lee&jeniebee

Thanks Dizzy!!

Awesome news from our group! Congratulations Jenie on becoming a US Citizen and for joining the National Guard! I have the treaded paperwork filled out, just need to do one attachment and figure out when to send it in.

Has anyone else from our group naturalized or considering? How long did it take Jenie, I didn't see anything on your timeline. How did she find the process?

Have a wonderful day!

Lise

Hi Lise, once Jenie went to basic training the Army processed her application N400, it was really weird not being involved, I was pretty skeptical. Ok, I did send just some basic documents. They gave her time to attend a class, and take the naturalization test. The day before basic training graduation we went to her oath taking ceremony. The base has a couple of USCIS employees on hand, they actually do the paperwork. Of course there was no fees, but then again, now Jenie is a soldier. She likes it more than I thought, but with basic training and AIT it's a long time to be apart. Of course when you have done the "visa journey" your an old pro at time apart. hahahaha

Hi Guys!! Jenie joined the National Guard in November and she became a US Citizen in February. Hope everyone is doing great!!

Congratulations on your quick approval! I found out today that my biometrics are waived, but told that it can be up to 7 months to be approved. Keeping my fingers crossed that I do not received a RFE this time

For those who were approved and have their 10 year card...are you considering naturalizing?

Hi Lise, looks like Uncle Sam needs to return your biometrics fee, yea probably not.

I will encourage Jenie to go through the the naturalization process so she can sponsor a family member to come here, it takes 10 years for that so the sooner she gets started the better..

Hi Guys, Jenie's approval letter arrived Friday and the green card was in the mail box yesterday, ROC done! Hope everyone is doing well..

Do you guys think we need to send affidavits from family and friends? I know it says it on that instruction form but...ugh, really?

We don't have a home title together because the house is in my name. I bought the house before Mr. L was officially over here.

We didn't do the affidavits, as I understand it is just one of the evidence possibilities and to be honest, it doesn't sound like good evidence to me.

Our check was cashed on the 19th, I am hoping to get NOA #1 today or tomorrow..

Hi guys, I have a real question not about some tv show this time: We are getting ready to file our ROC and I suspect that we are not going to have the new green card by the time the old one expires. My question is will Jenie be able to work in the time between the old card expiration date and the arrival of the new card? Oh and happy valentines day in advance friends!!

Ok, I have to ask, has anyone watched "90 Day Fiancee" on TLC? If so what are your thoughts? I enjoy watching the show, we have seen episode 1, 2 and 3. Somethings I don't like is it seems they selected the couples to ensure drama. The other thing is they place a lot of emphasis on the "90 days" like they are making it feel like you meet and have to get married within 90 days. I would guess the average K-1 visa recipients have known each other close to 2 years from the time they meet until the time they are married? The other thing the show has done is really resurrected the term "Mail order Bride." I use to find this term funny, but twice now someone has suggested that I have a mail order bride and I now find it offensive, believe me, they get an education when I hear that.

Despite my gripes, I have to admit that I am enjoying watching it, Jenie likes it as well.

Knowing USCIS they may cancel your I-130 and you will be waiting another 5 to 6 months for the I-129F, I wouldn't do it.. Just stay with the I-130. Darnell had a good idea, that may help? I am not a lawyer nor am I an expert. Sounds like your lawyer isn't either...

Hi Dizzy, thanks for creating the thread!!! We are just starting to work on our ROC good timing!!! Do you ever hear from Marie?

Me again,

Was doing some reading in the ROC threads. It seems travel outside the USA during ROC is permitted, you use the NOA letter (original copy) and expired conditional green card. This combination of documents gives you a 1 year extension. The caution people give is to be mindful that you may get an RFE or a scheduled interview while you are away. For peace of mind I will not venture far or not venture away at all. I have a 2 week vacation planned to visit my daughter in Alberta before I file. Other than that I go for 2-3 days to Thunder Bay which is only 5hrs away. During ROC is won't be a problem staying put and limiting traveling if a family emergency arises. I feel better now I am now making a list of documents to gather, making sure to cover the length of my marriage. That should keep me busy for awhile

Lise

Thanks for the info!! Yea, we're getting close to filing time!!! I am happy our thread is continuing I am sure as we move through this next few months, we will be looking for answers to questions!! Thanks everyone, I hope everyone is doing well..

