txladykat

Don't rely on the online system for updates. We filed our ROC July 2011, just got approved last month - but the system still says its in the initial receipt phase. Oh, and the email/text alerts... joke, I never got one. But yes, as others have said, its the receipt number on your biometrics notice.

We did that last year with no problem. Husband and I went to Europe on separate days/separate flights. I had the one year extension letter with me (he is the LPR) and then we returned together, no problem. They only ask for the letter upon return, so she doesn't need it to leave.

I can confirm the letter is all you need. My husband used his to travel to Europe last year. We entered in Newark with the extension letter, the immigration was a bit confused on and had to ask another immigration officer, but all was good.

Can someone update mine to show approved on 8/30?

RFE 4/13

Responded to RFE 7/3

Approved 8/30

If you got your residency via marriage, I believe its 3 years as long as you have been married to the same person who you gained your residency through. My husband just passed the 3 year mark and is now eligible to file for Citizenship. However, if we had divorced during that time (never gonna happen then he would have had to wait the 5 years from gaining residency.

I agree, get on with your life. We were in limbo for 1,5 years (and if you read my previous posts you see odds were against us for approval) but we didn't let that stop us from getting on with our life..life is to short and to precious to waste time worrying over something you can't control. In the time we were waiting, we bought two new cars and started a new business and in the end got our approval. Hang in there and live life as if the paper is coming.

We sent our RFE evidence in July 3rd and got approval August 30.

Just an update, we got an RFE dated 4/13, sent documentation in on 7/3 (took some time to get it from overseas), approval dated 8/30/12!! Next step...N-400!

Is that your original date? Or did you reschedule? If so, let us know original date too

No the original date was in August (don't remember the day will see if I can find it) rescheduled and got new notice for September, rescheduled, new notice in October, rescheduled, never got new notice so just walked in.

8 years, so petty offense is not an option. Yes, I am happy to say we returned with no problems whatsoever.

Can update our biometrics date to 3/6/12

Hi guys, I haven't been online for awhile so I thought I would update you. Thing went well in Court. He was given 8 months with credit for time served in the US - thus immediately released. The Judge fouind (and wrote into her verdict) that he was pleading guilty to the charge but that there was no finding of intent to defraud - and in fact wrote that the funds were spent on association expenses - albeit without proper authorization - so in a nutshell she found him guilty of the charge but clarified it by saying what he did was to merely pay association expenses without proper authorization.

We have just completed the biometrics and on to the next step....awaiting that dreaded RFE. We have already had the Danish court papers translated and are ready to go when/if that letter arrives.

Thanks for the info as it turns out the Uscis defines you as a resident as long as you are allowed to be there but you are right about the italian resdency. as long as i show proof to the uscis that i have been in italy legally for 6 months im in thee clear. ill try my best to give a detailed description of my DCf adventure in Italy to bring my soon to be "moglie" to the u.s.

This was exactly my situation in Denmark. Its not a matter of "legal residency" based on country rules, but how the Embassy views your time in the country. For example, in my situation, we had applied for my residency in Denmark, but it was still pending at the time we applied for DCF. They just had me submit proof of my application for residency, travel documents showing when I arrived in Dnemark and proof that I had not left for an extended period of time. Those were the only two things they required but suggested I provide additional evidence if I had it (such as lease agreement and utility bills; we had those as well so we submitted them). So while I was not "technically" a legal resident of Denmark, I had legally resided there for over 6 months and that was acceptable to the Embassy.

Usually the number of bags is determined by the airline, not the airport. For example, I fly Continental airlines, as a regular passenger, you are allowed one checked baggage for free and a second for a price. However, as a frequent flyer, I am allowed TWO checked bags for free. So, I would check with the airline first, then check your outbound airport to see if they have any additional rules. If you are bringing personal items which you owned for a period of time (I believe one year), there should be no customs fees. Customs doesn't charge you based on how much you bring in, they charged based on what your bring in, if its personal items, the intent for bringing the items in (for example if you were bringing them here to sell you have to customs).

Yes, regardless of the country there is a 6 month minimum residency requirement. That is not set by the country but by USCIS. Typically you are a resident if you have a legal right to reside there. After December, you should be able to file DCF. You need to check with the appropriate consulate as each has their own requirements for being able to show legal residency.

