foobaz123

Huh... I sent in my IV package last night by email and here it is several hours later and no auto-reply... That seems a bit odd, no?

foofoobaz - i'm shifting my prediction of 'interview date set' from this Thursday, March 8 to the following Tuesday, March 13.

You crack me up man. Thanks.

Now, hopefully you're right... haha

why, there's 2 sets o requirements, Young Paduwan...

1.. NVC Requirements for the DS-230 and

2.. GUZ IV Requirements for issuing the Visa.

Neither entities , for photos, care about the other's requirements.

NVC Wants One Thing™, GUZ IV Wants Another Thing™.

GIMP Rocks.

Damn right it does.

This can happen to the best of us, trust me, I know how that feels.

I would hold off an emailing it for now, if you get a checklist, you can quickly submit the new PDF. Otherwise, just have your wife bring the complete form to the interview.

Thanks. I feel terrible. I read the stupid thing 20 times at least. I guess my mind's eye said those fields were optional somehow.

That sounds reasonable. The only reason I'm tempted at all to email it in is there is no indication they've even reviewed the 'broken' one. I'd hate to end up losing two weeks over such an error. That April interview is getting a more distant dream.

Yeah... I'm on the fence as to whether to call them or email them about it and send over a new one or not. They probably haven't even seen the "wrong" one yet. On the other hand, there's a slight chance they won't even notice and shoot right down to the tax transcripts which show the same information.

New PDF generated. I'm torn between just emailing this to them tonight and bringing it to their attention and hoping they don't notice and just process the one in hand.

Oh noes!

Get a new I-864 prepared and fix the PDF. Then wait. Hopefully, by some miracle, your I-864 gets accepted and this won't slow you down anymore than you have been with the optin.

Yeah... I'm on the fence as to whether to call them or email them about it and send over a new one or not. They probably haven't even seen the "wrong" one yet. On the other hand, there's a slight chance they won't even notice and shoot right down to the tax transcripts which show the same information.

Yup. My AOS package was about 30 pages, 8MB in total (after reducing its size through Adobe Acrobat, was originally like 20MB). And then my IV package was about 10 pages, only 3MB (no reduction in size needed). Sent separately.

Okay, that's what I'm doing too.

Along those lines, I think I've done a terrible thing and am going to end up with an RFE for my troubles. It seems I left the income information on question 19 part 5 of the I-864EZ blank.

I can't bloody believe I did that.

After spending $30 on the initial photos needed for the I-130 package, I wanted to find a cheaper place to get them done. Then, lo and behold, someone mentions the above site somewhere here on VJ. So, I took my own picture for NVC, used the site to crop it, and voila! Spent $0 on it Did the same thing for the medical and then the interview. Saved $60 in the end

Saylin, didn't you say before you submitted both your AOS and IV packages as a single PDF each?

http://www.epassportphoto.com/ <---- free

Good to know for the future.. in the past, I've always needed them "Right Bloody Now" with optional "Yesterday, please".

It's the government we're talking about. When have they ever been efficient? *hopes no government people are watching this site as I don't want to be deported*

Indeed... Indeed... Thankfully, getting those passport style photos in China isn't the "Are you freaking kidding me?!?!" prices they are here. I've never paid so much money for such a tiny picture as when it was in that magical 2x2 format.

Even in non-EP cases, you still have to bring new passport photos to the interview. One of the requirements... I still wonder what they did with all 9 of my passport-style pictures

LoL

I know you have to bring them, I was just confused as to the implied inability to use the ones you scanned for NVC.

<-- scans and burns them as they're clearly worthless now...

1. send in a set to NVC via EP

2. bring another set for GUZ IV document intake day.

<--- Confused.....

Why would two entirely separate sets be required? Since one would presumably still have the ones scanned to NVC?

Until April 17th (tax deadline in the US), the most recent tax year is both 2010 and 2011. So, if he hasn't filed 2011, that's okay. As long as you have 2010 and submit that, you're good to go. Just make sure he files soon, as your interview will most likely be after April 17th, and then 2011 tax information will be required. And try to get the tax transcript for 2011 as that's highly preferred. This is what we did in our case. We were at NVC in February and my husband hadn't filed his 2010 taxes, so we just submitted tax transcripts of 2007-2009. Then at the interview, I brought his 2010 tax transcript (which I had just gotten merely a few days earlier).

Like I responded to someone else, as long as it doesn't leak through to the front, it doesn't matter what you use to write with. And it might be overkill for an EP case, but I still did. I even digitally added our case to the top right of each page, even though it's probably not necessary for an EP case. But, I didn't want to leave ANYTHING up to chance.

That makes me think of digitally adding the bits to the back...