Hi all,

Just checking in, seeing how things are going for everyone. I am still amazed at how long it took to get used to being here. I am not at all convinced I am totally used to it. For the first year my poor husband heard "I wanna go back to Canada", with him of course, probably every other week or so. My adjustment to life in the USA has/had nothing to do with my husband, I know he loves me and I love him. It is simply just very different here. I may of said it 3 more times this past year, but I try hard not to say it cause I now know that it makes him sad. The good news is that I am finally working in a job in my field and I really like it a lot. Like some others I have been thinking of the ROC task. I know that I can file in March. I need to read more about it, for example, is travel outside of the USA restricted at that time? I also think it is kinda of annoying that we first pay a fee for ROC and a year later we are eligible to naturalize, yet another fee! Any thoughts on naturalization or is everyone just concentrating on one step at a time? Will we create a thread on the ROC forum to support each other through this next step?

I hope everyone has a beautiful day and enjoy those beautiful Decemberite babies!

Lise

Thank you for the update. Great to hear from you. It's very important for someone moving to the USA to know that life is different here, not better, just different. My wife absolutely loves it here, she has a job, she drives, has her own friends, she is doing great. Me I would rather live in the Philippines! hahahaha Although, as long as I am with my wife, I don't really care where we live..

Hi guys!! Hay is anybody filing to lift conditions of the two year green card yet? We have about 6 months before we start that process but I know some decemberites got their 2 year GC long before us. Just curious how it's going for folks??? Hope everyone is doing well..

Hi everyone,

I am reading a lot of stuff of and it confuses me already...

Is is true that it is okay to change my SSN, DL, state id, and bank info's to my married name and let my GC and my Philippine Passport as my maiden name? Will this cause me a problem if I will have my vacation back to the Philippines next year and coming back here in the US?

Please help

It's not a problem, however, on our last vacation to the Philippines, on two of our flight legs we could not book our seats it was left to the airlines and most likely because my wife's name was different we were not seated together. Fortunately not a 10 hour flight, just a hop. Something small but still not convenient. We have a vacation to San Francisco so we are going to the Philippines embassy to report our marriage and order a passport with her married name.

It appears for the past several months a HUGE amount of I-751's are being rejected as "the supporting evidence does not sufficiently establish that you and your spouse entered the marriage in good faith and continue to share a good life together".

I (Larry and Ella) submitted the deed (fully paid for) for our house in our names, sent the 2011 and 2012 12 tax forms, a joint check account for several months, two affidavits (notarized) Joint health insurance cards, joint auto club cards, deed in both names, insurance policy showing beneficiary credit card statements, etc, and a USB of pictures. My wife has over a thousand pictures with date and GPS coordinates in some cases,

USCIS stated: The evidence does not establish, in sufficient detail, JOINT OWNERSHIP of assets, Joint responsibility for liabilities, and/or an active co-mingling of finances "FOR THE DURATION" of the marriage. Supporting documentation must cover as much of the marital period as possible, and must also indicate joint financial responsibility and joint residency for that same period.

Larry: The key words appears to be for the joint and for the duration of the marriage.

So leases have to be rewritten? Cars that are already owned and paid for and you get a discount for being the original owner need to be re-titled, phone service, cable service, electric statements, and if you have any loans, must be in both names?

Well, holy #######.

I had to send the entire bank statements for every month showing deposits or withdrawals on every account we had. Gee USCIS, do you really need to know I like turkey sandwiches at the grocery store?

What is so bad is that we both are almost joined at the hip we are so close to each other after 3 & 1/2 years of marriage and cannot possibly think of a time when we would wish to change that. She has her own car (hybrid paid for). We even have electric mopeds that we ride around. Her facebook page gets updates several times a week with new pictures. She really like pictures of herself or us, hehehe.

Anyway, If Visa Journey would like, I can scan my letter from USCIS. I did return USCIS asked for several months ago and still no word.

Larry

Wow, you guys have more evidence than most, it's troubling for sure. The USCIS officer whom adjudicated your case must have spilled her Starbucks on the way to work that morning and no evidence you can supply will fix that.

Hi guys! Does anyone know what happened to Tim/Mav ? I tried to send them a message, the message didn't go through. Their timeline is not updated. Tim is from Portland less than an hour from us. I just thought it was weird I couldn't send a message. They were original Decemberites....

I advise you to find another "lawyer friend" because there IS the term "period of authorized stay" and it's quite a well known, and easy to find one at that. Always worries me when attorney's use the fact they have a law degree as a reason to know all :S On this site you'll find it's rarely the case.

