Demise

Don't bother trying to fix that because realistically that's not an error. The thing about having multiple nationalities is that generally country A believes you to be solely their citizen and generally country B believes you to be solely their citizen. Pakistan also has Jus Soli, so by being born there you're most likely a citizen (unless you were born to foreign diplomats or enemy soldiers). Do you have both? Most likely. Both US and Pakistan permit multiple nationalities, Pakistan doesn't strip their citizenship unless you become a citizen in a country where renunciation is a requirement to naturalize, in other words - you become a citizen of a country that doesn't permit multiple nationalities (e.g. Japan). So yeah, submit that birth certificate of your kid and just ideally have something to link that entry listing you as a Pakistani to you. If you have a certificate of citizenship then that "lists a country of former nationality", otherwise you'd likely need to get a FOIA of your A-file, your Pakistani birth certificate, or a DNA test.

So the expiration date on the visa itself doesn't matter. It's the date of entry + 1 year. Other than that, the proof in question just has to be valid as of the date when USCIS gets it. Even if it takes longer than the expiration of the proof (again, date of entry + 1 year) then IR5 isn't conditional so the presumption is that the petitioner remains an LPR. Even if they would RFE for copy of the CG then well, that'd still count for purposes of CSPA.

They can file immediately, each kid will need their own I-130. At the I-130 stage only things that're needed are: 1. Proof of permanent residency: generally that's a green card but in this case the stamped immigrant visa is a valid proof. They don't even need an SSN at this point and if they don't have it yet then just leave it blank and explain in the last section "Entered recently, haven't been issued a SSN as of the date of filing this form". 2. Proof of relationship: This will be the kids' birth certificates with certified translation if not in English. In any case, best to get the ball rolling ASAP. The 18 year old will be cutting it close since the F2A backlog is about 3 years these days. Now, CSPA will definitely help, it allows the time the I-130 is pending to count against the actual age. Formula is as follows: Age at date of visa availability - time petition was pending = CSPA age. Then if this comes out to under 21 the sibling has 1 year to "seek to acquire" permanent residency, generally that's filing DS-260 (if abroad) or I-485 (if in US). Age at date of visa ability is the date the priority date becomes current or the date the petition was approved, whichever is later. Other considerations: Petitioner's naturalization overwrites normal CSPA calculations, there it's basically under 21 - IR2, over 21 - F1. So in some cases naturalization can actually make things worse. The kids have to stay unmarried, marriage will just kill the petition (unless the parent's a citizen at that point where it'll drop it to F3).

No, that's free for dependents, https://www.uscis.gov/g-1055?form=i-765 Scroll down you'll find: If you are filing for a renewal EAD under one of the following categories: (c)(9) Persons seeking adjustment of status as a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, self-petitioner (including derivatives); also (c)(10) Abused spouses and children of a lawful permanent resident or U.S. citizen applying for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status under INA section 240A(b)(2); (c)(14) Deferred action if filed by a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Form I-360 self-petitioner (including derivatives); (c)(31) Principal beneficiaries or derivative children of an approved Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petition; or All of these are listed as having online and paper filing fees of $0. (c)(9) is the normal one (pending I-485 based on pending or approved I-360). (c)(10) is cancellation of removal (pending EOIR-42B). (c)(14) is deferred action from a prima facie determination (in event you can't file I-485 for some reason like final order and you need the I-360 approval to reopen/terminate). (c)(31) is approved I-360. Those are all the categories a VAWA self-petitioner and children thereof can generally get an EAD under and they're all free, initial, renewal, and even replacements.

VAWA (both I-360 and I-751) generally doesn't require anything truly extreme all in itself. Don't take it personally OldUser, I respect you, but I just think that saying what you said is a disservice to those living in messed up relationships who could use VAWA to escape or subsequently recover but think that "well, it's not that bad, someone has it worse", etc. "Extreme cruelty" in most cases is a pattern of behavior (death by a thousand cuts if you will, however a single really messed up event could satisfy it as well), battery is a simpler one since well "(s)he only hit me once" is enough to tick that box. In fact most RFEs (generally in I-360 cases) I've seen were for the bona fides of the marriage, which yes is a requirement for VAWA waivers as well, the only things you really get by filing a VAWA waiver is getting to skip the divorce requirement and get to naturalize sooner (3 years rather than 5). Does OP have a case for a VAWA waiver? Probably. It's definitely worth exploring with a lawyer. That being said, divorce waiver is the simpler one since all you need to do is divorce and prove the marriage was legit while it lasted, so it's really more of the same kind of proofs that you've used I-485 (more bills, insurance, birth certificate of the kid, etc). Finally, you can seek multiple grounds for a waiver on a single I-751. Worst that'd happen is they'd call you for an interview where you can just drop the ones that can't be approved.