<-- Fires up GIMP

As long as whatever you use doesn't leak through to the front, then it doesn't really matter what you use. In my case, I used a pen and wrote as light as I could.

Grats!

And yay, I finally get poutine!

In my case, I signed the IV package (as it's all about the beneficiary, and I was the beneficiary). And my husband signed the AOS cover letter as the AOS is all about the petitioner.

But, I don't think it would really matter if the petitioner signed the IV cover letter. I doubt many (if any) look at the cover letters anyways.

Once you get to NVC, the petitioner's birth certificate isn't needed (only in IR-5 or IR-2 cases, or with joint sponsors being a parent). Only the beneficiary's birth certificate is needed.

I've seen this happen every now and then, or the birth date is wrong, or something similar. NVC should fix the error sometime this week. Just keep calling to inquire about it.

Grats! Please call back and give both the petitioner's and beneficiary's email address. This way, all correspondence is sent by email, not snail mail. Once this is done, yes, you will receive from NVC an "initial information" package that contains the case number and IIN, as well as an expired DS-3032 to submit.

I'd suggest going to my wiki linked in my signature and go to the 'Scanning' section. I describe in great detail how I scanned my two pictures.

You're including the untranslated original/certified copy of both the marriage, birth, and police certificate correct? You need to include them along with the translations. Other that that, it looks good

I'll check out the Wiki.

As to the untranslated/translated thing, one nice thing is that for China they come together in a handy "white book". So, two for one!

I've seen this set 3 ways (Make a Venn Diagram, it's fun!)

1. one page per photo, photo and back of photo in a page.

2. one page per scan, 4 pages total, 2 of photo, 2 of back with the scribbles

3. ONE PHOTO only.

Ultimately, she has to hand over new photos on document intake day cause GUZ IV won't use the scanned photos taken at NVC. Ain't this sh|t fun ?

LoL. Government, For The Win!

Do you mean to say they won't accept the same ones at all or just merely that original ones have to be handed in? Originals make sense, but this is GUZ we're talking about, no?

it's 10 megabytes per email.

You can put multiple emails out, say one IV thing with 90 evidence things, yes? I mentioned this in the Feb Thread

Aye, that you did. Though, I still don't know what I'd include that hasn't already been done. There comes a point when everything that can be said has been said, no?

A bit of a random question, we're supposed to write the beneficiaries name on the back of the pictures prior to scanning them, yes? That being the case, does it matter whether we do it in ink or with a pencil? Is it really necessary to do with an EP case? If it isn't necessary, is it even necessary to scan physical pictures if you have digital versions?

Saylin's NVC guide has great instructions for the photos. Also, I think the photos have to have been taken within the last six months, so double check that.

I have a I-864ez/tax question. My husband just paid our AOS and got last years tax transcript in the mail (2010.) he hasn't filed his 2011 taxes yet. How do we deal with that? How can we honestly say "we have filed taxes for three most recent tax years" aahahhdhsjdj

I hope so since that's exactly what we did. I sent in the transcripts for 2008, 2009 and 2010 with the idea that 2011 hasn't been filed yet. Being prior to 17April that seems perfectly reasonable.

FWIW, I pondered whether or not I should send extra evidence to the NVC. I ultimately decided to only send what they asked for.

That's what we're going with. Unless USCIS dropped our evidence on the floor, anything more we added would end up being more of the same really.

Speaking of the IV package.. here is the current checklist.. am I forgetting anything?

• Document cover sheet
• DS-230
• Copy of Beneficiary's Passport Biographic Data Page
• Certified Translated Copy of Marriage Certificate
• Certified Translated Copy of Beneficiary's Birth Certificate
• Certified Translated Copy of Beneficiary's Criminal Report
• GUZ-P3 Supplemental Form
• 2 Passport sized pictures of Beneficiary

I'm posting this question blind so I'm sorry if it's been answered elsewhere....

I'm double checking the IV package prior to kicking it out the door and was wondering.. for the picture requirement I have a digital copy of Sue's passport photo which I've resized and cropped to 2x2. The question at hand is, did you guys actually include two pdfs with nothing but that picture in it?

Or did you do something else?

When did you make the payment?

Friday morning I believe. I was shocked to see it show up out of the bank account early this morning. Caught me unprepared I must say.

It shows as paid on the website now.

So, the IV fee bill has come out of the bank but has not yet shown as paid on the website. I'm sure it will soon.

I do have a bit of a dilemma though, do we try and send in additional evidence with the DS-230 or not? I believe that as long as our 200+ pages of evidence didn't get dropped on the floor between USCIS and NVC and then on to GUZ, we ought to be fine. Hell, if that much evidence doesn't do the deed there isn't anything in this world that would (short of us living together with two or three kids).

