CoffeeMuse

Easy huh? Why we have lots of idoit drivers on the road should make the test harder.

Yes, and a prime example of that is the Washington DC metro area where we have a huge population of people from all over the world. People drive like maniac's here. Turn signals seem to be considered optional, or at best an after thought. People just change lanes, no blinkers. People signal right but move left. People drive slow in the fast lane forcing the rest of us to pass them on the right. It's bad here.

You are certainly not the first person to ask this question, in fact it's one of the most common. You need to make sure that you read every question completely... and in this case the question is: "21. Your Household Size - DO NOT COUNT ANYONE TWICE" and that's exactly how it's written.. in CAPS and underlined "do not count anyone twice".

In the case of the I-864 your wife isn't your wife, she's the immigrant. It's important to realise that this form isn't just used for spouses of the immigrant. For instance if you needed a co-sponsor and the co-sponsor was married they would of course tick the spouse box as well as the immigrant box because the spouse is NOT the immigrant.

I know it feels wrong and like you're lying but the question says "don't count anyone twice" so we do what we have to. So it's a 1 for yourself, and a 1 for immigrant and zero's everywhere else.

I indeed read those things you pointed out to me. The problem is, even taking the "in CAPs" and "underlined" instructions into account, the form is just plain contradictory in terms of the questions and layout. This is why I wanted someone to lead me by the nose and tell me to ignore what my brain is telling me and just fill the boxes in "so". I can't tell you how many forums I've been in over the years where people repeat the mantra "if you would have read the instructions... I wouldn't have to be telling you x, y and z". But with these gov't forms, you can read the instructions over and over and still be confused. As you noted, many people have justifiably been confused by this one!

I appreciate the feedback and confirmation. What can I say, this is the U.S. Government and things don't always make sense with their forms.

Many thanks, Coffee

First I am preparing a I-864 Affidavit of Support for an Adjustment of Status for a K1 marriage situation. My fiancee (now wife) came over late Feb on a K1 Visa and we were married on March 19.

In form I-864, Part 5. Sponser's Household Size, there are questions:

Persons you are sponsoring in this affidavit

a. Enter the number you entered on line 10 _1_

Persons NOT sponsored in this affidavit:

b. Yourself. _1_

c. If you are married, enter "1" for your spouse _1_

Ok, since I am married it sounds like I should put a 1 in the box for c. However, that adds up to 3 and there is only my wife (who I am sponsoring) and me = 2. In the example form it shows box c. with a 0. This is confusing as heck.

For a K1 Visa AOS, there is only two in my household. So am I supposed to mark the box in c. with a zero, even though it seems wrong? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks, Jim (aka Coffee)

You'd find a job quite easily here. Oklahoma has a major task force working toward cleaning up old, abandoned well sites. I work in oil and gas, so I've got lots of contacts in the industry if you're interested. Send me a PM if you like.

Dodi,

Are you on LinkedIn? As it is I am not quite ready to think about re-locating since I'm in the middle of the K1 process and hopefully early next year doing the AOS. I have gotten a contract to hire job right now with Hewlett Packard on a DOD contract doing PC support work, been vetted (public trust clearance) and am now working there. Not only am I a geologist but I also earned my MCSE/MCP certificates in 2000 and have about 5 years experience as a network analyst and deskside support. Since I didn't have recent experience I've had to get back into it this year thus pay isn't great. After 6+ months of temping this contract to hire is a step up and looks to be decent for the time being and I have family in northern Virginia. Its always good to network so I'll send you a PM and do appeciate the leads.

Congratulations on your Liverpudlian status, si man! Seriously, if Syracuse and most of upstate New York could be transported into a warmer climate, I'd consider living there, si man.

Supposedly Liverpool NY is considered a sister city of the original Liverpool England. Upstate NY, Syracuse and Liverpool were very nice area's to live from May to October. The summers are nice, the landscape is pretty, there are some nice state parks in the area. I took my fiancee to Beaver Lake several times to hike and enjoy the nature trails. We saw some deer up close, fed some chipmonks and enjoyed the 3 mile hike around the lake. I used to go there alone just to hike the trails for exercise and relaxation. Syracuse was a nice place in many ways, little traffic and compact etc. Of course the bitter long winters and the poor job market, well and high property taxes are a major bummer.

Yes, I lived in Liverpool, suburb of Syracuse for about 15 years. Lovely summers, a great park to roller blade but the winters were, well... for the penguins and polar bears! Hard on cars too!

Good job, thats decent I guess for four tires and a muffler. I was looking at mine recently. The Toyota RAV4 was bought new in 2006 and there is significant rust on the bottom. Gotta love central NY winters. My brakes wore out early due to the salt also. Good riddence Syracuse!

