Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	EVER FILED PETITION BEFORE FOR THIS OR OTHER ALIEN?	You would answer yes and provide info on the ex-wife.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-03 14:10:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	step child cr-1	Hi, I want to make sure about assembling my CR-1 package for my wife and step daughter .. First off, I have not filed any papers stating my wife's natural is my step child, I am assuming that this is my relationship to her with respect to the US government. So, that being said, I am going to make 2 I-130/G325 packages and mail them together in an envelope .. Is this correct??.. I guess the devil is in the details ... So I need to make 2 cover letters and everything else (copies, etc..) Again, with respect and sorry for not being very intelligent about this stuff and yes I have read the guidelines, just seems that there is a lot less written when children are involved, or for me, a lot less understandable.. Thanks in advance Chris You've got it right Chris - one I-130 for wife and another I-130 for step daughter.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-03 14:06:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	NAME	MEMBERS OF VJ, I HAVE I QUICK QUESTION, CAN I FILE FOR MY WIFE WITH HER MAIDEN NAME SINCE THAT IS WHAT SHE GOT ON THE PASSPORT. WE DO HAVE OUR MARRIGE CERT. IF SO, HOW DO I GO ABOUT THE IT LIKE, FAMILY NAME, ALL OTHER NAMES USED. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR INPUTS Caps off - it means you are shouting. You can file with whichever name she has in her passport but do know that if she is taking your name but keeps her maiden name in the passport, the visa and the green card will be issued with the maiden name. Then you'd have to file I-90 and pay the fees to get it changed to married name. Now, you can file with her married name I-130 petition and in the meantime she can get her passport changed to the married name - that will get you the visa and green card in the married name.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-08 04:10:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 in Administrative Process Could This Be Bad?	What do you think would make her ineligible for a waiver? She would only need I-601 waiver and you as her USC husband would have to prove extreme hardship to yourself in order for the waiver to be approved. Laurel Scott used to have free online chat sessions on Wednesdays I believe so you may want to present your case to her and ask her opinion. If wife ever claimed to be a USC when she was not, that's the one show stopper - no waiver available for that. Some drug smuggling cases also ineligible. Don't think your wife falls under either one though. So for right now, get in touch with Laurel Scott for just an overview and in the meantime wait to see what the consul says about your wife's AP. Good luck!	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-09 11:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 in Administrative Process Could This Be Bad?	Yes and yes. My wife was honest about her address, education, but she never worked so no employer. From 2001-2002 she spent 6 months as a freshmen in Idaho, 2002-2004 was at a private christian high school (parents paid), then 2004-2006 public high school. 2009 she got her GED. My wife and I had discussed, since everything was filled out on the DS-230 form I'm sure the consular did their research before they interviewed her. Wouldn't they just have denied her on spot considering that they couldn't find her on their system and on top of that she overstayed her visa? I am not a consular officer but I would research it all before deciding if the visa is denied and waiver requested. Perhaps that's why they told you AP and not denial. I am sure they don't doubt your relationship, it's just your wife's overstay and possibly education (public school - taxpayer paid) issue. That may involve more looking into various systems they check in...?	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-08 13:51:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 in Administrative Process Could This Be Bad?	So she was 14 (parents said she was 16) when she got the visa? And overstayed her 6-month visa for full 8- years? While she may be in the clear until she was 18, overstay does begin at 18 years and 180 days and looks like she didn't leave until she was 22. That's a 10-yr ban so start looking into that. Sincerely hope wife was very honest about all addresses, education and employers she had. The second issue you have is who paid for her school? I doubt she went to a private school where parents paid international rates. There may well be a lot of $$ taxpayer money that paid for her. Experienced lawyer time - someone with experience with bans and who can navigate through all this.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-08 10:57:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 in Administrative Process Could This Be Bad?	Wait - what visa were the parents on if she got J-1? Who sponsored J-1? Did she attend elementary or highschool in the US and for how long - how long was the visa given for? How long did she overstay? What status do her parents have in the US now? Or, are they back in Mongolia? I wouldn't expect this AP to be done in 2 weeks time - too many questions needing answers.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-08 03:57:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Problem on where to send our I 129F to	Given that K-3 visa is dead on arrival to NVC, you are better off not sending I-129f. If you do send it, expect for your I-130 to be pulled out of the pile it's already sitting in, put together with I-129f and then put at the bottom of the pile - meaning you will lose more time waiting for approval. Moving to CR-1 visa process.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-13 13:38:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	will this affect our CR1 visa journey ???	