David Allen

Congratulations, but from everything I have heard - your pregnancy is irrelevent to your visa application.

I'm following the advice of everyone here and drafting a letter to include with our K-1 package. Here's what I have so far:

To whom it may concern:

This letter is to certify that I’m aware of and the father to the pregnancy of the beneficiary, Amy Antonio, to this petition for her K-1 status visa. The date of conception was approximately January 10th, 2011 during my stay in Manila. A check of the passport pages supplied with this application package will prove that this date is within the date ranges of my stay. I also certify my intent to enter willfully into this marriage with the beneficiary within 90 days of her entrance into the United States.

Would this work? Should I change or add anything? The only thing I can think to include with it would be a copy of the ultrasound picture I have and the chat transcript for the date that she confirmed we are pregnant. Thanks in advance.

I've been told to expect the AOS process to take 2 months. Just wondering how accurate that time frame is... if some people who have been through this could tell me how long it took for the green card to arrive (from the wedding day), it'd be a big help.

Part of that depends on how quickly after marriage you file your papers. For my wife and I we filed 2 weeks after we were married - It took 63 days to get the Work Authorization and Advanced Parole. The Green card came about 1 month later. (about 90 days)

Come on guys. I don't want this to be for only the ladies. Come on; where are your BA*&^; in your throat?

Perhaps we're not commenting because it's a crappy premise. Men aren't afraid of kids. Lots of men (like myself) look forward to having kids. The problem is more likely that the type of guy you seem to be attracting or attracted to are the less mature, less willing to take on the added responsibillity of kids because they still want to be kids themselves. My fiancee (now wife) was afraid to tell me she had a daughter. It didn't bother me at all. I'd like one or two of my own as well.

Stop dating guys and start dating men and you'll find someone who wants a family as oppossed to someone who just wants to play house.

-David

In the instructions for the I-864, it says that you need to submit a copy of the sponsor's last federal tax return.

It then says that you can optionally include copies of your last three tax returns if you believe it will help your case.

It then goes on to say:

If you were required to file a federal tax return during any of the previous three tax years but did not do so, you must file any and all late returns with the IRS and attach an IRS generated tax return transcript documenting your late filing before submitting the I-864 affidavit of support.

If you were not required to file a federal income tax return under US tax law because your income was too low, attach a written explanation.

My wife didn't file for 2008 because her income was too low, and she's filing 2009 (late), and 2010 right now.

We were just going to include her 2010 return, opting not to include the previous two years, as they wouldn't help our case.

After reading the above, we are now confused. Do we just send the 2010 return, or does she need to send all three with a written explanation why she didn't file in 2008?

I had the same question as you when I went through that part and read and interpreted the instructions to mean that it only required the last tax return, as my income was well above the poverty guidelines. As it turned out however, I ended up getting an RFE for the previous years tax filings. I am sure there are many people on this site who have skated through on minimal information, but I have since come to the conclusion that when faced with two options, one being send minimal amount, and the other being to throw in the kitchen sink that the kitchen sink approach ends up being faster.

Our timeline through the CSC was 140 days from NOA1 to NOA2 back in 2008. Some VJ friends got theirs earlier, and some took longer - so I wouldn't worry too much. Once you're out of the normal time window you can ask your local Congressman to look into it.

The AOS should ideally be filed before the K1 visa expires, or 90 days after entry. From what I understand there is some amount of a grace period allowed, but it's better safe than sorry and file on time after you are married. The pregnancy of your wife should not change anything until after the baby is born. Your income/support requirements should still be above the poverty line for a family of 2. After the baby is born you would be expected to be above the poverty level for a family of 3.

First of all, I do not view it as having 'won' - only as having successfully navigated the hoops we needed to jump through. To say someone won implies the use of trickery. We're just another couple who supplied all the documents, forms, fees, medical exams and evidence necessary to bring my fiancee (now wife) to the USA.

My point really was to say that had I gone the K3 route and married her before starting the visa process, I would not give up and divorce her just because some list says I'm to old, she's too young or she doesn't speak english well enough etc. You marry for love/companionship and do your very best to make your marriage and each other happy - not to pass government specified guidelines. That said, you still need to jump through all their hoops, background checks, medical tests, prove adequate financial support etc. to make it all happen.

I believe the process of jumping through all those hoops did more to solidify our relationship and commitment than to cause any damage. Give them what they want and in most cases they approve the visa request.

Hey -that's one opinion, but there are other opinions, as well.

