WeekendPizzaiolo

Digital is primarily for clerical convenience for applications that must be submitted by snail mail (AOS, I-751). By digitizing and storing docs in the cloud, I can more easily find documents when they're needed and forget about them otherwise. I hate paper so I have a high-speed wireless scanner to turn my mail into PDFs, but I keep anything important in paper form (official USCIS notices, titles, certificates) in a safe. There is no one size fits all relationship -- some people get married sooner than others. Different relationships will need to weight evidence differently. All chats seems excessive. We submitted zero chats. Some people submit a sample of chats that demonstrates continuity of the relationship over time. We submitted a video call log of date, time, duration, which we kept in Google Spreadsheets. We also kept a visit log in a different spreadsheet with another cloud storage folder of travel bookings. We submitted copies of all of our bookings (~150 pages). Some would say that's excessive. We had about five years of relationship photos and showed one per month (~10 pages total) including with friends and family. You can use Google Presentations/Powerpoint/Keynote to arrange the photos on standard 8.5x11" paper and print using the highest quality color at your local copy shop or FedEx Office. Almost all other documents we submitted were black & white photocopies.

Sorry that your wife's family is not very good. Some people get a raw deal when it comes to family. Without a joint sponsor, your wife really needs to increase her income so that your case meets the minimum requirements. Can you take some of the child rearing responsibilities while she works until the adjustment of status is approved? Without knowing where you live, it is really hard to assess what short and medium term employment opportunities might be. In Oakland CA, where I live, a hotel housekeeper makes on average $48K/year without overtime, and likely a bit more with overtime. To compute her income, simply multiply her pay check by the number of pay periods per year (e.g. x52 for weekly pay checks, x26 for biweekly, x12 for monthly). It's not ideal but I only saw my mother one day per week (if I was lucky) because she was working all the time, but there was always food to eat and a roof over our heads. Of course, I would have loved to have seen my mom much more during my childhood, but then we wouldn't have had anything to eat nor would we have had an apartment to live in. In your case, you either need to find a suitable joint sponsor or your wife needs to find a source of income that meets the minimum requirements. It's good to get this ready, however, it is not sufficient on its own to have an approvable case. From the government's perspective, without a suitable sponsor that meets requirements, the government cannot eliminate the doubt that a person would need public assistance, so the case is denied. As @Lemonslice wrote, joint sponsorship is a huge responsibility. It is possible for a sponsor to be liable for reimbursing the government for public charges incurred by the beneficiary for life. This would happen if the beneficiary never becomes a US citizen nor does the beneficiary work at least 40 quarters (10 years) as defined by the SSA. Sponsorship is not a pro forma act. This is why the most appropriate sponsor usually has a strong relationship with the US citizen spouse. A hypothetical sponsor would need to understand the severity of what they are agreeing to. If neither spouse has job prospects, joint sponsorship would be an act of extreme generosity. It's on the level of leaving a significant sum to someone in their will & testament IMHO, ie not something to take lightly.

We used USPS Priority Mail for AOS and FedEx for I-751. USPS Priority Mail is historically cheaper than FedEx but FedEx has new options that are competitive with USPS called FedEx OneRate. Anecdotally, FedEx was a bit faster in terms of getting a case number and receipt sent back. Here is the standard FedEx pricing from my zip code (Oakland) to Phoenix lockbox: This standard pricing allows you to use almost any packaging, which is not particularly useful if you're sending documents. You can save a bundle by clicking on the "One Rate" tab (see below). And then the rates go down from $66 down to $23 for 2-day service using a medium box. OneRate only allows a subset of FedEx boxes and envelopes (small, medium, large, envelope). We chose Deliver by 5 PM FedEx 2Day OneRate Medium Box but the package was delivered in 2 days at 9:30am anyway so there was no need to pay extra for the 10:30am guarantee. We affixed our own label with the ATTN I-751 (BOX 21200) in addition to the FedEx label. We received a receipt number a week after the package arrived at which point our check was also cashed.

As a US citizen who used to work in the UK on a visa, I remember those lengthy notice periods -- mine was 3 months! My understanding is that "resignation with immediate effect" is often a breach of contract and that a UK employer could sue for damages from the financial effects that results from one's sudden departure. The flipside is all UK employees get 5.6 weeks mandatory paid vacation regardless of the job and one could sue for burnout. Some UK employment contracts allow employers to give "garden leave" after an employee's resignation, which could be served in the US, but then the employer would be giving "free money" to the resigning employee.

