Melian

Hi - we'll be filing tomorrow, just as soon as we collect the last few photos and a new copy of our lease. My husband's GC expires on 9/29.

Our docs:

-lease in both names

-joint tax returns for '09 and '10

-bank statements from joint checking account

-car insurance notices (in his name, both listed as drivers)

-travel documents (bought plane tickets online) for a trip this summer

-our daughter's birth certificate

-photos, but not many, unfortunately. We've been too successful at avoiding the camera!

I hope that will be enough. We don't want to bother anyone for affidavits if we don't have to, and we don't have life insurance.

payxibka - I know - I was talking about the prison analogy.

no credit for time served

What a lovely attitude toward your marriage to the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. No hint of visa fraud here!

[/snark]

?

Shouldn't have said "visa" fraud since it isn't about a visa, but "fraud" - why, yes. I do believe marrying a US citizen for the purpose of getting citizenship once one has "served time" in the marriage is fraud (and, assuming the US citizen isn't in on the little plot, an incredibly low, despicable deed in any event)

I hope the OP gets what he deserves. As for payxibka, I don't know if that is his/her attitude or just a guess about the OP's attitude... if the latter, I agree, it probably is what the OP is thinking, and it's disgusting.

no credit for time served

What a lovely attitude toward your marriage to the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. No hint of visa fraud here!

[/snark]

Please show me ONE CASE, only 1, where somebody successfully adjusted from WVP.

*points to signature*

Wrote the name/description on the back, put in small ziplock bags, stapled each to a piece of paper with the description also written on it. AOS, but I doubt it's different.

Ok my wife hates me we need to divorce.

My GC will expire on 10/10/10 what will happen to me especially as we will get divorced a year before my expiry date?

what do i do about my visa?

also do i file ROC on my own as soon as i get the divorce completed or do i wait?

1) Getting divorced can take time. Mine took 18 months.

2) I don't think you're supposed to file until six months before the GC expires.

3) Why don't you just go back to England? I've been there, it's nice. Lovely old buildings, cheese and onion sandwiches, 99% humidity, what's not to like? Unless you're here for the GC, and not the wife...

Yes, I understand that you can't add your name to certain things (more so formally and financially) without an SSN and Green Card. However, there are other non-formal and non-financial ways to add your name to things and to prove your marriage/relationship, such as (as I mentioned before): cards, letters, photos, mail, e-mail, correspondence, etc. For my AOS inteview, I didn't have a SSN or a Green Card yet (lol..I needed to pass the AOS interview to get such)...So I couldn't do any joint stuff formally and financially there,

Yes you can. I should add that the way we got a joint bank account was not by adding Christian to my account (we couldn't do that without an SSN) but getting him his own account here and then adding me. The bank wanted him to do some extra paperwork as a non-USC, but that was it. As for the car, he bought a car here, registered it, and got insurance all with no problem before getting his SSN. Well, I shouldn't say no problem, since he had a bit of a hard time coming up with enough ID to satisfy the DMV (they wouldn't accept his German passport as ID), and he did have to show them his receipts from USCIS indicating we had filed with them, but they did end up letting him register the car.

They never even asked us about intent. We got married after Christian had been in the country 56 days.

As for the SSN, you can get one as soon as you have the EAD, but you also don't need it for everything - we already had a joint bank account, lease, and car insurance without it.

We were married by a judge in the art history building of my old college, with about ten people present, and my "wedding gown" was blue. The IO seemed to have no problem with the photos.

Well, I'm not even sure it's believed to be such a problem, rather than wished to be a problem. It's an ugly example of envy on the part of those who could have adjusted status (legally) and didn't dare to try, and then prefer to reinterpret their own over-cautiousness as moral superiority, and either scare off or condemn as "line jumpers" those who do what they wish they had.

For what it's worth, my husband visited on the VWP, we were married on the 56th day after he entered the US, flied the AOS on the 93rd day, and were approved in three months, no lawyer, no questions about intent. We had evidence he only intended to visit, but never needed it. Bring what evidence you can gather (why not - you might be glad you did), but most likely you won't be asked for it. I've talked to plenty of couples who did what we did, and none were asked to show evidence.

