ionsnewwife

My fiance is camping in Puertecillo with no phone and doesn't know yet... the petition was approved on Friday. I'd told my son Papa is coming soon and he said "YAAAY PAPA AMO PAPA"
Good luck and best wishes to those who are still waiting.

Congratulations!
I would be waking his butt up!!

I was thinking of calling the USCIS today but my fiance said no we will call tomorrow. I just checked my email from USCIS saying that my case has been approved. I had to rub my eyes and read it again and again. I went back to USCIS website to checked my case status. Thank you lord they really approved my case. I try to call my fiance but he's sleeping cuz just finished night shift. Its 10.30pm in the uk OMG not sure if I can sleep tonight.
(I've just known this feeling since I got approved)
woooo hoooooooooooooooooo
thank you everyone for reading this I'm overwhelm

:wow: :wow: Ohhh my goodness!!!!! so i just got home tonight from work, after a hard work and busy day. As usual I opened my laptop to check the status off my K-1 petition, and as soon as I put the numbers in I saw these:
On April 26, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.
I was shocked and so very happy that we got approved. I can't imagine how happy I am tonight and so relieved. I called my fiance in the Philippines but she forgot to bring her phone with her when she went to the market with her dad. So I tried to call her sister and luckily she answered the phone and she told me that she will be back soon. I don't know what will be her reactions once i tell her that our petition is approved.
Now I come to believe that great things would come to those people who wait patiently. On the other hand my fiance and I went to tremendous wait and suffering while this thing is going on. But now we are feeling better and excited about the rest of our journey. As I remember, last night while I was talking to her to say good night and how much I love her that no matter how long will it takes wait to get her here, that I will never give up because true love means real patience and then I give her a kisss over the phone and "I love you baby" (L) :P
:D :D :dance:

Nope there is no shutdown and everything is slow right now trust me/

this is not good news... from the website posted:
"While the diplomatic and security aspects of the Department of State (DOS) operations would continue, visa applications would likely not be processed in the event of a shutdown. It is anticipated that the consulates will not be open for visa appointments and processing. Thus, depending upon the duration of such an event, individuals could be stranded abroad with no way of obtaining required travel documents. The same is true for the processing of U.S. passports. "
But for those of you still in the USCIS.. you're okay:
"The USCIS is expected to continue to adjudicate benefits applications and petitions. This is possible because these operations are funded by the filing fees that are submitted with the various applications and petitions. "

http://www.murthy.com/news/n_shutdo.html
good description of what would be affected.

Embassies and Consulates will not shut down even in a government shut down. The President by executive order can keep certain departments of the government operating regardless, one of which is the diplomatic corp.
Other obvious ones are homeland security, FBI, etc.
Anything to do with security and protection of citizens abroad does not close down.
Many people here think an Embassy or Consulate is strictly there for VISA or relations with another country, when the actual function is to help American Citizens abroad.

i'm not sure what you are trying to say... but i can tell you that i am american and am planning on having a marriage "ceremony" that is as far from "proper" as you can get. my british fiance and i have a plan that he will arrive on april 1st and we will get married on wednesday, april 6th (wednesdays are the only day the courthouse conducts marriages). it will not be the end of the world if something changes this. he would have to pay through the nose to re-book his flight, sure, but that is a risk we take for trying to make a plan. we are planning because we want to be together as soon as possible. of course you make some sort of a plan, why wouldn't you? and if something unexpected occurs, you adapt.
i'm just trying to convey that anyone who is doing more than the courthouse thing needs to do quite a bit more planning than that.. and as you can see, even we, minimalist marriage as it is, have something of a plan. maybe there are a handful of people on this site who waited to book a flight until they had their visa in hand.. after i complete this process, it would be so easy for me to say to someone don't plan anything until you have your visa! but i know that realistically that is very difficult to do. so, i will help them work through the issues instead of throwing stones

I do get a kick out of how the Brits always know what's "proper". If the government shuts down because they don't have a budget, that's a shame in many ways for all who are inconvenienced. Certain adjustments need to be made when dealing with immigration matters. Some of them may feel "improper". That's how the cookie crumbles. We've all been through it and understand the emotion.

oh c'mon.. we know we shouldn't make plans, but everyone does! if you are having a proper ceremony, there's no way it could come together by the 90 day deadline! sure, maybe some people really are doing everything at the last minute... but i would imagine that if you are on visa journey and going through this process, then you are one of the think-ahead, planning types. we have no choice but to make plans.. sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.. but there's no reason chastise anyone for trying to get all the information they can so that they can have at least some idea of time frames! we are here to support each other, not step on each other, once we have made it successfully through this process. i have been seeing a lot of stepping on other people lately and it is driving me crazy. i imagine that to all of the veterans, we newbies seem like blubbering idiots.. but no one was born knowing everything about the immigration process! we are all blubbering idiots at one time or another...

i'm actually worrying about this too... if the band aid lasts til the 15th (our interview date) we might be ok.... but did it go into effect yesterday?

saying the US is running out of money... they are on a tight budget... they cant come to a decision on proper spending ... we have idiotic people who dont know proper $$ MANAGEMENT.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/02/news/economy/government_shutdown/index.htm?hpt=T1
We avoided the March 4th shutdown, but the 2 week extension is barely comforting.

As far as legal advice goes - and maybe the moderators here can create a "sticky topic" or extra forum for that -
there is most likely some community non-profits out there that have no or low-cost help and advice counselors, clinics.
In my area we have immigration advice by an immigration attorney at "Catholic Charities" - you don't have to be catholic in order to receive their help.

