RebeccaG

On 4/25/2022 at 3:46 AM, JamesBz said:

I also put I married twice because I married my wife in the Catholic Church then had a civil ceremony in the court. Online it asks to “include marriages to the same person”. Is this going to be a problem moving forward? I did upload two marriage certificates in my i130 However the church certificate was not sent to the PSA. only the civil were documents were sent to the PSA and stamped.

Marriages to the same person means that you married once, divorced and then married again. Only marriages that are accepted by government officials should be included, it doesnt matter if you married in different churches/ceremonies, only the one accepted at the register office counts. 

For the question on the phillipines, the official in the foreign country told me that only the first marriage is legal, to get a second marriage in a different country you need to be divorced. For example, he told me that there is procedure to follow to include my US marriage in the Mexican records but it wont be a mexican marriage, it would be a US marriage validated in Mexican records.

4 hours ago, femme0 said:

Hi guys. I was wondering if someone could advise please. I married a foreigner overseas back in 2018. I was 35 at that time and was already thinking about having a child on my own . I figured that it was time for me at 35 to think about becoming a single mom. Then I met my husband online and it felt really special, so fast forward to 6 months later and we got married overseas. The discussion about children happen right away once we met, so there was no confusion on either side that we both wanted a child or two. So after we met and got married, we also met at two different times overseas while I had already petitioned for him for CR1. During the Covid pandemic, he was short in $, so was I, but I was sending my husband at that time $500/month for about a year or so to help him out as he had no money, so I had also invested in this marriage financially having a little myself at that time since he was my husband and you're supposed to help your husband/wife.

 

I am the one who petitioned for him and did his docs myself. He moved to the US a year ago in April 2021 at last. By the time he moved to the US, I was already 38! So once in the US, I discovered that he was on several local dating apps to my surprise! We only lived together for 6 months from the moment he stepped foot in the US. Our timeframe of the actual living together marriage was that he moved here in April, got his 10-yr card end of July (so 90 days later) and we separated end of September. As i said, I caught him on various dating apps, once his g.c. arrived he backed off from wanting to have a child, which means I wasted around 3.5 years of my life brining someone to the US thinking he is also serious about the marriage per his interest in having a child. I certainly would not have gone through the relationship if he was honest from the beginning that he didn't want a child instead of intentionally waiting to get his hands on his 10 yr card and then backing off from the plan right away leaving me stranded so to speak. Now I am 39 with lost finances and would have to go through my plan of becoming a single mom because I had my time wasted by a con artist. I do not have the luxury of time to date then get married (if that even happens within a year or two). I feel really stupid and embarrassed, but at the same time, dating in Los Angeles is brutal and I highly doubt that I would have met someone serious had I not met him. It's really that bad here in LA.

 

So now I wanted to disclose the true problem and ask to which category of immigration law this falls into. So as mentioned, we lived together 6 months and once the dating apps were discovered, I packed his bags and while doing so, I found a foreign passport other than his native one where he moved from to the US. To better explain what happened is that he confessed to me the following as he already had his 10 year g.c. so he had nothing to lose. Let's call his native country, the country A, while the second country he has a passport from, country B. So turns out that he lived in country B for many years and got his citizenship through fake marriage there, then years later, he married the second time in that country B for love, but divorced again, so we have 2 undisclosed marriages from a foreign country where he holds citizenship from....2 undisclosed marriages and 1 undisclosed citizenship from country B! Now...his native country A, which is the country that he lived in when we petitioned for him and where he had just 1 previous marriage that was disclosed in his USCIS petition as I knew about it. So that country B and everything happened to him there and even the fact that he has been there was totally omitted from his immigration visa (DS260) and his USCIS file. I took a photo of his biographical page of that country B's passport for my records.

 

The problem is even more deeper...his country B passport's last name is the same with a small variation where he intentionally registered by changing two letters there. He did so because neither country A nor country B recognize/accept dual citizenship, which means that his country B passport was not only fraudulently obtained by committing marriage fraud with a female friend of his, but according to country and A and B, both don't recognize dual citizenship, so this is why he had bribed someone at the passport place to slightly change the two letters in his last name so that eh won't be under the radar when travelling between country A and B which he did often. Yes, bribing at the passport center is a norm in 3rd world countries. He said that he was nervous that he might get caught having two passports and that is why his native country's last name slightly differs from the other country's passport, all the other biographical info on both of his passports are the same and the photo is the same as well obviously. The only positive thing is that he is gradually paying me back for the support I sent him back in 2020 covid year which I'm glad that I am getting back at least some of my money but I don't know if he will pay the whole thing back. 

