K.Claw

We received our DQ January 14, 2022. Today we got the email with an interview date at March 2. 

8 hours ago, OrihimeandIchigo said:

Hello  Yep our I-130 was approved Dec. 2019 and were still in the NVC stage now. Its been crazy and so nerve wreaking because NVC has so many rules and regulations and wants things a so so way. 

 

I've been so very curious myself how many people in Sweden apply for K1, CR1 or IR1. It seems to me just a look at the Scandinavian forums that alot do the K1 way its interesting. 

 

Yep for our I-130 I filled a lot out on the computer but for the phone numbers part I had to use black Ink Pen and do the +46 (and our phone number). Well if you married in Sweden I don't know what type of form to use I would look through the Tax agency's website for something and especially in English and have a official stamp on it and signed. They want everything in english and things translated from a certified translator. We married in the United States years ago so having a USA marriage certificate made it easy I think. 

 

If you need help or questions ill be glad to help if I can in anyway  

Oh, I bet it's nerve wracking - guess that's why it's taken us all this time to even send the i-130 in. 😂 Just want everything to be alright from start. What did you attach to the i-130 as proof of a "bona fide relationsship"? We're working with a long timeline of photos and passport stamps, backuped by flight tickets and email conversations. And we have been living together for the past four years, so I would hope that would do.
 

I did print out the i-130A and will write phone number and blanks by hand. Seems like the best way to go as you said. Yes, I have settled with sending the Swedish "Extract of Population Registry" in English and Swedish with stamps and signatures. Hope that will suffice. Certainly seems easier to have an American marriage certificate, it's so funny how all Swedish "official ceritfications" are just bundled up in this one long document.

Regarding why so many Swedes apply for the K1... I would assume it's because a lot of Swedes just don't get married. In Sweden you can live together as "sambo" , and it's considered just as valid as being married here - although internationally it certainly is easier to prove a connection being married. But that's just my own theory 🙃

8 hours ago, LilyJ said:

Hi! We are CR1 Scandinavians too  My husband has just gotten his appointment letter this morning for April 1 at Stockholm!

Great! So good to hear that you got an appointment for the interview. 😃 Exciting!

We're still writing down our timeline, trying to fit photos and proof of visits etc down on paper for the past ten years since we met - a lot of information to prove the bona fide relationsship part. It's a bit tricky to show official shared records in Sweden since everyting is individual - you can't be more than one person on an insurance for example, and we don't have shared economy even though we live together so we just gotta prove it in other ways apart from the official documents. Did you include any other proof of relationship than pictures, flight ticket/passport stamps and written conversations in the i-130 stage?

On 3/5/2020 at 8:49 PM, Ellxtdan said:

I know, it’s always nice to see other US/Sweden couples!

 

I’m not sure if you need to get it notarized. But in case you weren’t aware, you can order it online from skatteverket and they’ll mail a copy to you signed and stamped. We got two copies (one in English and one in Swedish) just to be sure.

No, I would be nice if we don't have to. We have already ordered them, both in English and Swedish for both me and my husband (he has dual citizenship), and they have a stamp and signature on the last page. Maybe it's enough to write a disclaimer on the cover page explaining that this is the official marriage certificate in Swedish with the link that Skatteverket suggests: www.skatteverket.se/certificate 

On 3/6/2020 at 2:31 PM, OrihimeandIchigo said:

We're not CR-1 we're IR-1 but it would still be nice to see other couples stories and read their experiences applying from Scandinavian countries. 

Haha, we are also IR-1 - guess my mind got a bit tired after hours of reading through these visa processes. Still struggling with the i-130 though. Have you sent it in? Did you do it by post or online? 

Seems like quite a few has had issues with both phone numbers and signing the online form. I have also been contemplating on what kind of material we actually need to send as a "marriage certificate". Did you get married in Sweden?

Would it be possible to just add 011 before the country code instead of a +?

Example: Since UCSIS will call from the US, a written out phone number calling from the US to (eg.) Sweden would be 01146xxxxxxxxx.  (+46 being the country code for Sweden). Has anyone tried this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_call_prefixes#Variations

2 hours ago, Ellxtdan said:

Hi! We got married in Sweden. Unfortunately when I sent in the original form, we were unaware that USCIS required the personbevis as proof of marriage. I had asked my husband to check with the courthouse and they told us the vigselbevis would be sufficient. 

 

So to answer your question, yes, provide your personbevis. I’m not sure if you’ll need both yours and your husband’s (I feel like just yours would be sufficient because it’ll clearly state your marital status and your husband’s name already). But, it doesn’t hurt to include both.
 

Good luck with starting the process!

Thank you for replying so fast! Feels good to know that someone else is in the same boat as us. I think we will go with submitting both our Personbevis. Within this upcoming week I will also see if I need to get it certified and apostille stamped by a notary public. I'll keep you posted.

And best of luck to you guys!

@Ellxtdan

I was just looking for some checklist on what to include, especially filing from Sweden. We are in the process of filing our i-130 (I'm Swedish, husband American). Regarding your marriage certificate: Were you married in the US and thus have an american marriage certificate? 

The reason I am asking is because we got married in Sweden and here our "Personbevis" serves as both marriage certificate, birth certificate and proof of common address. So I assume we have to provide both me and my husbands "personbevis" in order to have a complete marriage certificate, however I haven't found a clear answer to this.
 

A forum thread for discussing the process of applying for a CR1 from any of the Scandinavian countries.