OP - how long were you in status or out of status? 2001-2011? And you filed I-130 for yourself back in 2001?	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-10-29 12:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	does my old immigration case affect my new one ?	in my old case i filed for my self , coz it was work based case my new case ,my usc wife did for me What form did YOU file? Couldn't have been I-130 as it clearly says who can file the form and an alien filing for himself is not on the list: http://www.uscis.gov.../i-130instr.pdf	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-10-29 13:00:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	does my old immigration case affect my new one ?	Just how did you file I-130 for yourself? That's a family based petition and the petitioner has to be either a USC or LPR and you were neither. You also can't self-petition I-130. Are you sure you didn't file some other form? Petition for Alien RelativeI-130	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-10-29 12:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I 130 approved whts next	Moving to CR1/IR1 visa process and procedures.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-09-24 01:58:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Approved i130 for spouse overseas, but indicates as if petitioned spouse is in USA	Are you as the petitioner a USC or LPR?	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-12-22 04:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 granted, can I move to the US while the USC lives abroad?	Not possible. You can come at the same time or after your USC spouse, but not ahead of him. The embassy can hold off on issuing your visa for another year I believe. After that, you start over. WHY wasn't it previously disclosed that your husband is living and working in Lithuania?	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2012-12-26 13:25:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CONFUSED: Received Notice for I-601A but spouse never been in US	Disregard the notice and proceed with normal immigrant visa processing at NVC.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-03 16:28:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Should I Retain a Lawyer?	If you last saw him in 2011, time to go visit again - 2 years is a long time not to see one another. Yes, understand skype, phone calls and emails but nothing replaces in person time.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-12 07:51:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Can we order tax transcript now?	Ok have ordered 2011 transcript however as my wife was in China for 2010 she didn't file taxes in the USA, what do we need to do and what do we need to get ? ?(remember my wife isn't my sponsor, her sister is co sponsoring) Your wife is ALWAYS your PRIMARY/MAIN sponsor - so completing I-864 is a must even if she wasn't required to file taxes.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-14 16:33:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Changing CR1 to k3	Suggest you make your way back to the US - for domicile issues and sponsorship since you can't seem to find a co-sponsor in 6 months since the case has been with NVC.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-04 17:00:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Last name of fiancee/wife.	If you're getting married in Nepal and your wife is taking your last name - have her change the passport to reflect that. Embassy only issues visas in the passport name and green card comes in the name visa was printed in so unless you're ready to part with additional money for I-90 to change the GC from maiden to married name, you'll have passport changed on time and before interview. You can send I-130 without having your wife's passport copy - it's only needed for NVC and afterwards - so 6-7 months after filing I-130.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-02-05 16:22:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	AOS on a CR-1?	Hi All, Second part: We are confused about how to go about changing my wife's surname to mine. She will be keeping her VN passport and such, so we are concerned that if we start using my last name on documents if that will cause any confusion if her Vietnamese documents have her family name on them? And if there is a process to change this, how to go about doing it? We're clueless! Thanks in advance for any help. -Greg and Tuyen This is quite easy - they will issue her immigrant visa so it matches her last name in her passport. If she doesn't change her last name to her new married last name in her passport, upon entry to the US her green card will also be in her maiden name. You will have to file the form I-90 and pay all the fees to get the green card changed to her married name. Also moving to CR1/IR1 visa forum as OP is on that path and not on AOS path. Edited by milimelo, 15 January 2013 - 01:42 AM.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-15 01:40:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	We're both in tears over this. Please help. I can't be without her.	@Squirrelisan: We're going on Monday to Buffalo, NY to get married. We looked into the Toronto option, but when we saw FIVE MONTHS we didn't see that as a valid option! Ask about the option to "walk" your marriage license over to the registrar for expedited marriage certificate after the ceremony - some places allow that if you explain you need it fast. Also make sure to purchase 3-4 certified copies. Only photocopy of marriage certificate is required with I-130 - you show original at interview, but you always want to have extras with you.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-03-12 17:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	We're both in tears over this. Please help. I can't be without her.	