Ide & Sam

Hello

I am in the process of compiling documents for my husband's citizenship application. It looks like to file at 3 years we need to (again! lol) show proof of our marriage. I have all the bank statements, taxes, health care info etc. But I was wodering do we need to send photos, family statements or anything else other than financial and health records as proof? I just want to make sure I am sending enough info.

Thanks

-S-

So I guess the more specific question is does he need to "habilitado" his passport?

My Husband is considering a trip to Cuba for his daughter's birthday. We have the advance parole document but we were wondering if he needs to do anything on the Cuban side of things with his passport. Will Cuban immigration accept his advance parole document? Has anyone had experience with this. He is planning to fly through Miami so we both figure immigration in Miami is used to people flying to Cuba.

Please let us know.

Hi

I filed our paperwork for AOS in July and we have received my husbands work authorization and he has his biometrics. now we are waiting for an interview appointment. Is there a way to see what the status of this is? Even just a website would be helpful. Thanks

You have to get the health insurance for the full 60 days. I didn't get the health insurance last time I was in Cuba and when I went to renew my visa for the additional 30 days they made me pay for everything (even the previous 30 days retroactively) So you should plan for that.

About the A2. I never got when when I was in Cuba. But many people on the lonely planet forum have gotten them so i would try asking there about people's experiences. In terms of people getting one when they are un-married, I have heard that it is up to the discretion of the immigration officer. But I would ask at lonely planet forum because they should know more.

My fiance is here now in the US on a Fiance visa. But he forgot to make a copy of his birth certificate. We need this for his adjustment of status. During his interview in Havana he gave the embassy an original birth certificate as a part of the K-1 packet, which was given back to him in the envelop that was then given to Immigration when he arrived in the US.

My question is, since they already have his birth certificate in that packet do we need to provide another one. Or, can we call someone in immigration and have them send us a copy of the birth certificate.

We are asking because getting documents from Cuba can be a bit of a nightmare, so if we can get a copy from someone in US immigration that would be a little easier.

Advice ?

I wish someone could make a FAQ for the Cuban K1 process. It is very confusing and it seems like once people's fiance's arrive in the US they disappear and we never hear about how the process went (in terms of the PVE, PSI etc..)

My BF is in the process of getting the PVE now. He hasn't mentioned a letter of invitation to me yet. Although Cuba being Cuba I am always prepared for surprises.

Can someone who's fiance has arrived through a K1 visa from Cuba please post about what exactly they did on the Cuban side ?

So after my fiance and I were approved for the visa the interviewer gave him his passport with the visa and a big envelope sealed up with tape and told us not to open it until he arrived in the US...ok...whats in this envelope !! We're dying to know !

We were joking that it was probably a 100 dollar gift certificate to best buy, some IMAX theater tickets, a bunch of credit card applications and hallmark card from Obama saying welcome to the USA

I posted a report last week on our fiance visa interview in Havana, but I can't edit it and wanted to add some info that I forgot to mention.

1) I brought roughly 75-100 emails printed out from when we met (2008) to the present. They only took the ones from 2011 (about 30 emails) and acted like even that was too much. So I would recommend only bringing the really pertinent emails and letters rather that wasting all the paper on printing everything. Although they did read the emails I submitted because they referenced them during the interview, so choose your emails wisely....see below

2) On that...one dirty email somehow slipped into our stack (woops!)...the interviewer mentioned it and made a joke about it...but we were both really embarrassed ! Double check what you hand in and black out anything you don't want them to see.

3) Same goes for all the other evidence. I also brought all my phone and chat logs and it didn't look like they even read them. I will never know and maybe the stacks of evidence spoke for themselves. But the amount of time I spent worrying about this stuff is crazy

4) Envelopes...I know people mentioned this on the forum but this somehow slipped my mind. They do not allow you to bring in envelopes so leave them at home. We had some of our stuff in a binder...they also made us take that apart. A bag with your documents held together by clips is the best way to go in terms of organization.

5) The questions were really basic and the whole interview went very fast for us. They interviewed my fiance first. The person doing the interview didn't speak spanish very well so my fiance offered to do it in English. They did his whole interview in English...which I imagine looked really good for him. They asked him my name, where I lived, how often I came to Cuba, when we met, how we first met, when did the relationship get serious, what I do for a living, what does he plan to do in the US, what are his plans with his daughter, what is my relationship like with his daughter and his family. That was basically it. Then they called me over and told us that we can be interview together. They asked me how many times have I been to Cuba, when he we decide to get married, how did I get to Cuba. Then she told us about the "dirty email" we both laughed. She gave us all the evidence back and told us that we were approved. She gave us a slip of white paper and told him to come back in a week.

