Brother Hesekiel

Therefore, the comment in boldface above is purely opinion and likely could have been worded better, at minimum.

Dawg . . . if we want to complain about posts that could have been "worded better" as you put it, it's time to shut down this site as there are many immigrants still working on their English skills.

Maybe I could have this worded better? Maybe I could have worded this better?

statistical anomolies exist, and may be commented upon if documentable. this enhances the general knowledge of future readers, regardless of how uncomfortable it may make some.

That's exactly right. +1

Oban,

you are correct: technically your residency expires once you are divorced, which is why you can and perhaps should file immediately after you have your divorce papers. But in the real world you have until your card expires.

Also (mimicking Sarah Palin) . . . please understand that you get your NOA1 extension letter quite fast (look at my timeline: 5 days!). Given your situation, however, I think you should wait until December, when you're back from your business trip.

You don 't have a problem.

I am sorry for your loss. Right now you may feel overwhelmed, but it will get better once you realize that dying is a natural part of life and that one cannot change past events, only one's own reactions to them. It's the Buddhist way.

I haven't been in Europe since 1994. Both my parents passed, and I had no chance to say goodbye. But when they were still alive, we talked quite often and agreed on how meaningful it is to keep contact, and how meaningless it is to attend a funeral. I wrote an Eulogy for both my parents and my daughter read it at their funeral.

in my not so humble opinion, there's no merit in jeopardizing one's future in order to attend a funeral. Very soon you will be able to travel to The Kingdom and take care of things at your own pace. It won't make any difference to you mom anymore, so don't lose your head over it when dealing with the emotional paint.

Again, my deepest sympathy to you.

Never too late to become a USC, not even after 46 years. You may be able to get a waiver for the fees involved; if not use a credit card and pay it back with the money the SSA will pay you once you are a USC.

That said, I'm not a USC either and the SSA sends me an account statement every year telling me how much money I will receive once I become disabled. Everyone who got 10 years of payments "in" is eligible to get money out.

Brazilianwife,

I, too, don't see much light for you at the end of the tunnel. Your I-485, filed for you by your husband as the petitioner, was denied due to something you did (leaving the country and reentering with a B2). Now that you are in removal proceedings, your husband would have to file the I-485 for you again, which I assume he refuses as much as he refuses to sign an I-864 for you.

Basically, it appears that your husband has no interest in helping you with the AOS in any way and wants to end the marriage in some way or another. At this point, as a non-immigrant facing eventual deportation, you really have no status in the US that would allow you to fight USCIS's decision successfully on your own.

You are stating that you "need a work permit before you leave" in order to support your kids. That I dont' quite understand. With a work permit, you can work in the US to provide for your kids, but why then leave? But if you leave, you can provide for your kids in Brazil immediately upon your return, can't you?

That aside, since you are still married, your husband is legally required to provide for you and your kids. If you have no place to stay and nothing to eat, social services will help you and then eventually get the money back from your husband.

Since the AOS was denied, you will most likely have to, at some point, leave the US, as hard as that may be for you emotionally and financially. Depending on whether your kids are USCs or Brazilian nationals, they may stay with their father in the US or go to Brazil with you, their mother.

Actually, I have to correct myself. I don't know why I didn't think of that, but when I renewed my expired German passport in Los Angeles in 2007, they wanted to see my GC. Had I not had one, or some form of unexpired visa, they would only have issued me some form of documentation allowing me to leave the US, but not a new passport.

Although I have no idea why foreign embassies kind of enforce US immigration policy, it seems to be the case for many nations, if not all.

Visacheck,

you are right, of course. Since neither of us knows exactly how the Lithuanians roll, the exiting Lithuania part is the unknown one.

Sure, she can leave the US with the L passport, enter with the L passport. I would assume someone LEAVES a country, including Lithuania (man, do I stumble typing that word), it's not an issue at all. As she has to prove to the Lithuanians that she's authorized to enter the US, she would need to show her US passport when leaving and, of course, must use her US passport when entering the US.

Assuming Lithuania prohibits dual citizenship, the only problem could possibly arise at a scenario you described, when the Lithuanians ask her when leaving Lithuania with her US Passport how she entered the country without a visa from Lithuania. She can't show them her L passport, as she would then expose her "dual citizenship."

You have no legal issue. You have no visa issue. You have a family issue.

All it takes is to tell your mother-in-law that you and her daughter mutually decided that you would not want her to visit you again. No need for her to buy another ticket again. End of story.

You don't need USCIS, FBI, CIA, or DEA for that. You need a telephone or a laptop computer and a set of balls. Looks like you have either of the first two; now get the other ones out of the jar and be a man.

No person of mental sanity would want somebody in their house to masturbate or have cybersex while their child is around. Nothing tricky about that; it's as clear cut as it gets.

Kitty,

you need a passport. Anybody needs a passport. All hell can break loose here tomorrow, or within the next few years, and you can't get out of here because you don't drive and you don't have a passport? Are you kittying me?

