Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Just to Clarify...	Your original birth certificate is maintained in a vault somewhere by the government. The closest to an original you're ever likely to see is a certified copy. This has a raised seal or stamp that certifies that it's a true and accurate copy of the original maintained in the vault. The raised seal or certification is done by the same government agency that maintains the original, and you get the certified copy directly from the agency that keeps your original (often a county clerk, county recorder, or similar). Since a certified copy is the closest to an original that most people see, some people erroneously call a certified copy an original. This is the source of a lot of terminology confusion. Any photocopy of a certified copy is just a photocopy. For USCIS purposes, notarization doesn't help or hurt a photocopy. Notarized or not, it's still a photocopy. When you submit a petition to the USCIS service center, you may send an ordinary photocopy of any birth certificates/marriage certificates required. At the interview, you should bring the certified copies from which you made the photocopies. They'll want to look at the certified copy, verify the seal, and keep the photocopy.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-01 15:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Length of Relationship???	That site is absolutely wrong. I checked it out from the link you posted, and you haven't misquoted it, but it's wrong. If it made such a blunder on that point, I'd be very skeptical of any other interpretations they might have of the rules for the process. The only two year requirement in the K-1 process is that the couple must have been together in person at some time during the two years before they file the petition. They have to submit evidence to show that the time of their most recent in-person meeting was less than two years ago. There is no minimum length of the relationship, certainly not two years. If the relationship is excessively short, there may be some doubts as to the bona fide nature of the relationship, but I don't know of any explicit guideline on the number of days that would constitute "excessively short". Certainly there are couples here who received their K-1 visa having filed the petition less than two years after their first meeting.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-03 13:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	passport photos	They should not be needed. You submitted them with the petition, and those are normally the only photos of the US Citizen required. We didn't need any photos of the USC at the interview, only of the beneficiary. But if you have contrary information from the consulate, by all means, follow the consulate's instructions. Otherwise, if the photos will provide peace, harmony, comfort, and confidence during the process, use your judgement to decide if they're worth sending.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-08 17:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Pregnancy While Waiting for K-1	Can you take a trip to your fiancees country for the birth? Your child is automatically a USC, but you do need to record the birth at the embassy. If you can't do this, I am sure there is another way to record the birth, but the baby would not be an immigrant and therefore wouldnt need a Visa. Actually the child is not automatically a USC... there are some rules that have to be met. In addition, some hurdles may need to be jumped in order for the consulate to issue a Cansular Record of Birth if the baby was born out of wedlock to a USC father. Many high fraud consulates require a paternity test before the certificate will be issued. No, assuming the USC father has lived in the US for at least five years, at least two of which were after the father's 14th birthday, the child is automatically a US Citizen at birth, according to INA 301, paragraph (g). The child is a US Citizen whether or not paperwork is filed. In fact, the child is a US Citizen whether the parents (or the child, when he/she comes of age) want the child to be a citizen or not. What is not necessarily automatic is getting documentary proof of the child's automatic citizenship. And yes, consulates may have some procedures to go through to prove that the child really is the offspring of a US Citizen who meets the residence requirements. The distinction may seem small, but sometimes it's worth remembering that all you're doing in this kind of case is proving a citizenship that existed automatically since birth. There's no time limit, no "good moral character" test, no bona fide relationship test, no possibile inadmissibility on health-related grounds, public charge grounds, or any other grounds. If you can prove the parentage, you've proved the citizenship.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-07 12:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DS-156 Question 31.	"Refused entry" means roughly "showed up at a POE asking to come in to the USA and had the officer turn her away, saying she couldn't come in". "Refused a visa" means roughly "went to an embassy and asked for a visa, and was told she couldn't get one". In either case, you should answer honestly. Chances are excellent they already have the information in their computers, anyway, and if you provide an answer inconsistent with the information in their computers, this could present a problem. If they catch you telling a lie or deliberately misleading an officer, it results in a permanent bar on admissibility. In either case, answering "Yes" just means the officer will ask a follow-up question at the interview to determine the reason. If the reason was irrelevant for the visa she's currently asking for, then the previous refusal will not matter. Many VJ participants have reported being refused tourist visas for failure to show adequate ties to their home country. In no case have I heard of that presenting any problem whatsoever to getting a K visa or an immigrant visa, provided they were honest about the situation when asked.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-15 12:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Can I-129F be sent while Fiancée in USA?	