topcatdc

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

What do you mean by "wrong picture"? Is it somebody else's photo on the green card? That's not good. How long ago was it issued? You should have filed I-90 ASAP to replace when you saw any detail inaccuracy.

They put my elder daughter's picture on both the daughter's GC. The cards came in on Monday. I will file the I-90 today. 

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. 

16 minutes ago, milimelo said:

Read the instructions for N400. If kids are under 18, they do not do N400 - they become a citizen if conditions are met. If 18 or older they do N400. 

Thank you. I do read the instructions line by line. But a lot of the lingo feels confusing to me and i always turn to this community for clarity. 

Hi Everyone, 

Thank you for your support throughout the entire process of getting my wife and stepchildren into the US. I couldn't have done it without your wise and expert advices. Now I'm at the last step of the journey where my LPR wife and both stepchildren received their 10 year GC. Now that I'm prepared to file for naturalization, I have a few questions and hoping that I'll receive the correct guidance as always. 

• Do I need to file 3 N-400 forms (wife and 2 stepchildren)?
• In some documentation, I have read contradictory statements regarding stepchildren. I read on USCIS portal that a stepchild can not acquire citizenship until or unless they're adopted. I have not filed a petiton for their adoption in my local court yet. I am working with a lawyer to get this done, but based on the congestion at the family court in my county, it'll take at least a year, if not more. Is this a holdup? I also read on this potal that as soon as their mother (now LPR, with 10 year extension) becomes a US citizen, they automatically becomes citizen as well. This two statements have me in a big confusion. I'm hoping that the experts here can sort this out for me. Which one is true?
• One of my children's 10 year GC has wrong picture. Does that matter at all? is there an online portal where I can request a correction?

Thank you so much for all your valuable insights. Keep up the good work. 

Hello everyone, 

I had a quick question. Some of my family members were granted US tourist visas two years ago. They didn't travel all this time due to COVID but now planning a trip next month. I wanted to know if the visas are still good and if there's anything out of ordinary that needs to be done. 

Thank you in advance. 

My wife's GC expires on 8/12. We were completely oblivious to the fact that we had to file a petition within the 90 days of GC expiry. Good thing we came into the senses, almost by accident, and mailed out a petition on 8/5 via UPS. Due to weekend, and despite paying for next day it was delivered today 8/10. Am I too late to file? Do they go by postmark/received date? I have proof of delivery because I added signature guarantee. I'm biting my nails. Please help. 

On 10/19/2018 at 11:10 PM, pushbrk said:

Yes, you do.  Since there is a petition for each step child, there is an affidavit for each step child.  You sponsor one individual per affidavit and the others are either your spouse (on childrens' affidavits) or other dependents not mentioned on this affidavit, so the household count comes out right.  Don't count anybody twice.  On your spouse's affidavit, put 0 in the spouse square because they are already counted as the sponsored immigrant.

 

Study ALL the instructions carefully and this will become clear.

Thanks a millions! That's been very helpful. Much appreciated!

22 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Give me a page and section number and I'll explain the context of that item.  I believe it lists who you COULD combine income with, not who MUST provide an I-864.  Reading carefully and interpreting literally requires one to understand the context as well.

You are right. I panicked and took it out of context. The title says" who can be sponsor". On the same note, i am also sponsoring my step-children. Do I need to file separate I-864 for them (3 in total?). I am confused about this as well since the first part of the form asks information about the principal immigrant. In that case, All 3 would be identical. (***scratching head profusely***)

7 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

NO.  Do be sure to state your own current income based on YOUR current pay stub and provide the pay stub as evidence of current income.

 

She is no longer your spouse.

Thank you! I really appreciate the input. The statement below from I-864A instructions page threw me off. My 2017 tax return was filed as MFS and this doesn't constitute the other person as a dependent. Just wanted to be sure. 

15 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The most recent year's tax return is required. The other 2 prior years are optional. You must have filed taxes for the past 3 years and provide the income numbers on the I-864 for the past 3 years.

 

Normally it is prudent to have an I-864A from a spouse when taxes are filed together, but since you are no longer married I see no issue without having one. It is no longer marital income/assets being used, and she has no input on the process.

You will still list the incomes from the tax returns directly on the I-864. The W-2s will show your individual income from those.

Pay stubs and an employment letter are best evidence of current income for an employee. If self-employed, the most recent year's tax return would demonstrate current income instead.

Thank you so much for the clarification. 

I'm getting ready to file Affidavit of Support for my wife. I understand that I have to provide income tax returns for past 3 years. The issue I have is, my most recent tax return (2017, and all prior years) is filed jointly with my ex-wife. Although, she did not have any income in 2016 and 2017 at all. All incomes reported on the return are from my W-2. My question is, do I have to file I-864A and have my ex-spouse sign it? Any clarification is hugely appreciated. Thanks. 

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

Nope. They can be sent together and do tend to be adjudicated around the same times, but there's no way to make sure they are processed together. Some can take longer than others.

 Either way, you can just wait until the other 2 petitions are approved then process them all together at NVC.

Thank you for your prompt response. I guess I'll just hold my wife's  process at NVC until the other two arrives. 

Hello VJ fam! 

