biggish data

Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)

This one I don't have the answer to. I would probably start by contacting the consulate directly via phone, email, fax and letter because with USCIS in the US there are often problems with address changes. Maybe your lawyer knows the best way?

JUST A QUICK NOTE TO YOU since you were so kind as to respond to my questions.....His interview is FRIDAY....the 601 and 212 were unnecessary. His visa is being granted! Yipee!

We have received the response memo from USCIS Rome and we will issue the visa according to their instructions.

Please contact me if you have any further questions.

Kindest regards,

Please be informed that Mr. Eymond-Griffin’s I-601 and I-212 waivers were returned to the American Consulate in Paris together with an Interoffice Memorandum explaining the results of our review (USCIS records does not indicate that Mr. Eymond-Griffin accrued any periods of unlawful

presence during his visits to the United States, which would render him inadmissible. An I-601 waiver is not required.

The I-212 waiver is not required too since he was not removed nor deported from the United States).

Best regards, USCIS Rome

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-16 13:06:00

Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)

Well assuming neither waiver was necessary (and I just cannot see any reason why they were based on what you have posted) and according to US immigration law there was no need for waivers, you were treated very unfairly. Of course wait until he has his visa and then, fire off some seriously harsh letters!!!

Do post please as soon as you have a reply!

Thanks again for the speedy replies and for the information. I have another question you seem to know lots of answers. My fiance needs to change his address and phone number. The file is on its way from Rome back to Paris. Can he just contact the consulate in Paris with this information? We have a phone number and a fax number. Or is there another way that we are required to change this information. I want him to do it fast in the next day or so, in case we get important information from the consulate.

Thanks, kitkat

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-15 07:53:00

Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)

WOW - what an idiot at the consulate! In March 06 he was denied entry - no waiver should be necessary for that. Nothing related to the Canada trip appears to require a waiver. Did the consul give any specific reasons why they even thought for a moment that not one, but two waiver were required?

They have just figured out that the interviewer made a big, stupid mistake. He owes you letter of apology (not that you, of course, will ever get one).

Once he has his visa I would not hesitate for one second to make a formal complaint regarding this guy's incompetence to the Consulate Director, the District Director and the Director of American Citizen's Services.

In the meantime, Congrats!!

https://egov.immigra...r.statecode=arm

Rome District: (has administrative jurisdiction over offices in France)

District Director:
John M. Bulger

Deputy District Director:
Anne Arries Corsano

District Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Department of Homeland Security
PSC 59, Box 37
APO, AE 09624

If you feel you were mistreated by an immigration employee, or wish to make a complaint of misconduct by an immigration employee, you may write to the District Director, or write directly to the:

Director, Office of International Operations
20 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Suite 3300
Washington, DC 20529

Or you may write directly to the Director, Office of Security and Investigations, 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 5003 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20529

Thanks for this information that I will store for later reference. I did feel we had been treated unfairly but really didn't know for sure. One is certainly at the mercy of others when going through this process.

I'll keep you updated. The senator's office is hoping to have a reply from embassy in Paris by the end of this week.

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-14 21:11:00

Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)

Rhonda, it depends on why the waivers were filed in the first place. A 212 is for deportation. If he was not deported, it would not be necessary. A 601 is most commonly used to overcome ineligibilities tied to overstay and illegal presence or criminal charges. Did your fiance have one of these situations (or another one that would normally deem the 601 as necessary?).

The only other situation I can think of where they would say it wasn't necessary would be if the visa applicant was found to be ineligible for a waiver meaning something happened that is not "waivable" i.e. falsely claiming US citizenship or multiple illegal entries with illegal presence over 180 days after 1997. And normally in these cases they tell the applicant this up front and don't allow them to waste time or money filing.

So it sounds like good news and that his visa will be approved without a waiver . . waiting to hear the details!