It is by no means necessary to travel with your fiancé. Many people travel alone on a K-1 with success but entry is never guaranteed even with one's fiancé present. Make sure he remembers to bring the yellow packet. After admission and customs inspection (including inspection of checked bags), remember that he must physically put his checked bag(s) on the transfer belt if he is connecting on a domestic US flight. At some airports, it's easy to miss this step due to a lack of strong visual cues so some people accidentally exit the transfer area and must wait in line at a check-in counter. At Houston (IAH), the transfer baggage area is huge so it's almost impossible to miss. This step is often not intuitive for people who have never travelled internationally before. As others have mentioned, being serious and answering everything truthfully goes a long way with CBP. Have him dispose of any banana peels, apple cores, or unconsumed meal service items before landing. Even an undeclared banana peel can result in denied admission. Those delicious bags of dried Indonesian shrimp chips -- it's a very good idea to not bring them. Declare any and all food items always even if a declaration is not required because the rules can be so fine-grained that the declarability can be borderline. When I traveled to Indonesia, the officer asked if I had anything to declare; I said "coffee and chocolate", and he thanked me, and let me on my way. There is always a chance that any declared food is confiscated (& destroyed), but one removes significant exposure to penalties, fines, and denied admission by declaring as long as said declared items are not illegal! One's initial entry is a terrible time to try to import fish though it is allowed under very specific circumstances. By not bringing any (borderline) declarable items, one greatly reduces the complexity of CBP handling their admission into the US. It's entirely up to you whether to join them, but it would not necessarily be a waste of a trip. Indonesia is a very enjoyable and affordable place (~$70/night 4-star hotels, ~$15 for a fancy meal, and ~$5 for a normal meal). Flights between US and Indonesia are not cheap (~$1K on the low end). However, traveling back with your fiancé is not a requirement of the K-1. It's a good practice to take photos regularly as you live your lives together in the US. Good luck on the rest of your journey. Best wishes to both of you.

We used WorldNomads 2017-2019 for visits before the K-1. See https://www.worldnomads.com/usa/travel-insurance. They provide emergency, non-routine medical coverage up to $5m. This gave us peace of mind when biking, hiking, and kayaking. We now use them for family members who visit. They have 12 month plans that cover multiple trips across multiple countries, if desired. For US residents with US health insurance traveling outside the US, the GeoBlue by BlueCross BlueShield plan covers non-emergency medical expenses in almost every country outside the US. A GeoBlue policy is void without US health insurance. For more serious ailments, GeoBlue reserves the right to require you to travel back to the US for follow-on treatment. I have been subscribed to it for over a decade. I later put my spouse on it after the green card was received. We have never had to use either of these insurances.

It's interesting that it was denied and not rejected, as the USCIS Manual Volume 1 Chapter 2 says that signature errors usually result in a rejection ("USCIS rejects any benefit request with an improper signature and returns it to the requestor"). Usually a denial is the result of an adjudication (see USCIS Volume 1 Chapter 9 -- "If, after evaluating all evidence submitted (including in response to a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), if applicable), the officer determines the requestor is ineligible for the benefit sought, the officer denies the benefit request."). As others have mentioned, I would refile. Filling immigration forms is one area that requires the utmost care to ensure accuracy. Mistakes just increase your exposure (and need to be corrected when noticed!) Just save yourself future headaches by looking over everything multiple times, preferably on multiple days. Assuming your spouse is not stateside, it's probably good to start being careful earlier in the process as the stakes may be higher with later stages of the process. Certain filing errors will lead to a rejection without your application being considered further (as opposed to denial): using the wrong version of a form missing biographic data for the petitioner or beneficiary missing a required signature (see USCIS Manual Volume 1 Chapter 2) not dating your signature lacking a handwritten (ink) signature (e.g. wrongly using an e-signature) At each phase, make sure you read over the instructions very carefully. Personally, I highlight with one color those instructions that don't apply to our case and another color those instructions that do. Then I can focus my attention on the ~20% of the instructions that apply to my case. I then make out a draft form in pencil and then once the data is complete, I start a typewritten PDF in Acrobat. With my spouse, I look over every response on the form 3 times on 3 different days. We check the form versions. We check the signatures and dates. We then go through the document checklist. We look over the cover letter to make sure the documents are ordered according to the list in the cover letter. It may seem a bit overkill, but I personally sleep better this way. It's worth pointing out this excerpt from the I-130 instructions that you will also see in instructions for almost every form. So, for example, if an applicant had no children, and the response to the number of children was omitted, the application can be considered incomplete. Conditional instructions (e.g. "if X, answer Question Y" or "if any") may allow answers to be omitted. In my draft form, I highlight required responses based on instructions, which helps for reviewing the form for omission errors later. VisaJourney has examples of I-130s here, but bear in mind that the form versions in the example are outdated.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Well, it worked for us in 2022. Fingers crossed.

