Bralaheh

Tomorrow my wife and I drive a few hours away to take her civics test and final interview (we hope). It would normally take 1.5 hours to get to the federal building but the weather has gotten really nasty and it looks like tomorrow is going to be bad as well. We are planning on giving ourselves 4 hours to get there instead of the hour and a half that it is supposed to take. My only questions are these:

What happens if there is a wreck or something of that nature? What if something happens and we can't make it? I don't expect this at all but I wondered if anybody had any experience with such an unfortunate event.

Also, is there a chance that the building would close due to weather? If so, how would you find out? We would be leaving before they open.

Thanks,

Bralaheh

Thanks Inky!

Hello VisaJourney!

It's been nearly two years since my wife received her permanent residency status. Things have been great! We have enjoyed a lot of great times and have had a chance to save up some money and are now looking to get her into college. It's been so long since I've filed any paperwork like this that I'm wanting to try and start early and really make sure that I do everything correct. Everybody here was so much help through the first bit of the process that I'm hoping I can run into more of the same. Here are the questions that I have:

1. Can you send the I-751 prior to 90 before your two year anniversary or should you wait? She received her permanent residency status on November 15, 2010.

2. I have recently lost my job. I have been looking for another one without much luck. I was considering filing for unemployment but am afraid that it could negatively affect my wifes immigration status. Am I worrying about something I shouldn't or should I avoid getting unemployment?

3. My wife has applied for multiple colleges around the US. If we are accepted into one of these schools we planned on moving out of the state we live in. We live in KY. If we move it will be around May or June. What do we need to do when we move? How will that affect her status? What will do that do to her residency card? How will that affect the I-751?

4. Does everybody have an interview when they apply for their conditions to be removed? What do we do if we plan on moving? What should we do to plan ahead to make sure we have everything set up to where we can have the interview, if necessary, in a location near to us.

We are extremely excited about moving but are a bit worried about any complications it could create in our immigration status. Thanks to everybody who helps us with this and I hope everybody is have great luck with their journey. We love you all!!

Brad and Ellie

Hey VJ!

My name is Brad and I am writing this on behalf of my wife. My wife and I met on facebook nearly two years ago. We went through a lot of hard times dealing with our families reactions to our proposed marriage and the immigration process wasn't very easy either. However we made it through and on May 8th we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. Things are great. My wife has had her green card and social security number for about 6-8 months now. She also has a drivers license and we bought her a car a couple months ago. Now we are both working and planning on our next move, school. My wife is from Iran and immigrated to Toronto, CA. Most of her classes in Iran are Islamic studies and she isn't interested in transferring those credits. She only went to the University of Toronto for one semester and we are currently paying her student loans for that and are told we can't transfer those credits until they are paid off so we aren't waiting for that either. Our main thing that we are trying to figure out is what path do we take to get her back into school. Does she need to take the ACT/SAT or does it depend on the school? Is she applying as a citizen? green card holder? international student?

What we have planned on doing is contacting some of the local colleges and see what they have to say. Unfortunately we are in a little backwoods town and in the times before that I've contacted them to ask questions they either didn't know the answer or acted like they didn't really care to help. What would VJ recommend as our first step in getting my wife back into school. She is interested in going into engineering. She was a top student in both universities that she attended. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry if I posted this is the wrong section. I couldn't figure out which spot I should put it in. Hopefully a moderator will move it if necessary.

Brad

[this is a double post. i'm sorry but i think i originally put it in the wrong spot. if i did it again i am sorry for that as well]

thanks so much everybody. i actually saw that my wife had used my vj account to post the same question. again thanks so much....

My wife is in the process of trying to get a drivers license here in the US. We have recently got her green card and her social security number. When we went to the court house to get the drivers license they told her that since Iran was part of the geneva convention that we could have her drivers license (iranian) translated and then just take the written test. Our problem is that we are in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky and there is no one who knows farsi. What we are trying to figure out is the best way to get her a drivers license without having to take a driving test. She is wanting to work as soon as possible and getting a permit is just going to slow things down.

Could my wife translate the document herself and send it to someone else to certify it? For example we were thinking she could send it to her aunt in australia and have her get it notorized there and send it back. seems like a lot of trouble but maybe we could fax it...i don't know....any help will do...thanks

khodafez!!

