christera22

Hi Saspak Bhai,

this is really frustating. I totally understand how you are feeling. Just keep some patience. I regularly login to see some news from your end. Keep your fingers crossed with a positive mind. To me the infopass answers from the officer seemed to be generalised. It may be a common answer they give. I have a gut feeling that this may be stuck in the name check. The IO looking for the original certificate, is just a eyewash .......they may be still waiting for the background and namecheck stuff I dnt know but wd consulting the congressman wd be a good idea ??

We are all praying for you Saspak ..............let us know. Dnt hesitate to Im me , if you need to . Give my love to the newborn.

Yes i think Verizon roams internationally. I checked their rates for roaming in India . Oh God !

CDMA Standard Roaming Per Minute Rate: $1.99

CDMA Value Plan Roaming Per Minute Rate $1.99

GSM Standard Roaming Per Minute Rate: $1.99

GSM Value Plan Roaming Per Minute Rate: $1.99

I dnt understand is this per minute calling to usa - rate ?? or per minute roaming rate ?

I have to check At&t or May be i wd go to Verizon for USA and then insert another sim from India when I am there.

Thanks .........our friend has Tmobile .....she is trying to get rid of it as soon as possible as she says with it she often experiences call drops and no signal. She is suggesting Verizon. How about that ?? and how much do you pay for roaming when in philipines ??

Hi all,

I am a bit puzzled about cell phone plans . What is the best cellphone provider to go for ?? Cheap & economical with if possible unlimited calls, text messaging etc . Dnt need TV on my cellphone !! BUt i wd need a triband cellphone as it shd work when i go to India on vaccations. All advices wd be appreciated.

Thanks

what can be the other side of the story ?? So they are thinking he may be a spy ?? the religion thing may be playing part here. Did you read teh frisking of former president. US border guys think themselves to be small gods with a uniform and gun in the holster. They dnt even care for US consulates abroad. I understand they can have concerns and question . BUt then couple hrs ?? Thts idiotic and intentional. anyways let the other side story come out too !

Source : http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090815/people..._india_usa_khan

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan said he felt angry and humiliated after he was detained and questioned at a U.S. airport, sparking an uproar in India among his fans.

Khan, 43, one of India's best known actors, was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport Friday, he said.

"I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn't let me through," he said in a text message to reporters in India.

After a couple of hours' interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.

"Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated," said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film "My Name is Khan," which is about a Muslim man's experience with racial profiling.

A U.S. consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter.

As news of Khan's detention broke on Indian television channels, which have played up attacks in Australia on Indian students, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.

"Shocking, disturbing n downright disgraceful. It's such behavior that fuels hatred and racism. SRK's a world figure for God's sake. Get real!!," tweeted actor Priyanka Chopra.

Indian Information Minister Ambika Soni told a television station that while she could not say if Khan had been detained "on religious grounds, there have been too many instances like these in the U.S. concerning Indians."

Last month U.S-based carrier Continental Airlines apologized to former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for frisking him at New Delhi airport.

Source : http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090815/people..._india_usa_khan

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan said he felt angry and humiliated after he was detained and questioned at a U.S. airport, sparking an uproar in India among his fans.

Khan, 43, one of India's best known actors, was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport Friday, he said.

"I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn't let me through," he said in a text message to reporters in India.

After a couple of hours' interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.

"Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated," said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film "My Name is Khan," which is about a Muslim man's experience with racial profiling.

A U.S. consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter.

As news of Khan's detention broke on Indian television channels, which have played up attacks in Australia on Indian students, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.

"Shocking, disturbing n downright disgraceful. It's such behavior that fuels hatred and racism. SRK's a world figure for God's sake. Get real!!," tweeted actor Priyanka Chopra.

Indian Information Minister Ambika Soni told a television station that while she could not say if Khan had been detained "on religious grounds, there have been too many instances like these in the U.S. concerning Indians."

Last month U.S-based carrier Continental Airlines apologized to former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for frisking him at New Delhi airport.

