kevdman

My fiancée just graduated from medical school she will receive her MD credentials this month she wants to come here and work at a non medical job while we work on her post grad process she needs a work permit/ SSN what is the best next step any help would be appreciated thank you she is Costa Ricanshe gas a 10 year visitor visa in good standibg

Again, thanks so much for your advice.  We will keep you informed of the process.

7 hours ago, Hypnos said:

My guide for widows and widowers can be found here: https://www.visajourney.com/content/immigrate-to-america-widow-er-of-us-citizen. It is aimed more at adjustment of status, but you can ignore any references to AoS and I-485 documents and just solely look at the I-360 part. 

 

If your friends meets the listed qualifications then she can file for an immigrant visa. The first step would be filing an I-360 with the US embassy having jurisdiction over her place of residence, or directly with a USCIS field office in another country that also has jurisdiction over your country. 

Thank you kindly Hypnos for the info.  So she only needs to file the I-360, I-864W and the G-325A at this time?  As she is not stateside yet, does she need to complete the I-693?

Again, many thanks.

4 minutes ago, Damara said:

It just means the mods separated your post from the thread you posted in and made it its own thread. Its just to keep the forums neat and organized.

 

Im sure @Hypnos will be by to answer you soon. Visajourney is a DIY help website. Most processes do not need an attny. Is there a special reason she feels she needs an attny and can not do this herself using the guides on here? 

I love VJ!!!!  We completed my ex's immigration tasks without issues.  We broke up sadly, but that had nothing to do with all of the immigration stuff. We could not have completed the process without VJ.  I tell everyone I know who require immigration information about this site.

As far as my friend's issue, I think she may need an attorney because she has spoken with several in Medellin already and they do not seem to be aware of the I-360 Widow(er) process.  She has not lived or visited the USA and does not hold a visa.  I thought it best she seek competent legal advice to proceed.  If she discovers it as straightforward as it seems to be in the guide, I may just assist her myself, but I would hate to mess things up for her.

Thanks much

K

12 minutes ago, Ryan H said:

**Post split into separate thread.**

Forgive my ignorance, but what does this mean please?

On 1/9/2013 at 4:14 PM, Hypnos said:

I wondered if there was any interest here in having me write up a guide for widow/er immigrant visas and AoS.

This is something I know a little about, and the existing stickied thread on the Effects of Major Changes forum here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/293551-change-of-status-as-widower/ is a little out of date.

If I wrote something to help anyone else unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar situation, would that be ok?

Granted it's a niche area, but I would have appreciated finding something like it a year ago, where I had to pretty much fend for myself.

What an awesome guide.  Thank you so much for posting it.  I have a very good friend who was married to US Citizen and lived in Panama with him for 5 years.  He passe away 10 months ago and she now wants to come live in the USA with her friends and family.  She has not remarried and has all the appropriate legal documentation of their marriage.  She is having difficulty finding an attorney on her end that has knowledge of this process.  She lives in Medellin now as she is a Citizen of Colombia.  What are your thoughts of proceeding without legal guidance? 

Many thanks

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

Before I2US closed down this was a subject that would come up, certainly does happen that people are picked up at Airports, no idea what will happen in this case, as Clint said Do you feel Lucky?

 

Well do you?

 

Always intrigued on how these issue fit in the VJ ToS, well beyond my ken.

 

 

LOL, good one!

2 hours ago, Alabamak1 said:

Good luck. Airports are not the only places they check for valid immigration paperwork. I live in rural Alabama and we have CBP running around here and stopping people. No borders here! The sherriff once stopped my cousin, who had a valid GC and still verified it against ICE database or something. They dint detain him, but still....

Very good advice.  Thanks much.

2 hours ago, bswt2 said:

Is it safe to travel domestically? Most likely, but there will always be a risk.

 

There are no gray areas when it comes to violating the terms of your visa, she overstayed her visa which automatically voided it.

 

 

Best advice thus far.  I really appreciate it. 

2 hours ago, TNJ17 said:

It doesn’t matter if her visa is valid for 10 years or 20. If she spent more time than she was awarded at port of entry, ie the date on her most recent I-94, she’s illegally staying in the US and subject to deportation if caught. Also, her visa isn’t intact. It’s been voided the minute she overstayed, so she’s not in good standing. Traveling domestically doesn’t put you through immigration, but you never know what can happen with the current White House administration. 

Thank you.  I'm totally clear on the visa limitations and conditions.  I merely wanted to know if she could fly domoetically using her native country passportl  Thanks again.

11 hours ago, bakphx1 said:

I've traveled with my husband domestically since he arrived.  They check the name against the boarding pass but didn't look further.  Generally, that's it, but no guarantees of anything, of course. 

Thank you

12 hours ago, Coco8 said:

Technically they can look up when the i-94 expired, so the fact that the visa is valid for 10 years means nothing. It risky.

 

That said, I've traveled with my passport plenty of times and it doesn't even have a visa stamp on it (I have approved petition and visa is only to get back into the US). They never asked me anything. But who know how it works; maybe they have a list of people that overstay and if you friend is on the last, it can trigger ICE going to look for her at the airport. 

 

Best thing is to either fix her status or leave. If she already overstayed she won't be able to come back, so that was a waste of a 10 year visitor visa. Her visa will be voided automatically and she will not be able to get a new one, maybe ever. And depending how long she overstayed, she could have a 3 or 10 year ban. If she is looking to adjust by marriage or something like that, better do it soon and inside the US.

Thank you

3 hours ago, Jojo92122 said:

The visa was automatically void once she overstayed.  It's no longer valid.