 

I forgot to mention that I did file for divorce as summary dissolution to make it easier and hassle free since it does not include going in front of the judge and we didn't acquire much during those 6 months of actual marriage. My question is if what he omitted is considered misrepresentation and has a specific law to it or is it fraud per immigration law? How do you or how will the USCIS classify this? I am planning on reporting him but still need to wait for my divorce decree so that I can send it all together. I plan on contacting country B and country A (his native) to let them know that he is holding dual citizenship and that country B's passport was acquired through fake marriage. Do you think the USCIS will look at this or toss it to the side? Is there a way to revoke or deport him for this or having the 10 yrs card will make it impossible, hence his confession knowing that he's now untouchable. He called me the other day asking for my tax return because someone told him that if he can get my tax return, he can apply for citizenship soon LOL so the guy thinks I'm going to help him after what he did to me. Now he has ambitions to become a US citizen after living with my for just 6 months. He told me that "I'll get the citizenship  regardless of your help, I can hire a tom notch lawyers and they can do magic for me!" 

Even if you are not getting your time/money back, you need to close this chapter in your life, and move on with you plans of getting a child and perhaps getting a new boyfriend. Sometimes when things dont work out, the US part of the marriage tries to take away the green card from the other part but just explain your situation to USCIS because the guy is a pro.

There's a page where you can report marriage fraud, he is not untouchable, i know someone who could not get his US citizenship because he was on jail once, he is in probation for life, if he gets caught committing a felony, his permanent residency will be removed.

https://www.uscis.gov/report-fraud/uscis-tip-form

I visited two lawyers they both told me because we dont live together secondary evidence was not needed for form i130. Apparently the officer will only check the civil documents and send the case to NVC. I didnt hire the lawyers and sent "some" evidence anyways just in case the process changes (life insurance, will, pictures of the wedding, an affidavit ). During the NVC stage you will need all the evidence, the process to get the i130 approved will take about a year, i sent form i129f last week hoping it will speed up the process. You have a whole year to collect more evidence because it will required for the interview, just make sure you have pictures of the wedding, proof you spend time together like going on vacation even to near cities (hotel receipts, pictures, etc) , pictures during family gatherings, some call logs, screenshots from messages, i use my debit card in Mexico to match the payments with the pictures, your i94 travel history will also be useful, 

I sent form i130a and i didnt see it on the website either.

14 hours ago, Emmah1979 said:

Hello. 
 

we will be filing our CR1 soon and wondered If anyone has a recommendation of documents I should add to help with our case? I have photos of what’s app messages between us and social media posts printed off.  US Bank statement with our names on. Would you recommend we get a letter from loved ones like a affidavit notorized about our relationship?
 

many thanks

Emma 

Do you live together? 

Bank statements are only valid as a proof of relationship if all the income from both spouses goes to the the same account, then from there you need to pay gas stations, grocery stores, repair shops, utility bills, restaurants, etc.

I received two notices, one from Nebraska(they received the doc's and pmt) and a second one from Texas(to log in into an uscis account). My case starts with IEO. What Center will be processing my case,?

Just wait for the i130 to be processed

2 hours ago, Depressed M said:

Those were already provided. They said it doesn’t prove that it was actually me in the store or at the atm, even though they asked for that initially as proof of physical evidence. I also provided atm receipts. 
but thanks for your response. 

Have you checked your travel history? https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/history-search

Try to think on everything you did on those years. Job records, pictures from parties with coworkers, you dont have school transcripts but maybe you have your diploma, pictures from the graduation and proof of payments to that school, collect receipts and pictures for vacations to other cities in the US. Records of the hospital/doctor/labs your visited for your pregnancy.  Social media posts from you or friends showing you were eating on US restaurants. 

im a US citizen and can tell you that almost every person who lives in the US uses a debit/credit card to pay almost everything. We barely use cash. Im guessing they are looking for bank statements or credit card statements that shows payments in grocery stores, gas stations, fast food restaurants, utility bills, repair shops, etc. If you dont have that, you are probably living in another country.