I wouldn't disagree that you should consult with an attorney, because you're definitely getting some incorrect information here. You can most definitely file the petition while she is in the states. We did. After the petition is filed, it will count as one factor that would indicate she is an intending immigrant, so it may make it more difficult (perhaps almost impossible, depending on the other facts of her case) for her to enter the US on any type of entry that would require her to demonstrate non-immigrant intent. But if she's already entered and has legal status here, filing the petition won't revoke her legal status. She can only get a visa by applying in-person at a foreign consulate abroad. She would apply after your petition is approved and forwarded to the consulate, so that won't happen for awhile. At the time she presents her application in-person to the officers at the consulate abroad, she can't be inside the US, for obvious physical reasons, nevermind legalities. There's nothing wrong with her having one type of visa with lots of available time left, then leaving the US, applying for a different type of visa, receiving it, and entering with a new status from the new visa. It may be possible, perhaps even preferable, to marry and file for adjustment of status instead of leaving the US to pursue a fiancee visa. To do this, you will have the burden of proving that her most recent entry was legal. I.e. that she told the truth to the inspecting officer, and that she really did have the intent to comply with all of the terms of her visa at the time she entered. The most significant issue is that she must not have had the intent to stay and adjust status. Once she's made the decision to marry and immigrate, she cannot enter with the intent of staying and adjusting status unless she's entering on a K visa. If these rules seem to present a problem, it may be safer to apply for a K visa.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-15 17:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Marriage in a foreign country	Telling lies to USCIS is the worst "no-no" there is. I wouldn't risk it for fear of being banned for the 3 or 10 years. Actually, there are 3/10 year bars for overstaying more than 180 days or a year, respectively. Overstay or entry without inspection is serious enough, but eventually forgiveable. Telling lies to the USCIS or CBP is a much more serious offense. It carries a lifetime bar.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-17 16:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Marriage in a foreign country	Once she's married, she can't use a K-1 visa to enter. Entering after marriage (even a supposedly "ceremonial" wedding that really wasn't legally binding) is the most common reason I've heard of for K-1 holders to be turned away at the POE. She has the burden of proof, so if there is any doubt about her marital status, she gets turned away. If she hides the marriage from the officer to try and get in, she's guilty of concealing a material fact, and subject to a lifetime bar from entry to the US. Even if she doesn't get caught at the POE, she'll have to go through adjustment of status. During the AoS process, she'll have the burden of proving her most recent entry to the US was legal (in other words, proving she was single when she entered on the K-1). And she'll have to prove her wedding day and prove she was married in the US. Nope, if you want a marriage outside the US, it's either K-3 or CR-1 time. An alternate is to do the K-1, have a legally binding wedding in the US, then after applying for and receiving AP, go abroad for a ceremonial celebration. You can do as many ceremonial celebrations as you want, but for immigration purposes, you only get to have one legally binding wedding. Since you have the burden of proving marital status, that legally binding wedding should be before (or concurrent with) any ceremonial celebrations. Don't have the ceremony before the legal wedding. If you intend to enter on a K-1 and adjust status, then the legally binding wedding must happen inside the US after entering on the K-1.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-17 16:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	language hurdles	One key to learning English quickly is immersion in English. While a Spanish-speaking community may help her feel comfortable, it won't necessarily help her learn English quickly. Lucy's been making fast progress through her ESL classes offered at a local community college. The classes are more than half native speakers of Spanish. But she's somewhat jealous of her classmate who is Indonesian and another who is Romanian. They are making faster progress than any of the Spanish speakers, because they have no alternative but to speak English full-time. Learning to be fluent in a foreign language is a difficult and sometimes frustrating thing. The technique of total immersion which leads to the fastest learning can be very frustrating. Whereas sticking to situations where one can get by on one's native language is much more comfortable and reassuring, it tends to slow the process of learning English. Let her have as much English language immersion as she can tolerate without going crazy, and she'll learn quickly. Age isn't a barrier.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-24 20:02:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Proof of Being Born in US	What's required of the USC is proof of citizenship, not necessarily a birth certificate. A birth certificate is one of the possible ways of providing proof of citizenship. For all documents submitted in support of a petition, the USCIS normally only requires photocopies. So a photocopy of your birth certificate, a photocopy of your passport, or a photocopy of whatever other document you use to provide proof of citizenship will work. You can never get your ORIGINAL birth certificate -- it's maintained by a government authority (usually a county clerk/county recorder) in a secure vault. The closest you can normally get is a certified copy, which means a copy issued by the government authority that maintains the original in its vault. A certified copy will have some sort of raised seal indicating that it's a true and accurate copy issued by the government authority that maintains the original. If you submit a photocopy of a certified copy of your birth certificate with your I-129F, then at the interview, they might request to see the certified copy from which you made the photocopy, so they can verify the raised seal.