Sorry to hear about your mother's knee. I hope it's acute and short-term. It would appear that NJ requires 5 years of permanent residency to be eligible for NJ's medicaid (see NJ Medicaid Requirements and NJ FamilyCare Immigrant FAQ) : Some neighboring states, such as NY and PA, do not have the 5 year requirement for permanent residents, but she would need to reside in different state to qualify. If I were you, I would gather pricing information from NJ ACA marketplace (see here). Since most people over 65 are eligible for medicare, you might have difficulty getting pricing online through the NJ Compare Plans and Costs website, which refers you to the medicare website if the age entered is at least 65. So you may need to call the number 833-677-1010. There is a 60 day window for a special enrollment period after a qualifying life event (such as moving from a foreign country). With an ACA subsidy, the premium can be quite low. While you are navigating the bureaucracy for insurance, consider taking her to a charity clinic. The National Association of Free and Charity Clinics has a nationwide directory here: https://nafcclinics.org/find-clinic/. Some clinics are free while others have a sliding scale based on financial means.

Some apartment complexes will let an applicant sign a lease if they have at least 12-24 months of rent in their bank or brokerage account. I have done this before. I agree with @Coco8 who suggested not renting a place without seeing it first and who also suggested renting from individual owners. Individual owners often are more flexible than large commercial complexes. The leases are often shorter and easier to read too. Often condos (owned by individuals) are bigger than apartments anyway and give more value on a dollar per square foot basis. Zillow will allow you to search for condos and houses for rent. Interesting. The I-9 List A allows a foreign passport with a valid and current I-94 with an endorsement for employment. Since this is not for employment purposes, but for identification purposes for an apartment, I do not see why this endorsement would be necessary. Different apartment complexes might have different policies so you might try another one.

How would the NVC know where to send your case if the desired consulate was not provided in the I-129F? According to this post, you may need to do a public inquiry during the NVC stage to change consulates after the I-129F is submitted.

Yes, it is possible. The only risk is if the work visa expires before the interview. You also have to complete document requirements for both countries. There may be a delay in case the consulate needs to verify documents or other details with a consulate in your home country. My Brazilian fiancé completed the K-1 in Montreal, Canada while studying in the country on a student visa. We put in our I-129F Montreal as the requested consulate. After the NVC stage, we had an extra step before Packet 3. The consulate requested by e-mail for a copy of a valid, unexpired non-visitor visa (work, student, or PR) before they could proceed with Packet 3. This added an extra few weeks and pushed us into the following month's interview batch and added perhaps another week or so after the interview.

That makes sense! My first California ID was in 2005 when I moved here for grad school before REAL IDs were a thing. I showed my Connecticut Birth Certificate back then but the new system requires re-verification.

You can try TransferWise. They have special agreements with many governments to open multi-currency accounts. I had back-to-back flight cancellations in Europe and the European airline could only refund the airfare to an EU bank account. As a US citizen, I was able to open a EU account in Brussels using TransferWise. Residents of New Zealand and the UK can also open multi-currency accounts (see here). The TransferWise US account is offered through Federal Community Savings Bank (see here).

Sigh. I have dealt with this DMV before when I was trying to upgrade to a REAL ID as a US citizen. I would definitely try a different, more helpful employee or go to a different office. It increases the amount of work the employee needs to do. Persistence helps in these situations. Except an AB 60 license is issued if a hypothetical person were undocumented, which can't be used for federal purposes including flying, and state law prohibits use of AB 60 data by CA Secretary of State (CA 2265(d)). To receive a REAL ID, lawful presence documents must be presented to the DMV for verification (see here). USCIS is used to verify legal status for California REAL IDs according to the DMV FAQ: My spouse tried upgrading to a driver's license after passing the driving test and received an AB 60 license despite presenting an unexpired green card. We only found out when the card arrived in the mail. Now, we need to go back to the DMV to convert the ID to a REAL ID.

