Aztec&Taino

Yes, it would be listed under the "Last Updated" column in the USCIS website. Our case never got any touches though. It was just approved (150 days later). So, don't go nuts trying to chek the touches or try to decipher their meaning (or the meaning of not getting any updates). I know it is hard to not get upset, but try instead to focus your energy on positives; going to the gym, preparing your home for your mate, emptying closet space, redecorating, etc. Your happy news will one day come...

In a nutshell... You have a lot of reading to do

You can start at the "Guides" link found at the top of the page and read upon the process for both the fiance(e) visa and the spouse visa. There are differences in both cost and expected processing time. Both visa journey paths have advantages and disadvantages. For instance, the fiance(e) visa path is more expensive, but it tends to be faster. Yet, you also need to consider that your fiance would not be able to work soon after arriving to the US, which would represent additional costs for you (the petitioner).

The spousal visa has the advantage of being less costly and the advantage of being able to work soon after arriving to the US. However, the processing times of the I-130 are (on average) longer than the processing times of the I-129 F. Also, what are your desires? Do you wish to marry in the DR? Do you wish to marry in the US? Do you or do you not mind for your marriage to start by being apart for months? These are very personal questions that you need to consider. Also, you mentioned your "boyfriend" being in the DR. Has he actually proposed? Are you yet at that stage of formalizing your relationship? Consider your options and discuss them with your mate. What works for someone else may not work for you.

Best wishes!

Hi,

My first post on this great site. Allot of useful information I have been reading for week.

Myself and my girlfriend have only been together for 3 months. But we know exactly what we want to do. Will the US government get this, will they have an issue with our relationship being so new? If so what would you say is the minimum amount of time to be together before applying purely based on the application process?

I am from the UK. British. She is from the US. American. No convictions. I have a good job, no debt.

Also if we did apply and it was to soon would it prevent me from applying again in the near future?

MM

The only condition for filing a petition for a fiance(e) visa is that the petitioner and the beneficiary have met, in person, within the last two years of filing the petition. There is no minimum dating requirement, just a meeting in person requirement for the initial petition. Since you are from a "low fraud" country I doubt that this would become an issue by the time your interview were to take place. Additionally, by the time you have an interview at the American consulate in London, your relationship will be months long and you will have had more time to gather evidence that would prove the bona fide nature of your relationship.

Best wishes!

You can follow the immigration timelines link and see what is the NOA 1 date of the petitions that are currently being adjudicated. However, be prepared for months of waiting without hearing any news and/or updates. You can sign up for automatic updates at the USCIS website. Also, if you are able, travel to see your husband as often as you possibly can as this is particularly important to show a bona fide relationship at the Santo Domingo Embassy (due to being seen as a high fraud country).

Best wishes!

Congratulations to you and your aunt for having her parents approved for their visa. It is good to know that, in this case, they did not discriminate based on the health and age of the beneficiaries.

Im going to be accompanying my fiance to his interview on Oct. 20, and am wondering how long I should plan on staying in the Dominican Republic to wait for the visa (assuming we are approved) so that we can both travel back to the States together? Are there any people who have dealt with the Santo Domingo Embassy in the DR who could shed some light on this? Thank you!!!

My then fiance's interview was on March 9. I arrived to the country in the afternoon of the March 8 and we came to the US together on March 18. We picked up the visa at the Santo Domingo Domex office on Monday, March 14. So, it is quite doable to attend the interview with your fiance and then come to the US together. I am glad we came together since he is not bilingual and not used to traveling by plane. We also lost a connection because of delays at the point of entry and I had to make arrangements to find another flight home. So, if you are able, I would recommend you plan on coming to the US together. Yet, do not buy his flight until you have passport with visa (double and triple checked for correctness) in your hands!

I would have hope for the fact that they kept her passport. If they were denying the visa outright, why would they need the passport?

The EAD will take between 2 - 3 months to get approved once filed. Yet, you need to see the timeline in realistic terms. Are you planning to marry right away and also sending the AOS packet right away? If not, you would need to add this time to the wait time for working. Additionally, in this economy, she may not be able to find a job right away. So, even though she may have her EAD in hand it may take her a while to find a job. I hope you have prepared for the additional expenses coming up...

Thank you for your replies!

I had already received a previous e-mail and letter notification of the transfer to CSC. This e-mail was new, advising me of a transfer to a local office, which makes me think that it will be for the purpose of the interview. Otherwise, it would have stayed at CSC until the "greencard" was approved and in production.

Thank you for your replies. Interview coming up is what I immediately thought, but wanted to run it by VJ. I was hoping the AOS would be approved without an interview, just because of the hassle, but I am not afraid either. Just something more to do...

