supermoth

It wouldn't hurt to attach a letter to your RFE response explaining why you DON'T possess certain documents that other people may have.

As to why your previous evidence was not enough, there is always the possibility that some of it was lost from your file. So re-send your old evidence along with any new.

I had the same thought on both of these comments.

Do you own a vehicle? I sent the titles for our vehicles showing both of our names on them.

Did you get affidavits from friends/family?

My husband doesn't drive, and my car predates our marriage by 13 years! I did not get affidavits from friends and family, but will definitely do it now.

I already sent them my reply, but it did say REPLY BY JUNE 27th in that blue sheet. It was white paper attached to the blue sheet with the list of what they want - copies of ID's (mine and sponsor's) ; Birth certificates of children (we don't have them yet); proof of communal residency.

That's interesting. They attached a white sheet to mine, but many of the things in the list were things I'd aleady sent them. Do you mind telling me what you gave as proof of communal residency?

To answer your other question about the time frame, I just think they put your file aside until they have the info they want, then pick it up again as soon as they receive it. If you replied to your RFE so quickly, I don't think it'll delay your process much at all. Then again, I'm no expert!

I also filed in October and just got and replied A RFE (it was pretty specific - they wanted proof of communal residency). I put some newer evidence but i don't know if it's good enough. My question is - should I still call them after I pass my 6 months waiting or not? Are they gonna tell me that because I got RFE it's gonna be def longer for me? Does anybody know any statistic of interview after RFE? And how long does it take them to look at my papers after they get my RFE answer?

Rialtoma, if your RFE was the same as ours, they probably gave you a deadline date to respond with the evidence. Ours was June 29, I think.

Also, can I ask you, where on the RFE did they specifically ask for evidence of communal residency? Was it anywhere on that blue sheet? I'm wondering if I somehow didn't notice it on ours.

I read once that you should not do anything in your life just for immigration purposes. Do not change your house deed. Go through the list on the RFE as I did and provide them with as much possible evidence for each question as you can. If there is something you can not provide like the names and addresses of every living relative of yours living in the United States, just list the ones you have. Many of us have gotten a three page list of an RFE and answered to the best of our ability and gotten our NOA2.

This is my instinct, too. My main frustration with the RFE, as I mentioned above, was they didn't specifically ask for anything. The list of types of evidence they sent me in the RFE is the exact same thing you'd read on the USCIS website, and I'd already included many of those things. I'll send them a few additional things that might help, but I wonder if I should also explain in a letter why certain things, such as the mortgage, are the way they are.

I believe that adding his name to the house deed will cause a big bureaucratic mess with my dysfunctional city, and may even violate the terms of my mortgage.

Any mail he gets comes to the house, but I think his state ID still shows his old address (he doesn't drive so it's not a DL). We don't have a car loan.

I can add his name to bank accounts and show some other stuff, like our E-ticket to Hawaii last January, family cell phone plan. Honestly, going in for an interview would be the easiest. The location is pretty convenient for us. We had a blast going for his AOS interview, truthfully.

We filed i-751 for my petitioner husband in October 2011. Last week, we received a RFE in the mail. Here are the items we included as evidence (from memory, I don't have the papers in front of me). :

• Joint tax returns from 2009 and 2010
  
• Joint health insurance
  
• Joint credit card
  
• My retirement account showing petitioner as beneficiary
  

We bought a house, but at the recommendation of my realtor and broker, only my name was listed on the papers because of my husband's minimal credit history. Same with utility bills, I already had accounts with most of the companies, plus I'm the one that takes care of paying the bills. We have separate checking accounts simply because that is our choice.

My other frustration is that the RFE we received doesn't ask for anything specific to our case. They just give a general list of different types of evidence, much of which I'd already provided.

So I'm curious what is going to happen next. Could they deny his visa just because we don't live our lives according to their requirements? Will they call us in for an interview? It is pretty obvious when we're together that we're married.

Any advice would me much appreciated.

My wife and i met in 2005 in college, we both graduated in 2008, and got married in August of 2009. She is a US citizen, and i am the immigrant. We have met and have become close with both families over the past 4 years.