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-03-03 15:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Question about the new law	This law puts a time based restriction on the number of petitions which can be filed. Since when is love and marriage timelines dictated by the govt? Love and marriage timelines, no. Immigration timelines, most certainly yes, for as long as I can remember. If you just want to meet privately, fall in love, and marry and stay in your foreign spouse's country, this law can't touch you. A second application puts you in an abusers database to have extra screening, like there isn't enough and this process isn't slow enough? Since when did your govt decide they have the right to tell us what we must disclose about ourselves prior to ever meeting someone? It also creates two set of marriage standards. Marry another USC and you have to do nothing. Marry a none USC and you must disclose everything about yourself to the govt, an over seas embassy, and your potential mate. No, even after passage of this law, you are free to meet whomever you want and marry whomever you want with or without disclosing information about your past. This law only has an effect if you try to bring your foreign spouse or fiancee into the US. When two people marry, it's a matter between the two of them. But when they decide to use that marriage to bring one of them into the US, it becomes a matter of concern for the rest of US society. There have been too many people seriously harmed by a few abusers of the system, and the taxpayers end up paying to pick up the pieces, while the abusers can pick a new target and start again. I think the new rules are certainly well intentioned and will probably end up having a net benefit overall. There may be some inconveniences as the details are worked out, of course, but the general sentiment of disclosing one's past to one's potential mate is a good idea.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-23 14:41:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I feel so sad	QUOTE (silent @ Jul 8 2008, 08:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have a suggestion, Why not take the picture in Phillipines and just scan them to your husband, he can take the 2x2 print outs at any photo stores in US, doesn't cost much either and saves time too, and he can write in your case number and other specifics at the back side of the photograph. Why haven't I thought of this awhile back? Marjorie, Despair not, you've got pretty good suggestions here. Good luck.	~krakatoa~	Not Telling	0	2008-07-08 17:22:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Wife to visit the United States while waiting for visa	for what's it worth i had a similar question. i called the state department number (202-663-1225) 3 weeks ago and talked to one of their operators, referred to as a 'visa specialist'. i asked if my wife could visit the usa while we are in the immigration visa process. he said if she is a japanese citizen, with a japanese passport traveling under the VWP then yes she can visit. I asked if she should bring proof of ties to japan. he said no, just a return airline ticket. we have not decided whether to try to visit or not. i'm not sure what to make of it. it seems to go against what i've read about. Edited by ahoka, 29 January 2008 - 02:35 AM.	ahoka	Not Telling	Japan	2008-01-29 02:33:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Police Certificate and NVC Online System	We were successful with getting a police certificate with just a photocopy of the NOA2, but it seems like it varies from region to region in Japan.	ahoka	Not Telling	Japan	2008-04-30 15:13:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	police certificate at interview	According to the documentation i have from the NVC (case complete, interview date assigned), its forwarding everything to the Tokyo Embassy. NVC requested we send to them all original or certified copies of documents, so we sent police certificate, marriage and birth certificates along with notarized translations. I also thought a 2nd copy of the police certificate would be useful to have, just in case, but the japanese police in our area denied us additional copies, they said we get one certificate only. So, we are really hoping nothing gets lost! It seems like japan police certificates are handled somewhat differently from other countries? its officially sealed in an envelope with a stamp like, 'to be open by US authority only' so we've never even read it or photocopied it. ...hmmm, i hope i didn't marry a criminal!	ahoka	Not Telling	Japan	2008-05-27 17:20:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	DS-230	QUOTE (Justin and Masako @ Jun 3 2008, 07:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (ahoka @ Jun 2 2008, 09:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> maybe your confusion was due to japan switching from standard processing to appointment processing for CR-1/IR-1 visas early this year? I found that pretty confusing and annoying when i was researching information one month and then everything changed on the next month. ahoka, could you please elaborate on that change? I was not aware of it. What does it affect? We are waiting on our DS-230 packet now and I wan everything to go as smoothly and quickly as possible. Thanks, well previously if a person looked up, like in my case, Tokyo Embassy at the state department website, it would show standard processing which means the instructions for you would be to just fill out the DS-230 Part I for the NVC, that's about it. birth, marriage, police certificates and DS230 part II you would bring to the interview. So, the original poster's comments seems to indicate information to the old standard processing for japan. Now with appointment processing all those documents go to the NVC with the DS-230. This link below has been posted by various people here, this is for appointment processing http://travel.state..../info_3190.html hope this helps.	