Hello!

I just received an e-mail notifying me that my husband's case was transferred from the California Service Center to a local USCIS office. Does anyone know what this means? Does this necessarily mean that we will be interviewed in order to get an approval?

Thank you.

my NOA2 says that USCIS sent my case directly to the consulate listed above, could it be? i just called NVC and they say that USCIS determines if they send it to NVC or send directly to the embassy...i need answers!

Approved petitions go to the National Visa Center. K1 petitions usually stay there for 1 - 2 weeks before the packets are sent to Santo Domingo's Embassy. You can call NVC for updates and after your packet is at the Embassy you call the visa specialist for updates.

I think I my post was confusing.

My fiancee entered the USA on 6/01/2011. Her I-94 only gives her permission to be here until August 31, 2011.

We married on 6/14/2011.

I am submitting her I-485 application package tomorrow.

If USCIS sends back the package for any reason, is she considered in the country illegally?

Or once you marry, the I-94 is valid as long as your present your marriage certificate?

Thanks!

If you are already married, why are you still calling her your fiancee? Send the AOS as soon as you can. Her status will be pending AOS approval.

It sounds like the 10 year old was thinking with a child's innocence. As you know, children sometimes state the obvious without historical reference of shoulds and should-nots. He was probably using logic and analysis with no thought to race or whether this might hurt someone who has a pre-disposed sensitivity. As to the parent.... they quite probably had a discussion with the child in private.

I agree with Krikrit in that the comment as stated by the child did not seem malicious or racist. In fact, I thought it a bit endearing as it showed innocence and a basic sense of mixing colors -who has not, as a child, played with the combination of paints or colored pencils?

I thought that the mom's reaction was a bit of a missed opportunity. Perhaps she could have approached you and establish a conversation with your family so that the child could perhaps understand your son's background and culture. But perhaps, as Krikrit said, she did have a conversation with the child in private.

I think that sometimes people send both their birth certificate and copies of all pages of their passport because they would be proving two different purposes with each document; the BC would be to prove their nationality and the passport copies to prove their visits to the beneficiary's country.

Your fiance will eventually need to get his BC inextensa format and you would need a translation of it. You would also need to get a translation of your marriage certificate.

Let it go. It was before you knew of each other's existence. Keep your eyes in your shared lives and future and do not let jealousy ruin your happiness. Move on from this trip.

The USA is the "world" mixing bowl and as described in the original post of this thread, the people addressing your spouse were trying to connect. What could be wrong with that?

William33 - Yes, I actually love that even if it is in a "mistaken" way (mistaken in language and culture, but accurate in color/race) my husband has had a sense of affiliation. It could be seen as a sort of "gift" and being accepted to US culture.

As you Know Aztec I grew up right where you live, and so this comes as NO surprise to me.I have already spent a ton of time explaining that my fiance is Dominican, not black, not mexican but Dominican. This is true for my mexican fam as well as my white fam. People seem not to know where DR is or what language is spoken. I have always found it odd how the midwest sees race and culture especially that area. But we will soon see if Chicago fares any better in my fiances case. Wish you all the best!

Carol - You are right. People ask me if they speak Spanish in the DR all the time. I guess they know more about Haiti because of the eathquake. In general, people do not know much about DR. Unless someone they know (or themselves) vacationed or got married there.

His nationality maybe Dominican, but somewhere in that family tree there were some ancestors who came from Africa. He may not or you may not want to accept that, but the picture isn't lying.

All African Americans aren't pure, we all have a mix of some other nationality, i.e Naive Americans, European, Caribbean, Asian, the list could go on. AS William33 stated I saw nothing wrong with the brothers who were trying to connect with him.

BTW, the only people who will label him as Spanish origin will be the census bureau, so he better get use to being label as something else (other).

Life's Journey - Yes, there would of course be African heritage in him because of his color and the country's history of colonization. No, absolutely nothing wrong with the brothers trying to connect. I think I may actually be a bit jealous of this borrowed sense of affiliation. I sure did not have that welcoming feeling when I first came to the USA. I think he is lucky, in that sense.

OP - It's just ignorance but not in a bad way. Some people have pre-conceived notions thus automatically assume certain things. Rather than getting annoyed maybe take the time to educate.

Best wishes!

Jac_Chappin - Yes, time to educate and destroy myths and assumptions!

Agreed on all points. Well stated LIFE'SJOURNEY!

"Many of my Spanish speaking friends have attempted to speak English to him as soon as I introduced him to them. Only after telling them that he only speaks Spanish do they switch from English"

Is it not normal to intially approach everyone in English in an English speaking country?

