raffy

Hi, everybody, thank you everyone for supporting us. Soon I am going to apply for ROC, and later on I was thinking of applying for my naturilzation. So what is going to happen if I decide that I don't want to become a US citizen and just want to keep my own citizenship,can I just be on a green card for the rest of my life? Has anybody else done that? Thank you all and I hope you have a wonderful journey.

You can have both citizenships, thats not a problem, just make sure if you have to notify your own (original) country about it, some countries, (I believe Spain, India and if I am not wrong, also Germany) have a "period" that if after you become US Citizen you do not notify them that you want to keep your citizenship, they will take it away so, give a call to your Consulate and asked them about it. It should be an easy answer for them since they should go thru it almost every day.

If you decide to just stay a greencard holder, you will have to stay within certain "restrictions", the one that bothers the most its that you can not leave the country for more than 6 months, if you ever get arrested for anything, you are also putting in danger deportation and/or future citizenship... you do have to renew it every ten years, which means having to pay, submit evidence, wait, etc... also, consider the fact that laws can change and they may affect you without you even knowing and that little slip can cause you to also loose it...

I have 2 other nationalities, i'm planning on becoming a citizen at the end of this year and it will not affect me at all, actually, it will give me a lot more freedom to choose wherever I want to live...

Hope this helped you decide... and please, do not read only my post and take a decision based on it, read a few other threads about it.

Good luck!!

NO. An attorney will only fill out paperwork that you can do yourself... it may seem like a lot, but it's actually about 3 or 4 pages with your info and hers ( I am sure you know your names, when you guys got married and where and, where you guys have lived and worked for the past five years -if you don't know this, not even your mom can help you-)They may claim that they "know people", that they can speed up the process, etc, etc... of course that after you dump a few thousands you realize that it was not needed and what they claimed they could do was not real.

Thousands of people get everything they need from this website. I have done it myself and keep doing it still.

You are probably lost and don't know where to start or what you will need to complete her process, everything can be found here, forms, advice and ways to prepare all of your paperwork, including fees, what needs to be sent, etc. As I said, everything, literally.

Up on the left corner you will find the "search" button... start typing in and you will get as much info as you need and more.

This past tuesday I was at an USCIS office, were a couple was there to know why their paperwork was "bounced"... they had a lawyer and the USCIS officer told them straight up: "you forgot to sign one of the forms"... so make your own conclusions of that...

Once your paperwork get to USCIS, it gets put on a waiting line just as everybody else, that can not be changed and you and everybody else will have to wait until their turn is up, so, it has not been born the attorney who can do a magic trick to speed that up yet... there is lots of them hungry for the money in your wallet though!!

Really, it's not that hard. You can do it.

The most important thing you need is to know what applies to your case (look at the bottom right where it says "general immigration-related discussion), that can be found here, if you really want the easy way to know this, go to the closest US Embassy, they can help you over there and they may even give you all you need to process your case.

If you want an even easier way, just post here your situation and ask what you need to solve it, a lot of people will either tell you how or send you links that will tell you how and what to do.

Good luck!!

This also proves how evil people can be... and I am talking about both of them... ex-husband and, what it sounds to me as the ex-wife, known here as "the friend"...

Just two questions, maybe 3... no need to answer any of them on here: did she get to a certain agreement ($$) with the person she married? if so, would she have to pay you for the same "service"? I am pretty sure I know the answers and if I was in her situation, guess which route would I take?? The third question: ask her to show you her work visa... it should not be a problem at all if she has a real one... if she comes up with ANY type of excuse of why she can't show it to you, dump her on the spot my friend... if she does shows it to you, make sure you read what type of visa it is, write it down and look it up online... you can get a lot of info about it just by doing this... I have a little suspicious that she probably did not even come to the US on that type of visa and maybe because of that, she is so desperate.

A SUPER big red flag: you mentioned that she talked to you about cancelling her "wedding" because you guys had started dating for about a month?? a month?? seriously??? I hope you realize that a month is nothing and should not be taken into consideration how "confident and truthful" she was.

Myself, as an ex "illegal alien" (14 years of that) I dated several girls, most of them US citizens, I never discussed my legal situation with none of them at least after being in the relationship for about a year and a half or so, sometimes more... yes, that scared most of them away but, it also showed me who really cared and who didn't, who was gonna be there for me in good and bad times... That's not the type of stuff you tell somebody a month after you are seeing them because, like it or not, you never know how the other person it's gonna react and mainly, because since you have no idea of how the other person it's going react, you don't know if it's going to dump you, call the cops on you , immigration or who knows what... besides that, I didn't do it because I wanted them to be with me because of me, not because they felt "sorry" for me and wanted to "help" me. I got offered "help" a few times, I refused every time due to my high morals and I end up very well at the end anyways!!

