bamspeedy

"The place issued is on the naturalization certificate"

There are two places listed, neither specifically says "Issued at".

It was "filed at" in Minneapolis where she did her interview, and the swearing in ceremony was done in Madison, so which one "Issued" it?

Two questions and then I think I'm set to send off the N-600 for my stepdaughter.

Question 19 asks "Were your parents married when you were born".  Her birth parents, or her mom and me (stepfather)?  Her birth father is not (and never was) a US citizen and signed away all parental rights but they were married at time of the daughter's birth.   I have not adopted her yet, so should I check 'Yes' her parents were married at time of birth, or 'no' since I was not married to her mother at that time?  Legally a step-parent isn't really considered much of a parent and has few, if any rights.

Place of naturalization of mother:  The location that issued the document ("filed with the Secretary of Homeland Security at Minneapolis, MN") or where the ceremony took place ("USCIS Citizenship and Immigration Services at Madison, WI")?

Just did my Biometrics at Providence. After reading what most go through with walk-in I decided to go for mine 4 hours early. They turned me away and insisted that I should appear back at the given appointment time. So no early walk-in at Cranston in Providence RI

That sucks. At Milwaukee my wife's appointment was at 11:00 and then the day before we realized that her daughter's wasn't at the same time and was at 3:00 so we were worried we would have to wait 4 hours, but luckily they did both at the same time (we were about 45 minutes early for the first appointment-we live 4 hours away so we didn't want to cut it too close).

There were 2 'lab' workers (people who take the fingerprints and pictures) and there was nobody else there, so it would have really been wasteful and stupid of them if they had made us wait. Entering the building we had to go through an airport style security process with 3 security guards, which would have been way too much security staff had we been the only people there, but there were other people coming into the building to go to other parts of the building (it was still a bit too many security people).

Just to clarify, is the biometrics appointment just to take fingerprints and prove ID, and it really isn't an 'interview'? The letter only said to bring the letter and an ID (passport/visa), I want to make sure I'm not expected to bring anything else such as marriage certificate, proof of address, SS card, birth certificate, pictures, etc.

i thought you needed 6 months worth of pay stubs.

Well, the paystubs aren't required, unless specifically asked for (they tell you they want to see them, such as for an interview or from an RFE).

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 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 stub(s) 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.

I've got paystubs going back to '07, but I'm missing a few here and there that got lost somewhere. Going back to early November of '09 is where I have the most recent missing pay stub.

So I could send 6 months worth, but I would be missing a few, or I could send in the past 3 months and missing none. Or simply not send in any at all.

separate checks!!!! 1) $1,010 & 2) $600

asssemble independently

proofs of bonafides for interview

Thanks. I guess the I-765 is only needed for the mother, so forget I added copies of the daughter's information to that form.

This is copied from my cover letter. (>>>>Is comments I've added to this post, that isn't on the cover letter.)

-Personal Check $1,610 payable to Department of Homeland Security.

>>>>>$930 fee for I-485, +$80 biometrics fee for the mother. The child is under 14, so does not need to pay the $80 biometrics fee.

-Two Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, for the intending immigrants, signed and dated by xxxx xxxx (xxxx), (signing as self and as a mother for the child).

>>>>(xxx) = her maiden name

-One copy of each of the intending immigrant’s passport, biographical, visa and entry stamp page.

-Two copies of I-797 Notice of Action, Approval of K1 Waiver.

-One copy of each of the intending immigrant’s valid I-94 (front and back copies) as evidence of current status.

-One copy of each of the intending immigrant’s birth certificate along with English translation.

-One certified copy of marriage certificate as evidence of relationship.

-Two G-325A forms, one filled out for each of the intending immigrants, signed and dated by xxxx xxxx (xxxx) (signing as self and as a mother for the daughter).

>>>>Since the child is under 14 and not needing to pay the fingerprinting fee, does she still need a G-325A form?

-Two passport-type photos of the intending immigrants, xxxx xxxx (xxxx) and xxxx xxxx. Name wrote on the back, attached with the corresponding G-325A.

-Two Form I-693, Medical Examination of Aliens Seeking Adjustment of Status (one for each immigrant) in the one sealed envelope from civil surgeon.

-Two Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, signed and dated by the petitioner, xxxx xxxx.

-One copy of the petitioner’s income tax returns from the IRS for 2006, 2007, and 2008.

