dodson01

When someone *enters* the country illegally, i.e. without permission of a US border inspector this is called "Entered Without Inspection" or "EWI", in immigration-speak.

However, someone who is an EWI can *not* get a green card while they remain in the US, even after marriage to a USC. The choices are:

(1) Stay put and wait for the laws to change. Opinions differ (widely) on how likely that is.

(2) Have the USC spouse file for K-3 (see www.k1faq.com). The immigrant spouse would have to go to their home country for the final stages of K-3 processing at the consulate. The K-3 visa will be automatically denied by the consulate because of the EWI and the immgrant spouse will be declared officially "inadmissible". At that point, an I-601 waiver of excludability must be filed by the USC spouse. *If* the I-601 is approved, then the immigrant spouse gets a K-3 visa and can come to the US again. If the I-601 is denied then the USC spouse can file another one with more exhaustive explanations of the "hardship" that the USC spouse is enduring (the only justification for waiver of excludability). The immigrant spouse can't come back to the US unless an I-601 is approved, however -- and it is possible that an I-601 won't be granted. Personally, I'd hire a an experienced lawyer to prepare and file the I-601 because proper wording of the freeform text is vital for success.

This is exactly what I was referring to in my earlier posts when I stated that there may be a way to fix the situation. I am not saying I am in favor of illegal immigration. I also feel that if you break the law, you need to pay the price. However, I do have a heart for those that break the law and want to make amends and really want to fix the situation. I also feel that even though you may have entered illegally and broke the law here, two wrongs don't make a right and the least you could do until you fix your situation is to make sure you pay your taxes each year and do not become a burden to the U.S.

Actually, if I had a name and address, I would report it myself. Am sick and tired of illegal aliens hopping the border to here and back, and me having to support them.

I can understand your frustrations considering that probably half your family is on welfare and you are supporting them. It sucks doesn't it. I sleep well at night with my conscience. Try it some time.

Well, he already said it is his "illegal Mexican wife". What more is there to be left to say, other than she hopped over the border without papers, and got pregnant and now is in a predicament?? Of course she is here illegally! Didnt he say that in his initial post??

There aint no way around that one.

Good luck

If you have nothing better to say than this, don't respond. You can enter the U.S. with a visa and still be classfied as "illegal" due to an overstay. So before you become so sarcastic, know what you are talking about.

If your wife entered with inspection and overstayed her visa, she will be able to adjust her status here in the U.S. without leaving.

If she entered without inspection (crossing border without being inspected by an immigration officer), she will have to return to her home country where a waiver (I-601) will be filed showing extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse, parent or child and then wait while the waiver is being adjudicated. If your spouse is from Mexico, they have the pilot program where it could be immediately approved within a matter of days or else if it is not immediately approvable like some cases that have criminal charges, DUI's, etc., it will be backlogged and the wait could be 12-15 months.

However, you need to post more information before obtaining an accurate answer based upon whether your wife has ever left the U.S. after arriving. Has she had multiple entries?

If everything goes well, you might qualify for the waiver and be able to do something about your wife's situation.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone

I have purchased almost all of my son's books online. Some of the websites are: collegetextbooks.com; amazon.com; ecampus.com. I also sell back a majority of his books back to these companies when he is through. I have only had problems with one website and that was taking over 3 months for them to pay me. That was only one bad experience over a 4-year period.

I am so excited and have no idea how to update this for myself. Can someone please update me.

Interview date on July 11 -- Guatemala. FINALLY!

Congratulations everyone. We finally got our interview date today -- July 11 in Guatemala.

I wish I had something to add here. Our case was completed on 4/15 and we are still waiting for an interview date. I call every day and am told the same thing over and over -- depends on availability of Consulate.

I wish I had something to add here -- we are still waiting for an interview date? I keep calling every day but nothing yet. We were completed on 4/15. Do you think we will get a date for June??? Oh, I hope so.

We are waiting for the scheduling of our interview date for Guatemala and I have no information to go by since I am the only one going through Guatemala.

Our case was completed on 4/15. We are waiting for interview date and I have called NVC every day.

Do they update the recording on the phone about your case when they schedule your interview date or do I have to continue calling back every day to talk to a real live person????

Hi everyone,

I just received notice through an e-mail from USCIS that our I-130 was approved at CSC. We haven´t received our NOA-2 in the mail yet (we´re hoping tomorrow) and I´ve been reading online about what comes next at NVC. I was going to try and call the NVC tomorrow to see if I can get our case number before our paper shows up. So I have some questions:

1) I read that the next step is to wait for the NVC to send you the Choice of Agent form, but I´ve already downloaded one myself. Can I just send it in? Or someone mentioned just e-mailing NVC with your choice. Has anyone else done that?

2) As far as choosing the agent, I´m guessing my husband would want to choose me, his wife, but we´ve been listing my address in the US, while I´m living here with him in Peru because the mail system here is not reliable. Is it smart to still put me as the agent even when I´m not at the actual address listed? I see the only other thing that will be sent to me is the I-864 packet and I already downloaded and filled that out as well. Could I just send it home and have it waiting to be sent by my family?