In March of 2006, he was sent back from O'hare to France when we were returning to US together. We were told this was not deportation but that he needed to return to France and begin the correct paperwork k-1 visa which we did. HE had not overstayed his VW but we had made a trip to Canada once and he had re-entered and in essence restarted his VW 90 days. We were never told at any of his entries that anything was problematic. He has no criminal charges--there is no illegal activity--even with the trip to Canada his time here was never anything close to 180 days. In November the k-1 was approved and his interview was in February 2007....everything in place, medical exam, background check, copies of everything....but poof at the interview the consul told him he needed to file the 601 and 212. Everything was sent to Rome at the end of April and just today my senator received info that our file was reviewed and it was determined that the 601 and 212 were never needed.......(a lot of money, stress, heartache, sleepless night and wasted time went into all that paperwork)

Again, I'm cautiously optimistic that this is good news.......

Thanks for the support

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-14 20:41:00

Mexico, Latin & South America

I posted something the other day to let you all know that I was thinking of getting married in France this summer but it looks like all of those that responded have advised me against that as it would make the k-1 visa invalid. Okay, that's what I thought, but didn't know for sure.

Now I have a new thing. Today, I received a call from my senator's office stating that the embassy in Rome had been in contact with this senator. After reviewing our 601 and 212 in Rome, they told the senator that it was determined that it was unnecessary to have filed the 601 and 212 and they were forwarding our file back to the embassy in Paris.

Is that good news? Does that mean that if they are unnecessary and this was the roadblock stopping his re-entry to the US then now his visa will be granted???? The senator's office is e-mailing Paris on our behalf....I don't know whether to be excited or leary that this might mean something else.

Has this happened to anyone? Has anyone been told that the 601 and 212 were not necessary after they were filed? ANY IDEAS?

Thanks
Rhonda

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-14 20:01:00

Fiancé coming!!!

Great News

Wow! How lucky are you! You're timeline shows that things moved very quickly for you! CONGRATULATIONS! Coincidentally, my fiance has his flight on the 4th as well.....we've been separated since March of 2006! I want to wish you the best of luck.

Rhonda

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-25 19:47:00

marriage to a french

I put in paperwork to marry in France this summer (now I don't think that I need it, but here is what we did)

First of all to be married in France you need to go to "city hall" the mairie of the town where at least on of you resides. There you must set your date so the marriage 'bands' can be posted.

Once that is determined they will give you a little marriage booklet. In the booklet it spells out exactly what you need to marry their. The paperwork must be at the city hall ONE MONTH before the determined date.

The paper work we needed:

My birthcertificate with translation to French
His birth certificate (current and valid within 3 months--he is French and BC is only valid for 3 month period)
Copy of our divorce decrees (we were both divorced before)
My decree had to be translated to French
Copy of something to prove current permanent address for both
Copy for both--of prenuptial medical visit that was done in France (cost 20 euros)
Certificate that I was not married (my divorce decree was not enough to prove that I had not been married in the meantime)
for this document I talked to my state clerk of courts who did a search for marriages since the date of my divorce. This of course showed that I did not have any marriage and the form was sent to me within one week and for a cost of $25. This document was then translated to French.

For all documents that were translated to French, we had our translator notarize everything. We provided a statement that said she was competent to translate (she is a teacher of French like me)
We attached her teaching license and every single page was stamped by the notary. The French love their STAMPS!!

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else.

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-18 11:00:00

HEUREUSE!

Coucou, bonjour,

Welcome aboard, always great to see a French<->American couple on VisaJourney. And even better if you are in the Midwest (Chicagoland area)
Wow, what a story, thanks for sharing it with us here. Glad to see that things are back on a normal track. Hope your fiance will be here soon. Any questions, feel free to ask...
Hope things will run smoothly from now on. Good luck with your journey.

Take care

Merci!

And yes, he will be here soon. He bought his ticket today and will be back in the states on June 4th. I'm so excited I can hardly sleep. Yes, I'm sure there will be questions along the way when we start the AOS and now that I've found this site, I know that I will find the answers here.

Thanks again,
rhonda

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-24 13:46:00

HEUREUSE!

I wanted to post something new on this area to introduce myself. I'm Rhonda and I'm new on the site, just after finding it last week. I wish I had known that it existed more than a year ago. I am the American half of a this French/american couple. My fiance, Nicolas is French. We met more than 8 years ago on the internet. I know I know....that seems like a long time ago, but we had quite a journey to make first. I am a French teacher in a high school in the Midwest.....I've taught now for 25 years. This will be the second marriage for both of us.

