Demise

11 hours ago, Justwaiting516 said:

Is the Vermont uscis address to send I131 renewal for Fedex/courier deliveries?

 

USCIS Vermont Service Center
30 River Road
Essex Junction, VT 05452-3808

 

I don't know if they had changed the address for AP renewals after the HART center was created.  Thank you everyone!

On the case processing website it says 9 months

I-765 and I-131 based upon pending VAWA I-485 both go to Vermont:

USCIS - Vermont Service Center
38 River Rd.
Essex Junction, VT 05479-0001

11 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

It's still Wednesday in parts of the U.S., so here in greatest haste is our Semiofficial Semiweekly VAWA-Thread Joke:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IS HYDRATION IMPORTANT?

 

Two cannibals met in a mental institution.  One was tearing out magazine pictures of men, women, and children, stuffing them into his mouth, and eating them.

 

"Tell me," asked the other.  Is that dehydrated stuff really that good?"

 

Here's one from me:

Setting: Berlin, 1970s

A West Berlin man would ride his bicycle every afternoon into East Berlin. Every time he had a sack filled with sand sitting on the back of the bicycle.

When presenting himself for inspection at the border crossing the man would say that he's visiting his mother who lives in East Berlin, the guards suspecting the man of being a smuggler would pat him down, search his pockets, and empty the sack of sand and search its contents, but they couldn't find anything so they would admit him.

This process repeated every single day for years, each day the man and his belongings were searched but the guards couldn't find anything.

Many years later after the fall of the Berlin wall the man is sitting at a bar and drinking a beer. A former border guard saw him and approached him to ask

Guard: "Listen, the wall is gone, Germany is reunited, we all knew you were smuggling but we could never figure out what you were smuggling exactly, so please, tell me."

Man: "Bicycles"

So, I have my interview coming up at USCIS. Any idea what questions they will ask, I know they're really only supposed to go over the yes/no questions but I rather know of any curveballs they might throw.

I did hire a lawyer to interview prep me and go there in person with me, but you know, definitely anxious about it all since getting denied right on the finish line would be awful.

15 hours ago, Kely said:

Thank you @Sandra G. Now, what if I get my citizenship first? I am already eligible, as i obtained my GC in January 2021 through vawa. Will that make a difference? 

The 5 year rule for sponsoring a spouse after you got your green card via marriage is only applicable to permanent residents. If you naturalize then it's no longer applicable and you would be able to sponsor your new spouse without any additional requirements.

Moreover the act of naturalization would move the spouse from F2A to IR. F2A is currently backlogged, IR has no numerical limitations. Be mindful of any stepchildren, any unmarried under 21 would get to tag along on their parent's F2A petition, after naturalization any that were under 18 when you married would need their own I-130, if there's any that were over 18 when you married but are still under 21 then K-1 visa would be a better option to let them tag along.

Regarding USCIS being late on the receipt:

Technically those things are supposed to be dated as of the day they arrived. However, parents of US Citizens are immediate relatives and as such are eligible to adjust their status after an overstay similar to spouses. So if USCIS processes it late or is late on issuing the notice or you drop the ball and file late, then that's ultimately no big deal, just make sure your parent avoids the 100 mile of border area where CBP has jurisdiction until the I-485 receipt notice arrives.

That being said, option #3 would likely be the best. Alternatively, you could hire a lawyer and fill out G-28, the lawyer will get a duplicate of any notice sent to you so if one fails to arrive the other should.

4 hours ago, Boiler said:

Immigration judge

Immigration judges have no jurisdiction in matters of citizenship. Even when you get sworn in as a citizen that's before an Article III court. If you try to naturalize or claim derived citizenship as a defense to removal the judge can only postpone until USCIS or DOS resolves the matter. If you naturalized by fraud then it's an article III court that has to void your naturalization before an immigration judge can order you removed.

Likely what she'd have to do is either file N-600 to get USCIS to issue a certificate of citizenship, or try with the NY passport office to fight the decision like yeah kid was here when he was 1, he wouldn't remember and answered incorrectly, but originally moved to establish residency until unforeseen circumstances forced them to move back.

Last option is to sue the state department in federal court.

1 minute ago, JayFromTexas said:

Based on the fact that F2a processing times are currently ~ 36 months and the date the PD becomes current is now 41 months, it is likely that he will be covered under CSPA, correct? Assuming the timelines remain the same, which they won't of course, but it helps understand the math by using current timelines.

