Long Form Birth Certificate

[katz]

Hi there,

I arrived in the US in April on a B2 visa and subsequently married a US Citizen. I have filled out all the paperwork for the i-485 but they require a long form birth certificate. I have only ever had an abridged version. My mom has applied for the long form certificate back home in South Africa but it's going to take at least another 2-3 weeks to process.

My current N94 expires on October 3rd and I was hoping to get my paperwork in before then but that's not looking likely.

Should I submit my paperwork with my short form (abridged) certificate before my N94 expires
OR
Should I wait for my mom to receive my long form certificate and apply when I'm out of status?

[Allopez]

Hi there,

I arrived in the US in April on a B2 visa and subsequently married a US Citizen. I have filled out all the paperwork for the i-485 but they require a long form birth certificate. I have only ever had an abridged version. My mom has applied for the long form certificate back home in South Africa but it's going to take at least another 2-3 weeks to process.

My current N94 expires on October 3rd and I was hoping to get my paperwork in before then but that's not looking likely.

Should I submit my paperwork with my short form (abridged) certificate before my N94 expires
OR
Should I wait for my mom to receive my long form certificate and apply when I'm out of status?

if you must choose between these two options, I would apply before you're out of status (I assume you meant I94, not N94). Getting out of status raises flags and can create a lot of problems. You can always send more info later (eg when your long form arrives) or wait for USCIS to request it. In any case, remember to file for EAD and I131 for (travel advanced parole) together with the i485. it does not cost any extras and gives you flexibility.

[katz]

Thank You

if you must choose between these two options, I would apply before you're out of status (I assume you meant I94, not N94). Getting out of status raises flags and can create a lot of problems. You can always send more info later (eg when your long form arrives) or wait for USCIS to request it. In any case, remember to file for EAD and I131 for (travel advanced parole) together with the i485. it does not cost any extras and gives you flexibility.

Thanks for your reply. I was under the impression that not submitting the I-485 before the expiration of the I-94 was forgiven in cases where the immigrant was married to a US Citizen.

Would submitting with only my abridged birth certificate not mean that I would get an RFE which would cause a delay in the process?

At this stage I have:

My abridged birth certificate - excluding parents names
A copy of the form my mom submitted for the long form (full) birth certificate
A copy of the registration of birth with my name and DOB and my parents ID numbers
A copy of my mom's ID book with her picture and ID number
A copy of my dad's abridged birth certificate with his ID number

The hold up in South Africa with my certificate is because they are searching for my parents certificate's before issuing mine.

[Allopez]

Thanks for your reply. I was under the impression that not submitting the I-485 before the expiration of the I-94 was forgiven in cases where the immigrant was married to a US Citizen.

Would submitting with only my abridged birth certificate not mean that I would get an RFE which would cause a delay in the process?

At this stage I have:

My abridged birth certificate - excluding parents names
A copy of the form my mom submitted for the long form (full) birth certificate
A copy of the registration of birth with my name and DOB and my parents ID numbers
A copy of my mom's ID book with her picture and ID number
A copy of my dad's abridged birth certificate with his ID number

The hold up in South Africa with my certificate is because they are searching for my parents certificate's before issuing mine.

a delay with RFE is better than being out of status. if you request an EAD, they have to issue it within 90 days (to allow you to work and pay taxes lol), and then you practically have all the benefits of a Permanent Resident, and can calmly wait for the GC to arrive (which anyway takes about a year with family-based GC).
looking at the documents you have, i think that it is possible that you will not even be asked for the long form. I would send the following docs:

A copy of the registration of birth with my name and DOB and my parents ID numbers
A copy of my mom's ID book with her picture and ID number
A copy of my dad's abridged birth certificate with his ID number

The other docs won't help and just might confuse USCIS and potentially create problems.