Nicolas visited me often in the US during 2004-2005, but after a trip together to France he was refused entry at the Chicago border. He was returned the same day on the same Air France plane that we had arrived on. After coming to terms with what had happened we found an immigration lawyer who helped with the first steps of the K-1 process Everything was mailed in July 2006 which was first approved in November 2006. Nicolas received his interview appt for February 2007 and we thought we were days from being together. But I think a clerical mistake or a consulate who was having a bad day put a giant roadblock in our way. He told us to file a 601 and 212 which we labored over for weeks before mailing to Rome at the end of April. Now in the past week we've had e-mails from Rome and Paris saying that these waivers were never needed (no apologies of course). TODAY he was again at the paris embassy where he left his passport and was told that he would have it back in a few days....It's a go....he's coming back.

I just have a desire to tell more and more people this story because it is such an amazing feeling to know that he will be here soon. Back to the home that we selected together! I've been here waiting the 425 days since he was sent back in "ERROR". Of course I've visited France 3 times in the meantime....last June for 3 weeks, October for 2 weeks and again in March for 2 more weeks.....I had in fact already booked a ticket for June, but this is unnecessary!!!

I hope to know some of you better in the next weeks and months. I know we'll need help and support in preparing for the next part of our "visajourney"

Anyway....bonne journee a tout le monde!

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-18 10:35:00

Translation of French document in Munich

When I had to provide certified copies from English to French or French to English, my fiance and I used the services of my colleague, a French teacher like myself and an American speaker of English. She then accompanied me to a notary. I had prepared a letter much like kitkat has given you in an earlier post. The notary witnessed the signature of my colleague. As for the French government, they love stamps....so I asked the notary to stamp each of the pages of the translations. My colleague then gave me a copy of her current teaching license that shows she is competent to translate.

The police certificate as long as there are no arrests is an extremely easy paper to translate.....I wouldn't pay a big price to a translator for that! Do you have a school near you? Contact a high school....ask the language teacher---

there's my suggestion for what it is worth

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-31 08:24:00

Dear Frenchies, please help!

QUOTE (rika60607 @ Oct 6 2007, 04:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bonjour,
I just received an appointment letter and there are three doctors in Paris listed for the medical appointment: Meyers, Leparc and Slattery. Who would you recommend for a painless (in more than one sense) medical exam?
Grand merci!

My husband's appointment was with Meyers....everything went well.

RhondaM

Female

2007-10-16 17:08:00

QUOTE (Angilla @ Sep 22 2007, 10:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks!

I have an interesting subject for us to talk about... I didn't think it'd be one that we'd run up against. Predjudice against French.

SC and I have had to deal with nasty remarks about French a few times lately. Like at a garage sale we ran at mom's house, one guy rambled on for about a good 20 minutes about how the French didn't help Americans in the war however many years ago and all these other reasons that he hates French people... AFTER SC told him that he's from France! And today while driving the car in front of us had a bumper sticker that said "Boycott France" with a French flag with a line through it. I thought the days of the "freedom fries" instead of "french fries" were over but I guess not. Has anyone else run into this?

I just saw your post. I think I saw the same bumper sticker on the same van of the same narrow-minded, monolingual American couple coming from a garage sale in my area! Wouldn't that be something if it were the same people! Truly there is a lot of that narrow-minded attitude especially in the mi-West where we are located. (I don't think you see that in larger cities.) I have to tell you that I waited to see who the owner of the vehicle was and I spoke to them in French just to see their reaction. I don't think they were bright enough to figure it out. I have taught French for more than 25 years and I spend a lot of time explaining things that my students have learned or perceived incorrectly about the French something from their own parents and grandparents. For the most part, Nicolas--my husband has not experienced that directly since his arrival. Everyone we know and have met thinks that it is great that he is here and that it is interesting that he is from another country. Anyway...hope things are going well for you both.

