Lewis K

Ok, thanks for the replies!

Hello,

I'm sure this must have been asked a zillion times, but somehow I haven't found a clear answer.. My wife entered the US less than a week ago on a CR1 visa. I'm sure I had read someplace that it is necessary to apply for a green card within than two months after arriving, but judging from what I'm reading now it seems the green card (conditional 2 year for CR1) is mailed automatically around two to three months after arrival. Is this correct? Or do we need to apply for one?

Thanks

Lewis

Thanks for all the responses! Yes, I don't think it's a false checklist letter (sorry for calling it an rfe) and even if it were I already talked to the NVC people on the phone and they just said it's probably best to play it safe and send things again with clear explanations. It is weird that they themselves seemed to be outside of the loop, unsure of what exactly they needed or why I was asked for certain things, but I'll do what they say. They did say that it wasn't necessary for me to prove I'm a US citizen again. In fact, on my checklist sheet, which was addressed to me, it said "You, the joint sponsor, have not provided...etc" which seems in itself an error since I am not the joint sponsor.

Thanks

Lewis

Sorry, one more question, they say they need the i-864 submitted again. Does this mean I have to include the i-864 coversheet again? The RFE letter had its own barcode, and I wouldn't like sending two barcodes. What do they need sent again? I assume they only need the documents listed in the RFE letter and that I don't have to send again things not listed, or... ??

Lewis

Thanks KayaEel and Scott & Mhay for your replies! I've gone through pretty much everything and can't find any information about the proper order of documents. There are lists of documents and it's logical they should be in that order, so I'll just try to be logical about it. Anyway it's hard to imagine they'd reject a case because of the order of documents. It is easy to get carried away with this stuff, though you never know what people can find problems with. Some of the documents they're requesting do seem a bit excessive, I already sent proof I'm a US citizen (that's part of why my i-130 was approved), already sent what I thought was proof of US domicile, what I thought was an explanation for why I was exempt for filing taxes, what I thought was my wife's valid passport (her passport renewal page is separate from the bio-data page, which probably caused the confusion), but I got asked for all these things again. After calling the NVC they basically said I should send these things again and be as clear as possible, but I already thought I was being as clear as possible..

BTW I did the two hole thing for the NVC instead of staples and at least got no complaints from them on that!:=)

Thanks again

Lewis

Hello all,

I have a couple of questions on details that aren't very clear to me:

I received a letter from the NVC requesting more supporting documents for my i-864. It says "make sure that the documents submitted are in the correct order and stapled together, as stated in the I-864 Important Notice instructions." What are the "I-864 Important Notice instructions" and where can I find them? I have searched all over the internet for this.

It also says they need me to "complete and submit a new form with the changes noted on the attached checklist". What do they mean by "with the changes noted on the attached checklist"? Should the changes be noted on the form or on the checklist, and how should the changes be noted?

Am I just being overly meticulous with their instructions? Before getting this request for more documents I thought I was being real meticulous with the packet I originally sent, but since that wasn't good enough I don't know what to think!

Thanks

Lewis

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure if this could be a "false RFE", but I'll look into that possibility. Also I'll call their number. I was convinced their number didn't work since I've never had any luck getting through in the past, but reading through messages here it seems other people have had better luck. So I'll keep trying.

Otherwise I can always send new copies of my passport, more proof of US domicile, a letter clarifying that for all extensive purposes I was unemployed in 2008 and a written explanation that they have to take into account the renewal page from my wife's passport. Put like that it doesn't seem so bad.

Thanks again

Lewis

Hi all,

I recently received a letter from the NVC requesting a number of documents (supporting documents for my I-865 and DS-230) which I thought were already quite complete. The documents included in their list are:

1. Proof of my US citizenship (I am the petitioner and already sent copies of my passport in my approved I-130. I have read in other threads here that they normally don't expect you to send this again.. but I guess I can send it again)

2. Proof of US domicile (I already included photocopies of bank statements, my valid drivers license and a sworn statement. I'm not sure what more they are expecting).

3. Proof of current employment/written statement attesting to unemployment/written explanation for not filing taxes for 2008 (I wrote a statement explaining that though I was self-employed giving private music lessons I was mainly a student and my income did not exceed $400 therefore was not required to file taxes. I even cited the IRS website. I could have just said I was unemployed but I wanted to be as accurate as possible. If I say now that I was unemployed it would look like I'm lying..)

