Steve and Merly

Thanks, everyone! This is what I thought. I can sleep now.

My wife entered the United States on a K-1 fiancee visa. We have since married and have applied for an i-485 Adjustment in Status so she may receive a Green Card as a permanent resident. We also applied for an i-131 Advanced Parole to allow her to travel back to Colombia before the i-485 is approved.

Her i-94 expires on Nov 22, but we have the Notice of Action i-797C for the i-485 which I thought was sufficient to maintain her visitor status.

However, today a clerk at Immigration Services told my wife cannot travel anywhere -- within the Unites States or abroad -- until her Green card status is resolved or she receives an Advance Parole. She stated that as a K-1, "she has no migratory status". I knew that my wife could not travel abroad before then, but not being able to travel within the United States seems wrong. We just want to travel to Minnesota for Thanksgiving.

Please tell me this clerk is crazy.

Thanks,

Steve

You are emailed a confirmation with a barcode. You can also print it, as well as a copy of your application. Thanks again everyone for your support. I will let you know how it goes!

Best,

Steve

Thanks, everyone. Your suggestions are very helpful, but the one that seemed most promising by Old Dominion is not doable. My fiancee needs to be present at the bank at the time of payment. The bank actually marks her passport with a receipt of some kind. So the idea of me handling the payment while she stands in line at the Embassy is not possible.

At this point, I think our best hope is arriving early and pleading for a waiver or time to go to the bank based our understandable confusion over payment procedures. The bank who denied us suggested that we explain or situation and ask for a 2-day fee waver. The outdated instructions on the Embassy website only tell you to bring 2 copies of your DS-156 form as proof of your appointment, etc.

My fiancee has her K-1 visa appointment on Tuesday, June 15 in Bogota, Colombia. On the Friday before her appointment, we went to pay the visa fee at the embassy approved bank but were denied because we had not completed the DS-160 form -- a new requirement that is not very clearly explained on the embassy's website.

We were not able to complete the form before the bank closed and Monday is a holiday so now we are in the position of having to show up at the embassy without having made payment in advance, which is required.

I am told we can ask for a waiver from the Embassy but not sure how likely that is to be approved. Our other option is to go to the bank when it opens and arrive 30 minutes later for interview appointment. Maybe there is another solution. Suggestions???

What should we do?

Thanks in advance,

Steve Cramer