was rejected with the comments that the count on line 10 does not equal the number of immigrants of Part 2 & 3. (I counted both daughters, and put 2).

So.... Were both forms wrong, and they only caught one? Do I only list one daughter per form, and not list the sister in part 3?

Also, do I check the YES box in Part 3/8?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Moving this topic from AOS to Effects of Major Family Changes forum.

I go through Frankfurt on a monthly basis. You will not need a transit visa to go through Frankfurt as long as you do not want to leave the international area of the airport, or connect through another EU country. All international airlines are located inside the customs area. You can just go from the arrival gate to your next departure gate. All you need is your passport, so you can get on to your plane to your country.

Good Luck,

Helmut.

Forum,

I just filed the I-130's for my stepdaughters. What paperwork will be reqired at the next step? I didn't see anything in the pinned instructions.

I am assuming the Embassy will require a stack of papers or something as usual. Are there any more fees after the I-130?

Thank's,

Helmut.

VJ forum,

After the successful AOS, my wife and daughter never received their green cards. After following up with immigration, they sent a letter, stating that they sent the cards, and therefore, the cards must have been lost in the mail. Since they were "lost or destroyed", I am stuck with paying $740 for two replacement cards.

Why do I need to pay? The post office is part of the government. It is the government that screwed up as usual, and failed to deliver the cards. I have been at my address for 30 years, and never had any mail lost during that time.

In my opinion, either USCIS never produced the cards, never mailed them, or someone is using the blank cards to make cards for someone else, at our expense.

Is there anyone I can complain to? Reading in the forum, I am not the only one that this has happened to.

Helmut.

My stepdaughters (2) K-2 visa was just rejected ky the Bangkok embassy.

Per the instructions we had to apply for the K-2 within one year from the issue of the K-1 visa (11 September).

We applied well within that timeframe (several month ago), and they were interviewed on 25 August. At that time the CO asked for some additional papers which were delivered to the embassy on 2 September. At this time the CO took their passports and said everything was ok, and they would be called when everything is ready.

Today, 22 Sept., the embassy called, and said to pick up their passports.

You can imagine their shock, when some A-hole handed them their passports, and all their paperwork, and said "Sorry, it is past 11 September, we cannot give you a visa".

The embassy had all the required papers by 2 September.

What do I do now? I don't want to start the whole process over again? Is there a way to contact the ambassador in the embassy? What about a senator?

These jerks are pathetic.

I would not worry too much, since you will be living in the US.

The son's mother would have to get an increase in support approved by a Brazilian court. This judgement would not be valid in the US. To enforce the judgement in the US, it would have to be approved in a US court, after it makes it's way to the US, usually via the US embassy. The entire process would be so time consuming, complicated, and expensive, she would loose more in costs than she would make in any support increase.

The only danger would be if she gets a increase approved by a Brazilian court, and your husband does not pay it, and later returns to Brazil for a visit. Being a citizen of Peru, the US could not protect him from any action by the Brazilian legal system, and they could try to collect from him while he is there.

H.

APPROVED!!!

Card will be sent.

The interview went easy. One hour wait, 15 minute interview.

The interviewer asked some basic question, made some copies, and that was it. Didn,t look at any of the extra "evidence" like pictures, bank info, etc.

Maybe because we had our daughter with us, it was proof enough that it was a real relationship...

Now I can rest for two years, (- 90 days).

H.

Just think about it...

They could combine the ####### and ####### Spa in the same office.....

It would be like Group Therapy...

We had our interview in September 07 in BKK. The only question they asked her was her name, and if she is happy to go to America.

Our whole interview lasted 10 minutes for both. The CO was very nice.

Good Luck with your interview.

Helmut.

Its been 53 days now since the NOA.

Relax. Sometimes they are slow. Look at my timeline. I was having a nervous fit, wondering if they would ever respond. Finally they did.

To all those still waiting, don't give up hope.

We received our notice for interview on 24 May, with the interview scheduled for 30 July.

The web still shows the December filing date only.

we are going to call them tomorrow...but any advice or thought about this will be appreciated

Thank you

Jandy,

Yes they do make mistakes. When I received our cancelled check, the MSC numbers on the back did not work. Neither did the one on the only NOA we received. (we never received two like we should have).