I filed three I-130 petitions for my spouse and two step-children. After 6 months of wait, my wife's petition was approved earlier this month, however, the petitions for my two daughters are still pending. I called USCIS today to see what's going on with those. I was told that the petitions will be processed individually and there's no way to group them together.. contrary to what some VJ forum members indicated that USCIS puts family petitions together for concurrent processing. I asked them if I can do something to have them process the petitions together - because really.. the papers are all identical, just less for the kids. Apparently the answer is  - nada!  Any pointers on how to get this guys to group these petitions together? 

Thanks. 

8 hours ago, pushbrk said:

If the date of birth is correct on the I-130 forms, then no problem.  You DID file an I-130 for EACH intending immigrant, right?  Not just ONE for your spouse???

Yes. I filed 3 petitions in total (mom + 2 kids). And the forms have the correct DOB for my elder daughter. So you're saying if that's correct, we should be fine? Nothing else is needed?

I am sponsoring my wife along with my two step daughters. I filed all the required documents (birth certifficates, passport copy etc) with the I-130 application only to realize that the DOB of my elder step-child has the wrong year of birth on her mother's divorce decree. However, the birth certificate and passport, school records has the coreect year of birth. Is this going to be an issue? If yes, how can we rectify this error? TIA

PS: the case is still pending at YSC with a peiority date of February 2, 2018. Waiting for second NOA.

@Penguin_ie sorry for a follow up question. Any insight is helpful. After I filed for divorce in my home country and received the decree, my USC wife filed for divorce (separately) in the US.  This isthe most confusing part of this matter. Do I have to now wait for this divorce to be executed? Or can I go ahead with my out of country divorce decree? When the US divorce is executed, will there be a conflict in terms of date? 

Thanks so much!

Quote

Either works; you won;t get an annulment in the USA through, not after 9 years of marriage, you'd need to file for a divorce.

 

@Penguin_ie Thanks. for your reply. Does that mean the divorce decree from the foreign country will be accepted by USCIS? Please clarify. 

Roel,

Understood. My question was, since the marriage was officially registered outside of the US, should it also be annulled in the same country? Or do we have to end it here? Any clarification is appreciated. 

Thanks. 

Hello everyone, 

I'm in a little dilemma about a situation i'm in and would appreciate any pointers you may give me. I'm a USC who recently got divorced. We got married in our native country and our marriage was never registered in the USA. It is also worth noting that my ex-wife sponsored me here and I eventually became a citizen through the marriage. We had a 9 year run before finally deciding to end the marriage. We filed our taxes as "MFJ" for all these years. We processed our divorce in our native country and did not file for a separate divorce in the US. The thought behind that was, since the marriage didn't occur in the US, nor it was formally registered anywhere other than mentioning "Married" on some forms, the marriage doesn't exist in the US. I'm planning to remarry and would want to sponsor my fiance and her kids at some point. My question is: 

- Will the USCIS/NVC ask for a divorce decree from the state we live in (MD)?

- Can I sponsor my fiance (and kids) with the divorce decree from my home country?

- Will she need custody papers from her ex for me to sponsor the kids?

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. 

Thank you VJ Family. You Rock!

Thanks again Darnell. Yes, I'm a new USC indeed. I've been reading on VJ that a lot of people who filed in May are in a backlog. I called USCIS several times and they told me to wait another 39 day (!).

I didn't get "update your USCitizen status with USCIS" part (by the way, i read it three times! lol). Isn't it USCIS who awards the citizenship? They should have on file that I'm naturalized now! How do I go about updating it? I'm so confused. Thanks a lot for telling me.

Thank you so much for your reply. It clears up a lot of things. I actually called NVC yesterday and they said they don't have my file yet. So i kinda felt like a pingpong ball between USCIS and NVC. I dont' have access to the original approval letter they sent to me, because I'm travelling right now. They asked me to callback with the notice date on the notice. Will do that.

On a different note, do you know if USCIS will mail a duplicate copy if I missed a notice?

Hello Everyone!

I'm a USC, filed I-130 for my mother who lives in Bangladesh. The application was received and approved by USCIS in May 2010.I have two questions for you guys and any insight will be appreciated:

1. After the approval notice that I received in May 2010, I haven't heard back from them. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there a 90 day window for them to contact the petitioner regarding the next step? I thought I read something like that, but can't remember where.

2. I live in Maryland. One of my friends applied for his brother and his application number had an EAC because of his state of residency (MD). But my mothers application number starts with WAC which I believe is the CA service center (and therefore the backlogging issue and longer waiting period!). I could swear I sent it to the correct lockbox. What could've happened, any idea?

Thanks for your support. VJ is a lifesaver!

petition approval and receipt of a visa are two different things.... even if your I-130 for your brother is approved tomorrow, he will still need to wait for an available visa number which is about 10 - 11 years for a someone in his category unless they are from Mexico or the PI where the wait is even longer

Look here under Family 4th preference category

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bull...letin_4611.html

Thank you for your reply. Do you think it'll be faster if my mother (LPR) petitions for him? Should I file both?

Hi everyone,

I'm a USC willing to file a I-130 for my only brother who is currently 23. I reside in DC which falls under the Vermont Service Center jurisdiction. I was looking at the possible wait time for him to get a Visa and surprisingly noticed that VSC is currently processing applications filed in April 23, 2008. It was hard to believe because of the numerous claims on this website that petitions for brothers/sister of USC takes decades to process. However, California SC shows that they're processing applications received in Oct 02, 2000 which is 10 years behind. So, does your state of residence influence the processing time of your petition? Please help me understand this issue. Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance!