Betti

Hmmm, I came here on a J-1 visa. I didn't have to submit a police report either with the application for the J-1 or the AOS process.

I don't have an answer to the question regarding the birth certificate, but I hope someone else will answer this. Maybe you would get better answers if you posted your question in the Philippine-forum?

For the K-1 visa you will need to show proof that the 2 of you have met together withing the past 2 years. So make sure to keep all your boarding passes and take tons of pictures while you are there. With her and her family if possible. Some people add the time stamp to the pictures (you know the one that the camera puts on it) or take pictures with a local newspaper that shows the date. If you stay at hotels, keep the receipts and from everything else you buy, keep the receipts if they show the address of the store/restaurant.

Those are the main things I remember from reading VJ :-)

Good luck and a happy first meeting!

Congratulations! I wish you a speedy delivery of your visa and a safe trip to America!!!

Yeah 2 months is enough time but you don't want it to appear as though your filing too near the time her visa is expiring...it will send a red flag. My advise is to apply as soon as possible. My visa doesnt expire until dec 2010 but im send my applications up next because of the same reason.

My J-1 expired in September, we got married in August. It was never mentioned in the process and I had a fast and easy approval.

I don't think it's seen as a red flag to file close to J-1 expiration.

Congratulations on your engagement!

To answer your questions:

#1: The K-1 visa would be the wrong choice for you. Since your fiancee is on a J-1 visa in the US already and had no intent to get married and stay here at her last entry, you two can get married and file the AOS afterwards.

#2: You can get married any time that you like really. Even if her J-1 would expire and you would get married afterwards, this is usually not a problem since overstays are forgiven when married to a US citizen. But to be on the safe side, you should get married before the J-1 expires, I would do it no later than ~15 days before expiration. From the day that you receive the NOA (the letter that says that USCIS received your application), your fiancee will be in the US with a status of AOS pending and with that she is allowed to stay in the US until her case is decided. Now this is only stay, not work. For a work permit you have to file an extra form (that is included in the cost for AOS already) and it takes up to 90 days after filing.

So if you have a June wedding on mind, go right ahead!

#3: To USCIS it doesn't matter if you have a traditional or courthouse wedding. They only want to see your marriage certificate and proof of your bonafide relationship. So you can plan for your dream wedding!

Good proof would be for example a joint bank account, joint property (house, car), appartment lease in both your names, pictures of both of you and with family, logs of your phonecalls, e-mails and so on.

Good that your fiancee didn't have the 2-year rule on her visa, that makes things a lot easier!!!

It's also good that you inform yourself early on, you could for example start already to gather the needed documents, like your fiancee's birth certificate with translation.

Good luck and happy wedding planning!

My husband and I will be in Germany for 3 weeks, starting on February 14th. I haven't been back since 17 months then and am very much looking forward to see my family! Not so much to the cold temperatures though. ;-)

I told my mum she would have to greet me at the airport with a wheat roll with a thick layer of butter and some good cheese on it. Can't wait to indulge in all the good German food again!

It's weird that the lawyer described those details as a CR-1. It sounds more like the steps of an AOS and even for that 6-7 weeks are not the correct time frame to calculate with.

You guys can get married during your fiance's stay in the USA and file for the CR-1 visa from the US, he can just not stay for good this time. Your fiance can stay either until he has the interview in his home country or until the VWP expires, usually 90 days, whichever happens first. There is no reason to be apart for that time if his job allows him to stay here for 90 days.

When he then finally enters the US with his CR-1 visa in his passport, he will receive the green card-stamp in his passport at the POE, which allows him to stay and work until he has to remove the conditions.

However you decide to go from here....Good luck!

Yes, you can do that, no problem. Just write neatly to insure they can read your handwriting! :-)

Good luck and a speedy AOS!

Congratulations on receiving the visa! 16 months is a very long time and i am happy for you that the wait is finally over!

I hope that the POE will be a pleasant surprise and not as bad as the immigration officer predicted!

Good luck and a safe trip for your fiancee!

Forgive me, as I have posted before and all of a sudden I cannot figure out how to post a new topic!

Just click on "Forums", then choose the right forum to post the new topic in (in your case maybe the K-1 forum?) and click the "New topic" button in the upper right corner.

Posting your question in your own thread will most probably get you more responses that are given to your specific question. It will for sure work better than posting in an existing thread from someone else.

Good luck!

I just found this article on www.statesman.com and am shocked:

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/texas-...cam-157244.html

I knew that those scams happen, but this is totally crazy. 3 generations of a family doing this over and over again. 2 granddaughters were married more than 2 dozen times each!

No wonder that USCIS is so very strict with their rules. Woah.

Thank you, Otto und Karin, for explaining this procedure!

I would think that it depends on the friendliness and understanding of the officer at the POE.

I thought that they take one of your AP papers when you leave the country and enter that into the system and you use the second page for reentering. And only if the first part is in the system the second half can be used.

I would go for an infopass appointment and let them explain your possibilities in detail.

Good luck! I hope your mother-in-law will be better soon!