SHAMEEEEEEEE

Thanks Haole. Who gave you the idea that CO or IO s are made to think like USA ? they are given special training to adopt to the specific culture of the country. So they do think and try to compare cases according to cultures prevelant in respective countries but they dnt think absurd stuff. All they are interested whether its bonafide or not.............. if the person think the USC wife as mother or daughter is none of their concern.

2ndly i dnt want to to setup an argument here but then open you eyes Haole. Surely you wd see many immigrating to India. And USA invites Indians to come and give growth to industries here. Must have seen Ajay Bhatia , co founder of USB, in the Intel AD !! Thats it .......there are visas like H1B, L1 and organisations like Intel, IBM, Sun to name a few to wd bow down to hire asian and Indian employees . Indian job standard is hard working and good quality and thats why the outsourcing. They immigrate as a part of the process to work for their companies...... that too happens not even marrying any USC and normally offered by their individual organisations. That way the organisation can keep them with themselves. I have examples where the copany has offered residentship to my friend and he has refused and went back to India and he says US is boring and nothing to do apart from work.

So open your eyes and understand the facts. India is no more being a third world country, it makes its own rice, steel & alcohol & no dependency on China . I am not saying this being biased but from some truth.As i said I am here only for my wife, and most probably we wd immigrate to India soon. BUt I do love USA for its unanimous attitude in laws and regulations & also for its universal helping hand. Study a bit of world history and you wd understand what I am saying.

In addition if an employer decides to hire an employee in H1B, the employer has to pay for his/her visa application, immigration lawyer fees etc that will run into thousands. If you add all these, hiring an American in place of a H1B visa holder is less expensive and less time consuming for the company. Still American companies hire H1B visa holders. Why?

To answer this question let me take you to a graduate class in any University in US. More than 80% of the students in those classes will be non-Americans. Go to any Computer Science or Electrical Engineering classes and you may be extremely lucky if you can find an American in that class. Bottom Line – Americans will high skill sets are almost an extinct species and American companies are forced to hire skilled people by sponsoring H1B visas.

Now what will happen if politics takes an upper hand and makes H1B visa rules stricter? The US is going to lose big time and countries like India and China are going to gain big time. Let us see how it is?

Suppose it becomes difficult to get H1B visas. The majority of the H1B visa holders, who pump majority of their salaries back to US economy will find it tough to get a job and go back to their motherland. The skilled people have gone back and the US employers cannot find enough “qualified” Americans to fill the skilled jobs even though there are lot of “unqualified, unemployed” Americans. In the mean time there will be thousands of qualified skill people in India who cannot be brought to US because of visa restrictions. What will the American company do? Outsource the work to India. What does that translate to? America’s loss is India’s gain.

I dnt want to go into any details but you can google and see for your own .............. no hard feelings here Haole. You take care.

ALso i forgot to mention in my reply is that the advantage the OP has is both of them are from DOminican background. So that cocultural bondage is of course a big advantage. Tell him to point that out during the interview.

Hello....I posted this in spanish and now in english so here goes....My boyfriend and I are filing for the k1 visa....he is 21 and I am 35.....he is Dominican and I am American born to Dominican parents....I am a bit worried and concerned that we may get denied the visa because of the age difference which can trigger thoughts of a fake relationship (fraud).....to my surprise this relationship is realer than real and I think that if we have all of our documents in order and answer all questions truthfully and correct that age difference is not a valid reason to deny a visa....Please give me your totally honest opinion...i appreciate it....thanks....

You are correct. Age difference is NOT a valid reason and they will never use that. They CAN use "not clearly eligible". Try to appeal that one.

Again, I have not heard it is a problem in the Latin American/Carribean cultures. Make your your evidence is solid. The problem lies in that YOU must clearly prove the relationship is legitimate and not for immigration benefits. The burden is on YOU, not them. But if you have good evidence, you should be OK. I would also suggest strongly you attend the interview. (I do that anyway for anyone)

Yeah they "can't" use age difference as a reason for denial but they'll just use the subjective "lack of a bonsfide relationship".

Why does a 21 year old guy marry a 35 year woman in the US. Money or has a "mother complex"?

Why does a 21 year old foreigner from a 3rd world country marry a 35 year US citizen?

Take your pick???