I totally understand your worry -- Google searches can do that. One must be careful with this as some search results may refer to out-of-date secondary content. I am very curious about the sources of these quotes. When I look at official government sources, such as the USCIS manual and HHS guidance, a less worrying picture emerges. If you refer to the USCIS manual available on their website (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-b-chapter-6), it states that HHS decides on the diseases and the circumstances of that disease that makes someone inadmissible. HHS periodically adds or removes disease on the federal register through the regulatory process. The latest Part B does not include Hepatitis B. The manual also mentions flexibility for HHS to account for emerging worldwide public health threats, such as outbreaks or severely infectious diseases, but this is only for panel physicians for examinations conducted abroad. HepB is not listed in CDC's communicable disease addendum (https://www.cdc.gov/immigrant-refugee-health/hcp/panel-physicians/communicable-diseases-addendum.html). There some text: Since this is a well-managed congenital HepB infection, 2, 3, and 4 seem like a stretch. As others have stated, if you have a complete DS-3025, you can submit this document for the medical portion of your I-485 Adjustment of Status.

It's up to you whether to include it, but an invitation letter for sponsorship for a visa that does not allow sponsorship is non-standard and will raise eyebrows (CO will use System 2 thinking). They will already have a copy of the non-standard letter in your file from your B1/B2 application. However, two letters of intent to marry will be needed (see Step 4 of the guide) for I-129F - one for you, one for your fiance. Show continuity of your relationship by having regular video calls when you are apart and continuing visits in Brasil to the extent PTO and finances allow.

FWIW, I filed an I-129F without a job. I had just finished a 7 year continuous block as a software engineer working very long hours so I took some time off. I had prepared a I-134 for my then fiancé's interview as well as a joint sponsor. I had considered using assets in my affidavit but it seemed that having a joint sponsor is more compelling. I got a job during the adjustment of status phase.

When I lived in the UK on a work visa as a US citizen, I used TurboTax to file my US taxes, but my income was small (<$50K) and uncomplicated. TurboTax Deluxe will file an FBAR for you (but you need to check that it does in the PDF it generates after submission -- the filer is responsible for verifying their filings), which is critically important if you have over $10K cumulatively in all non-US accounts at any point in the tax year. You can also e-file FBAR directly on the Treasury website since technically FBAR is filed independently of your tax return. During the time period I worked in the UK, I was lucky - I only owed tax on my US-sourced income. Once I returned to living in the US and started earning well, my finances then became more complex so I switched to a CPA for peace of mind. TurboTax will allow you to file back taxes, see here. This approach may be adequate if your finances are uncomplicated and your income is not particularly large. More on FBAR: The Department of the Treasury has a historical exchange rate look-up tool here that's the official exchange rate for FBAR and tax purposes. This is useful for calculating if you exceeded the $10K cumulative threshold. I keep a Google spreadsheet of my maximum balance each month in each foreign account. According to official guidelines (https://www.fincen.gov/reporting-maximum-account-value), use the exchange rate for the last day of the calendar year and convert to US dollars and round up to the next dollar. According to the IRS, for each account, you need to keep a record of the following for each bank account: The IRS also states that "you must keep these records for five years from the due date of the FBAR." Keeping PDFs of bank statements and exchange rates can be kept to back-up the record. It's good to keep these records even if you are not required to file since you could be asked to prove you were not required to file FBAR.

AFAIK, a tourist visa (B2) cannot be sponsored. If you say your boyfriend is sponsoring you, the CO immediately has significant doubt that you can support yourself for the trip on your own merits. If your passport is blank, the burden of proof is raised even further. I think you basically communicated during your interview that you couldn't do the trip on your own finances and you did not sufficiently demonstrate your ties to show that you will return. The criteria for a tourist visa (B2) and a K-1 fiance visa are very different. A B2 visa applicant must show non-immigrant intent and ties to their home country on their own merits without the help of a sponsor. A K-1 visa holder will adjust status (apply for permanent residence) upon entry & marriage so obviously they do not need to prove non-immigrant intent. Since a K-1 holder would be marrying a US citizen, they don't need to show financial responsibility but the US citizen does! (unless they get a joint sponsor) Regarding your worries, as long as you don't edit chats, you are fine. It's ok if there are timestamps generated by WhatsApp backup. Showing the full chat history is definitely overkill! We did not submit any chats. We kept a call log in a Google Spreadsheet (3-5 video calls per week) and showed that. We compiled a trip packet of bookings for every trip including a cover page for each trip showing activities for that trip. We had a photo album (8-10 photos per year including photos with family & friends). We also kept a Google spreadsheet of total days spent together over all trips. The K-1 at minimum requires you to have met once prior to filing I-129F. The first step of the process is the I-129F filed by your US citizen fiance (see guide here). Once the I-129F is approved, it moves onto the NVC stage, and once it is sent to the embassy, then the K-1 can be applied for. You still have a long time for the next stages, but at the consular stage, you can start assembling the documents required for consular interview (e.g. federal police certificate and police certificates for every Brazilian state you lived in over 6 months for the past 5 years). The DoS maintains a list of documents required for Brazilian K-1 applicants here. If you lived in any other country, you may need to show documents for those countries as well at the consular stage. Don't worry about that too much for now. Focus on a solid I-129F application. If you want to save yourself from extra bureaucracy, consider getting married in Brazil and filing a IR1/CR1. Then, you don't need to adjust status upon arriving in the US. If the CR1 process takes longer than 2 years, then you will likely receive a 10 year green card instead of a 2 year conditional green card, saving you yet another step in the whole process.