-One copy of the petitioner’s W-2 for 2006, 2007, and 2008.

-One copy of the petitioner’s paystubs for November 2009 to January 2010.

-One Form I-765: Application for Employment Authorization, signed and dated by the intending immigrant, xxxx xxxx (xxxx).

-Two passport-type photos of the intending immigrants, xxxx xxxx (xxxx) and xxxx xxxx. Name wrote on the back, attached with the corresponding I-765.

-One copy of each of the intending immigrant's valid I-94 (front and back copies) as evidence of current status.

-One copy of each of the intending immigrant's passport, biographical, visa and entry stamp page.

-Proof of relationship

-Photos from wedding, christmas, birthday party and swimming at a resort.

-Copy of a receipt from birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.

-Copy of a parking permit for parking at the resort.

-Copy of a progress report from the child's school.

-Copy of tickets from a Chinese New Year celebration at a school in our area in Wisconsin.

-Copy of a 'Celebrations' ad in our local newspaper announcing our marriage.

-Copy of a Bank statement with both the petitioner's and intending immigrant's name on it.

-Copy of a Rental statement that shows the intending immigrant, xxxx xxxx (xxxx) was added to the petitioner's lease.

-Copy of a home insurance policy with both the petitioner's and intending immigrant's name on it.

>>>>Is this proof of relationship stuff needed to be sent in with the I-485, or just saved for the interview?

My spouse arrived on a K-1, her daughter arrived on K-2 at the same time. They arrived on December 7, 2009 (which is what the stamp says on the I-94).

My wife's I-94 says it expires on March 6th, while the daughter's says March 7th. (and no, we didn't arrive close to midnight, which could have explained this difference). These expiration dates were written in pen by customs/immigration at the POE.

1. Which one is correct?

2. When I fill out the I-485 forms for AOS, do I use the real correct date (what should have been written), or the date that is actually written on the I-94 form?

For the county where ours was done it was $20 for the first one and $3 for each additional one requested at the same time. So then it makes sense to request additional copies.

Our certificate also says it is illegal to copy it, so I'm also sending in an original rather than a copy just to be safe because of that, though I am not sure if that law is just making color copies of it or if black/white would be ok (like passport/ID's it seems like black/white copies are ok since you aren't in any way trying to make it look original).

I had the same problem. And after the first visit to the SS office I came away thinking this was so stupid....

It helps getting the green card by having my wife on my health insurance (bonafide relationship).

For health insurance she needs a social security number.

And I was being told that for a social security number she needs the green card.....

So I went looking on the internet and printed out the social security regulations posted here and made a second trip to the SS office. They finally figured out how to give my wife (K1) a social security number, but they couldn't figure out how to give her daughter one (K2). They at least seemed like they wanted to give her one but they couldn't figure out how to bypass the field on their computer where it asks for the green card information.

And after the first trip to the SS office when they said we would need the green card and the marriage certificate (for name change), on the second trip when we brought the marriage certificate they said her SS number would still have to be under her maiden name until she gets the green card.

We had our interview in October 2009, and the letter from my employer I had dated January 2009 was still good, that is if he had even looked at it, which I'm not sure if he did.

I did make sure to send her more recent pay stubs and letter of intent. I would probably say you should send him recent pay stubs and letter of intent every 4 months or so, or make sure the information isn't more than 4 months old. When you mail something how long does it take for him to receive it? In most cases, people have time to Fed Ex/Ups, etc. after finding out the interview date, and the beneficiary will recieve it before the interview date.

If you are going to be there for the interview I would just wait until then and bring them on the plane with you.

Ok I have 1 last question....for the letter of intent to marry does it have to be in our own words, does it have to be long, short, or can I just use the example on this website and just make a few edits? I guess my real question is does the letter have to sound like she wrote it?

Generic letter of intent from this site will work (with just switching the names and addresses around for her letter and for your letter). Don't forget to change 'within 90 days of MY arrival' to 'within 90 days of HER arrival' where appropriate.

is it possible that she fill out the G-325A by herself and sign them then send everything to me or do I have to fill it out for her then send it?

How good is her english, and how much is she familiar with filling out forms in English?

