Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	HAITI NEW BIRTH CERTIFICATE!	I just reread the I-130 instruction form and it doesn't technically require the beneficiary's birth certificate, but a lot of people seem to get RFEs asking for it. So I'd order the new one, and submit now with a copy of the old one. Just be prepared for possibly having to send in the new one. In the meantime, at least you're in line!	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-19 03:00:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	WTF?!	K-1s sped up because they stopped using the K-1 processing people to process DACAs and started using the IR1/CR1 people. K1s were the first group affected by these other applications.    Before that the K1s were extremely slow (just like we are now). We switched places, is all.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-22 15:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Looking for another point of view on my options	Hi all, I'm looking for an outside opinion on the options I've come up with, to see if anyone has any other ideas or comments (you can only look at this stuff for so long on your own before you start to go crazy, heh). Here's the situation: I (US citizen by birth) recently got engaged to a Colombian citizen. We want to have our wedding ceremony in Colombia in January 2015 and return to live and work in the United States together as soon as possible afterward. However, I realize that if I file for an IR-1 / CR-1 in January 2015, we would not be able to live and work together in the US until near the end of 2015 as the IR-1 / CR-1 process takes almost 11 months. I have accepted the fact that in order to avoid that waiting period, we will need to get *legally* married and start the visa paperwork before our wedding *ceremony*. Right now I am in the process of determining the best course of action. I am under the impression that getting legally married in the United States while my fiance is visiting on the B1/B2 visa could be considered fraudulent. Is this true, even if he returns to Colombia while I file an IR-1 / CR-1 visa for him to move here permanently? I have considered filing for a K-1 fiance visa and getting legally married in the US immediately after it's granted, but this presents a timeline problem. If he applied for AOS immediately after our legal marriage, he would not be able to leave and re-enter the US until it is granted without AP, and this does not fit with the January 2015 timeline (If we file at beginning of March, K-1 would arrive approximately in November and both AOS and AP seem to take on the order of 3 months to process, which would already put us in February, and I wouldn't want to plan a wedding ceremony with no buffer). I have also considered getting legally married in Colombia as soon as possible, returning to the US, and filing for an IR-1 / CR-1 visa immediately. However, I believe this option makes it so that he will not be able to visit me in the US while the IR-1 / CR-1 is being processed. But it would still allow us to have our wedding ceremony in January 2015 in Colombia and allow him to return to the US with me to live and work following the ceremony. Right now I think this is the best option. Any thoughts, comments, or ideas? What would you do?   There is no fraud in the idea of a destination wedding. Otherwise why would there be so many wedding chapels in Vegas?  Anyway, if you choose to have him come and get legally married in the US and then return to Columbia to wait.     The only thing that's fraudulent is to come to the US on a tourist visa while secretly planning to get married and then stay and adjust status.   It is unlikely (but possible) that he will qualify for a tourist visa once the process is underway, so count on him not being able to come and visit or come back to the US with you after the wedding ceremony until after he has his visa in hand (which may or may not be by January 2015 - the process is still taking a LONG time, and you won't be able to guarantee that he will be all through with the process by the time you have your ceremony)   That said, I think that's probably the best way to go, given all your circumstances.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-22 16:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Process questions CR1 or K3?	Did your step father ever legally adopt you? Because then it would make sense to put him down as father, wouldn't it?	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2013-12-31 20:28:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Send Documents to NVC Without Birth Certificate	Honestly, I would probably send. You know you're going to get a checklist (NVC equivalent of RFE) for it, but by then you'll presumably have it to send. Meanwhile, everything else is ready to go.  That's just me, though.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-26 23:24:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Affidavit of support	If you are allowed to use your savings for the affidavit of support (I'm not sure of this b/c we're in no position to do this!, but it makes sense to me because you're married - so presumably what's hers is yours and what's yours is hers), then it must be YOUR savings, not your mother's. She would need to officially give it to you as a gift. A bank statement of an account that isn't yours would certainly not mean anything.   