Yeah. Lets say that PD takes 41 months and USCIS sits on it for 36 months, that's 5 months that'd count towards his CSPA age which would come out to under 21 so yeah he'd be covered.

Like lets say your wife gets her visa, arrives, and files in June. She can file with the stamped immigrant visa, she doesn't have to wait on the physical green card.

June 2024 + 41 months = November 2027

Approx age in November 2027 = 23 years 1 month old

Minus time I-130 pending (lets presume 3 years) = 20 years 1 month old

So CSPA would apply and he would be able to immigrate as an F2A.

Lets just hope that F2A backlogs don't get any worse and that USCIS will keep sitting on applications like this for a long time.

9 minutes ago, JayFromTexas said:

VERY helpful. Thank you.

Small correction, I counted wrong, he's turning 20 this year, so born 2004, so he'll be 21 on October 22, 2025, and in the example provided it should be 2028 rather than 2029, but all the other math holds.

18 hours ago, JayFromTexas said:

My Russian wife is about 2 months away from getting her green card. We are waiting on her interview letter from the Bangkok consulate (we transferred there from Warsaw). She has a son who is 19 yrs old with a birthday of October 22. The minute my wife gets her green card, we are going to submit an i130 for her son. And btw, we were not married when he was under 18. 

 

I understand that he would be an F2A case and would age out and become an F2B case, if he doesn't receive his NOA2 before his 21st birthday.

 

What happens if he ages out and his mother becomes a naturalized citizen, 3 years after she becomes a LPR? Does that help or change his case for the better?

He'd be 22 then and naturalization would move him over to F1. Age at parent's naturalization overwrites normal Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age. If CSPA age would let him immigrate as an F2A it's instrumental to not naturalize until the son is in US.

CSPA Age is calculated as follows:

• Actual age on the date the priority date became current or date the I-130 was approved if the category is current
• minus time the I-130 was pending.

So:

Her son's birthday is October 22nd

Lets say your wife enters as a permanent resident and files an I-130 on June 22nd.

The I-130 current processing for F2A child varies on service center, but it's over 3 years across the board (my guess is that USCIS sits on applications like this to allow more to fall under CSPA). Lets just say USCIS sits on it for exactly 3 years.

That means that the son would be covered under CSPA until he's 24 years old on October 22, 2029.

Priority dates only move on the 1st of the month, so his priority date would have to become current (according to the final action dates chart) by October 1st, 2029.

Then he has 1 year to file DS-260 to lock in his age, assuming he didn't file early under the dates for filing chart in case of which he's good to go once the priority date becomes current. He should do this ASAP since a retrogression would prevent him from filing, but it wouldn't knock him off once he's already locked in.

He has to remain unmarried until he's in US.

Your wife should not naturalize until he's in US.

16 hours ago, God’s Grace27 said:

Hi guys, I received an update on my VAWA case status stating that my name was updated, although I haven't changed my name or address recently. The only recent update was my lawyer filing for expedited processing in January, which was denied. Any idea what this update means?

 

Thank you 

"Name was updated" and "address was applied" are basically looked at and did nothing status updates, my guess is that in their system putting the case back in the queue involves doing something to it, and these are the simplest options available. Basically - someone took it off the queue to look at it to see if it warrants an expedite and ticked the option for name update in order to put it back.

20 hours ago, momshie said:

Hi,

On I-30 form on the class admission; petitioner for child over 21yrs is under F32 category (petitioner arrived as derivative of spouse) do we answer Yes or No on the question "Did you gain lawful permanent residence status through marriage to US citizen or lawful permanent residence".  The answer seems Yes but would come to mind that this could be more directly related to those who has been petition directly by their spouse. 

 

 

Answer no. That question is mainly meant to weed out people who came as IR or F2A spouses (VAWA spouses also count), divorced, and are now trying to sponsor a new spouse where there's additional requirements (be an LPR for 5+ years, naturalize, spouse died, or you prove by clear and convincing evidence that the previous marriage was not entered into to avoid immigration laws).

This section is not applicable for derivative spouses in any category that allows them, and it's not applicable to sponsoring one's child anyways.

On 4/5/2024 at 9:26 AM, Adri.usa said:

if she files the vawa and tells them at the second interview that her vawa was filed would she still be put in removal or can they hold the I- 485 until after vawa approval?

Bring an I-360 receipt notice to the interview and have them switch the I-485 over.

If she doesn't have the receipt letter instead tell them that it was filed/will be filed, and to hold the I-485 in abeyance and she'll get them the I-360 ASAP. Then mail in a copy to the field office that did the interview.