Our AOS interview is on November 23, and we are not sure if we are good to go with our documents. I am mostly concerned with the proof of marriage, this is what we have so far:

--life insurance, beneficiary to each other

--Joint checking and savings account

--two credit cards to both names

--gym memberships

--lots of pictures, including college graduation, with both families, trips, birthdays, wedding ceremony(confidential marriage)

All utility bills are included with the rent. We do not have a lease because its a private home and was a verbal agreement.

I am also wondering if the confidential marriage will be an issue. We did not have any family members at the wedding, and did not have a reception due to lack of money. Now we are concerned if they will question this. We are planning on having a reception after we save enough money. Please advise if this amount of proof is sufficient and should we be really concerned about not having any family members at the wedding.

My husband and I went to our interview on November 3rd. We had FAR less proof than you do. We have no joint assests other than 1 credit card account with both our names. No joint lease, no joint bank account. We got married in Las Vegas with 2 friends present and only had a few photos. We got approved, same day, after a 15 minute interview. I think what worked most in our favor is that my husband and I joke around a lot and the interviewer said he thought we had good chemistry. We got lucky in that our interviewer was a pretty nice, mellow guy.

I think the list of documents looks sufficient. More is better if it makes you feel better. Just because you didn't have a big blowout ceremony doesn't mean they should be suspicious. That was your personal and financial decision.

All I can say is take a good, deep breath. Don't freak out. Just tell yourself that the interview will be fun, quick, and easy.. because it probably will!

I talked to one lawyer today about the K1 to get a consultation. She told me that it was a really good idea to get the Fiance Letters of Intent notarized by both parties.

I haven't looked at the threads enough, but I have not seen a lot of mention of this on VJ (perhaps I am wrong).

Have people in the past had the Fiance Letters of Intent notarized?

How important is notarization for each letter from each party?

Notarization for the letter of intent is only a "good idea" for a notary who derives his income in this way!

Husband and I did not notarize. Husband's green card was approved yesterday

I just got my NOA2 on Oct 25th (Woohoo!! ) and I had a question about sending the additional documents (copy of I-129F, I-134, original documentation, etc) for my fiance. From what I gather all the documents are for the interview. So if I am planning on attending the interview, is it necessary to send it down beforehand?

Thanks,

Gabriel

Safer to hand-carry!

Also, this seems like a no-brainer, but be sure to make a complete copy of everything before your fiancee goes to her interview, ESPECIALLY that NOA2!! You will need the NOA2 when your fiancee adjusts status. I used to be less thorough and more selective in making copies since I hate to waste paper, but after that one important paper slipped through the cracks I now make complete duplicates of everything.

Hi Friends,

I am going next week to N.Y on K1 Visa and my P.O.E is JFK, NY. I have some serious questions-

1. I am carrying 5 bags, excluding cabin bag..2 of which are of 32 kgs....Can it cause any problem at customs?

2. Can anyone with JFK experience please tell me what a first timer like me, on K 1 can expect after reaching N Y Airport? Is it first immigration? then luggage and then customs...

I have v less time left to pack..Pleae Guide!!!

Your airline's website should have the baggage policy, with number of bags allowed and weight limits. If you are connecting to a different flight after entering at JFK, the policy might even change for a domestic flight. You should try to contact your airline and make sure you have packed properly (it can often be a matter of shuffling things around into different bags). Good luck!!

Ahh sorry I didn't realize you never changed your timeline on your profile, it still says K-1 sorry!

Sorry, I should change that! Our interview went great yesterday, really easy and quick. The interviewing officer didn't take any papers except the NOA that had our appointment. I even asked him "Don't you want any of our copies, since I went to kinko's last night especially for you?" and he laughed and said no, he had everything he needed right there in our file. He just asked a few questions about how we met and what we'd been up to since meeting, mostly to corroborate what we'd already written in the applications. And he asked us what we "had" together, meaning accounts, children, etc. and all we could really say was "Uh, we have cats..." We actually have a joint credit card account, and he took a copy of the cards and said that was fine, but he advised us to get some joint stuff before we remove conditions. To which we replied "Of course, we hope to have more stuff by then!". He even let Angelo keep his EAD card in case he finds a job before the green card comes, but advised him to destroy it when the green card arrives. So all in all, it was a very positive and easy experience.

Thanks to all on this site who were so very helpful. I'll be sure to budget some time to update our timeline so it can be more helpful to others.