Another thing that you need to know and consider: when filling up any type of paperwork, she will have all of your info (identity theft is done mostly by somebody within your family circle) once you are married, whatever you buy it's also hers, unless you sign a very good detailed pre-nup, so, be very careful with this. Not only that, you will also be financially responsible for her (that's one of the forms you'll have to sign with immigration) and, if she wants to divorce you, by experience, I can tell you that she will probably get whatever she asks for, including, alimony, a monthly payment of XX amount of money to "be able to keep the same lifestyle she had when she was married to you". This payment does not go away easily...

If you still want to proceed with this, here are the answer to a couple of your questions:

1) she can get an annulment for not "consuming the marriage" (meaning that they did not have sex, so the marriage was "not consumed"), it is not a divorce, is more like "it never happened" but it will be required to be input on the forms that she would have to fill.

2) how long before she can marry somebody else and not look "suspicious": I asked this question to my attorney when I was getting divorced from my first wife cause quite frankly, by the time my divorce was finished, I had already started seeing another person and it was going very well... The answer was: at least a year... maybe 2.

I do agree with the post of the girl who went back home and did everything right from over there. If she did not come on a work visa, then she "overstayed", if she overstayed and she goes back home, she will be banned for at least 10 years to come back to the US; if she marry somebody, that can be dropped but it will take a few years of being back home waiting for her approval. If she overstayed, she can get the GC in about 3 months after marrying you and applying for it. Then she can dump you after taking a bunch of pictures and having a few bills under both of your names because she can apply for her renewal by herself if she has enough "evidence" that you guys married for real....

Not a good spot to be in but I think you are young enough to meet plenty of other people that you can be with.

My wife and I opened joint checking and savings accounts after our marriage, and we sent in the bank statements of the first few months with the I-485. My question is can I only include statements that began after my wife got her conditional greencard with the I-751? Thanks!

that's what you ARE supposed to do when applying for I-751. It says it very clear on the "instructions"...

Hello.

I successfully adjusted my status from B-2 to a permanent resident last year.

It's been several months since I received my 2 year conditional Green Card and now I'm planning to visit my family back in my home country for about 2 weeks.

I'm quite nervous as this will be my first time to use my GC (when I return to U.S. from the trip).

What is it like? Anything that I need to be worried about when I come back to U.S.? Anything I should be prepared for?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks!

You should be ready for two/three things:

1st) they will get fingerprints from both hands and a picture (then, with time and depending on the officer, you may just need a picture and your right thumb) and they will ask you how long you were gone and what was the purpose of your travel (business or tourism?) sometimes just to mess with them I tell them that I traveled cause I felt like it, then when they give me the "what?!" look, I tell them "but mostly for tourism" with a smile on my face...

2) prepare to miss being back home, where the food is a lot better and healthier...

3) they may take you "to the back room" once in a while, mostly if you have 2 last names and the guy at the counter doesn't get that, so he will be trying to input your second last name as you first name and the computer will reject the passport... so they will make you go to the "back room" but don't worry, most of the time you will be there for not more than 4 to 5 minutes and then, they won't even take your picture or your thumb print... (out of about 20 trips, I've seen "the back room" about 8 to 10 times, half of those times they didn't even say anything else but a "sorry for the wait, welcome home"). Some other times, Custom's may ask you more questions than the actual immigration officer... if that's the case, just answer the right answers cause they may bust your b@lls for a few minutes if they feel like having fun...

Best advise: when booking an international flight, try to get your seats all the way towards the front of the plane, otherwise you will have to wait in line after all of the people in front of you and when walking towards admissions, walk fast....

Another thing: for those with the "2 year" greencard: once the card expires, you can travel with your expired card AND your NOA, the NOA states that your GC have been extended for one more year OR, have your passport stamped at your local USCIS office (make an infopass appointment for that)

I hope this little posting helps future readers!!

TSA only cares about valid ID issued by an official enitity--US government, US state government, Foreign government. So your passport should be used as your official form of ID when traveling within the US. Just make certain the name on the ticket matches the name of the official ID you are using. This is true for international travel as well should your GC and passport name differ the travel document must match the passport (GC is only used to gain re-entry to the US).

My wife and my MIL traveled within the US using their passports as ID. No problem. The TSA agent never looked at my MIL visa, and my wife's I-94 was expired and she did not have her GC yet. We did not take the NOA1 with us. I have used my US passport to go thru the TSA for domestic flights. All they do is look at the bio page and compare that name with the name on the ticket. They are not CBP and do not care about proper visas and all that as it is not they job.

