sweetlana

Hello! I need some advice. 
In the beginning of October, I received the RFE for I-693. Basically, I needed to have a new physical exam and I was supposed to submit my response by Nov.1 2022. In my town, there is only one civil surgeon at an urgent care clinic who is authorised to sign I-693 forms. So, I scheduled an appointment for Oct. 14. I had my physical exam and within two weeks time they were supposed to call me to invite to come in and finish the paper work. They never called me. I called them several times, visited in person and they kept sending me back saying that they would call whenever everything is ready. Now, I am past the deadline and I still don't have my paperwork. I feel frustrated and don't know what to do. I don't want to submit my application for a green card again, pay again and wait for at least a year again. I messaged to USCIS via my USCIS account and explained the situation. Also, I submitted the bank document indicating that I was at that clinic and paid for the physical exam. Additionally, I hope that I will be able to obtain some paper from the clinic in which they will confirm that the delay was not caused by me. But I don't keep my hopes high considering the way they treated me before. 
Do you have any ideas how to best handle my situation and whether it is possible to avoid submitting my GC application again? Thanks 

UPD: Just after I complained about my EAD card, the status of my application changed to "Card is being produced". YAY! (I wonder if USCIS officers visit this site.....:)))))I am so excited that I will finally be able to get a new driver's licence, open a bank account and apply for a job! 
Hope everyone else won't have to wait for it long. 

5 hours ago, PyGP04 said:

Same. Still waiting in NC. Starting to get really irritated. 😪

So sorry about that :(((  Thanks for letting me know. I feel better knowing that I am not the only one in this "boat". Hope we all receive some good news soon.

Is there anyone who hasn't received their EAD card yet? 

I am frustrated and annoyed. It has been 10 months already since I had applied. I know I am still within the processing time range, but It just feels very unfair that a lot of people who had applied 2-4 months later and they have already received their EAD card. I am not even talking about GC interviews. I know that with my Sacramento office I should not expect anything this year:(((

10 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

You and your husband can file jointly for 2021.  You use the SSN that you got because it is yours for life.  

You do not have to file a 2021 US tax return.  Your husband can choose to file married filing separately and only include his income.  

You can choose to be treated as a US taxpayer for 2021 and file a joint return with your husband.  You will need to include your foreign income for 2021.  You would get tax credits for foreign taxes paid.  

Figure out which way is best - filing jointly or him filing separately.  

Thank you very much for the extensive response! Very helpful!

Hi! I would like to get some advice on our specific case.

So, my husband, a US citizen, wants to file 2021 taxes. Him and I (K-1 beneficiary) have been married since May 2021.

I still haven't received neither EAD card nor GC card which means that I also don't have a SS card with my new last name. However, I have an SS card with my maiden name on it (received in the past while being on a student visa). 

So, obviously, my husband will have to file taxes as a married man, but what about me? Do I have to file taxes? (I haven't worked all this time and had no income). If yes, then can we file jointly? 
Thank you for your help in advance. 

8 hours ago, JeffAtl said:

We got our notice January 15 of K-1 approval.  Now its been nearly 45 days of silence.  They said we could inquire after 30 days if we heard nothing.  We did, and still nothing.  Really thought she'd be here by June, but now losing hope.  I know the next step is minimum of 3 months and we've lost 45 days already.  Anyone else going through this? She is in Kyiv and they never update the website.  Last update was November 15.  What gives?  We're so sick of the waiting! Makes it hard to plan anything, including her son's school here in the U.S.

Hey! I am sorry about what you feel. Totally get it as we are almost in the same boat (waiting for the embassy to reopen to schedule an interview). Try to get your case number from NVC via their inquiry page. It should be available already (usually takes 5-6 weeks for them to assign a number to a case). This way, you will be able to track your case and know when it gets to the embassy with the "ready" status. And please don't lose hope and don't get discouraged. It's extremely hard but in the end, it's totally worth it as you gonna spend the rest of your life with someone I believe you love very much. 
Also, I know that people already schedule interviews for visitor's visa (which is the lowest priority) for this summer . So, I believe that the wait is not gonna be long for K-1s.