Hi Susita, the interview I'm talking about is the one for my husband's green card. (We are in the AOS forum, right?) We have already filed AOS. You are right, however, about needing the certified birth certificate and translation. And thanks for your good wishes!

Please try not to post the same question in multipul places. There is already this exact question being answerd elsewhere.

I just noticed that now. My computer must have freaked out. Sincere apologies.

ps it's spelled "multiple". and "answered".

Well, I guess I should read thoroughly before I start posting questions! It says very clearly toward the bottom of the NOA checklist: "Original and copy of each supporting document that you submitted with your application. Otherwise, we may keep your originals for our records."

Thanks so much everyone for your input!

so are there any other papers that they will keep, aside from the I-94? (Don't want to run out to kinko's unless totally necessary!)

At the interview, do they keep the papers we give them as evidence? Or do we get them back? I know that they will take my husband's I-94, that's not a big deal. I'm more concerned about our original birth certificates (especially his, since getting a new one and a new certified translation would be a major pain). Also, I have a complete copy of our original AOS submission, and I'll bring that, but I'd also like to keep an intact copy for our records. (guess I should make another copy of that?). I have several copies of the certified marriage certificate, so that's not a big deal. thanks in advance.

At the interview, do they keep the papers we give them as evidence? Or do we get them back? I know that they will take my husband's I-94, that's not a big deal. I'm more concerned about our original birth certificates (especially his, since getting a new one and a new certified translation would be a major pain). Also, I have a complete copy of our original AOS submission, and I'll bring that, but I'd also like to keep an intact copy for our records. (guess I should make another copy of that?). I have several copies of the certified marriage certificate, so that's not a big deal. thanks in advance.

Thanks, that makes sense.

So maybe on the crazy chance he receives that letter with the barcode today or tomorrow, they can scan it and count it all together. Hey, doesn't hurt to dream!

You only need the receipt. You do not need a letter or bar code. If you do not have the letter there is a form you fill out to keep it all straight. We brought our second son (K-2 to follow) into the local office the day after he got his receipt, even before ANY biometrics letters, and they had no problem to do this and now he has received his "welcome letter" so I suppose it all worked out.

Oh, I just want to add that my husband also brought the i-797C for the Advance Parole, but they were not able to do biometrics for that. They only did biometrics for the ones where he had the appointment/barcode letter. I don't know if they even do biometrics for advance parole, though. And I'm sure procedures vary from place to place.

[Hi , when did you file for AOS ?where is your biomitrics ?i just wondered because i'm in san francisco too , and thursday 11 :00 am

We filed August 12th, they received it August 14th and sent us the I-797C August 19th. The check also got processed on August 19th. Husband received his biometrics appointment about a week later. We are in the east bay, so he went to the Oakland office to do biometrics.

His appointment was at 9:00am. He just called me, at 9:08, to say that he was already done, and that the people at the office were really nice. And since he had the appointment letter for the second biometrics, scheduled for October 16th, he was able to do them both together. So we thought the work permit would be delayed, but this speeds it up. A positive USCIS experience... wow!!

Thanks for all the responses! Turns out the second biometrics appointment came in the mail today, so he can bring both in tomorrow. Cool!

Thanks, that makes sense.

So maybe on the crazy chance he receives that letter with the barcode today or tomorrow, they can scan it and count it all together. Hey, doesn't hurt to dream!

There is no filing fee when filing at the same time as I-485. ( c ) (9) is the correct code, and I remember finding that online because I couldn't find it in the instructions! there are a couple other things they ask for, so apart from the filing fee, treat the I-765 as a separate filing (so, separate passport photos). And make sure you have the most recent version of the form. (I'm only saying so because I screwed up my husband's that way!)

good luck! (and breathe deeply!)

My husband's biometrics appointment for his I-485 is coming up this Thursday. We filed the I-765 at the same time, but there was a problem with it so they sent it back to us and we had to redo it. Yesterday, we got the NOA1 that they'd accepted the new I-765 and that he should be receiving a notice with a (another!) biometrics appointment.

Is it normal for them to do two separate biometrics appointments? Can't the one he does this Thursday for the I-485 be used for the EAD as well?

Yes, there's an expiration date somewhere on the form. Best way to cover yourself is to make sure you get the form directly from the USCIS website. Any other sites (including VJ), might not always have the most recent version.