dunright

hello guys i would like to get the tax transcript return from IRS i never done it before

Your transcript will come back the same way you filed it. If you filed jointly, that is all you have to ask for. It can take up to a month or longer.....then again sometimes only about 10 days.

We are leaving Costa Rica tonight at 1:05am (so technically tomorrow morning). Flying into Fort Lauderdale International Airport. We have our x-rays, sealed embassy package and tons of luggage for the move. We are super excited and will post our experience on monday to let everyone know how the POE is. Thanks to all of you that have helped along the way. VJ is an awesome sight and if you read and study it, your journey into visaland will be quite easy. Always, always, always make duplicate and even triplicate copies of all your original documents. good luck to all he rest of you coming behind us. God bless us all with this new beginning.

As long as you can prove that this year he is above the poverty level (and it should be in my opinion 5-8k) then you should be okay. He will need a letter from his employer and pay stubs. If he is self employed, you are going to really be scrutinized. Good luck.

If i was you i would hold onto everything. The x-rays may not be needed, but the immunization is always good to have, just in case.

Ditto............MJ does not work for NVC. Of course it took us a looooooong time and many calls to figure that out. Never thought to look here. We used SKYPE as well.

We used Adobe and it was lighter, but was fine. We never had an issue and have our visa in hand. Best of luck.

I seriously doubt they will catch that. They will most likely be looking at the marriage dates and will not be comparing birth dates. I would go ahead and go correct it and get a certified copy of the change, just in case. It never hurts to be prepared. We had the dates reversed on when we met and it didn't get caught. If it is easy to fix, i would fix it and be ready.

Sorry for all of your troubles. The letters do not have to be notarized, but...........if it is convenient and cheap, it certainly will not hurt. If you can wait the three weeks to get the papers from your husband and it will not jeopardize the time frame for you to get the papers back to NVC, then wait. As i have found out, more is better. Best of luck to you both.

The Costa Rican PCC is about the same way. Not very convincing.LOL Good Luck

I got the same thing every time i tried to pay a fee. I had to just keep logging on and try again. It took 3 days one time and two days the next. I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but both times it was between 1am and 3am that the payments went through. Maybe the system is bogged down during the day? It made it crazy and my wife just sat back and plugged her ears. Best of luck.

Different countries, but seems like the same response. We were told the same thing. That we missed the month of April and that all the appointments are made the first two weeks of the previous month. I just kept calling everyday to see if the appointment had been scheduled. After a week it was. So yes it seems to be a canned response. I also asked to speak with a supervisor as well, just to make sure. Good luck.

WOW......finally i can breathe. The visa interview was a breeze. When we got to the first window to check in and give our papers, the woman was very nice. I had met her and dealt with her before, so we had a rapport already. We were missing some documents that (were in the original packets) they wanted us to bring along. We had a couple extra "originals' thank God. I can't stress enough people. If USCIS or NVC asks for "certified copies or original copies" get at least two extra to hold on to. We didn't know until 4 days before our interview that NVC did not send originals that Costa Rica wanted. There is no way we could have had those papers from the Philippines without waiting another 3-4 weeks.

Anyway......they accepted our papers. While she is shuffling the papers she asked us how we met and when. We told her a brief summary, just thinking this was idle chit-chat. Then she told us to go sit down, she would submit the papers for further review and we would be called up to another window in about 45 minutes. 20 minutes later, Agnes was called up to do her fingerprints (digital, pretty cool). Then we waited another 40 and we were called up to another window. We assumed we would be brought into a separate room for our interview. So when the guy at the window had Agnes raise her right hand and swear that all the statements in the paperwork were true, it was strange. Then he had her sign her DS-230 part 2. While the guy was shuffling the papers, he asked me nonchalantly, "so..... what do you do for work". I told him and it was a quick chat about the poor economy and then he said,"well guys, that's it. come back on Thursday at 3 and get your passport". We were both stunned. It was so uneventful, that we didn't think it was over. There was no 'real" interview at all.

We walked away and Agnes was concerned that we were leaving too soon. Obviously the guy made a mistake and we still had to have our "interview". It took me quite a while to convince her that we were done. And the icing on the cake was today, when we actually have the visa in our hand. Now we both "really believe it". Had the interview on Tuesday and got the visa on Thursday.

We could not have done this with out this forum. I had an immigration attorney that wanted 10K to do all this for us so we would have no stress. What a crock of #######. I have to give so much credit to Agnes for reading and studying and learning so much here. I admit i didn't get into VJ as much as i should have, but i will be eternally grateful for everyones feedback, replies, best wishes and even some of the negative remarks. The negative ones probably helped more, because i had to work harder to prove them wrong and we did. Feel free to contact us anytime if we can help. I know that most of the credit goes to God, because without him, my two brain cells would never fire at the same time. I wish all of you still in process the very, very best. Good luck and never take "no" for an answer. Oh yeah.........if any of you file for an expedite and get denied........file an appeal, it seems to go right through. Something that was told to me by a guy at USCIS. I did and it worked.