When my SO was filling out forms for her P4 she kept asking me what she needed to fill out in the blanks that were beyond the 'Do not write below this line' message....(she misses that line, but she is the one who pointed out to me that I forgot to switch the names on the letters of intent)

Having her sign blank forms for you to enter the information in is one option. Another option is for you to fill them out for her and then put post-it notes on the forms with arrows pointing to where she needs to sign. With this second option she can see what information you put in and might catch some errors that YOU did, for example if there was any confusion when she was giving you all the required information over the telephone (like addresses of former employers or addresses she's lived before).

Is there an average time that the I-129F form thing gets completed or is it completely random?

3-5 months I think is what most people have got. But I have seen one case fly through it in a month, a few others in two. It has seemed to be moving faster for recent filers, but that could be temporary.

It sure sounds like an approval, but just don't party too hard and book the flight tickets until the visa is in hand. The consulate may reserve the right to reverse their decision before you actually receive the visa (this is rare to happen, but I've read of it happening once and my fiancee was warned of this even though all she had left to do was pay for her daughter's visa). So you are 99% of the way there.

Well, after 5months of waiting and processing, the package is at the embassey and the interview has been scheduled for my future wife lol.

Im just wondering what kind of questions they ask at the interview?

My fiancee just had her interview on Oct. 20th in Guangzhou.

Some people are asked 4 questions, my fiancee was asked 20+. Some interviews are 2 minutes long, my fiancee's was 20+ minutes long (after waiting in line before the interview for 6 hours!).

At Guangzhou, if the interview time is 7:15 you will most likely not be getting out of there until 10:30 or later anyways. She got in line at 6 AM, was the 7th person in line and didn't have the interview until 11:40 and it lasted until just after noon. So getting early doesn't seem to help, and it's nice to know that if she oversleeps/is late that she should still go there and get in line, because she most likely won't be considered as 'missing' the interview because of the long lines unless she gets there after they've closed their doors (at 11?).

They can be asked 'easy' questions like when you two met, how many times have you been to China to see her, what you do for a living (and how much you are paid), and what your birthday is.

Or (seemingly if they want the beneficiary to fail when reading some horror stories from the past) they could be asked 'hard' questions, such as the birthdates of the petitioner's parent's, the petitioner's favorite flavor of ice cream (or other food), or what year the petition bought his car.

I have also read some people were asked about the petitioner's favorite color, which in most cases the benificiary could probably lie about it and the interviewer would be none the wiser. Something like favorite color is not on any forms you had to supply, but it's possible it was discussed in one of your written communications with her, and if that letter had been supplied as samples of your communications.... that would be the proof they need to show she is lying, which would result in a white slip and could get her banned from getting any US visa in the future.

So I would strongly suggest to encourage your fiancee to simple answer "I don't know" if she does not know the answer (or "I don't remember" if she thinks she might have been told the answer before, and "I don't understand" if she doesn't understand what is being asked), rather than tell a lie.

I don't have the full list of questions my fiancee was asked, but here are some of them:

How many times did you meet?

How long did he stay when he was visiting you in China?

Where does he live? (city, knowing the full address is best)

What state does he live in?

How do you communicate? (phone, email, etc.)

-Then she was asked to read the letters out loud in English, and then to translate the letters from English to Chinese. This doesn't seem to happen often in interviews, but it seems to have been used to see how well she can read English and understand what she is reading.

-He then asked her several questions about the letters and what was written in them. Probably to verify that it was really us writing the letters to each other.

Are you planning on having (more) children?

-Probably testing to see if you two had discussed this type of thing. As long as she is being honest about this there shouldn't be any problems, unless someone said a very high number then it might be an issue whether or not you will have the income to support them all.

He saw her ring (wearing it at the interview!), and asked if it was from me and my proposal (it was), so he looked at that.

Looked at the photos.

Questions for divorced w/child (our situation):

Why did you get divorced?

-Gambling. Her ex's drinking also caused other problems.

How much did he gamble?

-They lost most of their money and assets because of his gambling.

You've been divorced for awhile now, why have you not re-married?

-"Because I love my fiance, and want to marry him".

How can you prove the daughter is yours?

-She provided the birth certificate and/or said immigration has a copy of it.

Daughter was asked if the father knows that she is going to the US.

-Daughter didn't understand the question (only 5 years old), so the mother answered that the father has not been told for fear that he may do something bad. (In China, if the mother has full custody then the father does not need to give permission for the child to leave the country like is required in many other countries .)

