sachinky

That said, I should also say that much of the down putting that I have experienced in the US has been, brace yourself for this, not from Americans but from certain sections of Indians themselves who cannot hide their bias for the newer immigrants. I have had a certain wealthy Gujarati neighbor often pass snide remarks about how people from the 'south of India' are swarming all over the neighborhood, yada, yada, yada. I think this stems more from having their sense of exclusivity lost, you know, like being forced to share their American pie which they thought they had monopolistic rights over.

This is spot-on.

The lesson I learned from Mrs. Sachinky's post is that relying on a Joint Sponsor who may not understand how to properly file the I-864 can be a pain in #######.

If the Joint Sponsor is going to create drama now, what is going to happen when he is asked to disclose more information that is required to process his joint sponsorship?

How much drama are you prepared for?

Easier to go with a cooperative Joint Sponsor than trying to get a hardarse Joint Sponsor on board.

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Mrs. Sachinky, what would you suggest since you had to deal with an uncooperative Joint Sponsor? Knowing what you know now, would you have cut your Joint Sponsor loose and just go with your FIL?

Of course, to make matters worse this JS was MY cousin. My father's elder brother's son who has been in the US for the past 20 years. After Mr. Sachinky popped the question, we started looking into immigration and realized that the I-864 would be an issue since we were just about to graduate. My dad asked my cousin -- frankly, I thought he'd refused (never has been too fond of me) but he did agree very enthusiastically. I thought it was because my dad is his favorite uncle and it was more for him than me. I didn't really want to ask my FIL at the beginning because, I mean, he didn't really know me too well, had met twice, in fact.

But I can't tell you how much last minute stress and anxiety this cousin of mine caused. In spite of the fact that I had told him right from the beginning (even before we had filed the I-130) what he'd need, he still delayed on the documents (not too long, but a week feels like a long time when you're stuck in immigration hell). He insulted my family -- I felt horrible for my dad. I didn't really give a damn what he said about me. He said I lied about when I had mailed the documents (even though postal offices in Maryland were closed due to winter storms on the east coast). Ugh, thinking about it just makes me mad.

I had also informed him that should our interview be held post-April 15, his recent taxes would be required. He refused to send them two weeks before the interview. Another blow-out. He then sent them in a sealed file but left out the W-2s just to be spiteful. Of course, he also emailed the embassy saying that I had asked for these things, and he didn't want to send them, were they really necessary? After all that family drama, we'd had enough, my FIL Fedexed me his papers. I also had a friend in NY who sent me her financial documents as a backup. So I went to the interview, with 3 different I-864s. First question with the pre-screener: who is (joint sponsor's) name? Second question: do you have his latest W-2? At that point, I just slipped my FIL's papers under the window and told her to use this one in case the other sponsor's papers were incomplete. I explained the situation to her, she said she'd keep both -- it was up to the CO to make the final decision. I was never told what her decision was.

Funny thing is, after 2 years, I still don't know who my joint sponsor officially is.

Anywho, take from that what you will.

You could do what we did. Mr. Sachinky, the USC petitioner, completed his documentation and then sent it to the joint sponsor who included his documents in it. This way my husband didn't get to see his private information. He then overnighted the entire I864 package to USCIS.

Of course, later on this joint sponsor caused far too much drama -- refused to send his W2 at the last minute. Wanted to directly email the consulate, yada yada. HUGE PIA. Thankfully, my FIL stepped in.

Actually he didn't. The OP was not married before, so there was no 'previous marriage'.

And if you knew anything about India or Indian societal norms you would know that a child from a previous "relationship" would be considered much "worse" than a child from a previous "marriage." At least, when it comes to consulate officers who are well aware of prevalent cultural attitudes in India and how an average 24 year old Indian male's parents are likely to feel about these circumstances.

Tower Heist.

6.5/10.

Good Saturday afternoon time-pass.

Since I couldn't edit my post anymore..

1. Is it completely unheard of in the US for an American male/female to marry an Indian?

2. Is it completely unheard of in India for an Indian male/female to marry an American?

If not, then don't think of it as a red flag.

I agree with you, in that I don't think V&C have any reason to worry about.