ahoka	Not Telling	Japan	2008-06-03 16:37:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	DS-230	maybe your confusion was due to japan switching from standard processing to appointment processing for CR-1/IR-1 visas early this year? I found that pretty confusing and annoying when i was researching information one month and then everything changed on the next month.	ahoka	Not Telling	Japan	2008-06-02 21:04:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Questions about Of-169 and Of-230 forms	QUOTE (alohafromkona @ Jun 19 2008, 08:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Aloha all, I am still waiting for my I-130 approval. I am looking ahead though, at the next step. This is from the step by step guide- "A few weeks after you have received your last Notice of Action indicating the approval and forwarding of your I-130 application to the NVC, the NVC will send your relative a packet of forms that you and your relative must fill out before your relative can be given an interview date with a consulate abroad. The packet will likely contain an Of-169 form, and an Of-230 part one and two forms that must be filled out by the intending immigrant. " I am wondering if anyone knows what the Of-169 and Of-230 forms look like? My wife is coming to visit this weekend, for a few months. I am pretty sure she will be here when we (hopefully) get approved. Her packet will be sent to her in Japan, in which she will have someone send it to us here in Hawaii. I am wondering if there is anything she may need to bring now, so we can have all the documents we need (like a birth certificate, passport, etc), to send the packet back. I would hate to have to wait until she goes back home, to get any other documents needed, then send the packet. It would save a lot of time if we can do everything from here. I would appreciate any feedback or advice. Mahalo in advance! I think that guide might be a little outdated. I believe OF-230 is the old number for the DS-230 form. I don't recall using any OF-169 in my process. The NVC flowchart is probably better to look at as a guide to see what happens next: http://www.visajourn...wchart_v1-2.pdf Your wife will need to gather her documentation for the DS-230 which is the last form you send to NVC. If you want to research it and prepare yourself for what you will need for that, look here: http://travel.state..../info_1335.html.	ahoka	Not Telling	Japan	2008-06-20 12:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	If Denied for K1 Can We file for K1	Having a denied K-1 on your record might make it harder to get a K-3. Of course, there's the problem that whatever caused the K-1 denial may still be an issue, but there's the further issue that a denied petition has a strange way of turning into a finding of misrepresentation, especially if you don't respond to a notice of intent to deny. See the following article: http://www.ilw.com/a...0323-ellis.shtm But the real answer depends on why the K-1 was denied.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-13 17:17:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR-1 Visa Annulment	The US marriage might well be annullable, because it was entered into fraudulently by both parties. When you applied for a marriage license, you both had to swear you were not married. But you already had a Cambodian marriage certificate, which you had already used to get the marriage based visa. Therefore, you weren't entitled to a marriage license in the US. But any annulment of the US marriage still leaves the legally binding Cambodian marriage to deal with. Talk to a family lawyer in your own state about the procedure for annulment, but you may have difficulty annulling the Cambodian marriage. Most states have a limited time period beyond which an annulment cannot be obtained. It's probably simpler and cheaper to get a divorce to end the Cambodian marriage. As for terminating the I-864, see the terminating conditions listed on the I-864 itself. Neither divorce nor annulment is grounds for terminating the I-864.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2010-02-09 18:28:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	How can this happen? What can I do?	There's a provision in the law that says that a K-3 visa must be issued in the country where the marriage took place (unless the marriage happened on US soil). So if you have an approved I-129F, are waiting for you I-130, and are going for a K-3 visa, they have no choice but to interview you in the country where you marriage happened. There is no such provision regarding an IR-1 visa. It's up to the consulate's discretion whether or not they'll accept a case. Different consulates have different criteria, but generally, most consulates will accept cases involving citizens and permanent residents of the country where the consulate is located. Many won't accept cases of temporary visitors to the country. Since you already have an approved I-130 petition that's been through the NVC, you're probably not eligible for a K-3 visa, regardless. So the whole discussion about the fact that a K-3 interview has to happen in the country where the marriage took place is an interesting bit of trivia, but probably not relevant to your personal situation. I'd concentrate on asking the Swedish consulate what their requirements are to have the interview there, and do what you can to meet those requirements, or get an exception if possible.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-07-29 12:34:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 Visa - What to do after arrival in the U.S.	Yep, form I-551 is another name for the plastic green card they issue you. You don't need to fill it out. It'll be printed up automatically and mailed to you a few weeks after arrival. In the meantime, they'll put a stamp in the passport that serves as evidence of LPR status. At the port of entry, make sure they've got a valid US mailing address for you, so they can send that green card to the right place. Start a folder for removal of conditions. Any time you get an official paper that mentions both of your names, stick it in the folder. If you take a photo of the two of you in front of a recognizable monument, put a copy in the folder. Open a joint bank account and file some statements in the folder. If you ever travel by airline together, put your boarding passes in the folder to show you were both on the same flight. Put copies of your joint income tax filings in the folder. If you sign a lease together, put a copy in the folder. It's much easier to continuously save that sort of information than to try and search for it the week before you need to file your I-751. But basically, there's not a whole lot of immigration-related stuff to do upon arrival. That's the advantage of the CR-1 over the K-3 route. Edited by lucyrich, 29 July 2008 - 04:39 PM.