Amos&Radio

Thanks for everyone's help on this matter, we really appreciate it.

I will wait a little while longer and then try calling them to see if they can update us, though we haven't even received a NOA1 yet so there doesn't seem much point.

Does anyone know how long it would take them to send back an RFE? Do they normally call or mail you about this?

@JoyDee - which service center did you mail your package to?

Hi there,

Three weeks ago I mailed off my AOS packet along with the check for the AOS fee, (a week and a half before my deadline.)

Everyday my wife has been checking her bank statements to see if they've cashed in the check and they have not.

Also, I sent in along with the packet a form that I filled out requesting that I get an e-notification when they've received my packet.

I checked online with USPS and they said that my packet was delivered two days after initially mailing off my AOS forms but I never got a notification from USCIS.

I'm growing worried that something has gone wrong and I can't find a number for the USCIS in Chicago so that I can call them and ask about the processing situation.

Does it usually take this long for them to cash in checks? Does it usually take this long to hear anything from them?

If anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

Your wife checks A. She is not a joint sponsor. She is your petitioner and primary sponsor.

Your mother-in-law will check D. She is the only joint sponsor.

Thanks for that - much appreciated!

Your wife still has to fill out the I-864 and check that she is the petitioner and primary sponsor. She cannot just say N/A for the tax returns for the prior 3 years. If she was not legally obligated to file, then she needs to send a statement explaining why she did not legally have to file. It is best to quote the IRS pubs that support her reasons for not filing. She would put 0 as her current income.

Your mother-in-law will fill out her own I-864, checking that she is the only joint sponsor. She will provide her tax transcripts and proof of income. Assuming she is a USC, a copy of her birth certificate or bio page of her passport will also be needed to prove she is a USC.

If your mother-in-law makes enough to sponsor you, and any other dependents of hers, then there should be no problem. It won't impeded anything.

Read over the I-864 instructions http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864instr.pdf, and check out the I-864 example form here on VJ.

Thanks Jay-Kay - Sorry just to check - she ticks box A on part one of the form? I thought she would tick e - that she is the first of two joint sponsors?

If she ticks a - what would my mother-in-law tick?

Thanks again

Thanks for all your help guys! Really appreciate it. I will have my wife fill out the form also.

In response to the other comments, no I am not working illegally. I am waiting for employment authorisation before I begin working out here. I have a lot of money in savings, which I earnt when I was self employed in the U.K. so I am using that to support us in the meantime.

The USC spouse MUST submit an I-864 regardless of no income and no job. She is the one that is sponsoring/petitioning you.

Because this person has no income/job they must have a co-sponsor that meets the 125% I-864 poverty guideline for the house hold.

Ok thanks very much for your help! - so it won't hamper the petition as long as my co sponsor meets the 125% threshold?

Hi there,

I apologise in advance as I am sure this question gets asked a lot - but I feel my circumstances may be a little different so I just wanted to double check!

Well, thanks to you guys and a lot of hard work with filling out papers etc, we are now married via the K1 Visa and have now come to file for adjustment of status. In coming to the I-864 form, I was just wondering what we do as my wife is currently unemployed and we are living with her parents. I am self employed so I have income to support us, but I know that I can't use this in the I-864 form.

Does my wife still need to put herself down as my primary sponsor even though she doesn't have a job or have any household income? She isn't receiving unemployment checks and is avidly hunting for a job (she has interviews next week) but we want to get the forms off now before I become out of status.

If so, does she just write N/A for all of the questions regarding household income and federal tax return information?

My stepmother - in - law is happy to sponsor me and has a high income, so she can answer all the questions on the form and is well above the poverty guidelines, but I take it I can't just have her as my primary sponsor?

In your experience, do you think it will impede my application if my wife has no evidence of income to support me?

Thank you so much for your help - Once again, we really do appreciate it!

You don't have to explain the lack of income, though the CO may ask about it. If the consulate requires a copy of the most recent tax return and she didn't file a tax return (most people with zero income don't) then she should provide a letter explaining why she was not statutorily required to file a tax return. Such a letter would be required with an I-864 when a tax return isn't provided, and consulates tend to apply the same rules to an I-134.

Thanks for this - much appreciated.

My fiancée will be with me on the day as well so will be able to explain the lack of income

She currently has a very low amount of cash in her back account (under $100), again, this won't be a problem will it? If her step mum is co sponsoring?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm uber paranoid about getting everything right!

im in exactly the same posistion lol.......i needed this info too so thanks mate, just need to get my NOA2 now and will be ready to go.....hopefully its soon!!

No worries - best of luck to you mate!

And trust me, the wait is worth it

Ok thank you so much - we will fill one out today.

Do we need to include a letter explaining her lack of income - or any supporting evidence?

Or are we ok to just fill out the form saying 0 and then just have the step mums forms and evidence?

Thanks again!

Yeah I just called this morning - the lady took nearly 10 minutes to process everything!

She had me repeat all my info again even though surely it's all on my case file? Oh well, they sent through the MRV receipt which is what you take with you along with the letter you mentioned.

Hi there,

I have my interview coming up very shortly and I have all the forms ready to go.

My fiancée is set to return to school after she returns from visiting me here in the UK, prior to her visit she has been in school for a few years and as a consequence has not been in employment. As such, she doesn't have an income to support me. This is not a problem, as her step mother is happy to sponsor me and earns above the requirements (which I believe to be 125%?)

Her step mother has provided me with all the required documentation - my question is - does my fiancée still have to provide an I-134F even though most of the amounts on there will be 0? (she lives with her father and step mother) Furthermore, will she have to show evidence of this?

Is it ok to list her step mother as my primary sponsor? How would I go about doing this - do I just mention it to the consular officer?

Many thanks for your help Visa Journey members, I really cannot thank everyone enough for their help with our case so far

Hi guys,

Just to confuse matters - I have been scheduled for my Visa Interview on the 26th Jan and haven't paid my fee yet - It doesn't mention it in the letter that I have to pre pay so I would be interested to see where this instruction is?

Thank you Joanna, we are so pleased!

Also - in case this is useful to anyone in the future - the embassy won't e mail you back to confirm they have the e mail and are rescheduling you - they will simply e mail you when they have a date and as Joanna said - this could be 2 - 3 weeks. For us it was approx 17 days.

How strange, I just got an e mail now saying that I have a new date booked in January, which is perfect!

@AmyKathleen - We used the timeline tools on this website and did a lot of research to make a prediction as to when the interview would be - I actually got one much earlier than I thought so hence the reason for rescheduling. It's not something I would recommend to others as I don't think they take too kindly to you rescheduling. I'm just really pleased we have a date now and all being well we can fly back to America together in March to start our new lives!

@Y+E - Yeah I included that code, thank you for your help though

Also, if anyone else reads this - my fiancee called DOS yesterday - they have access to similar information to the ridiculously expensive operator assisted line, so unless you need an e mail code, you can just call DOS and they can tell you if a new interview date has been assigned yet.

Is it true they won't schedule an interview until you have paid though?

I have been trying to reschedule my interview date but have been waiting 16 days for an e mail reply.

If I ring up and pay will this speed things up? What is the latest fee?

Hello there everyone!

I recently e mailed the embassy to re schedule my interview date for the K1 Visa, to the e mail address londoniv@state.gov as instructed by the operator.

However, I have been waiting over two weeks (16 days today) and I still have not received a reply.

I never received an e mail to say that they were looking into a new interview date and as such, I called the embassy operator line again and the man there told me that the original date of the 9th December had been removed from my record, implying they were looking into a new date.

Does anyone have any experience of re scheduling interviews in London? How long did you have to wait for an e mail reply? Did you e mail them again?

And once you had a new date, did this come in the post or by e mail? I called an operator yesterday and she told me to not e mail them again as this would anger them and maybe increase the delay in getting a date!

Also, a friend of a friend said they had rescheduled an interview and apparently the embassy doesn't like you doing this, so made them wait 3 months to get a new date! Although I think this could be a case of stories being confused! Is it true the embassy doesn't like reschedules? Surely it's a common request.

My fiancee is flying over in a few weeks and I was hoping we would have a letter to show passport control at Heathrow Airport, so she could prove the reason for her visit (which is to accompany me to the interview) She is going to bring the I129F packet as well as all the approval letters we have so far - do you think this will be enough? Or does anyone have any other suggestions as to what she can bring / say?

I apologise for all the questions - it's just we are trying to get this sorted before she comes over, so we don't have any problems at passport control and we have a rough idea when the interview will be.

Thank you so much for your help everyone, we really do appreciate it!

Thank you very much for your advice Joanna.

I decided to reschedule the interview as I was worried I wouldn't have enough time to get all the papers in order - things are really busy work wise at the moment and I would prefer my fiancée to be there at the interview. I e mailed them about it so I will await a reply.

Ah I see, I didn't realise that I didn't need to provide evidence of my own income. In terms of my fiancée she is actually unemployed at the moment so I presume she will just write that down on the form and her Step Mums income will be used instead - I presume her step mum can put herself forward as primary sponsor? Or shall my fiance not bother with an I-134 if she is out of employment?

I apologise for all the questions, I get so paranoid about not having a form or not having the right information! So I have to ask just to make sure.

Thanks again - I really do appreciate it

I just e mailed them now on londonIV@state.gov regarding an interview reschedule.

I called up to get it on the premium rate line and spoke to some Scottish guy who was very rude and short with his answers.

I will let you know if they reply!

Ok thanks! I am going to talk to my fiancée about it and then call them this evening.

I see, so I would be a preference applicant as I am a fiancé of a US Citizen.

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for your help, you raise a good point about her still being able to visit

It is just hard to know what to do as the 9th is coming up fast and whilst I have all my police certificates etc I am self employed so I need to look into what exactly they require as evidence of support?

My Fiancee's step mum is sponsoring me and she has a pretty high annual income, but do I still need to provide evidence of my own personal funds? Or is hers sufficient?

I was hoping for my Fiancée to accompany me but it would be annoying if that two month rule applied.

Thanks again for your help, if you or anyone else could answer my concerns about the forms, I would greatly appreciate it

Hello fellow Visa Journey members!

I have just received my letter from the US Embassy regarding my interview time for the K1 visa, which is great!

However I didn't realise it would be so soon! It is set for 9th December.

After reading online, I didn't think my interview would be till January or February of next year - as such my fiancée has booked a flight to visit me on the 30th December so she could accompany me to the interview and stay a few months with my family before we move to America.

I understand you can call them up to reschedule (anyone done this? is it straight forward?), but on the website it says the following :

" Please note: While we will attempt to accomodate your change of appointment request, it may not always be possible to offer you your preferred choice. In addition, preference applicants will require new visa numbers which will take at least two months to obtain. "

When it says preference applicants, does that mean if I reschedule I will have to wait at least two months for a new date? What is a preference applicant?

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

Hi Everyone,

I had my medical last Thursday and just wanted to reassure everyone that the process is really straightforward and stress free.

Everyone in the centre is really friendly, like another forum poster was saying, as long as you are friendly with them and smile, then there is no reason for them to be arsey or anything. They called me either Sir or by my first name throughout.

The chap who does the X - Rays was funny and made a lot of conversation, just asking about where I would be living etc.

The same can be said for the doctor who examined me. I don't remember her name, but she was brilliant. Really friendly and made a lot of effort to make sure I was relaxed during the examination.

Also - I stupidly forgot my glasses on the day of the appointment, I was frantically trying to remember everything else, so I was in panic mode when I went in. However, she did this awesome thing using a post it note and a pin hole in the middle - which meant I could complete the eye sight test! Obviously, I was quite lucky that this wasn't an issue - to everyone else I would recommend you bring your glasses, even if you don't wear them that often, like myself!

The only downside is the payment - it seems very excessive for such a quick procedure. But if that's what we have to do to be with our loved ones, so be it!

Just don't go through Atlanta airport!

It is the absolute worst - we had a nightmare at POE this time - I was taken into a back room and interrogated for over an hour - all the while my US Fiancée is waiting in baggage claim crying her eyes out - not one person would help her even though she asked 4 and was in flood of tears.

Ridiculous.

In all the times I have been over - I found Chicago to be the best. POE went something like this (before we were engaged) :

POE Officer : 'Hi. Why are you visiting the US today?'

Me : 'To visit my girlfriend'

POE Officer : 'Have a great trip'

If only it could be that easy every time!

I produced the Affidavit at my interview. You are not required to send copies of birth cert, police cert etc... all those MUST be produced at interview (original plus one copy)All you have to send are the forms and yes you definately need your full birth certificate...If you have all you documents completed I would go ahead and send them in asap.

Ok - thanks for that, I get all paranoid about this kind of thing because I just want everything to go to plan!

I have completed all forms and checked them a million times - ready to be sent off, so first thing Monday I will be down at the post office.

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!