Staceyafreeman - I guess I should have prefaced that example by saying that these meetings were at the Latin dancing club where most dancers are Spanish speaking and not English speaking (though there are some bilingual dancers and some English speaking only).

my niece is a mixture of japanese and dominican. She looks japanese, but i know when she goes to japan they will know that she is mixed. In the Dominican Republic we are mixture of natives, african and spaniards. my family has all three mixture. To some people I look african american to others hispanic. some people even see some dominicans are they think they are white bc they don't know that dominicans come in every color

Ana y Ray - Interesting combination. So, does your niece speak English, Spanish and Japanese? That would be great! She would be culturally and language rich.

DOminicans have such a range of colors and facial features that we can be mistaken with almost everyone. People ask me if I am from Pakistan or India lol. Same can be said for most of Latin America because of the european, african and native american mix we share.

My sister, who is dominican, is married to a mexican man. She's very light skinned and when they go out in mexico people think she is "gringa", so her situation is similar to yours.

I love the multicultural potlock that we have here, and don't mind to be confused with others at all. I take it as an opportunity to learn and teach because many times it is just innocent ignorance.

Terca - Thanks for sharing and thank you for sharing the picture. Yes, your sister looks very "white" even though she has dark hair. Yes, I can see how someone might think you are from the Middle East too. Many times people do not guess that I am Mexican. I was actually confronted once by a couple of Mexicans at the mercado who swore that I was "too white" to be Mexican. We need to realize that there is more than one mold for people.

Congratulations!

Now, time to look forward to the wedding!

My children are Mayan Indian from their father. When they are with him, people say that they can't be his children, but when they are with me, they say the same thing. They don't look like either of us, but do look more like each other. It's nice if the children can learn both languages and get a greater experience of their heritage. The fact that so many children nowadays are very mixed means to me at least that they can identify with each other in ways perhaps our parents couldn't growing up. I remember my mother was very ashamed of her Polish heritage. Her parents spoke Polish at home and they dressed her in a rather strange manner with these big, ugly boots. She used to get physically sick at school, because she felt so different. She completely stopped speaking Polish. Now, everybody is different and it is harder to classify people.

Golden Gate - I think we have made, as a society, a gigantic leap in terms of cultural awareness and diversity. It is good to know that children today would be less likely to experience the isolation and shame that your mother experienced growing up. Yet, there is still more work to be done, particularly in the less diverse areas of our country.

My first (very irreverent) thought was to recommend splashing him with whitewash paint before you go out, but a better idea might be to find or print up some T-shirts that say "Proud Dominicano" or "Do You Speak Spanish? I Do." He could wear these around until people know him better, si man.

TBoneTX - I don't him he would take whitewash well. Besides, the idea of "whiteness" is far more complex than skin color. For example, in my own case, even though my skin color is white I would never be considered white by the mainstream of this country because I was not born in the US and I have an accent. So, no whitewashing him or me... About the second idea he did use to say at first that he would have a baseball cap made that said "Dominicano" or "100% Dominican" or something like that to help people correctly identify him.

Or (delayed creativity): "Is that a Plantain in my pocket, or am I happy to see you?"

MMmmhhh... I don't quite know how to respond to this one, except that he does not eat as many bananas as he used to. He is now "mexicanising" a bit actually. He is now beginning to use salsa (spicy) in his tacos! Quite some progress for a man who thought black pepper was too spicy when he first arrived to the US!

FWIW: My Romanian ex spouse was mistaken for hispanic frequently. She has a darker complexion. Transylvania is a long way from Tijuana. She used to just smile and correct folks. It did help her pick up some more Spanish.

Could you tell a white Canadian from a white American by sight? (Assuming that the Canadian wasn't munching on Timbits) Just one of those things that comes with living in the cultural stew of the US.

Anh map - I am glad your ex-wife used the opportunity to learn a few Spanish words and yes, you are right, there might be no way to distinguish a Canadian from an American by sight.

This is not mistaken identity. This is simply ignorance. My older sister is black; we share the same father. We are puertoricans. My father is black. My last name is Fitzpatrick, and of course, I'm not married. It is a slave name; we've been carrying it generation after generation. When I go to visit her and my younger sister in Atlanta-a predominantly black city- we speak Spanish. People stare at us in disbelief! Anyways, what you're asking is a thesis. I recommend the book Growing up HIspanic. Where do you live? I live in New York, where is absolutely normal to be black, white, yellow, purple and red and speak any language.

I work in the entertainment industry. Many of the actors I represent complain because they are latino/ hispanic, but whent they go to auditions, they do not "look" the part. One of my best friends is Rogelio Douglas. He's a Broadway performer (In The Heights, Little Mermaid). He's black and very much from Panama. His Spanish is perfect and even for voiceover work he's rejected! He did a hiphop looping, however, lol!