I did sent my resume to a contact at ExxonMobile but nothing came of it. My background has primarily been in environmental consulting any the last major client I worked with was Shell Oil Products US (SOPUS) as division of Royal Dutch Shell. They were based in Houston but all of my work was in northwest Pennsylvania and southwest New York state. I helped them close out old liablities, mainly properties which had abandoned oil wells on them so I had to go to courthouses to verify the lease history, go out with a GPS and locate the old abandoned wells, arrange for cable tool drill rigs to come clean out and plug the wells, and then have a PADEP Dept of Oil and Gas inspector inspect the lease and then provide a no further action letter to our client. That job was winding down and I was laid off nearly 2 years ago. Since I also have an MCSE certificate and there is more work in that field, thats what I've been getting back into. Also looking for govt work as a geologist but its tough getting an interview.

As for tires, I have a Toyota RAV4 so hopefully one of the lower priced SUV's to get new tires for. I bought it in 2006 because I wanted an SUV but one that got decent gas mileage.

Yes the cost of the I129F application is dropping. Naturally I've paid the higher pice and now they are raising the price of the AOS - luck me!

gumble grumble

Hmmm... I'll ask Twinks is she had the chicken pox. Well, sounds like if she has all the shots and brings all the paperwork, we should get through it.

Its been a tough road for me after losing my consulting job. Been doing piecemeal contract work since April but recently found contract to hire with a major company who does work for the DOD, and a public trust clearance to boot. Pay isn't great either but inching slowly back up. And of course the famous Washington DC metro area commute is fun every day. I have a masters degree in science (geology) but it isn't the right field to be looking for work. IT has more opportunities.

Speaking of tire, I'm gonna need at least 2 soon, plus rear brakes. Joy.

Looks like I'm getting hit the wrong way on both ends. It appears I had to pay the higher of the fees for the I129F and since the AOS fees are going UP, I get to pay the higher of that one too. Gotta love it.

So the issue isn't whether a person is immigrating or what their status is, but one declaresr the items being shipped and what the best way to do that is. In other words, if you are trying to ship house hold and/or personal items and don't want to pay duty based on those being personal items you already own and are keeping with you as you immmigrate, then your status has to match up with that to qualify.

But the bottom line is you could ship items and totally disocciate them from your citizen or immigration status and declare them in some other way and pay a duty if it applied.

Ok sounds like its good I started asking questions. The devil is in the details once again! One thing that caught my eye was the chicken pox vericella vaccine. Nich says they don't even offer it in the UK so by that meaning someone in the UK can't get 100% of the vaccines required for the AOS? The simple reading of that says to me that most UK folks still has to get at least one vaccine in the US after coming over and getting married. I hope I'm wrong about that because it would be nice to have 100% of vaccines done before traveling. If not, its not a huge problem but again, I'm hoping we can do all possible and have the vaccines and documentation all complete for the AOS.

Expiry date is an expiry date and it is important to make sure you use the current form.

They set expiry date on each form coz they have planned revision of each form, there can be chances that there might be no change on them but they do revise them and add or delete items required on the form based on their needs.

Sometimes that can be a problem. For example when it came time for my Fiancee to travel to London for her interview, I needed to make sure I provided her with the necessary forms, namely the I134 affidavit of support. Last spring/summer, the only I134 form I could find showed an expiration date of May 30, 2010 (from memory) and the Inteview as July 30. Even after May 30, I could only still find a from that showed an expiration date of May 30 so whats a guy to do? I went to the most official DOS website I could find and downloaded what they had listed and used it to fill out my information and sent it to the UK. I think the form still had a May 30, 2010 date and others stated they still did not have a newer one made and posted so thats all I could use. There were no issues thankfully and all was fine, but still that little expiration date problem was a concern. It goes without saying, use the latest and greatest but what can you do when the latest and greatest is past the expiration date? Catch 22?

As my timeline shows, I sent the I129F in October 2009 and received the NOA1 later that same month. I had to wait until about January 20, 2010 for the NOA2 (notice of action which was the approval of my I129F application). It took about 12 weeks to get my approval and it was a K1 for a UK citizen. I can imagine it might take longer for other countries and of course case load and available staffing cause the processing times to vary. I'm sure with the economic downturn, staffing isn't at an all time high.

Regarding the I129F, I don't think I could have done it on my own (my Fiancee and I went over most of the paper work together) without the VJ website. It has a great guide and is very thorough and shows you all the items you need to include to submit a "complete" I129F and avoid an RFE or denial. Of course I went over the items and contents numerous times and asked a family member to review the final version before making my two copies and sending it to the Vermont processing center. But if you follow the guide here on VJ and go over it with a fine tooth comb, you should be able to get it approved with no delays (assuming you included all the qualifying and requisite items.)

