K & J

This got got married twice to the same lady: once in Peru and once in the US. He now wants a divorce. Since he is in Peru now, he probably wants a divorce from the PERUVIAN marriage. He may get this (it takes a while but he will get it). But, he will still be married in the US and the US lady's next of kin until there is a divorce there.

We don't know what US lady put on her naturalization application. She could have put married or single. And she had no legal obligation of adjusting your boyfriend's status.

Your boyfriend has a 1--year ban due to the overstay. And the the K visa fraud is discovered, he will have a lifetime ban.

Having a green card application pending does not automatically prevents a person from getting a tourist visa.

When my parents were LPR, the petition my sister. She already had a tourist visa and travel to the US several times without a problem. When her visa expired, she went to the Embassy to get another one. Approved without a problem.

Now, many people say they have a business, money in the bank and own property. But everything is relative. Business can many "owners" that you put in registration papers but they don't necessarily make a profit. The same with "property". A house in a 3rd world country can be worth $5,000 or $500,000. Big difference.

It does not matter what her Peruvian ID states (single or married) since most people do not update their status.

What she needs is that final divorce decree issued by the competent authority. In Peru, all divorced are registered in "Registro Civil" and they are public records. She can get a copy of the record but most important, she needs the final divorce decree (or whatever the name is in spanish for the ruling dissolving the marriage).

A residency petition does not void the tourist visa. My sister had a pending residency petition (which by now it probably expired because she does not want to move to the US) and she used her tourist visa several times. She even renew it without a problem. But, even though she does not have family ties in her country, she is very solvent.

Peruvian attorney here. I never practiced family law but I did some research on the issue. Let me put it simply: You lied to the Peruvian government. A person can recognized a child born outside the marriage. But, the father and the mother both have to sign a SWORN AFFIDAVIT stating that they are the parents. You are not the biological father but swore that you were.

The US does not care about this legitimization. They will ask for DNA. Wait until the mother becomes a citizen.

when u say Legal Aid, is it "Legal Aid Society"?

The name is different depending on each state. The wide spread name is Legal Aid but in in my state is it called "[state name] Legal Services Program".

I work in Legal Aid and I now about Public Benefits, like Medicaid. This is how it works.

The is a special category for Pregnant Women. For a family of 3, the maximum income you can make is $3,182 (before taxes). It will cover all prenatal visits, delivery and the first year of post natal care. Illegal aliens are granted this type of Medicaid.

I have never dealt with a LPR applying for this type of Medicaid but my guess is that the may give it to her (if you are within the financial limits) but later pass the bill to the sponsor (you).

ER does handle deliveries but not the pregnancy appts. If you know your wife/girlfriend needs a C-Section, then my advice is that she gets the proper care in Mexico, where the doctors can monitor her condition. Do you actually plan to show up at an ER when she is in labor and tell the doctor that she needs a C-Section? They would have to operate without any medical records or history on their patient. How irresponsible is that!

I do not know if California has organizations that provide free or reduced prenatal care. I can tell you that I had two C-Sections and each cost a whooping $15,000.

My interview was in Spanish. At one point, the consul asked: Does your fiance speak Spanish? When I said no, he started speaking English. We had a nice conversation in English and suddenly he switched to Spanish again.

They just want to know that you guys are able to communicate.

Unless your country has two different documents, no, there is no difference. The most common word in English is "Birth certificate" although a couple of states call it "Certificate of Live Birth" and even though it is the exact same thing, some crazy people think it is not the same.

The main question is WHERE IS THE CHILD? This will determine which court has jurisdiction and which laws apply. In order to adopt, first you need to terminate parental rights.

First, you need to speak with the insurance company about an ID option. The Social Security number is not a legal requirement. Maybe he can just give his Passport number instead.

Second, is your husband the father of your child? If he is, he automatically get full and sole custody of you were to die. If he is not, your child's father get it. You have no right to bypass the father.

Third, if you want to to name you child the beneficiary you can do so. If she is a minor, his/her guardian will have access to the money but can (should) only use for child's benefit. Rules and laws vary by state. If your husband is not the father of your child, it would be irresponsible to name him the beneficiary. He would have no legal obligation to spend a dime on your child.

Finally, you can always set a trust for your child but you need to contact an attorney for that.

What are the names of his high school and college? In what district does he live? That basically tells the Embassy whether he has intend to immigrate.

Is the father legal?

If he is a student I doubt he has a solid income of his own. If he lives with his mother they Embassy will look at her situation to get a sense of your boyfriend's situation.

Nobody can add a spouse to Medicare. Each individual has to qualify himself/herself. Usually it is after a person turns 65 or 2 years after receiving disability benefits.