4. Photocopy of beneficiary's bio-data page from valid passport (it appears on my spouse's passport that the expiration date has already passed, however, I included the renewal page of her passport which supersedes the expiration date on her bio-data page. Did they completely ignore the renewal page or do they maybe want me to send an explanation saying that her passport is as valid a passport as she can have?)

I wish I could contact the NVC and get these things straightened out but as I'm sure you know the phone number never works and email is extremely long and sometimes doesn't work either. A number of weeks ago I wrote them explaining that though my spouse is not a French national, she was born in France and thus meets part of the criteria for being able to have an interview in France and not in Uruguay. Still no response on that..

But back on the topic of this post, should I just send the same things again, explaining everything again? I could send again a copy of my passport (though this seems weird as my I-130 was already accepted), look for more evidence of my US domicile, but for the other things I have no idea what to do other than just send the same things again. Just need some advice..

Thanks for reading

Lewis

Are you sure I need to send proof that I live in France? I already sent proof of our residence in France in our approved I-130 packet. I hope this doesn't delay things too much!...

Thanks for the quick response. I'm finishing my DS-230 and I-864 packets so I think I will send along with that a letter requesting the packet be sent to Paris for the interview. Plus I'll send them an e-mail now, even though I don't really trust it'll be received and taken account of. I hope that's enough.

Lewis

Hello everyone,

I am wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation, or if anyone knows what can be done. I just noticed that case numbers begin with letters which correspond to the beneficiary's place of origin. My wife is Uruguayan, so her case number begins with MTV, standing for Montevideo, Uruguay. We are living temporarily as students in France, and would like to have our interview at the US Embassy in Paris. I explained our living situation in our I-130, but it seems, judging from our case number at least, that once the case is completed they will send our packet to Uruguay? If so, is there a way to specify that we would like an interview in France, since that's where we're living?

Thanks,

Lewis

Thanks for the reply. I understand they want an original official copy of the marriage certificate, but would it be alright if the translation is attached to a scanned/photocopied copy, and include the original copy separately? Since I can't spare my old official copy of my marriage certificate, I've requested new official copies, and I guess I will have to ask the translators to copy out their translation of the older one and hope they won't charge me as much as for a new translation.

Thanks Sachinky and OBX for the quick responses!

Lewis

One of the supporting documents for the DS-230 is a marriage certificate. Do they expect a new certified translation of our marriage certificate? Or can I send a photocopy of the one I sent in with my i-130?

Thanks!

Lewis

Just a quick question. After being prompted I have paid both the Affidavit of support and the Document processing fees. So would it be alright to send in both the DS-230 and i-864 (with all supporting documents) in the same packet?

Thanks,

Lewis

I found some "related topics" already discussing this, listed below. too bad the search function in this forum doesn't work too well or I wouldn't have asked about it. I guess I'll either have to try to take the photos myself or find some place in Lyon France that could do it for me, that is, if there's a word for "2 inches" in French.

Lewis

ALMOST done with my I-130 packet. I was ready to insert the id photos, but upon reading the photo guide http://travel.state.gov/pdf/Photo%20Guide%2010-01-04.pdf it says photos should be 2 by 2 inches.

Why is it that the photo on my passport is 3.5 by 4.5 centimeters and all the id photos I've ever seen are in those dimensions? Are the required dimensions really 2 by 2 inches? Am I crazy or is that not normal passport photo dimensions?

Thanks,

Lewis

Thanks again for the replies. Final question, should I send the original notarized affidavits or copies? What about original certified translations???

Thanks!

Lewis

Thanks for the replies! I guess I'll just keep things simple and send photocopies. They didn't specifically say they want an original check so maybe I'll just send a photocopy of that too!

Thanks again!

Lewis

Hi,

I am almost finished preparing my I-130 packet. As part of evidence of a bona fide marriage, I have included mail (bank statements, envelopes) with my and my wife's names and addresses to prove that we live in the same place. I was originally intending to include the original mail in the packet, but upon rereading preparation guidelines I found that sending original documents is to be avoided.

Are bills, bank statements, and envelopes proving a shared address considered "original documents"? I would prefer to send the originals since their authenticity is much more evident than in photocopies.

I am also sending photos, one of which is an original 35mm photo with a date on the back. Again, should I send the original or a photocopy of both sides?

Thanks!

Lewis