Go to the next Canadian embassy and apply for a passport ASAP. Once you have it, take step 2.

You use the family name that is on your green card. That's the name USCIS has on file.

If you want to avoid unnecessary cost and confusion, don't change your name. If you feel the need to change your name, do it when becoming a USC, as it's FREE at that time.

It is not possible to adjust status from a B2 to immigrant within the US when the petitioner is not a USC. But even if he were a USC (which he claims he's not), there's still the issue with suspected immigration fraud. If your sister married the Gentleman within the first 30 days of her visitor's visa, all lights are on RED now. If she waited until at least day 31 (which you didn't reveal), it's easier.

But again, if he's not a USC, there's no way to pull that off. What I would do if first is look at his Green Card, in person.

In my personal experience, the by far MOST important thing to have at the interview is a photo album of the wedding and reception. How do you fake a wedding with 100s of people getting drunk, a naked girl jumping out of a wedding cake, and a zeppelin dropping 10,000 balloons reading "I love you Schmuppi!" from the sky?

Priceless? Au contraire!

LPRs of the United States of America are required to file income taxes, if they desire to stay LPRs, that is. You do that by filing jointly with your husband, even if your income is 0.

If you file for removal of conditions via form I-751 in less than 2 years, you'll need to produce the tax returns showing your name on it.

Hello everyone,

Hope this is the right forum for my question - my mom has dual citizenship-U.S. and Lithuanian, but Lithuania doesn't allow to have dual citizenship, and ofcourse she wants to keep it as long anyone report about it. We are concerned about travelling details. Which passport to show travelling from U.S. to Lithuania(if she wants to stay longer than 3 months) and from Lithuania back to U.S.? Is it ok to go to Lithuania with Lithuanian passport and return back with U.S.? Or would that cause some problems at the border?

Has anyone experienced that?

Sincerely,

Lain

Lain,

I don't know the specific requirements for Lithuania, but if it's anything like Russia, here is the plan of action.

Assuming your mother's name is identical in both passports, she would leave the US with the Lithunanian passport, and enter Lithuania with the same, hereby avoiding the requirement of a visa.

When leaving Lithuania, she can use either her Lithuanian passport, or her US passport. When entering the US she must use her US passport.

That said, if Lithuania automatically revokes its citizenship to citizens who acquire another country's citizenship, she would claim to be a citizen of a country she is not. In the US you go to jail for that, and I would assume that the Lithuanians--if they found out--wouldn't be too friendly about that either.

Hi everyone,

I am a USC born and living in Toronto, Canada. I acquired my US citizenship in September 2008 (I'm in my early thirties).

So you were born outside the US to a USC father? Or where you born in the US? In the latter case you received your citizenship at birth, due to a document called the Constitution.

I've been married 5 years to a wonderful woman born in Canada. We have two awesome young children and are planning on moving to the US in the new year. Currently we are in the final stages of getting everyone their US status. On October 21 we have an interview for the kids to get their citizenship through their USC grandfather.

Not possible. The only person who can help them to become USCs is YOU.

The only things I have in my favour are that a) I have no job here (my wife works however), and B) we own no property. We are essentially waiting to move as soon as we can. We could open a US bank account, but I doubt that would be enough. Am I even eligible to be a sponsor since I am a USC born overseas? Do I need to get someone that is a USC currently living there as a co-sponsor? Do they have to be family? And then do they need to prove that they can support my family? I have a few people in mind that can do these things, but I want to make sure I get it right. Also, since I have sent back DS-230, I have already been named as the petitioner. Is the petitioner always the sponsor? Is it possible to change or add a sponsor now without affecting the interview date?

You need a sponsor (or more), any sponsor, really, who is either a USC or LPR of the USA. Or, alternatively, you'd need to show assets of 3 times the poverty level of a family of 4 times x years. The sponsor does not have to be related to you.

You can, even if you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, own an interest in a limited liability company located in the United States. Just so there's not confusion, let me also confirm that you can also be the sole owner--the single member--of a limited liability company located in the United States.

Christeen,

in the future, before you respond, I suggest you make it a habit of reading the previous post thoroughly.

I wrote:

Thus, you cannot open a business and perform any tasks for that business, such as organizing, as this would constitute work.

Since you apparently had problems before, the emphasis in on the BOLD parts.

Somebody not authorized to work in the United States cannot work for an LLC either (duuuh!), not even if he or she is a member or even the sole member of said LLC.

This post is NOT about the tax liability of an LLC. It's about working of an immigrant lacking authorization to work from a purely legal standpoint. Is that really so difficult to comprehend?

Lidia,

I wouldn't even know how to pronounce any of your family names, so that's a tricky one.

But seriously, and I've followed some rather interesting threads in this regard, there's nothing illegal in having two passports and two legal names IF Spain allows dual citizenship. If you were Russian, you'd be encountering problems of a different kind, but as a citizen of Spain, you could travel exclusively with your US passport.