Medicaid is a totally different issue. It depends on your income and if you meet certain categories (child, senior, disabled person, parent of a minot living in the house, etc). He will also have to qualify himself.

If you have private insurance, you will have to contact the company directly.

When a minor applied, the Consulate check the parent's financial situation. Depending on the age of the minor, they will also look at his intend to immigrate. When I was 6, I got a US tourist visa for 5 years. When I was 11, they gave me another 5 years. When I was 16, the only gave me a visa for 6 months. I was horrified but they did how my life was going to be as an adult and I guess they did not want to take a chance. At 21 I applied again and the Consulate gave me a 10-year tourist visa.

At 13, they are looking at the parents. I highly doubt that the father's debts were checked (although in Peru anybody can do a debt check on another person). What I am going to tell you might sound awful but it is the pure and simple truth. There are 2 basic questions that, if answered properly, will give you a visa almost automatically: 1) Where do you live? (what district -- Lima has like 60 but only 8 or 9 are visa material), 2) Where do/did you study? (public school? Forget about it. Private school? Probably 40 out of the 100s in the city. College? Better be prestigious).

You mentioned that your MIL does not have debt, but does she have assets, a good income, etc?

After reading all the posts, I am ready to give my "expert" opinion. I work for Legal Aid and I interview people who want our free services. They usually embellish their stories and part of my job is to get the truth our of them. Even though we are here to help them, they know that they are more likely to get the help is their story is appealing, even though they are actually creating a disservice to them by lying to us. The original poster is is the same situation.

The poster first said that the marriage was a "secret" and that husband did not want his CO to know about it. However, poster has military ID which means that husband did fill out the proper forms and has official told the Navy about wife.

Poster was been arrested twice, it seems for domestic violence. The police will not arrest some without some evidence, specially TWICE. Husband had to have scratches at least.

Poster claims that the whole world is against her and that her husband has this unbelievable power to convince everybody (the police, his CO, the doctor, the lawyer, etc.).

And her "I do/did not not enough English" excuse for nobody believing her is BS.

What does poster want really want? If she is so scare of husband, she can call the local shelter and her problems are solved. Well, at least the abuse problem. If all she wants is the green card VAWA is her best option. But don't sugar coat your story because you are doing yourself more harm than good.

I believe the truth is in the middle.

According to their website http://www.digemin.gob.pe/servicios_pasaportes_expedicion.html it takes 1 hour. He will probably have to spend more time outside in line waiting to apply than waiting for the actual passport after he hands out his application.

You have an attitude and that is not going to help you at the interview. People here are asking questions because they are trying to help you, not because they are being judgmental. They are preparing you for cross-examination, for the tough questions.

The fact that you sent money to your husband is good (the other way would have been bad).

Also, I do not know why you keep saying your husband dresses nicely. Are you trying to imply that he has a good socio-economic status and therefore does not need to immigrate to the USA for money? Showing the Embassy that you do not need to come to the USA to succeed financially is always a good thing (because that means you are moving to the USA for love, obviously). But dressing nicely does not do the trick. Bluntly put, Peru is a very "classist" (not racist) country. There are basically 3 questions to determine if you belong to class A or B (it might not be PC but it is reality in Peru, so much, that all polls give their results based on classes): 1) What is your last name, 2) What school/college did you attend, 3) Where do you live (district). Those 3 simple questions are the ones that will give you a tourist visa. The Embassy knows that the people with the right answers are not going to stay in the US illegally.

I know that your application is for a spouse visa. But if your husband ever had a valid tourist visa, then most red flags will turn orange.

On your initial post you said that you had to pay all the FINES? What fines? Was your husband illegal at some point? Are you a naturalized US citizen? These may be red flags too.

I do not mean to me rude but you claim you can not see your husband because you need to take care of your ill mother and also you work full time and study full time. Well, who takes care of your mother during all those hours you are working/studying? I am just playing devil’s advocate. Don’t play victim or try to embellish your story with the Embassy because they will ask you questions and you may look foolish (or deceiving) if your answers don’t make sense.

Final question: Has money been exchange between the 2 of you during those 18 months apart?

You may not have problems with immigration but eventually your mother could face fraud charges regarding the Food Stamps: IPV (intentional program violation). I work for Legal Aid and I handle the Food Stamps and Medicaid cases. If your mother faces and IPV, she (and your minor daughter) will be responsible to pay back any benefits that were fraudulently given to them. Don't worry about the criminal charges since they are rarely pursue. But usually, local FS agencies eventually find out.

I think you (or the DMV) as consigning the last names. In the USA people have only ONE last name. So you can forget about your mother's LU or you can hyphen it LU-LU.