You've 'won', already, yes? Wife is USA, life is good, no issues at the US Consulate/Embassy's Immigration Visa Unit prior to or on Interview Day. Great.

VISA FRAUD ISSUES are specific to 'country', as well - so to compare 'what works in Thailand' to 'what works in Nigeria' can sometimes be useful, as is disparate adjudication methods between the two IV units. KNOWING there are disparate adjudication methods, is also useful.

Now, please understand, I'm not knocking yer experience, at all. I just wish to point out, that there are OTHER experiences that , when compared to yours, make YOUR experience resemble a 2 yard cakewalk. My favorite, all time example, is GOGO. (check his prior posts and topics, his visa journey was 'h3ll' on every step).

I agree. As a general guideline it's probably good to know some of the things they might look at as potential fraud... Some of the things on the list such as age difference may raise an eyebrow, but the government can't tell someone they can't REALLY be in love with a person who's older/younger on that criteria alone - there would need to be other factors that contribute to their decision.

If you look at my timeline you will see it took us about 14 months to get the K1 visa, and a year and a half to bring her to the US. Most of the delays were on my end and would not have happened if I had read the instructions and advice on this website more carefully and had sent as much information as I had the first time, rather than trying to send minimal evidence. I think that, more than anything (closely following the instructions and providing ample evidence)is the key to avoiding delays, not obsessivly worring about if our age difference is too great or communication is good enough.

Yes you are right but the way the USCIS looks at it is, when certain clues are there, they process the petition slower than if u had none of these on your case

So the advice is if you had any of these, you have to provide more evidence to prove that your relationship is legit not to game the system and after all people on this forum want their petitions to be approved and having an advice from each others cases and scenarios is a good thing to avoid delays.

Good luck for everyone

I have a very hard time believing that lists like this are at all useful.

The bottom line is, if you're an honest real couple who's marrying in good faith, you may have to explain the one or more things on this list that you match, but you'll more than likely have made up for it with other evidence that proves your marriage is legit. If someone isn't marrying in good faith, then you're just giving them clues on how to game the system.

When I met my fiancee she spoke very little English, and I spoke very little Thai. Her English, improved, (as did my Thai) but when I brought her to the US her English still wasn't that great. In the time between her arrival and our interview her english improved greatly, but it's still a struggle for her. We were approved for our 2 year Green card with out too much difficulty. She's enrolled in English classes now, and by the time we go for the next AOS, her english will be very good.

Lists like this might work as a VERY general guideline, but more than likely they're just something that people will needlesly obsess over.

If you're marrying in good faith then the more evidence of a real relationship you can provide, the better off you're going to be regardless of lists like this.

Hello

After reading many of the scenarios that people go through when applying for a spouse visa, i have summed some of the factors that make the USCIS suspicious about the visa case .

1- The Petitioner and the beneficiary have known each other for a very short period of time.

2- The Petitioner spent less than 7 days in the beneficiary's country for marriage.

3- The petitioner and the beneficiary have a big age difference.

4- The period between the date of marriage and the date of divorce was very short ( if any of them were married before ).

5- They do not speak a common language.

6- No family members attended the marriage ceremony.

7- The petitioner has applied before for a visa for an Ex.Spouse

8- The beneficiary had a visa case before with an Ex.Spouse

And there must be more indicators

Good Luck for all

As much as I have disliked going through all the ####### and bureaucracy to bring my fiancee into this country, marry her, and finally obtain a green card for her (especially when millions can just walk over our southern border) I don't buy into your premise that the US Goverment or USCIS/Homeland Secrity is anit-marriage.

With who knows how many thousands or millions of fradulent visa applications - going through the system over the years, how are they supposed to just magically know that you're not one of them - unless they ask the questions and put you through the process? Does it suck that I had to wait a long time before I could finally bring my fiancee here and marry her? Yes. Has it hurt our relationship at all to be apart? Not a bit. I think the application process has helped us to get to know each other better, and has helped us learn to deal with adversity better. I also know that if I had better followed the instructions on this web site, and maybe asked some more questions of the group here our time line would probably be about 50% shorter.

You're certainly free to marry whomever you want to - more or less within the rules - but that doesn't mean you automatically get to bring them into this country unscreened. I also have to agree with Jonswifey about the situation in England. That is not something I want for the USA.

More to the point - it's the system we currently have - so yelling, screaming, insulting, wringing your hands over the process isn't going to change the fact that you're still going to have to go through it - like it or not.

It's good to learn some patience and figure out what, if anything you can do to make sure you're not giving them any reason to make it longer.