Have a good trip,

Dave

Wrong, at some airports or due to "orders from above" they will check if you have a valid visa and the only way they will let you go after seeing that is expired is by detaining you and verifying your status, meaning that if you have your USCIS receipt (the one that says that they got your paperwork, etc,etc and your Marriage Certificate) you won't go thru the "getting detained part". An Ex of mine got detained when she went to see me and forgot her driving license but she had her old passport and it was a freaking nightmare. This happened at Tampa airport, and I have seen it happening at some other one, mostly the "international" type that have an USCIS office.

Hello Everyone,

Pretty new to the forum here, but I have been reading a lot of different posts.

We are also hoping to file, and can do so after Oct 6th. Right now, what has me thinking is whether I should do it through the lawyers I have always used or just try to file myself.

Now, I understand that each person has to decide for themselves, but I am wondering if anyone has any information that could help my decision. The lawyers are offering a flat rate fee of $700, but if I could get the same success rate by filing myself, it would be nice to save this money (especially since I am the one still gathering all the information).

What do you guys think? Overall, we have a good amount of evidence in our relationship, the only thing that would help us is if we had kids already, but we are planning to have them next year.

Anyway, I saw very similar post on this, maybe I am just using this to vent my thoughts. But responses would be appreciated.

Hope things go well for all of us, as we start filing in Oct.

- Felix

And you probably paid how many thousands the first time?? Here is another "ditch the lawyer'...

My questions to you: can you fill out a paper with your info and your loved one's info on it? can you put together what everybody it's talking about here? (same stuff that any attorney will hand you a piece of paper to get to him by "X" date) can you? Can you get those things together in an envelope and mail that envelope? if your answer is yes to these 3, very hard to do things (they might be cause a lot of people hires lawyers to do that for them), well, you just saved 700$... where is my commission??!! hehehe... good luck.

We received interview appointment today on the mail! Now we have to get ready for Jan 27th!

:thumbs: :dancing: :dance:

Thanks! I cant believe this is happened! I feel sorry for everyone but im sure this is hope for all... do not even bother with the touches I was slightly depressed to see others touched here and there and honestly quite jealous of raffy getting groped but still like you I see no update or anything online.

Merry Xmas to everybody!

I wish all of you a very speedy process!!

(my case on this forum it's one of the few that got wrongly merged, my stuff went by pretty quick cause my case its different from most of you guys -already in the USA, married an US citizen-)

To all of you that are going thru this crappy processes: the best advice I got from a friend of mine, I'm gonna pass it on to you guys: be patient and DONT COUNT the days, DONT check the site everyday and you will see that your frustrations will dissapear... you'll start to feel more stress free and happier...

When I was told this, I was like: yeah right... easy for you to say it cause you're already done with it... BUT then, I try my best to do as I was told and it actually made my life a lot easier and better...

You are already strapped in this rollercoaster... just breath and enjoy the ride... it will come to an end on its own "uncontrolled" time...

Feliz navidad/merry xmas/ happy Hanukkah!!

Raffy

Wish you ALL the best!! dont forget to

I read on some of the other boards that some people are getting activity and notices from uscis while nothing is posted on their uscis online accounts. They are not updating their online status reports?

Hey Babalu!

That it's correct, the website it's not reliable for a lot of people... sometimes they'll do it, sometimes they wont... specially with notifications (most of the time they won't tell you one its coming)

They will also notify you of something sent after you actually received it (I got a few of those over a week after I was done with my case stating the "old date")

My best recommendation it's for EVERYBODY to that way you'll have a better understanding of what you should expect. My timeline was pretty much on the money!

Good luck and be patient!!

So I have my greencard in hands and I want to go travel to Brazil for a month in March/April. My Brazilian passport expires July/2011. Should I get a new passport? As far as I'm concerned, they won't let you back in the US if your passport expires in less than 6 months from the date of arrival but does that also apply to greencard holders?

If I'm supposed to get a new passport, should I take both old and new passports with me on my trip considering I entered the US with the old passport, the one that has the entry visa and stamp? I really want to get a new passport with my married name (since my greencard also has my married name on it) but I wanna make sure I do it right. Should I also take my marriage certificate with me, just in case?

Thank you.

First of all: it may take you a long time to get a new passport (I don't know how long this will be for Brasil) but most of the time it will depend on the documents your Consulate needs and it could take months to process everything (I have experience with Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina, Ecuador may give you the passport right there and then or they may mail it to you within 5 days, Uruguay needs up to 3 months and Argentina, up to 18 months!!)

So my recommendation it's to go ahead and give your Consulate a call to figure this out...

You should not have a problem getting back, the most important piece that you need to enter the US is your GC, now, does Brasil allows you to change your last name? will they make a passport with your new name?