If she was in good standing otherwise, then you wouldn't be on here with the fear that she would be detected and deported by traveling.

Any air travel that puts her near CBP, puts her at risk of detection for being in the US illegally.

I appreciate your information.  I don't care for the flippant remark though.  All I meant when I indicated her visa was in otherwise good standing was that her visa is current and she had complied with all the other conditions of the visa.  No doubt she's in hot water now.   That aside, I really do appreciate the info.

Thanks much.

Hi Group  I have a good friend who wants to travel from state to state via air.  The problem is she has overstayed her s months limit on her 10 year tourist visa. The visa is not expired and she is in good standing otherwise.   Is she save going through TSA at airports for domestic travel in the USA?

Thanks much

Mail it in during the 90 days, not before. Example: If your Green Card expires on Feb. 15, 2014 the window begins 90 days before this date. So you would be safe if you send it anytime after, say November 18, 2013.

Here is what is said in the I-751 instruction sheet .

"If you are still married, the petition should be filed jointly by you and the sponsor through whom you obtained conditional status, (your husband). However, you may apply for a waiver of this joint filing requirement if:

1. You entered the marriage in good faith, but your spouse subsequently died.

2. You entered the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was later terminated due to divorce or annulment.

3. You entered the marriage in good faith and have remained married, but you have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, or

4. The termination of your status and removal would result in extreme hardship."

Just download the I-751 instructons sheet at VJ or the USCIS web page.

Good luck to you!

That is awful. I feel for you. Just read your I-751 application carefully. You can file jointly or as an idividual. To file as an individual you have to be divorced or claim abuse. The question you need to answer first is are you going to stay with your man? If so, joint app is the way to go. If not, you will need to get the divorce going.

Good luck

Thanks for all the advice. If this move goes nowhere, we move up the attorney.

Thanks again,

Kevin

Hey Uncle Darnell,

Just an update. We called the USCIS number. Used your method and not only got a Tier II human, but a really nice and helpful bilingual person. She looked around to see if the RFE had been sent and she said she could not see that one had been mailed at all. She filed a request to reopen/investigate our file to the California Service Center. She gave us the confirmation and number and said they have 15 days to figure things out and should get right back to us.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks much!

No kidding? I had no idea you could actually call and get a real person. Everything has gone very smoothly until this point so we never really had reason to call. Thanks much. I know it has already been commented on, but is this process something we should use an attorney for, or do you think a civilian can handle it? No offense to the legal eagles out there. We have been advised to use attornies along our entire journey, but we've done literally everything ourselves.

Thank you for the responses. Victorian221b, no we did not change addresses. We did not recieve the RFE so we were unaware of the change in number. Actually, we started checking the case status on line within a month after we recieved the NOA. We continued to try to check status well into summer which would include dates prior to the mailing of the RFE that the USCIS states they sent. Moreover, I wonder why the agent at the field office could not tell us that the new number was associated with an RFE. Funny.

J & K, I really don't know the number stuff at all. We did try the biometrics as well and no luck. The WAC number on the numbers on the Biometrics is different than the one on the decision. They are all different, but thanks for the info. We would like to think the folks there would be reasonable.

Harpa Timsah and Darnell, I don't know what a Tier 2 person is. Would you please elaborate and explain how we would get such a person on the phone?

Again, thank you all for your helo.

Thanks for the responses. Apple21, every time we went to the website for a status update we would receive an error message, "no case found" or some such thing. When we visited the field office earlier this month, the agent said the number on our reciept letter was wrong and he gave us a new one. When we queried on the new number we got an "in process" message. We never recieved anything by mail.

Yeah Hypnos. I think your advice is sound.

Thanks all

K and E

Hello Sages of all things Immigration. A quickie history: My Colombian wife arrives in the USA on a K-1. Everything goes swimmingly, (thanks in no small part to advice from the very kind VJ members!), up to the filing of the I-751 in February this year. Biometrics appointment went well and she was re-fingerprinted. Come October we had not heard anything from the USCIS so we set up an appointment to follow up in person a couple of weeks ago. We went to the field office and the agent said we are fine and to go home and wait. He did give us a new receipt number which I thought was kind of odd.

Just today we received in the mail a Notice of Decision denying my wife her ROC based on abandonment. The rational used by the USCIS is, "On June 27, 2013, USCIS issued a request for evidence providing the CPR, (my wife), 84 days in which to respond. That time period has elapsed and, as of this date, there is no record of a response to that request. Therefore, it is ordered that the petition is denied due to abandonment, and the CPR's conditional residence status is terminated concurrently."

#######?????? We were blown away. We have solid proof of our marriage and our now 8-year-old relationship and we sent it all in with the I-751 application. We never received any “request for evidence” in any form. No letter, calls, email or smoke signals. Are we to assume we should have received something from them in the mail as we have received all correspondence? We would have complied with any request the USICS made of us, but we never received this request.

I see we can file a Motion to Reopen, but what do we do in the meantime? Just a few questions please:

Does this mean my wife is subject to deportation?

There is a direction in the notice for her to “immediately surrender her Alien Registration Card” to a USCIS field office. Does this mean she will be taken into custody if/when we do this?

Of course we will proceed with the Motion to Reopen, but can anyone advise as to the appropriate steps to take now please?

We have made it thus far without legal representation. Maybe it is time to find a good immigration attorney.

Thank you for all you have done VJ friends.

Kevin and Erika

Thanks much for the tip, but her life is hard enough. I don't need to do anything extra to worsen her situation. Just as long as she stays away from me I will be fine.

Thanks

K

Yes, the do have annulment, but I was not so sure of the fraud component.

Thank you