Skye_Cohen

No, don't worry about it. They are talking about totally different issue. What you did was fine, it will not be an issue.

confused for a minute but i got it, thanks i wont worry

No, don't worry about it. They are talking about totally different issue. What you did was fine, it will not be an issue.

confused for a minute but i got it, thanks i wont worry

CutePDF allows you to "Print" to a PDF file incase you can't save a PDF copy of the form and have to scan back in. Very handy little program.

am i understanding correctly? i can put my signed pdf into the printer and print on top of that?

I used this PDF-XChange Viewer >>>Link

CutePDF and Link

'sorry but used it for what?

I did exactly that and had no issues at all.

excellent! thanks for your input

Haha! Nice Indonesian skills.. but that would be terima kasih mbak. I'm a girl

OOh you quick cause i just edited it, kalau mbok, arti bali benar? saya kira2 kalau mbok bali aja dan java ada nama beda.. benar?

I had to write some things in by hand because they didn't fit when trying to fill the form out by computer.

My forms are mixed too..

So far no problems

Terima kasih atau matur suksume!

Great thanks everyone! I wont worry about it. You all rock this is faster than any lawyer has ever been in the history time

It should not be a problem.

Thank you for your prompt response

Yikes hi everyone, finally I'm ready to send off my I-130 petition for my wife. I just received in the mail her signed form G325a form but for some reason about half of the fields printed with nothing in them but the other half of them are filed out,(I filled them all out on the pdf before emailing it to her) she printed it out there, then signed it and sent it back to me here in the USA.

Is it okay to go back and fill out those boxes now? I'm worried that USCIS might raise an eyebrow when looking at the form half filled out by computor and half by ball point pen. thoughts on this?? anyone sent in forms half and half like this?

Thanks!

SPSguy: good thoughts, i will have to mull it over. The time all needs to line up so perfectly which makes me nervous..

... wait so a plane ticked cannot be purchased before Yuli(my foreign spouse) gets her visa? obviously she cannot board one but it seemed from LingChe's NVC shortcut wiki that only after the visa is obtained can a plane ticket be bought, have i misread that??

That is important in my decision to accompany Yuli to the interview or not because i will need to buy a ticket before the interview for her to return with me if I am to go there during the interview and accompany.

Also the bit about their mind perhaps being made before the interview, i think that is good advice, even if wrong it is good advice, i will think of my packets that i send in as opportunities to show nvc and uscis how engaged i am in this relationship as opposed to simply filling in forms and supplying info

Darnell: oh excellent! you know i have read so much of this stuff over and over, and there are no difficult concepts but so many simple pieces, easy to confuse and transpose and forget.. very helpful just now to see that nvc link right now. I have been reading it over and over and it is giving me peace of mind as my brain slowly builds a map with this information.

I do have a question though about required paperwork, i'm sure i read somewhere that police records arent required for indonesia. NVC, if i understand correctly, will tell me everything that we need to have when they send out the packet. In the meantime where do i check requirements for a given country? i could swear i saw a link on VJ before.

Stevai: oh cool! terima kasih! great to read! where in indonesia is your wife from? I would love to hit you up for tips or just you and your wifes expirience after immigration, after getting here and settling in to such a different country. Has she been able/interested in locking into an indonesian community? is there one in denver? anyway i dont want to pry some of these things may be personal or at least not appropriate to get into too much detail over a bb, if interested and have the time, i would love to ask you about you and her expiriences.

http://www.visajourn...&cty=&dfilter=5

This link has reviews from couples from Indonesia about their interview experience. Check it out! and good luck!

And thank you so much justine + david, pretty encouraging reading those!

Oh cool! thanks for showing us yours, 'helps me tons to see. So Yeah the paperwork in indonesia has been a challenge, she finally got the wedding certificate and birth certificate (after an official working at the office extorted $$ from us and put us 3 months back in our plans.. anyway) Those are physically in Bali with my wife but i have photocopies to send with my I-130, i was somehow under the impression that the real certificates were needed only at the interview, I will re-visit the VJ guides and the official instructions from the I-130 .pdf

oh right jjjdddlll thank you. I'm not sure i understand exactly what that document is, if only a summary and explanation of our relationship written and signed by me, why does it need to be notarized? perhaps an example would help me understand better, i tried googling and found another vj post or two but no examples

oops wouldnt let me edit so posting again...

When i think of the wording of the"evolution of relationship letter" I'm not sure to err on the side of lots of info or directly stating facts only, if only facts, such as my knowledge of bahasa indonesia, our shared language, maybe it doesent convey as much "evidence" as it could but if too lengthy and poetic i fear the IO may set it aside before reading as their days are most likely pretty busy.

Where is an example or explanation of this?

oh right jjjdddlll thank you. I'm not sure i understand exactly what that document is, if only a summary and explanation of our relationship written and signed by me, why does it need to be notarized? perhaps an example would help me understand better, i tried googling and found another vj post or two but no examples

I suggest that you write an evolution of relationship letter, have it notarized in the USA, she presents it to the VO on interview day.

