JeroenAndMichelle

No! It is not 'normal' for an american man to act the way you describe! He is a bully and you are just seeing the tip of the iceberg now. Once you are married it will undoubtedly get worse. Marriage never fixes this kind of problem. How could a man treat you this way if he loves you? I am sorry but this does not sound like a good situation for you at all! You must ask yourself if there is any way that what you get from this relationship can make it worth it to be treated this way. Most american men treat their wives/girl-friends much better than this! You can do better!

Hi there,
I am a Canadian and my fiance is American. We have been doing a long distance relationship for nearly four years, crossing the border at least twice a month each. Although it seems as though it is simple enough to just move and stay there, the problems that would arise from that are not worth the easy way out. If you are truly ready to be with your fiance/boyfriend then to wait the possible.. sayyy... 10 months for the visa should not be a huge deal. Trust me I have thought about the idea of just running down there and staying, the cons out weigh the pros. I know you wanted people to only reply if they had done this method.. but I really think you should just file for your K-1 Visa and be responsible for a proper immigration.
P.S. I once crossed the boarder with a photo album in my car, (not knowing it was in my trunk) and I was questioned at the boarder for over an hour because they thought I was trying to illegally move to America and was almost banned for 5 years. This was before I even applied for my visa and I had no intentions of moving there without doing it properly.
DO THE K-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it only takes one secondary inspection to unravel the whole thing. So far you haven't had any issues, but fill up your trunk with your final batch of personal items and then try to play it straight faced to CBP when you know you are making your last trip to the US with no intent to leave, and tell the CBP guy that. Then he/she gets a "hunch" and decides that particular day your vehicle is looking "pretty full" of junk and decides to pull you over and finds all your personal affects, yada, yada, yada.. ooops misrepresentation and a nightmare for your future intended marriage.
And YES we have seen folks who have had issues check out the I601 forum.

No, you came to a website where the focus is on legal immigration to the US and asked for people who have violated US immigration law to share their personal experiences using that process to enter the US.
I am a Canadian (dual citizen now with US) and when I still lived in Canada worked as a Constituency Assistant to the Member of Parliament. Our Riding was within a short distance of the US borders at Sarnia and Detroit. We did have the occasion to deal with Canadians who had been banned from the US because they chose to violate US immigration laws - either intentionally or unintentionally. The US makes no differentiation between the two - kind of like, if you mistakenly eat potassium cyanide thinking it is sugar you are still going to experience the 'effects' of the 'cause'.
You will find no one on this site - which is full of people who HAVE done the legal process - advise you to do anything other - and if anyone did, the post would be removed and they would face an account suspension. (I speak now as a Moderator for this site).
When my husband and I decided to marry we chose the K-1 route. My personal experience with people who had violated some part of US immigration law (and on the other hand Americans who had violated Canadian immigration law) confirmed that the legal options were the only way to go that would allow peace of mind. Btw - did you know that there is no statutes of limitation on immigration violations? That even if you were successful and 25 years down the road your violation came to light - even if you were then a US citizen - your citizenship would be stripped, you would be deported and you would face a ban.
USCIS takes immigration very seriously. Misrepresentation and Visa Fraud are two of their highest 'crimes' and bear heavy consequences. Getting married to a US citizen and living in the US is a multi-year process - it doesn't 'end' when you cross the border. You have to prove the validity of your marriage and that you satisfy all of the medical, criminal and moral requirements to be allowed to live and work in the US after you are married before you will be allowed to remain in the US - conditionally for 2 years only. You then have to apply for permanent permission by showing you still qualify for all of the personal requirements plus prove the legitimacy of your marriage by providing documentary evidence that you have co-mingled your financial assets and liabilities, your personal and your social lives together.
To enter the US with the intent to marry and remain in the US is considered Visa Fraud - using a visa issued for one reason as a means to bypass the legal process of the proper immigrant visa. In this case, using the 'implied' visitor visa status that Canadians have with the US - a non-immigrant visa that promises the border you will leave at the end of your legally authorized stay - to immigrate. This is misrepresentation - one of the 'highest' violations for USCIS - and makes you ineligibile to receive permission to live in the US. Your real worry is how long it will take until USCIS finds you out - and right now in the current economic situation, all political parties are facing very heavy pressure to deal harshly with anyone found violating immigration legislation. As I said, there is no statutes of limitation for immigration violations - are you really sure it is worth a lifetime of worry and fear to avoid a few months delay of doing the legal route?

Go back to your original thread and read there.
Here I will make it easy on you:
Do whatever research you like.
No one on this community is going to advise you it's OK to intentionally cross a US border with plans to marry and put down permanent roots in the US. Such behavior is in violation of the INA as it is entering the US with clear intent to evade immigration policy.
When you take certain actions, they are your own responsibility. Do not expect people here to tell you it is ok to intentionally circumvent the law.

Do whatever research you like.
No one on this community is going to advise you it's OK to intentionally cross a US border with plans to marry and put down permanent roots in the US. Such behavior is in violation of the INA as it is entering the US with clear intent to evade immigration policy.
When you take certain actions, they are your own responsibility. Do not expect people here to tell you it is ok to intentionally circumvent the law.

As long as your husband and you didn't separate ("he moved in with his lover") before you got the Green Card, this is not going to be an issue at the naturalization stage, which is still 3 years away.

touched could mean many things. It could mean they are just moving your petition from one file box to another or too and adjudicators desk. sometimes it means they are getting ready to work on your petition. some people get no touches between their NOA1 and NOA2 so it really has no official meaning.

Whatever is cheapest.

No. They are worthless unless the immigration officer has the people that signed them present to testify. None of us are going to be in a position to make another person do anything when it comes to their case. I have stated my opinion. If you dont agree its ok with me.

"Affidavits are not mandatory & can prove to be worthless because anyone could manufacture them". Maybe you need to read this quote again. It indicates they are not required. It doesnt say no one should submit them. Affidavits would not be submitted to me. Its my opinion that they are worthless for the reason I gave. Anyone can write anything they want which could be viewed as pure fiction or as absolute fact. Who could or would distinguish between the two. You?
If you want to question the author of the instructions contact the USCIS office near you to inquire. If you want to submit affidavits then do so. I did not & was asked to.
Ahh map has corrected my error about the fact this is an AOS rather than a visa petition to BKK. I made that mistake in my understanding. Read his post.

Did you even have a relationship? Or were you just pen pals with benefits. Because 3.5 months sure doesn't show commitment or desire to me.

You received NOA1 in December and now it's quits? Obviously your relationship wasn't that strong and it is best to end it now because this little waiting is the least (trust me, the least) of the pressures that your relationship would have had to endure.
Many folks are not cut out for international relationships. Good luck to both of you.

First of all: my deepest condolences.
Second of all: What. An. Idiot. [Him, not you!]
As a con man, he's totally incompetent. You are, of course, correct. Without AOSing, his stay will expire in 90 days, and then he's out of status.
You should be aware that if he has a copy of your marriage certificate, and can fake your signature on an I-864, he can try to file for AOS on his own, assuming he even knows he needs to do this. [Was it you or him who did most of the paperwork? If you did it all, he may not be familiar with the process enough to even know he's bailed before he locked in his status.] You can [and should!] head this off at the pass by calling USCIS, talking to a second level service officer, and informing them of the situation and that under absolutely no circumstances is an I-864 signed by you legitimate. That will prevent him from even trying to AOS.
As for the other stuff, USCIS is unlikely to sic ICE on him just for taking off. They unfortunately don't have the manpower to do that sort of active investigation, so that won't work. But it sounds from what you say that he leads a lifestyle that will bring him to the attention of the Florida police in fairly short order, and if you inform them of his licenselessness, tendency towards DUI, and immigration status, they may hand him over to ICE for you, when he inevitably has an unfavorable interaction with them.
That's pretty much all you can do, directly. But I recommend that you don't do anything overtly against him. Certainly call USCIS to protect yourself from a forged I-864 by all means, but for the other stuff...
Harboring unforgiveness and anger against someone will ultimately do far more harm to your body and soul than the pain he's already caused you. I urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to try very hard to understand him as just another sad, twisted, broken, fallen human [just as we all are] and to find a way to forgive him who trespasses against you, just as we are forgiven our trespasses.

Well.. I fully understand. Though the wait, the cost and the requirements are nowhere near comparison to how things are in my home country. A husband of a citizen just got deported. Reason? Their apartment did not have a 3 year lease, only a "2 year lease with opportunity of prolonging the agreement". That wasn't good enough for immigration service here.
You have to be atleast 24 years of age to even think of trying to get your spouse(no such thing as a fiance visa here) here permanently and that I-134 is peanuts next to the assets you are required to have besides 3 years of supporting yourself without having been a public charge. Next to that, a price of 1000 dollars for the petition(first part) and citizens here pay about 50% taxes of our income. And then there's the wait.
I do understand why it's not just a matter of weeks, 5 months(and then some) is a loong, looong time. But I(both my heart and mind) have to accept the process as the first thing as a legal way for me to be with my fiance for good.

