momof1

The embassy was a breeze for us 4 yrs ago. Emails were answered in hours sometimes and appts were automatically scheduled. My how times have changed.

We filed for the waiver last week. I have seen a goal of 4 months since they started the lockbox procedure.

My questions are relative to what are the next steps to take if we are sucessful?

For instance, when he comes here and we get married, who do we notify (and how) that the marriage has taken place?

A friend told me last night that you can apply for the SSN prior to getting the green card.

His circumstances are a little different, since he married his wife in the Dominican Republic, so they were already married when he brought her here.

I went to read your timeline a bit to get a clearer picture of what's going on. I think 4 months is very hopeful...not impossible bc I know they are moving quickly. I wouldn't count on it though, but that's just me. I've learned from 10 years of dealing with immigration that nothing is textbook and anything can happen. Having said that, I wish you lots of luck for a speedy approval.

When filing a 601 in conjuction with an approved K1 petition, the waiver will be approved conditionally pending adjustment of status when the intending immigrant arrives in the US. The visa is good for one single entry and status can only be obtained through the petitioner(you). You will have to marry within 90 days of his arrival and then file to adjust status. In this process he will receive an EAD, SSN, and eveantually a green card. He cannot work without the EAD or green card.

You do not notify anyone that the marriage has taken place. You simpy file the appropriate forms to adjust status with immigration and use your marriage license and proof. I'm not clear on the SSN question, but I THINK you may be able to get it after the EAD is issued.

Take a look at the guides here for answers to your questions about the process in depth much better than I can describe/explain.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides

Even after the green card is issued, it will only be a conditional green card good for two years. You will have to file to remove conditions at that time to get the ten year card.

There is a great deal of controversy, due to conflicting caselaw, about whether or not you can adjust status on the visa waiver program. It depends what circuit your intended lives in as well as the practices of the local uscis office. Don't risk it. File the appropriate petition( spousal or fiance) and go from there.

My husbands 8th circuit appeal is listed by AILA ( american immigration lawyers association) as one of the precedent setting cases in reference to the VWP. Myhusband was removed after a failed asylum and attempt to adjust on VWP. VWP entrants are only entitled to asylum only proceedings and not removal proceedings. If they find you out, they will deport you. Not to mention a permanant yet waiveable ban for fraud is a huge possibility.

Once again, don't do it.

When did you file the waiver? The goal is 6 months processing time. Keep in mind this is only a goal and they are not bound by that timeframe.

Does it make a differnce if my father is 76 years old? What if my father wrote a letter saying he needing him here to help the family? When I write my letter what should it say?How else can I tie it all in to?

Your father can say what he wants but you have to prove it by fact not by feeling. How you prove it depends on the situation...I gavd you some examples in my previous post. Your father is not a qualifying relative for the waiver though so it's a tough argument unless 1) you directly care for your father by taking him to appts or tend to his other needs and no other relative ie sibling can do it 2) your husband will watch your children while you work or take care of your father or 3) your husband will take your father to his appts and tend to his needs while you work.

You may have other reasons why you can't live in your spouse's country and why you cannot continue to live without him in the US. I'd concentrate on those unless you can relate your father's condition like I've said above.

A letter from your father's physician stating his current condition. Also proof of how this relates to needing your spouse in the US. Will he watch your kids while you take your dad to doctors appts? Will he bring uour dad to doctors appts? Why no one else in your family can provide such tasks ...etc. it doesn't matter that your father is sick. It only matters if you can tie the condition to your spouse's presence in the US.

All waivers submitted are now being filed at a lockbox location in the US and adjudicated by trained officers from DHS.

Appeals after initial waiver denial are adjudicated in Wasington.

We had a lawyer in MPLS handle our waiver for 5k. Whether you should get one depends on many things: inadmissibility, hardships, aggravating factors, and ahonest assessment of your ability to write a high level term style paper with a lot of researched evidence. It's not sn easy task. Some succeed and some do not. I never would have done it myself.

My husband was pulled to secondary inspection briefly, but the will treat you like any intending immigrant.

He was met in the tunnel exiting the plane( probably FBI) since this was the same airport he was removed from in 2007. They asked how I, a US born citizen, obtained my citizenship. They asked where he bought his visa and then briefly mdntioned his waiver approvals. This was an out of the ordinary occurrance and one he was out of the tunnel it was smooth sailing.

Congrats!!!

I have received my passport today after interview on 13-Sep-2012. It has IV visa on passport and one sealed envelope.

Immigrant Visa is valid: 2 months.

On my IV visa which they put on my passport, there is an Annotation on bottom of IV Visa mentioning “Annotation * * Wavier Section 212 ( i )". I am not able to understand what does that mean. My IV has been issued based on I-601 Wavier approval ( 212(a)(6)©(i) ).

Please any one let us know what that means and if anyone else also got IV stamp with same Annotation at the bottom.