I'm not sure about where you could get a certified translation. You might try looking on google for your city.

However if that doesn't work out, is there any chance that you could just do the test, get the permit and do the drivers test and get a new license? If you did that, they would not require any translated drivers license from Iran. In most states you have to wait one week after getting the temporary drivers license to take the driving test. But it could save you some time and money?

if I do that I'll have to wait at least 30 days with a learners permit and then go for the road test. I really don't want to wait...

just schedule a drivers test with the DMV and take the written exam. You then won't need to have your drivers license translated.

You should also take a drivers education course so you can get your insurance at a reasonable rate.

Or have your drivers license from Iran translated. The insurance company may still want you to take drivers education unless you can prove you had taken it in Iran

Good luck

Thank you for telling me that I'll have to look into it, cause I think right now I am insured (I'm on my husbands insurance plan with Geico), don't know how all this works though...

Here is what I have done a few times for for documents for my wife. We have many friends fluent in Chinese and English, I simply translate the doc, then have a friend "Certify" it, if need be they sign there certification in-front of a Notary which in most places do Notary for free, like your local bank.

Here is the certification format suggested by USCIS:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ff053d146a7ee010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=fe529c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

the thing is I don't know anyone here that knows Farsi! I tried the colleges and religious centers, no luck.

Yes, it might be cheapest and easiest to just re-take the written exam at the DMV and get a US license. It won't cost too much. The worst part will be waiting in line.

that's the thing, I'm looking for a job and it would be so much better if I can get it now, instead of having to wait a 30 day period with my learners permit.

Moving this to the MENA forum the members that frequent that forum may have a better answer.

Thanks, I did just that. : )

Hello Everyone,

my husband and I got my green card and social a while ago now I'm wanting to get my driver's license. The DMV people told me I have to have my Iranian driver's license translated (notarized) from Farsi to English and I'm wondering if you guys know of any places that would do this for me and won't charge a whole lot. (my other documents that I needed to have translated for the USCIS where done in my home country Iran so there was no problem there)

Thanks for the help

Ellie

Hello Everyone,

my husband and I got my green card and social a while ago now I'm wanting to get my driver's license. The DMV people told me I have to have my Iranian driver's license translated (certified and notarized) from Farsi to English and I'm wondering if you guys know of any places that would do this for me and won't charge a whole lot. (my other documents that I needed to have translated for the USCIS where done in my home country Iran so there was no problem there)

(I don't know if I should be posting this here or not but I could use the help, thanks)

Ellie

hey everyone, this time it's me, Ellie writing you.

the interview went great. and we're waiting for the green card to come in the mail. thanks for all the kind words. it definitely helped with the nerves. for those who would like to know, this is how it went. we got to the USCIS office 30 minutes early and was greeted by a cold receptionist. we waited till they were ready to see us which was right on time. they asked for Brad to go in first and I had to wait outside. it was a long wait! from what we had read online for most people the interview doesn't take but 10 minutes. they had Brad in there for thirty! and then the immigration officer had me join them. he was extremely nice and looked like a foreigner himself. I went in and saw Brad smiling which was a good sign. the officer had asked him a series of questions and he had written down Brad's answers. he started by saying how Brad has told him the good stories and some of the not-so-good ones, and then he asked me where we met. and this is the funny part. i start by saying how we met online and then proceeded to tell the whole story. he didn't stop me so I kept going although we had read that they want your answers to be short and to the point. so by the time I was done most of his questions were answered. and we were totally honest and it seemed like with the background we had provided the fact that we got married made sense and he didn't even bring up overstay or intent. the other questions that were asked were all the same as what we had seen before on Visa Journey's guide, and even if we hadn't seen them before we would have been okay cause they weren't tricky. and there was small talk in there too, he asked about how I had came to Toronto and asked of any family member's I still had contact with and I told him: my aunt on my mother's side, he asked where they are and whether they came to wedding. I told him they had immigrated to Australia and then he started asking about their journey. the interview on the whole took one hour and at the very end he just said: OK it seems like there is no grounds for you to be denied and all looks good. he told us what to expect and how to remove conditions on the green card. at this point I was ready to break into a dance. haha. he welcomed me into America and then we left. it was such a good experience. I just wish that it will be for everyone. it seems like a weight has been lifted and we're ready for life to start getting easier.

again Thank you guys so much, and I wish you good luck on everything in your life

Ellie

I'm perfectly fine with copycats....she didn't come with intent to marry/immigrate but we are so afraid it will look that way....u guys have made us feel better.

thank you vanessa&tony....that made us feel a lot better.