When it comes to having the moral high ground, trying to make other people's lives needlessly complicated because one is resentful when others have things easier... doesn't really qualify as virtue in my book. So things are easier for people who can marry and adjust status without being separated - they're easier still for couples who are both U.S. citizens and can simply live together whenever they please. It may not be fair, but it doesn't mean those couples are bad, rotten, evil line-jumpers who should choose to endure months/years of separation because some of us have to.

My husband got his SS# with his passport, EAD card, and receipts from USCIS, if I remember correctly.

Also - regarding getting married - although a huge, elaborate wedding that looks as if it's been planned for two years might work against you because of the "intent" thing, bear in mind that the main thing the IO is looking for at an interview is usually a bonafide marriage, and being able to show some wedding photos which include family and friends, etc., helps that. Although our wedding was planned on short notice, we still had a (small) reception with cake, dancing, etc. and therefore nice photos to show the IO (and nice memories)!

For what it's worth, we got married while my husband was visiting on the VWP, adjusted status, and were approved. We brought evidence that he was only originally here to visit to the interview (contract showing he had a job to go back to, etc.) but the IO never even asked about intent. We were married on the 56th day after he arrived in the U.S.. I'm not advocating trying to adjust status *without* any evidence you planned to return, though - even though, from what I've heard, they rarely ask about intent, it's just too risky if they do and you don't have evidence.

YMMV, but in our case, a lawyer would have, at best, been a waste of money and, at worst, told us it was impossible to do what we actually did with little trouble at all.

We had our interview yesterday and were approved! It was a piece of cake. I posted on the other thread (I guess that one isn't really being used anymore?) Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Uma - I'm not sure, but I think having the appointment scheduled means they have all the evidence they want (except what you need to bring tothe interview, of course). We got our RFE before the EAD card, but after being given the biometrics appointment, and the RFE letter stated we would get the EAD as soon as we sent the evidence.

Approved!

Interview was very quick, the IO just asked for our IDs, address, dates of birth, social security numbers, asked "who is [our joint sponsor]?"", looked at our joint bank account, utilities, daughter's birth certificate, lease and wedding photo album for moment, and approved us. No stamp in my husband's passport, but the IO said we should get the green card in a week. Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Hi -

our interview is next week, and this has just been nagging me a bit and I wanted to double-check. The letter asks for "government issued photo ID", and my husband doesn't have a NY driver's license yet. He does have an EAD card, social security card, German passport, international driver's license and EU driver's license... I'm guessing the EAD card will suffice, but am I right?

I'm also wondering whether we can bring our daughter. She's 9 months old, and it would actually be more convenient for us to bring her than to try to get someone to watch her... the letter mentions that we don't have to bring our children, but doesn't say we should not. What do you think? Thanks!

Congrats, regina!

Glad everyone is having good experiences so far! I'm getting anxious for our interview next week. I just want it all over and done with.

Oh, I hear you. I'm getting really nervous about our interview, too.

Our interview is on the 29th. I didn't expect this process to be so quick!

My husband got his EAD today.

Got our interview notice!

September 15th.

Wow, that's great!

We got our AP today.

I just checked the USCIS website and saw:

"Current Status: Response to request for evidence received, and case processing has resumed."

Looks like we're rolling again!

I may be wrong, but I've heard that although what Krikit said is true, such an overstay would be forgiven if your AOS is approved, you may get in trouble for the overstay between the time his visa waiver expires and the time you get your NOA1 for the AOS. I've always heard it was a good idea to file as quickly as possible. We certainly did (in hindsight, we rushed too much and didn't look over the paperwork carefully enough). The marriage certificate can take a couple weeks, and then you have to gather everything together and file - during that time, he'll be out of status.

Another thing is, if you want to marry and adjust status, you have to be able to prove he only came for a visit and changed plans when he was already here (proof of ties to Australia). It sounds like he did and you would have proof, but just to make sure you know.

You could also get married here and file for a visa after he goes back, but last I heard K1 visas were processed quicker than spouse visas, so you'd actually be together again faster if you waited to get married.

I have a question - I have a joint sponsor who is self-employed, and we got an RFE asking for pay stubs and an employment letter! What should we do?

We have our biometrics appointment! 8/19.

Still gathering together the documents for the RFE, but I think we'll be ok - the joint sponsor owns a building worth about 20 times the difference between his income last year and the guidelines, he just didn't send proof of it before.