-David

It is a horrible process BUT i have to agree to somewhat.

I think they either need to employ more people to get the process done quicker or like it was mentioned..the electronic processing. Its not fair to be apart from your loved ones for so long but i can understand why they do this..I mayself actually know one or 2 people who are looking for husbands for the greencard which makes me super angry. I dont think letting people in while they wait is an option..Look at England!!! Im happy for america that they do it the way they do because british people in England cant even call it there own country anymore..we are not even allowed to wear our football shirts or support our teams without getting in trouble because we are putting ourselves at risk for getting shot!! Its very patriotic what america does but they are looking after there country. In England we dont even celebrate our national day because it might offend other people who have come over from other countries just like that!

In england people come in illegaly sooo easy and once they are there chances that they will get kicked out are very slim because when they get found out they can claim asylum and they are ALLOWED to stay in the country until it gets accepted or denied...and if it gets denied they can go against it as many times as they want! Now could you imagine what america would be like if they did that? America is a country that everyone dreams of moving too so they say but if they changed there rules for immigration america would just go down hill in my eyes.

We had our K1 AOS interview at the San Jose office this morning. It was scheduled for 9:45. They were 15 minutes late. We were called in and brought back to an office and sworn in. The interviewer started off pretty hard on my wife as she understands what I say well enough, but often has trouble understanding others, and she kept looking to me when she had trouble understanding the questions. She is also kind of shy and quiet. For the interview we stayed together the whole time. He asked a lot of questions about her family, whether or not I had met them (I had met some, but not all) Towards the end he started lightening up a bit, and then let on that we were approved. (YAY!)

We were informed she should be receiving her new green card in about 2-3 weeks. He had us turn in her new EAD card and Advanced Parole Papers. Funny - we had a huge stack with all the evidence and documentation they told us to bring, but he never even looked at anything other than our ID's/Passports.

This should mean no more immigration hassles (at least for my wife) for 2 more years! YAY!

Every time someone (USCIS) moves your file around, looks at it, or takes any action on your case it is considered "touched" - which is usually a good thing. When you log into the USCIS website and look at your case status you can monitor whether or not your case has been touched by anyone.

-David

I went through this when my wife came to the US last December. We had received her SS card and I thought I could then add her to my insurance plan. After looking over the form they had given me - it became clear that I would not be able to add my fiancee to my plan until after we were married. The form specifically asked for a marriage or Civil union date - which we obviously did not have. I confirmed this with my HR dept. Once we were married I turned in the forms and showed my HR person our marriage certificate and then everything was cool She was added to our plan effective the date of our marriage. This isn't out of anyone's greed - there needs to be a legal status behind this change.

I hope this helps answer your question.

-David

Hi Everyone,

We just got our invite today for the AOS interview at the end of June. My wife and I were just married this February and I was curious about how they treat newlyweds?

From what I have read it sounds like the best we can do is the 2 year Green Card - regardless of how well we interview. Is this correct? They can't really be expecting as much from us as they would someone applying for removal of conditions... which makes me think - why are they even bothering with this particular interview? It would be one thing if we could show them we are bonifides and go straight for the 10 year GC, but if not it seems like a monumental waste of time. From the list of documentation etc. they're asking for one would think this was going for the removal of conditions.

What should I be expecting here?

Thanks.

-David & Supattra

My wife just received her new EAD today. Looks pretty spiffy.

-David

Did you guys notice on the back of the card the new details??? There is a micro images of the state flag and the US president.

ASAPtickets.com

Mine will be around 1100 instead of 2k...

Scott,

Don't forget - you can ask your Congressman for assistance with your case. My understanding is that it's not usually acceptable to get them involved until your case has gone beyond the expected timeline. If you're still waiting for a year past the NOA1, I think it's safe to say you're past the expected timeline and you can ask your representative to file a status request on your behalf. You shouldn't feel shy about asking them for help.

-David

From the AOS Guide;

The fee for I-485 applications filed on or after July 30th 2007 inlcudes the cost of the I-131 and I-765 (no need to pay for them if filed with or while your I-485 application is pending adjudication -- as long as you paid the "new" rate for the I-485 effective July 30th 2007).

Sent in Monday 3/8

Good, I always keep both hard & soft copies.

By the way, I liked your work on Amazon Women On The Moon

Not David Alan Grier?

Not.

How did she enter the US? K1, VWP, tourist visa?

K1

-D

Thanks for the info. I'm planning to keep both hard and soft copies of everything I send in just to be safe.