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-07-29 16:38:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Husband moved from His country of origin to another country	Your friend will need to contact the consulate in New Delhi to ask them if they'll accept the case. Different consulates have different rules about what cases they'll accept. I believe they'll always accept cases from citizens of the country where they're located, and I think they'll always, or almost always, accept cases of people who have permanent resident status in the host country. Some consulates will accept cases from any visitor who happens to be in the country, but many will not. I have no idea what the rules are in New Delhi. Because someone might bring it up, I'll note that, by law, a K-3 case must have the interview in the country where the marriage took place (unless the marriage happened in the US). But there's no such law regarding an IR-1 or CR-1 case. An interview for CR-1 or IR-1 visa can happen in any consulate that will accept the case. I don't know how to manage the logistics of getting the case transferred, but once you get the people in New Delhi to agree to accept the case, they can probably tell you what, if anything, needs to be done to get the case into their hands.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-08-04 17:28:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	BE PATIENT AND LET THE PROCESS WORK!	Telling someone to "be patient" isn't very helpful. But sometimes there's not much more to say. Throughout much of the process, there is absolutely nothing you can do to speed things up. On the other hand, almost anything you do during these time periods doesn't slow the process down, either. So feel free to deal with the waiting in whatever way you wish, patient or not; just try not to be self-destructive, and try your best not to drive you, your spouse/fiancee, or anyone around you too crazy. And don't alienate any people who are trying to help you, whether they're your friends and relatives or those hated bureacrats at the USCIS. We dealt with the waiting by talking on the phone for about an hour or two a day. Some married couples who live together don't talk that much, and I'll admit that, now that we're together and raising a child, we don't have as much time dedicated to just the two of us talking together. Also, I exercised a lot, and I spent a lot of time learning everything I could about the laws and the process, so as to make sure that, when it came time for us to take action, we'd be as prepared as possible to make things work smoothly and quickly. The waiting's not easy, and there's no way you can make it easy. The best you can do is try to avoid making it any harder.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-08-08 16:49:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 and visa overstayer	Sounds like you're fine. You don't need a waiver for an overstay of less than 180 days. Even if you DID need a waiver, you wouldn't be allowed to file it until after the visa was denied at the interview.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-10-30 17:33:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 and visa overstayer	I'm not sure when to start counting, either, but I'll note that the actual law says that the three year bar starts with an overstay of more than 180 days. 180 days isn't exactly the same as 6 months, but it's close. You've got to count the actual days if you want a precise answer.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-10-30 16:14:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Filed 2007 tax return as single	QUOTE (cmnb @ Oct 16 2008, 01:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i will be filing the return for 2008 in january. when i do that, how can i file as married, when my wife is definately not going to be here by jan as our case is still with USCIS and we dont see an interview date in the very near future. the dilemma is that if i file as single, i can be questioned by NVC as to why i filed single when i am married. i cannot get a ssn for my wife as she is not here. can i apply for ITIN? You simply check the "married filing separately" box. Or, you follow the instructions in pub 519 above and have her considered a resident alien, and then you can check the "married filing jointly" box. If you file a joint return, she'll need an ITIN. Pub 17, linked above, tells how to get her an ITIN. You're absolutely right that you shouldn't check single. Not only would that be illegal per IRS rules, but your signature on the 1040 shows that you examined the form and swear under penalty of perjury that you believe you're entitled to "single" status, that is, that you believe you're not married at all. Why should the USCIS consider your marriage to be valid if you don't think it's valid enough to report to the IRS? No, use one of the legally available filing statuses for married people.