And yes, the US has the right to restrict import of good into their own country. Could you imagine if ANYONE at anytime could ship anything into the US?

Good luck

It happens every day 365 days a year as far a I know. Anyone at anytime does ship just about anything into the US and its a nightmare for the ports I'm sure. Obviously as long as the contents fall within legal rules (ie not hazardous etc etc) its legal and happens every day.

I would think the K1 process has nothing what so ever to do with what you ship and when. What matters most is that you are shipping items which are allowed by the US postal service or other agencies. So as long as you follow shipping laws and rules, you should be able to ship anything any time afaik. How does the parcel system know whether the person sending you stuff is immigrating, or just a relative or friend sending stuff - or someone shipping an Ebay item for that matter? If all of this is not the case, I'm all ears.

If the listing posted above for the vaccinations is what the AOS process requires, then we should be able to double check those vaccinations against it to make sure they are all done. I remember early on seeing feedback here in VJ that you could be granted the K1 even if you didn't have all of the vaccinations required, but you could get them later once you were in the US - I assume in time for the AOS. But of course we'd prefer to have it all taken care of before she comes here just so its done and we don't have more things to worry about along with getting married, settled and filing for the AOS etc.

Coffeemuse, it does seem quite hard to get things right. I was just looking at your dates - it seems you waited a really long time (July to November?) between the interview date and the K1 being delivered. Did it take that long to get all the medical stuff together?

Yes it took that long, And it could have potentially taken alot longer if the checkups asked for didn't come up all clear, fine and dandy.

I have been getting aquainted with the vagaries of the NHS over the past several years and from everything I've heard, it ain't pretty at all. I'll just leave it at that because it is outside the scope of this topic and forums.

This discussion regarding immunizations for Knightsbridge K1 vs AOS is enlightening and a bit confusing. My fiancee, as far as I know, went ahead and got all her vaccinations taken care of for the K1 medical at Knightsbridge. Obviously she wanted to make sure she had EVERYTHING done although I think after Knightsbridge, she still ended up needing a couple more vaccinations, although on of them may have been the flu jab. In the end, to satisfy the Knightsbridge doctor, she sent in correct documents and that finished things up which were pending and the K1 was finally sent about a week ago.

So if what I read here is correct, you can satisfy the requirements in London for the K1, and yet the AOS may require further vaccinations? I would like of course, for my fiancee to have all taken care of before she leaves since her GP can take care of here over there rather than have to find a doctor here etc.

The info regarding previous marriages is pretty basic relationship stuff and is usually covered early whan a couple gets together. Most people understand things often don't work out so its not a deal breaker; it's a part of the background of many people. Occasionally there are men or women who, for some reason want to marry a person who was never married and that is important to them. If the original poster has that kind of a situation, then... well, others have already commented more or less to this.

What is AP - so many acronyms I feel like I'm in the military! Well, I'm now a military subcontractor so I better get used to it!

My fiancee was also checking the courier website after she knew the knightsbridge doctor had received everything she had asked for following the medical and interview. She did get an email a couple weeks after the doctor acknoledged by phone receipt of everything, the email stated our K1 case was in final review so that was when the courier website really got checked often. The indication of package enroute came on Nov 2 I think, and package a day later.

Mine didn't have a date in it. I simply went to Walmart where they can take passport type photo's for about 7 USD. My fiancee was visiting the month prior to my sending in the I129F so I took her to Walmart for the photo's and we did most of the filling out of the forms etc so most of the I129F was done by the time she flew back to the UK,

The two apparent issues:

1) Job description

A previous person had a good idea - have your employer provide a written description of your job, and also include your resume. If it is a type of work which is rather full or jargon or is technical, then you may need to take the above and put it in lay terms - ie terms someone not in your field of work would understand.

2) Distance your state is from California

The internet or google is your friend. There isn't any reason you shouldn't be able to find out the distance with all the resources available on the internet. Find out the information and present it in your packet sent back to address the RFE. If it helps, print out a google map with point A and point B on it and the actual distance in between.

Agree'd. My sister is a federal government bureaucrat (different org) and she knows how they like things done - "give them everything they ask for, organize it neatly and well, put cover sheets on each section to make it easy to find and identify the items etc. Pretend you are submitting a report but hold it together with a binder clip only. You want to make their job easy to read and to pull apart and examine without taking a chain saw to it.

My mistake for not reading thoroughly - you are not a K1 applicant. Sorry! Its afternoon here and I need more coffee, thats it!

Good luck then.