If they're as fast at turning around the NOA1's for the 485 as they were for the 129-F's - we should be good to go - but I just wanted to be sure.

-D

Make multiple identical copies of your AOS packet. I had the copy that I sent, and 2 others that just needed a cheque, marriage certificate, I-693, and passport photos. That way you can easily resend a packet with minimal re-preparation if something goes wrong, and still have a personal copy.

Between when you send it and when the NOA1s show up, you don't really have any solid proof of legal status, though the combination of your passport/I-94 and marriage certificate should be highly suggestive to any inquisitive immigration or law enforcement officer.

Your plan sounds good. NOA1s usually take about a week to show up, so you should have yours in hand before the I-94 expiry date. After that, the I-485 NOA1 is your proof of status.

It sounds like you're doing everything right.

Sorry if this seems like too obvious of a question, but I haven't seen it addressed specifically in the guide or forum posts..

My fiancee arrived in December and we're planning our wedding which will be February 12, 2010. While we're busy getting ready for the wedding I'm also preparing our AOS documents to go out ASAP. I understand the requirements for forms, fees and where to send everything, but I would like to understand how AOS works and how to keep everything legal.

By the 90 day rule - her visa will expire on March 6th. The AOS Guide says that filing before the 90 day expiration protects our status - and I should have everything mailed out with about 2 1/2 weeks to spare... My question is: what proof, if any would we have that she is here legally while we can only hope our paperwork doesn't get lost?

-David and Supattra

I agree with Just Bob. If you're that keen on keeping your options open and don't want to be obligated to US Taxes - then why would you even apply for US Citizenship at all? As a Brit you're pretty much rubber stamped into this country unless you have a criminal background... about the only thing citizenship will get you is a different labled passport and the right to legally vote. (as opposed to all the ACORN illegal voters).

Odd that you should take the slap at Palin - because if there was any candidate out there who would reverse the oppressive taxes for citizens outside our borders - it would be her.

It doesn't sound to me as though you're really serious about American Citizenship anyway - so probably best to keep what you've got.

-David

First of all, define what you understand as "permanent." I know you can't even step in the same river twice, so when somebody as intelligent as you states a permanent move, I'm confused.

You don't like the idea of a President Palin, and I'm sure you will share this sentiment with about 150,000,000 Americans, probably 100% Democrats--with the single exception of Joe Lieberman--and a few Republicans as well. Would renouncing one's citizenship be the right thing to express one's feelings? Wouldn't voting be a better way to do that to begin with? And what if the unthinkable happens and the country goes through 4 years of unspeakable hell, will you be afterward, in the phase of recovery and healing, try to become a LPR again?

What if you're in the Kingdom, and some Schmack becomes Prime Minister? Are you then renouncing your UK citizenship as well and move to a non-EU country?

Finally, and please forgive me for being frank, renouncing one's citizenship in my opinion must rank among the most stupid things a human can commit. There's no permanence in life, and there's no way to know who's going to be on the trigger button in a decade or two, the same way there's no way to know how big the pile of sh*t is going to be that hits the fan in a quarter Century.

The best line of defense is having options. Sh*t can happen in the US, and sh*t can happen in the UK. Right now there are more Muslems in England than in Pakistan (and may Allah bless 'em all), so it's anybody's guess when things start to get ugly when and where.

Just food for thought. Peace, mate!

My fiancée is finally here in the USA to our home last night!!! Since the job market had tanked - I had delayed bringing her over here until I had a steady position. I flew to Thailand last Wednesday - and with only 3 days left on her K1 visa - brought her back to the USA. Our POE was SFO. After all the trouble I had with the Embassy in Bangkok - mostly just getting the correct information we needed for our final approval - her entry to the country was very smooth and fast. The staff was very helpful and courteous, with no harassment whatsoever... Maybe it was partially because I escorted her through, but either way – Kudos to them!

Now we can finally rest and enjoy life a bit before all the wedding planning and AOS work.

No - not feeling beaten down by "the man". It's a combination of low expectation of Government Bureaucracy (are these really the SAME people we want in charge of health care??) and the reality that there are about a billion people who want to come to this country and I for one am thankful that although our southern boarder is completly unsecured - there is at least a small amount of screening going on somewhere.

Why is everyone shooting him down? None of us is happy with the way this process is handled and that VSC is so far behind CSC. If he wants to try to organize a letter-writing campaign, why discourage him? Are we so beaten down by "the man" that we believe that this process is actually satisfactory? In this day and age and with the technology available to us, NOTHING should take as long as this does.