I don't think you'd have to transfer the money to your wife, but the money would have to be in your name and/or your wife's name, no one else's.    I understand that this is a hassle, but you'll figure out a way to make it work.   If you are questioneed about it (and you probably will be), explain to the officer (as you explained to us) that it was an extremely generous wedding gift. Edited by nightingalejules, 27 February 2014 - 01:48 AM.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-27 01:47:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	In a hurry (but aren't we all...)	FYI:  the sequence of letters "DCF" appears nowhere on the timeline entry page.  If it appears I've entered it that way, it's because the admins have created some sort of shortcut.  Here's a screenshot of what's available and pertinent on the timeline entry page:     VJ.jpg   Yes, I know. The reason people are seeing it come up as DCF is because you selected "filing from abroad" - which I know is true. I guess it used to be that any time anyone filed from another country, the embassy would do Direct Consular Filing (DCF). It took MUCH less time. But now, almost none of the embassies allow it. Probably funding cutbacks.    VisaJourney's timeline data gathering hasn't caught up to those changes to USCIS processing.    Even though it's true you filed from abroad, you'll get the appropriate data showing up on your timeline if you deselect "filing from abroad" from your timeline.    Also, even though I filed both the I-130 (chasing a CR1/IR1 immigrant visa) and the I-129f (chasing the K3 non-immigrant spousal visa) I selected just the CR1/IR1 path for my timeline, since that's the one that's most likely to be approved.   Good luck with your journey. I hope you don't have to be apart for too long.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-24 15:13:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Beneficiary change of address?	Nothing that comes from USCIS needs to go to your wife's address. You'd probably be ok to wait and change it after you get your approval. Then you can change it at the NVC Stage.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-01 03:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	DS-260 or DS-230	I don't think so. I think they've changed everyone over to the DS260 online. You should have got the numbers you need to sign in from NVC. Can you call NVC and get them to tell you your new numbers?	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-01 16:41:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Wondering if I can submit I-130 and I-485 together	You can't file the adjustment if you're planning to travel before it comes through.  You can't travel out of the US at all while your Adjustment of Status is processing. You're kind of stuck with the I-130 CR1/IR1 visa.    However, if you both qualify as legal residents of the UK, you could apply for your visa via the DCF route, which will save you MONTHS!    If you don't, sorry, but you're in for the long haul - currently 7 months or more for the I130 approval, followed by 3 months or more at NVC, then however long it takes for a medical and interview in the UK, followed by a week or two to get your visa sent out to you by courier.   You'll probably wish you'd blown off your trip back to the UK, and filed I-130 and AOS concurrently after all!	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-01 18:50:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Question on electronic document submission	Look at the wording on the forms... I believe at the NVC stage, the applicant is the person who will be getting the visa, ie beneficiary of the i130. So you'd use their name.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-03 19:52:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-797 Form not recived	Sounds like that might be the best option. Besides, then if you get an RFE or something your folks can open the mail and tell you what it is before they send it, and you'll be prepared as soon as the physical copy gets to you.     We only live in Canada and one of our 797s (we filed for CR1 and K3) took a month to get to us. Ridiculous! So yes, I'd advise changing your mailing address to your family's home and get everything else faster. And do it quick, before they do anything else with your file. Are you signed up on the USCIS website for email updates?	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-25 14:22:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-130 "Your relatives address abroad"	I kind of remember that part. Put in the actual address as many times as they ask for it.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-11 00:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Translation stress	You do know that if you are fluent in English and Spanish you can do your own translation. You just have to certify that you are fluent and its a true translation.