Please understand this: If someone asks you your your name and you write Veronica Lu Lu, it will mean that Veronica is you name, Lu is your middle name and Lu is you last name. Do what you want, just be consistent. You can always ask the DMV to correct their ID. But be careful what you write.

I have seen countless of children of immigrants whose parents "messed" up their names. Ex: Mom is Maria Perez, Dad is Juan Diaz. They name their child Baby Diaz Perez, like if we were in Latin America. One day they discover (usually many years down the road) that the Baby's last name is actually Perez (like the mother).

My advice: Choose one name and stick to it.

Holas, quisiera saber si puedo encontrar alguna experiencia de alguna persona peruana q viajo la 1ra. vez luego de haber recibido su permiso de viaje y green card, como es en los puertos de entrada y salida, especialmente en Peru, ya que en Lima Airport Partners son muy quisquillosos con pasaportes, DNIs y nombres. Mi Green Card salio con nombre de casada y quisiera saber si alguno tuvo algun problema ya q el unico pasaporte q tengo es el peruano y mi DNI ambos estan con nombre de soltera, tendre algun problema? Mil gracias por su ayuda.

El nombre en tu pasaje tiene que ser el mismo que el nombre en tu pasaporte (tu nombre peruano). El green card tiene otro nombre pero no importa. En el aeropuerto te van a preguntar por tu visa (en tu pasaporte va a aparecer tu visa K-1 o K-3, cancelada, pero va a coincidir con tu nombre). El green card importa cuando entres a USA. Si te preguntan, simplemente le explicas al empleado del aeropuerto. Es una situacion relativamente comun. El DNI no lo necesitas ni ensenar (el pasaporte es tu documento de identidad).

Yo viaje en tu misma situacion a Caracas (soy peruana), cuyo aeropuerto y personal es peor que el de Lima). Ni un solo problema.

The Embassy will want to make sure you two can communicate so if the USC does not speak Spanish, they will ask some questions to the foreigner in English to test her language skills.

I received my K-1 visa in Peru 10 years ago. I went to the interview by myself. The consul was talking to me in Spanish and then switched to English without warning. He asked questions in English and I answered them in the same language. I had previously stated that my fiance did not speak Spanish so I think it was his way of verifying that we could indeed communicate.

Don't lie. The Embassy knows what you have said before.

The fact that your fiance did not qualify for a tourist visa does not affect her K-1 visa.

So this is how it went.

My appointment was at 8:30 am and I waited for about 10 minutes (not bad).

My citizenship was a married based one. My husband could not attend because he was in training (he is a federal law enforcement officer). I brought my 20 month old baby with me.

The officer asked for my passport, green card and driver’s license. First I took the oath, then the English test. Then he asked me to choose between the old civics test and the new one. I chose the old one. He asked me 6 questions, which I answered correctly:

1. Who is the President of USA?

2. Who becomes president of both the Pres. and the VP die?

3. What colors is the flag?

4. When was the Constitution written?

5. Name a benefit of becoming a US citizen?

6. Cant remember.

Since I had 6 good ones, he didn’t ask anymore.

Then we went through my application and the silly questions: are you a queen of any country, a prostitute, a terrorist, etc. He asked me how many times my husband and I have been married before (this is our first marriage for both of us) and if we had any children (dah, he was sitting next to me).

He asked me if I have ever been arrested and I said NO. He asked again: “never arrested or charged?” with a doubtful face (I had mark yes to the question arrested/charged/cited). And told him again: not arrested nor charged but I was cited for a traffic violation. It was a speeding ticket. Do you want to see the court disposition? He said NO. (I had received a NOA asking me to bring the court disposition but he didn’t care).

Then, he hand me a form with my oath date and place (Feb. 5) and told me to bring my green card to the ceremony. That was it. I asked him if he wanted to see the documents I brought in order to proof my marriage. He said “No, you have already submitted enough proof”. I thought that was not true since I only submitted joint tax returns, a lease (only with my hubby’s name on it) and a copy of our son’s birth certificate. He didn’t even ask to see the original marriage and birth certificates. But of course I didn’t complain.

I think our case was pretty straight forward and we didn’t look like a pair of scammers. I came with a K-1 visa even though I had a valid tourist visa. Hubby is a federal officer and I work for the State. Neither of us had prior marriages, debts, children outside our marriage, criminal background, or anything. As a matter of fact he might have thought we were a pretty boring couple.

So it was a piece of cake.

Good luck to everybody and good-bye to USCIS forever (well, not until I take the oath).

PS: They didnt have Obama's picture on the wall. They had taken Bush's out, though. I was expecting to see his smile and imagine he was greeting me