I may be speaking out of turn, but.........if you are so worried, go get another police clearance. With all my travels outside the US where i needed police clearance, it was only good for 6 months. Here in Costa Rica it is only good for 3 months and soon to be 1 month. I would never leave it up to anyone else but myself. I have doubles and triples of everything. I personally would not get my police clearance or medical until the last possible minute, just in case. Common sense tells me a medical or police clearance should NOT be good for one year, that is ridiculous.How much can happen in a year psychically, mentally, legally is amazing. I don't take anyone opinions here either.....only facts from those that have actually been in the same shoes i am walking in. This is too important of an issue for opinions. The more you have the safer you are.

Hello everyone. As of the 8th of April (as stated by an operator at NVC) we have been approved and are now waiting for our interview date. Then today, april 10th, we get an e-mail from NVC stating that we need to send in a police clearance from Costa Rica. In our packet we already sent the required police clearance and it was listed on our checklist cover sheet. Our letter from NVC did not mention or have the words (letters) RFE, but stated where to mail the clearance once we got it. It also stated that we needed to bring it to the consulate with us. The letter is confusing. Of course it is Saturday so i can't call NVC to get clarification, so i was wondering what anyone else's RFE's looked like or wondering if anyone else received the same letter pertaining to a police clearance. It was very hard to get the first one and i don't know if they will give a second one. Thanks in advance for your experiences.

My fiance is colombian, and has been told there is nowhere he can get his certificate showing he has never been married in CR?

Who told him he could not get the certificate? Since you lived here in CR for two years, you probably know that nothing is impossible here (accept logic). As in most cases that i personally have gone through here, when someone tells me no, i go to the next person down the line, ask for a supervisor, then another supervisor. The answer may still be no, but if you ask enough times you usually get what you need. If there is in fact such a document for none residents. It really is just about being persistent and since he speaks Spanish, he should be able to "persuade" someone to help him. Costa Rica is a funky place to circumnavigate when it comes to government and getting any kind of documents. Five lawyers will give you five different answers and charge five different fees. We have found that we were able to get everything we needed on our own and our Spanish isn't that good. Best of luck.

Well, within one week i received a notice that our petition to expedite was denied. The reason given, was that we did not qualify within the guidelines. I never received the form to fill out to state my case. I just talked to a representative on the phone and explained briefly my circumstances. After we talked, he told me i would receive a letter within a week with the answer. When i asked about the form to fill out, he stated that he had written down everything i said and would pass it on. He never asked me any questions or asked me to clarify anything i said. In my opinion i doubt seriously that he was able to type everything that i said as fast as he did. For anyone wanting to expedite, make sure you get a form to fill out. It was doubtful that we would have been approved anyway, but i think if i could have shown our reasons "on paper", there might have been a better chance for approval. Good luck to everyone else.

I am wanting to start the expediting process as well. I received my NOA-1 last week, but when i call USCIS and put in my receipt number (automated system) it tells me it "cannot be found at this time." I have called and called and called. There is no extension to speak with a real person.

Darnell.....what do you mean by a tier-2 and how do you reach them?

Thanks to all that have voiced their opinions. I am not new to message boards (well maybe this one), so i expected some negativity. I truly appreciate all the positive vibes. It was not my intention to stir things up. I know one thing...if anyone that is waiting (or waited) on their visa had a legit chance to be with their loved one, even one day sooner.....every single person here would do it.

My situation was brought on by circumstances out of my control and by complete surprise. I did not feel it pertinent to write a novel to explain the "whole story". I got the answers i was looking for and and was reminded of how great my life is and how happy i choose to be. We all have our burdens, it doesn't make any of us a lesser human being. I am blessed to look towards the positive and gravitate to those that send out the same. Maybe we should kill this thread before someone creates an aneurysm for themselves. Peace and blessings to all.....at least for now.

I was testing the waters. If i could shorten the process on the USCIS end by 3-4 months that would help. Normal wait time is close to five months before going to NVC. I guess we will see. I will keep everyone posted.

