Ken1

Hi Everyone,

My wife (a US Permanent Resident) and I (US Citizen) are getting ready to apply for an I-130 for her son to come to the US from Brazil, and we'd love some help from the knowledgable people here. He is 18, so we are feeling the pressure of getting this done with plenty of time before he is 21. We would also like to see him and have him come visit us as soon as possible, but not necessarily live here on a permanent basis right now, though that too is a possibility.

My understanding is that when he receives the I-130 he can come to the US and will have to stay here until he receives his residency, after which time he can travel back to Brazil. However, USCIS can give me no timeline on how long it takes to get the I-130 after applying, how long the I-130 is valid for to enter the US (or in other words, how soon after receiving his I-130 he has to use it), and how long it could take after he comes into the US to receive his residency. With all these unknowns it is very hard to make plans. Does anyone have a sense of these timelines?

What we would really like is for him to have his US residency, and be able to spend time in both the US and Brazil. We are open to him living in the US with us, but what would be ideal is if he could come and go between the US and Brazil. We are reluctant to apply for a tourist visa as we hear those can be very hard to get coming from Brazil, and USCIS told me that once we apply for an I-130, we cannot apply for a tourist visa. Not sure what to do - any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

-K

Hi Everyone,

I am a US citizen and my wife is a US resident from Brazil. I met my wife in Brazil and petitioned for her and her step daughter through the K1 fiancé visa. They are both now US residents, and we would like to bring my wife's 18 year old son, who lives in Brazil with his father, to the US for a visit this December and are also thinking that he might come again next September (2014) to do his last year of high school here. He would return to Brazil between the first visit this December and coming back next fall, and we want to get him his US residency.

My understanding is that for the green card we need to apply for a I-130, but that can take about 8 months, which would mean he wouldn't get it in time for him to visit us in December, which is why we are thinking to do the tourist visa at the same time as the I-130, but I am wondering if we can simultaneously apply for a I-I30 visa and tourist visa. Also, who petitions for him, me or my wife?

Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated. Anything that we should keep our eyes out for, any documents that we should start gathering, things we need for the application, etc. is helpful!

Thank you!

Kenny

Hi Everyone,

I am a US citizen married to a Brazilian woman with US residency. We live in the US with her daughter (also US resident) and our two children (US citizens). I met my wife in Brazil and she and her daughter came her over four years ago on a K-1 (fiancé visa) and we have done all the correct steps in the process. My wife has a son in Brazil who lives with his dad, who just turned 18. We want to bring him here for a visit this December for a month or so. He will then return to Brazil, but we would like to get him his green card, and are thinking about him doing his final year of high school here starting September 2014.

My understanding is that for the green card, we need to apply for a I-130, but that can take about 8 months, which would mean he wouldn't get it in time for him to visit us in December. So, I am wondering if I can simultaneously apply for a I-30 and tourist visa, so that he can come here on the tourist visa in December.

Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated. Anything that we should keep our eyes out for, any documents that we should start gathering, things we need for the application, etc. is helpful!

Thank you!

Kenny

Thanks everyone. Just to make sure I understand correctly, we can apply for both the I-130 and the tourist visa at the same time? No problem doing that?

Thanks!

Thanks for the great input. I am still uncertain of two things:

1) Can we apply for a green card for him and have him just come visit us, but return to Brazil without affecting his green card status. And/or is there any amount of time he needs to stay in the US if we take this route?

2) Is there any chance of us getting him here by this July/August at this point through either the green card route or the tourist visa?

Thanks!

Kenny

Hi Visa Journyers!

I can't begin to tell you how much this site helped me four and a half years ago when I was bringing my then-fiance here! Well, now we are trying to figure out her son coming to the US from Brazil, first for a visit for about three weeks (hopefully this summer if we're not too late to get a visa) and down the line we would like to get him residency.

Here are the specifics. My wife is a permanent resident from Brazil and I am a US citizen. We live in the US with our young two children (born here and dual citizens) and my wife's daughter who is 13. My wife has a son who will turn 18 this August and lives in Brazil. My wife and step daughter both have green cards, my step daughter has been back to Brazil (where her brother and father live) twice, and we all went there together and spent last summer there with my wife's son.

In any case, we aren't sure if we should try to get my wife's son a tourist visa, and then deal with the green card later, or if it's possible to try to get him residency, and have him visit for now. We're pretty clear on that if he comes this summer, he would return to Brazil as he lives there with his dad and has one more year in high school. But, as mentioned, we would likeo get him US residency eventually. We are a little concerned with the tourist visa as that can be very hard for Brazilians to get, but perhaps thats easier as mom's now a resident.

Any thoughts on how to best go about this would be great.

Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

We have our AOS interview next Friday and I have asked a couple people for letters attesting to that we have a real relationship. This includes a couple friends, my mom, my wife's daughter's school teacher who sees us together all the time, my boss... perhaps overkill. In any case, do these letters need to be notarized or is signed, dated and written on school letterhead enough?

Also, if anyone could point me in the right place on VJ to see a list of stuff we should bring to the interview, that would be great. I'm not too worried about it as we have a baby who was born here, and family medical plan through my work, a letter from the owner of our apartment saying we live together, etc. That said, any suggestions are helpful (we don't have any a joint bank account nor life insurance, etc.).

Thanks

K

I hear you. Unfortunately more troubles. I just tried to make an Infopass appointment on their site and it said Jan. 27 (tomorrow) was the only available day this month. When I tried to set that up, it said there were no more times. I then went for February, and no dates appeared. This is strange as just a few weeks ago I made an infopass appointment (which I later cancelled) and it was no problem getting an appointment with a weeks notice. Perhaps their site is having trouble (fingers crossed).

Any thoughts?

One other question: can a congressman or senator help with this kind of thing? My wife (then fiance) was pregnant when we went through the k-1 process and a senator helped us get a quicker interview date in Brazil.

Hello VJ Folks,

I posted earlier today, and based on some responses, I'm getting more nervous by the second. I am posting again to explain a little more accurately and see if there's any hope.

I just got the AOS appointment letter for my wife and her 9 year old daughter. I am a US citizen and my wife and her daughter entered here on K-1 and K-2 visas. I will be out of the country for work on the date of our interview. I am a Spanish teacher and in charge of leading 35 high school students abroad to Mexico, so as you can imagine, it is not something I can get out of. My wife and her daughter are coming with me (they recently received their AP, and when we applied, we stated that it was to travel with me to Mexico while I would be there with the students), however, even if they weren't with me, I can't be here for the interview and my understanding is that we all need to be present. I called USCIS today and stated we'd be out of the country. They told me that we would here from them within 45 days and gave us reference numbers, however our interview is scheduled for just over 4 weeks from now.

I've got all these responses on VJ that we HAVE to make this interview at all costs, but again, I am responsible for 35 kids traveling abroad who have paid a total of over $40,000 to attend this trip.

I am considering setting up an infopass appointment. I also am thinking about calling a lawyer (I hired a lawyer for the K1 process but didn't use her for AOS). And lastly, I just got the idea that perhaps my brother, who is a lawyer, could go on our behalf on the date of the interview to explain that we are out of the country and give our reference numbers from USCIS that they gave us stating that we requested a date change as we were going to be out of the country.

Any thoughts? help?

Thanks,

K

Any help

Thanks for the comments.

Unfortunately, the trip is work related for me, and I can't cancel. Does that qualify as a valid reason? I am a teacher bringing 35 students abroad, and had the opportunity to bring my family, and we stated that in the AP request.

Again, it seems very unfair that USCIS would grant AP for that as the given reason (I stated no other reason for requesting AP and requested it as a one time entrance), and then turn around and say that it's only for emergency purposes and thus we violated some AP rule. Okay, I know that USCIS doesn't always work in rational ways, but getting back to our situation, is it valid that regardless of my wife and her daughter, I wouldn't be able to attend the Adjustment of Status meeting do to being abroad for work? Or would the request that they do the interview without me?

Infopass is a thought, but I am afraid that they can flat out tell me "no" versus the current answer from USCIS that I have, which is "your request is being processed and you'll hear back within 45 days."

Thanks again for your advice and shared experience.

K

Hi Everyone,

We just received our interview for adjustment of status for my wife and her daughter for February 26th, but it is scheduled for a day that we will be out of the country (we were recently approved for Advance Parole). I called USCIS and they took our information and stated reason for requesting a change of interview date (that we'll be out of the country). The USCIS person then told me that I should hear something within 45 days, and gave me two reference numbers (one for my wife's appointment and one for her 9 year old daughter's appointment). When I mentioned that our original date was scheduled for much less than 45 days from now and I just wanted to make sure that we had some sort of confirmation that they received our reason for not being able to make the original appointment time (rather than just looking like a no show), she told me (in a somewhat unpleasant tone), "we can't guarantee anything and you are taking a risk with your case by not attending your appointment."

We can't change our travel plans.

Is this really a big risk? That seems so unfair. In fact, in our application for AP, I put that we wanted to travel out of the country between Feb. 13th and 27th, and they approved us - doesn't it seem like they shouldn't approve us for that travel and then schedule our appointment during the days we requested to be out of the country? I know it doesn't work like that and everything is done by different departments.

Any thoughts from my always helpful VJers would be great.

