ODJD

1.  The answer is yes .  Your attorney is incorrect because it says "THIS alien or any other alien"....the result is "withdrawn"
2.  You can write "Income below filing threshold" on the I-864.
 

On form I-130, Part 5, question 1, it asks if I have ever filed a petition for this alien before.  I have filed 129F for my wife because we originally were waiting on a fiancee visa for her, but since she was visiting me in the US, we decided to get married and go for AOS.  Do I answer no or yes for this question (because of the 129F?)  We consulted an immigration lawyer before getting married and I asked him about this question and he said no:  "That question generally refers to immigrant petitions, and though the consulate treats an I-129F as a ‘quasi’ immigrant petition, USCIS treats it mainly as a nonimmigrant petition. Basically, what they’re asking you there is if you’ve ever sponsored someone before for a green card, which is limited to forms I-130 & I-140. So you would answer no."  I just wanted to ask to see if anyone thought differently. 
 
For form I-864, part 6, question 25, there is a box that says "I've attached evidence that I didn't have to file taxes..."'  For 2018 I didn't have any income (I did, but it was below the IRS threshold) so I didn't file taxes.  What evidence could I send to show I didn't need to file taxes?      
 

What country are you dealing with?  There are 2019 filers for some countries still waiting... Including myself. There are and will be backlogs for some countries who aren't processing visas to those who are doing limited processing. 

Hey ODJD, I hope you had a good day!
 
I know, this process is just a very long waiting game but I'm hopeful things will begin to look up and our government will get with it! We need to be with our loved one's, it's hard enough living in the times we are and then to be separated and having traveling restrictions doesn't make it easy for us to go see them. I'm blessed to be employed with a company who is very supportive of Roy and I's situation  and this whole process, when I had explained I hadn't seen him since January 2020 and I desperately needed a few days off to go visit him, they were more than happy to oblige. I did have to quarantine for 14 days upon my return to Massachusetts but thankfully I was able to work from home. 
 
I understand about how people in Peru are suffering and it's horrible! I hope your fiancé and his family stay safe and are able to get through these trying times, I'll keep them in my prayers. I was chatting with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law asking them what the government is doing to support their people and it's very troubling to hear how they just aren't really doing anything for them. They said the government gave them  $1500 pesos = $25 dollars! It was one time they gave residents $25 and I'm like, so what were you supposed to do with that, make it last all year!? This is crazy that these very poor countries aren't being taken care of! Of course my family in DR are so humble, they don't ever ask for anything and always value and are thankful for what they have. I so often hear American's complaining about how little our government does and although that is sometimes true, we are more than blessed compared to other countries.
 
It was great hearing from you! Keep us posted on your journey and anything you hear related to this crazy process we are all going through. It's great to know the Mexican Embassy is opening up, let's hope and pray other countries follow their lead! They can't keep the Embassies closed forever!
 
❤️
 
 

The process is just a waiting game. We have passed the year mark of being approved and at the end of this month, it’ll be a year of waiting at the embassy to get an interview. 
 
Peru hasn’t opened their embassies yet, and it’s been a challenging time with a lot of strict quarantine rules and curfews, which seems similar to what you’re sharing here. Random testing seems intense though! I only wish it had a positive outcome, but my partner shares that people are going hungry, and they need to work. He is fortunate with his family but others not so much. 
 
I suppose this post should be positive though, and I haven’t shared anything positive! Let’s see: my partner has shared that on a group he follows, it says Mexico is now opening embassies, so I think I’m just wanting to know what’s going on across Latin American countries. Another positive is that they seem to be updating applications. For instance, the CEAC website still says “ready” but it says last updated December 2020, so about every three months, it appears they may open the case and extend it. This is a relief because my paranoia told me in June that the case may be forgotten... doesn’t seem that this is happening! 😂
 
That is all for now. I really appreciate you setting up this space. 

The process is just a waiting game. We have passed the year mark of being approved and at the end of this month, it’ll be a year of waiting at the embassy to get an interview. 
 
Peru hasn’t opened their embassies yet, and it’s been a challenging time with a lot of strict quarantine rules and curfews, which seems similar to what you’re sharing here. Random testing seems intense though! I only wish it had a positive outcome, but my partner shares that people are going hungry, and they need to work. He is fortunate with his family but others not so much. 
 
I suppose this post should be positive though, and I haven’t shared anything positive! Let’s see: my partner has shared that on a group he follows, it says Mexico is now opening embassies, so I think I’m just wanting to know what’s going on across Latin American countries. Another positive is that they seem to be updating applications. For instance, the CEAC website still says “ready” but it says last updated December 2020, so about every three months, it appears they may open the case and extend it. This is a relief because my paranoia told me in June that the case may be forgotten... doesn’t seem that this is happening! 😂
 
That is all for now. I really appreciate you setting up this space. 

Not from the DR but appreciate the Americas love. I wish the embassies would open as soon as possibly safe. Hope you don’t mind me joining this thread.

Hi ODJD, thank you for joining in! I don't mind at all, the more positive feedback the better! How is your process coming along? If you don't mind me asking, where are you at in your process and what's going on in Peru? DR still has curfew hours when everyone has to be in and everyone out on the streets after curfew is picked up by the police. I just traveled to DR and they scan people to take their temperatures and have nurses in the airport to give rapid covid-19 tests just randomly!
 
Hope to hear from you!

Hello Everyone!
 