Rhonda

RhondaM

Female

2007-10-16 17:06:00

FYI folks -

My wife was "temporarily denied" her visa at the interview in Paris, because when submitting the I-864 I had included a stack of paystubs and 2004 and 2005 tax returns. They wanted a letter from the employer, despite it not being a required document. I submited ORIGINAL paystubs - much harder to fake than a letter from an employer... And to top it all off, my father (who quite frankly is wealthy) had made a I-134 for her as well as a back-up, which they wouldn't even consider!

This "merde" ticks me off. They aren't specific, they say submit "supporting evidence", so I do. I make WELL over the 125%, and we do have not children, have been married almost three years, were married in France, lived there almost 2 years....

They did allow me to overnight them the documents and then approve the visa, but still, if they want something specific, they should say.

All this just pisses me off even more that our war-mongering president also thinks it is a good idea to make all the people here illegally legal in one fell swoop after all the BS those of us who are law-abiding go through to get this stuff done.

Anyhow... hopefully she'll have her passport soon.

Just because I'm curious, did you wife go through the embassy in Paris? Did she happen to have Gonzales as the person that she dealt with? We had a very interesting experience there...

She will have her passport soon. It took only 2-3 days by chronopost to reach my "fiance". He is here now in the US for two weeks and we were just married on Saturday.

Good luck to you on your continued journey.....

Rhonda

RhondaM

Female

2007-06-18 17:33:00

Truthfully I don't know which is easier for you. Even though the process is more complicated to marry in France as I described in my earlier post...it isn't too difficult to meet the requirements. (in the US in my state it is so simple....3 day waiting period and photo ID is all we need) And for you a young couple if you haven't been married before like we were, you don't have to worry about all the translations of divorce decree, etc. The decision has to be yours and you should look at that link that I gave you because it does spell out pros and cons of k-1 fiance visa vs k-3 spouse visa. For example in looking at the site, if you were to marry in France and come back here to begin the process to bring him here as your spouse, one immediate plus is that he would have his work visa. (at least that's what I think I understand from the link) Whereas waiting to bring him in as your fiance, marry him here, then you have to file an adjustment of status to change him from fiance to spouse. It is at that time you apply for the work visa. I see another plus to a k-3 visa is that it isn't necessary to apply for Advanced Parole for you spouse to leave the country for visiting, etc. In our case we will have to apply for advanced parole for my fiance to be able to go back to France--his aging mother is there and his 2 sons from his first marriage. OF course we want him to be able to visit them as he chooses and when it is necessary. (also I want to be able to go back to France with him--I am a French teacher after all and love the country)

You spoke about having a big wedding....you know one option is to have the legal ceremony in one country and begin the filing of paperwork and once that is done, have a large gathering (religious one or merely a big reception) to celebrate the approval of which ever visa you obtain.

Anyway, ask questions--try to get the opinions of others. There are so many people on this site that have wonderful information to share. I just found the site two weeks ago--I wish I knew about it as we were beginning this journey. Also use all the links to research information yourself. There is a wealth of knowledge here. I wrongly got involved with an immigration lawyer thinking that was the best thing to do--and I wasted thousands of dollars. If I had known about this site, I would have done it all myself.

Again best of luck...
rhonda

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-31 13:48:00

Welcome and congratulations! I wish you the best. This site is wonderful and there will be many people to help you along the way. You're smart to start looking at your options first. I would first look at the link on this site that explains the differences between a K-1 and a K-3 visa. Maybe after looking at your options, you could marry before you return to the US and start the K-3 spouse visa for your SO. There are pros and cons listed. http://www.visajourn...mp;page=compare
My French fiance has just received his k-1 visa and is arriving in the US on Monday after our separation of 15 months. I know that isn't typical given the timelines for others, but it is hell to be apart! We did put in paperwork to marry in France this summer, but that will no longer be needed because we'll do that here when he arrives. If you do decided to marry, this is what I had to do for that:

First of all to be married in France you need to go to "city hall" the mairie of the town where at least on of you resides. There you must set your date so the marriage 'bands' can be posted.

Once that is determined they will give you a little marriage booklet. In the booklet it spells out exactly what you need to marry their. The paperwork must be at the city hall ONE MONTH before the determined date.