After a call to their 800 number, and a visit to the local office, everything was cleared up.

Good luck with your phonecall.

VJ Family...

We will be filing our AOS and EAD within the next two months. If anyone has any lessons learned from your case, please share your experiece(s).

Thanks and God bless...

Ahmari & Jhen

NOTE: We do not have any specific questions. The directions/requirements are straight forward.

Make sure you have all your paperwork correct before you send it in. Make sure you have copies of everything you send.

It has been a frustrating waiting game. I applied for my wife and daughter. The only NOA received was for my daughter.

See my timeline in my signature.

Good Luck

They can apply for the marriage cert for you??? That's kinda creepy! How does the courthouse know if the people who are applying are legally able to/ the people who are actually getting married? Sorry just really curious how that works!

In LA County, only certain notary publics can perform this service. the notary public would be verifying the identity of the couple. Most countys in Ca. require the couple to appear at the County Office.

Correct. Only some Notaries can perform this service. They are licensed by their respecive county to perform marriages, sort of like an agent for the county. They still require the neccessary documents, Identification, etc. that they county requires. We still have to sign the documents, etc.

We did it this way, since the notary was less than 5 minutes from our home, and there was no line. At the county courthouse they told us it would take over half a day.

another touch today but still no updates..

Earmuffs,

At least they are touching your file. Apparently they are afraid to get their fingerprints on our file.

Are you seeing the "touch" on the USCIS website, or are you receiveing the notes via e-mail?

Even though we have had the Bio, the USCIS site still shows their original "file received & pending" notice.

Helmut.

Hey, fellow VJers!

So in the next couple of months, if that interview at the embassy goes well, we should get married. I understand that to make that happen in California, we have to apply for a marriage license at a County Clerk's office and than take that license to someone who is authorized to perform the marriage.

Could someone who got married in California list the steps they went through? Like where did you have to go and when, what paperwork did you have to deal with and how did you get the marriage certificate? How long did you have to wait for and between all the steps? Who did you have to call/contact exactly? It's the gory details that interest me.

We are looking for a non-religious, not fancy ceremony.

Thank you!

Look in your yellow pages under marriage. We are in Torrance, Los Angeles county. You do not have to go through the government bs to get married. There are a number of Public Notaries that are licensed to perform marriages, and confidential marriages. They can also apply for the official county certificate for you. We married that way last September. It was around $120, and took about 30 minutes. We received the county document two weeks later.

Helmut.

so, the original support forms with tax records, bank statements and the like, are not required for the Follow to Join interview for the kids?

their mother came here last august and we are having the interview next week in Bogota for the kids.

all I need are their passports, medical/clinic forms, DAS ingress/egress records, birth/batismal certificates and the DS 230, DS 156 , photos, ect...but no refiling of orginal support forms like the I-134 or I-864?

the kids are under the age of 16.

We are just doing this for my wife's daughters, and the embassy (Bangkok Thailand) stated I need to submit a new I-134 for each daughter with all the other documents.

I don't kow if different embassies have different reqirements.

H.

Last year my fiancee (now wife) came with the K-1 visa. Now we want to bring her daughters with the K-2. The embassy indicated that I will have to fill out a new I-134 affidavid of support for each daughter.

What do I write in the box where it asks "what specific support I intend to provide" for her? For my wife I wrote "for the duration of the marriage" What do I put for a child? Until 21, until married, ???

Has anyone done this before?

Thank you for any help.

i am still confuse which is faster and better...K1 or K3. Is it better to get married outside the US then petition her or take her as a fiance.

We went the K-1 route, and a friend went the K-3 route. It took them 3 month longer. But...with the K-1 I am having to fill out more paper now. With the K-3 most of the paperwork is done before. (Thailand 2007).

It up to you. Do you want to wait in her country with ther, or have her in the states 3 month faster.

Last year my fiancee (now wife) came with the K-1 visa. Now we want to bring her daughters with the K-2. The embassy indicated that I will have to fill out a new I-134 affidavid of support for each daughter.

What do I write in the box where it asks "what specific support I intend to provide" for her? For my wife I wrote "for the duration of the marriage" What do I put for a child? Has anyone done this before?

Thank's, Helmut