cubanchic

22 hours ago, TWISTIE said:

Thank you so much. This is very informative and helpful. Speaking of Adobe Scan then its free or a paid one or trial for free? If its part of Adobe then I dont think it would be free, but adobe does give free trial for 7 days I guess.

 

Just to confirm, Form I-130A would need to download and complete and to upload to online system, right?

Adobe Scan is fully free. Yeah, I-130A needs to be downloaded and completed then uploaded to the system.

On 9/7/2021 at 5:03 AM, calido said:

Case Type
I130 - PETITION FOR ALIEN RELATIVE
Section: Unmarried child under 21 of permanentresident, 203(a)(2)(A) INA
Submitted on July 5, 2021
California Service Center

It made me happy to see that your processes are progressing so quickly, is there such a chance for my case as well, or is it only valid for spouse applications?

Thank you. I honestly do not know but I wish you the best 🙂 

On 8/31/2021 at 5:38 PM, TWISTIE said:

I have done a very extensive research just now and found that when we mail I-130 petition to USCIS then there is never a guarantee that USCIS will upload all your documents to their system...some people on here have also reported this. Thus, I have decided that I will be filing I-130 online as well and then later on will file I-129f thru mail after receiving receipt from USCIS unlike before when I wanted to do both petition together by mail. I don’t want them to not upload any of my documents especially when I would have a complicated case for having many red-flags...Do you have tips for me for filing I-130 online aside from what you have already described about your case? Do I need to make an account with USCIS? I never filed anything online with USCIS, so I am not much aware of anything about it. You would get receipt notice right away for filing I-130 online, right? We need to scan everything first and save them on our computer to upload for the petition, right? Is there any best scanner app? Or how did you scan the documents? Did you use any app for that?

Hey I just replied to your direct message but I am just seeing this post now. So sorry. Yes i recommend getting a USCIS account it allows you to get notifications via email rather than waiting on things to arrive via mail. They will still come in the mail though. Yes you get a receipt notice right away. You will need to scan the supporting documents but the i-130 form is already integrated into the online application. A blank I-130A will need to be downloaded and completed then uploaded to the online system. You do not have to submit you application on the same day that you start it. You can save your progress as you work through it and it will be stored for up to 30 days. If more than 30 days pass I think you will have to start over. The scanner app I used was Adobe Scan on my phone.

4 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

Do you have any idea (just an idea) as to how many pages altogether of documents you submitted with I-130? Believe me, I wanna file I-130 online too as it would quick and sure way in the system the way I want, but since I need to submit I-129f too which can not be filed online then I would have no choice just to mail both petitions together because in my case there would be at least 600-800 documents I would need to submit with I-130 because I have tons of red-flags and many issues...Thus, I believe that given the number of documents which would be needed for both petitions then I would be better off for sending both petitions together because then I would need to submit those documents only once....

For the I-130 i submitted online these are the page counts:

• 2 Affidavits were --> 3 pages 
• Screen shots of text messages --> 15 pages 
• All bank statements Western Union/PayPal transactions --> 17 pages 
• Gift receipts --> 12 pages 
• Invitations --> 6 pages 
• Photos --> 27 pages 
• Travel Itineraries --> 51 pages 
• Wedding Expenses --> 46 pages 

For I-129F, at most, it might have been 13 pages (for the i-129F form) plus 6 more pages for the other stuff they asked for and the 2 passport-size photographs. It was a very small package. I only submitted the exact things they asked for. So if you were to only mail-in this package it shouldn't cost too much. 

15 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

Did you submit anything with I-129f or just the receipt for I-130? Why you chose to file I-129f later on, and why not together with I-130? I-129f can not file online??

I submitted very few things with the I-129F. If i recall it was just the receipt, a copy of marriage certificates, passport bio-page, passport photos and anything else the instructions asked for (i cant recall everything right now). I filed I-129F later on because there was no option to submit it online like the I-130. I needed a couple days to get all the documents together hence i finally mailed it off on May 12th.

20 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

By the way, did you submit/file both petitions - I-130 and I-129f together at the same time and online? All the documents that you mentioned about submitting were submitted thru online? One can submit that many documents online? 