6) They messed up my fiance's fingerprints so he had to go back the next day and get those fixed which is when he ran into the same lady who interviewed us. She told him that she really liked looking at our photos (we included allot of funny pictures of us hanging out and goofing around with the camera). She asked if he wanted the visa right away ? Of course he said yes...so he waited about an hour and she came out with his visa and a big sealed packet and told him not to open the packet until he arrives in the US.

Thats about it. If you have any other questions please let me know.

My hourly wage is 25/hour and I have been working for these employers since 2006 and have all my letters from them plus a letter from my trade union certifying my membership.

The tax transcript still adds up to be over the poverty requirement. My actual wages (if you add up all the W2's) are $27,000 the tax transcript says $21,000. My average wages per year are $33,000 I don't need a co-sponsor. But I just don't want any little glitch like this to screw us up.

I'm gonna kill this tax lady

Hey so the other day I was finishing up my I-134 form and patting myself on the back about how together I was...and how organized my packet is going to be for my fiance's interview next month...and then..ta da...I discovered a small problem.

My wages/salaries on my tax transcript come out $6,000 short of what my actual W2's add up to !!! I did some math and it turns out that one of my W2's (I have 4 employers) was never submitted to the IRS ! I went down to the IRS and got a Tax Statement and all of that is correct (my employers submitted everything correctly). It turns out that the person I paid to do my taxes forgot to submit one of my W2's !!!! I have 4 different employers so she must have forgotten to include one !

I am going to call her and have her submit an amendment but the IRS tells me that this could take 3 or 4 months ! Our interview is next month !

If I just submit my original W2's, current pay stubs and the Tax Statement should that work ? Should I submit the Tax Transcript and then explain that one of the W2's is missing and then submit a letter adding up all my income etc...

Ugghhhhh...whyyyyyyy !!!!

My fiance went to the interest section to pick up the forms. He lives in Havana so it was really easy for him. I think he had to call ahead to make an appointment, or they called him, to come and pick it up.

Cool...he has his medical on the 24th of September !

I am under the impression that even though it is the US that requires the medical exam the Cubans don't charge you for it until you have your visa in hand. Hence why they charge you for it during the carta blanca process. Is this correct ?

Also, how current should the Medical exam be ? I guess we shouldn't worry about getting it too early since there is a backlog haha. Our interview is November 1st. If he gets his medical this month we should be good right ?

Congratulations!!! :dance: :dance:

You might also want to ask about this at another forum call Thorn Tree. It is a travel forum but there are allot of people there who are very knowledgeable about Cuba. You might find some good advice there too.

Lonely Planet: Thorn Tree

I'm not sure how it works, but maybe you can look into the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program ?

Reunification Program

I'm sorry. I don't have specific experience with this. But I have been under the impression that tourist visas from Cuba are routinely rejected unless the Cuban national shows strong ties to Cuba and their intent to return. Considering the Cuban Adjustment Act / Wet Foot dry Foot....I've heard that immigration is very specific when granting these visas.

Sorry to hear about this...hopefully someone can give you some first hand experience with how to proceed.

If nobody else replies I can try asking my fiance exactly what is in the packet. But I think there are other VJ members who have seen the packet and might be able to answer your question better. I would post a new topic so more people can see your question.

Yeah, my fiance can't do the internet cafe everyday. But we also use it like a chat Thanks everyone ! I am going to print out most of the emails. I just counted and we actually have 800 emails. I doubt they are going to read all of those

I'm probably just spazzing out But I was going through our evidence, getting all the emails and phone logs together. I'm a little worried because for the last 4 months my fiance hasn't had regular email access. In Cuba access to email and the internet can be difficult. We are exchanging about 4 emails a week right now (2 from him and 2 from me), I call 2 or 3 times a week (again this is expensive so I can't call more) and text messages. I have some old chat logs and extensive emails from when he had internet in his home.

We are trying really hard to get him an email or internet connection at home.

I would assume that the embassy will understand that few people in Cuba have the internet and therefore can't use skype and chat as much as people in other countries. I just get worried when other people on here talk about their 2,000 emails and 25 pounds of chat logs

What are people's experiences with this. I have about 500 emails right now plus some old facebook chat logs. I'm freaking out over nothing right

awesome ! Congratulations !!!

Cool. I might just ask him to scan and email the forms to me (or send copies here with a friend) after she helps him fill it all out so I can make sure everything is consistent. He has a copy of the original petition (I-129F) so they should be able to compare all the forms. I am going down there a week before our interview, so if anything is messed up I can double check it all before we go in for the interview. The lady he is talking to seems helpful, he already met with her once.

Thanks !!!

Haha...i'm not worried about her taking my man...i'm a little worried about her taking our money But it's only 25 bucks so I'm not that concerned. I just want to make sure that she is going to give him good advice. Cuba has crappy internet so he can't look anything up online.