Thanks,

K

AP is for emergent travel... now all that needs be done is to define emergent

the dictionary says "occurring unexpectedly"

According to this definition, perhaps I did the wrong thing, and should have put in my application that we wanted AP in the case that some unexpected emergency were to occur. Again, I tried to follow the advice of VJers on this one and when in a post a while back I asked about this, I was advised to just mention the trip we had planned. Do you think we'll be denied?

Also, I now set up an infopass meeting for next Friday, Jan. 22nd. Assuming we haven't heard anything by then, any advice for that meeting?

K

Normally AP's is only suppose to be used for compelling emergencies.

However, USCIS gives a broad approval for most applications - so you should be ok.

AP is good for one year - you will get two, take both with you, CBP may take one, and you will use the other. (CBP will put an entry stamp on it)

(always keep one with you, and if you only have one, advise them of that fact so they don't take it)

Is it AP that's supposed to be used for compelling emergencies, or an info pass for an even more excellerated approval of AP in the case of emergency? I thought AP was just set up so that one is able to travel before receiving a Green Card, but not necessarily for an emergency.

Hi Everyone,

In response to my last post about AP, someone responded that AP was usually used for emergency travel. I was honest in our AP request and put that we had a trip planned that was more or less a family vacation and I requested a one time AP. In retrospect, I feel that perhaps I should have requested a multiple use AP and stated that it was for our family trip and also in case of emergency if something were to happy to someone in my wife or stepdaughter's family. I thought I had followed the guides here on VJ carefully and people told me to just be honest about my travel. Was that a mistake? Will we be approved for AP? I've also seen a lot of posts about how no one gets turned down for AP - I hope we're not the first!!! Also, we've been waiting for Ap since November 17th (our received date for AOS and AP) - any thoughts on when we could expect to receive it (or trip is planned for Feb. 13th!).

Thanks!

K

Hi Everyone,

We sent in our AOS stuff for my wife and her daughter (who entered on K-1 and K-2 visas) including the I-131 form for Advance Parole in mid November. Our NOA says: received on November 17th, and notice date November 23rd. We did biometrics on December 10th (our original date was for Dec. 17th, but we did a walk in a week early). We have a trip planned for February 13th and I'm getting a bit nervous as that's now less than a month away. Our reason for travel is that I am a teacher taking a group of students to Mexico and had the opportunity to bring the family. We stated that on our application and my wife and her daughter would like to travel with me.

I see some November filers are starting to be approved and I'm wondering if you all think that we should be fine on time or if I should set up an infopass appointment to see if I can get them to consider our situtation and help us get our AP quickly. I know it's not recommended to buy plane tickets before being approved, however as we are travelling as a big group we needed to, so I have plane tickets that I could show them and see if that would help our case.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!!

K & S

Hi Everyone,

We sent in our AOS stuff for my wife and her daughter (who entered on K-1 and K-2 visas) including the I-131 form for Advance Parole in mid November. Our NOA says: received on November 17th, and notice date November 23rd. We did biometrics on December 10th (our original date was for Dec. 17th, but we did a walk in a week early). We have a trip planned for February 13th and I'm getting a bit nervous as that's now less than a month away. Our reason for travel is that I am a teacher taking a group of students to Mexico and had the opportunity to bring the family. We stated that on our application and my wife and her daughter would like to travel with me.

I see some November filers are starting to be approved and I'm wondering if you all think that we should be fine on time or if I should set up an infopass appointment to see if I can get them to consider our situtation and help us get our AP quickly. I know it's not recommended to buy plane tickets before being approved, however as we are travelling as a big group we needed to, so I have plane tickets that I could show them and see if that would help our case.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!!

K & S

Hi Everyone,

I applied for I-485 AOS for my wife and her daughter (whom entered here on K1 and K2 visas) not long ago. We also applied for I-131 early parole for travel for both of them and the I-765 permission for my wife to work at the same time. We received our receipts (for all applications) and shortly thereafter our Biometrics appointment. On the I-797 NOA for the Biometrics appointment, my wife has two application numbers, one for I-485 and one for I-765 (permission to work) and her daughter has just one receipt number for I-485. Neither of them have an application number for the I-131 (though we did receive I-797 NOAs for both of their I131). We just did our Biometrics and I asked why we didn't have application numbers for the I-131s and one of the people who worked there told me we'd have to come back for another Biometrics when we received out I-131 Biometrics appointment (with application number for that).

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Do they require a separate Biometrics for the I-131?

Should our application numbers for the I-131 have been included on these Biometric appointment notices?

Was this a mistake by USCIS?

This is of extra concern for us as we have an out-of-country trip planned for February 13th, 2010, which is coming up soon.

Any help is greatly appreciated (as always!!!)

Thanks VJers!