Among other things, cover specifically the communication abilities between you two, and HOW you communicate. Emphasis on 'USC Spouse speaks Bahasa' (or whatever dialect she speaks) to her most of the time.

re: evidence of bonafide marriage - you need to review the instructions on the I-130 again, there are 6 types of evidence that were possible to be submitted, for the initial I-130 submittal. THEN - as time progresses to INTERVIEW DAY, you were to BUILD UP that evidence folder. Think of that evidence as a 'living document', it grows and grows. Finally, on interview day, you've accumulated a mass of stuff that has newer 'shelf-life' than what you submitted with the I-130 petition.

Sure, I understand generating that type of evidence is difficult, when the two live apart - but you can generate SOMETHING. Here's what I did, on initial I-130 submittal - http://www.visajourn...centry3324240 and this weekend I'm gonna try for a joint bank acount (see http://www.visajourn...manian-citizen/ ) and of course you can file a joint tax return, if married prior to Jan 1, 2010, going through the ITIN process.

I think yer parents coming in for the wedding, and photos showing same, are double double trump cards, to be shown on interview day. Include that fact, in yer EOR letter, as well.

While yer at it, please fill out yer official VJ timeline at http://www.visajourn...le.php?id=81957 - helps other Indo-couples coming up behind you, you betcha !

Good Luck !

WOW Darnell you are consistantly helpful and concise in your answers to my posts and to others' thank you.

Yeah i have been waiting on the timeline as i haven't yet submitted my I-130, problems with Indonesian bureaucracy in tracking down papers as well as my own missteps, but that is all in the past and i think this weekend i will have everything set and ready to send off.

May i ask you to weigh in on wether or not i should accompany my foreign spouse to the interview? and if the benefits of doing so might be or might not be worth the risk?

Wow faster than calling a lawyer! thank you both!!

As far as chat logs no, i do have photos from before the wedding but they aren't dated so there is no way to prove it. I dont have copys of the plane tickets but i could print out my card statement showing payment to a travel angency for one and to an airline for the other, I was only there two times before returning for the third to get married, I hope that is not going to alarm the IO

Also the my phone records: we use, sparing the boring details, what is basically a calling card so my phone records show calling a number in LA (after a beep i enter the indonesian number) I can also show card statements paying that company for phone credit and a printout from the company's website showing the LA number and instructions to then dial the international call. I have those from before and after the wedding.

I will also get affidavits from my friends and family swearing to the legitamacy of my wife and my relationship.

Is there anything else that could be suggested? I will try to search VJ as well about front loading the I-130 or splitting up the evidence between that and the interview

seems like this would have been covered plenty but in searches i only found topics relating to AOS interviews, sorry if making people repeat themselves

Okay so really a two part question

PART 1: my wife speaks no English, how might that effect her interview for our IR1/CR1 I-130 petition at the US embassy (she is in Indonesia and will remain until after visa is obtained) ((unless anyone has ideas of how to get her here before that, i think she doesn't have enough money or assets to get a tourist visa))

PART 2: If a translator is needed at the embassy, could it be me? I speak fluent Indonesian, fluent conversational Indonesian anyway. I often need her to translate others' Indonesian into "our" Indonesian but the two of us have no trouble communicating between each other. I would really love to go to the interview with her and translate but it is a risk with the timing because she doesn't feel confident to fly on her own here after her visa is obtained because of her lack of English and lack of experience flying. If i go to the interview with her and she doesn't "pass" for one reason or another, delaying the process, i will have to return alone and save money and vacation time all over again which certainty adds to our time apart, I don't want that and neither does she.

Also i don't know if this is relevant to this question or not but I feel that our evidence of a bonafied marriage is relatively decent, my whole family went to the wedding in Indonesia and i have many photos of both familys together, phone records, tons of congratulation letters postmarked just before i left the us for the wedding and some other stuff, no commingled finances though.

Any thoughts from anyone to help me clarify these questions would be greatly appreciated.

achswife and darnell, thank you!

Hi everyone First thank you all, i love this forum, it is amazingly helpful

okay I'm a us citizen and currently filling out I-130 and G-325a for my wife, from and currently residing in indonesia questions are as follows:

My wife has four names (looks like five, one has a space), also with hindu names, there is no family name, all 4 names refer to only her, her parents have all different names, but the forms ask for family names. I'm not sure how to fill out those name feilds.

Also simple question here, "name and address of petitioner" Is that the us citezen (me) or the wife overseas(her)?

I-130 in feild #10 asks for the "alien registration number" what is that and do i need one? if not, do i leave blank or write "none"

And lastly, the instructions for the I-130 say to write name and alien registration number at the top of each page, would that be my name or her name(again me=us citizen)

Thank you in advance

Hey everybody,

my husband and I have been getting ready to file and we are sending in the papers this week!

We wonder how many other people are filinf at the same time and thought it would be fun to take the visa journey together online.