On 3/7/2022 at 1:38 PM, thinpea said:

Hello, 

Me and my husband have started looking into the requirements to submit the I-130 form. In order to submit it we need to provide proof of a bonafide marriage. We have been unable to create a joint bank account or add me as an authorized user on his accounts because I do not have a SSN. Is there any way to get around this or prove the marriage bonafide in a different way? 

Your spouse can get a cheap life insurance, a will, a 401k if available, employee contact information, listing you as beneficiary/primary contact, and pictures of the wedding (if you didn't have a party, you still need pictures of the ceremony).

Have pictures at gatherings with family and friends and from trips if you dont travel a lot you can go to daytrips to cities near where you live.

The lawyers recommend at leat 10 pages of pictures wit 4or6 pictures per page.

You can also have two/three affidavit of witnesses. If you dont live together have one page of wire transfers, videocalls, phone logs, a travel international history report from i94 website, and the us citizen can use the debit card in your country to show international transaction while you both are there, 

You can watch youtube videos. Here are some examples 

7 hours ago, Ionelissy said:

I meant that... after we get the CR-1 visa approved, how long we have until we must depart for USA to live there permanently?

 

what's the expiration date for the CR-1 visa?

So your planning to get a resident cr1 visa for spouse, and you are asking that if the visa gets approved during the interview, how much time do you have to get the things done in your country and move to the united states

2 hours ago, thinpea said:

Hello, 

Me and my husband have started looking into the requirements to submit the I-130 form. In order to submit it we need to provide proof of a bonafide marriage. We have been unable to create a joint bank account or add me as an authorized user on his accounts because I do not have a SSN. Is there any way to get around this or prove the marriage bonafide in a different way? 

Are you in USA or canada?

44 minutes ago, Gloribell_garcia said:

I got a denial of i- 485 because we did not send the complete tax refund, we sent the w2 and tax statement..we are from Puerto Rico and we dont file federal tax.. should we file to reopen, reconsider or restart application 

Even if you are no required to file a US tax return, you are required to file Puerto Rico tax return, did you send it?

I will also change my job in 2022. But an immigration advisor told me that the i864 requires income tax returns and w2's  because is based on what you earned, not in what you are going to earn. The amount should be higher that the one in the poverty line

22 minutes ago, Mattea said:

I'm currently applying to adjust my wife's status. Im not sure how we got this far without the long form birth certificate but now it is needed. How do we obtain this from inside the states? We have no idea what to do. 

I ordered my long texas birth certificate from the Texas Vital Records section on the Texas Department of State Health Services page. It took three weeks to arrive at a texas address. But it depends on the State of the birth certificate, there are also several pages where you can order birth certificates from different states but i chose the official page.

3 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Affidavits as evidence of bona fide relationship are just as silly and contrived, as leases, particularly when it is a parent or parents.

I dont think you are offering a solution to their problem. The couple needs to tell the truth otherwise they will notice the lie immediately. To get a lease months before the green card is approved is really difficult specially when they both are living overseas. The couple have been living together for years i guess they have lots of evidence to prove their marriage. How can they prove they will be living in the US? 

14 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Leases are not a general requirement.  A lease or rental agreement to live at a parent's address is going to look both silly and contrived.  A simple explanation that you plan to live at the parents' address temporarily is sufficient, and/or more than enough.

I also think a lease agreement will look silly, but instead of an "invitation letter". Maybe, the parents could explain in an "Affidavit of witness of bona fide marriage relationship" that the couple will be staying at their residence.

10 hours ago, Zin-Zin said:

I've called the IRS and changed my address to my permanent address in the USA. If I now order a transcript will it have that address on it or the foreign address that I used when I filed?

I have the same issue because i live in Mexico. What I understood is this:  If you can prove you have TIES (income tax return with a US address for example) to the US and have used your parents' address at the US, then you are domiciled in the US. It doesnt matter the place where you sleep. You are temporary visiting other countries, there is not a specific time that say how much time you need to live outside the US to consider that time permanent. Please make sure you can prove that you intent to return to the US.

On 2/22/2022 at 7:21 AM, Crazy Cat said:

1.  The best evidence you can provide is that of having spent time together along with a legal marriage certificate.

2.  Including a few pictures if fine.

3.  Any documents sent to USCIS must be either in English or accompanied by a certified English translation. Anyone fluent in both languages can translate.