This is what's known as transfer for underlying basis, I-485 doesn't get denied, it just gets moved from one petition to the other and USCIS won't place someone with a pending I-485 into removal proceedings.

On the bright side one does not have to pay another filing fee for I-485 while doing so. On the other side, obviously nothing can be done about the I-485 until the I-360 is approved, so the I-485 will get sent to Vermont or Nebraska and sit there until I-360 is approved.

I'm guessing this is regarding the new fee schedule, you'll be fine:

10 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

He is your biological child?  if yes,  then

He is USC or LPR?  If yes,  then

then he qualifies as relative

 

INA 212(i)(1)

• Qualifying relatives are generally limited to applicants’ U.S. citizen and LPR spouses and parents.

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-9-part-b-chapter-1

then

If he does not qualify as not your biological son,  u can forget this petition (IR5)

the USC father can come and marry and file a spouse visa 

go thru the long process and if mentioned to apply for the waiver at interview,  then file one

You are misreading what you are posting. There's a difference between being a relative (i.e. having some sort of family connection), being a relative who can sponsor (USC parent, USC spouse, USC son/daughter, USC sibling over 21, LPR parent, LPR spouse) and being a qualified relative for a waiver, which for fraud waivers is limited solely to USC/LPR spouses and parents of the applicant/beneficiary.

No idea where you are getting that:

1. He's not a biological son

2. That'd matter in the first place, adopted children can sponsor their parents, as can children that were legitimated despite lack of a blood relation, as can stepchildren as long as the marriage was entered before the child's 18th birthday, divorce or death of the parent doesn't automatically terminate a stepchild-stepparent relationship either.

Moreover, the sponsor and the qualifying relative do not have to be the same person. So it is possible for a USC son/daughter to petition the mother in IR5 and for her LPR spouse to be the qualifying relative for a waiver. Doesn't even have to be a family sponsorship category.

18 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

Info on the reason for the misrep would be very helpful so that people can advise you better, and also info on why your son isn't a qualifying relative? t. 

Son/daughter/child simply isn't a qualifying relative for a misrepresentation waiver (INA 212(i)). Only spouse/parent(s) are.

Same with unlawful presence waivers.

Child/son/daughter is a qualifying relative for CIMT waivers for example.

17 hours ago, Justwaiting516 said:

Hi all,

 

I went on the uscis site and it has now updated our form's processing time to 39 months, up from 37.5 last month. Has anyone heard what is happening with uscis this year, I thought the processing time was supposed to speed up because they hired a whole different team (HART) to be processing the vawa forms but it just seems like the wait time keeps going higher and higher.

 

@Demise

 

Thanks and hope y'all have a great week.

I half suspect that they put the estimated time on like the 95th percentile (they claim that it's the 80% mark but I don't think that's very accurate). Basically they get to tell most service request "sit down and wait" since most except the unlucky few will fall within their claimed time limit.

Now, I'm not exactly sure how long it takes I-360 lately since I haven't been paying close attention to it. Mine was approved back in 2020 after 27 months and I was quite the outlier.

On the flip side my local field office lists 17.5 months for I-485, I filed mine back in mid-June 2023 and have an interview at end of April.

Last part is that they recently (1-1.5 years ago?) switched systems and basically ended up adopting a last-in-first-out approach on applications. Basically whatever is in the new system gets processed fairly quickly, whatever is left behind in the old system gets worked on very slowly, the overestimate on processing times likely is meant to keep people quiet in the old slow queue.

35 minutes ago, J2020 said:

Is Covid vaccine still a requirement?

Yeah

Got an interview notice. That's annoying, I thought that getting an RFE for medicals means it was waived. Oh well.

7 hours ago, New display name said:

She received her Conditional permanent residence in 2021, we filed removal of conditions in 2023, removal of conditions is currently pending, can she she sign this form? Will it be considered claim of citizenship? 

No. "US Person" means solely from the tax law perspective and that includes permanent residents and then everyone else that has lived more than enough days in US to be considered a resident for taxation, pretty much in order to be considered a "non-resident alien" and get to skip on taxes you have to essentially come and go very infrequently.

So yeah, she can sign it without any issues, she's claiming to be "or US person" so there's no false claim of citizenship going on here.

On 3/20/2024 at 12:35 PM, FirstTimer said:

 

Green Card was produced on March 8th, 2024 and on March 12th, 2024 Case was approved. But since than no update. 