I guess I'm here more so reaching out in hopes to find a support group of my fellow petitioners for their partners/fiancé's in DR. My fiancé and I begun our journey last May and as everyone is clearly aware, we are still amidst a pandemic. We never thought just how long this whole process would take and have known other couple whom have gone through the process and from start to finish took them about 6-8 months. I have been with my fiancé for over two years now and last year, a few months after he proposed, we decided to start this K1 visa journey. Our case was accepted last May and we just received an RFE on January 4th and returned our evidence earlier this month. We anticipate we may have a decision by the end of March with any luck but are not holding our breath so to speak.
 
We know there are so many other couples out there going through our same struggles and would just like to know and maybe compare knowledge about everything going on with the Embassy closures and this K1 Visa process during the Pandemic!
 
I look forward to hearing from many of you! God Bless.

It is illegal to travel to the US on a tourist visa with pre-conceived intent to stay and adjust status. It is also against this site's TOS to suggest this action to others.
 
A tourist visa may be used to go to the US, get married, and go back home to wait for the spousal visa approval.

Ah, ok. Thanks for explaining.
 
Maybe I’m a pessimist but it seems like if this route was as effortless as it appears on this thread then more people would go marry and file an AOS rather than going through any other visa process. Perhaps that is the case and I’m mistaken. 
 
Will research more. Thanks again!

That's not an issue. The pending I-485 would mean she'll be in a period of stay authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The I-485 receipt notice would be her proof of that.

Our case has in the Nigerian embassy since feb 2019 and still no news...

Hi all!
 
Just wanted to share the good news that today we got an e-mail form the embassy that they have been working on rescheduling interviews. We got our new interview date as well! 
We didn't expedite or anything. This is in Santo Domingo. Couldn't be happier! 

Something very strange happened today.....K1 interview date received....couldn't be happier 🙂

The US Embassy in Bogota had a live feed today on Facebook and stated they would not be doing any K-1 visa's unless it was a life or death situation, and that they are still closed....:(

Yup. The "enforcement" section is very limited: https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/mayor’s-order-2020-081-requirement-self-quarantine-after-non-essential-travel-during-covid-19
ENFORCEMENT
1. Businesses and other employers, universities, apartments, condominiums, and cooperatives may require employees, students, clients, customers, guests, visitors, or other persons to affirm compliance with this Order before allowing entry or providing services.
2. This District of Columbia reserves the right to exercise provisions of the Communicable and Preventable Diseases Act, approved August 11, 1939, 53 Stat. 1408, D.C. Official Code §§ 7-131 et seq., if warranted.
 
Link to the code listed in last sentence: https://code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/titles/7/chapters/1/subchapters/II/

The federal government has not enacted any of those requirements. They have deferred those decisions to state and local governments. Which state would he visit?

She did not have to take a covid test at entry.  We self-isolated/quarantined for the first two weeks, and I got a covid test somewhere in there for my own sanity.   Everything went smoothly.  Her flight from Tokyo to Dulles only had like 30 people on it.

My fiancee arrived on ESTA about 2 weeks ago for a 2-month visit.  We got our NOA2 like a week before she flew.  When asked about her plans in the US, she said she was visiting some friends from college and spending the holidays with her fiance and his family.  We expected more questions but that was all.  POE was at Dulles.

I don't know of any country that is currently performing interviews for K1 visa applicants. My fiance's country is Bolivia and they are only processing family non-immigrant visa's for children and for folks over 75. Even though countries have open up for tourism the State Department/Consular Affairs division have to give the green light to open an Embassy. It has nothing to do with the current country's situation as far as COVID is concerned. The shutdown was because of COVID, but remaining to be shut down is a Consular Affairs decision and they get their marching order from the state department

Thanks for the clarification. Basically We are trying to decide if my fiancé should come to America on her tourist visa right now. With interviews closed , it’s probably a few more months until she will be able to do that. We’ve been apart five months now and I can’t enter Thailand either. 
 
I guess it really comes
down to how big of a risk it is during our interview when they see she was in America for three months on tourists visa visiting me.

This almost happened to me - I'd done a long trip a few months before (about 6-7 week trip) and then a few months later returned for one month, left for one month and then returned. CBP officer game me the "you're trying to live here on a tourist visa" argument. I did get in eventually, but my visits were much less frequent after that (even did one meet in Canada to avoid another US entry on my record).

The irony is that when it comes to the K1 visa, far from being a negative on your record, these frequent or long trips are excellent evidence that you're a genuine k1 applicant with a genuine relationship.

1) The sooner you file the better. There is no advantage to filing while the beneficiary is in the US - they will still have to leave before their ESTA expires (90 days), and then do medical, interview etc in home country. Since this thing takes many months, the sooner you file, the better.
2) Lots of visits is good. It shows a genuine relationship. I'd visited the USA 3 or 4 times before we filed i129F and my now wife visited the UK once (not including her first trip during which I'd originally met her). I still visited after we'd filed i129F and had no problems. The only real issues I ever had was BEFORE we'd filed (where they told me I was visiting too often and needed to do something more permanent - like a k1). The USCIS website says that traveling after filing for k1 is a bad idea because you've already expressed immigrant intent (which they don't like if you're traveling on a visitor visa/ESTA), but in practice as you'll see from this thread, you'll likely get no problems traveling after filing k1. The border officer won't be able to see you've filed for k1, and anecdotal evidence here suggests that if they do pull you up questioning your trip, providing evidence that you've filed k1 and are doing things "the right way" actually helps.

Just received this reply from the embassy in Bogota, hopefully there will be something soon.