4.  DO NOT send 100 pages of online or phone conversations.  You can include selected conversations spanning the relationship.

5.  The "family situation" does not have to be addressed.

Good luck.

I visited another attorney today and told me the same thing than my previous attorney. He also told me that because we do not live together he was going to send only the marriage license and a picture of the wedding (which i dont have) and no other evidence was needed because we only have secondary evidence and all of that could be fake. I do not if i should trust any attorney, or if that they are correct

I dont have evidence of joint documents because we do not live together, my wife is living 75miles away from the border in Mexico, so we visit each other during the weekend twice a month. We had a nonplanned small wedding party but i do not have pictures of it because my family wasnt happy about it, they even tried to stop the wedding; my family inlaw does not know about the relationship, after what happened with my family, i called her and i said to my then fiancee "dont tell them about the wedding". My exattorney told me that the few evidence i have is sent until requested and that there's a high chance to get rejected, but i did some research and the instructions for i130 ask for evidence and affidavits. Now I am completing my i130 packet by myself through consular processing(my attorney did not help us at all), do i need to include the pictures of us (mostly selfies at restaurant, but they are many), conversations, gifts receipts and few money transfers in the initial packet? O should i wait untill they request it as my exlawyer said? I have phone logs for ten months and they are like 100 pages, should i include all of them? Do I need translations even if the interview is going to be in mexico(the instructions ask for them)? The only hard evidence i have is a postnuptial agreement signed by a texas notary to joint assests and liabilities, an holographic testament and a life insurance, but i dont know if these documents are going to be enough. I wanted to include a letter of my situation but i know that when family is not aware of the marriage is a red flag, so i am unsure about it, my inlaw family was not present at the wedding party so they eventually will know about our family problems. We love each other but the distance and our families are making this process difficult.

6 minutes ago, Sarah&Facundo said:

You don't need a ring or to take a picture of an "engagement moment." We didn't do any of that. We didn't send call logs. Like you, I stayed at my husband's house and we didn't really have receipts for restaurants or things we paid in cash and I (USC) didn't really pay for anything. I did have the passport stamps from constantly going to my husband's country though.

I believe you CAN get a stamp from Canada. When I was younger, I liked to "collect stamps" from different countries. I remember, there was a way to pull over at the border and go into a small office to get a stamp. I still have the stamp. Maybe this can be done in the next crossing. It only took a few extra minutes. 

I also went to the K1 interview with my husband (then-fiance) so I was clearly there and able to answer any questions. Actually, the officer probably interviewed me more than they did my husband. The three of us were just chatting. You could see we were genuine because I was sitting there and from the way we were talking to each other. So if you feel like you are short on evidence and if Montreal allows it (not sure if they do or not), I would go with your fiance.

Also yes, as mentioned above, take a few pictures together. I don't know if it really matters where, but if you have some famous landmark behind you, then that can only help. I think one of the pictures was of us when my husband came to the US to visit and we were by the Statue of Liberty. I submitted maybe five pictures total? And the officer chose one of the pictures of both of us with his family in his country and asked us about the picture or whatever we were doing that day. Can you take just a family/friends photo? 

The guy already sent "few" evidence like you and received the NOA1, he is worried because they do not have enough evidence, even the chatlogs are under a nickname. It is better to collect some evidence of his fiancee going to Canada right now in case they ask for more evidence. May be USCIS will not ask for anything like in your case and everything is going to be fine, but what's going to happen if they ask for it and they don't have it,? (you are right, a ring is not required but he needs at least the pictures with family and friends), and some proof of the trips to Canada.

On 2/12/2022 at 5:35 AM, Dsam said:

 