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-10-16 16:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Filed 2007 tax return as single	QUOTE (cantwait2long @ Oct 16 2008, 09:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Pattu Rani @ Oct 16 2008, 10:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks guys - I looked at the numbers and if I do an amended return as Married Filing Separately it will not affect my refund at all - Govi did not earn any income in his name for 2007. It is too much trouble at this point for him to get the IIN - I think if we were to file a joint return it would delay things considerably. I will call NVC tonight just to be sure but I think I will go ahead and file 1040X as Married Filing Separately. Pattu Rani You got married in June 2007 then you must have filed your tax return as married filing separately. And you have to provide SSN number for your husband. But how do you get the SSN for your foreing national spouse that is my dilemma too. Has anyone any answer to that. Please share your views. See IRS Pub 519, the tax guide for aliens. There are basically two options: If you want to consider the foreign spouse as a nonresident alien, then a joint return is not possible and you've got to file as "married filing separately". For a MFS return, you'd ordinarily be required to enter your spouse's SSN, but it's not required if your spouse is a nonresident alien, unless you file a joint return or claim your spouse as an exemption. This is from IRS Pub 17. QUOTE Nonresident alien spouse. If your spouse is a nonresident alien, your spouse must have either an SSN or an ITIN if: * You file a joint return, * You file a separate return and claim an exemption for your spouse, or * Your spouse is filing a separate return. If your spouse is not eligible for an SSN, see the next discussion. If none of the three bullet items apply, no ITIN or SSN is needed. If one of them does apply, and your spouse isn't eligible for a SSN, then you'd see the next section where it describes how to get an ITIN. If you want to consider your foreign spouse as a resident alien despite the fact that he/she isn't in the US, you may elect to do so. See the procedure in IRS Pub 519, under "nonresident spouse treated as resident". The downside to this choice is that your foreign spouse must report all worldwide income (though much or all of it may be sheltered from tax by tax treaties). The upside of this choice is that it allows you to file a joint return, with the corresponding lower tax rates and higher deductions/exemptions. If you make the choice, your spouse will need an ITIN if not already eligible for a SSN.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2008-10-16 15:27:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Copies and Photocopies??	QUOTE What is the difference between a copy and a photocopy? A photocopy is a copy made by any sort of photographic or xerographic process. It would include a Xerox copy, as well as a copy made by a similar process using an office copier of another brand (IBM, Sharp, Epson, HP, etc.). It would also include a copy made by a computer with a scanner and inkjet printer. A "copy" made by having a human re-type the text of a document on a typewriter is NOT a photocopy. Some might not even call it a copy, but I'm straining to come up with an example of a "copy" that's not also a "photocopy".	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-01-07 15:00:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Help I left USA for some reasons and I wanna come back	QUOTE (clarki @ Feb 26 2009, 10:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> well... now is everything explained... I got all the informations.... now I see that I will have to go usa and start all over again....and I'm going to do it.... I'm just afraid by one thing... when I try to get a tourist visa or any kind visa I may wont be able to it... they have all my fingerprints.. my photos and all stufs....I dont know how to go back... which kind visa I will need? B2? well..thanks everybody..... Are you serious? Nobody here suggested you should come to the US and start over again. They said you should start over again so that after you get your marriage-based visa you can come to the US. Who said you should get a B2? You have expressed an intent to immigrate to the US, which makes you ineligible for a B2. As the spouse of a US Citizen, you may be eligible for a K-3 or IR-1 visa, but only if you can prove the bona fide nature of your marriage in spite of your past conduct. That's going to be your difficulty, and you can't enter the US until after you overcome it. Since you and your wife are so desparate to be together that neither of you can't stand living apart, it may be easier to live together in Brazil (or some other country) for a few years. After you've got several years of married bliss behind you, you can start the DCF process. Proving the bona fides and getting the IR-1 visa should be less of a problem with a long-established history of living together, though it still may not be easy. If she's in love with you, then I suspect she'll be delighted with this idea. If she's not, then it sounds like the marriage isn't bona fide, and this thread should probably end.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-02-26 14:01:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Help I left USA for some reasons and I wanna come back	QUOTE (clarki @ Feb 26 2009, 10:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well... I want to thank you to everyone wrote back..... last answer: We already did the I 130 ( in 2003) So it has almost certainly expired. QUOTE I already have my social security card.. ok That may be slightly helpful to find employment after you get here, but it won't help you enter the US. QUOTE I had a open process in USCIS ( whit on MSC number) ok I left and about 5 months later..they call us for an interview.. i wasn't there..... 2005 2005 i was searching online by USCIS... i found they denied my resident ajust status..... and it still in their system..ok I'm abroad 4 yeasr.... Can I wait here for a visa or a green card...there is some form for this? So you abandoned one attempt at adjustment of status. That process is finished and will not help you. As you've already been told, if you want to start the process over again, your spouse may file a new I-130 and the two of you can start the visa process a second time, like any other couple just starting the process. Read the guides for the IR-1/CR-1 process. They will almost certainly ask why you abandoned the first attempt. More importantly, they will ask whether you and your spouse have been living together during your marriage. If you have not been living together, that would be one factor tending to indicate the marriage is not bona fide. Of course it's not absolute proof that the marriage was for papers, but any time you apply for an immigration benefit, you have the burden of proving your eligibility. You'll have to come up with a lot of evidence that your marriage is bona fide in order to overcome the evidence that you abandoned your first opportunity to live together in the same country, and then you lived in separate countries for a long time.