And yes, all the supporting documents I mentioned were submitted online. Each file just need to be under 6MB in size if I remember correctly. I consolidated as much as possible and didn't have any issue. eg. All 50 photos were in 1 documents. All 17 itineraries in another document etc. Adobe Acrobat Reader can compress the size of PDF documents to help you meet the size requirement.

9 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

By the way, did you submit/file both petitions - I-130 and I-129f together at the same time and online? All the documents that you mentioned about submitting were submitted thru online? One can submit that many documents online? 

No, first I submitted I-130 online on May 5th. Then May12th I mailed in the I-129F via UPS and they received it on May 14th. 

9 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

 

Very impressive and very long history you guys have which I have never seen in many years...this much long relationship history....Good job...very nicely you presented your case...No wonder why it went thru so smoothly. By the way, you didn’t get any notification of denial of I-129F? Because when I-130 is adjudicated first over I-129F then I-129F gets denied. 

 

A few weeks ago, without reading and knowing anything about K-3 visa, I have long and heated debate/arguments with many long-timers on this site as I was telling that I will file I-130 for my future wife but would file I-129f as well for K-3 visa...I didn’t know about any trick ..nor I knew that filing I-129f might force I-130 to get adjudicated. My only reason to file for k-3 visa because I fall into Vermont service center, and its taking 2-3 and half years now to adjudicate only I-130 which is not even included the time dealing with NVC and US consulate..so I thought filing for K-3 visa is better...at least my future wife could be here earlier rather than waiting for 4-5 yrs...So, your case is now with NVC?

Thank you! Yes, the same day the I-130 was approved was the same day I got a notification that the I-129F was "terminated since the I-130 was approved". Yes, the case has been sent to the NVC.

2 hours ago, TWISTIE said:

 

Congratulation....Nice job..Do you mind sharing some details to help understand others? Such as your state and service center...Was there any red-flags or issues in your cases, like age-gap, any previous marriages for any of you, what kinds of proofs you submitted for the bonafide of marriage or anything else that could help others who are waiting or going to file?? Thx

Sure thing! I live in Georgia and my service center was California. I submitted the application online. There were not any red flags for our case - its both our 1st marriage, same age group, same culture (Jamaican) etc).  Even though we have not been married very long, we have known each other since we were 14 years old which lots of photos, social media posts and affidavits from family/friends can prove. For us, our relationship started when we were 17 and lasted for 5 years. We then broke up for 4 years and got back together in 2018. We have never lived together, own no properties together and never filed taxes together. At the time of submitting the I-130 we had only been married for 1 year 4 months but we submitted so much evidence to show our relationship was bonafide that I really didn't think there was going to be an issue with the things we didn't have together. I included these things with the application:

• 50 photographs dating from 2007 (the oldest i could find) to present
• A few social media posts (maybe 10) dating back from when Farmville was a thing lol to present
• 17 travel itineraries plus hotel/airbnb receipts from when each of us visited each other since 2018 
• 2 affidavits:1 from my dad talking about our relationship from his perspective and 1 from a friend doing the same 
• A list of receipts showing gifts we have given each other since 2018
• Letters we received from friends/family inviting us as a couple to attend events together
• All invoices related to our destination wedding in Jamaica that was twice postposed due to Covid-19 (venue, dress, suits, rings, wedding planning services, catering, hair, make-up etc.)
• Bank statements (first and most recent) for all our joint accounts plus Paypal/Western union transactions
• Screen shots of text conversations on Whatsapp/Facebook Messanger/iMessage/email etc. dating back to 2007 (maybe 10 total)

In regards to our long break-up I didn't try to hide/camouflage it at all. I was very direct and honest about it and i'm sure thats way better than hiding or lying about anything.

Side note: I have seen other posts about a "trick" to speed up applications getting approved is submitting I-129F as well. I still do not know if it is factual or not. However, I did also submit an I-129F so I am really not sure if it is just coincidence that out case was approved quickly or if the I-129F had any impact on the timing of the decision.

Hello, 

I submitted an I-130 for my husband (he lives in Canada) on May 5, 2021. The status changed to "actively being reviewed" on May 27th. To my surprise, on August 23, 2021 the application was approved and on August 26th it was sent to the Dept. of State. Has anyone ever had an I-130 approved that fast (approx. 3 months) without any request for expedite? Im just curious.