Relevant section of the INA - INA 212(a)(9)(B)(ii): http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-2006.html

Relevant section of FAM here which explains the bolded portion above: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87120.pdf (b) (5)

Good work, my friend is a criminal defense lawyer not an immigration lawyer, so cut her some slack (state law not federal). Seriously this helps. It's really really thin and would only help if you apply for AOS before the I-94 expires, bit it could really mud the water. We should all do the AOS before the I-94 expires, we (me) over spent on the wedding and needed an extra month for the $1070 AOS fee. oops. I was wrong. That doesn't mean the K-1 should not be re-worked.

Now if you come here on any visa and are abused, the #### that abused you should be prosecuted and forced to pay for your return home. If in jail that person can not afford to send you home, tax dollars should send you home, within 30 days, period. We can put a lean on the SSN of the #### sitting in jail, next time income is reported, we start collecting (with interest.)

Thanks to everyone for responding on this thread, especially Vanessa&Tony, well done. I have learned a lot. I wish our immigration system could be better, it should be and not so complicated, seriously, even lawyers get it wrong. Despite all of the rhetoric, the last 3 years has been the best of my life.... So far!

They do have the freedom to marry whomever they want... just not the RIGHT to help bring that person to the US without proper vetting.

Also, you're not out-of-status once the AOS has been filed. you're in a "period of authorised stay". But I know what you're trying to say. The limbo between work/travel permit, plus how the GC date dictates ROC date and N-400 isn't really fair. It should really be back-dated to date of filing AOS because we shouldn't be penalised for rid

They do because of the K-1 visa or at least partly because of the K-1 visa because in a lot of cases it makes sense to bring your fiancé/e to the US for the wedding etc.

Now this is interesting and part of the reason why the K-1 needs a makeover. When my wife and I were in the AOS interview, near the end of the interview I asked the USCIS officer interviewing us: Why is there the “limbo” period after the I-94 expires and when the Green card arrives. Her response was as followed: “oh, it’s not limbo time, you are considered “out of status” until you file for the green card, your status becomes “pending”. Being in law enforcement for 15 years I had to do some research. (I didn’t ask any more awkward questions, for fear my wife’s green card would be denied.

What my lawyer friend and I discovered is that there is no legal term “pending” same with: “period of authorized stay” (show me the case law or US code) these are terms the USCIS uses to fill gaps. When the I-94 expires your visa is expired and in most cases the USCIS will ignore this fact for years in some cases. In the law, there is no difference between a work visa or student visa expiring than and I-94 but the expired I-94 will be over looked because it’s impossible to get your green card before it expires if you came here on a K-1.

This would be a really easy fix, you should be able to show up at the local USCIS office with your marriage certificate and SSN card and get a 6 month extension to your I-94, problem solved. No “period of authorized stay” (who’s authorization?) hahaha

But yet they have to pay for a one-way plane ticket to come on the K-1, and another $1000+ for AOS after the marriage. So the cost thing doesn't really make sense in my mind when the CR-1 is actually cheaper.

Now if there was no requirement to have met in person in the previous 2 years, then I can see the cost advantage of a K-1. If there was no K-1, a huge percentage of these VAWA cases would go away. Just seems like it's a big loophole for scammers to get to the U.S. since there really isn't a requirement to even know anything about the person that is coming to the U.S. Only requirement is meeting in person the last 2 years.

On the surface it looks like someone could get here pretty easily by meeting someone on the internet, meet them once, maybe twice. Come to the U.S. on a K-1 and then claim domestic violence after a month. It's pretty obvious the bar is set pretty low to allege abuse. Simply call the cops and say this guy beat me, get a restraining order, and voila! you can file a VAWA claim.

What judge in their right mind would deny a protective order? Could you see the headlines? "Judge Smith refused to grant a TRO, and now the girl is dead"

I have no skins in the game. Just reading this forum makes me wonder about the K-1 and if it should even exist.

I agree that the IR-1/CR-1 is probably a better route, with the K-1 you have to start over after you are married and you have the "out of status" time before the green card is in hand. However, I think a USC should have the freedom to marry anyone they want, regaurdless of where they are from and the K-1 makes that more possible. It just needs to be tweeked.

Why did you and all your friends go searching online for women from 3rd world countries then? How can you say you found "your soulmate" when you only looked in one spot?

My friend moved to Australia on a fiance visa and she got 6 months to marry. I think it has a lot of advantages, but also easier to abuse.