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-02-26 13:24:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Do all the forms have to be signed in blank ink?	Rarely, I've heard of people getting RFEs saying the signatures on the petition, G325, and similar forms must be originals. This can sometimes happen by mistake when the signatures really WERE originals. Black ink can look like a photocopied signature sometimes. There are two things you can do to reduce or eliminate the chances of someone thinking your signature is a photocopy: 1. Sign in dark blue ink. 2. Use a ballpoint pen, put a soft magazine under the paper, and sign with firm enough pressure that the pen makes a bit of an indentation in the paper. You can of course combine these two strategies to be doubly sure. I'd guess either one by itself would be plenty, though.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-03-06 00:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Help! Pregnant whilst in processing!	Congratulations. There's no form to fill out right now, and no easy way to add the info to your case file until you see them. Definitely mention it the next time you come in contact with them. And mention it at the medical -- there may be some tests or vaccinations that they would avoid, delay, or perform differently in order to avoid harm to the developing baby. It doesn't directly have an effect on the visa process. They won't speed things up for you, but they shouldn't slow anything down, either. There is the issue that, late in the last trimester, airline regulations or your doctor's orders may forbid long airplane flights, but if you're at the NVC now and just finding out about your pregnancy, that doesn't sound like it should be a big concern. I don't know anything about your timeline or situation, but if it's not already obvious to them, it may be helpful to have evidence ready that shows the two of you were together around the time of conception. The only cases I've heard of where pregnancy was a real problem with a visa were when the medical report indicated that the conception could only have happened at a time when the passport stamps show that the husband was clearly in a different country. Oops. But when the petitioner is the father, it's pretty good evidence of the bona fide nature of the relationship.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-03-12 13:46:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Wife's Visa effected by OUR baby not being USC yet?	Read INA 301. It begins with the words "The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:". It goes on to list various sets of circumstances, including a child born outside the US of two parents, one of whom is an alien and the other of whom is a US Citizen who has spent at least five years physically present in the US, at least two of which were after reaching the age of 14. So if your child has a claim to citizenship based on the fact that one parent is a US Citizen who has been in the US the required time, then the child has been a citizen since the day she was born. If the child wasn't born a citizen in the first place, then you won't be able to make her a citizen by the consular report of birth abroad process. The consular report of birth abroad merely serves to document the existing fact that the child has been a citizen since birth. So the subject question of this thread doesn't make sense. Your child IS a citizen and has been so since the day she was born. You haven't gotten proof of that fact just yet, but you can do so at any time. It's probably better to do so fairly quickly, while all the evidence is fresh, but there's no strict requirement to do it rapidly.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-07 20:49:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-551	"I-551" is the formal name for the thing most of us call the "Green Card". An immigrant visa, when endorsed and stamped at a point of entry, serves as a temporary I-551. Your actual plastic green card (the real I-551) is supposed to arrive within a few weeks. An administrative error might delay it by months, but it still ought to arrive a long time before the visa stamp expires. The visa stamp expires after one year, because by that time, you should be using the plastic green card as evidence of your LPR status.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-15 16:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 after 2 years and 5 months of marriage	QUOTE (daboyz @ Apr 15 2009, 03:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (hk68 @ Apr 15 2009, 05:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> thanx lucyrich, here are some details my marriage took place in Tunisia on February 14th 2005 February 17th 2005 I submitted the frorms I-130 and the others May 2007 I submitted the affidavit of support , and it was approved July the 3rd 2007 I had the interview and submitted my passport at the us embassy July 10th I got my passport back with a CR1 in it July 22 I left Algeria to USA Should've been IR-1. I think you can make an infopass appointment and get this resolved. Yep, that's what I'd do. You're ineligible to file for removal of conditions, because you don't have conditional resident status to begin with. Note that, according to the law, whether or not you have conditional status is determined strictly by how much time elapsed between the date of your wedding and the date of gaining status -- the letters on your visa or green card have nothing to do with it. But the letters on your green card and visa ARE used for bureacratic tracking, and determine when they start trying to take enforcement actions against you. While there should be an opportunity to straighten things out before they take serious action, there's really no telling what sort of mess things could get into if you don't straighten out the situation before your second anniversary of gaining green card status. I'd make that infopass appointment ASAP.