You have to understand bipolar to be able to make such a judgment. One day without medication has no effect. My mother was bipolar and was a police officer for 25 years. This is the problem with mental illness, most people don't understand the effects until they have lived with it. Honestly, that's like saying you can't be a cop because you are diabetic and might forget to take your medicine one day. Now, schizophrenia, yea I can see that....paranoia? I can see that too. People with bipolar live very normal and productive lives and you would never even know if they didn't tell you.

I was just weighing in my opinion on the Zero Drug policy in the US and giving you an example of WHY it doesn't work. I didn't make my post to bring up controversial issues of mental health.

Add me to the list for Petition. Its a shame how the Zero Drug Tolerance policy affects so many innocent people. My oldest son is severe bipolar and is (supposed) to be on medication. I have fought him for years on taking his medication. He used to refuse because he thinks it makes him an "addict" to rely on "drugs" just to cope. (He just didn't understand its a real disease). When he was 15 years old he (unbeknownst to me) he would pretend to take his medication then hide the pill in his wallet and dispose of it later. Well....on a random "drug check" at school they searched his wallet. The result? He was expelled from school, sent to an alternative campus (with the really really bad kids) and charged with possession of a controlled substance. The bigger result? Being sent to an alternative school with violent kids and true "druggies" caused him to drop out of school. The even bigger result? The arrest record keeps him from a lot of employment opportunities, most specifically, he wanted to be a police officer. He would have been a 4th generation police officer in our family. My grandmother was one of the first female police officers in Texas. Both my parents are retired police officer. I used to be a police officer. And my son wanted to be a police officer, but never can.

At the age of 21 he now understands the importance of his medication and take it on a daily basis, but that one incident at the age of 15 will follow him the rest of his life.

So screw the US and their drug policy!!

Thanks CC for all your advice! I am calming a little bit just by all the responses. I figured it would be something we have to fight at the Court level as long as we can at least get him back in the country. He is being returned to Denmark on October 12th. If we agree to the plea deal, he will be in front of a Judge within 24 hours. The plea deal should give him credit for time in US custody, worst case scenario, he has to spend a month in jail there. The next hurdle is to get the Interpol Red Notice removed so he can travel - yikes!

The red notice is how we found out about all this in the first place. I was doing some genealogy research and when I put his name in Google, there it was! The info matched his name, DOB and birthplace, so we ourselves contacted the FBI to find out what was going on, and that started the extradition process. Long story short, he was a chairman of a nonprofit back in 2005. He was responsible for paying bills and making purchases for the nonprofit then turning the receipts over to the accounting manager - which he did. Now, five years later, an audit of the nonprofit revealed there were no receipts for the purchases and payments made by my husband when he was Chairman. They issued a warrant for his arrest in 2010, a year after he arrived in the US on his visa. Through the extradition process we were able to discover that the former accounting manager is now in a nursing home with dementia. The fact that she "misplaced" the receipts (or according to her statement she "doesn't recall receiving them") is likely due to the dementia being present at the time, but there is no proof of that, unfortunately. Thus, the onus is on him to prove the expenses were legitimate since he wrote the checks. Its just totally crazy! Since the receipts cannot be located, his attorney doesn't feel he can get an acquittal.

What a nightmare!

No, he hasn't missed the biometrics, I have been rescheduling it every month when we get the notice, so technically his one year extension is still good. We are prepared to fight in Court for the GC, just need to be able to get him back here to fight it. He has never entered on his GC so I don't know what they ask/look at it during the time of entry if you are entering with a GC....I have talked to three immigration attorneys so far and their advice - avoid a conviction of CIMT or aggravated felony - duh - I kinda knew that , but unfortunately its unavoidable. We are hopeful though, that we avoid the the aggravated felony. According to the Danish criminal lawyer - a guilt of embezzlement is not a fraud conviction. If there were a finding of fraud it would be under a different statute than the one he is currently indicted under - so that is hopeful. Our Danish attorney is also a law professor so he offered to write a letter stating such. That is a positive thing - albeit one that will need to be argued in Court I suppose. Now just to get back into the US and try to avoid a finding of CIMT. Hoping that if the Judge finds no moral turpitude involved on the conviction record, that could help. Our Danish lawyer thinks he might be able to get that on the record in court as well.