Having the 5-year old also caused much stress and confusion as the little one was 'chattering' and wanted to 'play' with the interviewer.

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She did not know/didn't remember the answer to all the questions, and didn't understand a couple questions (language problems), so you don't always need to get 100% of the answers right, it all depends on which questions she doesn't know (and possibly the mood of the interviewer).

I got a letter from the bank quite easily (even though it turns out I didn't even need it, because it's only needed if you are below the poverty line and are depending on assets to meet the support requirements).

Just tell the teller that you need to speak to a 'personal banker' (or manager). Yes, it does take them a few minutes to calculate the deposits (depending on how often you make deposits-I get paid every 2 weeks and had essentially no other deposits).

If they won't do it, threatening to change banks will usually get them moving. Or try to find the specific law that says they are legally required to do it.

The letter was short and simple.

To Whom it May concern:

(My name) established a (checking or savings) account here at (name of bank) on (date account opened).

(My first name) deposited ($ deposited in the last 12 months or in 2008) last year and is at a current balance of (current balance).

(name of personal banker)

(signature of personal Banker)

Personal Banker

You should consider having an 'accounting statement' attached, which is basically a letter from an accountant explaining your financial situation, so the VO knows to look beyond the 'net income' for the last year(s).

As far as I know it is Ok that you don't meet the poverty guidelines IF you have sufficient assets (it would be assumed you could sell the assets if $ is needed). I don't remember what that requirement is, but it is something like enough $ to live on and pay for her support for 3-5 years?).

including legal names and aliases

So if she has me call her by a different first name when I communicate with her, rather than by her Chinese first name she would have to include that? (she has me call her this other name because she doesn't like her Chinese name and would eventually at some point like to legally change her name to this other 'americanized' name),

Okay so after the NOA2 comes do you wait on package 3 to tell you when your dates are? Or do you schedule everything yourself?

Have to wait for packet 3. The consulate will provide information on which doctors/hospitals to see for the medical.

As for the interview:

Call the Dept. of State visa information line beginning a week or so after she returns the P3. 202.663.1225, then use menu selections 1-0-0. The interview won't be scheduled until after they receive her current response to P3.

Hello,

Our petition was approved on Feb. 6th and we would like to know all the details of the next steps especially from people who has went through the Moscow Russia embassy. How long does it typically take for our case to get there? How do we get this special number so my finacee can go ahead and schedule her medical exam?

Any replies will be appreciated.

Oh by the way, my fiancee would like to know what exactly consists of the medical exam and which place in Moscow is the best place to go for it.

She would also like to know what vaccinations she will require because she cannot find any vaccination records. She is 31 years old if that helps.

Thank you

It took a month for our case to get to China, but it has taken other people two months, but that is China....Russia would hopefully be faster.

A week or two after they receive the petition they will send your fiancee some forms to fill out (packet 3). And a quote from when I asked a question about when the interview will be:

Call the Dept. of State visa information line beginning a week or so after she returns the P3. 202.663.1225, then use menu selections 1-0-0. The interview won't be scheduled until after they receive her current response to P3.

She sent the forms from packet 3 to the consulate and it took a couple weeks before they actually opened it (Guangzhou is busy), so there was awhile there where we didn't know if the package was still in transit through the postal service or sitting in the consulate mailroom. (it got sent back to her because she needed to fill out a form for her daughter, so now we will have to wait another two weeks)

From my understanding, they will send her a list of hospitals that she may choose from to take the medical exam. I don't know if my fiancee got any information about the medical exam yet or if that information will come to her later.

11. I _Intend _do not intend to make specific contributions to the support of the person(s) named in item 3.

I am going through the k-1 visa process.....Do I check a box or not? On the sample form provided here they left it blank and just wrote 'N/A (K-1 visa process for permanent residense)'. Not sure if that means you fill it out if you are using the K-1 visa process or only if you are NOT using the K-1 visa process, because I believe it was filled in for the old version of the sample forms if I remember correctly.

I mistakenly sent my I-129 to Nebraska. It got sent back to me with a note saying I was supposed to send it to California. They replaced my pictures I had put in little baggies and had paperclipped to the forms by placing them in a nicer looking plastic thing and stapling it to the forms instead and then rearranging the order that I had the forms in. So I left everything how Nebraska did it and sent it to California (along with Nebraska's letter they sent me telling me I sent it to the wrong place). Didn't get a RFE, but it slowed me be down by a week or two and cost me twice the postage...