You can also use the Passport Photos app. Use it to send your photo to your fiancee's nearest Walgreens/Walmart location where it can be printed out at the time you pick. Worked perfect for us. 

Around 5-6 weeks for the NVC to assign the number to your case, and then 3-4 weeks for the NVC to mail your case to the embassy in Kyiv. Time may vary due to Covid-19 related delays, backlogs, and etc. Also, keep in mind, that the US embassy in Kyiv does not conduct interviews atm, and nobody knows when they will resume their regular operations.

I assume it all depends on a person reviewing the case. We submitted one letter signed by both and got RFE:((. As a response to RFE, we prepared two separate letters and then we got our approval shortly. So, to be on the safe side, definitely prepare two separate letters.

@CinnamonToast Thank you very much for such an extensive response. Super helpful. 

10 hours ago, CinnamonToast said:

@sweetlana Did you already go for interview? I hope everything goes well!!!! 

 

For us, she was on time but she had to wait over 2.5 hours while others behind her went first. Full interview was about 25 min, they asked about 20 questions. restaurants were closed around embassy so had to wait outside in the freezing cold. The gentlemen that interviewed her was super nice. We got approved! ❤️ We saw roughly 8 individuals going for visa's and from what we could see by the paper color only 2 got approved.   most were handed sheets of red. I can go into detail about questions if you haven't already gone.

@CinnamonToast Thank you for the feedback. I really appreciate it.
We have just recently been approved by USCIS. So, I haven't had my interview yet. I was just curious to know what to expect when the time comes. Saying that there were 8 individuals going for visas, do you mean that they all were applying for K-1?
Also, did your fiancee receive the package from the embassy with the checklist and etc. prior to the interview or did she just follow the instructions provided on the website?

We finally got the approval! Yay!

NOA1 - Feb.28

NOA2 - Oct.28

@Greenbaum thank you one more time for helping with RFE. We sent everything the way you had recommended and got our approval two weeks later.

@CinnamonToast and @jandn_ukraine, when you are done with the interview, please share your experience as we also gonna go through it soon. Thank you and good luck! 🤞

7 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

Since he was never married to girl #1 then he should submit an avadavat from a close friend and one from his parents, signed and witness to demonstrate that they confirm what he is providing as his recollection of their relationship. Some countries keep track of this so if his country does then he should secure the necessary paperwork from the governmental agency that can verify that he is single and free to marry. I know the Philippines government keeps this information and I suppose others do to, but they would be a handful of countries. He should also detail the circumstances and highlight that he never married her.  These affidavits do not need to be long. One or two paragraphs with all facts. Keep the emotion out of the verbiage. 

 

Second item is simple. Just reproduce what you sent the first time. Sometimes items like this get "lost" and are asked again in the form of an RFE as they have done in your case. This is common request we see all the time. Never could explain it.

 

Create a cover letter and outline the letter to reflect a checklist of items that you are including and match the order that you attach the documents to the order of the checklist.

 

Any questions?

Thank you very much for your prompt reply and advice. 

So, @Greenbaum , you were absolutely right regarding our RFE. We finally received the letter with RFE, and it was NOT about the website we met on. They request two other things, and we will need help will responding to the RFE correctly. 

1. On the I-129F form, my fiance mentioned that in 2005 he had filed I-129F for some girl and the petition was approved by USCIS.  However, the girl did not get her K-1 visa because of breaking some Spanish immigration law. In the end of 2005, she and my fiance broke up. So, they never got married. Now USCIS requests legal termination of marriage with this girl and my question is: what should we send? What evidence should my fiance provide proving that he and that girl never got married? It was a long time ago, and they no longer communicate.

In 2007 my fiance got married with another lady, and in 2014 they divorced. The USCIS has a copy of the divorce decree. 