Oh, get rid of that lawyer immediately!!!!! It just reminds me of another one who used to work mostly with Romanians and messed up everybody's paperwork because of his fraudulent activities and he was also running astronomical rates. Have you ever wondered WHY does he "prefer" Moldovians and why is he so expensive? Sharing the same citizenship, requesting a high rate and offering that crappy advice highlighted above will never guarantee success in your immigration process.
Time to shop for another lawyer if you are still considering hiring one and don't forget honesty is the best card that you should not give up in this game ever. Good luck!

Not only will you disclose that he worked, but you will also enclose his tax returns or, better, tax transcripts (available free of charge) for the past 3 years with the AOS petition. I do understand what you mean with "money is tight right now," trust me, but tax evasion is a felony, plain and simple.
USCIS will not make working without authorization an issue. More to the point, they probably will already know that your husband worked here in order to eat and pay rent and do what people do who live in the US. But Uncle Sam will not forgive your husband if he tries to cheat the US Government out of the taxes he owes him. Imagine your husband getting a Green Card and then, shortly after, having IRS charging him with tax evasion. That would really take the fun out of everything, wouldn't it?
Now . . . in all confidence . . . let me put it this way: it doesn't matter how much or how little your husband made in the past 3 years. What matters is that he filed an income tax return for those years. If unsure, let him file those returns now based on 1099 income. Afterward, he can truthfully state that he filed tax returns, and everybody is happy. As a reward he will already have checked off 3 of the required 10 years needed for Social Security benefits, just like that!
If you don't understand what I was trying to hint at, P.M. me.

Duplicate thread moved from General Immigration Forum and merged with existing thread in AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visa.
While it may seem like you get 'more exposure' by posting in more forums, it doesn't actually work that way, You get the best responses by posting in the correct forum and keeping all of the information together. Members who are knowledgeable in certain subject areas tend to read and respond in those subject areas so they will find the post and respond to it in its correct forum.

Consulting an US based immigration attorney who is experienced with US immigration law would be a prudent step. Accountants and foreign attorneys would not be the best sources of advice and information.
Getting caught in a lie could result in a deportation order and multi-year ban for your husband. The attorney $$ would be a good investment.
Best of luck.

If you don't disclose the illegal work, you could and probably will be denied for misrepresentation. If your lawyer thinks that lying is the way to go, then you should fire him/her immediately. Illegal work is irrelevant for a spouse of a US citizen, although you do have to go back and pay taxes on it. Even illegal aliens are required to pay income tax. The only issue that would arise is if he was using someone else's SSN or claimed to be a USC in some other way.
What would happen if the IO asked your husband "How were you able to support yourself all these years?" They are going to figure it out anyway. Better them knowing he worked under the table than thinking he was a drug dealer.

Sigh. He is currently deportable, but once he gets his AOS application accepted, then he will begin a new period of authorized stay and when his GC is approved then the overstay and illegal work will be irrelevant/forgiven. Those factors are not relevant in approving or denying an AOS case. Please don't post ideas or opinions, but facts.
Let me repeat this and hope it goes to bed now.
OVERSTAY AND ILLEGAL WORK ARE IRRELEVANT/FORGIVEN FOR IMMEDIATE RELATIVES OF US CITIZENS WHO ARE ADJUSTING IN-COUNTRY.
That doesn't mean you should do it. But he already did it, so we should advise accordingly.
Edit: While each decision IS case by case, there are certain rules that the IOs follow. It is not random or based on their mood that day. The above is a rule.

I'm not sure exactly who you will want to talk to regarding the unpaid income. But I'd start with a lawyer who specializes in labor cases. Some immigration lawyers will do a $100 consultation, so maybe another type of lawyer would do this. Also, you mentioned that other co-workers went back and got their pay after they received their green cards. See what they did. An accountant can help you with the unpaid taxes. I'm assuming he didn't work with someone's SSN, rather he was paid in cash. It's not the working while unauthorized that's the problem since he will be doing a marriage-based adjustment. Just make sure to disclose all employment on your immigration forms. There have been discussions on this in this forum. Sorry I don't have time to look them up for you! Good luck!

Not sure that given his current undocumented status in the US, in addition to his 2+ year overstay, he should be rocking the boat by demanding his wages from work he wasn't allowed to accept and perform in the first place. IMO, he should take care of legalizing his residency first, and then file the complaint with DOL. Once he files the DOL complaint his unauthorized work will become part of his record, and a declaration of such will have to be made with his AOS, which may not be a good thing for approval of said adjustment of status.
I don't know much about the rate of success with such complaints....but I really wonder how 'he will get the money he is owed' from a small mom-n-pop company. If he was working (under the table) as stated, how could a simple complaint lead to his boss(es) forking over the 10+ grant they owe him?

I was wondering if this would be the case...OP I would highly suggest consulting someone about this because I would also think the employer would be liable to pay. Besides that, working while unauthorized in overlooked in the eyes of immigration when adjusting status based on marriage if you are concerned about this part of it. At any rate, you should definitely talk to someone experienced in this regard. Best of luck!

Hi,
i am in the Human Resources field and i know a bit about the Labor Laws, working, working standard and working illegally. As long as work is performed he must be paid... Although he is an undocumented worker he is entitled to the same protection and Fair Labor Standards (FLSA) laws as any citizen. He can actually file a complain with the Department of Labor (DOL) for unpaid wages... i am 100% sure he will get the money he is owed... Actually his past employer may face legal issues with this regards.. Don't be scared that he worked illegally or not. i believe his ex employers know his situation and they are thinking they can get away with free labor.. Please, go get the money.. YOU NEED IT and it is totally legal..