Hi everyone I need advice on my case , I come from an African country in a middle class very religious family who would disown me if they ever found about my sexuality, I’ve tried stylishly bringing it up and their responses were disowning their child and taking them for conversion therapy in the church . I’ve always known I was gay but considering the country I grew up in I always had to keep it locked inside, My Family was very keen about me getting educated, so they sent me abroad to study (outside Africa which is also a country that’s homophobic and anti gay marriage and has no laws to protect gay couples ) and from time to time as long as I kept on making them proud academically they would sponsor my trips and let me travel to other countries for vacations during summer & winter holidays to encourage me for making them proud academically . I was 19 years on a vacation visiting America for holidays when someone approached me 3 years ago (2019), I had an accent so I sounded catchy and we exchanged numbers and social medias .. he was slightly above his mid 20’s (27-28 ) at that time , we chatted after I left America after my vacation, we became good friends and continued communication from time to time and he explained so much to me and made me know I wasn’t less of a human for being gay .I met him twice on two trips to America in 2019. we tried pursuing a relationship back then but due to the distance and time difference it didn’t work out ….so we stayed good friends,in 2020 he got married, his marriage wasn’t working out when the pandemic was kicking in , him and his ex started leaving separately and are now separated about to get divorced finalized … we started trying to work things out  again last year when he started staying on his own due to things not working out in his marriage and he has come to visit me in the country I study last month  this year… we spent more time together and we spoke about things progressing from not just dating but to spending the rest of lives together. At this point of my life , I think I’m gonna have to put my happiness first before my family … My boyfriend is an American citizen who was born in America to American parents and has never sponsored any one for a cr1 visa or immigrant visa in the past,he’s 9 years older than me currently  . My bf plans on visiting me again this year during this summer to spend some more time with me for a month or 2 months.. My question is = if his divorce is finally settled after his next visit to me and we get engaged during this next visit in summer.. would getting married a month after his divorce decree from the court cause problems when his filling for me ?

 

Your opinions and suggestions are welcome , please be nice and truthful, at the same time offer suggestions to help us overcome things that you feel might be a problem .. thank you in advance 

First he got married to a person while having a "distance relationship", i dont know if that would be a red flag because he is already proving he does not take marriages seriously. It is also a red flag if the family is not aware of the relationship it does not matter if you are a gay couple or not.

If you study abroad, i am guessing you dont work and your family pays for everything, you are not in a middleclass family, it is a highclass. Since you have visited the US i am also guessing you have a visa.

My advise is to wait until you finish your degree, and please get financially independent.

The requirements for married couples are extensive, they ask for joint financial bank statement, joint ownership and they have to live together if they dont live together it is kind of difficult to proof a marriage because pictures and gifts are not enough.

So the other option is to get a fiancee visa but you will be in the US and will not be able to work until you get the green card if approved, maybe the interview can be performed in the US since it would not be possible in Russia but i am not sure. So you need to wait at least a year (i dont know if that is enough for divorce people), in the meantime you can get independent from your highclass family. Go to America at least twice. One to get pictures during the vacations (include friends, if you can include cousins and family is better) and keep the receipts of hotels (with both names if possible) and flights. You need to go a second time to get engaged please have the receipt of the ring and take pictures with friends. 

Keep phone and chat log to prove the relationship and watch youtube videos like this one,:

Remember that many visas are rejected every year because of lack of evidence, please do an extensive research

I have the same issue while trying to bring my wife to the US, i visit her every two weeks in Mexico, and i think it would be kind of suspicious if i start doing different things after two years.  I hired an attorney and she just told me "i believe you but you have not enough evidence" but she started the process anyways and gave me no tips or advise on how to fix it. Well, then I decided to stop the process since I knew in advance it was going to be rejected, and started to gather some evidence.

I did some research i found out that selfies are not enough and they must be posted on social media to show family and friends we are a couple (we chose Facebook).  So i got creative and invited some friends to the house to eat pizza and take pictures with them, I visit her at her job with flowers and took pictures with her and her coworkers. I took pictures with us and my family inlaw while "just eating". The other pictures are selfies from restaurants and parks. i take a picture of us everytime i am there, even if we are not doing something special.

There's a small town near the city so we planned a trip and took selfies in the church and monuments. 

You are engaged, so you need pictures of the "engagement moment", even though you dont believe in engagement rings, please BUY ONE.

I used to pay tolls in cash, so I got an account fot tags and i planned to show the statement.

I used to pay everything in cash because of all the frauds in Mexico, but I started using my UScard in the other country everytime I visit my wife, i use it at restaurants, stores, flowershops... everywhere, at least once.

I also keep the receipts for gifts i buy for her.

I use American fuel, but i started to use my debit card in mexican gas stations to prove i was there, i just fill few gallons.

Basically I keep doing the same things, I just make sure there is a record of them. 

I planned to wait another 6 months to gather enough documents and hope everything goes well.