I am going to skim through the story of my wife and I just to make things seem as simple as possible. I am asking for help on how to mentally prepare myself for this conversation. I am nervous about an AOS interview coming up in 3 days for my wife. We have all of the needed documents for the interview but the thing that is bothering us is the question, "When did you decide to get married"? We understand that honesty is key and we also understand that we may not even be asked this question, however, if we are asked this question we would like to see if anybody here has any advice to get us prepared for what may come.

I met my wife online. She had recently (within a years time) immigrated from Iran to Canada. I visited my wife a few times after speaking with her online for a few months. On August 17th I asked my wife to marry me, she said yes. : ) Her family was against it. Her father threatened to kill her. We got a restraining order on him, she went to a womens shelter for a few weeks before we got her an apartment and we filed for a K-1 visa.

My wife got a visitors visa to come see me around the time of her birthday, February. When coming to the US she was detained in the airport for nearly 5 hours. They explained to her it was a random security check and that also her father had the same name as someone who was on the no-fly list. After what seemed like forever she finally made it to me in the states.

When the time for her to go home came up we decided that we could not bare to be apart. We also took into account that it was not safe for her to be where she lived with a father who threatened to kill her. After a call to a lawyer they told us that since we did not come to the states with intent to immigrate that we would be ok. We got married about 95 days after her arrival.

We let the K-1 be canceled due to abandonedment (lawyers suggestion) and filed for the AOS and other appropriate documents. So when the question comes up about when we planned on getting married it seems we have to different dates. One before we filed the K-1 and another time when she was here on a visitors visa.

We also wonder what hassle we may get for the fact her family is not supporting us. I can't imagine how it could but I've heard many horror stories about plenty of things that didn't make sense.

So my main concern is, are they automatically going to think we came with intent to immigrate since we already had a pending K-1 visa? Will the effort that it took to cancel bank accounts, drop out of college, have her things shipped to her and other things that we needed to do to get all of her things in Canada canceled be enough proof that there wasn't intent?

I'm really worried. My wife is worried. The closer this date gets the more we are scared that we are going to seem like we had intent. I cannot wait for this process to be over.

it was a visitors visa. i read that it was to make sure the paperwork was correct. i'm not sure. this is stressful!!

My wife and I received a letter stating we were approved for our AOS and we still have an interview. I had read on this site that when you are approved AND still get an interview that it's strictly for clerical reasons and no decision making will be involved. Is this true?

I have went through the I-130 and I have a few questions. First on question 14-14b section B if I am a citizen of the US because of birth in the US do I put "N/A" on 14 and then on 14 b not select either of the boxes asking if I gained permanent status through marriage? I know you aren't supposed to leave things blank but neither of those apply to me.

On question 14 section C is asks if my wife is currently in the US and if she arrived as a: visitor, student, stowaway, without inspection, etc....do I just circle one of the options (which would be visitor) or write it out above it?

When looking at the date the authorized stay expires do I go by the date that is written on the I-94 or by when the visitors visa expired? The visitors visa expired months ago and the I-94 only has the date 8-26-2010 on it.

On question 19 section C it asks for my relatives address abroad. If she is living in the US with me do I leave it blank?

On question 20 section C is asks if my relatives native alphabet is other than Roman letters write her name and foreign address in the native alphabet. Would I have her write her name in her native alphabet and leave the foreign address blank since she doesn't have one or should I put none or n/a?

On question 22 section C which office are we filing our adjustment of status at if we are living in Kentucky and filing the I-130 and I-485 concurrently?

On question 2 section D it asks if I have ever filed a petition for this or any other alien. I'm not sure if this counts or not but I did file for a K-1 visa when she was living abroad. When she came to the US we decided that there was no way that we could be apart anymore. After talking with a few lawyers we were told to just let the application for the K-1 visa expire due to abandonment. Is the K-1 visa that I tried to get for her count or would I say that this I-130/I-485 is the first petition. I really don't know how to answer this question.

When looking at the instructions of the I-130 it says that you can file if you are a citizen and your wife is under 21 years old. She is 22. What does that mean?

