kona

Does having been on a J1 visa for a year and a half (and therefore having originally added it to my list of addresses on the original G325a and DS-230, etc) consitute being "Present and former residents of the United States" where it states "should NOT obtain any police certificates covering their residence in the U.S." or do I still to get a Police certificate from the USA as the J1 is an exchange visa rather than residence?

I don't want to have to waste £60 and 4+ weeks in getting one if I don't need to, but I don't want to not get one if I should!?

Thanks guys!

Max

Hey guys,

So if only Part I of the DS-230 form needs to be sent to the embassy, and they don't ask you to even bring the Part II, when is it needed exactly?

Thanks!

Max

Hey Paul,

Quick question to you since I haven't received a reply to my earlier post the other day about packet 3 from the uk london embassy... what exactly do we have to send off to them in reply to their initial letter? Different embassies are different and trying to find out on here is proving more tricky than i expected! As far as i know: forms 230, 156, 156K, 157, and IV-15... anything else? I appreciate your time in replying in advance!

I also notice you submitted your application (although to California, not Vermont) only the week before i did, so i'm paying particular attention to your timeline!

Cheers mate,

Max

Hey guys,

From the london embassy, is packet 3 not just document IV-15K? Doesn't that mean that you can just post back the completed IV-15K form straight back to them completed with the checks if no documents are actually being sent (since you need to take them all to the interview)? Also, if I have no flight or wedding dates planned yet, (hence visa depending), how can I fill out the IV-15K saying when those dates will be, do i leave them blank or do I still make educated guesses and then change the dates later on if need be?

Finally, can't I book up (and even have?) the medical before I actually receive packet 3? Or doesn't that work?

I've tried to find the answers to these questions already, but to no avail, especially not from london embassy experienced people.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Max

Hey,

A quick question to all you experts out there... If i was in the USA for summer 2003 and From May 2004 to September 2005 both on J1 visas, for sending in packet 3 do i need to obtain a police background check for the USA as well as the normal UK police certificate? Since a J1 is a non-immigratory visa was I ever "living" in the USA or just staying there while using the visa? And if i do need to get hold of an american criminal background check before the interview, how do i get hold of one exactly since ACRO say during the UK police check they don't check other countries and they dont know how i would anyway!?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Max

don't involve money while doing K-1 it could possibly be bad for your case....

Hmm... how "bad" exactly?

For one of my friends, she said that the immigration officer said to her that one of the best and main pieces of evidence at the interview for getting the K1 was evidence of the joint bank account as this helped to show an ongoing relationship.

I can't explain or say any more on that, it's only what she told me, but interesting that none of the replies so far support this, not for K1 interview, only AOS...

Hey again,

So I-129F now sent to VSC Woohoo!

I've heard from a couple of people that having a joint bank account helps with proving on-going relationship, well we opened one in December with Wachovia, and put $100 in it, but haven't used it yet (as $100 will go quickly, lol) as I'm worried that if I transfer any money into it from my UK account that I'll be doing something inadvertantly illegal or would need to submit information for tax purposes. I don't want to get caught out, but it's not a savings account so there is no interest going into it, and i've not got any USA income, so is to transfer money from my UK bank going to cause any difficulties I should be aware of, or will everything go smoothly?

Thanks guys,

Max

Hey again!

So, I've just checked and my original J1 visa had the 2 year home residency requirement... i came back from the USA in Sept 05, and obviously that was over 2 years ago, but i have travelled there ever xmas,easter and summer since on the WVP. Since i've been employed for over 2 years full time since being back in the UK, am i right in assuming that i am allowed to travel to the USA on the WVP within the 2 years after returning from the J1 without this being an issue?

Thanks

In Acrobat Reader, go to the "Edit" menu and click on "Preferences". In the "Preferences" dialog, click on the "Forms" category. In the "General" box, look for the checkbox that says "Show text field overflow indicator" and turn it off. Click OK.

The form will no longer show or print the "+" sign, and the dates should be legible, more or less.

Thanks Guys!

Visa Pro Version works fine... I assume this is still acceptable in place of the one downloadable from USCIS?

Thanks again!

Hey!

So i know someone last week asked about there not being enough room on the form to write 2004, 2005, 2006 etc for dates of residency and employment as it adds a small "+" sign wihch then covers the date up, and I'm using the most up to date version of Adobe too! Any suggestions?

Secondly... for filling in the residency part of the form, if I was in the USA for 16 months on a J1 visa do i need to include where I stayed as i was living there, or as the J1 was only temporary (despite being over a year) do i not include it as it was not a permanent address?

Thanks!

Max

I doubt it makes any difference if you abandon it or not.. I would just go for the safe route, keep the permanent residency application, try the K1 and see whatever comes first

I was under the impression that you can't have two visa applications pending concurrently... one will automatically make the other void, and then I've got a "refused" visa on my record to contend with too... hmmph

Are you legally resident in the US right now? If so, you could get married and apply from within the US to adjust your status to a permanent resident. Your husband would file an I-130 concurrently with your I-485 application. You would also file for Employment Authorization and Advance Parole at the same time and should be able to keep working as well as travel/return to the US while waiting for your AOS. Adjustment would be much faster than through employment means. You would have to prove the validity of your marriage at the interview to show that it wasn't just to circumnavigate the delays of the employment based visa.

A K-1 visa is for permission to enter the US from outside of the US for the purpose of getting married within 90 days. If you are already here and had no plans to get married when you last entered the US you can apply to change your status based on marriage to a US citizen It appears that your current status allows for adjustment to permanent resident through employment so you should be eligible to adjust status through family based means as well. If you are in the US already working then consider getting married and adjusting status that way.

If you are outside of the US then yes, you would need some sort of fiance or spousal visa in order to enter the US and adjust status. If you cancel your employment based application then you would have to leave the US at some time in order to activate the K-1 visa.

No, No. I'm not in the USA at the moment, I am waiting for the permanent residency which will be years, unless I go down the K1 route... like I said, I am just cautious that cancelling my current permanent residency application would jeopardise a future K1 application?

Hey,

So, I've had my permanent residency application pending for Employment Based Third preference for 3 years now, having originally applied to my employer in the USA to file back in '04. Everything has gone well, apart from the waiting of the priority cut-off dates to become current, which you may or may not be aware have retrogressed back to March 03 as of April this year. Therefore, as my personal situation has changed, do I cause myself any harm if I cancel my application at the current stage (which is essentially just waiting for an interview), and then get engaged to my partner who could apply for the K1 instead? Obviously I don't really want any negative "flags" on my record from cancelling my original application at the current stage which could jeopardise an application for the K1, but otherwise it'll be stupidly years and years to wait through the Employment Based Third preference.

What do you think?

Thanks!