3) Since I found a list of the process and forms required, downloaded them all and filled them out, can we just send them all in together, or will that just make NVC mad and backed-up? Has anyone ever tried sending things in on their own? I´m worried about the papers that they´ll send here to Peru. We don´t have a mailbox and the mail is so iffy here.

4) Any other advice for making the NVC process and fast and as smooth as possible?

Thanks!!!

You absolutely cannot send any forms until you hear a recording saying that the forms have been generated or you talk to a live person that tells you the forms have been generated. This will certainly add a big delay if you send them ahead of time. There is a big warning on the website about sending in forms without being asked for them.

NAME………………………………..............……DATE ENTERED……................DATE COMPELTED …...............….INTERVIEW DATE

Merk.....................................................03/??/2008.........................03/20/2008..............................04/30/2008

SAMSHANOE..........................................03/04/2008........................04/07/2008

ketan128…………………….………..….............03/31/2008........................04/09/2008

ALES……………………….……..…............….....03/31/2008.........................04/09/2008................................05/28/2008

NOELANDTINTIN……….….................…....04/03/2008.........................04/11/2008

SHARIF…………………….…...................…....04/03/2008.........................04/11/2008

DODSON1.............................................04/04/2008.......................04/15/2008

booboo2...............................................04/04/2008.........................04/18/2008

abajaj……………….……………..…...................04/07/2008........................04/14/2008

indianheart............................................04/15/2008

TKG........................................................04/??/2008

J-Boy......................................................04/23/2008

that is Just guess J-boy:)

We are also complete -- case was completed on 4/15. We are waiting for interview date in Guatemala.

Did you send a personal check? The AOS bill clearly states:

Please return this portion with a cashier's check or money order in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank made payable to: the Department of State

If you sent a personal check it'll probably be sent back and you'll have to send a cashier's check or money order.

Diana

Hi Diana, I sent a casher's check drawn on a U.S. bank made payable to the Dept of State.

USDA is not right -- this stands for U.S. Department of Agriculture -- obviously they put it in the wrong P.O. Box.

TRACK APRIL DS-230

This post to track DS-230 entered in April ( just to keep in touch and gives us hope)

NAME………………………………..............……DATE ENTERD……................DATE COMPELTE …...............….INTERVIEW SCHOULD ON………..........INTERVIEW SCHOULD FOR

ALES……………………………..…............…...03/31/2008

NOELANDTINTIN…………................…...04/03/2008

SHARIF……………………….................…….04/03/2008

DODSON1......................................04/04/2008

I can say that I doubt very seriously that your I-129f will be approved.

Here is our timeline:

I-130 filed 8/14

I-129f filed 9/18

Our I-130 was approved on 2/4/2008. Note: Our I-129f was touched that same day.

Since that time, our I-129f hasn't even been touched once.

I will tell you that the NVC is pretty fast and that we have been there since 2/6 and we are almost complete. So the process has taken us about 2 months from the date we sent our first piece of paper to NVC which was 2/15 until approximatey April 15 when our case will be complete.

If you held on this long, you could do it just a little while longer since your spouse will be immediately able to work when he/she returns and the process will be over.

dodson01 did u use jame's shortcut?

Yes, I did use the shortcuts. And I double checked over and over and over before I mailed out anything. Also, I used overnight delivery on every single form -- including express mail on the AOS bill and the IV bill. I also made sure when I mailed my packages that they would always arrive during the middle of the week so that they would be processed and recognized receipt of such items so that I always heard updates to our records on Tuesday. I think this really helped a lot too. For instance, when I heard the update on Tuesday morning, I already had the paperwork ready and would send it overnight delivery on Tuesday so that they would receive it on Wednesday. Then over the weekend, they would generate the next step of papers, I would hear about them on Tuesday, etc.

The only time I had to wait was 2 weeks for the AOS bill and the IV bill. That is because they were received in St. Louis, MO; took St. Louis, MO time to notify NVC that we had paid our bills and then NVC would update their systems.

I can say that I doubt very seriously that your I-129f will be approved.

Here is our timeline:

I-130 filed 8/14

I-129f filed 9/18

Our I-130 was approved on 2/4/2008. Note: Our I-129f was touched that same day.

Since that time, our I-129f hasn't even been touched once.

I will tell you that the NVC is pretty fast and that we have been there since 2/6 and we are almost complete. So the process has taken us about 2 months from the date we sent our first piece of paper to NVC which was 2/15 until approximatey April 15 when our case will be complete.

If you held on this long, you could do it just a little while longer since your spouse will be immediately able to work when he/she returns and the process will be over.

Sunshine: Yes, this is normal language when you send express mail to a P.O. Box and not via overnight delivery (UPS or Fed Ex) where an actual individual signs for it. Don't worry -- everything is okay. Same thing happened with ours.