The paper work we needed:

My birthcertificate with translation to French
His birth certificate (current and valid within 3 months--he is French and BC is only valid for 3 month period)
Copy of our divorce decrees (we were both divorced before)
My decree had to be translated to French
Copy of something to prove current permanent address for both
Copy for both--of prenuptial medical visit that was done in France (cost 20 euros)
Certificate that I was not married (my divorce decree was not enough to prove that I had not been married in the meantime)
for this document I talked to my state clerk of courts who did a search for marriages since the date of my divorce. This of course showed that I did not have any marriage and the form was sent to me within one week and for a cost of $25. This document was then translated to French.

For all documents that were translated to French, we had our translator notarize everything. We provided a statement that said she was competent to translate (she is a teacher of French like me)
We attached her teaching license and every single page was stamped by the notary. The French love their STAMPS!!

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else.

Rhonda

[/quote]

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-31 09:08:00

My fiance just came in through JFK on May 2, and he had no problems at all. They didn't ask him one question, just a look through the envelope, and a "Welcome to America, good luck"

That's it - easy as pie.

Good luck, and congratuations on this next step of your journey!

Thanks for the encouraging words.......

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-25 13:03:00

I don't know why, but I've been thrilled to meet other French/American couples here on VJ. I know there's a French-speaking thread here but lots of countries speak French... I'm curious to meet other couples where the foreign fiance(e) is in or came from France.

For the French/American couples here, where in France does/did the Frenchie live? Does the USC speak French, and if not, is (s)he learning? My fiance lives in Rambouillet. I managed to learn some French during his last visit but without having him pointing to things and being able to watch his mouth I'm just clueless... guess I'll have to wait til he's here again to learn. Written French is similar to Italian at times so I can figure some of it out. But spoken, hoo boy... I joke with my fiance a lot that the letter R needs to be obliterated from the French alphabet because I can't figure out how on earth to pronounce it!

Bonjour!

I'm new to the site and wanted to join the list of VJ users for this subforum. It is my SO that is French and I'm here in the Midwest. He's coming soon after a long struggle getting his K-1 visa. His flight is scheduled for June 4th! I'm so happy after being apart for almost a year and 1/2! I have a question for others.....He wants to know what to expect at the POE. I know it should all be routine...he shows the visa in his passport, he hands over the sealed envelope, etc. That is another story, just the envelope. No, he didn't open it, but after receiving it by chronopost, he got a call from the embassy saying that they had forgotten in insert an important paper. After making another trip to the embassy--his 5th since February, I think we are all set.

But is there anything else to tell him? Especially is there anyone here who had to enter in Chicago? I know he is a bit stressed about this as we have had difficulty in Chicago before.

Thanks to all,

Rhonda

Thanks for making this sub-forum part of the site.

RhondaM

Female

2007-05-25 07:55:00

'name change document' in Thailand

Hi. My wife actually had a name change when she was very young. Her parents gave her her original name, and I guess they decided they didn't like the name so they changed it to something new a while later. This all happened when she was like 1 years old or something. In anycase, her parents kept an official document indicating the name change, and for the K-1 process she just had it officially translated.

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-03-06 22:07:00

Recent interviews

Took attended her interview and was approved on 3/22!!!

Thanks for the response and tips. Like others have said they most likely have their mind made up prior to the interview unless something really unusual happens in the interview. That is what I thought and what I told Took so she wouldn't be nervous. Here is how it went for her:

She was given an appointment time of 1pm in the email notification a few weeks prior to the interview, however, a few days before the interview the Embassy called her and asked her to show up early to turn in paperwork (originals). She was let in ahead of a line of About 30 people waiting. After turning in her papers she was told to come back at 12pm. It turns out she had to wait past her stated interview time (1pm) and was the last person to interview (close to 4pm I think). She said there were not that many people there but it seemed like most interviews were taking about an hour. I'm not sure if they were all K1's that day. Her questions were pretty close to what others have listed before and the person interviewing her was pleasant but also focused on the job of the interview (I believe she said she interviewed with a male officer). Here is what she was asked:

- how did we meet?
- how many times have I been there to see her?
- have we travelled abroad together?
- have I met her family?
- has she met my family?
- when did I get divorced?
- when did she divorce?
- how long was I married?
- do I have any kids?
- does she have any kids?
- does her ex know she will marry again?
- what do I do for work?
- what company do I work for?
- when does she plan to immigrate?
- when is my next trip to see her?
- what does she do for work currently?