Bottomline is "pile high" evidence of having a LOVING bonafide relationship.

Yes, hon, you are right. THey should pile high the photographs, too. Never let anyone tell you that "they are just secondary evidence.

What is all these ?? GaryandAlla & HAole , who told you all these informations. There is no written rule as if :

"Age differences can be a problem in some areas of the world. If a 23 year old Pinay marries a 50 year old American man...no problem. If a 28 year old Russian marries a 55 year old man from the USA...no problem. Such things are NORMAL in their own culture, it is not unusal that they would seek the same in marrying a foreign person. If a 35 year old US woman wants to marry a 21 year old Syrian...can be a big problem. I have not heard of these problems with younger men/older women in Latin American cultures."

Also Haole pls dnt humiliate members here by saying all these stuffs :

"Why does a 21 year old guy marry a 35 year woman in the US. Money or has a "mother complex"?

Why does a 21 year old foreigner from a 3rd world country marry a 35 year US citizen?"

You are acting against VJ policy.

Who told you that a person from a third world country is always liiving in worser condiiton ? I am still richer with my wealth when i came in USA. So USA for me was not money but my wife. Trust me this is a total wrong notion. We live in India in much more safer and free and non fear way. No job loss no tension of how to pay the bills. So dnt think all these. Apart from the high fraud countries neither USCIS nor the consulate tend to think that way. My consulate asked me a strange thing when i was coming USA for the 1st time. She asked 'well there are so beautiful women in usa..... wd u get attracted and married.1st time i came only for business.' My reply was well there are more beautiful women in India than USA .... so no hard feelings , I am more attracted in India than I think I wd be in USA'.......she smiled and switched offt o different questions. Any way I am moving away from the topic as usual.

My wife USC is 56 and I am 32. So what ?? that man must have demonstrated deeper sense of maturity and spiritual evolvement. Thats why she choose her. If he is using her for GC thats a different case though. But thats not is expressed here. In consulate stage interviews age difference can create a bit problem but rajojo321 i will give you certain things they looks as good proofs and you can use to circumvate these flags, if at all it arises which at all i doubt.

i) at least 15-20 pics together with the application

ii) A statement written by the USC where she states why she married,how did you two meet, add humour and make it believable. Trust me they read that. Though our marriage was from b1/b2 visa and didnt involve consulates but then they read it . Thats what our IO said us during interview.

iii) I dnt know about Dominican but many consulates do allow USC s to join ................. see if you can do that or not.

iv) last but not the least, write a letter from his perents and relatives about you two................ do the same from your end... means ur relatives write something about him and it matters. Our IO was very very impressed by the way her relatives wrote about me.

I dnt think there can be any problem in such little age difference so long he can convince the consulate officer. No one has ever been denied for age difference but they look at how much deep you are into each other. Thats what they want to see...... nothing else. They may ask you about plans to have babies together. Get a good reply ready.

Hope this helps............. be confident and tell him to gather all these & look into the eyes of the officer during interview and smile. They take stuffs as , looking down or looking away or to left, as signs of telling lies of hiding facts. So tell him to avoid these. Thanks .. If you need more to know pls ask.... and we will all be most glad to help.

CONGRATS !!!

So noone in this forum knows which will be th best bank to open a checking & savings a/c where i wd diposit my salary ( direct diposit)

I am looking for the following features :

a) No monthly fee

B) Able to earn some interest

c) Card

d) Cheques

e) Atms all over

f) Zero min balance

etc etc

i wd appreciate any imput.

Tayrivers .............. thats it ...............its what JustBob said .........its crazy but thats how USCIS looks at it. Thanks JustBob.

That is not true that if you get married within the first 30 days of a tourist visit they will USCIS default to looking at it as visa fraud.

They may ask you additional questions and may even request additional proof of your intent to depart the US when you entered.

I was more concered with the statement of if so then you should wait at least 2 months before you apply.

This is very bad advice, anyone who had filed for AOS from a VWP or Tourist Visa should apply for AOS before the expiry of their I-94 NOT after. Waiting 2 months to file will not make USCIS look any differently at your Application than they would if you filed the day after you got married. In 99% of AOS cases from a VWP/Tourist visa they are not asked one single question about their intent let alone denied for getting married within the first month.