Mr&MrsK

Hi everyone! i will send our I-130 in in two weeks! Great to see that there are others here starting off around now too! My wife from indonesia, we were married on feb 1, 2010 in bali (Dausa, Bangli) I'm not using a lawyer but I know one(helped my brother with his green card) and I will be just having her proof read my packets before being sent and paying her hourly wage for that. I had planned on using a lawyer but this website has given me the confidence to try it on our own, thanks to all for asking and answering!

Yikes comp crashed sorry for my slow response! Great thanks everyone, i had misunderstood when reading instructions(im especially good at that) but i think im all straightened out now.

I'm filling out our I-130 and G-325a forms. In form G-325a there are two boxes im unsure about:

Alien registration number (near the very bottom) and..

File number near the top.

We don't have either since we recently got married and submitting these forms is our first step in seeking wifeys GC.

I'm assuming I write "none" in both fields?

And with our I-130 I have read all instructions and feel clear about it but I'm wondering if it is a good idea to submit other forms such as the ds-230 and I-864 along with proof of a legitimate marriage as well as the above for-mentioned G-325a as i will need to submit these other forms later.

-PS hope this information hasn't already been answered elsewhere on vj, i did search for quite a while before posting..

Thanks in advance! i REALLY appreciate it

Thanks to you all.. good info and to Rongko dan+gemvita and indy-benji I'm excited to see others here with connections to indonesia

Rongko.. right about the flights, im not too worried about domestic indonesian flights just intl. ones but after reading some more online and hearing what you all have said perhaps the best option is to just let her do the interview alone and book my trip after she gains her visa.

and im sorry i forgot who corrected me but yes i was missing a step, thanks for straightening me out. I have been reading and researching a ton, i suppose my brain is on overload i should take a few days off now and then so as to more accurately absorb all of the tons of information here.

and yes i definitely will make a timeline but only after i file the I-130, maybe 3 weeks from now, waiting for indonesian paperwork

Hi everyone, quick background for my question: I am a US citizen and recently married an indonesian. I plan to file I-130 in about 1 month when i recieve my wedding paperwork from the slowly moving office life in bali.

My questions: Money is tight, i looked at process times and and according to the tables from vj it looks like i could recieve the noa2 in as little as about 85 days. If i understand correctly from reading around on here and elsewhere, I would then be notified of an appointment date for the interview at the embassy in Jakarta with as little as one month notice. Am i missing a step here? Im happy if I'm not because that is fast but also Jakarta is a long way from portland OR and having one month to arrange for leaving work is not easy. to summarize: am i reading process times correctly? am i missing a step that takes more time after the noa2 arrives? and once it arrives, is there a fixed date for an interview or does an applicant have a window of six months to schedule an interview(i have read both)?

that leads to the next question. i know I'm not required to be at the interview, but I'm guessing it would look good if i was.(is that assumption correct in your opinions?)

Also my wife speaks almost no english, i however speak indonesian but I'm worried that her lack of english skills will be a deterrent at the interview, also i would like to be there because if she receives her visa on that first interview we could return to the US together. Either way i will need to accompany her into the US as she speaks no english and hasn't been on a plane before and it is allways at least 3 flights between my home and her. Better to be there for the interview but risk going home alone (if they request more info or a second interview) and then wait another six months or so to save up money and return to bali so she can return with me

lastly i spoke with a great lawyer whom i trust and who helped my brother(from south africa) and also a friend of mine(from nigeria) but she charges a flat rate of $2100.00 is it faster with a lawyer? my understanding is that it isn't, if everything is done correctly(forms filled out correctly etc...) lawyers help to make sure i do all that correctly but the process doesn't change. do i understand correctly?

Thank you and i apologize if the information i seek is already on the boards, I have been reading from many sources and not all of them speak of the same process

pics of the wedding and prep from my mothers shutterfly page at http://skyesbaliwedding.shutterfly.com

thank you all! this has community been a life saver!

My name is skye, i met my wife in bali indonesia and got married on feb 1st 2010. My mother, father, sister, her boyfriend and a friend of mine all came to the wedding.

As soon as i get the paperwork from indonesia, the akte lahir and akte perkawinan(birth and marriage certificates) which should arrive in 2 weeks I will send in my I-130 application.

My mother has posted some of her pics online of the wedding at http://skyesbaliwedding.shutterfly.com for anyone who would like to see some pics.

I have tons of questions but I'll save them for the appropriate areas in the forum for Q's

a quick bit about us: Im 29, born and live in oregon, I'm a finish carpenter. My father migrated here from south africa with russian jewish blood and my mother is from california from irish blood. My wife's name is loooooong but for short Yuli, she is hindu (officially me too now after getting married) and was born in singaraja bali but her father, which means her family temple, an important place for hindus, is in Dausa, a small mountain village within Bangli.

Again.. Thank you all, my stress level has seriously decelerated after finding these forums and reading questions, answers, and the wiki here.