But let's say you want to leave the US with your Spanish passport. You arrive with your Spanish passport. You would probably have to leave with your US passport when the Spanish want to see your authorization to enter the US. When you arrive you have to enter with your US passport. Since your family name is almost identical, I don't seen any problems and if there were any, you could easily clear that up.

Shub,

my point condensed: you can get the 10-yr. card if you and your wife file jointly, and you are present to do the biometrics. It's unlikely you will have an interview.

After you get the 10 year GC in January 2010, if I remember correctly, you file for an reentry permit. That gives you until January of 2011 as a permanent resident, legally. Do you really know with absolute certainty, now, in 2009, that you and the Misses are still happily living together in Switzerland?

If your crystal ball is blurry right now, at least you give yourself another year of wiggle room. Is it worth the $545 plus a flight to the US? Only you can decide that.

Helen, Helen, Helen . . .

It's not about having the biggest package. Having the biggest package only gives you:

1) bragging rights

2) makes the life of the deciding IO miserable

Anybody who has a 2-year GC has been approved long ago. The I-751 is only a check to see of the marriage is real or was a sham to circumvent immigration law. If a couple is still happily married after 2 years and files jointly, that is a 75% home-run. The remaining 25% are showing that you live together, intermingled your finances, your life, and did things together married people do. If you can provide SOME form of proof for that, and the IO can look through your file and nods with his or her head, it's a done deal.

Don't think for a moment you have to drown them in paperwork. You don't. My my I-751 form I sent, for example:

1) a cover letter telling who we are and listing the items enclosed

2) a copy of my GC

3) an original letter from my bank stating accounts, balances, and that my wife and I are both authorized users

4) copy of joint credit cards

5) copy of joint AAA membership cards

6) copy of joint auto insurance policy

7) copies of "joint" titles for cars we bought after we got married (I'm a collector)

8) 4 sheets of 3 photos each from family events, vacations, holidays, etc.

I think I send about 14 pages total. Note that I didn't send a rent agreement or mortgage since I had the house years before I met my wife, and I also didn't sent a single account statement, as the various accounts we have are all in either of our names (and that includes our Roth IRAs) or in business names.

What matters is that a couple is married "for real" and lives together "for real." If that's the case, there's NOTHING to worry about and it's pretty impossible to not being approved.

Kizza,

there are usually quite a few knowledgeable people on this board, which is why I'm surprised about the random "bitsa" answers that were posted so far.

From a purely legal standpoint, you cannot work without work authorization in the US. You cannot even work without compensation. You cannot volunteer. Thus, you cannot open a business and do any tasks for that business, such as organizing, as this would constitute work. Strictly speaking, while in the US, you cannot even check your Canadian business e-mails from your laptop or iPhone.

Now, is that stupid? Of course it is. It's as ridiculous as it gets. To play devil's advocate, however, it's not about taking away a job from a USC or LPR in the US. It's more or less about the Feds avoiding having to deal with a potential gray zone of how the "working person" is compensated, or not compensated at all. You volunteering for free at an event and just get a hot dog as a "thank you," might prevent a non-volunteer to have received compensation, they would or at least could argue.

That said, in the real world, nobody cares as long as nobody formally files a complaint about you, and that would be very unlikely, unless you have enemies looking over your shoulder.

There is the law, and there is always a way to interpret it, and then there's another way. Unfortunately, when it comes to the gunfight, the Fed most likely will win.

I did none of that fastener stuff, put the whole stack of about 15 sheets in a plain vanilla cardboard folder marked I-751 on the tab. But since Nadiya is a girl and you specifically asked, I would choose a shiny pink one with a little piggy on the front page. That should get their attention and tempt the IO to pick it out of a stack of rather boring applications.

Shub,

the confusion here is that you're in two different threads, so I did nowhere read that your wife now does in fact want to follow you to Switzerland and others can't possibly know that you do NOT want to become a USC.

Still, if I were to walk in your shoes, knowing that you have a decent income, I'd do nothing. I'd come over here as many times as it takes to get the I-751 ROC done and get my 10-year GC. That should be a home-run for you, as it is for anybody filing jointly.

THEN . . . I would fly over to the States as often as I can in order to maintain my residency. Keep in mind you can pull the "up to 1 year" thing with reentry permit, then, early in 2012, you can see how to cross the bridge when you get there.

I don't see any reason to jump the gun right now.

Just my 2 cents.

Kitty,

his US birth certificate is sufficient proof of his US citizenship, and your marriage certificate will be all you need.

That said, let me emphasize on what has already been mentioned. USCIS, like many government agencies (all over the World), cannot always be approached by reason, but put yourself in the shoes of an US immigration officer (IO) getting your file on his or her desk.

If it was me, the first question I'd have is WHY. Why would a woman from Canada want to marry a USC who's incarcerated for many years to come?

I don't have the answer to that, but if YOU have one that would satisfy an IO drilled to suspect immigration fraud, you should have an easy run.

If you don't, this will in my opinion be the biggest obstacle you'll likely encounter.