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-11 00:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Canadian moving to US - I-130 DoS stage	Yes, take a look for the monthly (ie: March) NVC thread. The first couple of posts give pretty much all the info you need. Yes, you'll be going through Montreal. As an added bonus, we in Canada can do mostly everything for NVC online, which should speed things up a bit.    Congrats on getting your approval on the I-130!	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-10 16:49:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	AFTER INTERVIEW.. WHAT'S NEXT?	It depends. Assuming your husband passes his interview and medical, they will likely take his passport and send it back to him with the visa in it within a couple of weeks. But that's not the same in every country. It would probably be best for you to ask this question in your country's portal.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-14 20:28:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	transfer from National/MSC & another question	Also, check out the thread for August 2013 filers. Most of the people on that thread are pretty much in the same boat as you, and you can benefit from their experience. Read back a few pages from the most recent ones, because probably your questions have all been asked and answered.   TSC seems to be catching up with their workload (albeit slowly). Even if you qualify for an expedite, you'll probably get an approval before the expedite goes through. In fact, when they pull your file to see if it qualifies for expedite, they take it out of it's position in line, and it might even make it take longer.   Hold tight a little longer and check out the August thread and transfer spreadsheet.    http://www.visajourn...3-i-130-filers/ https://docs.google....5uUGF5WGc#gid=0	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-02-27 03:06:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Visitor for marriage visa	So the lawyer said that because you had been refused  a non immigrant visa for immigrant intent you would be refused an immigrant visa for immigrant intent?   Immigrants have immigrant intent, it is the nature of the beast. I guess the lawyer thought that since technically the k1 is a non immigrant visa it might be denied. Of course I agree with you. A k1 is a non immigrant visa that has the intent to immigrate implied. I think OP would probably be approved for a k1 but if they're uncomfortable with that, the route they have in mind should work too.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-22 01:24:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Filed I-130 - is there anything else that I need to do?	Hello, My wife is a US citizen. I am an Irish citizen. We married 6 months ago and are both living in Ireland. We have filed a form I-130 to the Chicago lockbox where it was received, and we received a notice of action at the end of November. We have not yet heard anything else. How long should we wait, and are there any other forms that we can submit in the meantime while waiting for visa approval? Thanks for your help!   Check the thread for November 2013 I-130 filers... you'll find a wealth of information, but most of it will be a little disheartening. On the plus side, it seems to be getting significantly better.    First of all, it's important to remember that you are not getting Visa approval yet, or for a while. You are getting approval for your I-130 petition, which essentially means that you are approved to start to file for the visa.   Once you get the I-130 approval (which will probably be within a month or two from now, based on the fact that I was an October filer and we are now starting to get approved) your file moves on to NVC (the National Visa Center - part of the Department of State). They receive it, and assign you a new case number. This is the number under which you will begin to actually apply for your visa. The NVC process will take a few months, if you're prepared, and then, once the case is complete at NVC, they send it to your "local" consulate. It seems like for most Irish people, the "local" consulate is actually the one in London, not Ireland, for some reason. Not sure.   Then you go for your medical and interview, which can take another long time, depending on how busy the consulate is and how many interview slots they have available.   Presumably then, you are actually approved for your visa.   There is nothing more you can file until you are assigned a case number from NVC. But you can start filling in the affidavit(s) of support (if the petitioner is not living in the US you will need a joint sponsor, and you will need to make a list of the "good faith efforts" you are making to re-establish domicile in the US) (form i184), the beneficiary can start making a list of all the addresses they've lived at since they were 16years old, all the jobs they've had in that time, the last 5 visits (with specific dates) to the US (if applicable), get a copy of their vaccination record, and anything else they will need to fill out the DS260 which is really the visa application.   So what you need to do right now is look at the November 2013 filers thread, see if they're starting to see approvals, ask them any questions related to USCIS you may have (if you get an RFE (request for evidence) rather than an approval, for instance).   