Sorry man, looks like Canada stopped DCF's some years ago. Didn't mean to get your hopes up. Looks like you have to file for I-130...and then maybe you can get an expedite, but that's it's not easy to get those. When do you start your new job? If it's in a couple of months, maybe you can start the I-130 early if you do a civil marriage type thing in Canada now, and start the I-130 paperwork? That's me and my wife did to speed things up a bit. Before getting married in Canada, check out the Canadian forum here on VJ. There are reports of marriage certificate taking MONTHS to be received. Toronto one that takes a long time.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-03-12 17:16:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Maiden vs. Married name: Which will be on Green Card?	The immigrant visa and subsequent green card will be in whatever name is in her passport. If she wants the green card in her married name she either gets her passport in the married name or you pay $$$ for I-90 after she gets the green card in her maiden name.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-03-13 01:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Being sponsored again- (merged duplicate topics with	ssa.gov under social security statement Get your Social Security Statement online - free and tells you how many quarters you have with SSA. They stopped mailing hard copies a year or two ago.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-03-16 13:31:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	thinking to file 129F waiting for i-130, very impatient	Moving to CR1/IR1 visa forum.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-02-10 13:02:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Request to expedite!!! Please Help!	Moving to CR1 visa forum.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-24 03:47:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Expedite process due to medical issues?	Let's be honest here - with beneficiary from Pakistan, embassy will not speed up the AP despite any expedite request at USCIS or NVC level. They will take all the time they need to run the AP and background checks.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-01-26 05:46:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	FREAKING OUT PLEASE HELPPP ME :(	Completed I-864, complete tax returns (1040 with all schedules any W2s and 1099s) 2012, 2011, 2010 years, letter from employer - if self employed he has to write a letter saying what he does, how much he is paid per week or per year. If he is married wife has to fill out I-864A - sort of an acknowledgement of sponsorship.   The amount has to be sufficient to cover the sponsor and any dependents in his family plus the intending immigrant. For family of 3, you also include the immigrant which makes it 4 for I-864 amount purposes so $29, 437.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-04-28 05:32:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 / IR-1 Visa Application Questions	No electronic submission allowed or accepted at this time. You will have to print out your evidence and mail it in.   Ok that sounds way less daunting. Another question I had regarding evidence, my fiancee and I have only spoken on the phone twice, but I have thousands of pages saved containing every single text message we've exchanged (thank god we used an app that allows me to email my full conversations as text documents and decided to save them. Must have known subconsiously that I'd be needing them...). Will I need to print this entire history, or will a CD (or electronic submission of some sort) containing our text history in PDF format be sufficient? I also have and am including copies of receipts for items I've purchased online for her (flowers, etc), emails, photos, affidavits, etc.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-12 02:55:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 / IR-1 Visa Application Questions	****Moving to CR visa forum. ****	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-11 11:03:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 visa got approved 2 months before our wedding anniversary	What anniversary are you talking about? 1st, 2nd? If it's the first one, nothing you can do about it - go activate your visa and be prepared to remove conditions in 90 days prior to your conditional green card expiry (2 years after POE).   If it's the second anniversary, wait to enter the US at or after your 2nd anniversary date - make sure to bring your marriage certificate, make sure to double check with the CBP/IO person processing your that they give you IR status and not CR status.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-17 04:51:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Do you think I can change my name during my interview ?	And how is no maiden name on US papers a problem? My diplomas show maiden name, but all my documents are in married name. When you fill out any forms, you'll have a spot for other names used - that's where you put your maiden name.   You can also show your marriage certificate to show transition from maiden to married name. Except for USCIS, never had to show that for school or employment purposes or drivers license.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-23 02:34:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Married, divorced then remarried	Given that the daughter is now 19, the only way to bring her to the U.S. with her mother and no wait time is with K-1 (fiancee) visa - it allows for children up to age of 21 to enter and adjust status after the marriage of their parent on K-1 visa.   If you're still staying in KL, use that address.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-06-09 05:24:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Need help	As to why they state you as the beneficiary have been married twice - probably want to know details about length of those marriages, why two marriages and how come both of you divorced two people.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-06-22 10:42:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	ir1 or i 130	Moving to IR-CR visa forum, OP is not in the US.