The green card being produced is a bit of a legal fiction from USCIS. That's just when they order it to be printed, it likely doesn't exist until the day when they mail it out.

3 hours ago, wazzujoel said:

 

Thank you @Boiler and @Crazy Cat! 

 

Yes she is filing under CAA 1 day after the 1 year anniversary of arriving in the US. She arrived 4/7/2023, and it will be post marked 4/8/2024. 

Then there's no underlying petition in that case. Part 2, she'll tick box 1.f. box 1 for "The Cuban Adjustment Act", Part 2, items 3 for the receipt number and date of the underlying petition will just be left blank or she can write "N/A" in there.

On 3/15/2024 at 2:30 PM, Dreamer7 said:

Feb 2022 i360 was showing “approved” today I got another notification “new card is being produced” 

Is this for ead? I’ve already got renewed ead which is good for 5 years

Yeah that's the C31 EAD. Basically there's a box on the I-360 for VAWA cases "I'm in the United States and request an Employment Authorization Document" if you tick it, upon I-360 approval they will issue you a C31 EAD. You can have multiple EADs, just use the C09 one since it's the better deal.

5 minutes ago, Mahi Bansi said:

Hi fam!

 

I request if you can provide your opinion to my situation as I’m getting a little anxious. So, my ex-wife has been an abuser all through my marriage. I filed for Vawa in March-2022 and is still under process. I got separated in Jan-2022 and filed for divorce which got finalized in Sep-2023. I made sure to send her the original copy by mail, and pdf copy by email as well as through phone the day I received the divorce degree. She texted me a week ago asking about divorce and emailed me at same time asking to contact here otherwise threatening to get government involved. She says she wants to address something immediately and urgently but we have already divorced and maybe she forgot we got divorced because in the email she said “hey its your wife here”. I’m getting very anxious because I don’t want any contact with her. Should I not respond at all or should I just respond to never contact me as we are divorced and attach divorce copy along with proof that I sent her those last year. I am scared as she is crazy and might try to reach out to govt (USCIS) to harm me. She threatened the same when we lived together. Please advice. 

Block her and forget her, if she keeps trying otherwise then get a family lawyer and have them send her a cease and desist, followed by filing a no contact or restraining order.

USCIS is prohibited by law from taking anything the abuser says into account for VAWA cases, similarly USCIS as a matter of policy doesn't take former spouses seriously because if they had to investigate every marriage that went sideways with a salty US Citizen then that'd be literally the only thing they'd be doing.

13 hours ago, quistarrok said:

Sister and her husband are both Russians. US embassy in Russia is closed. That it why they will need to get immigrant visa in 3rd country and I need to pick US embassy in a 3rd country. Any potential issues here with US embassy in 3rd country?

 

They enter DV lottery every year.  

Biggest issue is just getting there. Probably should designate Almaty, Kazakhstan or Tashkent, Uzbekistan as the processing post. Warsaw, Poland is the currently designated as the processing post for Russian citizens but Poland basically bans Russians from entry, though that could be worked around by flying to any other Schengen Zone country (e.g. Germany) and crossing over the border into Poland (internal borders for Schengen are unstaffed and don't perform any kind of inspection).

Alternatively you could probably just put Moscow, Russia as the post and deal with it once the time for an interview comes. What you put on the I-130 is more of gentle suggestion than a strict requirement on the state department, they will schedule it wherever they see fit and if that doesn't work for you for any reason you have to argue with the state department to move it elsewhere. Only thing that designating the post on the form does is tell USCIS "this person is abroad, forward this I-130 to the national visa center on approval" with the alternate option being "this person is in US, hold onto it for AOS".

47 minutes ago, jaysaldi said:

 

 

This is what she has done for the last two years, when the green card that authorizes entry to the USA bears a different name from her Cambodian passport.  She carries the marriage certificate.

 

But in those situations, she would be "flying on the Cambodian passport" under her maiden name and CBP would get its advance passenger information of her arriving on the Cambodian passport, despite her having green card in married name.

 

I just thought maybe the process might have to be different now. Like she can't show passport A to match the booking and then   show passport B in new name as proof she can enter the country. I worry the airline won't allow it.  Maybe I'm overthinking this.

You probably are, it's common for one spouse to take another's last name on marriage (generally wife taking husband's with other options being possible), if the photos and dob match, and you have a marriage certificate that bridges the two names then the airline will understand that this is the same person. Their biggest concern is boarding people who are not authorized the enter US because they get fined for that.