Also, start looking at the NVC filers thread. They'll start a new one in April, and the March one is pretty unwieldy now so maybe start looking at it in a couple days. In the first or second post of the thread, you will see some links from Saylin that will tell you what to start preparing to be ready to go when you get the I-130 approval.   You will also find that people get pretty grouchy if you post vague questions like the above without doing a little research first. Use the search bar at the top right corner of your screen, look for similar posts, and then ask more specific questions to clarify, rather than a really broad question, the answer to which is pretty easily searchable on the site.   That said, welcome to VJ! You've come in at the right time, because it seems like things are finally moving!	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-03-30 18:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Doubts on DS-260 Form.	Hello Friends,   I am getting ready for DS-260 form with the help of screenshots. Here are my doubts.,   1.My native language is Tamil. So How could I write my full name in Tamil? When we filed i130, We just wrote my name and address in Tamil using Pen. But not sure how could I fill it out in electronic form.   2. I lived in 4 different addressess from my age 16. One is the present address ,been living for past 8 years. 5 years in previous address. But both the address are in the same town which were street next to each other.not so far tho. During living in the present address, I moved to Chennai for job n lived there for 6 months before wedding and another 6 months after wedding in 2 different addressess which were next flat to each other in the same apartment. jus a single number differs in door number for both. So Do I need to get PCC only from regional passport office for present address thts the one on my passport or Do I need to get Police certificate for Chennai address also? or Do I need to get PCC for all 4 addressess? I am so confused in this part.   3.In the present and previous address information page., we were asked for Home phone number or Work phone number or Mobile number. So whose number should i give here. Can I give my husband's work phone number or mobile phone number? or Should I give mine?   4.Should I say Yes or No for the "Is your mailing address as same as your present address?" I lives in my present address in India. Should I give my USA address where I intend to live or India address?. For what , They are asking for mailing address? For all future correspondence or only for passport with visa delivery?   5.In Present work/Education/Training information page. Should I say Homemaker or Not employed in Primary occupation? Coz I am simply focusing on visa stuffs, not working anywhere currently.   6. In previous work/education/training information page., Both my previous employers moved to different locations in the same city. Not in the address where they were located when i was working. So Should I give the current addresses of them or Just Can I give the addresses which has been mentioned in my offer letter or Pay stubs or Experience certificates? If I give the current addressess of both the employers, Then Do I need to get some proof or letter from them?   7.What does that mean Supervisor's Surname and Given name? Whose name I should give?   8. I can read,write and speak in both English and Tamil. I do speak sourashtra which is my mother tongue. The meaning of native language and mother tongue are the same? coz My native is Tamilnadu, where we communicate with people in Tamil. And We do speak in sourashtra with our relatives, sourashtrian friends and family. So My native language is Tamil or Sourashtra? in No.1 question I mentioned that my native language is Tamil but I m not sure on that too. But when filed i130 petition. I printed my full name and address in Tamil where i was aksed to fill it in native language.   9.My husband gonna sign in the form as Petitioner and fill out all. So in Sign and submit page.,Should I say Yes or No to " Did anyone assist you in filling out this application?"  How could we take this question as to petitioner or beneficiary? If it ask to petitioner, Should We say Yes or No? or If the question is for beneficiary, Should I say Yes or No since my husband(Petitioner) gonna fill out this form? and whose DOB we should give?   Thanks for sparing your time in reading my post. Great advices would be appreciated greatly.     1 - Good question. I wonder if there's a way to choose the characters of your native language on a computer, instead of English letters. Otherwise, maybe there's a way to scan in an image of handwriting. I'm unfamiliar with Tamil characters.   2 - As far as I know, one police certificate per country you lived in is sufficient.   3 - DS-260 is all about the beneficiary. Use your contact information.   4 - Say "yes". You are living at your current mailing address.   5 - I think you could reasonably say either. Take your pick, they're both true.   6 - I would use the addresses they were at when you worked for them.   7 - Who was your direct boss at your previous jobs. Provide their names, last name then first name. (I'm stressed about this one too, since I'm sure I don't remember all their names.)   