Normally getting an RFE for medicals means that they've waived your interview, so ideally - an approval. Normally if they want to interview you, they'll send you a courtesy notice to get the medical done, and then the interview notice will state to bring it with you to the interview. That's not always the case, I've had an RFE for medicals and then got interviewed as well. However I've had a messy immigration history (EWI, removal proceedings, marriage, I-130, reopened proceedings, admin closed proceedings, I-360, recalendar/terminate proceedings, I-485), I believe that with AOS after an EWI they have to interview you as a matter of policy though that rarely comes up since there's few ways you can AOS after an EWI (essentially just VAWA, SIJ, 245(i), and some really rare special categories). How long, depends on the field office and just plain luck. Should you be worried about an I-360 interview? No. We aren't exactly sure what the interviews on that will look like exactly, I personally believe they will use those more to question questionable marriages since in general they don't question the abuse parts unless you write complete nonsense. Finally the biggest part of it all is that's for cases where the I-360 is currently pending. Everyone right now who has an I-485 with the field office had the I-360 already approved at VSC, so the new rules aren't applicable in your case anyways.

No, that's not a factor.

Partially. https://hsdimmigrationlawyer.com/uscis-to-start-conducting-interviews-for-select-vawa-self-petitioners/ Basically it looks like they will be doing interviews for I-360 and I-485 at the same time, similar to how with a normal marriage an interview handles both an I-130 and I-485. Part of it is a knee-jerk reaction to some fraud investigations, part of it is working through the backlog by offloading a part of the I-360 onto the local field offices. It doesn't appear like they will do interviews for standalone I-360. Also keep in mind that they won't just interview everyone. Interviews on the I-360 will likely be either "everything looks okay, you just got randomly selected" or the tough cases where after an RFE and a NOID they're still not sure what to do about you (though they could just throw those for an interview rather than RFE, like they question the marriage bring proofs and do a show and tell about them in person), or the cases where they have to interview you due to some messy immigration history (like myself), or your lawyer is filing bogus petitions and they want to build a case against the lawyer. Most likely, most will just coast to a decision without an interview and those who get interviewed will just get asked some questions about the I-360.

Well, there's your answer. AOS asks for the most recent entry since one of the main requirements for eligibility being that you were admitted or paroled into the US. On the I-485 list the entry and expiration dates associated with that I-94. DACA generally asks for the first entry since you might've left and re-entered multiple times, as long as trips were "brief and innocent" they don't break continuous presence for DACA. In the unlikely event that they grill you about it just say that, originally came in or around May 2000, left and returned a few times, last entry was on March 21, 2001.

Ask the senator to inquire on the I-601 instead. But do expect a "it'll be done when it's done" kind of answer. I-290B and I-485 will just sit in the air until the I-601 gets a decision, then you know, if I-601 is denied then I-290B and I-485 are toast. If I-601 is approved that's when they can properly take a second crack at it.

VAWA naturalization fact sheet: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/fact-sheets/DO_FactSheet_NatzForVAWALawfulPermResidents_V3_508.pdf N-400 instructions, page 13: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/n-400instr.pdf Policy manual, Volume 12, Part 3, chapter 3, section F: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-g-chapter-3 So basically you have to submit all the general documents (the ones that they want from everyone), then for the VAWA part: If you have an IB1 or IB6 green card that's proof in itself. If it's IR1, IR6, or IF1 then you'd need to include a copy granting you an I-751 on basis of VAWA. If it's B21, B26, BX1, BX6, then it gets a bit more complicated since in this case you'd likely need to prove that the abusive spouse naturalized (3 years would count from date of their naturalization). I wasn't really able to find much for having USCIS check their record by A number. If it's Z14 then you'd need to prove that you were married (or believed you were married) (since COR can be obtained on basis of a mutual child being abused by a citizen or LPR, and in case of LPR you'd likely need to prove that they've naturalized).