Expedite Criteria

All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The burden is on the applicant or petitioner to demonstrate that one or more of the expedite criteria have been met. The criteria are as follows:

* Severe financial loss to company or individual

* Extreme emergent situation

* Humanitarian situation

* Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States

* Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)

* USCIS error

* Compelling interest of USCIS

Hi everyone. Well we finally got our I-130 out and it has been accepted. I have been staying in Costa Rica with my wife and wanted to wait out the process and stay with her until visa time. The problem is that i was letting a family member rent my house while i have been here and they let the house go into default. No foreclosure proceedings yet, but i have to get back to the states to try to save it and get a job to do that as well. I was wondering if in anyone's experience and or opinion if i can file for some kind of hardship to get the process expedited. My wife and i both have job offers on the table. I have to go back to save the house. Once there it will be very difficult financially to do all i need to do in the U.S. to catch up the payments on the house plus keep her in an apartment in Costa Rica for the next 5-7 months. Would this situation be considered good enough reason to expedite our visa. I looked for past posts but didn't see anything that quite resembled this. Most dealt with humanitarian and severe health issues. I have letters from the bank's attorneys demanding payment as far as documentation goes and also letters for the job offers. Thanks for any advice.

Yes, it sounds like you should be fine. You weren't actually 'living' in Costa Rica, as you previously indicated. You were visiting - repeatedly.

Yes, you'll probably get an RFE, but it probably won't be specifically for an appraisal. It will probably be a general RFE for a sufficient affidavit of support, and specifically point out that you should include an appraisal from a licensed appraiser for any property claimed as an asset.

The details are in the I-864 instructions, and they are quite clear:

You may include the net value of your home as an asset. The net value of the home is the appraised value of the home, minus the sum of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home. If you wish to include the net value of your home, this, you must include documentation demonstrating that you own it, a recent appraisal by a licensed appraiser, and evidence of the amount of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home.

They won't accept a tax assessment. They simply are not an accurate reflection of the property's real market value. Tax assessors frequently inflate the assessed value so that they can collect more in taxes. Tax assessments are usually done by a bean counter sitting in a county office by running details about your property through a computer program. A licensed appraiser will actually inspect the property and give you a appraisal that reflects the market value of the property.

Thanks for the heads up. I have been wanting to get an appraisal anyway.

Note that the I-864 requires you to be domiciled in the United States at the time you submit the affidavit. If you are living abroad at the time you submit the affidavit then you must either prove that your absence from the US was temporary and that you've maintained your domicile in the US while you were gone (that will be difficult if you've been living outside the US for two years), or prove that you've taken steps to re-establish domicile when you return. In the latter case, you must return to the US before or at the same time as your spouse.

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I still own my house in the US, i still have the electric and water in my name and pay monthly. When i file my CR-1 it will be with my US home address. I am in the US now to file and look for work, but am planning on going back to CR for another three months unless i get employment now (which is highly unlikely). I come back to the US every three months for two weeks at a time (Costa Rica's rules). As far as i know, i am still domiciled in the US. Am i correct? Or will it at least appear to be so when i file.

I am taking no deductions this year for anything except what is normal for filing a 1040. If i send the copy of my property taxes with the property value......do you think i would get an RFE for an appraisal?

Thanks for the replies and sorry that i forgot to post the amounts and more pertinent information. The rental income for my 2010 tax year is $24,000 but last year (09)it was only $4,200 because the tenant moved in so late in the year. I'm feeling a bit ridiculous when i see this in writing. We are both living in Costa Rica and ready to go to the states so i can go back to work. We are filing a CR-1. We were married in Costa Rica. As i stated above i have been out of the US for two years, so no job. Once i get back to the US i can go back to work and won't have a problem when it comes to AOS. I am just trying to figure out how to get past the initial approval and get the visa, so that we can get to the US. I can use my dad as a co-sponsor if needed. His income last year (retired) was $18,756. So when i send in my first package and i put my income as $24,000 in your opinions, do you think it will fly? Someone mentioned line 22 on my 1040........it was -2,800. Next question is what will i have to show at the interview to show i can provide for her once i get back to the US? By then i will have filed my 2010 returns and can show 2010's income. I don't think i can use my home as an asset because it is heavily mortgaged, but i do own a piece of land free and clear that is appraised at $69,000 on the tax records. I am not concerned about income once i get back to the US, but i do not want to come back without her. I tend to make things more difficult than they need to be, sorry for the original non informative post. Don't worry about the tough love, i need to hear about the realities.

Hello everyone. I have searched, but not found a match to my concerns. I have been self employed the last three years. More or less unemployed because of the economy and such. Then i left the US to be with my fiancee for two years (who is now my wife). The only income i will show this year and last year is from my rentals. Which is actually my home in the US. For the 2009 tax year that is all i put for my income. When it comes to visa's are they going to be looking at my debts as well. My rental income, actually goes straight to pay the mortgage. It appears to be income but then goes away come tax time. I do claim it as income. I haven't worked at all this year. I am trying to figure out if i am going to meet the poverty guideline or not. Thanks for any advice.