8 - Multilingual people do have it tough here. I would either put both, separated by a comma, or (and I think this is what they're looking for here) the one you use the most.   9 - Again, the DS260 is all about you. So if your husband is filling it out, he should be filling it out as if he were you.  So it should probably be your birthdate. Also, the question about "did anyone help you" is referring to professionals (like lawyers) not husbands. So I'd say "no".   Please, anyone, if my answers are out to lunch, please feel free to correct me. I haven't actually filled out this form yet, but I'm usually a pretty good "form filler outer" and I can usually decipher legalese pretty well. But I wouldn't swear to any of this - it's my best guess. (Gee, the fact that I'm a lawyer's kid is showing here, isn't it!)	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-04-02 03:48:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I130 application	So confused my case is not at Nebraska office in according to USCIS WEBSITE this office are taking 5 months to process I130 so anyone have any idea some people still tell me it will take 8 month so please advice It will take about 5 months to process your i130, then probably another 3 months to do the actual visa application, affidavit of support, and interview, provided you're ready with all your documents. Do a little research on the full process. The i130 is just the first step.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-04-06 02:03:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Did you receive an "Out of office auto reply" right away after send in the Optional Electronic Processing Enroll request?	Thank you!   I went through his post. Still didn't find the answer to my questions:   1. After sent the OPTIN email, should I receive an auto reply right away? 2. If I didn't receive the auto reply, what is my next step to fix the problem? Somebody on the NVC thread had luck by just sending the optin email again... Got auto response second time.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-04-11 03:18:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-130 approved. Do we have to file 3-years Federal Tax returns?	My understanding is that she will have to file her tax returns, unless she made under the reporting threshold. Look up some info about the IRS's "streamlined process" for filing back taxes... It's specifically designed for people who live abroad. She can file as "married filing separately without an Itin. Under spouse's ssn on the form she will write by hand NRA (non resident alien) It just means she can't file online, but she can't do that for her previous year tax returns anyway. I do think that you're allowed to file the i864 without the taxes having been completed in the us, though... You need to send copies of every form and worksheet that she submitted, though. She will need to get up to date with her taxes though, or you will not be approved, even with a joint sponsor. The us has a tax treaty with Australia, so her income there will probably not be assessed extra tax in the us. Good luck!	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-04-16 03:37:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 and IR1	Hi Biaobiao, Have you had this experience before? Or do you know anyone that this he has his intrrview on May 05 should he ask immigration about this?? I personally am not at this stage... But I have read on other threads that they (customs officers) at the point of entry are authorized to change the category. So make sure the spouse who is immigrating makes a point to ask about it and an extra copy of marriage license to show you've been married over the 2 years.	nightingalejules	Female	Canada	2014-04-15 03:16:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Which dates of I-130 form is USCIS currently processing/reviewing?	Hey,   Well, it's hard to know which date they're currently processing, but in short, the NBC is incredibly backlogged. The Igor's List will tell you they are in February 2013, but it's very hard to judge because so many before this month haven't got anything. If you call or have a senator call for you, they will tell you anywhere from 8-12 months. The initial processing time was 5 months, but that isn't so likely anymore.   However, I've been reading that starting in September, the NBC will open a new processing center in Kansas specifically for I-130 petitions and they should be able to catch up eventually. If this is true, you could imagine the normal processing time of 5-6 months. If not, if could be twice as much time. They don't seem to be working at all. Many are still waiting.   Typically, you can expect for your petition to be transferred to your local field office, but the timing depends on the current processing date for the adjudicators.    Good luck! Edited by Joaozinho, 21 August 2013 - 07:49 PM.	Joaozinho	Not Telling	Algeria	2013-08-21 19:45:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	usc living abroad	Your first steps will be to fill out the I-130 for your spouse and send it to the Chicago Lockbox. The filing instructions aren't different from filing abroad.   