Edward and Jaycel

Ok, if you enter in January you will have no issues with the date of your travel. The date you put on the DS-160 was only an estimate and they will not have a problem if you travel on a different date

Did you receive the visa yet? What is the expiration date? As long as you arrive in the US before that expiration date you will be fine

For this part we did like a page and a half summary of how we actually met (online) and details of our first and second meetings and the time that I lived there in the Philippines. In that box we put "See attached sheet detailing our relationship" and included a separate page and a half that had "RE: Part 2, Question 54 - Describe the circumstances under which you met" at the top with our names and my (sponsor's) address and contact info (Just like a business letter)

The thing to keep in mind is that the embassy will get your entire I-129F packet and the Consular Officer will likely look at it while they are interviewing your fiancee. They did during Jaycel's interview. The I-129F packet I created to petition Jaycel had about 40 pages of proof of relationship / proof of meeting in person. When she went for her embassy interview, she was asked 4 or 5 perfunctory questions and was approved and had her visa issued within 3 days. Is that because we had so much evidence in the I-129F? If I was a betting man, I would say yes as the CO knew neither of us was married or had kids without asking and commented on the year I had spent there in the Philippines.

I would expect some delays due to Thanksgiving being the day after they took the filing fee and then the weekend. I wouldn't get too nervous unless 30 days has passed without notification.

I have heard that on the new website the case number will show as invalid until CEAC shows it as "Ready". That's just through the grapevine though so take it for what it's worth. Good luck to you guys!

NOA 1s for the I-485 and I-765 coming in the mail today (Thank you USPS Informed Delivery!)

No - The date on the DS-160 is an estimate at best as no one knows when they will actually get their Visa. As long as you enter the US before the expiration date on the Visa, you should have no issues. We were not expecting to be able to get Jaycel's visa before October so we put October 15th as the intended date. Things fell into place for us a lot more quickly and she entered the US on August 30th with zero issues.

They only issue "Multi-Purpose" NBI checks now. That is what was on Jaycel's NBI Clearance form and the Embassy accepted it with no questions.

Yes they made copies of her passport bio page and the page where the K-1 visa was attached in her passport

You have to try to get something official from the court saying the records are not available. I got an RFE for court records (because my idiot brain thought I could just tell USCIS about the case on my I-129F and not provide documentation 🤪) and this was the verbiage I got in the RFE: If the court dispositior(s) is/are not available, you must obtain a certified letter from the court(s) stating that there is no record.You may submit original documents establishing the norrexistence of court records, or certified copies which must include the relevant court seal stamps. In addition to evidence establishing the court documents are not available, submit a notarized statement detailing the events that lead to the arrest, the arresting agency, what charges were filed by the arresting agency, the final disposition (guilty, not guilty etc.) of all of the charges with a list of the charges, the location of the court and any punishments.

We just sent it in on 11/14 but no rejection, we got our case numbers and online account code. This is what the Case Status says: November 18, 2024 Case Was Received and A Receipt Notice Was Sent On November 18, 2024, we received your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Receipt Number IOEXXXXXXXXXX, and sent you a receipt notice or acceptance notice. The notice describes how we will process your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

With government forms, especially immigration forms, my philosophy is not to leave anything blank. For our I-485 & I-765 that we just filed, we put N/A in any empty text box. That's just my personal opinion on how to do it.

I will definitely keep this thread updated!

@AHRA please note that I edited my comment to say that we submitted a copy of the DS-3025. Hold onto that original and submit a copy.

We only submitted a copy of the DS-3025 as proof she had a medical exam abroad within 1 year of filing the I-485, which is all that is required from a K-1 visa holder adjusting status. Now, it is up to USCIS to get the Medical Exam results from Jaycel's A-File. It should have been sent to USCIS from CBP when they took her yellow packet at the PoE. If they can't find it or are negligent and don't look for it, then they will issue us an RFE for the I-693 and at that point we will just play their game and get another medical exam done and submit the I-693. We figured that if they do their job correctly, they will have the medical on file already. If not, the delay for an RFE for a medical is usually not that significant. Hopefully by then she'll have her EAD and the delay won't matter much. Yes it's a gamble but we would rather not pay for another medical exam unless we have to.

Police Certificates are not accepted by the Embassy in Pakistan as they are unreliable. The embassy does its own background checks on applicants which is why Administrative Processing takes so long for cases there.

P.S. - @William & Judi you can return the favor by filling out your VJ timeline. That helps all members by adding to the stats and helping form more accurate processing time estimates

I don't know how that would work for your step-daughter. The name change for your wife is supported on the form because you will be attaching your marriage certificate which is what allows for a legal name change via the application. My guess is that for your step-daughter, it would have to be a name change later done via a court process. And you are very welcome! Jaycel and I have received so much help from this forum that we are happy to share our experiences with our fellow travelers through this immigration process By the way, if you want to see what we included for the I-485 and I-765 filings, I started a thread for November AOS Filier here and listed the contents from our cover letters:

If you and your wife married withing the 90 days, then she just has to file the I-485 (and I-765 if she wants employment authorization prior to receiving her green card and I-131 if she wants advanced parole - travel authorization). On the I-485 (and the other two, if filed) she will put the new married name she wants to take (on the I-485 this goes in the "Your Current Legal Name" spot and her maiden name will go in the "Other Names You Have Used Since Birth" spot). She can then request a SSN via the I-485 form, Part 1, Questions 14-17. If she files the I-765 there is also a spot on there to request a social security number. If you file both forms, you should request a SSN on both forms as generally the I-765 is adjudicated faster and she will get the SS card faster with her married name. Then when they approve her I-485 the SSA will issue her a new card, still with her married name but this one will have the employment restriction verbiage removed

For Jaycel's address info on the I-129F, her DS-160 and now her AOS package applications, we put her barangay after her street number and name in that box. She did not have a district or anything so we didn't have to worry about that. Just fit it in the best that you can. We had no problems. The biggest thing is street number an name if she has one, city, province, country and postal code

Today we received the USCIS Account Access Notice and now we can see our case info online

Woo Hoo!! Congrats!! 🎉

Sending prayers your way!

I just filled this out for Jaycel's AOS package.... Letter from the employer and paystubs will help establish current income. If your joint sponsor includes tax transcripts, do not include W-2s or 1099s unless they filed jointly with their spouse and are using only their income to qualify. From the "Instructions for Form I-864": "Item Number 7. Current Individual Annual Income. Type or print your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit and indicate the total in the space provided.You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. If your claimed income includes alimony, child support, dividend or interest income, or income from any other source, you may also include evidence of that income." Item Numbers 23.a. - 25. Federal Income Tax Return Information. You must provide either an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year. If you believe additional returns may help you to establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your Federal individual income tax returns for the three most recent years. You are not required to have the IRS certify the transcript or photocopy unless specifically instructed to do so by a Government official; a plain transcript or photocopy is acceptable. ...... If you provide a photocopy of your Federal individual income tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your Federal individual income tax returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint income tax return with your spouse and are qualifying using only your income."