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-15 18:44:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	CR1 after 2 years and 5 months of marriage	You don't have a timeline. Could you tell us the dates (at least the month and year) when the following things happened? * You married * You got an immigrant visa (IR-1 or CR-1) * You first entered the US with an immigrant visa Also, could you look at your green card and tell us the "resident since" date, and the expiration date? Again, just the month and year are close enough. If you got a visa more than two years after you were married, it should have been an IR-1 visa. But it doesn't matter whether you got an IR-1 or CR-1 visa. They both serve the same purpose. When you entered the US with an immigrant visa (whether IR-1 or CR-1) you would have gotten IR-1 or CR-1 status. If your marriage was over two years old on the date you entered the US, you should have been granted IR-1 status. If you were granted IR-1 status, you should have a green card that has an expiration date ten years after the "resident since" date. If you were granted CR-1 status, you should have a green card that has an expiration date two years after the "resident since" date. If your marriage was less than two years old on the date you first entered the US with your immigrant visa, then you should file for removal of conditions, regardless of whether they gave you IR-1 or CR-1 status. If your marriage was more than two years old on the date you first entered the US with your immigrant visa, then you should have IR-1 status and you shouldn't need to file for removal of conditions. If it appears they made a mistake on this point (and sometimes they do make mistakes), then you should make an infopass appointment to clear it up. It's probably better to make that appointment and get things fixed before you have completed two years in the US with LPR status. Edited by lucyrich, 15 April 2009 - 04:40 PM.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-15 16:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	DS-230	The USCIS has its rules for translations, which basically say that all non-English documents must be translated, and anybody can do the translation as long as they can sign a certifying statement that says they have the language ability and that the translation is correct. But the DS-230 is a Department of State form, so the USCIS rules don't apply. If you're submitting the DS-230 to the NVC, then see here for the NVC's rules: http://travel.state..../info_3195.html All documents not 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. The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states that the: * Translation is accurate, and * Translator is competent to translate. That's essentially the same as the USCIS rules, except that you don't need translations for documents in the official language of the country where you'll be applying for a visa. If you're submitting the DS-230 directly to a consulate, then ask them for their specific rules.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-17 13:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	injterview question	QUOTE (wayno @ Apr 27 2009, 03:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When my wife's AOS interfiew finally comes for a CR1 Visa will we both be required to be there or is it just her being interviewed. I intend to be there anyways but am wondering if I will be interviewed as well. Your post makes no sense. There's no AOS for a CR-1 visa holder. Are you talking about an AOS interview or a CR-1 visa interview? Or a K-3 visa interview, since your profile says you applied for a K-3? Anyway, if it's an AOS interview (in the US, by the USCIS), you're both required to be there. If it's a visa interview (in a foreign country at a department of state consulate), you're not required to be there. But in Colombia, your presence will probably be helpful. At our own CR-1 interview in Caracas, we were both present. They didn't separate us at any time. They asked a few questions specifically to the alien, and maybe a question or two about the affidavit of support to the USC. But several of the questions were just thrown out to whomever would answer (things like, "when were you married"). I think that mostly, they wanted to see the two of us together and interacting. Because we were there together, they could tell we shared the ability to communicate in a common language, and they knew that the USC cared enough to show up on short notice. Our interview was entirely in Spanish, because that was the shared language that we were most comfortable in.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2009-04-27 18:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	IR1 VS CR1	Hello everyone, I need help, my wife got the CR-1 visa on 02/01/06 at the U.S embassy, the officer told me once we reach 2 years married I need to change the CR-1 to IR-1 what kind of forms I need to do that ? I believe you misunderstood, or else the officer misinformed you. First, your wife needs to use the visa to enter the US before the visa expires (it probably expires six months after it was issued). When she enters the US, she will receive Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status. If she enters the US before your two-year wedding anniversary, that LPR status will be "conditional". Most people who receive CR-1 visas enter before their two-year wedding anniversary and receive conditional status. If she's one of those rare people who received a CR-1 visa but entered after her two year wedding anniversary, she'll receive unconditional LPR status, and she's done. If she enters before her two-year wedding anniversary and receives conditional LPR status, her green card will expire two years from the date she first got conditional LPR status (expires two years after the date she entered the US). She will have to apply for "removal of conditions" during the 90 day window that ends on the expiration date of her green card. Note that the wedding anniversary does NOT play a part in determining when she must remove conditions; but rather, she must remove conditions during the 90 days prior to the two year anniversary of gaining conditional LPR status. The use of the term "anniversary" sometimes causes confusion on this point, but in this context, it's the anniversary of gaining status, not the wedding anniversary. To apply to remove conditions, she'll need to file an I-751. There's a "removal of conditions" forum here on visajourney to handle further questions on this topic.	lucyrich	Not Telling	Venezuela	2006-02-08 11:34:00