You need not worry about the I-864 right now as you will have much time to look into that while waiting for your petition to be approved. You should consider establishing domicile in the U.S. or filing using the address of a parent or very close relative at home as this is sometimes necessary when getting immersed back into the U.S.    You don't need to include all these other details unless the I-130 questions ask for such information. Respond to the questions, include whatever forms the instructions require and some bonafide evidence. Check the example forms link under the VJ header and that should help a lot.   A lot of these things, the small details, you might discuss with a consular officer when the time comes. Just gather your evidence in the meantime and when your wedding happens, add those photos as well!    Hope this helps!	Joaozinho	Not Telling	Algeria	2013-09-12 22:42:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	getting CR1?	Salaam Brother,   Firstly, I wish you luck on this journey you're about to begin. I hope it will end well.   1) I doubt that the denial will have any effect on your visa. You tried and now you know the answer. 2) There is no DCF in Pakistan. It is only available in select countries with USCIS offices. 3) If you have enough money to put in your wife's account, then you could and it would suffice. But typically you need 5 times the poverty threshold if you're going to use cash. Your household is two right now, but it will soon be three. With two, you would need somewhere near $100, 000. This is normally hard to meet in this way. I would suggest your wife search deep in her network to find someone to help you with this task.   If there is a will then there is a way. I wish you luck and blessings in this journey.	Joaozinho	Not Telling	Algeria	2013-08-30 03:49:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	need urgent help pls :crying: :crying:	I see a lot of comments about expedites here which hold some truth, but not entirely.  I don't think the reasoning for the expedite is sufficient for USCIS, but I can say that the weight of an expedite depends on who submits it. If you wish to try and go that route, get both the Ombudsman and a senator to file an expedite for you. However, as is already mentioned, dealing with the Pakistan embassy is the bigger problem. You'll have to hang in there and be as supportive as you can until the petition is approved. Good luck bro!	Joaozinho	Not Telling	Algeria	2013-10-11 22:18:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	If you pretty much do everything the lawyer told you not to do, you'll be good and in the clear.  Send all the proof you can. Send the appropriate forms with the I-130 petition. (You can find them in the example forms area of VJ). Congratulations on your marriage! You'll be in the city of roses soon enough.	Joaozinho	Not Telling	Algeria	2013-10-05 05:56:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Do I qualify for expedite under financial loss?	If you could get the DHS Ombudsman or a member of the House or Senate to submit this expedite for you, it would work wonders. But you do need to have each of these things documented, so much as to going to a doctor to diagnose the migraines. I had my case expedited through USCIS under the financial hardship when my foreign lease ended and funds were very tight to start another. Do what you can, it can't hurt you to try! But I'd take some advice from visaqueries because you will still need something more instant. After USCIS comes another slow beast called the NVC...	Joaozinho	Not Telling	Algeria	2014-01-29 03:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Name on marriage certificate	Hi,   We are in the process of getting married over here in Norway.  My fiancé is from Hawaii, and she has a rather long and complicated middle name. However, this is only printed on her drivers license and birth certificate but not her passport. Her passport simply states first name and last name.    So, what name would be best to use on the marriage certificate we'll get? In terms of ease through the CR-1 process and the various forms we need to fill out.   Full name, thats on birth certificate, or passport name ?     Thanks! TJ	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-09 10:01:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	Yeah that's what I immediately though to when I heard it, but after investigating the VWP terms, I couldn't find anything about it being illegal to have your name on things.   Anyway, a quick question regarding our marriage certificate. My fiancè has a rather long and complicated middle name (Hawaiian) on her birth certificate, but her passport only states her last name "Chung", so should we just put her passport name on the marriage certificate, or the name on her birth certificate ?   Thanks!     Anyone with thoughts on the matter ?	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-13 13:31:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	Congratz...get marry in Norway and file I 130     *This is just a question (I don't have the answer) could it be the atty says don't give up lease and utility bills because it would make it seem spending so much time in the US and being on a lease seem to say he was living there on vwp?   