2. The second item is about the beneficiary's intent to marry. Originally,  we submitted the letter of Intent to Marry signed by both, and we also attached the following:

 - photo with the beneficiary's family on the engagement day

 - statements of family and friends in which they mentioned our wedding

 - iMessage conversations about our upcomming wedding

 - sample of the wedding invitation

 - photo of the beneficiary with the engagement ring 

So, what else is missing? How to respond correctly? Also, can my fiance submit a copy of my letter of Intent to marry to make things move faster?

Attaching our RFE.

Thank you for your help.We really appreciate it. 

@TBoneTX @Paul & Mary thank you very much!

8 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

All you need to do is to print the terms and conditions of the website if it is about IMBRA.

Thanks. What confuses me is this phrase from the TOS "The Site and Services are intended for use in the United States". Also, on the About page they write "Our services are available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. We remain committed to investigating and understanding what makes Christ-centered relationships successful by conducting ongoing, rigorous research to keep the matching algorithm up-to-date and relevant for domestic and international markets."   HOWEVER, they have users, both men and women, from all over the world. 

So, on the 30th of Sept the RFE was mailed to my fiance, and I am pretty sure that it's about the website we met on since we have't submitted any evidence proving that the website is not IMBRA. I was thinking about mailing the TOS but they seem kinda vague and unclear to me. So, I would really appreciate if someone could have an expert look at them and tell me if the website TOS are enough. Perhaps, @Greenbaum knows. 
Here is the link to the website https://www.triangleoflove.com/en-us/legal/terms/
I have also contacted the website administration. They are very slow to respond but they asked if I could provide a sample that they would use to write an official letter. Can anyone help with that? 
Thank you very much for any help. 

HI, guys! I need your help. We have received RFE and I am pretty sure that it's related to evidence proving that the website we met on is not IMBRA.
I was going to send the website Terms of Service but the terms seem kinda vague. I also contacted the site administration and asked if they could send some letter proving that they aren't IMBRA. The only response I've got from them was: Could you provide a sample? Of course, I did not have one. 

So, I would like to ask someone to look at the TOS and let me know if it's clear enough that the website is not IMBRA.
https://www.triangleoflove.com/en-us/legal/terms/
Also, perhaps somebody has a letter from some other website stating that the services they provide aren't related to IMBRA. I would  really appreciate if you could share it with me so I would use it as a sample. Thank you very much

1 minute ago, Olga88 said:

I just checked 22 june filers again....25 petitions were approved from that day already. 

This is SUPER unfair. Someone files in June and gets their petition adjudicated in August/September while others have to wait over 200 days:(

I feel like petitions received by USCIS on the 28th of Feb. are cursed. Based on what I've seen on the Case Tracker app (I used the search trick), only two petitions received on the28th have been adjudicated so far (one in July and the other one in August 19). No activity since Aug.19:((( It's sad and discouraging. 

3 minutes ago, stephcee said:

Now this is just wishful thinking, but I'm hoping since the furlough got cancelled the petition responses will pick up. If these people know they are keeping their jobs, they'll be more motivated. I know that if I knew I was going to be losing my jobs, I wouldn't be working as efficiently. 

Or I could be totally wrong. But I'm hoping I'm not. 

Based on the news release, things will slow down:(( They "saved" their employees by means of  "descoping of federal contracts that assist USCIS adjudicators in processing and preparing case files as well as a myriad of other support activities. Anticipated operational impacts include increased wait times for pending case inquiries with the USCIS Contact Center, longer case processing times, and increased adjudication time for aliens adjusting status or naturalizing". And nobody knows how it will impact I-129F cases in particular🤷‍♀️
https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-averts-furlough-of-nearly-70-of-workforce

Oh, I got it.  @Limey and @milimelo thank you very much for your assistance.

Just now, milimelo said:

You don’t need it. USCIS will run background checks with FBI. 

It's not for USCIS. It's for the US Embassy in Ukraine, for K-1 interview
https://ua.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee-visa/how-to-apply/
"Fiancée visa applicants must present a police certificate from all countries where they resided for 6 months or more after the age of 16, including the republics of the former USSR."