She took extra pictures, Valentine cards, emails (between us and between her and my parents), chat logs, money transfer receipts (when I have sent money for expenses during this process). They didn't ask to see any of it. Maybe seeing she had it helped. She wanted to get a certified paper saying that she was single from her home district. I didn't think she needed it since it wasn't listed anywhere in the K-1 process however, having something extra can't hurt, and she had the time off to do it, so she went home to visit family and also got that......she turned it in with the original papers that morning. She was never asked for that paper (maybe because she turned it in....I don't know). I was under the impression that paper was probably for someone getting married in Thailand (which we will not do since it would void the K-1 application and make us re-file for a K-3). She did tell me another girl there that day was asked for that paper....but Took wasn't sure what kind of visa application she was interviewing for. Long story short, if you are not sure if you need something and cant get a firm yes or no answer then I say get the form.

Took interviewed on a Thursday. Unfortunately getting the visa is still a two business day process meaning she can't pick up her visa until Monday afternoon. They will give you an appointment time to pick up the visa. Took saw others waiting to pick up their visas the day she interviewed and it seems you will probably have to show up and wait up to a few hours that day as well so be prepared for that instead of a quick in and out.

On a side note be careful what you turn in. She said there was a girl there who had to come back for a second interview due to the fact that they saw the couple was arguing in the chat logs they turned in. Also the petitioner was still seeing and talking to his ex!

Good luck to those with interviews coming up! I hope something here helps you.

M&T

Congrats! Sounds like it went very well. It really is true - in my opinion - that at the early stages it is the most nerve-wracking. We're getting ready for our green card interview in a few months, and are feeling pretty confident that everything will go well. My wife has already been through a tourist visa interview, her K-1 visa interview, the POE interview, and various other non-visa related experiences (drivers license, medical exam, etc). The experience definitely makes one nervous, but over time her confidence has increased (as has her English). Good luck!

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-03-27 23:05:00

We are in the U.S.!....now SSN or marriage?

Congrats on everything going well so far! We got her SSN first in her original name, and then a few weeks later got the marriage license and got married. After that, we went back to the federal govt and got her SSN changed to her married (my) name. I've read before that the way I did it was the "cautious" way to go about doing it just so her first SSN application lines up with the name on her visa. Good luck!

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-05-26 21:26:00

My wife changed her last name on all her Thai stuff in March this year, going over a few weeks before I went over. You cannot change it at a Thai embassy. She has to go back to Thailand and change it an the local Amphur office first, change the name on the housebook and get new ID card with new last name and take the new ID to get the new passport. Some Amphur offices can be a pain in the #### and won't do the name changes. You need to go to a large Amphur, not a small one, where they are better equipped to make the changes to the housebook and ID card. It is somewhat time consuming but my wife got it all done before I got over there except we went in to get the new passport right after I got there. It is nice to have her last name the same on everything.

Glad that seemed to work out for you Tom.

For us, I think we'll just keep her Thai passport in her maiden name for the time being. I don't really see any significant reasons to change it for now, since the only thing she will be doing is using it for travel. We do have her GC now in my last name, so our bases are covered hopefully.

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-11-04 10:26:00

I called the main line. If I remember correctly when cases were transferred to California service center you normally just get the card with no interview.

Yes, that is what I have heard too. I am hoping it is true, but apparently nothing is guaranteed until we actually get the card. Its been 5 months since the notice date of transfer to the Cali service center, so I figure I'll wait another month and if nothing, I'll try to call the main line again and see how I can expedite things.

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-06-21 03:53:00

The only thing CBP cares about is the Green Card name. We have been in and out of the US a lot and have never been asked for the marriage certificate. The only time we have been asked was by the airline when I made the bonehead mistake and booked her airline ticket in my surname. The airline required the marriage certificate.

On the NOA have you done the bio-metrics yet? I would call and check on it. We got our AP, but never heard a word about the bio-metrics, and I saw people who filed after us getting the bio, so I called and they set the bio appointment a week later, and then the GC interview a month after that. I would be pro-active, in-case they sent you something, and it got lost in the mail. 6 months sounds like a long long time for AOS.