K-1 Visa process.

This is confusing and I'm only picking up bits and pieces of info here and there, and not getting any concrete answers.

I got the NOA2 and based on timelines of others I wouldn't think the Guangzhou embassy would get the package for another month, but now they already got it and my fiancee received a DS-2301 form to fill out.

The copy of the entire I-129F packet, copy of the NOA2, the I-134A form, tax transcripts, a new fiance/fiancee letter of intent to marry, proof of ongoing relationship, etc. does she need to submit any of that before the interview? Or does all she needs to do is return whatever forms they send her (DS-2301 is it so far).

So I can call the embassy now and set up a time for the interview or find out when they have her scheduled?

Police reports: In China this is a national one, just get one from police department that has jurisdiction over where she has her home residency, and get it translated at the local notarial office.

They won't give her one. This is from a recent letter from her:

By the way, the police office doesn¡¯t want to write to prove that I live in my sister¡¯s home. Even I beg them, they don¡¯t want to. I¡¯m so sorry that I take you trouble. But I really don¡¯t know what I need to do.

All we have is a 'population register card' which kind of looks like it is some sort of census thing for where she lived a couple years ago, but not for where she lives now, and it doesn't look like she will get them from since she was 16 if she didn't keep them.

Lastly, did you know there is a immigrations site that has extensive info specific to the Guangzhou consulate?

Thanks, but that site won't allow me to post or use the search engine, even though I registered.

Other requirements: Notarial birth cert, and marriageability (Single Cert)

Already got them, and also a statement from her employer that proves she is working if that was needed.

My fiancee in China is currently living with her sister. And unfortunately, her sister's house is hard to find so the address needs to use directions or else the house won't be found and she won't get mail there.

The address is something like this (deliberately changed some details for privacy):

North side of Zhang Gas Station,

ni zi part of road, 234 Dragon Street

Xintang Town, Zengcheng City

Guangzhou 511340 Guangdong

P.R. China

Since we both were worried the mail might not reach her house I sent the important documents (the application for her to sign) to her work address since it was a much simpler address (it would start at 234 Dragon Road for example). It took awhile through USPS, but after 3-4 weeks, the package arrived at her work (USPS claimed 5-10 days, although some of this could be due to Chinese mail distribution, but regardless next time I think I'm going with someone else.)

I sent some other stuff (just copies of some translations, so I can just simply get them recopied) to her sister's house just as a test to see if she would get it. Now maybe she will get it tomorrow, but it isn't looking good. So that brings me to my questions.

1. I was wondering if I could communicate with the immigration people that we want the documents that they will eventually send to her, sent to her work rather than her home address.

2. She asked me if I thought it would be better to just move to a new place that has an easier address. I was shocked she so casually suggested this like it wasn't that big of a deal, because I'm thinking of how much that would cost her vs. living with her family. She does have an office job, but still the thought of spending that extra money just to get mail seems crazy.

Now for the police reports: So she will eventually need police reports from since she was 16? She is having a hard time even getting one for where she is living now. I thought I read somewhere that it was only the past 5 years (or maybe that is just a requirement in the first stages, and the 'since 16' part comes later in the process?), so I only asked her to get ones from the past 5 years. She has a 'Population Register Card' from where she lived 2 years ago when she owned a house, but the police say they can't give her one for her living with her sister now because she isn't the owner of the house.

Is there another type of document, or name of it, other than the 'Population Register Card' (I told her to get a 'police report') that I can try and get her to ask the police for and proves that she lives where she says she does? If they won't give her one now, I doubt they will give her ones from over 10 years ago, if she doesn't have them.

Form I-129F Question 16 where the name and address needs to be entered in using the foreign language if the native language is not in Roman letters.

Since I don't know how to write chinese characters very well, I had someone help me fill in that box for us.

The name got put immediately next to the words (Name), rather than the box below it, and the (Town or City) and (State or Province) got put into the box where the name was supposed to be.

The reason I had someone else do it rather than my fiancee was that I was worried that she would make this kind of mistake and thus cost us the time of re-sending the form to China.

Should I have it redone to avoid a rejection or should I send it in anyways? It still would be an inconvenience of contacting this other person to re-do it, but not as much as sending it to China twice or a rejection, so I'm leaning towards re-doing it.