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-04-18 03:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	ir1 or i 130	OP - where are you now? In Egypt?	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-04-17 03:00:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Maiden Name on Forms?	Thank you NikiR -- I followed what you said and decided it was in the best interest to leave it the way it is. We came this far... dont want to mess it up! I also read on another forum, that we can simply tell the Consular Officer and they *should* be able to augment it for us. We'll try that too.   You think consular officer can override the rules that say visa is only issued in passport name? Good luck with that one and do report back how it went.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-07-20 03:05:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	F-1 immigration visa woes	Elena,   you will always be the first and primary sponsor as you are your husband's petitioner - no getting around from that rule. Your parents can be joint sponsors but you will also have to provide I-864, tax transcripts...   Looks like the embassy is asking for more evidence - pictures and other documents as well as affidavit of support paperwork. I'd start looking for compiling all they want to see, plus amending tax returns before sending off affidavit of support papers.         Actually Milimelo, I DIDN'T give them several photos of us separately and some of the back; I sent 16 photos, 1 separately showing Shadi with one of our rescue kittens with the note that we run an informal animal rescue group in Irbid (we do and are recognized by the vet clinics in Amman), and one of us on our honeymoon in romantic position facing the mountains of Wadi Rum. All 14 others are of us together in different locations, with family or friends. The email sent to us regarding that was an exaggeration; that person probably never saw more than 2-3 photos in the whole file. Secondly I am not the financial sponsor; my parents are. Having come here as a recently graduated student (therefore poor) and not been able to find a job that can do much besides buy us groceries (teaching english here? not lucrative) it went to my parents to help us. The reason they ask about the tax return for 2011 is because as part of our evidence package sent LAST month, I included my tax return for this year because it had his signature on it as well as his ITIN request so we felt it was proper evidence we were trying to make our relationship legally legit. They ask for my 2011 return because they want to make sure I always filed as married since my marriage, which I didn't and have already explained to them why: I was told by my tax service that I didn't have to; I also told them I would amend it since I have 3 years from the file date to do so.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-08 14:15:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	F-1 immigration visa woes	If you want a visa, you do have to comply with bonafide relationship evidence request. Looks like you provided some pictures showing a couple from the back and some pictures of each of you separately. Not quite sure why you don't provide them with real pictures of two of you together, with his/your family and friends... The email they sent you looks very normal to me - provide evidence of relationship.   Also, your tax returns are required. Not sure where you get the it's not legally required when you as the petitioner are a primary sponsor and have to submit tax returns, I-864 and proof of employment. If you weren't required to file a tax return, provide statement from IRS to that effect and line up a joint-sponsor.     It has been 90 days since we submitted our 1-130 petition to the Embassy in Amman and had our first "interview" with the lady behind the glass. Is this the NOA1 I keep seeing or are we still awaiting that? We have recieved no further communication from the embassy except the form 1-72 20 days after our initial petition, then subsequent follow-up emails on information provided re: I-72 request, nothing more. Is this normal? The women who accepted our petition at the Embassy told us that we should recieve our final interview for his visa within 60-90 days. We're starting to worry after another email asking for further info but our friend Karen whose husband got his approval 4 months ago (after 2.5 years of trouble) said that it was because the people assigned to the case hadn't finished all the paperwork yet and were stalling us to keep us from complaining. True or not?   This was the text from our latest email request from USCIS:   Dear Ms. Porcelli:   Please let this office know if you filed a tax return at all for 2011.  If you were married during that year, you did not have the option of filing as a single person, so your tax return should show that you were married.  Please also submit photos from 2011 and 2012 other than the ones you already provided, showing the two of you together.  You submitted several photos showing each of you separately and showing a couple from behind, and these do not portray your relationship.  Other documents which would be helpful in making a determination on your petition include, for example, a copy of your airline ticket from when you came to Jordan to get married and copies of emails illustrating when and how you and your husband became acquainted.      Sincerely, USCIS, Amman	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-08 06:30:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	F-1 immigration visa woes	If you are married, you will file I-130. F-1 family based immigration visa is for unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens. That does not seem to be your category. So, I suggest you read up a bit on spousal visa, all the terminology, procedures and processes as that is what you will be getting for your spouse.   FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES First:  (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2013-05-07 06:54:00