As for the extradition/aggravated felony issue, that isn't how it works. We had to go through an extradition hearing, which is akin to a probable cause hearing. If the US Magistrate finds probable cause (which she did because the burden is so low), then you are extraditable under the relevant Treaty - which allows for extradition on any case where the maximum penalty is in excess of one year. Denmark criminal laws are different than US laws - there is no distinction between misdemeanor and felony like in the US - also the burden of proof is lower so you have about a 1% chance of prevailing at trial.

It would be nice if the stop him on the outbound flight rather than after he gets to the US. Save a lot of money, time and energy

We disclosed the arrest on our ROC, so I know it will come up eventually while doing the ROC. He hasn't even had his biometrics yet because it was scheduled after he surrendered to the FBI. I do want to find an immigration attorney, I just don't want to drop thousands of dollars on the wrong attorney. I have spoken with a couple who state they could handle it (most their experience is in deportation) but have never been faced with the situation, so that concerns me.

We are going to have to take the deal, otherwise, he will lose his conditional green card due to time spent overseas awaiting trial and any possible resulting conviction. If we don't take the 9 month plea offer he is likely to end up with a sentence of 5-10 years.

I think if he can come back in on his green card and one year extension it will be easier to know how to proceed at that time, but the question remains, will they even let him in again? If they don't let him in, will he be allowed to voluntarily board a plane and leave?

Hi Bob,

Yes we filed it in June. He got the one year extension. My concern is what will happen when he tries to come back to the US from Denmark? Plea deal is our only option. We have a very good attorney in Denmark who says unfortunately because the case is so old, we would not likely prevail at trial because of lack of documentation for money spent. Sad thing is - my husband didn't do anything wrong and disposed of copies of receipts because 6 years later he didn't think he needed them. Our attorney in Denmark said the laws are different and the burden of proof - so he urges us to take the plea deal. The plea deal would give Denmark a conviction and my husband would be released within a month of returning to Denmark for time served.

Thanks so much. I am confused by the comments on adjustment of status. We aren't adjusting status if we are removing conditions, right? I have already spoken to two immigration attorneys, neither of which can give me a clear answer, and I paid to find that out! All they told me is what I already found in my own research.

Ok, I have an interesting situation and after having talked to two immigration lawyers, neither can give me a straight answer.

My husband obtained a conditional green card in July 2009 and we moved from from Denmark to the states. In February of this year we learned that he had been charged with a crime back in Denmark that allegedly occurred in 2005. We ourselves contacted the FBI to find out what it was all about (he had no clue why they were looking for him) and that started the ball rolling. We eventually learned why and that Denmark was requesting his extradition. Learning this, he voluntarily surrendered to the FBI. He has been in custody since June of this year awaiting extradition. Unfortunately, at that same time we had filed the Petition to remove conditions (which is still pending). He will be returned to Denmark in 1.5 weeks to face the charges. The charge, under Danish law, is embezzlement. This is where it gets tricky. When you read the statute under Danish law for embezzlement, it does not have the same elements as embezzlement in the US - thus there is no finding of fraud. Our criminal attorney in Denmark has encouraged him to agree to a "fast track verdict" to avoid a lengthy stay/trial in Denmark. We are inclined to agree. If we accept the deal, basically once he gets there, he gets credit for the time in detention in the US and he is free to go. Now the even trickier part. First, is it considered an aggravated felony? A crime of moral turpitude? Neither? Again, trying to interpret the statute under Danish law to US law makes it very confusing. His Danish attorney is insistent that pleading guilty to the statute is not a crime of moral turpitude or fraud in Denmark - but how will the US look at it?

Now...even more confusing, does he come back to the US on his valid green card and wait for the rest of the process on the petition to remove conditions? Or do we abandon that petition and refile the I-130 with a waiver? If so, what waiver do we file? 601 or 212? If he attempts to come back into the US on his green card and he is determined inadmissible at the border, will they give him the opportunity to just catch another flight and return to Denmark?

I am soooo confused by all the different variables, I just don't know what to do. I leave in 1.5 weeks to join him in Denmark to deal with all of this because he doesn't have anyone in Denmark. He was an only child and both his parents passed earlier this year. He only had one aunt (deceased) who never married or had children, so he literally has no one over there. I hate to think of leaving him there - with no job, no house, no family. We are his only family.

one year extension letter dated 6/23. can someone update? thanks!

Our check cleared today, we sent the package priority mail on 6/20, so I think that was pretty quick.