We actually got her biometrics appointment notice about a month after submitting the I-485 application, and the EAD and AP were approved about a month after that, on a "combined" EAD/AP card. I was hoping things were moving along fast, but now we are nearing the 6 month time frame. There are actually a bunch of us who got our cases transferred to the cali service center who have been waiting close to 6 months now. Who did you call and how did you call them? I've tried the general line (1-800-375-5283) but can't seem to get past recorded messages.

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-06-20 20:25:00

Not sure if it is good or bad. We used my last name on all US documents, and my wife has kept her last name in Thailand. I think changing the name in the Passport, will also require changing it in the National ID, and Housebook, but not sure. There is no advantage to changing the name on the passport, there could be lots of disadvantages in Thailand.

The only time my wife uses her passport is when we travel. This last trip I booked the ticket in her GC lastname, and when we got to the airport we showed the ticket agent the Passport, GC (Which she has to show anyways to prove she get back into the US), and then our Marriage certificate. No problems at all.

This will all be a moot point once the citizenship is finished and she gets her US passport.

One more interesting point, is when we filed for CRBA for our son at the US Consulate, the Consular suggested we put both last names hyphenated on the US Birth Certificate.

We are headed in the same direction generally, with all her US documents under her new married name (i.e. my surname), and she just keeps her Thai passport under her maiden name. I'm trying to encourage my wife to contact one of the Thai embassies here and get more information on the matter. I have heard that re-entry isn't a problem so long as we have a marriage certificate copy. I also have her AP as well, though she still hasn't received her GC yet. We've been waiting 6 months for that and not a peep from the feds since getting our NOA. Argh.

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-06-19 22:09:00

Hello all. I'd like some general perspectives and thoughts from anyone on the topic of changing one's last name on a Thai passport. My (Thai) wife and I are currently living in the US. She arrived on a K-1 visa and we are waiting for the GC interview. She has taken my last name on her US based documents (driver's license, social security, etc) and also on her EAD and AP card. However, her Thai passport is still in her maiden name. We are thinking about having it changed on her passport for consistency's sake, something that would require a trip to the nearest Thai embassy here in the states. Can anyone speak to the implications of changing her name on her Thai passport? Good idea? Bad idea? Thoughts in general? Thank you.

rick313

Male

Thailand

2012-06-17 17:35:00

Zap Yourself Through The Airport - automated passport check

Good until some nut figures out how to beat the system

Ironman140

Male

Ireland

2011-05-25 08:07:00

Traa Muaa

http://www.amazon.co...y/dp/B00478QLGI

you can buy it on amazon.

I assume dtra mua, you mean hand brand?

JD63

Male

Thailand

2011-03-21 15:33:00

documents in thailand

I believe she would have to go to the local amphur where she is registered to get these documents and the free to marry docs. These can then be translated by various places, but if it must be "legalized" or certified by the Royal Thai Ministry there is only one place that does this. I'm not sure if this would be one of those documents that requires such a translation.

Yes, if the child has a claim to citizenship they cannot receive a visa.

JD63

Male

Thailand

2011-04-26 22:21:00

Thailand K-1 and Money

You should be fine on the financial end. I was in the same situation when we applied (student, multiple jobs, low income) but it was above the minimum.

Good luck!!

That amount is just over the accepted level as you know. Safe? The accepted, required minimum is safe.
Denying co sponsored people? You mean you think all co sponsored people are denied? I think you are asking why they dont allow co sponsors for K 1 cases. Simply due to the high level of fraud experianced by USCIS in many of those cases. So many they just dont allow it in most cases. In two I know of they did allow them.
Because of Thai girls? What doesn that mean? They approve Thai females every month.
The mayor of Thai Town in L A recently said there are 250 thousand Thais living around there. He went on to say at least 100 thousand are known to be there illegaly. That type of fraud causes USCIS to be very careful about who gets a visa. Its the abuse of the privilage that forces others to pay the price.

JD63

Male

Thailand

2011-05-27 23:05:00