I would think so, too. If the airline says not to change it, she will be fine.

In my case Lufthansa actually told me (3 different times I called) that they will not let me board if the names don't match. That's why I chose to change it for an extra charge. They said they have a new rule since September which allows name changes, but only for 3 characters, for cases of misspelling. They do not allow to change the whole last name anymore. They said it had to do with new security rules. Hmpf.

I did the same mistake when I booked our tickets to Germany for next year. I booked through Expedia and it will be a Lufthansa flight. About a week after I booked it I saw a thread here on VJ that said they won't let you board, if the name on the ticket does not match the name on the passport. To me the proof of name change via marriage certificate made perfect sense, but both Expedia and Lufthansa said that they will not let me check in if the names don't match, when I called them. Several phone calls and e-mails later I had them cancel my flight and rebook in my maiden name (which is on the passport) for $100 extra. I will still have to carry my marriage certificate I think though, since my greencard is in my married name, but now the flight ticket is in my maiden name.

Most people said to not worry and that they would probably let me fly anyway, but I wanted to be sure to not be turned away on the day of departure and paid the extra $100.

Good luck and I hope it all works out for your wife!

The next step will be that you receive the NOA's in the mail, then the biometrics appointment, then AP and EAD (if applied for and approved), then the invitation for the interview, then the interview, then the welcome letter and then the greencard :-) If your application is missing something, you might receive a RFE also at some point.

It might not all happen in exactly this order, but those are the things that will happen. To give a time frame is tough, since every case is different. Please have a look at my signature for the dates of my AOS journey.

Good luck!

I would not use staples.

Use paperclips and Acco fasteners as the USCIS website suggests, I think you'll be on the safe side with that.

I have not heard of RFE's or denials because of staples though. :-)

Yes, you have to go to your local Social Security Office to apply for a SSN.

Okay, I called them today.

I asked the lady if I need to come in to update my status and she said no, we have you in the system already as a legal alien authorized to work, there is nothing to update. Only once you become a citizen, you will have to come in with your naturalization certificate and update your status, until then you are all set!

Yay!

@VISA2US09: I came here on a J-1 visa (as you can see in my signature) and still had my social security number/card from 2003, when I was in the USA on my first J-1 visa for one year. This was just a question regarding updating my status from J-1 to conditional permanent resident with the social security office.

Thank you for your answer, canadian wife!

I do have the "valid with DHS authorization only" on it, but I thought that the permanent resident card is exactly that. So it should only be relevant when I apply for a new job, and then I could just show my card as form of DHS authorization to work, right?

I will call them tomorrow and see what they say. I am almost certain though that I'll have to go there in person, because they will need to see proof of the status change. *sigh*

I have received my conditional permanent resident card a few weeks ago and was told to update my status with the social security office. I would have to take off some time from work to do this and since I just started a new job, I would like to avoid asking for time off to do this.

I just looked online to find out if I could possibly update my status via phone or online, but couldn't find any helpful information.

Does anyone know if this is possible, and if not, what are the consequences of not updating your status?

I do understand your situation, but must say that I do not think that a letter to your Congressman would do your application any good.

The process of AOS normally takes about 6 to 8 months and you have just sent off your application one month ago. You were done with your biometrics after 20 days, which is very fast.

As you know I am in Austin, too and had my greencard in under 3 months. It can't get any faster than that, even with the Congressman involved!

I really know how you feel, I was desperate to start working again, too. But I really think in your situation, patience is the key. Can your husband maybe get a second job while you are waiting for the EAD, just to make it a bit easier for both of you? Or do you have any furniture/valuables, that you might be able to sell on Craigslist?

I know you have set your mind on sending the letter and if you do, I hope it works out for you. I don't know where you would have to send this letter, but would probably take the address from the NOA's.

Good luck!

I just checked their website for you and if you see this link: http://www.dupageco.org/courts/docs/2009CourtCalendar.pdf, you will see that the court was closed on January 1st 2009. I assume it will be the same for 2010, but they don't have a calender for the next year posted yet, so I can only assume. Good luck!

For the tax thing I don't have a 100% answer, but would also guess that you would likely get a RFE instead of the whole package denied.

For the Advanced Parole I did not write any letter and got approved with no problem.

I filled out Number 1, 2 (option d), 3 (1. Multiple 2.Varying lenghts --> this is what you can fill in when you don't really have a planned trip, but want the AP "just in case" 3. check "No"), 7 (check "More than one trip"). Then signed and dated it and filled in my phone number in Part 8, that's it.

So yes, you only fill out 1,2,3,7 and 8.

Include a copy of the passport page with the J-1 via and the biographic page, copies of the I-94 front and back, copy of the marriage certificate (I did it to show my married name, still have the passport in maiden name) and 2 passport style photos of yourself.

This is the easiest of all the AOS forms in my opinion. Should not be a problem!

Good luck! :-)

Congratulations Inna! I am happy for you!

And cHiQy, good luck for your interview tomorrow!!! My fingers are crossed!