For each you need the following: I-130 - $675 (paper), $625 (online) I-485 - $1440 I-765 (optional, recommended) - $260 I-131 (optional, you can skip it) - $630 I-864 - $0 I-693 (can be submitted later) - $0 but the civil surgeon will charge you for it G-1145 (recommended, not required) - $0 Your call whether to file the I-130 online and then send in the other stuff after you get the receipt notice. Personally I'd just eat the $50/each and file everything at the same time. One thing of note, make sure you have proofs of those entries, be it the physical I-94, old passport with entry stamp, or a FOIA with CBP. Also for putting it all together, split it into two separate packages with separate payments. It can go in one envelope but make sure those two application+proof sets are two separate items. If some proof is duplicated (e.g. kid's birth certificate) then you have to submit it twice.

Strictly speaking, sometime around when the company does its W-2s (which would in general be sometime between Jan 1st and Feb 15th). Yeah you can be hired without an SSN yet, where the company can write in nine zeroes on I-9 and W-4 for the time being. In any case, most won't ask for it until you get and accept the offer and recruitment in general gets slower the bigger the entity hiring you is. In all reality, most haven't experienced this and would be iffy, so for your own sake you should just apply for one as soon as you can.

I'm actually amazed you managed to get anything by calling USCIS. VAWA privacy protections outright hide most information from the view of the call center employees, so they might see that it started in Vermont, but they generally won't see what happened to it down the line. That's also the reason why the standard operating procedure here has been to just ask a congressman/senator to inquire with USCIS on your behalf. Call center either won't see anything or won't see the whole picture of what's going on. VAWA units are also a black hole that in theory you can write to but they never respond on their own. 1. Not for VAWA. They (as in Vermont or Nebraska) generally will hold I-485 until the I-360 is approved, then pass it to the NBC which will do their own review and can RFE you, then they'll pass it to the local field office which can also RFE you, interview you, or both, and the field office will be the one to issue the ultimate decision on the I-485. 2. Depends. It could be just for medicals. If it's an old filing from back when I-944 was a thing then they could want an I-864W from you (RFE notice will be boilerplate for I-864 and sponsor's taxes, ignore that, fill out an I-864W and send that in instead). If there's any other concerns like arrests they could also ask for that. Basically we can guess, but you won't know until you see the notice. 3. Probably like a week or two. These things go by standard mail, so the closer you are to Lee's Summit, Missouri and the closer you are to a major city the sooner you should get it. If you don't get anything in 2 weeks then you should ask a congressman or senator to nudge them to re-send it or get you an electronic copy.

Looks like those things go to Lincoln, NE these days:

No. Cheapest solution here is: N-400 for wife ($710) US passport for stepson ($195 for booklet and card, I'd recommend getting both) I would also just recommend wife getting her passport at the same time too (another $195) but stepson is the only one who really needs it as proof of citizenship. Other than that, you do not need to do an N-600 or N-400 for the stepson if wife naturalizes while he's under 18.

Wife will file N-400 and naturalize. As long as the naturalization happens while he's under 18 he'll become a citizen by operation by law. Then you've got two options: 1. Your wife/stepson can file N-600 for a certificate of citizenship. 2. Your wife/stepson can apply for a US passport for him. The above are just to get proof of citizenship. If you are feeling financial strain then just get the US passport and if he needs the N-600 for a security clearance or something down the line he can handle it on his own. Other than that there's plenty of such derived citizens that just live perfectly fine with just a passport.

You might be able to contest it unless it did actually disinherit you (e.g. "to my wife Sharon I leave nothing"), especially if the marriage was entered into after the will was signed or if there's another later will created over in Honduras. But that's really a question better poised for an estate attorney rather than this site. We're here mostly for immigration aspects like if you wanted to get a widow petition, get a green card, and just keep on living in US. When it comes to the question you asked originally, I'll just restate what I said previously: US doesn't do any kind of recording, transfers, or legitimation of foreign marriages and just holds them valid as long as they don't violate US law. Similar should hold to any foreign will if there is one.

No, that would require an actual law to repeal it and all in all we're pretty low on the chopping block. VAWA reauthorization is more just re-funding the other parts of the law (DV shelters, etc). Immigration parts just exist separate from that and have no expiration date. For example, prior reauthorization expired on Feb 15, 2019 and wasn't reauthorized until March 15, 2022 (through FY2027, so current exp date is Oct 1, 2027). As you might tell from all the people here who filed sometime during that window (myself included), we were able to file it just fine. He can make other parts more annoying however. His former AG (Jeff Sessions) made terminating removal proceedings next to impossible which really delayed me in getting my own green card until Biden's AG (Merrick Garland) remembered that he's alive and overturned that decision. All in all I got delayed like almost 3 years because of that nonsense.