If you want to help your husband out, go to the Pew HIspanic Center's website and get all the statistics and demographics. Feel free to email me if you want more information: morena_boricua@hotmail.com

Gracias

Gracias Morena Boricua! I will look up that book. It is just interesting to me to think of the racial identity that our future child will be given as part of growing up in the US culture. I guess it will also depend on how much the child looks like me or like my husband, depends on how the genetic wheel of fortune turns our child could be "white," "black" or "mixed."

I disagree that it is ignorance. When I looked at the OP's pic I can see how this happens. Her husband appears "black". Having said that, my husband is Egyptian and gets mistaken for Hispanic all the time. He just corrects them and goes about his merry little way. People can take offense when often no offense is meant.

Betsy El Sum - It is ignorance if people ignore the fact that as Latinos we come in many different shapes, sizes and colors. Neither does my husband nor I take offense in the confusion, but as I said in my post, we take it as a "learning opportunity" for people in our not-too-diverse area.

The area where you live probably has a lot to do with it. I live in the northeast, Boston to be exact, and I don't see this problem too often. But there is HUGE Dominican population here, so that's probably why. The only thing you can do is kindly educate them, and make them aware.

Francis y Steph - Yes, we surely would not be running into these moments in Dominican rich areas. There are very few Dominicans here, we only know a handful.

There is this funny joke that says that Jesus spoke English, because the Bible is written in English. Never been to the Midwest, but it doesn't seem like a very openminded place. If you were in NY or California, nobody would care what he speaks.

The Midwest is a big place, and while it has a lot of rural areas, where people might not see anyone from any other place, it also has large cities and large populations of people from different countries.

Yes, the Midwest is too large an area to describe by general terms and it comprises tiny towns, small and medium cities, as well as cosmopolitan areas (such as nearby Chicago).

I like the discussion! Keep commenting

Hello everyone!

I want to share with VJ members some of the experiences that we have lived on an almost day-to-day basis since my fiance (now husband) moved to the US about five months ago.

My husband is Dominican. He is about 6'4", slim and, to American standards, black or African-American. To me, of course, he is the man I love with his specific culture, myths, language, and beliefs. To everyone else in our Midwest community he is African-American. It seems as though the following happens all the time: We are walking around in a public place (restaurant, store, street, etc.) and almost whenever an African-American male sees him he is greeted with familiarity with a "What's up man?" or a "What's up bro." He does not particularly like to be mistaken with an American -as he is quite proud to be a Dominican- and he laughs it off. Also, it has been funny to see people's amazement to hear him speak Spanish and to know that he does not speak English. He has even been confronted with the following comment; "if you don't speak English, what do you speak then?!"

Overall, we have taken people's ignorance of the possible existence of a black Latino in good spirits; my husband is a walking teaching experience to our medium sized town's people who are used to the "Mexican" look for a Latino.

Yet, even Latinos have had a "learning moment" and my husband has had to explain himself (his color) to his fellow Latinos. Many of my Spanish speaking friends have attempted to speak English to him as soon as I introduced him to them. Only after telling them that he only speaks Spanish do they switch from English. Of course, the explanation of my husband's origin has to follow and people continue to be confused every day... Just this last week we went to a Chinese buffet and the server asked him in amazement; "you're speaking Spanish?!." "Yes, I speak Spanish," my husband has learned to say in English.

Have other beneficiaries experienced a case of a "mistaken identity" after the move to the USA? If so, do you take the opportunity as a teaching moment or is it just plain annoying? Also, I wonder what our future child's race will be! What will our child be considered? African-American? Latino? Or what?

To me, this a fascinating topic as race politics continue to be present in our lives, even as the country's demographics continue to change. What's your experience?

This whole thread is making me afraid of getting a RFE! I sent the AOS packet at the end of July and I sure did not include many of the things members said they got RFEs for -wedding announcements? Really? My wedding was the cheapest wedding in history! Just a bunch of people eating and drinking at my best friend's house!

Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

this is how my step looks :

Initial Review

On February 18, 2011, we received this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E), and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or contact our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

omg,, this is normal?? when i call they says that the are working on it ? they work weekend?? it affects my case if i call alot??? help me cause it kills me looking how everybody is getting it and not me

While the processing goal for this type of petitions is 5 months, some people have had to wait longer for adjudication of their petition. You can look at the timelines here in VJ to see an approximate date of the petitions they are working on at the VSC. You could also call USCIS and inquire about the status of your case.

AP can take from days/weeks to months. You could call the visa specialist and ask about the status of your fiance's visa. Best wishes!