K

Hi Everyone,

I applied for I-485 AOS for my wife and her daughter (whom entered here on K1 and K2 visas) not long ago. We also applied for I-131 early parole for travel for both of them and the I-765 permission for my wife to work at the same time. We received our receipts (for all applications) and shortly thereafter our Biometrics appointment. On the I-797 NOA for the Biometrics appointment, my wife has two application numbers, one for I-485 and one for I-765 (permission to work) and her daughter has just one receipt number for I-485. Neither of them have an application number for the I-131 (though we did receive I-797 NOAs for both of their I131). We just did our Biometrics and I asked why we didn't have application numbers for the I-131s and one of the people who worked there told me we'd have to come back for another Biometrics when we received out I-131 Biometrics appointment (with application number for that).

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Do they require a separate Biometrics for the I-131?

Should our application numbers for the I-131 have been included on these Biometric appointment notices?

Was this a mistake by USCIS?

This is of extra concern for us as we have an out-of-country trip planned for February 13th, 2010, which is coming up soon.

Any help is greatly appreciated (as always!!!)

Thanks VJers!

K

Hi All,

I got my letter for Biometrics for December 17th. Someone on this site told me I could go earlier than my appointment and do a walk in visit before that date. However, on the Boston USCIS office site it says "by appointment only." Does anyone know if in fact I can do a walk in before my actual appointment date?

thanks!

K

Hi, I was there last week (on my scheduled date) and someone was trying to do a walk-in. The guy working there was adamant that he show proof of why he can't go to his scheduled date (like a flight confirmation). So, it doesn't look like you can walk-in without some sort of valid reason. You can always try though if its nearby.

Thanks everyone for your help (as always here on VJ!!!!)

So here's what happened: I went to the Boston office today. I was hoping to get there just before 3:00 (when I believe they take their last Biometrics appointments), but I was cutting it too close and got there about 3:10. There seemed to be few people there and it looked hopeful. I explained that I was hoping to do a walk in and the woman at the front desk told me I would have to speak to the supervisor. He was very nice, asked for my reason, and told me that I was a little late for today, but I could come back any time between 8:00AM and 3:00PM this Thursday (still a week before my scheduled date). He gave me the form to fill out and said if I came with that form filled out at 8:00AM it would take me about 15 minutes to do the whole process.

Again, thanks for the help!

K

Hi All,

I got my letter for Biometrics for December 17th. Someone on this site told me I could go earlier than my appointment and do a walk in visit before that date. However, on the Boston USCIS office site it says "by appointment only." Does anyone know if in fact I can do a walk in before my actual appointment date?

thanks!

K

Thanks!

Do you think there could be be any problem with me going with both of them to just my wife's appointment time, which is scheduled later in the day than her daughter's (but is at a much more convenient time of day for all of us)?

K

Hi Everyone,

We recently submitted our AOS packages for my wife and her 9 year old daughter (who entered the US on K1 and K2 visas). I am very happy that we received a notice pretty quickly for Biometrics appointments for December 17th, but I was surprised to receive two Biometric appointment notices - one for my wife and one for her daughter.

I thought that only my wife would need Biometrics as her daughter is only 9 years old. Am I wrong about that? Do they both need Biometrics?

If they do both need Biometrics done, a slight annoyance is that my wife's appointment is at 3:00pm and her daughter's appointment is at 9:00am the same day!

So, if we do need to get Biometrics done for both of them, is there anyway we could get them to change one of these appointments (without delaying it to a later date) so we would only have to go down once that day?

If we don't in fact need Biometrics for my wife's daughter, what do we do about that? On the letter it says that if we don't show up our application will be considered abandoned!

Thanks!

K

I agree with Quail, just keep it simple: "We can't wait to get married and will do so within 90 days of entering the United States. We look forward to spending our lives together, etc..."

Hi All,

My AOS package was received in Chicago yesterday morning, November 17th, and signed for by "L BOX." Does that mean that when I get my NOA for the AOS, it will be dated from November 17th, as that is when they received it (even if it takes them a bit to get to processing it)? I believe that is how it worked for my NOA1 for the I-129F. I'm concerned as we are pushing 180 days out of status (I-94 expired June 8th) and we are hoping to travel in February with Advance Parole.

Also, any thoughts about how long we should expect it to take until the cash our checks, send us an NOA, receive the EAD and AP?

Thanks!

K

Hi All,

I was just reading some posts about social security numbers and I realized that I have been totally clueless about all this.

My wife (then my fiance) and her minor daughter came here on K1 and K2 visas 8 months ago. My then fiance and I got married and had a baby just after they arrived, and thus had been very busy since. We just sent in AOS package (if I'm not mistaken just short of them being here out of status). On the AOS papers I filled in "NONE" wherever it asked for Social Security number. I thought (again, I've been clueless) that they didn't even get SS numbers until we passed AOS. My wife isn't working now, so it hasn't been a problem yet, but can we get a SS number? Should we get SS numbers? Will this affect AOS? Anything else I should know?

Thanks!

K