I'm from Uruguay and my country will not do that unless I do a "legal name change" back home, which can take several years, time and lots of $$ for it to happen so I called my Consulate and they told me that I may have problems when boarding the plane cause my passport has one name and the document they need to see that allows me to enter the US (GC)it's under somebody else's name... I also called several airlines and they told me that it's up to "the airport security people"... and "the airport security people" told me that they only check that the name on the Passport/id matches the ticket, that it's up to the airline's agents to check that we can travel to whatever country they are taking us... (????????) so I am in the middle watching how they pass the ball to each other... My Consul told me to just wait to become a US citizen so all I will need will be my passport under whatever name I choose (but, to Uruguay, I will always have my born given names/last names)

Call your consulate and ask about it... then, let me know...

One last thing: do take your marriage certificate just in case, old driver's license/id,new driver's license/id (to show that you changed your name) etc... make copies of everything before leaving and keep them safe at home when you arrive to BR just in case you "loose them"...

Eu nao comprendo come e possibel que vc nao vai pra carnaval...

Do NOT attend the interview.

Or better yet, attend it and then let the IO know that you are pulling your I-864 since you're convinced that this woman married you solely for immigrating to the US.

That'd be priceless.

100% in agreement with the comments...

...Don't let anyone use for any purpose.

Si, man!

Go by ur statment on number 7, then u may need to explain to the adjudicator -IO- of whats going on with ur name, which can cause a new background check to be run delaying ur approval, you can always make an infopass appointment and ask USCIS directly, which i think its best in your case, sorry about my previous post.

Easy: go by what your birth certificate indicates as your last name and you first name. In some cultures the last name goes first but it is still your last name.

Having just 1 of each does not changes anything.

Mid september filer here.... I got my GC this past week, an exact week after our interview... (I filed 485, 130 and 765)

It took me an almost exact 2 and 1/2 months to get everything done (No RFE's) from NOA.

Be patient guys and best of luck!!

Sep. 16: Received texts and Emails NoA

Sep. 20: NoA letter received

Sep. 22: Case shows up online

Sept. 22: Touched (485, 130, 765)

Sept. 23: Touched (485, 130, 765)

Sept. 27: Touched (485, 130, 765

Sept. 30: Touched (130, 765)

Oct.1st: Touched (130, 765)

Otc. 13: Biometrics done!!

Oct.13: Touched (765, 485)

Oct. 30: Interview appointment letter (I485) dated Oct. 25th, interview on Dec. 2nd

Dec. 2nd: Interview approved, got to wait for GC now

Dec. 6: Made an infopass appointment and got my passport stamped today

Dec. 9: Green Card arrived!! (exactly 1 week from interview!)

If u havent gotten ur ticket yet, make the return for a future visit date, that way when the time comes u have an extra choice -$$-

Also, most international flight tickets are valid for a year from their issue date- canceled or whatever the situation may be such as not traveling without letting the airline know- in these case, most Airline Companies will charge you about 150US$ to change the flight.

I do agree to make sure you call and cancel your return flight. There are several posts on VJ were they did not do that and the passengers show up on the flight's log, causing HUGE problems cause you then have to prove that u did not leave the US and that it was the airline's fault and mistake...

You sound like an easy puppy to manipulate... Read your own post a few times and think about it. No person on a decent state of mind will say what you are saying so, take care of you first.

I do believe all she needs to get approved its to ask you to go to the interview since she probably got what she wanted as far as "proof".... And it will probably be an easy thing for her to convince you to go cause she knows what we all know by now: she has you on the palm of her hand...

Call Usicis, inform them of the situation, withdraw the petition and take care of yourself. Watch out for vawa though...

I advice you to read the story linked below, it's very very similar to yours, I hope you can see some of the "common red flags" and that you learn from this guy's post... good luck!!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/278501-divorce-after-1-month-in-uslong-sad-story/

Congrats Raffy that's very good news!!! I received my EAD today!!

great news!! I'm happy for you!! and thanks by the way

I wish I had my ead... I got a drug test done today for a future job (I will start as soon as I have my SS#)...

Once again, congrats!!

Sep. 16: Received texts and Emails NoA

Sep. 20: NoA letter received

Sep. 22: Case shows up online

Sept. 22: Touched (485, 130, 765)

Sept. 23: Touched (485, 130, 765)

Sept. 27: Touched (485, 130, 765

Sept. 30: Touched (130, 765)

Oct.1st: Touched (130, 765)

Otc. 13: Biometrics done!!

Oct.13: Touched (765, 485)

Oct. 30: Interview appointment letter (I485) dated Oct. 25th, interview on Dec. 2nd

Dec. 2nd: Interview approved, got to wait for GC now

Dec. 6: Made an infopass appointment and got my passport stamped today