Congratulations. I am glad yours finally came through. You waited so long.

She shouldn't but when I read "she must go to her local office to get it straightened out" I don't see anything about an I-824. I should be able to be straightened out without an I-824.

That is what they said. She has called 3 times today. They said that clearly her I-129f should have been approved but it wasn't. USCIS responded 3 different answers: (1) You need to contact the NVC; (2) You need to file the I-824; (3) there is nothing we can do. You have to get the local office to straighten it out.

I am asking this question for a friend of mine. Her I-130 was approved on 3/25 and she received her NOA2 in the mail today. The NOA2 says that her husband is here in the U.S. and will be adjusting status HERE. However, this is not true. She put on her forms that he would be adjusting status in Mexico because he cannot adjust status here. The NOA2 says to submit I-824 to have her case transferred to the NVC or else they will send it to the local office.

Please help -- what should she do now?

This is standard wording for the NOA2 for an I-130 when I-129F is also filed. USCIS expects the beneficiary to continue with the K3 visa process, so the I-130 is held for use in the AOS process.

http://www.cousincouples.com/info/states.shtml

So is your friend a K3 case?

Thanks for the response. She did file the I-129f but it is still pending. She has not received any approval on that yet. She filed in VSC and as we know, Vermont has the history of approving the I-130 and just letting the I-129f sit there -- like our case.

I am hoping that this is what is the case here and they didn't make a very big mistake.

Okay, please help again. My friend called the USCIS and told them that her husband is not eligible to AOS here in the States and that she had put on her I-130 that he would be adjusting status in Mexico. They said there is nothing that they can do at this point and she must go to her local office to get it straighten out. Why should she have to pay for their mistake and wait another 7 months for the I-824 to be processed?

We just don't know what to do at this point.

FYI -- I will know more tomorrow; however, I just wanted to note that the I-129f might not be dead at VSC yet. A friend of mine received her I-130 approval on 3/25 and her I-129f according to the website is still pending.

However, her I-130 says that she will adjust status here in the U.S. and is being sent to the local office. We all know that this is normal language when you will proceed with the K-3.

She absolutely cannot adjust status here in the U.S. and she clearly marked it on the form. Therefore, we can only believe one of two different things:

1. USCIS clearly made a mistake and sent her the wrong letter since her husband cannot adjust status here.

2. Her I-129f was approved and she has not received receipt of it yet. Someone at USCIS messed up and meant to approve it once they noticed that she filed both applications but forgot to go back and do their job.

In any event, I will let you know what happens. She is going to call them tomorrow and find out what's going on. By the way, if it helps, her petitions were filed at different times. I-130 was filed August 17; I-129f was filed January 2008.

I am asking this question for a friend of mine. Her I-130 was approved on 3/25 and she received her NOA2 in the mail today. The NOA2 says that her husband is here in the U.S. and will be adjusting status HERE. However, this is not true. She put on her forms that he would be adjusting status in Mexico because he cannot adjust status here. The NOA2 says to submit I-824 to have her case transferred to the NVC or else they will send it to the local office.

Please help -- what should she do now?

This is standard wording for the NOA2 for an I-130 when I-129F is also filed. USCIS expects the beneficiary to continue with the K3 visa process, so the I-130 is held for use in the AOS process.

http://www.cousincouples.com/info/states.shtml

So is your friend a K3 case?

Thanks for the response. She did file the I-129f but it is still pending. She has not received any approval on that yet. She filed in VSC and as we know, Vermont has the history of approving the I-130 and just letting the I-129f sit there -- like our case.

I am hoping that this is what is the case here and they didn't make a very big mistake.

I am asking this question for a friend of mine. Her I-130 was approved on 3/25 and she received her NOA2 in the mail today. The NOA2 says that her husband is here in the U.S. and will be adjusting status HERE. However, this is not true. She put on her forms that he would be adjusting status in Mexico because he cannot adjust status here. The NOA2 says to submit I-824 to have her case transferred to the NVC or else they will send it to the local office.

Please help -- what should she do now?

We received an email today from NVC about choice of agent and it states>>

The NVC has received the Agent of Choice selection.

The Immigrant Visa Application (DS 230) processing fee bill will be sent to the designated

agent (petitioner) on the case.

So does that mean it is being sent now or what? I called NVC automated system, but it hasn't been changed yet from last weeks msg, so just wondering how that works. I have the NVC flowchart printed out and right here next to me pinned to my calander, but still a bit confused

me understand this ..........I am a dead head today.....sorry

Maybe cause we are waiting for the AOS bill to enter system, and that is one part of the process going on.........and the other is that the choice of agent has been accepted so now, they sending me the IV bill correct. That can happen before the I 864 is generated and sent out.....correct?

I would hate to try and keep up with more than one petition.......ughhhh, cause I can't even keep up with this one

Thanks for listening

Aisha

No, it has not been sent yet. It just means that it will be sent. You might call them in a couple of days and ask them if it has been "generated." That is the key word -- generated.