Yeah that's what I immediately though to when I heard it, but after investigating the VWP terms, I couldn't find anything about it being illegal to have your name on things.   Anyway, a quick question regarding our marriage certificate. My fiancè has a rather long and complicated middle name (Hawaiian) on her birth certificate, but her passport only states her last name "Chung", so should we just put her passport name on the marriage certificate, or the name on her birth certificate ?   Thanks!	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-06 11:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	That lawyer sounds quite dangerous to people who want a visa in their passport, imo.   I agree. After everything I've been reading here, his suggestions to my fiance were quite odd, and this was seemingly a very reputable lawyer as well.	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-05 07:16:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	I'll take the last part of your post first; the NVC will check to see if the appropriate document is in the file and the forms are properly filled out before a file is forwarded.   As for translations, it's the Embassy or Consulate that makes the call.  Some Embassies and Consulates do require document translations even though the documents themselves are in the official language of the country (China is an example of this).  So, as I said before, go with what the Embassy in Stockholm tells you.   Thank you! I'll definitely have to check with Stockholm then   And thanks to everyone else as well, I'll keep my timeline updated and keep this post alive once we get this ball rolling !	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-05 07:13:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	My answers in bold and red:     Okay, seems fair enough, I'll check with the embassy in Stockholm or over at the Scandinavian section on this forum. I have no problem submitting originals of my birthcertificate, marriage certificate and police record, as these documents are easily obtainable from the Norwegian tax-register. And they all carry a stamp from the Norwegian Government.   However, reading on this page: http://travel.state..../info_3195.html   It says; "All documents not written in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations and submitted to the NVC."   So do they not look at any of the specific paperwork at the NVC, and rather just forward them to the appropriate embassy?	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-05 06:03:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	First of all, congratulations in advance on making plans to get married. Good for you both!   Secondly, be sure to use the "search" button at the top right corner. If you search using some key words, you will find thousands of stories/cases just like yours. Read those threads as a feeder for you moving forward. I would say over 98% of those stories had success getting their spouses visas.   Now see my bolded responses to your questions above. My very best to you both!   Boggy, thanks for pointing me to that post. It really cleared things up in regards to the online forms. I'll definitely be sure to use the search button, as I have been doing for the past year     A quick question regarding documents needed for the NVC part; As most of my documents will be in Norwegian, I'll require a translation, and I've understood I'll need to submit originals with copies.    So, do both the copy and original need to be accompanied by a translation? And do these documents need an Apostille or is the translation enough? Does the passport photocopy need a translation ?  (Its in both norwegian and english e.g Name/Navn, Birthdate/Fødselsdato, so is my birthcertifcate as well come to think of it)   Cheers!	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-05 05:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visajourney to soon begin!	Hi everyone!   After lurking around  on this site gathering information and reading personal experiences for a whole year, its finally time for my own visajourney with the love of my life. We are currently planning to get married in Norway sometime between October and November this year, and then file for the I-130 as soon as I can get our marriage certificate translated and apostille'd.    