But while these sort of relationships are not completely unheard of, it is pretty damned rare. Rare enough to be a cultural aberration. Couple that with a large significant age gap (definitely against all established Indian cultural norms), the fact that the female OP is nearing the end of her child-bearing years, has a child from a previous relationship, the meeting was online, and only 10 days have been spent in person together -- it is what it is. Those are not one but several HUGE red flags. Again, it is has very little to do with race, per se. Those are the things I pointed out earlier, not as judgement but as the factors that led to this unsurprising outcome. The OP jumped to the defense of her relationship (despite the fact that I wasn't attacking her relationship) -- just telling her that this is what the CO saw and these are the factors that led to his/her decision. India is a high-fraud country (for good reason, IMO -- I have seen people say and do things you wouldn't believe when it comes to a US green-card) and these factors are clearly why the beneficiary was grilled for hours.

At the end of the day, this is what the CO essentially is looking at. If you take out the immigration aspect, does this relationship still make any sense? Would the beneficiary continue to be in this relationship, all other factors remaining constant, if the OP were an Indian female?

11/22/63 by Stephen King.

10 chapters or so in, and it's already blowing my mind.

Does anyone use goodreads, by the way?

Read the I-130 guides. Good luck!

You cannot attend the interview without a passport with at least 6 months validity on it.

50 days? BS. This is India. Pay for "Tatkal" -- it should come within 7 days, more if you can grease a few palms.

So I guess after the biometrics, we just wait for RFE, interview or approval? And the timeline is the next 6-8 months?

Thank you for this. We will be going through a tough embassy-Lagos, Nigeria. We have one Red Flag age difference (I the woman USC much older). No I don't look like mum. But we also addressed the age difference with me staying in Nigeria for 6 months. I went there we meet face to face, we courted dated for 6 weeks married and I stayed another 5 months. This after 21 months "dating" online. We are same race and religion.

I thank you because I too trying to use that measuring stick and driving myself insane. I just filed March 15th so I have a long way to go. But I gain strength and well why do I have doubts we are for real. So I appreciate your honesty and candor. (Guess I better find a hobby that doesn't involve logging on to VJ and USCIS.)

Good luck! Glad I could help. I was a VJ addict during those looooooong months. Sure helped knowing there were others in the same boat.

When I was in college, my parents would just do an international wire transfer from their bank to my BOA account. Your husband probably should enquire at his banking center.

Why not try out Western Union? Very reliable, gets there in 1-3 days, amount as promised. Right now it's 1 USD = Rs. 50.50

To work as an au pair you would require a J1 visa. You may not undertake ANY form of employment on a B-2.

The chances to secure a US tourist visa for an average 21 year old single Russian girl in a short term job are not very high. Or for that matter, any other part of the developing world. Being "engaged" has no legal standing. An Indian friend of mine just got her tourist visa to Spain rejected on the insufficient ties ground and would NOT listen to me when I tried to explain it to her. She just kept saying "but I am engaged."

(South) Calcutta, West Bengal.

There is no AOS without an I-864. PERIOD. Stop feeding the OP misinformation that offers him false hope. Look, I understand people are trying to offer hope but drawing up comparisons between cases that do not have similar circumstances are pointless. In the above case, unless the AOS/I-864 was explicitly drawn -- which you do not say, merely that he "left" her before the GC came through; in that case, it was already pending -- it would be reasonable to believe that the entire thing would go through. The OP's case is dead because the underlying I-864 has already been withdrawn by the petitioning USC spouse, causing the AOS to crash and burn. It is no longer pending, the case is closed and a decision has been made, directly as a consequence of his wife's actions.

Mr. Sachinky wasn't present in India for the notice period either. He signed the papers in the US and I signed my bit in my living room in my PJs.

It took about 3-4 days to get our marriage certificate. My mom paid someone 500/- and they gave us 8 copies of it. Looks like a minty green large sheet of paper with all the information typed out in it (that was filled in during the wedding). The header is titled "Special Marriage Act."

what about if he can get affidavit of support from some one else like a friend or relative and then proves that the marriage was entered in good faith ?

The petitioning USC spouse would still need to provide a signed I-864, even if a co-sponsor came into the picture. Without the USC's co-operation, this is end game.

If I were the CO, I would not only recommend the denial of your wife's visa, but recommend the revocation of your green-card.

I talk to her in Hindi most of the time because I often have trouble understanding the things she says to me in English.

Yeah, that could be another reason for denial. If your girlfriend can speak barely passable Indian English (that even you, her boyfriend, have trouble understanding) then the COs would have a hard time believing that this girl would do well in an American college/uni setting.

I came to the US in 2005 on a F-1, I interviewed in Calcutta. The only two things they care about:

1) You will return to India after your studies are over.

2) You have enough finance to cover your studies.

The Langoliers. Based on the Stephen King novel.

File CRBA. ASAP.