Wait, who said I only looked in one spot? Most of my "looking" was in the US, then I started looking in Europe, then I took a global approach. Almost went to China...

True, but some people don't have the luxury of moving to their fiance/es country to see how they go together. Similarly some people have a ridiculously hard time trying to visitors visas and don't have the VWP. Some people have no other choice... it's wrong for sure, but that's one reason why K1's fail, they just don't have enough time living together, getting to know someone in EVERYDAY life. Everyday life is different to hours or the internet dictated by availability of both parties.

You are very right!

I dont really understand how changing the time period from 90 days to 6 months wouldve made a difference in this case?

The problem here seems to be this line "he was eager for a beautiful Filipino wife". IMO it doesnt matter if he was given 90 days or 6 months to marry after she entered the US.

The K1 visa is not designed as a get to know you visa. There is no 'get to know you' BEFORE we marry visa. You are suppose to know the person and be 100% sure of your intent to marry BEFORE even applying for it.

I completely disagree with you. In fact you sound like a USCIS employee. Most of us (who don't work for the government) can not afford to spend months and months on vacations to the other side of the world each year. I am guessing a lot of people who take advantage of visa journey do so because they are cuting the cost of hiring a lawyer, they can be very expensive and you still have to do a lot of the work. Now if you happened to find your soulmate in Canada or Europe, fantastic, just bring them here on a tourist visa, they can hang out, get to know each other very well. If the love of your life is from a "Third World Country" not so fast! There is no hope of getting a tourist visa, student visa, work visa (unless they are from an elete class.) The alternative is getting to know each other via email, skype, phone calls, and as much time as you can in person. I guess you could string it out for 3 to 5 years but for most people, life is on hold when you are figuring all of this out. We could just come out and say: "unless you make 100k per year, you can't marry someone from a third world country, that would fix it. Of course then you would have people like me doing armed robberies and listing it on the afidavit of support as income! hahahaha Everyone (everyone I know) that used the K-1 visa was 100% sure they had found Mr./Mrs. Right, I was, so was my friend (although when my wife and I saw them fighting on skype before she arrived?) but love is blind and it takes time.

I will say I am VERY thankful we have the K-1 visa program, but like our entire immigration program it needs a lot of work! If you can't clearly see that, wow, I have some property out west I would like to sell you...

I want to thank so many for responding, there was a response or two that was way out there, I am not thanking you, you know who you are. I have advised my friend what I think he needs to do: cancel his sponsorship (AOS), move immediately, and file for divorce. I have also advised him to provide her minimal support and yes, perhaps when the gravity of the situation hits her and she does decide to leave another plane ticket.

Sadly my friend is just as much to blame as his wife for the failure of this relationship. Looking at my own situation now I feel very lucky, I met my wife online, we got to know each other via email and chat and after 2 weeks together in person we were engaged and started this crazy visa process. We were apart 11 months until she arrived that faithful day in August 2011. For me it's been a dream come true and I think my wife would say the same. Looking back, I think there was some luck involved as my friend used the same plan I did and it's been a bad dream for him.

The K-1 visa system should be redesigned, rather than 90 day to get married, why not 6 months? My friend and his wife, both good people but just not compatible. He was to eager for a beautiful Filipino wife, she (and her family) to eager for her to move to America, so here we are. I have learned my lesson, I will be more careful whom I help with a visa next time.

Um, no, not exactly.

Affidavit of support issue? You never stated if the GC was approved or not. She is not entitled to anything exactly. The husband could be sued by the government if she got welfare and other benefits.

So, the real question if whether or not she has been approved for AOS. Has she?

She has not been approved for the AOS, she doesn't have an interview date yet, so that is not even close. I think she received her biometrics appointment but the date has not come for that. The girl will become a "public charge" at some point (I would assume) in the near future. She has no green card, no drivers license, no SS card, cant work. My friend is no longer enthusiastic to provide support for her as he purchased a $1500 plane ticket, drove her to the airport and she wouldn't get out of the car.

If the AOS is not approved yet, then he should immediately withdraw his I-864. Do that first, then initiate divorce etc.

He cannot force her to be deported, but she will not have a path to legality.

All true, my thoughts exactly, but none of that will change the fact that she is in his house and there is nothing he can do about it other than move out himself from what I can tell. He rents so I guess the rental agency would evict her. Then there is that whole afidavit of support issue, which regardles of her status, she is entitled. He is in kind of a pickle it seems..