Here's our story in short; We met January 3rd in 2011, at a dollar beer night at Senor Frogs in Honolulu, Hawaii (Where she is from). The following 6 months were spent texting, facetiming, skyping, writing letters, you name it. And finally in July 2011, she visited me in Norway, and I was sold. We met while I was in my last year of getting my masters degree, so shortly after her visit, I landed a job. The perks with this job was my schedule, working for 2 weeks and having 4 weeks off. So needless to say, I had a lot of time off and also money to spare. I then decided to go and see her as often as I could, which turned out to be quite often. So almost every month up until this day, I've been traveling to Portland to see my love. I've always been traveling under the ESTA VWP, since I'm Norwegian, and I've never had any trouble getting in, despite my frequent visits. We even went as far as to rent an apartment together, with my name on the lease, water bill, sewage etc. And I also bought her a car that we have together (I'm on the title, but not on the insurrance paper)    On August 9th 2013 I decided to take the next step and propose. I had to leave shortly after to go home to Norway and back to work, so we planned on getting legally married when I were to return in September/October. Unfortunately, my employer decided that instead of going to work as scheduled, I were to take a one month course in Houston, Texas. As I had just returned from the US and only had 5 days in between my departure and new arrival, I was quite skeptic as to how the immigration officer would react to this. At my arrival in Houston, I was pulled aside for further questioning. This interrogation lasted for 6 hours, with a lot of waiting and just sitting around. I answered everything truthfully and told them my story. The officers believed my story and let me off with a warning saying that I should have the proper Visa in place for my next return. So instead of pushing my luck trying to travel to the US under VWP and get married, we decided that we should just get the legal part done over here in Norway. And also, reading on this forum, I came to the conclusion that applying for a B1/2 visa was useless, as I would have to state that my fiance is living in the US, and that would pretty much be an automatic denial.   When my fiance realized that this process was going to be time consuming and meant that we would have to spend some time apart, she insisted on consulting with a lawyer. I on the other hand have been intensively studying the CR-1 visa process and I'm fairly confident that we'll be able to do this on our own. Anyway, I told her that if she wanted to hear it from a lawyer, she was more then welcome to get a consultation hour.    A few interesting things from the Lawyer;  When he heard our story, he strongly advised that I were to be removed from any papers with both our names on it, to quote "hide our paper trail". When she asked about the I-130 application, he said to just submit marriage certificate and application, no other proof. He also said nothing about the G-325a. The lawyer wanted upwards of 3000 dollars just to help us with the visa application, not included fee's for the petition etc. Which in my opinion is horribly overpriced. Anyway, after she talked to him, she calmed down a bit since she pretty much got the same answers from him as I had previously told her. So together we decided that we should file and do this visa-application on our own. Our case should be pretty straightforward, since we are just one year apart in age, both with educations and jobs, and me being from a low-fraud country.With great help from the Visajourney community I'm sure that we will be able to complete and get this journey done with in no time!   And now to  my questions:   What is your opinion about the lawyers recommendation on "hiding our paper trail"?    In the I-130 application, I'd like to send at least photos of our history together and maybe a few affidavits to support our relationship together with the translated and apostille'd marriage certificate. But would sending things like our lease, electricty bill, water bill, sewage bill and car title benefit or work against us in this case? I'm thinking since these things were signed before I was a legal resident, would this affect our case negatively?   Is the G-325a still required to attach to the I-130 application? (I can see its mentioned in the guides for CR-1 here, but I'm not sure how up to date they are)   Is the DS-230 and DS-3032 obsolete now that the DS-260 and DS-261 is online?      Sorry for completely bombaring you guys with info in this post, but I think this will be the master thread for our visajourney, in addition to the timeline which I'll be updating regularely!	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-10-05 03:53:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Feedback on translation of marriage certificate	Hi Mark,   Yes that would indeed be the most practical, but unfortunately, we don't have such a thing in Norway for marriage certificates. However, we do get most of our other documents in international format (birth certificate, police certificate, etc..).   TJ	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-11-10 17:31:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Feedback on translation of marriage certificate	Hi everyone,   Just received our marriage certificate today, and I've started to translate it from Norwegian to English. I was wondering if anyone have any feedback on the translation so far...? (sorry for the poor quality, working on an 11" screen gives little room for photo-editing)   The top of the translated document says; "Translation of the document "Vigselsattest" from NORWEGIAN to ENGLISH"    Screen Shot 2013-11-10 at 00.30.53.png   543.8KB   1 downloads       Filing our I-130 as soon as we get back from our honeymoon to Japan   Thanks! TJ Edited by TJandKC, 09 November 2013 - 06:44 PM.	TJandKC	Male	Norway	2013-11-09 18:41:00