How do you get a certified copy of your birth certificate?

How can you show more evidence of a bonafide marriage if my wife doesn't have a social? I've tried to add her to my lease, my bank account and get her a drivers license or any other kind of ID and they say she needs a social to do so. All I have are people who were at the wedding that are willing to write a statement saying that they are witnesses.

When you feel like you are done with this process and you take a look to see how many questions you have found its astounding. If it wasn't for visa journey and the lawyers I have spoken to I don't know what we would do. Thanks everybody for all the help you've given us. Thank you.

what is it talking about when it asks for police clearance?

she didn't have her birth certificate with her...we had to have a friend fed ex all of her things here after we had made the decision.....and she said she did sign something but it was just stating who she was, who her parents were and where she was staying. they asked her if she was coming back to canada and she said yes, because she planned on coming back but didn't sign anything saying she wasn't getting married or anything.....its crazy how u can hear 10 comments that make u feel good about your situation and then you have that one that scares the hell out of you. i know you are just saying how it is though. we didn't have a choice in the matter. if she went back and her father found her and hurt her it would have been because we made another choice. damn this immigration process....damn it

and i just talked to her and i was wrong about the six hours. she was six hours late getting to the airport where i was waiting. they had her with them for an hour.

I am sending off my packet for AOS in the next few days and I have a few questions that I couldn't find the answers for on this site. I've been reading the forums for the last few hours and have finally decided to just go ahead and post a new topic. After I get done with this process I am going to post exactly every single thing I have done so maybe it will help someone else who is in my same situation.

To give a little back story my wife and I met online and I started visiting her in Canada in August of last year. She had recently immigrated to Canada from Iran. In January she was granted a visitors visa to the US. When she got here we decided that we wanted to get married. After taking care of all of her unfinished business in Canada we got married on May 8th. Now its early July and we have finally saved up the money we need to send off these forms.

In our packet we plan on starting it with a cover letter. The next form we will have is the I-130.

With the I-130 I will include:

• Payment in the amount of $355.00

•Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative

•Documents establishing petitioner’s US citizenship

-Certified copy of birth certificate

•Certified copy of marriage certificate

•Form G-325A, Biographic Information with photo of the petitioner

•Form G-325A, Biographic Information with photo of beneficiary

•Evidence that bona fides the marital relationship

-Photographs

Does anybody have any good ideas for evidence that bona fides the marital relationship? I know I would use the marriage certificate and pictures. Any other ideas? Is there any way that I can add her to my bank account or anything else that would be important to have without her having a social?

Next I will include the I-485 which I will include:

• Payment in the amount of $1010.00

• Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

• Copy of Passport (Biographical Page and Entry Stamp)

• Copy of Form I-94

• Copy of my Birth Certificate

• 2 Photographs with name on back

• Certified Copy of Marriage Certificate

• Form G-325A, Biographic Information

• Medical Form l-693 (in sealed envelope by the Civil Surgeon)

• 1-864 Affidavit of Support

- Federal Income Tax Return for the past year, including W2

- Copy of Pay Stubs from past 12 months

• Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization

On part two of the of the I-485 I am not sure which option to choose. My wife came here on a visitors visa. Her visa is now expired. What do we do?

When it asks if you were inspected by an immigration officer what would an "inspection" consist of? When my wife came from Canada to the US she was put into a room and questioned, fingerprinted, and had photos taken of her. I do not know what to put on this.

When it asks if you have ever applied for permanent residence before would I say yes since we applied for the K1 before and abandoned it or would we say no because we had never filed an AOS before?

My wife immigrated to Canada from Iran about two years ago. Where do I get her criminal history/police clearance? How much does it cost? She hasn't ever had a charge but I still have to have it right?

On the affidavit of support on question 24 do I put my wifes name and check "d"? even if she isn't working?

What is evidence of eligibility?

On the I-765 what would I put for the current immigration status? and how will I know what to put on question 16?

Lastly do people normally fill out the form G-1145 for E-Notification?

Thanks so much everybody...thank you thank you thank you

how would you get someone a social who came on a visitors visa? would you have to go through the i-130 & the i-485 first?

she entered on her visitors visa on february 24th and we got married on may 8th

and one last question.....do we continue to use her original surname or my last name now that we are married? we haven't gotten it changed yet since she doesn't have a social so i figured we'd use her original but needed to ask