Yeah in this case you can do a single I-130 (F2A category will allow your stepson to tag along as a derivative). Note that if you naturalize before they're in US, the spouse will get upgraded to IR and the stepson will fall off. So if you are planning to naturalize before they'd immigrate, it might be a better idea to just file an I-130 for each. There's also some age considerations if the stepson was 18 or over at the time when you married or if you were to naturalize while he's over 21. If you married while he's over 18 then there's no stepparent-stepchild relationship between you two, and he's only able to tag along on the F2A as a derivative. CSPA allows one to count the time the I-130 was pending against age of the child in question (e.g. if it's pending 3 years, the priority date has to become current before he turns 24). Otherwise, if you naturalize while he's over 21 then as a F2A primary, he'd get downgraded to F1 because age at (step)parent's naturalization overwrites normal CSPA age. (As a derivative he'd just fall off regardless of age on account of wife being upgraded to IR which doesn't allow derivatives). If you naturalize while he's under 21, then he'd get upgraded to IR and would no longer be able to age out. Hopefully he's like 10 and this isn't a concern but it's better to just give this information in the event that it is applicable.

Well there's illegally because you entered without inspection, and there's illegally because you overstayed. In the latter case (overstay) at least OP should be able to file I-360 as a widow and adjust, provided it's been less than 2 years since spouse's death. In the former case (EWI) 204(l) should cover an I-601A provided OP has resided in US at the time of spouse's death and continues to reside in US. Proving bona fides might be harder depending on the circumstances since OP has said that they never lived together in US, however nothing in the law requires cohabitation specifically in US (like for example is a requirement for VAWA). Anyways OP, regarding estate law, US doesn't do any kind of registration of foreign marriages and basically just gives full faith and credit to foreign marriages as long as they're not prohibited under US law (e.g. polygamous marriages and you're the second or latter wife). So a translated Honduran marriage certificate is basically the document proving you're eligible to inherit from your late husband in absence of any will to the contrary.

I assume the kid immigrated as an IR2. Well first order of business is whether she's eligible for citizenship. For that you'd need to adopt her or for your wife to have naturalized. If wife's a citizen then you're good to go. In this case yeah you can apply. Things to submit are as follows (originals, will be returned later): 1. Wife's naturalization certificate or her US passport 2. Kid's passport with stamped immigrant visa 3. Kid's birth certificate with translation 4. Ideally some other proofs of physical custody (school records, vaccination records, etc). The birth certificate in this case handles the matters of custody since the father is a John Doe. If wife's not a citizen then well, kid isn't eligible for citizenship (and therefore a US passport) until wife naturalizes (before 18th birthday) or you adopt the kid (I believe before 16th birthday).

It's a bit complicated. Upon denial of I-485 you fall back onto the prior status. So if you have one that hasn't yet expired then you're good until that expires. If not then I-485 denial doesn't give you any kind of grace period. You are out of status as of the date of the denial, so if you want to cut your losses you should leave ASAP, however you do have 180 days to leave before re-entry bans kick in. Then when it comes to I-290B (motions to reopen or/and reconsider; I-485 normally doesn't let you file a direct appeal) it gets really messy since filing the form doesn't put you into period of authorized stay, however if that's approved and the I-485 gets approved then the period you were out of status just gets wiped. Similar with any kind of de novo review in removal proceedings. So if you are seeking adjustment in category where being out of status is not a concern (e.g. via marriage to a US citizen, either I-130 or I-129F), then it might be better to just file a new I-485 since that'd put you into another period of authorized stay unless removal proceedings were already initiated at the time. If not then only way to get AOS is to file the I-290B or fight it in court where you're not protected and if you lose on that then you'll get the re-entry ban on the way out.

Personally I'd do this through a senator/congressman. VAWA privacy protections make any kind of inquiries a mess. Though it also depends on where it went and what category it is, if it's a C10 (from COR) or C09 in removal proceedings then I think it might fall outside VAWA's privacy protections due to just going to a different place than the humanitarian units. Do you have any notice regarding it? Which office is listed on the bottom.

Reach out to your congressman/senator. It's possible the notice got lost in the mail or someone in USCIS screwed up and didn't process the I-765 or somehow misplaced it. Like all in all "issue or re-issue me a receipt notice" is not a huge ask. The receipt notice serves as an automatic extension for 540 days (has to be presented together with the EAD).