Where do you base this on? It's the first time I hear this... so far I see plenty of people getting approved, who didn't had to go to an interview during AOS and I also people going to interviews while they had one during AOS. I don't think you can automatically state 'more than likely' as it would imply that people would be very likely get one or not...

Not necessarily. Each case is weighed and viewed differently. It depends on what you submitted as proof as well. Also if there are any red flags that are raising alert, you might be called for an interview. But, in most straight forward cases, the ROC is decided without an interview.

Rules are same, does not matter what consulate you apply from.
At same time it depends on lot of variables in every case, mainly a consulate would look into few things like what is the fraud rate, are ppl from that country tend to apply for tourist visa gain entry into USA and never return back etc.
Local economy also plays into factor when there are not enough jobs and ppl are trying to get to US in hopes for finding jobs – they apply for tourist visa and then stay here illegally and working illegally (specially the low skilled jobs).
They also look at the past trends where they see lot of youths coming to US on tourist visa and then get married in US and apply for AOS they deny the tourist visa to ppl who fall between age bracket of say 20s-30s and so on.
Good example is India, until few years back it was really difficult to get a tourist visa, but changing trend in local economy, now days majority of the applicants who come on tourist visa complete their stay in US and return back etc has made it really simple to apply for tourist visa from India.

Just out of curiousity, are the rules different or the same for each consulate?
If the rules are different or stricter in any way, would it not be the advise of those that have been through, dealt with, and cried over this particular consulate be the most accurate? Just curious cause maybe I am missing something that discredits the people who have been there and done that with Casa.
Directly to the OP Watch the videos on youtube for the Casablanca consulate, the chief consulate explains exactly in detail what someone needs to get a tourist visa. I am sorry , but it is really hard , even with strong ties. You practically have to be anchored with a tether. She burst my bubbles hardcore on those videos cause she is very blunt and to the point. However , this is the reality of Casa.
Some other advice, maybe you can go on vacation over there with a family member, my uncle ( practically my dad) came to meet Hicham, even if it is one person, it's a nice feeling having someone else see for themselves
God Bless and remember LOVE is patient even if we are not
Sara

A "Stokes" interview is NOT the same as the initial interview. If your interview notice indicates "initial" interview then this is NOT a "Stokes". A "Stokes" may be performed but only if their were issues raised in the initial interview.

I think you will have to wait until you go to the airport and check in there. I think someone has to actually look at the visa, since you don't have ESTA. You shouldn't need ESTA though, since you have a K1. I have had flights before where online check-in was not allowed, but it was never a problem at the airport. I am not certain of this, but I think you will be okay. Also, your return ticket is fine. People enter on a K1 all the time with a return ticket because it is often cheaper than a one-way, so that will not cause a problem. Your return flight will still be valid. You probably already know this, but you need to file for AP right after your wedding if you are planning on going back to Germany in August. It takes 2-3 months to get it, and if you go without it, you will not be let back in to the States. BPO might ask about the return flight at POE.
I'm so excited for you! Have a safe journey!

In terms of the forms you will fill? ROC is a breeze. Just I751 and it's quite easy. Nothing compared to AOS i.e. 485, 130, biographical data, etc etc etc.
In terms of evidence, it depends. Some pple have more evidence to send for ROC than AOS and vice versa.

This is for removal of conditions, photos are not a big thing like i said. For the petition for K-1 they are but when removing conditions they want HARD evidence such as bills in both names etc. Evidence spanning 2 years of living together and co-mingling.

You should file I-751 with divorce waiver two weeks prior to the expiration date on your card. Use USPS express - that way your package will be tracked and if there is any problem with petition you will still have time to re-file.
You should write a cover letter, in which you will summarize your relationship and declare that since you are in the middle of divorce, you can not provide divorce decree yet. You should include a nice thick collection of documents to prove co-habitation, co-mingling of finances and social life... and your baby's birth certificate, of course.
You do not need a lawyer for this.
USCIS will accept your petition, extend your status for a year and request that you send them divorce decree. By the time they come around to asking, you will hopefully have the decree on hand. They give you a couple of months to respond to RFE.
If you do not file on time, you will be out of status and removal proceedings will be initiated.
Regarding divorce, if you trust your husband to be fare, you can just let him handle it and pay for it.
If you do not trust him, get the best lawyer you can find. If he is good, he may be able to make your husband pay his lawyer fees anyway

I would argue that the overwhelming majority of ROC petitions are being approved. Only case of fraudulent marriage or cases where the documentation submitted is so ridiculously weak will be denied. For somebody who is a VJ member and pays attention to the process and documentation, ROC should be straightforward.