Historically, one would submits their completed DS-3025 with their AOS packet without a I-693, but there has been some updated guidance regarding I-693 causing a lot of people adjusting status from a K visa to wonder if the I-693 is now required. If all age-appropriate vaccines are completed, usually "K Visa applicant voluntarily completed vaccination requirements" is checked. One does not need to complete the full series, although panel physicians will usually encourage you to do so after your arrival in the US. Are you choosing not to get vaccinated for COVID-19? If so, the newest USCIS Guidance is that AOS cannot be denied for lack of proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Similar guidance was issued by State for panel medical exams conducted for visas. However, if you chose not to take other age-appropriate vaccines, then you may need a I-601 waiver to accompany the I-485. The old and now invalid i-485 instructions dated 4/01/2024 stated that I-693 was not required: The latest I-485 instructions on USCIS's website (dated 1/20/2025) does not include this paragraph and says that an I-693 is "generally required" for I-485/AOS, but the text is not definitive ("If you are required to submit a Form I-693"). A news release as of a 4 months ago (12/02/2024) is also not definitive. It says I-693 now must be submitted with a I-485 ("make filing the two forms together a requirement") due to the high volume of RFE requests. However, it also has the text "If you are required to submit Form I-693". The I-693 Instructions includes a section for K visas that suggests that I-693 must be partially filled if the DS-3025 was not properly completed: I am guessing that an incomplete DS-3025 is the reason for the checkbox for Form I-693, Part I, Question 4. If you chose not to get vaccinated for religious or moral convictions, does your DS-3025 have a box "Immigrant Visa applicant requests Individual Waiver based on religious or moral convictions" checked? Do you have an approved I-601 to accompany the I-485 assuming your refusal was for vaccines other than COVID-19? If the medical was conducted outside flu season, then the flu shot is not required (see here).

Short visits (2-4 weeks) should be easier, and they should be even easier if you plan to engage in tourism exclusively.

I think it goes both ways. As a recovering academic myself, I have given talks at German universities. One time, while having lunch after a talk, I was told that upgrading to a formal scholar position would require a German D-visa. Point well-taken. The CBP officer looks at the totality of facts and evidence to make the determination of a person's intent. I used to hold a UK research scholar visa but then I moved back to the US. Twice while visiting the UK for short personal trips, I told the officer that I had no interest in staying in the UK, and yet I was questioned in secondary. The officers wanted evidence of ties to the US. After leaving the UK on the day promised on multiple trips, I no longer experience extensive questioning at the UK border.

You don't necessarily need sponsorship from a university. Even small organizations and companies can sponsor a J-1 visa through a Department of State-approved organization, such as the American Immigration Council (AIC). I have used AIC in the past to sponsor interns. AIC provides the required health insurance for a fee. The visa process through them was straightforward. 1. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/exchange-visitor. 2. https://exchange.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/exchange-visitor/research-scholar

As others have mentioned, Independent Research is listed as a valid purpose for an ESTA according to the Department of State [1], it must be "Independent research, no salary/income from a US based source, or benefit to US institution." I would interpret the last part broadly that you would not be able to collaborate nor have any US co-authors on papers that result from the research. If you wanted to engage in collaboration, you would need to consider a J-1 visa, but they are typically longer than 72 days, and you could not be outside the US for longer than 30 days during the J-1 program without invalidating the visa, and you would be subject to the two-year rule upon the J-1 program's conclusion [2]. Given that the US is not in your long term plans, the last part probably isn't an issue for you. [1] https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/BusinessVisa.pdf [2] https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-d-chapter-3