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Hi guys,
I came to the US for work on an 01 visa back in 2007. My current one is about to expire March 15.
11/12/13 I married my husband, who is an American citizen. We posted I-130, I-485, I-765 & I-131 back in December, and USCIS received it December 16th. We where planning to go on our honeymoon for the months of January & February 2014. It wasn't after I filed, that I found out that the expected processing time would be about two months, and I already read about people strongly advising to leave the country without AP. But I figured that, if all went well, the AP would get approval around half February, and a friend could send it overseas so I could cross the border back into the US with it.
Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. I filed with my husbands 2011 tax return, since the 2012 return wasn't ready yet, and made a note that we would take the 2012 return to the interview. January 3rd, the USCIS send me a letter asking for more evidence: the latest tax return, which is 2012. But not only that: it stated that my husbands income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for our household size. That really puzzled me, since I read that the income had to be 19.387 for two people in 2013, and my husbands was 29.709. So hopefully somebody can help me out explaining this?
After a wonderful honeymoon, which we spend with my family in Holland for the last few days until we would fly home, I started worrying. After all, I did leave the country without AP, and I didn't have it by now, as I hoped I would. I researched online and all sources there talked about that you needed AP to get back into the US once you started your AOS procedure, So I was afraid that I might be refused at the border, and needed to apply for a greencard in Holland, thus be separated from my husband for months. That thought teared me apart, and caused a lot of stress, Luckily, I had no problems at all getting back into the US, where we arrived back in the evening of the 28th.
But what now? I found so much material warning about how to not leave the US without AP, because that would result in an abandonment of your procedure, and thus a rejection of your application for the greencard. So I understand that my first procedure is deemed abandoned and will get rejected. But what now? I found nil information about that, besides somebody writing that I have to file and pay for a new I-485 application, and that I-131 will not be granted after an abandonment. That raises a few questions. Mainly: do I have to do a new medical exam (which I read is valid for a year, and which I did back in November 2013) and go for biometrics again (which I had taken December 30st already, right before I left) or can I refer to my first application for that? It only seems reasonable to me that you don't have to do that twice. Also, I work as a fashion model, and an essential part of my work is to travel. I actually also did jobs in Europe during our honeymoon. So not being able to travel, harms by career, and causes great financial loss. Would this be a reason to apply for AP again, and to ask if they can grant it with urgency? (Another option is to get a new O1 work visa, which is usually granted very quickly, within two weeks, but I don't really see the point of paying 3000 dollar for another O1 visa while I would apply for a greencard anyway right after receiving that)
I really hope to receive some good advise here, because I just couldn't find an answer to the issues addressed in this post.
I came to the US for work on an 01 visa back in 2007. My current one is about to expire March 15.
11/12/13 I married my husband, who is an American citizen. We posted I-130, I-485, I-765 & I-131 back in December, and USCIS received it December 16th. We where planning to go on our honeymoon for the months of January & February 2014. It wasn't after I filed, that I found out that the expected processing time would be about two months, and I already read about people strongly advising to leave the country without AP. But I figured that, if all went well, the AP would get approval around half February, and a friend could send it overseas so I could cross the border back into the US with it.
Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. I filed with my husbands 2011 tax return, since the 2012 return wasn't ready yet, and made a note that we would take the 2012 return to the interview. January 3rd, the USCIS send me a letter asking for more evidence: the latest tax return, which is 2012. But not only that: it stated that my husbands income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for our household size. That really puzzled me, since I read that the income had to be 19.387 for two people in 2013, and my husbands was 29.709. So hopefully somebody can help me out explaining this?
After a wonderful honeymoon, which we spend with my family in Holland for the last few days until we would fly home, I started worrying. After all, I did leave the country without AP, and I didn't have it by now, as I hoped I would. I researched online and all sources there talked about that you needed AP to get back into the US once you started your AOS procedure, So I was afraid that I might be refused at the border, and needed to apply for a greencard in Holland, thus be separated from my husband for months. That thought teared me apart, and caused a lot of stress, Luckily, I had no problems at all getting back into the US, where we arrived back in the evening of the 28th.
But what now? I found so much material warning about how to not leave the US without AP, because that would result in an abandonment of your procedure, and thus a rejection of your application for the greencard. So I understand that my first procedure is deemed abandoned and will get rejected. But what now? I found nil information about that, besides somebody writing that I have to file and pay for a new I-485 application, and that I-131 will not be granted after an abandonment. That raises a few questions. Mainly: do I have to do a new medical exam (which I read is valid for a year, and which I did back in November 2013) and go for biometrics again (which I had taken December 30st already, right before I left) or can I refer to my first application for that? It only seems reasonable to me that you don't have to do that twice. Also, I work as a fashion model, and an essential part of my work is to travel. I actually also did jobs in Europe during our honeymoon. So not being able to travel, harms by career, and causes great financial loss. Would this be a reason to apply for AP again, and to ask if they can grant it with urgency? (Another option is to get a new O1 work visa, which is usually granted very quickly, within two weeks, but I don't really see the point of paying 3000 dollar for another O1 visa while I would apply for a greencard anyway right after receiving that)
I really hope to receive some good advise here, because I just couldn't find an answer to the issues addressed in this post.
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