So really, I'd be resending what was already sent with a possible addendum. The wife says "skip it". I tend to lean in the same direction since I really don't know what more we could send. I may take another look at the size of the PDFs for the master evidence files and see if I can squeeze them into the 10MB limit. Such a silly small limit when you think about it...

Don't worry about snail-mail payments Like I said, just wait until Monday or Tuesday, and everything will be fine!

They already tried on another computer and were still getting the same issue. That's why it must be NVC...

I'd suggest sending in all your tax transcripts (2008-2010). Then, since you haven't filed 2011 yet, send in the tax return (1040) and your 2011 W2s (as well as any other schedules, if applicable). Don't bother sending in the W2s for 2008-2010 as everything is needed on the tax transcript.

And since pay stubs and employment letters are optional, don't worry about them not being perfect or anything. Just send in what you have. A question about your pay stubs though, do they have a YTD amount? If so, then you only need to send the most recent one, and not 6 months worth.

It's also pretty clearly a server side error. This is a good reason not to use ASPX, but that is a subject for another post on another forum.

Well, one thing is that fraudulent immigration from VWP countries is very low, virtually non-existent, certainly not relevant statistically. That's why these countries are kept in the short list, and they can easily be excluded if something happens (say, a real bad economical crisis) that would make moving permanently to the US appealing for their citizens. It happened in the recent past.

I can only talk for my birth country because I don't know about the other ones, but in France, people visit the US as tourists A LOT. I barely know anyone over 30 who hasn't visited New York, or Las Vegas, or made a tour in the West. Because it's affordable even for lower middle class people. Flocks of French tourists come every year to spend their juicy €€€, and for thousands and thousands of visitors on shopping sprees, there might be one fraudulent entry. Still profitable.

Change the rules and don't let them in without a visa? 90% of them won't bother, and they'll go to Canada, Australia, wherever. People from the EU are used to travelling with nothing but their passport, we have access to the entire European continent, many countries in Africa, Asia and the middle East, without the need of a visa. They would just stop coming.

All true. I suppose I could swallow the VWP thing a bit easier if places like Singapore and Brunei weren't in the list. Since it is by entire country the poorest highest risk person from places like those, and others in less well off parts of Europe too, can (if they can get the money together) hop on a plane any time they like. However, an equivalent person from China has practically no chance of doing the same. Unless, oddly, they come as a student. Then it is infinitely easier despite the theoretical risk being practically the same.

What I would suggest is to make getting a visitor visa far simpler and far easier, even if that does mean keeping a bit better track of visitors while they're here. It would tend to beat the alternative of making it practically impossible for most people.

I'll make sure I read that!

I'm just thinking about something, do you have to provide police records for AOS? Cause if not, then allowing adjustment from VWP is the perfect way for the US to welcome criminals, rapists and drug dealers coming from VWP countries, which may have secured passport issuance procedures and stable economies but also have just as many criminals as other places in the world... These people would be found ineligible for immigrant visas but can still get through the back door. I don't see a mention of police records in the AOS guides here. Creepy.

That right there is probably my biggest problem with VWP and AOSing on VWP. Person from VWP country A has virtually no income, few ties to their home country (which economically may not be any better off than China or India) comes over and after bluffing past the POE they're in. Honestly, I'm not sure I can be convinced that at POE (especially at an airport with 500+ people in line) they are going to be anywhere near as thorough as they may be at a visa interview. Yet, I digress. Point being, this is a person who never would have been given a B2, but since they come from VWP country A they can, relatively, waltz in.

Person from Non-VWP/Non-preferred country B is doing well in their home country. They make good money for their location but do not yet own property and is not yet married. They want to come to the US for a visit because why not it's there. They apply for a B2. They are instantly denied at visa interview for "insufficient ties to the home country". Visit canceled.

Meanwhile, person A up there has met someone in the US during their 'visit' and gotten married. They file the AOS paperwork and have their greencard within a few months. At this point things go one of two ways, they either immediately divorce and leave (if bad intent) or things go forward for them and they stay (if good intent). Either way, they got here in a matter of hours and the result is a greencard an no worries.

Person B tries for another B2 and is again denied. They now own an apartment but since they're still not married and have no kids the VO decides that today property isn't enough of a tie to the home country. Person B decides to hell with it and decides to visit a country with more sane visa policies. The US loses tourist dollars, Person B loses the chance to visit an amazing place. Everyone loses. Except Person B.

No

The beneficiary's address that you write on the I-864EZ is their current address. If the beneficiary's current address is their foreign address, that is the address you write.

I agree. I even started a thread a while back expressing this view, if you want, you can read it here.

As I recall we both got a bit flamed in that thread too...