Ya its true that in 99% cases they are not asked anything about intent. But marrying hurriedly just after entering US does show intent, unless otherwise it can be proved that the marriage was done in such a hurry due to some special reason or occasion that forced them to get married. We were asked what led me to marry and the IO asked the whole story ... . SO they indirectly try to understand your intent and may not ask "My dear sir , did you plan to ,marry before you got to the plane ? " So I am telling from my experience. Thanks.

Tayrivers .............. thats it ...............its what JustBob said .........its crazy but thats how USCIS looks at it. Thanks JustBob.

Thank all you guys ....recieved conditional green card today. Lets pray for Saspak now .........

Its just one more thing to obsess about. Sorry...

well said .....ya its a USCIS internal development.... nothing else........... good in a way, shows ur case is being handled. My I-485/I-130 approval notice has come to me whereas the online status shows pending.And my I-485 card production ordered status changes to Approval notice sent and gets touched almost everyday. So you can check it just to see its moving or not. Online status are not always the biggest determining factor. There are people in VJ who has received permanent residentship and their online status still shows pending. I wd advice you to create a profile with USCIS as a customer, activate the autoemail system and get emails from them. As its clearly written in a profile section that you wd get emails from them, inspite the online status may or may not change.

Hope this was helpful.

Saspak Bhai , I wd suggest wait for one more week and then try to do an infopass. WHy dont u simple call the famous 1800 number and talk. may be they wd say something to you ................ i wd recommend that highly, though we both know it useless sometimes. Background check can surely be a thing. As our IO told that in certain cases even approved cases takes lots of time due to background check. So do give a call today and let us know what do they say. Based on that you may decide whther or not to make an Infopass. Take care.

Please fill out your timline and give us bit of a detail how did you meet and come here. Otherwise it can go that fast depending the backlog of your local office. Septembergold is from detroit. She may reply here. Anyway let me know.

Eveen if you get to drive or get to go to job you will be bored. I am bored, frustated and sad too. I am learning to drive but then every shop close so early and its so difficult to get to places and can`t move freely ....different kinds of fears and threats. I am working and people in work doesn`t talk to me unless they have to ............. as because I am the only different looking person in the organisation. Plus they also laughed and mocked about my name. So i dnt expect anything here !! My total idea of USa was different before i came here,. Every morning i hate to go to work but i have to ...... plus i have tried tried and tried to make friends all over. Here friends are for benefit, my neibors dnt even know me here. Rather in this way I am also get far away from my friends in India .............. they email me and try to call me every other week. My neibors in India write emails to me that they miss me.Social mannersim and scenario here is 1/10. So it does strikes me bad but then i keep my eyes and ear blocked. I am also member of library, gym, video library etc etc but then those does surplus these things. AFter i used to come back from work in India i used to chat with local friends everyday at least an hr before going back home. Plus i loved going to office , though myh job was hectic being a district manager.

I am sorry but i am telling the truth. I am sure many wd agree to me.

One more thing....... Its a common myth in VJ that a person is considered under poverty level , only if his line 22 is showing low. NO ! NO ! NO !

My wife as i said is self employed . Now she writes of the expenditure of the business and thus her business shows running in loss. BUt then USCIS looked at the figure before she deducted. Thus with her pensions and her business, before decuctions, we were far far above poverty level. All in VJ told us we need a cosponsor , but neither we got a RFE regarding I-864 nor did we need anything at the interview. Th IO said that she is pre approved.

Hmmm........ wy wife (USC) is self employed. She is also on disability from state teachers. Now did you send 3 yrs tax transcripts from IRS ? also if he is self employed he doesnt need to send any paystubs............... what does his line 22 of 1040 say ?

Let us know and may be we can help you more.

Thanks

kpic, visacheck,

I hope you both are right Just dont want to go through all this anymore.

I truely understand what you mean. Just hang ijn there for sometime. We are all praying for you.

No one ?? strange !

Congrats Septembergold .................exact seven days from the welcome letter & 12 days from the interview. Great ........enjoy waiting for mine too .................Looking out for good result from Saspak.