Thanks a lot.

My husband's says the same. It simply means that the visa was issued after a waiver under section 212(i) was approved. Had the bar been based on a criminal inadmissibility, the visa would say "212(h)."

No biggie. My only advice is to bring the waiver approval letter as an extra precaution. You likely won't need it, but it's good to have just in case. In 2009 my husband breezed through customs in Minneapolis with the same annotation.

It has been a very long and difficult journey for you, I'm sure. Congratulations

Waivers for misrep/fraud are notoriously more difficult to get approved than waivers for simple unlawful presence. That doesn't mean it is impossible though. I highly recommend a lawyer with plenty of experience with waivers rather than trying to go it alone.

We had a waiver approved for misrep in April 2009. He also needed a waiver for overstaying the visa waiver program and for deportation. All of this stemmed from his fraudulent entry in order to apply for political asylum. His case went on from 2000-2008 although he was removed after the BIA denial in 2007. Just to give you some hope, we have now applied for his citizenship.

It's a long difficult journey that I hope you will be able to endure. Good luck!

I was watching coverage of that ceremony on Kare11 yesterday evening and crying like a little baby. I can't wait for the day my husband finally becomes a citizen.

Congratulations!!!!

Move.

I did

If you lost everything in Katrina, you'd be worried too. People don't know if they can trust the new levees bc we always thought the old ones would hold. The 17th street canal breakage was under cat 2 cat 3 at best storm surge. There were more than 50 levee failures and almost 1900 people died as a result. My family is terrified and rightly so.

It's a CAT 1! This is no Katrina. I wish the media would STFU with the Katrina comparisons. Katrina was a CAT 5.

Katrina hit land as a CAT 3.

As a green card holder, he is entitled to file an I-130 to bring you to the US. However, the wait for a visa number to become available can be long. Your spouse will not be able to naturalize and become a US citizen for approx 5 years. We know many Algerians who came to the US with the lottery. Some married after they became citizens but most married after they were notified of winning but before visa processing so they were able to bring their spouse with them.

You will never(almost never) be able to get a student visa if you're married to a USC and have an I-130 pending because you clearly have immigrant intent. I hate to say it but you'll likely be waiting it out. He can come and visit which will make the time go faster.

I'm curious though, when did you get married in relation to him winning the lottery and coming to the US?

Good luck!!!

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes

Good one, Sandinista. If they are indeed a convert it is a good idea to get the certificate, plus arabic cert translation, in the US than from an imam in Algeria.

I have no clue on the "free to marry" paper though.

Are you muslim? There are rules in the Algerian family code about muslim females marrying only muslim men. If you're not, then I suggest a fiance visa and then marriage in the US. Also, make sure there is ample proof of her family supporting your union. Algerians, in my experience, have a hard time giving their daughters to foreigners... Heck they sometimes have trouble when the man isn't related.

If you are muslim, please disregard what I've written. Also, you're going to need a visa as the guest of an Algerian family. They will need to mail you an official invitation letter notarized in their province. The current cost for a visa is approx $160.

& last thing PLEASE READ WHAT I WROTE BEFORE TYPING !if you read it well I posted that we have known each other for the last 5 years not that he has come here and started dating. Your response is not helpful at all and instead you are doing nothing but spreading prejudice. Shame on you.

Do you realize from my flag that I'm married to a north africsn as well. I don't know how I can spread prejudice with two brown part arab children from the ssme background as your fiance.

I'm merely mentioning my experience over the last 8 yrs visiting epcot.

I advised you to make sure there is no foreign residency requirement with Q visas as there is with J visas. J visas are the old way in which Disney brought people for cultural exchange.

If there is a foreign residency requirement it could cause problems with his AOS. I don't think there is one but it's better to be safe.

Also, I never said anything bad about him but about The Disney program in general and what goes on during the time here. Please be careful when you throw around the word prejudice when no One said anything of the sort.

For anyone who is reading this, Disney lobbied for the creation of the Q visa due to some of the requirements for the J visa. I'd only make sure there is no foreign residency requirement that exists with this visa as does with the J visa. I'd have to assume that with all the Moroccans staying in central florida after their contract expires that there isn't such a requirement.

:sigh: Disney world............

We visit Disney 1-2 times per year with one of my favorite stops being the World Showcase in Epcot. I can't tell you how many times I start talking with the people in "morocco" and I hear about their plan to marry their American gf/bf. I'm not saying it isn't real, but I've heard it so many times. And it's both the male and female workers who are schmoozing the American too.

My husband was deported in 2007 after his asylum was denied. He was found inadmissible for the deportation, fraudulent entry and overstayingvthe visa waiver program. In all, he spent 27 months outside of the US before he was allowed to return. He's now eligible for citizenship

It was a very long, difficult, and expensive journey...

Please give more details and we may be able to advise you better.